A Night with Rorey and Ryno

As promised, I shucked my office gear and was on the bike by 5:30 in a glorious September evening. No wind, perfect temps, and a boatload of cabin fever to work out of the system. Up Mountain and down Washington to the Bike Shop, then generally north to College Parkway to check my mailbox. Down College Parkway at 31.2 mph and south to Mountain and home. Riding outside is so superior to stationary bikes.

Swung by the Air Force recruiter's office on the way home and spoke some lingo with TSgt Rorey. It was fun to remember the good days in blue, but I'm too old and fat to go back. Ah well.

Funny story: I entered an automatic fantasy football draft on Yahoo! Sports just for fun, but abandoned the team because, well, they sucked. I was doing some research on players this week and looked in on my team. They're number one in their FFB league (!) and my Yahoo! fantasy baseball team is in first place, too. On the other hand, my "real-life" FFB team is in last place. Life is balanced, I guess.

Found out that the best second baseman ever (sorry, Joe) does a baseball column for Yahoo! Sports, so I dropped him the below email.

"This is a long overdue fan letter. No response is needed or expected.

I am not a life-long Cub fan, but I became one with good reason. My wife and I were married in 1983 and we were stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, just south of Omaha, Nebraska. As newlyweds, we searched for common ground to build a future on, so it's probably no surprise to hear that we got into the habit of watching the Cubs and listening to Harry and Steve on WGN. Hearing Van Halen sing "Jump" today brings back a load of memories, including some about our baby who was born in 1984. That was a good year for us, too.

And here we are, twenty-something years later. The bride and I are still together and living and dying with the Cubs, and that 1984 baby is a woman now and is leaving for the United States Navy in October.

I wanted to say, "Thank you," for your team's part in being there as we built a family and congratulations on your entry into the Hall of Fame.

Bob

PS: We transferred to Japan in 1989 and I climbed Mt. Fuji in 1990. I proudly wore a number 23 Cubs shirt to the summit.

Take care."


Distance: 7.0 miles
Time: 42.02 minutes
321 calories burned
27 days until the USN