What would they say?

After losing a bet on the 2025 NCAA basketball championship this past year to a dear friend of my dad's, we met up for Mineo's Pizza, and the loser of our bracket challenge has to buy pizza, just like when my dad and I did a bracket challenge. Same concept, most games won over the tournament wins the challenge. My dad didn't quite have the advantage that his friend Mike had, but he always made it enjoyable, and I had to buy a couple of times in our father-son rivalry. Mike is the bracket analyst for the Big Ten Network and Fox Sports. He also writes for Sporting News as a college basketball writer and has been to the last several NCAA final fours as a writer. If there is a major college basketball game during the regular season, there is a good chance Mike is there. I got a photo of him last season sitting in front of the Cameron Crazies before a Duke vs North Carolina matchup at Cameron Indoor on Duke's campus. So Mike raises the challenge. I won the first round of our matchup, Mike cleaned the floor with me the second time of our challenge, and does not shy away from rubbing it in, but in my defense of my loss, he does do this for a living.

While we were getting lunch, we were talking about the Steelers and their offseason, and Mike mentioned, as he has plenty of times, that he wonders what Tom's views are on the moves that the Steelers have made this offseason and last. I wonder the same thing, but on baseball with my dad. What would my dad say about Paul Skenes with the Pirates?

In my memoir on Grief, Ebbs and Flows, Mike wrote the foreword, and at the end of his message, he shared that he won't get to make more memories with his loved ones, but he will always have his current memories of them. I think about this phrase often. Although my dad didn't get to watch Paul Skenes with me in person, I think he would be just as awe-struck with Skenes as I am every time I watch Paul pitch. I know how much he loved the Pirates and getting to enjoy baseball with me, I don't doubt in my mind that he is keeping tabs on the Bucs from above. I wonder what my dad thought about the Buckeyes winning the national title game. Mike asked me over lunch, which I had to pay for, if I would rather have the Michigan game be a win or have won the National Championship. I chose the National Championship title because, to Michigan fans, that was their national title. Still, it motivated Ohio State to play angrily the rest of the season.

If asked the same question, I wonder what my dad's input would be. Dad and I attended a couple of Ohio State vs Michigan games together. In 2008, we saw my mother's former student, Terrelle Pryor, dismantle Michigan 42-7. In 2016, Dad and I saw a classic, Ohio State beat Michigan in double overtime when JT Barrett definitely got that first down. (Video replay showed that Barrett did not cross the line to gain, but the refs on the field didn't overturn the play) The Buckeyes won 30-27. We got to go on the field after the game, which was an excellent memory. We went to an OSU vs Michigan game more recently, in which the Buckeyes lost, a CJ Stroud game: in 2022, Ohio State led at halftime, made no adjustments, and ended up losing to J.J. McCarthy and Co. Ohio State is on a losing streak to Michigan of about 4 years without a victory. But substituting a national title for the Michigan game, I don't know if even my dad would replace that game.

If I miss one thing more than anything else about my dad and Tom, it is their endless number of stories. From a trip to Ireland and Scotland to play golf, and Tom had the most insufferable caddie named Ian, to my dad and Tom evacuating a hotel because they were responsible for setting off the sprinkler systems in the hotel using a blow dryer, to the great courses they played. There are also the stories my dad would tell about sporting events he got to attend over the years, he went to Ohio State at Penn State in Happy Valley for a white out, and it was a game that Ohio State came back and won by a point, 39-38. My dad would always say what a fantastic experience that was. We attended Ohio State at Texas a long time ago when Texas and Ohio State were both ranked in the top 5. Ohio State won 24-7 in dominating fashion. We were at the Ohio State vs Oklahoma game when Baker Mayfield shredded our defense and planted the Oklahoma flag at the center of the field in the ultimate show of disrespect. The crown jewel of our sports moments was attending a game at every stadium in baseball. We also had the opportunity to chat one evening at dinner, as we were nearing the end of our quest for what our favorite memories were, who the best players we witnessed live were, and our favorite stadiums in order. I will always cherish the fact that shortly before my dad passed, I was able to take him to his final stadium so he could complete his quest. I had attended a game in Philadelphia a long time ago with my mom and cousins, but for some reason, my dad didn't come with us. Late in September of 2023, I was able to get my dad tickets behind home plate to see the Phillies play at Citizens Bank Park.

As Mike said to wrap up the foreword in the book, "I will not make more memories with these wonderful people. I will always have these." That is how I feel, my dad and Tom were wonderful human beings, and both were important to me and my upbringing. It pains me greatly when I think of losing Tom unexpectedly shortly after my father passed away. I know Tom wanted to be there for me and help me process my dad's passing and guide me through life. I know now that he told someone close to us that he would be there for me whenever I needed him. The pain I have when I realize that he isn't here anymore, too, is more damaging to my recovery process than I thought it would be. I am incredibly thankful, though, for the relationship that I have built with Mike, because he was close with my dad and Tom. He carries their legacy that they left behind. Although I had to buy Mike pizza because I lost the bracket challenge this year, as my dad would always say, "There is always next year".