frigid football loyal friends

Hi There. Some Housekeeping first. (livestrong.org)
Its great that Lance is running the Boston Marathon. He did 2:47 at new york. What do you think he can do at Boston...and for a man who conquered the huge mountains in the Tour, I would think Heartbreak Hill would not be that much of a problem for the 7 time Tour de France winner. I still would love to see him attack the Ironman. How fast would he cover the 112 mile bike portion???


Training

Snowy end to a great training week. 4 hours 30 minutes total from bike, run, elliptical, rope skipping, and my latest method of madness, rowing. Even though I notched my two upper body workouts, but missed a leg workout, I think it was a great week. My food consumption needs close monitoring.

Frigid Football, Loyal Friend

I write this while the AFC and NFC Title games are being played in cold, cold enviroments. In the 20's in New England and about zero in Green Bay. Kudos to the Einstein who thought it would be good to play a night game at Lambeau Field. Gheeesh. Speaking of Einstein. I so quickly left my car coming into the station today at 2:30 pm, that 4 hours later, I realized I had left it running in 14 degree weather. It was purring like a kitten. Toasty warm. It least I didn't lock it. What a goober!!!

As I watch Brett Favre and company, I flash back to my days with Casey Coleman. We were colleagues at Fox 8 for 17 years. Casey possessed a wit sharper than a drawer of knives. He spoke of a thermos. "It keeps, hot things hot, and it keeps cold things cold.......How does it know?".

Casey came from a legendary family of sportscasting. New Englanders who read this might remember Ken Coleman, the longtime voice of the Boston Red Sox. Casey chose his dads profession. My dad has been a insurance man. I chose something else. I believe I would have been swallowed by his shadow. Casey blossomed in his dads business, but he paid a price. Casey became an alcoholic. It wasn't until about 9 years ago that he climbed out of the bottle.
But on this Sunday, I think of Casey because of all those cold Browns games we covered.

This photo is of us doing a pregame show before the Browns met the Broncos in the playoffs in the 80's in Denver. Casey is on the left, I am on the right. It was the "Fumble" game. Browns fans don't need a reminder of what happened. We used to stand on a railing that was on the top of the Old Cleveland Browns Stadium. We were up so high and the railing hovered just over the field. We felt on top of the world all those Sundays, including the very frigid ones.

Back then, we could anticipate where every play was going. We had a birds eye view. Just yards below the heavens. Those were great times, second guessing the playcalls, cracking jokes.

Casey was a very loyal guy. Back when Bill Belichick was a rookie Browns coach, most everyone in town hated the guy. He was dour. Joyless at times. He ran everyones favorite q.b. Bernie Kosar out of town. Casey believed Bill would become a great coach. He was often a lone voice, touting Belichick's skills. Time proved Casey right. Its too bad Belichick would prove him right, but from another city,..Boston, not Cleveland.

This photo was taken, not long before Thanksgiving, 2006. A week after this was taken, Casey was dead of pancreatic cancer. He had fought it 15 months. He was Ali to cancers Frazier. He left an incredible legacy. Caseys fund at Recovery Resources helps those with addictions and mental illness receive treatment, they otherwise could not afford.
On his way to becoming sober and a lifesaver to many, Casey gave his life to the Lord. Touchdowns and Home Runs meant little to him. The only dunk that mattered was in the waters of Salvation.
When all was said and done...when, I, a humble friend, addressed the mourners at his funeral, I wondered out loud how Casey was enjoying the Heavenly Broadcast booth. And how he must have loved doing the play by play, while his dad was stuck doing the sideline reporting.

I think of Casey all the time. In the past 15 months, things that have happened in Cleveland Sports have made me wonder. Those midges that swarmed Joba Chamberlain of the Yankees during the playoffs. Did Casey have something to do with those?? Or the crazy bounce on the Phil Dawson field goal against Baltimore.
Casey used to kid me all the time about my triathlon training and racing. He thought I was nuts. I often think that myself. But through the myriad of life's experiences we have, our friends help shape us. They help guide us through the maze of life. Casey guides me, in some ways, from the grave.
Hey Case..should they have run the ball THAT play????