40 things about my brother

My brother (let’s call him Kevin, because that’s what my parents named him) turns 40 years old today. So I decided to list 40 things about my brother and things from his life...

1. When I was little (maybe 6?), he dressed me up in his old football uniform (including helmet & pads) and took me out in the backyard to play tackle football (i.e. beat the crap out of me).

2. When I was little (probably still 6), he would let me ride with him as he drove our family station wagon around the backyard and then make me help him cover up the tracks.

3. We would play a game inside that was a 2 player version of pickle. The fireplace was a base and the sofa was a base. One player was the fielder while the other player was the runner. The fielder would toss the tennis ball up in the air and try to catch it and tag out the runner before the runner got to the base. It might not sound like much, but it was fun.

4. I went to stay with him and my sister-in-law for a couple of weeks one summer when they lived outside of Atlanta (back in 1995, maybe?). We went to Braves games (at good ol’ Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium) almost every night. Some of the highlights include a night where we saw Greg Maddux face Oral Hershiser and the nights we got to boo Barry Bonds (back before the world was booing Barry Bonds).

5. He gave me my first beer back in **** when I was *** years old.

6. He was the first child for my parents (and the first grandchild for both sets of grandparents)... making him the Golden Child Who Could Do No Wrong.

7. His footprints are in the concrete under my grandparents (on my Dad’s side of the family) carport. He was the only grandchild to be honored in such a way.

8. He played baseball for James Island High School for 4 years.

9. While playing for JI, his team won a region title (note, it was one title... I won 4 Region Titles, plus 2 Lower State Championships, plus 2 State Championships, but this isn’t about me).

10. He also played basketball for James Island High School.

11. While playing basketball against Wando, He suffered a concussion. There was a video of this (not sure if it still exists) and on this video you hear my Dad (and I think my Mom) talking. Kevin goes down and you hear someone off camera (Mom?) say something (sounds worried) and then you hear my Dad (not at all worried) say “Nah, he’ll be ok”, “He’ll get up”. Then the tape cuts off (because he wasn’t getting up). *****Not to get off subject again, but this reminds me of when I got knocked out during a baseball game at Summerville. It was at night early in the season (which means it was FREEZING) and my Dad was watching the game from his car down the first baseline). From what I hear, after I went down Dad didn’t want to get out of the car (“I can’t help him... I’m not a doctor” is a quote I’ve heard attributed to him). Thank God other people were around besides my Dad when we got knocked down or who knows what would have happened to us!

12. He turned a triple play in an American Legion baseball game.

13. He had a Commodore 64 for his first computer.

14. He had a baseball game for that Commodore 64 that is STILL the best baseball video game I’ve ever played.

15. He was something like 60 for 61 in stolen bases for his baseball career.

16. He was named MVP of the JI baseball team his Junior and Senior years (probably because Coach Hatley was the one counting the votes... I’m just sayin...).

17. He was recruited to play baseball at The Citadel for the great Chal Port.

18. He turned them down.

19. The Citadel went on a couple years later to have the GREATEST SEASON IN SCHOOL (and probably conference) HISTORY! They won the SoCon and made it to the College World Series (and won a game while they were there)!!! WOW!

20. He went to Clemson where he was a student when Danny Ford was forced out. Oh, and he met his future wife while there. Hmm... Wife or memories of the GREATEST SEASON IN SCHOOL HISTORY (at a school that is VERY proud of its history). I mean, he could have been a legend...

(Can you hear me laughing?)

21. True story: A man walks up to me and Dad at the JI baseball game this past Monday night. Shakes my hand and Dad’s hand, jerks his head in my direction and says “Is this the one that turned The Citadel down?” (this is funny to me because, A: Kevin is a lot older than me and B: I’m a lot bigger than him). Dad says “no” and the guy goes on to talk about how Kevin could have started for The Citadel and gone to the College World Series. This made me laugh (see #20).

22. He lived with his future in-laws after college (but before he got married). Interesting fact... I am the only child from our family to not live with my parents or in-laws at any point after I graduated from college. Guess that’s the difference between a Clemson education and a Winthrop education.
23. Part of why I became a Cubs fan is that he was a Cardinals fan.

24. He’s an Army fan because I’m a Navy fan.

25. He was born just a couple of weeks after Apollo 13 came back to Earth.

26. He was born a few days before the Kent State shootings.

27. He was born in between The Beatles breaking up and releasing their last Album.

28. Sonny Liston, Janis Joplin, Vince Lombardi, and Jimi Hendrix all died the year Kevin was born.

29. Alonzo Mourning, Queen Latifah, Vince Vaughn, Andre Agassi, Phil Mickelson, and Chris O’Donnell were all born the same year as Kevin.

30. He belonged to a NASCAR-like Bicycle Racing group in our neighborhood that was impressively run by teenagers (including, I think, Kevin). In all honesty, kids today could use something like that.

31. He turned a double play with me in an American Legion Old-Timers Game (the first and last time we were on the field together).

32. Our parents video taped all (or almost all) of his high school baseball and basketball games. (They video taped NONE of mine... even though by the time I played technology had advanced by light-years from where it was when he played... but I’m not bitter).

33. High School and American Legion baseball were regularly covered by the local media when Kevin played (which led to him being on the news and in the newspaper far more than his younger [but more talented] “little” brother. Again... I’m not bitter).

34. When I was in 8th grade, I remember we went to *********** and ********* where we saw ************** and I’ll never forget ***************************** *************************************************************************
***********************I mean, WOW! And then we **************************** *************************************************************************
**************************************************************************
*********************************************************. Boy, what a great bachelor party THAT was!

35. Aerosmith is formed the same year Kevin is born.

36. Simon & Garfunkel break-up the year Kevin was born.

37. The first episode of All My Children was broadcast on ABC the year Kevin was born.

38. He is a Miami Dolphins fan (haha... sucker).

39. He went from the business world to education as a way to “give back” to the community (and get summers off).

40. He played against future MLB pitcher Bryce Florie (who I’m sure credits Kevin with helping him catch the eyes of MLB scouts).

There you have it. You now know 40 things about my brother that you probably didn’t know before reading this.

Happy Birthday Kevin!


****Note: Sorry, I had to edit some of the information in this post due to legal reasons.*****