San Francisco > Palo Alto

NCAA Women’s Volleyball Regional Final – Stanford Region – ESPNU – 11:30p ET - Michigan vs Hawai'i


Before heading to work today, John, Jeanne and I went for a late breakfast at Il Fornaio. It was an Italian restaurant & bakery. Fantastic!


Afterwards, I headed to Palo Alto to find the Stanford campus.

I arrived about 30 minutes early so I hit the campus store to get Dave a t-shirt.

Then headed over to Maples Pavilion for a day of volleyball!

On my dinner break, I got my usual California dinner – In-n-Out Burger !

I may have been on west coast time for 2 days now – but yowza – going on the air at 11:30 eastern time is rough!

Drove back to San Fran after the game and watched TV with Jeanne for a while.

San Francisco

This morning, John, Jeanne and I headed to Mama’s Kitchen on Washington Square.

It is a VERY small place that apparently always had quite the wait – outside.
If you are ever in the area – believe me – worth the wait!














Beware if you go to the bathroom though. You go thru the kitchen and out a back door. You are now in a garden like area between old buildings. I walked around looking… hmmm… Then I realized that down these couple of steps there was this closet on the outside of the restaurant. Then as someone came out, I saw that there was sink inside, so I went in. I could not believe this was allowable or up to code.

Anyway, the previous person had clogged the toilet, so when I flushed, disaster insued.

I wandered back out to John & Jeanne laughing because I had been gone for about 10 minutes. Jeanne headed towards the back door and I warned her not to.

Food – amazing!
Bathroom – not so much!

We walked around the corner to Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral.

Mass was being said so we only stayed a few minutes.

We watched a few dogs play on Washington Square and then piled back into the Mini Cooper. Which by the way is not an easy task when your butt is as big as mine!

Next, they took me to Coit Tower.

Which was built in 1933 atop Telegraph Hill as a gift to the city of San Franciso by a female volunteer firefighter.

Once at the top of the tower, the views are amazing! Granted, today it was very foggy, drizzly and overcast – so I can only image what they are on a clear day.




You can see: Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Treasure Island and pretty much any of the sites around the city.
Alcatraz

View towards Washington Square (you can see the Cathedral in the foreground)






Outside, in the parking lot, was a public restroom. Now this is something new.

You pay for its use and then it self cleans.







(see the bubbles under the toilet)







It basically showers & suds itself down after you exit.









Next we drove thru the Presidio towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Predidio has severed as military base for the Spanish, Mexican and U.S. Army’s dating back to 1776 thru 1994 when it became a National Park. It is enormous! Visiting all of it would take a day or so in itself. So many beautiful sites to see.

Doesn’t seem like a big deal, until you are about to walk on it.









And then the reality of one reason why people do walk on it.

We walked to about the halfway point and turned around. The weather was getting worse and worse.

Now we drove over it to visit the Marin Headlands.








The Marin Headlands are just north of San Fran. This area is very hilly and served as military installations beginning in 1890. There are still numerous bunkers, batteries and bomb shelters there.


The views from here were also amazing. And again, can only imagine what they are like on a nice day.

Like I said, very hilly and the roads can be scary at times.

Next they showed me some very exclusive neighborhoods – yowza! What those prices could get ya in Ohio! Including Seacliff… here is what Wikipedia says about it…
Homes in the Sea Cliff neighborhood are large, and many offer impressive views of the Pacific Ocean, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands.


A small public beach named China Beach is located in the neighborhood.


Some of the neighborhood's more famous current and past residents include Jefferson Airplane guitarist Paul Kantner, actor Robin Williams, actress Sharon Stone, actor Cheech Marin, Gap founder Donald Fisher, and Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett.


Then on to the Sutro Baths…(thanks Wikipedia)
Sutro Baths opened March 14, 1896 with a $1 million pricetag — an extravagant public bathhouse envisioned and developed by the eccentric one-time mayor of San Francisco, Adolph Sutro. After working its way through its many lives (Playland, 1960s ice rink, etc..)— burned down while being demolished on June 26, 1966. In 1980 the Golden Gate National Recreation Area bought the land for $5,500,000.
1894 Photo

TODAY PHOTO

As we drove home, we went by Ocean Beach. Here is what Wikipedia has to say about it….
Ocean Beach is a beach that runs along the west coast of San Francisco at the Pacific Ocean. It is adjacent to Golden Gate Park, the Richmond District and the Sunset District. The Great Highway runs alongside of the beach, and the Cliff House and the site of the former Sutro Baths sits at the northern end. The beach is a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and operated by the National Park Service.


We went home for a while to rest from out busy day of sightseeing.

That evening, we headed to E&O Trading Company for dinner.

 Very, very good!!

Columbus > San Francisco

About a month ago, I was asked to do a Women’s Volleyball Regional at Stanford. I said yes because I had never been to Stanford.

When I was researching what airport to use, I discovered that Stanford was outside San Francisco.
Really?
For some reason, I thought Stanford was in Washington.

Anyway, the discovery of it being outside of San Fran was HUGE! I have never been to San Fran! AND I have friends there das boot!

John & Jeanne are friends of mine from Ft. Myers. I worked with John at WINK back in 1995. They moved to Columbus when he took a job at WSYX. Several months later, WSYX was looking for a lead Chyron operator/trainer and John knew just the person for that job…. The rest is history.

So even though I “blame” my (now) best friend Patty for me moving to Columbus (she hired me), it’s truly not ALL her fault. John is the one who got the ball rolling.

On a side note, I also went to high school with John's brother & sister in-law.  It's a small world!
Anyway – after moving to Columbus, I became close with John’s wife, Jeanne. Eventually, we lived about 3 blocks apart and spent tons of time together. We were both very excited when I bought my house in 1999. I was only about 4 miles away – and there were tons of projects for Jeanne and I to do with the new house!

Unfortunately, soon after I moved into the house, John took a job in San Fran and they moved away. :(

All these years… I never got a game in San Fran.
Jeanne did come to LA once when I was doing boxing at the Playboy Mansion – but I think that is the only time we have seen each other in the past 10 years.

I don't have any photos of Jeanne and I on that trip - but here is one of me in "the grotto"










You better believe I scrubbed my self with anti-bac the second I crawled out of there!

So that brings us to today….. I am going to see John & Jeanne!!! Not only do I get to see them, I am staying with them for the weekend. I am super excited!!

I flew out at the crack-o-dawn just so I could get there and have most of today to spend with them. I got in a little late due to strong winds.

I found their house with no issue.
Wow – houses are so different there! Very interesting architecture. All the homes are separate, yet touch each other. They are all 2-story from the front, however, some have a 3rd story that you can not see from the front façade.

Jeanne and I picked up John from the dentist and then went for a late lunch. I forget where we ate, but it was fabulous!!

We hung out for a few hours at home and then headed downtown to Union Square. We put in our names at the Burger Bar and then wandered around Macy’s for a while. 

The Burger Bar was very good! Any/every kind of burger you can imagine!

After dinner, we drove around for a while.

They took me to Lombard Street – the crookedest street in America. It is a brick street with 8 sharp switchbacks on a 27% grade slope. Some of the most expensive homes/real estate is on this street. However, there is a constant stream of tourists driving down it and taking photos at the bottom.
(Photos to come later – in daylight)

2 blocks away is Filbert Street…..(between Hyde & Leavenworth) YOWZA!
Filbert Street has a 31.5% grade! Which means you enter the intersection and literally can not see the street ahead of you!
(Photos to come later – in daylight)

They wanted to show me the Golden Gate Bridge, however, the lights were not on tonite. Apparently, they randomly turn the lights off at night – some anti-terrorism tactic.

We ventured back home and I hit the hay…. I had been awake for 22 hours!

Columbus

Wisconsin vs Ohio State Women’s CBB – BTN – 2 ET

Was back at Ohio State today – but for a women’s game.

As you know, I love doing OSU Women’s games because of Brittany. Her brother is an old friend of mine.

Actually, he, his wife and daughter flew up for today’s game.

After the game, we all went to BW3s for dinner. It was my first time meeting Amy and Marley – she is even cuter in person!

It was a lot of fun hanging out with them all.

Columbus

Eastern Michigan vs Ohio State Men’s CBB – Noon ET – ESPNU

Getting up at 4am sucked – but there was reward … the old “breakfast club” was back together again!

Back in the day, we did almost every Ohio State Men’s (home) basketball game each season for ESPNPlus. The majority of the Saturday games were noon tips, so we got accustomed to spending out Saturday mornings together.

Our last game was February 21, 2007.
Group photo:

Not everyone working was in the photo – but it’s hard to get us all in the same place at the same time.

In the fall of 2008, Big Ten Network debuted. Therefore, Ohio State basketball was never again the same.

We had one game on ESPNU in the 2008-09 season which the majority of us worked. However, this season, we have 2!!

It was just awesome to all be together again, working the same venue and the same team we had covered for so many years on a regular basis.

The game was of course a blow out as expected.

It was also terrifying for Ohio State. A few minutes into the game, Evan Turner’s hands slipped off the rim on a dunk and fell on his back. It was a horrible fall. The endless replays made us all wince.

Thankfully, he was able to walk off the court, however, we all knew it was a bad injury.

Columbus > Fairborn, OH

Cleveland State vs Wright State – ESPNU – 9 pm et


I feel like it’s groundhog day.
I seem to be stuck in this pattern of getting up and going to a basketball game.

Today I went over to Dayton, well technically, it’s Fairborn.

Good day! Worked with a lot of my friends – always great to see/work with the “Ohio Mafia” (not sure who gave us that label or why?)

But 9pm games suck!
So late when you get out of work.

They had booked me a hotel room but I cancelled it earlier in the week. It’s only a hour drive. Well that was a mistake! I was so freaking tired on that drive back!

Columbus

Florida State vs Ohio State – Men’s CBB – Big Ten/ACC Challenge

Got up early and finished the drive back to Columbus. I didn’t have time to stop at home. I was picking up my friend Amy (Iowa Amy), from her hotel. She had just flown in to work the game and she was on far less sleep than I.

We had about 30 minutes to spare – so we went to Tim Horton’s. She had never been to one before. We stocked up on donuts & hot chocolate to get us thru the day!

It was so wonderful working with her again. I wish we could still do so every week!

Columbus > Bloomington, IN

November 30th – December 1st

Maryland vs Indiana – Men’s CBB – Big Ten/ACC Challenge

On Monday, I unpacked, did some laundry, re-packed and headed out again. Got a much later start than I had hoped, but made it to Bloomington just fine.


Didn't visit my godson, who lives in Bloomington, but there just was not going to be time on this trip.

Tuesday morning I headed over to the truck. Was it really time to do another game? I just did 6 in a row!

Went to Scholars Inn for lunch with Jason. Very good little place!

Game went well. Afterwards, I set out towards Richmond, IN. It is kinda the halfway point between Bloomington and home. Got there around 1am or so.

Orlando

November 24th – 29th

Old Spice Classic – Feast Week Presented by Lowe’s – ESPN Family of Networks

Flew down early on Tuesday morning – looking forward to a day by the pool in sunny Orlando! We were staying at a new hotel this year; not “on property” (of the Mouse House).

It went just almost as well as my day in the sun last Thursday in Tampa.

Landed just after 11am. But my luggage did not.

This has happened before a few times – it’s always on the next flight from Atlanta. There is one just about every hour. So I inquired at the baggage office – there was nothing in my file other than I had checked it in, in Columbus. But the agent agreed it was likely on the next flight that was about to land.

Nope.

The next flight was going to land in 2 hours.

So I headed out to pick up some stuff at Publix and then on to the hotel to check in.

I really wasn’t too angry. It was totally overcast and there was not a chance of getting a single ray of sunshine.

A flight was landing around 2:30, so I planned on being back at the airport by 3. They do deliver late luggage – but they had already lost it once today, I wasn’t counting on them to deliver it to the correct hotel!

I called a little after 2… my luggage had been found!
It was indeed on the flight with me that landed in Orlando hours ago – they just forgot to take it off the plane. So it wasn’t discovered until the plane got back to Atlanta.

It was due to land just before 4pm.

$7 in tolls & parking later, I had my coveted bags!

Got unpacked and “settled”. Then headed out to dinner with the other operator on this show, Ben. We have done this event since the beginning.

We went to a Brazilian steakhouse. It was of course, fabulous! I ate too much of the salad bar and didn’t have enough room for all the filet mignon that I had wanted.

Wednesday, our set day, was good. There are always issues since we have 2 machines – but we manage to solve them! (Usually Ben does).

This year we were thrown a curve ball…. Due to budget cuts, we could not have a B Unit for the 2nd Duet. They looked into an office trailer, a common rental for ESPN Compounds. However, the Mouse House has numerous new rules in effect due to the 2 deaths that have occurred on property over the past year. In order for us to have an office trailer, it was going to require numerous permits and was going to have to be made hurricane proof (ie: strapped to the ground), thus making it even more expensive than a B Unit.

So, they rented a RV!

What?
Apparently there were no any Mouse rules about a RV.

Yes, the 2nd Duet was set up at the dining room table of a RV.
It was pretty bizarro!

On Thursday, I did the 12 & 2:30pm games.

They went fine. Afterwards, my AP, Katie and I, stayed for a few hours to prep for our Friday games.

My parents drove up on Thursday afternoon with a cooler full of Thanksgiving dinner leftovers and were waiting for me in my room when I got back. Yum!

It was a quick evening since it was after 8:30 when I got to the hotel.

Friday, again the 12 & 2:30pm games. This time we left shortly after our games though, which was nice!

Upon returning to the hotel, my parents and I walked around the hotel and then had drinks at the bar. Then back to the room for more turkey!

Saturday, my parents headed to Epcot as I headed to work. There were no games today, however, Katie and I needed to prepare for our Sunday games.

I met up with my parents around 3pm at Epcot.

We strolled around Germany, China & Mexico.

China was fun – they had an exhibit of the Terracotta Warriors which was one of our favorites while in China. It was cool to look at these fake ones, knowing we had seen the real deal!

Then headed back to the hotel. I needed to pack and get to bed… as 5am was fast approaching!

Even though I had enough sleep, Katie and I struggled thru our first game. Going on the air at 10a is never easy.

We rallied in game 2 though!

I have to say that my disposition has never been better on this event. I always end up angry and I truly believe it was because we didn’t stay at that dreadful hotel! No one told me to “Have A Magical Day” – wow!

I left the compound around 3:30 and headed to the airport. Ugh. Traveling on Sunday after Thanksgiving is never fun!!

But this time I had a companion…. Madison was coming home with me.
The last time we flew together was when he was about 6 months old. Wow – much easier now! I didn’t have to lay down newspaper in the airport bathroom for him! He was surprisingly heavy though in my shoulder bag.

Am looking forward to having him back in Columbus, in the house I bought for him.
(We were about to get evicted from our apartment due to his behavior issues and separation anxiety when I was at work)

There is a temporary spot awaiting him in the living room. A little shrine of sorts. Figure he can rest there until I come up with another spot. Maybe next to his sister, Pokey, on the armoire?

Louisville > Columbus

Big East Women’s Volleyball Championship


Ugh – woke up very tired!

Got ready and walked down the street to the Convention Center. Why the event was being held here was beyond any of us?!

They had to build a court.


Why when there were ample facilities at the school?

The show was fun. My friend Paul was the AP - always a pleasure!

Afterwards, I headed back to the airport.

Eventually landed back in Columbus around 11:30p after a layover in Cincinnati. What a long, long day!

Columbus > Tampa > Louisville

November 19th – 21st

Louisville vs South Florida – Big East CFB


Flew down early Thursday morning to enjoy some much needed sunshine!
However, a FAA flight computer crashed and had the most of the flights on the east coast grounded for a few hours.

Agh!!!!

So I got into Tampa a few hours later than planned.

Meanwhile, my father was stuck in Atlanta due to the FAA computer issue. So I was attempting to fix his travel situation with Delta.

My wonderful Thursday migraine was building in the background.

Made it up to the pool – FINALLY!
Are you kidding me?

There were 3 chaise lounges with padding. One patio table with 2 chairs.
And 2 beach chairs – which why were these even at a pool?
Their purpose is to sit on the shore and let the waves wash over your feet – they have no point at a pool!


But that was all that was available. Not exactly comfortable.
I lasted about 20 minutes in it before just laying on the cement.

After about 2 hours, I gave up. My migraine was in full swing and I needed darkness.
So I went to my room and laid down for a while. I HAD to kick it because tonight was my last Thursday dinner with the guys.

Eventually, my meds helped dilute the pain a little.

I threw up too and that usually is the sign of things getting better.

So I got ready and headed out for dinner. We ended up at Mitchell’s Seafood Market – which even though I don’t eat seafood, was fine with me because I know they have excellent steaks. It is part of a chain started by a chef in Columbus.

Tonight there was about 10 of us for dinner. I sat on the end because I was fearful I might have to run out at any moment. One bite of bread and I knew ordering dinner had been a mistake.

I could barely keep my eyes open the pain was so bad.

Dinner came – mmm! One of my favorite meals.. Filet mignon, mashed potatoes & asparagus.

I tried taking a bite of the steak and thought for sure I was going to projectile vomit all over the place.

I gave Jason money and told him I had to leave. It broke my heart to miss out on my final Thursday night dinner AND to miss out on a great meal.

But I knew things were about to get violent.

Sure enough, I was 2 steps into the parking lot and I threw up again!

I made my way back to the hotel and went to bed. I put myself into my little coma trance and eventually went to sleep.

Friday morning – all better! Thank god! That one was a doozie!

USF plays at Raymond James Stadium – where the Buccaneers play.
Grr.. another NFL stadium and their security issues.


Jason and I went out to see the field.






Friday night, I had dinner plans with my friend Mark from Pittsburgh. He works on one of the FOX NFL crews and they were doing the game on Sunday in Tampa. Our crews were even staying at the same hotel.

As we were heading out for dinner, we ran into Dave, ironically a stats guy from Columbus. So he joined us as well. Dave and I used to work boxing together years ago – so it was fun to catch up with him!

It was great to see Mark and this gave him ample opportunity for him to give me crap for not visiting last month when I was in Pittsburgh. He claimed the triplets cried when they found out I was in town and didn’t come over. Yeah right! But he did do a good job of making me feel bad.

Saturday was good. Since the NFL crew was setting up, it was tight quarters in the TV compound!


Our truck

2 of their 3 trucks

I hung out with Mark for a while in his truck. Which is always interesting to see how other shows have things set up.

Can't believe my football season is over!!

After the game, I flew to Louisville via Atlanta. While in Atlanta, I caught up with my friend Dave from Cincinnati. We then met up with a few other guys from Ohio and sat in the Delta Sky Club for a while. That always makes travel a little more tolerable when spent with friends.

On my flight from Atlanta to Louisville, I had an insane flight attendant. She was attempting to share her southern charm and zest for life – but basically she came across as an annoying nut job!

She never shut up on the PA. Went on and on about every branch of the military and giving them thanks, which is common. What’s not common is telling us about every person in her family and listing which branch they were in and which war they fought in. Then she went into this tirade about how the coast guard is an often forgotten branch of the military and never get thanked. It was very bizarre.

I just wanted to sleep.

Before landing, she approached each of us in the first class cabin and greeted us by name and shared a little story and thanked us for our loyalty to the airline. Her story for me was how her family was able to eat because she had a job with Delta – without my loyalty to the airline, she wouldn’t have a job and therefore her family would go hungry.

I finally escaped the loony lady and made my way to National to get a car. For a brief moment I considered taking a cab since I didn’t really need a car. But was already closer to National than the taxi stand.

Upon arrival to the hotel, I ran into several other crew members in the lobby. Several people from my football crew also flew from Tampa to Louisville to work the volleyball game tomorrow – but we flew different airlines.

There was only 1 person running the front desk so the line was long.
Next thing you know the flight crew from my flight walks in. Loony Lady recognized me and of course had to come over and talk to me and thank me and blah, blah, blah. Then when she realized I was with co-workers she started telling them what a loyal Delta customer I was.

It was a scene man!

Time for bed – have to be up in 6 hours.