My Ramblings...

I'm in a slow period at work, so just thought I'd mention a few things on my mind and places I have been...

* First off, I got a post from some Phillies fans and I checked out their blog and nearly choked on my food while laughing at the same. Their blog is named We Should Be GM's, mostly centered around Phillies baseball and has a lot of good stuff on it.

* Second, I am no fan of the Red Sox, but I love Fenway Park and rooted for them to win it all 2004. I guess what mystifies me about the Red Sox and their fanbase is their utter devotion to their team, to the point I wonder if there's much else that goes on there. However, I can imagine before 2004, it was tragic and losing big series in a seemingly always dramatic fashion makes one even that more passionate of a fan.

I have a friend who lives in Marblehead, Mass. and he's a Red Sox fan. I thought most of them bordered on psychotic until I met him right after the 2004 World Series. He was a recently hired employee who telecommuted & came down to Maryland for orientation, since our headquarters was stationed there. I am a computer consultant, so handed him his laptop and spoke to him a little bit.

Upon talking about the 'o4 Series, he was happy they won and he mentioned his father who had died several years ago in our conversation. I noticed he started crying and I wondered did I do something wrong.

He just was very emotional that the Red Sox had won and his father didn't get to see that happen. I almost felt bad, but at the same time, realized the emotional connection that sports, no matter hot trivial it can be has on people and families.

At that moment, I understood the plight and passion of Red Sox fans. No matter how nutty I think some are, I understand and appreciate the love they have for their team.

He and I have a 20+ year age difference, are of different races, different lifestyles and everything, but thething might has made us good friends was the sport of baseball. In that time, I have met his family and gotten to share stories about life and whatever else, so in a way, yes, the plight of the Red Sox have helped me to make friends whom I would have not met otherwise.

That's why when I went on cnnsi.com, I caught this and it reminded me again how the Red Sox, baseball can intersect one's life:

"Kathryn Gemme, a lifelong Red Sox fan who followed the team since the days of Babe Ruth, has died. She was 112.Gemme died at the Nemasket Healthcare Center in Middleborough on Friday, according to the O'Neill Funeral Home. As an 18-year-old, she attended her first game at Fenway Park in 1912 shortly after the ballpark opened. At 109, Gemme was greeted by catcher Jason Varitek and former player and coach Johnny Pesky during her last game in May 2004.Team officials brought the 2004 World Series trophy to her 111th birthday party in November 2005."

Amazing.

* Getting PAID after you SCREW up! Only in corporate America as a CEO, can you start a job, leave the company worse off than when you arrived and get paid handsomely for it. To the tune of $214 million, you have to read the story of Bob Nardelli, who resigned Jan. 3 as CEO of Home Depot. Ths makes me sick...

* An Everyday Hero: If faced with the choice that Wesley Autrey had to face, I am not sure if I would have done it. You have the read this and feel better that in our crazy world of ours, there are people who act selflessly rather in the interest of themselves. If there were more people like Mr. Autrey, the world would be a better place. He's the toast of NYC, a crazy, dog-eat-dog, fast-paced city and deservedly so. Even though the story will be a part of history next week and the media will move onto the next big thing, let's not forget the sacrifice Mr. Autrey made in order to save his fellow man, one who was a stranger to he.