Go 99ers!

I am at an editorial impasse today. Two, no three, items are circling my brain much like fruit flies around rancid durian on a hot Singaporean afternoon.

For those of you in the know, THAT would look almost as bad as it would smell.

Here are my options:

• 1) Super Bowl (whatever Roman Numeral we are at these days). Or a story of one.
• 2) My luncheon with a truly gifted and insightful friend. Whose opinion I highly value.
• 3) The stock market is melting down. Go 99%ers!

At the risk of mentioning them all, and hence losing any important details that each carry, here we go.

It was 38 years ago. Me and my buddy (who as serendipitously as can be is now a department head-honcho at The Disney Network)  and I had just spent the morning and afternoon watching Super Bowl XIV between the bad-ass Pittsburgh Steelers and our hometown underdogs, the LA Rams. More than a few beers were consumed in the process. By half-time we were in the local bar rounding up the remaining members of our crew for what would surely be an exciting conclusion.

At the time I was living in LA, a place I did not want to be, working in the auto parts business, as a part owner of a parts store along with my wife's two brothers and Dad. It was a business I didn't want to be in. I suppose the trifecta was that fact that I wanted out of the marriage partnership as well. Oh for three to mix a sports metaphor. Maybe third and long would be better. As a counter guy (and machine shop grease monkey) I started to take bets on the big game, everything from the obligatory pools to which team would score first, last and most often. I had a semi-small amount riding on the outcome. The Rams were holding their own until the fourth quarter when Terry Bradshaw hit John Stallworth for a TD inches over the outstretched arms of Ram safety Nolan Cromwell. Game.

None the less we partied on into the night and as the sun rose on a new day I called home to explain. Wife was none to happy, partners pissed and crew missing. So I did what any complete loser would do and took a cab to the airport and bought a one-way ticket to Seattle.

The pay phone that I later used to call (beg) for money to buy a return ticket is no longer there. It was replaced by a shopping center about 15 years ago. As I drove by its former site on my way to lunch with my dear friend today, this a pitch meeting for the screen-play, I heard the radio report that the stock market, the dow and the general commodity known as Wall Street was melting.

I know how ya feel boys. Sometimes it takes a big-time loss to understand the true meaning of winning. Go 99ers!