I wanted to spread some love for some great people involved in local businesses and events this week on the old Blog.       First I would like you to get out and support the Third Annual Mac Arnold Cornbread and Collared green Blues Festival. It’s four night of great music all to raise funds for the Ronald McDonald Houses of the Carolina’s Mac is a True Blues Legend and one of the most giving and hardworking people I know. His Band, Plate full of Blues is equally as cool and dedicated to helping children through music. So please go to wwwmacarnold.com and check the schedule of shows running through Saturday and find out about the raffle for one of Mac’s signature “Gas Can Guitars” a very special item anyone would love to have.      Second of all I wanted to talk about a great South Carolina original and a product that will just knock your socks off when you try it. It’s Uncle Pete’s BBQ sauce. The family owned company has been passed along through three generations of the family and has represented our State as a National Award winner from The National BBQ Association Award of Excellence! They are Based right here in Simpsonville so you’re supporting a great local company and let me tell you you’re enjoying some incredibly tasty sauce. Use as a dipping sauce, cook with it, marinade, pour it your baked beans and try it on all your favorite things to grill! It’s a little sweet a little smoky and tangy.  I tell you it’s even replaced Marinara on my Meat ball sandwiches. I’m also looking for your special recipe using Uncle Pete’s sauces as well so once you try it e-mail me you recipe and name to bblades@entercom.com  Uncle Pete’s BBQ sauce in three flavors available at The Cider house in T.R. Rey’s Market and Bistro in Greenville, the New York Butcher shops in Greenville and Greer And you can find it at the Carolina First Farmers Market Downtown Greenville this weekend from 8a-12p. Stop by and load up and say Hi to The owner Tom and his great family!And I also wanted to say congratulations to my old Friend Chris Martin and his wife as they take over ownership of the down town Greenville Institution the HOT DOG KING! Located down on Main st. It’s been a favorite for many for years and years and it couldn’t be in better hands. Please stop by and say hello and have a Hot Dog or 5 and tell Chris that Brian sent you by to say congratulations!      Great people doing great things right here in the upstate. Let’s show them the support and appreciation so they can continue to grow and give back to the Upstate for years to come!     

I can’t explain why this subject popped into my head today but I’m just going to run with it err maybe I’ll just punt! Yes I said punt.  Today I realized that I think I may have pursued the wrong career. I think I should have been an NFL punter.  I can’t really say why I feel this way other than something deep down in my ever growing gut tell me that’s what I really should have done.      I mean back in the day I was a pretty good football player, had a little speed decent moves, good hands, just didn’t have the size, or as some coaches would say the attention span to really go far in the game. Back then the punter was just who ever could kick the ball farther than everyone else on the team. I could have been the QB the RB the Flanker, heck our best kickers seemed to be Linemen as I recall.         I just don’t know why I didn’t try a little harder to be the punter. I mean it wasn’t the glory position, but man if I’d just worked at it, who knows, I could been one of the greats.  Just think all you had to do was kick the ball all week keeping you’re leg ready to go. And then find yourself on a great team that has a great offense and maybe you’d have to go out there and kick what 4-5 times a game and the rest of the time just hang loose. But then again I could have ende3d up on a bad team like The Detroit Lions in the 70’s . I could have been Herman Weaver the long time Lions kicker who must have had to punt 10 times a game as bad as they were. So bad in fact Herman Weaver still holds the record for most punts blocked in a career! But who would care you would have still been an NFL player, right!      But wait, there’s that part about being the outcast on the team, pretty much left out when it came to being a team member, and those single bar face masks, and the wimpy shoulder pads no pads in your pants and having to go retrieve all those balls you had to kick in practice! Damn that would have sucked. I don’t think I would have liked fetching my own balls everyday, that’s a hell or a lot of walking.        Oh well maybe I found the right career after all. I mean I get to play rock music all day, talk, talk, talk and talk even more, god knows I do like doing that. Plus I get to be a part of a great team. So Scratch all of what I just wrote above, I’m pretty happy with my career path after all. I just wish DJ’s had some kind of jersey and our name on our backs, and maybe something to kick every once in a while, cause I still think that would be fun to be able to kick the **** out of something every once in a awhile. Like every night after I watch the news!!!

All of us who grew up in Detroit  had to live through some pretty lean years with the Detroit Tigers, and no season was tougher than 1976. The Tigers just plain sucked. But we had a very talented group of players that were in the minore leagues then that whould eventually go on to win the world series in 1984. Lance Parrish, Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammel, Jack Morris, Dan Petry and this curly haired freak from rual New England Named Mark Fidrych. He was a odd young man on the pitchers mound. patting down the lumps of dirt on the mound and talking to the ball when it wouldn’t go where he wanted it to go. He had the floppy hair and a happy go lucky attitude like a little kid. He was just what Tiger fans needed. He was the first of the young group of player to join the big club, and for one amazing season he took the world of baseball by storm. When He pitched  Tiger stadium was sold out, other teams and national networks changed there schedules around when the bird was pitching He even Made the american league allstar team that year. The nick name came pretty quick. The Blonde curls his giant feet and he antics on the mound reminded everyone of Big Bird From Seasame street.

     Well Marks career didn’t last to long,  after a serties of freak injuries he only had one really great year as a matter a fact. And for those of us lucky enough to see him well will take the one season anytime. Mark Fidrych passed away yesterday after being involved in a mishap on his farm. I just wanted to say Thanks for all the great memories Mark and we will all miss you and love you forever you made being a Tiger fan something special back then Thanks Bird!

So I’ve been trying to figure out why I’ve had a generally good feeling about things these despite all the problems in the country/world today and I realized one thing. I’ve stopped watching the news! I don’t watch any of the opinion shows anymore, no hard news, no talk shows, not even reading the paper.(not like i have read a page of news print in the past few years!) I don’t know if this really is a good thing, to be totally in the dark about whats happening in the world these days but at least for now it’s seems to have been a good thing for me.

           Now while i’ve ignored the news I’ve started to watch sports again. Sure I follow my Redwings pretty close, but I’ve been also watching basketball, racing,baseball and various other B level sports. And I have been enjoying it! It used to be that watching sports was a hard thing for me, I would get way to into a game and start getting all stressed out and angry about the outcome of certain games, it would effect my mood for the next day or so and therfore effect the way my day would go or even my week. So I made a decision not to let sports effect me like that.

      I’ve now made that same decision with regard to the news. I still believe we should be informed and know whats going on in our world around us, but i’ve decided that it’s just not worth overloading my brain with information and postion myself to be ready to argue with anyone I cross paths with who doesn’t seem to care or know whats going on.

So I offer to those of you who have been grinding yourself into a stress ball over politic’s for the past few years a great way to turn your life  around. Watch the Masters this weekend,and not CNN or Fox or any political news programing. Enjoy a great Easter weekend with friends and family, go catch some great live music,go to the park, and see how you feel when monday comes around. man it’s like the light just turned on in a pitch black room,I promise you!