I Love Everybody

During this trying week, I've become extremely nostalgic and appreciative of the friends that I have, yet disappointed in myself for having lost touch with so many. I've basically been in "I Love You, Man" mode and I think it's starting to drive folks crazy (including myself). Losing a friend, especially one who was as young and had as much to live for as Kathryn, is tough. But it's made me realize a few things. For one, it made me think of Dale Murphy.

Dale Murphy was an all-star for the Atlanta Braves in the late 70's into the 80's. He was a shining star on a horrible team during an era of futility for the franchise. Not only did he put up Hall of Fame numbers (yet he's still inexplicably not in Hall); he had more character and class than any of his peers. The team was a perennial cellar dweller with the exception of one hopeful season. In 1982, The Braves did the unthinkable - they won their division and made the playoffs. Years later, I heard a story from the late Braves broadcaster, Skip Caray, that I have never forgotten and that speaks volumes about the kind of person Murphy was/is. The team clinched the division on a west coast road trip and had a long flight back to Atlanta. During the flight, Murphy got out of his seat and went to the back of the plane. He then proceeded to approach each and every one of his teammates and remind them of a play that they had made that season which had gotten them where they were.

"Hey Raffy, remember that diving catch you made against the Cardinals in June that stopped a big inning? We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that."

"Hey Gene, remember striking out the side in the ninth against the Dodgers last month that won the game for us? We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that."

"Hey Chris, remember the game winning home run you had against Houston? We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for that."

Dale Murphy was a selfless leader who cared more about the team than himself, and he wanted everyone on that plane to realize the contribution they had made to his own, as well as the team's, success.

Now am I comparing myself to Dale Murphy? Hell no. That man has more character and class in his toenails that I'll ever have. I'll be the first to admit that I have issues and character flaws. But I will say this - I love my friends. And it's because of them that I have at least some amount of good in me. Even the ones that I haven't seen or spoken to in a long time, I still think about and miss dearly. People give me shit about having a thousand Facebook friends (which I certainly deserve). But, like Dale Murphy, I can point to each one of them, Facebook or otherwise, and tell you how that person has affected me as well as influenced or shaped my life in a positive way. If you're reading this and you're a friend of mine, you should already know that. I am and always will be fiercely loyal to my friends, albeit sometimes to a fault. If that's considered a flaw, I can live with that and continue to work on the other obvious ones.

Ok, after two downer posts I promise now to get back to our regularly scheduled programming of things that are weird. hilarious or just piss me off in general. Thanks for indulging me.