Bob's Blog

I thought I would tell you a little bit about my Saturday. I drove to Lincoln, Neb., to cover the Kansas-Nebraska game. On the way, I picked up my friend, Harold Bechard, who writes for the Hutchinson News and lives in Salina.

Harold is also a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan. We were able to find the game on radio and stayed with it for most of our drive from Salina to Lincoln. We were not happy when Jeff Cirillo’s two-run single in the seventh inning gave Milwaukee a 2-0 lead.

But in the bottom of the eighth, when Scott Spiezio’s bases-loaded triple cleared the bases and gave St. Louis a 3-2 lead, I went nuts. We were sitting in traffic at a Lincoln intersection and Harold was concerned that I would take my foot off the break and hit some pedestrians. I managed not to hurt anyone.

It was tremendous. Outstanding. Great stuff. I’m still riding a high. By the way, as I write this we’re still about 40 minutes away from kickoff.

This has been fun. Thanks to all of you who have responded to my blog post about the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, which will be the opening act for the Rolling Stones on Sunday night at Cessna Stadium.

I was completely underwhelmed by Tuesday’s announcement. And, though many of you have written to suggest that those of us who feel this way at least give BRMC a chance before making a judgement, it’s not about that. This is about having an opportunity to see another big-name act with the Stones. The anticipation had built during the past couple of weeks with rumors of a big-time band or solo act coming to town to accompany the Rolling Freaking Stones.

Since yesterday, I have listened to a few songs by BRMC. And they sound good. This is no doubt a quality band. But it’s a no-name band. I was listening to the morning show on T-95 this morning and even Phil and Hank were criticizing this choice. It creates no buzz. Now, you can argue that simply having the Rolling Stones is plenty enough buzz on its own. And that’s a pretty good argument.

I am excited about this concert. The opening act doesn’t make or break the deal for me. I would have preferred to see someone I had heard of, obviously. But I’ll be there to hear BRMC with an open mind.

Word is, we’re going to learn either today or tomorrow who will be opening in Wichita for Sunday night’s Rolling Stones concert at Cessna Stadium.

For a week now, I’ve been throwing out possibilities _ well-researched possibilities I might on _ on the Sports Daily radio show. Some of them include: Alan Jackson, Elvis Costello, James Gang, Boy George and Culture Club and Jerry Lee Lewis.

From what in-the-know people tell me, it’s sounding as if Elvis Costello is a pretty good possibility. I’m hoping for the James Gang because of the obvious: Joe Walsh. He’s in my favorite group, the Eagles. He spent his earliest years in a house about six blocks from where Sunday’s concert will be performed.

What do you think? Better hurry and reply to this one, an announcement could be coming any second.

I’m a big fan of the Eagles. Everybody knows that. Well, everybody who knows me knows that. Anyway, last week I went out and bought five Eagles CDs, CDs I already had but somehow lost over the years. I’ve probably bought all of the Eagles stuff at least five times through the years. Maybe more. I bought all the records, all the 8-tracks and all the CDs. I’ve purchased all of the group’s DVDs. And I have seen 17 Eagles concerts, as well as nine Don Henley solo concerts and a couple of Joe Walsh solo shows.

Doing some quick math, I figure I have spent somewhere around $1 million on the Eagles. Well, maybe not quite that much.

Anyway, I bring up the Eagles because there’s nothing I enjoy more in life than putting an Eagles CD in while I’m driving and singing along. I used to do a pretty good job with that. But now I have lost my high pitch and it shows. It’s frustrating. When I try to get to those high notes, I fail. The sound is not good.

Anyway, I wish I could get that back. But I think my vocal chords are shot.

I just returned from the funeral of Anita, who died this week. She had been sick for a long time and my relationship with her was strained. In fact, I had not seen her in many years.

She battled mental illness for most of her adult life and was 15 years older than me. But during the times when she was well, she was so much fun. She was a human storm of emotion, so passionate about anything and everything. She was definitely my mother’s daughter. Sometimes, all of that emotion could be overwhelming.

Anita was so beautiful when she was young. Thin as a rail, gorgeous eyes, curly hair. But I wasn’t around here all that much because she was so much older. The times I was with her, I had fun. She took me to Joyland. We went to drive-in movies. And when she was 27, she had a son, Curtis, who was the joy of her life.

Curtis used to spend the night with me and my parents quite often. I became very close to him. I don’t think there has ever been a cuter, more enjoyable kid. I so looked forward to him coming to our house and even though I was 12 years older, he seemed more like a brother to me than a nephew.

Well, Curtis is almost 40 now. And, until this week, I had pretty much lost touch with him, too. But I saw him at the funeral _ he has always been one of the most gentle, kind people. It amazes me that he came from the volcano of spirit that was my sister.

Curtis, fortunately, has a strong support system. His father and brother were also at the funeral. But I’m going to re-connect with him because I have missed him. I missed my sister, too. Out of her death something good will come.