T.G.

LOL

I lost count.

I like the word "pontificate" myself.

Is that Justin Bour?

If you have to explain the joke...

Of course you do.

I was in San Diego for a conference several years ago... we stayed at the hotel where the teams visiting the Padres stayed that week. We are riding in an elevator up to our room, and it's pretty full. A member of the hotel staff is helping a customer up to their room and has a cart full of luggage - making it extra full. We stop at a floor and a guy gets in and turns his back to face the doors. He then gets out at the next stop. The staffer says... "Hey, that was Mike Piazza." I didn't even notice. That week, the Phillies and Mets came to town. Saw tons of players in the lobby, bar, etc.

you're the only one who would go down that road....

SJSU was after USC.... He brought Brad Winslow with him from USC as a grad assistant. Back then... the gym was reserved at noon for faculty/staff and we played basketball during lunch. Winslow would run with us... he was a cool guy. He took it easy on us. He was funny too.

You know... I don't know how many games we'll be allowed to go in the regular season and I don't know how many of those I'll actually be able to attend, but of the game(s) I'd want to go to are the ones where he is pitching. Hope it works out for you.

I worked in Athletics at San Jose State from 1989-1991. Stan Morrison inherited a disaster of a program when he joined SJSU, Watching SJSU basketball during those two years was tough... and the home games against UNLV weren't pretty. They could have been a lot worse. Always felt like your dad eased up in those games so that SJSU wouldn't be embarrassed too much. That was a fun time in my career. Stan Morrison was a great guy to work with. The first time, I met him - I talked about some of the high school kids I saw the year prior and he instantly took a liking to me. I remember asking him about a kid named Robert Conlisk at Los Alamitos and he was surprised I knew who he was. I asked him if he was on his radar and Morrison said something like "We don't deserve a kid like that just yet." Conlisk didn't turn out to be much... he went to Arizona State, but Morrison's statement struck me as being odd. I remember thinking... "Don't deserve? Why not?"

That's a GREAT story about your dad and Mulligan. I hated UCI during the Mulligan years. I really hated Scott Brooks above all others. I hated the way he carried himself with his chest all pumped out, etc. I really like the coach at UCI now. Coach Turner is a great leader. I've heard him speak a few times and he's the kind of coach I would have wanted to play for if I had been talented enough for Div. I hoops. He's put them back on the map and taken them to even greater heights than Mulligan. UCI had a good program... and it was at a time when the Big West was a great conference. BTW... Kevin Magee's death was tragic.

Yeah, it is.

And to top it all off, Calloway is a douche for putting his family through this.

This whole Calloway thing is icky. I don't care if he can turn every single Angels pitcher into Cy Frickin' Young, if he's doing the things he's been accused of, he's gotta go. There's no gray area for me.

Arte most definitely grew the brand, but whatever momentum he had in doing so seems to be diminishing every year. For a guy who has made millions in the marketing/advertising arena he seems to shoot himself in the foot a lot lately. When the team makes more headlines for what happens off the field rather than on it, it's pretty sad. And top that off with the baseball decisions not panning out and the brand is surely losing some of its appeal.

I also ran into Bryon Russell (NBA and LB 49er) at the Beverly Center in L.A. Rode in an elevator with Eric Davis (MLB) Ned Colletti at Don & Charlie's in Scottsdale. Like most everyone else, I've seen tons of celebs at sporting events, but one of my biggest thrills was seeing Muhammad Ali at Spring training baseball game in Surprise, AZ. One more... Mario Lopez with Ali Landry at a Home and Garden show. They were walking around and she was draped all over him.

@stormngt I think I read or heard somewhere that your dad was friends with Bill Mulligan. Is that true? I have a funny story somewhat related to Mulligan. Prior to going to Long Beach State, I went to Saddleback College. I saw some great basketball teams coached by Mulligan. My time at Saddleback overlapped a bit with a point guard named Ed Patrick. Patrick was about 5'10" but was tough as nails and he could dunk. Mulligan would go on to coach at UCI. Ed Patrick went on to play at Hawaii Hilo. Fast forward some 30+ years... My wife and I love a restaurant in Old Town Orange called "Gabbi's Mexican Kitchen." The restaurant is the brainchild of Gabbi Patrick. She and her husband opened a second restaurant in Tustin called Chaak. My wife and I went there a couple years ago and the owner - Ed Patrick comes up to introduce himself to us. We'd been going to Gabbi's for several years and never knew Gabbi's husband's name. Well, I look at him and wonder if he's the same Ed Patrick who played hoops at Saddleback. He was about the same height and even though it had been more than 30 years, I thought he looked familiar. I asked him and he was the same Ed Patrick who played basketball at Saddleback. He was dumbfounded that anyone would recognize him. We had a great dinner and I had a fun story to tell. Ed was super nice and we've been back a couple times - although we haven't been since the pandemic.

I thought of a few more.. The late, George Deukmejian at a Chinese restaurant in Long Beach (that no longer exists). Kenny Booker (UCLA basketball player) on several occasions at a restaurant in Long Beach

Clearly, Taylor is not Albert Pujols. and... @Blarg must have been the one to check Pujols' high school graduation information. Off by two years both times.

Go ahead... tell us more.

Did he dye his hair?