Help Me Rhonda

It was Tuesdays. I think I said Monday at the end. But you're obviously gotten about five hours ago. So we're back on point.

What we're seeing, all these billions of dollars going to different countries, different ridiculous, ridiculous pockets for people to just take money and launder it or take it, just take it. We're finding out maybe I think three different senators might have taken twenty million dollars from USAID. It's the biggest scandal that's ever been perpetrated on the American people. And I don't know how anybody can stand outside and have a placard saying this has to earn. It's got to

end because you got caught clearly. So you know, he can knock up twenty five girls, I don't care. He's got the money and the means to make that happen, and he keeps doing his best work for America. And you know, I just heard someone say this, It's so true. There are a lot of countries in Europe who are extremely jealous that a man with his intelligence and him having the most money in the world works with us, works alongside Trump. Other countries would do anything to have

him help clean up their governments. But that's the way it shook out. We got them so obviously, you know, thirty one days of Oscars. I'm watching a lot of movies like I always do, but lately I've been watching The Godfather a lot. I don't know, I just I feel like, you know, I'm reading this Jimmy Breslaw book like I've been talking about, and it's bringing up all the old memories of me being a kid and running to the newspaper on Sundays to get his short story.

You know, Jimmy Bresden was a city columnist. He read about murders and cops and crime and just things the city wasn't doing right. He was the big protector and he had the loudest voice, and I mean that figuratively and literally, and just a remarkable person to dictate all the things that were happening in New York City. And for a very long period of time. Of course, he was the guy that got letters from son of Sam he had a friggin serial killer was a pen pal.

That was an amazing time to be alive in New York. I mean that one year nineteen seventy seven blackouts in New York, Puerto Ricans set up bombs all around Manhattan. The Yankees getting the World Series again against the Dodgers, they rekindled that relationship. We had the big Blackout, As I said, Studio fifty four opened David Burke with Summer

of Sam. It was an amazing summer. And that's when Bresln was just somebody I looked up to him, just always thought I wanted to be like because I could read his stories and he wrote very simple sentences, very strong and loud, like I tend to do. Uh, That's what can I tell you. I loved his stories and

what he did on the weekend. Sometimes during the week when there wasn't any crime to report or anything scandalous to go on, he would have these characters he invented that he would write about their travails in the city, and these were all you know. He grew up in East Harlem around a lot of mafio, So there were mafia back then in East Harlem. Uh, specifically East Harlem. Funny, that's where Richi Esposito, who wrote the book, is from.

And he he concocted these characters. One was called Anokio, which is an old Italian man with one eye. The wolf I Loopo was another way. All these characters, and they write these little they were not They weren't short stories. There were a thousand words, fifteen hundred words. But you get to know these people and they weren't even alive. He just invented them. But the oh, he made them a part of the fabric of me York City and

I just couldn't get enough of it. But back in that era, the Godfathers came out and it changed everything for me, just as much as journalism did. Movies and acting came crashing in and I was hooked on both things at the same time. So I've been watching godfather a lot. I mean I used to leave it on TV in my other house, just all day, all night, like, just let it run. When it runs out, it'll start again on DVD. I just I'll kick the sound down. If it was up to a good part, I'd put

the sound up and watch for ten minutes. I love doing that. It's just the best movie ever. I know many of you haven't seen it. I'm not gonna sit here and chastise you. I don't know how it could be, but for God's sake, make that move and see Godfathers one and two. Don't see three. Three's a piece of shit,

like I was gonna say yesterday, but forgot. Eli Wallach is in Baby Ball, an old Jewish actor playing a Sicilian and Baby Ball, and then of course he's in Godfather Free playing in old Italian again, and it looks so ridiculous because now when he was young, younger and baby Doll, he did have a little bit of a

Mediterranean look. Not in nineteen whatever the Gold for eighty something, he looked like an old Jewish man and he didn't have the manners was downright, And of course he made that killer Canoli for to give to Michael slip to Michael poleone think just so stupid. So but I'm watching it a lot, and uh, not to get too political, so I promised this show is really fun, but I

want to make this point. I think what we're watching h is very close to what we see when I watch The Godfather, and the way the sons in the rack with the father, I feel like it's very similar to President Trump and his sons. He's got some really strong soldiers beside him, including his sons and possibly Baron Trump is going to be on there. Really, people don't need to test. I mean what, he's already six eight

sixty nine, whatever he is, he's a giant. And what he whispered into Joe Biden's at the inauguration was so cold. The lip reader says. He just said to him, it's on. And then he walked back to his mom and she said, try to be nice, and she smiled at him, and he looked back at Biden, who was still looking. Oh my god. You could see Biden's Irish smile turned down so quickly. Densher's were invisible. He just had a big

frown on his face. He shook him to his core because he finally realized that this trouble ahead, the thing about Trump and his sons. I'm gonna tell you there's no Fredo in the group. You can make fun snl of Eric all you want. He's no Fredo. Trump's got two Michaels and one Sonny. Okay, And I'm not sure if right now. Baron won't turn into the biggest Michael, but I'll give him Sonny right now. Because he's younger and scrappier than Donald Jr. I'll make him Michael for now.

But I love what he did. I know he's a giant nowadays, but I still see him as that little baby boy, well not a baby, but that young kid in twenty fifteen, twenty sixteen. And one of the reasons why I got back in touch with the Trump and wanted to apologize after that whole dust uff on how it's dourned was because I sowed a a twenty twenty I think episode of him and his kids, and it just suddenly appeared to me, appealed to me that you know what, this guy's not a prick to his kids.

I always thought it was out all night with models and you know, going to this place and that place, and but you know, his kids were so loving to him on that show that I said, I got to write this. I got to write the man, this is ridiculous. And I wrote him a long letter about he's a good man and a good father and I was too young and stupid to know that. And you know, he accepted the apology, as you guys know, and we all

were at right now. But he's got he's taught his kid's confidence and toughness and even how to get through danger. You know, you remember, Don that's a crazy segue. Remember dodgeball back in the day. Remember when I remember going to gym class in elementary school and climb the ropes and gym class working on the rings. That was always scary to me. They were very intimidating to go up the rope and put tape but your name on it on top of the ceiling of the gym. I could

never do it. I could never get up there. Mister Reeves, my old gym teacher, would sit against the stage and count his cash. I don't know why he did it. He clearly want to be in the gym with us. They bark a few orders out, I got that rope, Benz Doc, come on, you know, just a real prick of a man. But those were intimidating times for a lot of us young boys. But I loved gym class.

When I walked in the gym and see that mister Reeves had taken on a bunch of gymnastics equipment but threw big wrestling mats over them, and he turned the gym into an obstacle course that I loved. And you know, we were just we just made tougher that then jumping over parallel bars and going up ropes. And I don't think you can do that anymore in school. I just don't. But speaking of dodgeball, that carried on into the early eighties.

I mean it went on past that, but in the eighties it was big because when I was a camp counselor at Driftwood Day Camp, where Jack was a head swimming instructor. It's a great camp, eight weeks in the summer, filled with mostly Jewish kids, as Long Island camps tend to be. I was the counselor of the Barracudas, just a messy haired group of thirteen year old boys who gave me my first taste of loving to coach kids at sports, at girls, at life, at being tough, at

being funny. I just I like being around boys. And I don't mean that in a Michael Jackson sort of way, but I love that camaraderie of forming a boy, you know, casting him into something strong and smart. But they gave me my first taste of loving, that sort of feeling, and it's insane to even think this was allowed back then. But on some days we take the whole lot of them to a local beach for like four hours, and each council would drive their group of kids on a

short school bus. Will I don't even remember ever having to prove to any camp administrator that I was a good driver or had a license and good standing. I looked that was even asked of me. I'm nineteen years old. Their kids are thirteen. This is ridiculous, and we were on that bus. Oh god. I used to have all the boys, you know, tell me which girls they liked, and the female Barracuda group, who eathing is cute? Who

do you like? And they get so red faced. They were starting to feel sex cruel, you know what I mean. They're thirteen. But it was a little more innocent of a time back then, although it was more normal. No one had cell phones, so everybody had to socialize and play and get through life facing people in the eye, you know, not texting, not leaving and making you an email. Go up and talk to the girl, go up and

talk to the guy. It just it makes you a better person and there was a There was a group of girls who had already started to develop in the Barracudas group. You know, thirteen year old girls can develop quicker obviously the boys do. And they were led by a very pretty girl named Rita Kaufman, Jewish girl about my age. I was nineteen twenty years old back then, and she was short, but she was stacked, and she was very shy, and it took me the whole summer

to get with her. I mean the whole summer, and until I did, I used to take this tall Italian girl named Rnda into the big walk in freezer as we made believe we were, you know, getting juice boxes for the kids, the orange juices and all that red grape juices, all that shit. There was a big freezer that you could open up from the inside. But you know, she was so sexy and cute, and we were both young, and you know how it is. But whenever she was around then on her own, I'd make sure she knew

that we should probably hit the big freezer. The problem was Ronda was dating an older counselor at the camp, and not even a good looking guy. I didn't know what the hell she saw on. I think he had a car or something that was knife forget, But I was like, what's this guy do with you? But what I used to do, I'd walk up near her wherever she was when she was on her own, and I'd start to saying, help me, rond, to help help me, Rond,

to help me round. And she knew where I was going to go, so I'd beat it to the freezer and wait for her secret knock and I'd let her in for about thirty forty five seconds, and we try to get away with as much as we could. And you know, i'd have my hand on all the good places like you did back then. Rushing things couldn't take it slow back then. But the kids never knew that. But on the bus on the way to the beach, some of our talks got pretty dicey with those kids.

For thirteen year olds, I mean I could tell who going to be the Romeo's right way, the heartbreakers, the nerds. You could see at that age. I had this kid on the squad named Richie Collins. We all called him Crash because one day smashed a go cart into a wall to show off to a girl. He had a crush on, scraped his knees and shit didn't cry. It was a big crash too, so you got the name Crash Collins. But that day, once we got to the actual beach, they would, like I said, twenty two kids

running in every direction. Naturally, we're not supposed to curse in front of the kids or even put our hands on that's out. Can't hit the kid. I mean, even though it was a different time, you still shouldn't put your hands on a kid, right. I don't mean, like really hurt them, just like playful put your hands on them, like you know, slap fight that kind of shit. But

that didn't matter to me. That lasted about a week, okay, and then it was right back to me being me and then knowing that I meant business the way I am and the other councils were different. Well too bad, you got me. It's more fun. But one time on the way back from the beach, they they were all on a show high, you know, and we get up and down up the seats and they're talking to walking

across the aisle throwing paint. But there's no seat belts on this bus back then, And like I said, I'm nineteen or so, and there's six shares younger than I am, and their lives were really hands and they were so high on sugar. I had to pull over the bus and stand up and let them have it. I mean I picked out three culprits right away. I told Kyle Nobler it was David tennantbaun And and Jimmy Hayman. Never

forget those kids' faces. That we get back to camp the last ten minutes before four o'clock, at three point fifty, before you get in that bus, all your parents come pick you up. I'm gonna take you three behind the cubby room, which roll over their jackets and pants and shit the lunch boxes were. And I'm gonna give the old what four what's that? I told them We're gonna go out back and all three pains and the asses are gonna get have a slap fight with me. They

got real quiet in their seats. I put the bus back on, put it in drive, and headed back to camp in peace and quiet. Sure enough, it's three fifty. I see the kids taking peaks at the clock. Those three they stayed together two. So come out to go, you three. All the other kids are watching. I get on my knees so it's more even. And I give them like two minutes a piece to try to hit me, and I'm blocking their shots and I'm hitting them lightly

in the beginning of the chest, in the arms. Then I start biffing them, you know, just getting the top of their hair, top of their heads, giving like a biff recall on the street. Let's come on, I'm just biffing. I'm not hitting, gonna hit you. I'm biffing you. That's not a hit. That's a biff. Hurts though it doesn't hurt. Come here. Eventually they got to love it. Eventually they love the rough housing. And some kids would start to beg me to have me fight them behind the covey,

the cuby room. It's just in the way you treat a kid. I think boys, some boys can handle that. They like that rough housing shit, as long as you don't have any meanness to you. And I wasn't worried about getting caught, but I did warn them. Look at you telling any of your parents. It's gonna get worse. It's just gonna goross. I'm taking dodgeball next, and we're gonna take your shirts off, and I'm gonna bring the heat. So they never switched snitched. I said, they never snitched on,

which I'm very proud of them. They kept their mouths shut all summer. Never got a complaint nowadays with the kids did in the little league that I used to see, not my kids, but other kids. They snitch on coaches constantly, get calls and emails from parents. You know. Jimmy said, you grabbed somebody's shirt today. Yeah I did. He didn't Okay, he didn't move fast enough. You know whatever. I'm trying to line and play. I got an hour to do it. The kids are still like a little watered so give

me your shirt. You're gonna stand here, Frank, Come on, Frank, you're here. Kyle. It's no big deal. But some yoga moms didn't like it with the little lemons and the water cups, the big straws. Jesus Christ. But there's something about having a bunch of kids from a rag tag union with you. I love it. It's you just used to make you feel like a very powerful pie pie,

you know what I mean. And I was always the guy when I was younger in my neighborhood to get all the young kids the neighborhood kids, both boys and girls, to play rumbles, tackle football on my lawn stup ball, you know. Actually, whenever I got Tracy Dscoli, my next door able to play with us, then we could use her lawn too, and where our lawns met that was the fifty yard line, so to speak, and our driveways with the end zone. So we had so many fun

days every season. My favorite little power back then was a little girl named My mother used to watch this little girl. She babysit her. Her name was Gail Frizzetta and her mother was like head dietitian of all the elementary schools. Right. Her name was Regina, and Regina had a fake plastic hand on her left hand. Left side. Left hand was fake and she'd sling her pocketbook, old it and make like you know, she'd do a lot of talking with her right hand, so you didn't look

at the left. But once you saw it, you saw it. It was a different skin color. It was like weird for a kick to see it, kind of gross and scary. But she was nice. And the reason why she'll have a hand is because she was born a conjoined twin with her twin brother and back in like the late thirties. They're drawn at this hand, his right, her left, and the thinking was, you know, a man's gonna need the right hand as he gets older. A woman, you know, she can deal with just having a right hand and

not having a left hand. Very strange. But obviously the hand that he got was in the shape of his you know, it was in his hand, so it had to be his either way. But they were prepared to just go no, the guy gets there, the boy gets hanned. It's a different world. Like I said, nice woman had a very weird way of speaking, a nervous tick. She would always tag on two words at the end of

almost every sentence. She'd say she hollowed through the other she'd hollow through the screen door out front, you know, which was always open and anybody could come. And we used to call it, I'm gonna come, call for you, call for me, it too, call for me at ten o'clock. And that just made you ride your bike up to the kids porch, the front doors opened, the screen door shut, and you yelled through the screen door, ajay you coming out, missus.

Ben's will call for aj you know. I'd run down the stairs and hop on my back and we go play. So that doors did open all day, so Regina would come to the house hollow through the screen door. Hey lol, I'm a little early today. On it? Where's my little tom girl? Where's my tom girl? On it? Why? On it? On? It? Was dropped at the end of almost every sentence. Also, a hell of a day today. You don't want? I know what they like in that school? Lily on it? What? So?

I used to shoot my sister Lorrain a quick look because she'd lose it. Because I would imitate Regina every Sunday at the dinner table. One day, I had a long sleeved shirt on and I had this rubber fake hand that I got from I'm gonna go way back here. Maybe some of you remember this, remember the Johnson Smith Company. It was a mail on a catalog. I remember the guy's name because it was my name, Alfred. I think his name was Alfred Johnson Smith, right A J. Smith.

So I always like, oh wow, that's so cool. It was that you got like once a year, and they sold gag gifts like miniature cameras, invisible ink X ray specs, whoop be cushions, fake puke joy buzzers, you know. They meant the blue eek was called disappero. It was like a look like an Elmo's glue bottle with blue ink in it. And you go up to your family and shoot the white shirt with this blue blue ink and

they scream at you, but it disappears. Stupid he made that was such a prick, but my mother couldn't stand it. I get it every year, Rosie buy from me. So I come in the dining room with a fake hand on, and I put on one of my mother's handnuts from the lunchroom, and I hung her pocket over my arm with the fake hand just like Regina. And I walk into the dinner and I imitated, oh, hi, Lally on it? What do you cuting down to you? Some lasagna on it?

The whole house would be laughing. My father, for some reason, loved this bit. He would sit in the chair and hang his head and I can see his body bouncing up and down with laughter. He didn't like laugh loud, but he was his body would move. So Her daughter, Gail was about well, she was three years younger than me, and I remember on some of the days she was gonna be staying with us for the day. I begged my mother, let me stay home. Can I just play

with Gail today? Can I stay home sick from school? Mom? My stomach's upset? Anything? One time I even opened up a can of Franken Bean's, threw in the toilet, put on my best shaky voice. Mah, I just threw up. What what happened? I just threw up? Comes to the bathroom. Who the hell gave you franken beans? That's your after school? She never fell for it. I put a penny in my mouth. I heard that makes you get a fever.

A penny on your arm pit. I tried, Oh no, the thermometa nder your armpit, the penny under your mouth, under your tongue. I think it was stupid ideas, but they didn't work. But Gale loved playing sports with me and being a rough house kid. In fact, when Regina would come and get her, she'd hide into the dining

room table and refused to come out. She'd be sitting there with tears in her eyes and leaves in her tangled hair because she get tangled from just being tackled in the leaves on the front law and playing rumbles with us. I mean she's like eight, I'm eleven, she's ten. I'm thirteen. But Gail, because of me playing basketball with her playing tackle football, she went on to star in three sports in high school and got a full right

to college, where she became a surgeon. Married Indian guy also a doctor, which was weird because we had not one Indian kind and Westler. I don't know why she took up liking guys who looked like that, but she did. Actually remember that story I told you about that woman who lived down my street who was older than I was, and he ended up having that flame. Well, I met her. I mean, she's drive by my house every day with her daughter in that black was it a black Wincoln

or Cadillac. No, it was a Cadillac Eldorado black colorado red leather in interior. And she was hot shit Jesse, and we'd flirt. I mean I just smiled her. Me and my friends would smile her, her tongues out. She was so sexy. She had to be like twelve, thirteen years older than us, maybe twenty and thirty three, something like that. Young divorcee. And I met her at Gaie's wedding. She was invited and That's how we ended up checking up.

That's how we ended up having some fun, taking to the city, going back to my house when I was divorced. It's all intertwined. It's so weird, little towns, little towns. So many big things happen in little towns. Anyhow, I love, I still do love to be around kids who want to learn, who want to play bull who could accept and respond to a coach who puts having fun and

learning and winning on the same level. Actually, I like winning more than the other other categories, to be honest, I mean all like kids have fun, don't get me wrong, they need to learn. But winning, we always try to win. We don't just like to have fun today, Let's win. Let's fucking win. You know. That was that way with that rock going his too many teammates. Nine years of little league baseball, basketball, soccer, football, I coached every sport,

baseball only one year. He didn't like it. It was good, but he didn't like it. After a while, I was his coach, of course, you know. And I was that coach who would sometime curse in the huddle. Can you guys do me a fucking favor and block for your quarterback Jesus, you know. But they were getting older. They can understand him. Mike didn't do it. They were six years old, seven or eight. But at thirteen twelve, it's time to let them hear a few curse words, you know.

And my Rocker would smile a little bit and the kids would look at like your father's crazy. But then they respond. I'd go out in the huddle and I'd say nothing. I called him out, I'd say nothing. If they're paying like shit, I just let them look at me. Time out. They're staring at me. What you tell me? What? What are we gonna do? Timeouts to rock coach? Timeouts olid a not a time out? You sure? I want my moll And then I go, do me a thing.

Can somebody just fucking play athletically? Make an athletic play, just be athletes? Come on, do it now, you know? And they responded. They had a good group of kids. Man. I used to race them every year and I had to go one hundred yards hole enter the field to beat them. Last time I won, the boys were twelve. I was fifty seven, and the next year I think I came in fourth. Rocked Gold the Gonzales twins and Mike Romriguez beat me, but you know I made sure

Rocker heard me yelling behind him. But like I said, it wasn't hard to have those slap fights with those kids at camp because the camp's owners were never really around it. Well that time of the day, they were busy because the kids were leaving, parents were arriving. They had to put on a good face in the parking lot. So you know, Ed Gersh was the owner, big guy, former boxer, I believe, busy guy. His daughter Roxanne went there,

and his son went there, and his mother. I forgot the first that Missus Gersh big day drinker, big day drunk. You know, they owned the camp and cheats dashed bottles in wire trash baskets around the camp and nobody saw them. I saw them. You know, people see everything. You know what I mean. You think you get away with something you're not. You think you're being so sly, but you're not. You know who else is throwing those bottles? And she was the only crazy person that can't right. It wasn't

the kids, It wasn't the counselors. Missus Gersh. But you know I remember seeing those bottles and thinking what a weirdo who drinks during a day like that? You know, but Dan, life has a way of playing a trick on you. You know, you live long enough and you can sometimes do the exact same stupid shit you thought other people are crazy for that you end up doing and

you go, how the hell did I get here? It's like when I had this girlfriend, young girlfriend, who she would like to get up in the morning in bed and have a hit of a little hit of a joint before she started a day, and she was a model, and I'd say, what are you doing? You're gonna go into a go see or a meeting with red eyes. Now they don't get red. I think, just like one hit, I go, first thing in the morning, not even a coffee, just like it's no big deal. And I'm like, I

thought it was so gross. And then she'd run and wash your hands and brush her teeth and clean herself up to be next to me again. And you know, years past, what am I doing in the morning, first day in the morning, I'm finishing last night's drink. I'm doing a bump of cold because I got a gap. Like just you live long enough and you walk in someone else's shoes, you know, so you can't condemn anybody until you walk a mile on their shoes. But unbelievable.

So they were like, it was like a week left to camp that year, and all of us counselors really only made money if you got nice tips from the parents at the end of the first four weeks and the end of the second four weeks. Right to pay with ship. That's not why you become a counselor. You become a counselor you want to be around kids, you want to be outside, you want to you're young, you want to have fun. And sometimes I playfully but sort of honestly say to a kid, Hey, dylaner, your mom

better put a nice tip in my hand. Next week, you better talk to her. Shit like that, right, And some of the kids who may be he knew that their parents were a little tight. They would walk on egg shows. They were like, if if she doesn't coach, don't get mad at me. Listen, wet'll see what you Listen, it's ode of my hands. Just tell her. You could know your mother, Tell your mother he should get a tip. All these kids are getting so nervous. So me and

the a few of the other countslors. There were three of us. We each had about twenty kids. We arranged this dodgeball game where the kids were told, take your shirts off, and I tell him loud and clear, you got three days to tell your mom and dad to take care of us counselors. That's it, and we start the game. They were across the tennis court or ted the ball courts, and three counsels, twenty two kids, three balls.

We got the balls and we start chucking balls them, kind of softly at first to get them to have some fun. Then it got hardcore and we knew the kids that weren't gonna tip. We could tell someone admitted to us, my mom didn't tip last year, tip this year, So we had to just send him a little message. I know it sounds like sounds brutal, but believe me, they were all laughing about it right now. No one's hurt, got a red mark on their back or stomach. It's

that right. One of my buddies, I forget his name, would love the ball real high in the air and kids that young thing, Oh, I'm just gonna catch this ball and cous is gonna be.

under the stars kind of thing. Right. It was always warm, never rained. That there was some beautiful summers Low Island summers and big beautiful campground like I figured out of the acres probably probably sixty acres gigantic. I used to mold a law in the spring a hand pushed mower, not to sit down mower. That was my spring job before camp started. Yikes, but they got me back. So we're at this sleep of a party and the campus

had sleeping bags, pillows and blankets. They slept on a tennis courts, which were kind of warm still for the sun basketball courts. Counselors have to sleep over two of course, and it was about that time, ten o'clock or so. The kids all have to be in bed and going to sleep. I know Ronda was gonna be with her boyfriend, the other guy, whatever the hell's name was, So she was out, but I'm looking around. I gotta, you know,

I gotta go. I gotta try to get Rita. I got it the last couple of days I have, you know. And of course that was the night when I worked up the nerve to kind of walk over with Rita's sleeping beg to see if she had any you know, time to talk, hanging out and have some fun. There was no alcohol, nothing like that, just innocent fun and uh like twenty five yards off from the kids and her sleeping bag. I'm like on the grass and you know, I'm an elbow talking to her and the kids just sleeping,

and you know, one thing leads to another. Eventually I'm inside the sleeping bag and inside Rita. Right, And it was quick. It was a quick and quiet tumble. We both fell asleep. It was late when we actually did it. It was like probably two three o'clock. We talked a long time before we fell asleep, and before we did it woke up. Birds are chirping, and about twenty Barracuda campers are pointing in us, laughing, and I was I was like, oh my god, the count, the camp count,

the camp people can't find out about this. It was my last year there anyhow, but I didn't want to get Jack in barrass right. You know, it made me so happy. All the kids, most of the kids will go ooh, you know a Jane Rita, you know. But Crash Collins gave me a high five, and he goes, I thought you'd liked Rhonda. I said, I know about Rohnda, you know. He goes, I see you with her, coach

you do yeah, great times man. And then get this several years later, I'm writ in high school sports for Newsday and I see a really good kid on the court. They'd on names in the back of the jerseys. They're a little older now, they got a little facial hair. He's a varsity basketball player for Huntington High School, same

town that camp was in. And as I get close, I look and I go at Collins Crash and he turns around and his eyes lit up, just like what happened last month with Rocos game when one of the Gonzales twins I saw on a layup line on playing varsity and such a warm embrace coach, coach, you know, And it was Collins. He came out, he filled out, he became a strong young man. And I saw his father all happy and proud when he introduced us after

the game. Gave me a good, strong handshake. I saw, has a lot of good things say about you had a lot of fun those years. That's crazy. A great kid. And I don't know, man, I get whispy when I think about the seventies. You know, I'll tell you this. Mothers are irreplaceable, and I do believe there is no stronger love than that of a mother's love. It only makes sense. But there's something about boys and their fathers, especially when you had a father who raised you to

be a tough and strong kid. Whether it's me or Baron Trump or Crash Collins or Rocco, sometimes there's no greater feeling than being on a field with your dad and running from his great roar behind you. I'm mey J Bens. That was your daily Unfiltered podcast for February twenty sixth, twenty twenty five. We'll talk again tomorrow