Memorial Days by MP

MasterCard had it right with the "Priceless" commercials. As we observe Memorial Day 2010, let me take you down my memory lane and back to a few priceless moments I have had that include sports in my life. What could be more priceless than seeing the Royals back in the late 70's on a hot summer night? I mean they were competitive back then folks! This particular night must have been especially hot, because the memories are of my sweet Mom pouring cup after cup of cold water over my head and body. How can I not lead with a moment that included my Mom who could not care less about sports but has devoted nearly a lifetime to going to games, listening to conversations, hearing the TV, going to sporting goods stores on vacations, on and on and on. Thanks a million Mom.
A lot of the rest of my sports memories involve my Dad. We watched a whole lot of Coffeyville Red Raven football games. The Ravens are a junior college national powerhouse. I especially remember when Dad took me on the bus with the team to the Coca Cola Bowl in Iowa. I had gone to one other bowl, but was old enough to remember the trip to Iowa. It was a blast being on the field and meeting the Team. You have to throw in a game in Coffeyville where Dad and I sat in a driving rain storm for the entire time! I loved it. Then certainly a mention goes to a Chiefs game years ago. We drove all the way to KC to watch Joe Delaney have a huge game against the hated Raiders!! Dad said we used to save all year to go to one Chiefs game. It is hard to single things out, but a whole lifetime of stuff is flooding my mind. The NAIA tourney, the parade in '88 in Lawrence after the 'Hawks won it all, Midnight Madness, a few nice NBA trips, a McDonald's HS All America game, a complete lifetime of wonderful, priceless memories!
My Brother and I have some great times too. We drove to Dallas to see the Mavs in a 2 game in 3 night homestand. The Mavs had the Triple J Ranch of Jimmy Jackson, Jason Kidd, and Jamal Mashburn. We loved it, we had never driven in a city like that or been on our own for a road trip that long. There are so many I hate to leave any out, how about Dad, Tony and I at the Royals game sitting next to the fair pole in Right at Royals Stadium. Rich Gedman for the Red Sox crushes a blue darter right down the line that actually hits the pole and then my Dad's hand (he made a great play on the ball), it dents the pole and they call it a FOUL BALL!! Awesome!! We made George Michael's Sports Machine for that one. We drove to a Grizzlies game a few years ago, and the memory of that one was leaving Tony in control of monitoring the gas situation. We almost ran out somewhere around Russellville Arkansas! Not a PRICELESS moment there. We were in Walton Arena to see some good Hogs games. We saw the Joe Johnson led Hogs against Kentucky and Tayshaun Prince in a one of the best ones. Again, so many great ones to think about how can I list them all.
Next up is the my special wife. She would tell you she is a sports fan, but I am not real sure. Certainly I do not think she was ready for what she got herself into. Right now I want to say thank you for not only crafting our "family" vacations around sporting events, but getting to every game at least an hour early (she knows I HAVE to be there at least that early), spending our extra money on Chiefs tickets, all of my moods that change when my teams are losing, all of it. We have seen some great stuff together and had some fantastic sports moments. To this day she is my number one tailgating buddy and we love doin the 530 am down and backs to Arrowhead. We saw Cal Ripken's last game in KC, some great stuff with the McGwire and Pujols led Cards. We went to Chicago and sat in Wrigley for a day game. We saw Big Mac put on one of the most incredible performances ever in BP at KC in '98. I mean he hit BOMBS to places I have never seen hit in that stadium! We went to see the Razorbacks with no tickets and SHE came up with 2 and came running from blocks away waving the tickets up in the air on a freezing day in Fayetteville. She stood in a mile long line so that I could meet John McEnroe (one of my all-time faves). After a St. Louis Cards game one time I told Andy Benes that my wife thought he was cool, he scowled at me. Great great memories that will never be forgotten.
Over the years I have seen 3 or 4 Sweet 16 and Elite 8 tournaments. I saw Michael Jordan play his last year for the Wizards (he had 16 in that game). I have seen Barkley, Olajuwon, Drexler, Kobe, Shaq, Durant, Mullin, Ripken, Griffey Jr, Gwynn, Ozzie, Molitor, Yount, Carew, Pujols, Sosa, McGwire, and of course Brett. I saw Bonds put on a great BP too in the old Busch Stadium one time. It was the year he hit 73 and he was impressive for sure. Do not forget when I saw Favre when it was his supposed last year with the Pack. I saw Montana (my buddy JC and I paid more than we had to see him play in a pre-season game in Arrowhead, he played like 2 series), Elway, Tomlinson, Delaney, Allen and Priest. Unbelievably great stuff.
You can see that my memories are not of seeing a Super Bowl or Final Fours or World Series games. The games and people I have seen are like this blog, important to me! For me it is not just the game it is sharing the moment with ones who mean the most to you. Please take a moment this weekend to reflect on the ones who are important to you and the things that make life special. I know I have enjoyed thinking about the great sports moments and those who I have shared them with. I am thankful for my family and friends for all of the memories and a wonderful life!