Saying goodbye to 2008 and my 30's

I just looked back over some of my earlier posts in 2008 and late 2007. They were dominated by thoughts of Jon, losing weight and of course sports. It's amazing as time passes how so much stays the same yet so much changes and how those two things intermingle.

I can honestly say that 2008 was a year of growth for me. I became more spiritual, more determined to succeed (whatever that means) and more in touch with my feelings and who Gil really is. As usual with all the good there always comes the challenges. I am not big on 'Resolutions' but if I were to say I have ONE big resolution for 2009 is to approach the challenges with my head held high and be the fighter that I am...stay positive, push through, love strongly and be the man I found once again in 2008!

As each year gets ripped from the calendar I also rip off another year of life. I have NOT been looking forward to turning 40 in January. I am trying hard to turn that around and getting to spend time with the best group of friends a guy could ask for in December was helpful!

to recap the month - the first weekend in December brought friends from all over to Atlanta for the SEC Championship and a
mini High School reunion. I also reflected on the loss of my good friend Jon Barkan and spent a couple hours at his grave. I am blessed to have so many good memories in a short time span. I also have enjoyed watching his oldest have a great relationship with Rachel that I hope can flourish into what we had. Days go by, like Keith Urban says, and December rolled on. Kids concerts and Cydney's Siddur Presentation were some highlights. In mid December I went on a 'boys' trip to NYC...Scotty's
40th (the last of the group to turn 40...besides me that is). From the 2:00 AM trip to Tick Tock that Friday night to we bid
farewell after a frozen day at the JETS game I realized how fortunate I am. The weekend flowed into Monday and I spent yet another day reminded of what the great surprises in life can give you! Back from NYC it was off to 9 days in South Florida
with family and friends. It was peaceful and non-stressful! To cap it off I was surprised not once but TWICE with early
birthday wishes - thanks, here I am dreading 40 and you throw it in my face 3 weeks EARLY - just kidding, I LOVED it!

So turns the page to 2009. I am scared of 40. Not because I am getting older, greyer, slower, etc...it's because I am now expected to do all the things I do. In your 20's when you climb that Corporate Ladder quickly you are an 'emerging star' and surprising people. In your early 30's that continues and you get recognition. You become members of elite groups like "40 under 40" and "up and Comers". Seems like at 40 that stops...there is no 50 under 50, there is no "your at the middle of life and climbing" award. I am fearful that I will not live up to all that potential heaped upon me. The economy and all the world uncertainty does nothing to make that feel better.

However, as I started with, this is MY challenge...at least one of them. I am determined to face it head on, the only way I know how to do things.

I will keep blogging, I will keep striving to be a better person, for my family, my friends, my clients and business partners. Lastly I will strive to enjoy it all, smile, laugh and love.

"We'll follow the rainbow wherever the four winds blow" - Keith Urban, Making Memories of Us

DisneyWorld - two different perspectives (the economy and sports)

We just got back from a very quick trip to Disney. In fact, most people were surprised to here that we were going down Friday night, doing only TWO days and headed back Monday. Well, it is what it is. First, it was pretty last minute and we are already taking nearly TWO weeks at the end of December for the holidays. Second, with the girls 8 and 6 they really only wanted to do the Magic Kingdom. Third, this is already their THIRD trip to Disney so it was not the 'once in a lifetime deal'. I guess I am bit spoiled when it comes to Disney in that we went several times a year as a kid and even going to the University of Florida it was a short ride in college so going there was not a major deal. However, I am a Disney guy. I really love it. I am always impressed with the STAFF everywhere and the unique ways in which they market themselves. I am NOT a Disney cult person with the pins and clothes, I just appreciate it for what it is and given the world today and MY world today it was a great SHORT escape and a good reminder that 'When you wish upon a star, dreams can really come true' - YOU just have to have the courage and dedication to make them happen.

So - the trip from TWO sort of different perspectives since anyone can find out how to 'tour the park' though I am an expert (you can ask for my FAST PASS strategy personally).

First, the economic angle! We stayed at Port Orleans (a moderate resort) and got a RIDICULOUS RATE. Let's just say we paid MOTEL 6 prices. We pulled in Friday afternoon and the parking lot was pretty empty, which surprised me given that it was Thanksgiving Week. On Saturday in the park it was downright EMPTY until about noon which says to me, not a lot of people were staying in the park like us. By the afternoon traffic picked up and Sunday was pretty crowded but still not the 60-75 minute long lines I expected. It may get more crowded as the week goes on but I definitely feel this is related to the economy. It was also the first time in a LONG time in Disney where I did not here a lot of foreign languages besides Spanish. Usually the park is full of Euro's...this surprised me. Lastly, I LOVED only having to spend a total of $90 round trip on GAS in the minivan. We are talking just over 900 miles so that was great.

Ok, onto the sports. You know me, I watch people and I like to observe, and well, I am drawn to sports.

Here is what I noticed Saturday:
1. tons of folks in college gear
2. Florida Gators stuff most prevalent and that is not being biased (I promise)
3. Ohio State #2 - I give these people credit, they travel WELL to everything. I did love letting them see my Gatorwear. Let's be honest though, if you lived in OHIO you would want out too, right?
4. Very little Florida State stuff
5. Georgia items were close behind the Ohio State people

Sunday took a different turn:
1. I couldn't believe the number of NFL Jerseys people were wearing. At one point I thought I was going to a PATRIOT tailgate. Ok, I am not a HUGE jersey guy (the shirts not the State, plenty of love for the State). I certainly own my share and will break one out for a game sometimes, BUT, to wear around Disney...hmmmm...
2. All of a sudden the FSU gear broke out - I guess they were waiting to see if they would win at Maryland on Saturday before showing their school spirit?
3. Jean shorts are not a University of Florida thing - they are a fat guy from the north wearing it with his NFL Team jersey thing, and in general they either are over 45 or they have pony tails and are looking for a smoking area.

All in all it was a great trip!


Happy Thanksgiving all, count your blessings, there is SO MUCH to be thankful for!

Catching Up

Thanks Alex for checking in and making sure I am still breathing! LOL

First and foremost REHAB is over! My knee 'tested' out LAST Friday and after 16 weeks I no longer have somewhere to go on Tuesdays and Fridays at 7:00 AM. This is good and bad - good that the knee is 'getting well' enough to the point where I do not need supervision and coaching and bad that the knee is 'getting well' enough to the point where I do not need supervision and coaching :-)

What else, we leave tomorrow for 3 days in DISNEYWORLD with the girls. Cydney turns 8 on Sunday and we thought the trip was a better idea than a party...yeah right, still will be a party (on December 7th) but we are all excited. I just picked up Kung Fu Panda and Wall-E for new videos for the drive (now I just have to figure out how I can sit in the back...). Cydney also got her ears pierced and I hear she is already looking for diamonds - thats my girl!

After Turkey Day here in Atlanta I have a ton of fun and enjoyable stuff going on including some travel:

- SEC Championship is here December 6th and we have a group of friends coming in to enjoy another GATOR romp and a spot in the mythical National Championship Game (I told you it is the decade of Gil after the Phils won it all).
- the week after that I am going on a 'boys' trip to New York to celebrate Scotty's 40th. The weekend will include time to catch up, eat, see Manhattan, eat, drink and take in a JETS game on Sunday. Why am I going to freeze my butt of for a team I have no love for...I'm that kind of friend - LOL. Looking forward to catching up with ONE and ALL while I am there.
- from there we head down to South Florida for the Holidays and relaxation.
- maybe a trip back to MIAMI for a little football game for a nice big TROPHY on January 8th
- Not sure all the plans for the BIG 4-0 in January but I know my sis and her husband Mike and my nephew HENRY are definitely coming in for the weekend and that is present enough for me!

What else - the football thing has really taken off and I am now on the radio locally in Atlanta every Friday morning from 10:25-10:50 on 790 the Zone (www.790thezone.com) and it is also live on the internet on that site. This offseason should be packed with deals as things have really begun to take off.

More after Thanksgiving as I have 'Mickey on the brain'. Pictures to come I am SURE!

Race and the 'Obama Effect'

Ok, here we go kids, off onto politics and race - too VERY sensitive issues, but I think you will see I am looking through a little different lens:

First and I have said this before, I am a DEMOCRAT. I voted Obama in the Primaries and obviously voted that way again on Tuesday. My thoughts here are not at all about a black man becoming president, a woman being president or a Jew, Muslim or Mormon becoming President. I hope I will see all of them in my lifetime.

My specific purpose here is to examine the mindset of what this means in a 'white male dominated' society that is America. If you don't think we are a white male dominated society then we can have a whole different discussion :-). As a GROUP, whites like to look at what has happened since the Civil Rights Movement and talk about ALL of the progress we have made. WE like to hold up 'people' as example, athletes, entertainers, business people and politicians to say "hey, they have made it, we have broken through the racial divide". From a very myopic view this is CORRECT and yes things have changed from that perspective but have they really gotten better on the whole? More people live below the poverty line than ever before. There are more people in today's prisons than ever before. Illiteracy rates are at an all time high. Healthcare and access to basic needs are severely hurting in our urban centers.

Here are some statistics and facts I have learned in my own city that scare me:

1. 36,000 out of 50,000 KIDS in the Atlanta Public Schools are living below the poverty level (pop. is 85% African American)

2. Prison bed population is forecasted based on the # of kids FAILING 4th Grade reading. This sick and disturbing

3. It costs $18 Billion a year in the State of Georgia in servicing the high school drop out group. The State funds $14 Billion for education. Don't you think if we put more resources INTO education we could spend less on dealing with dropouts?

4. If person 'X' is found with a single piece of crack (personal use, problem or not) faces the same MANDATORY sentencing guidelines as person 'y' who is found with a POUND of cocaine in powder form (this would be for DISTRIBUTION purposes). Interestingly enough, crack is urban...pounds of coke - suburban.

What do these facts have to deal with Obama being elected President? My fear is that Obama will become held up, by the white community, as "they got theirs, it's all good". As John McCain would say, "My friends, it is NOT all good". Racism is still prevalent today. It is far different from the 1950's. Rarely do you see the Klansman running around burning a stake, but how often do you see a 'roll of the eyes' or people crossing the street to avoid one another?

There are no easy answers and we all come with our own set of prejudices, and that is ok. The issue with racism is systemic and institutional. Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Can we change the education system, the healthcare system, the welfare system, etc all at once? Probably not.

I do think we can begin to make differences in small measures but the onus MUST come on us, the privileged class, to recognize this issue does not go away with an election. It is ok to talk about the issues and not deflect them. We can take ownership of the past, ask for forgiveness and work to make tomorrow a better place for everyone...

Thanks Mom! You deserve your own BLOG POST - YOU ROCK

In all the excitement that was my weekend I almost forgot the most meaningful part!

This weekend my mother participated in the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk to fight Breast Cancer. The event began last Friday in the rain and cold of an fall Atlanta day and ran through Sunday late in the day with a celebration at the Georgia World Congress Center.

On Saturday we took the girls to catch their Grandmother chugging along. The girls had signs and everyone was dressed in pink. It was amazing to see the cheering station and the enthusiasm of the walkers. If I thought that morning was my emotional high for the weekend I was wrong! Late Sunday afternoon I wandered downtown to the finale celebration. I walked into this HUGE room and saw 10,000 PLUS people waiting to cheer on the walkers. I searched for my Dad and kept leaving messages to no avail. As the parade of walkers came in I knew I would neither find Mom or Dad. Somewhere along the line I realized my Mom was not in one of these WHITE T-shirts, she was in a SPECIAL PINK shirt for SURVIVORS. As soon as this dawned on me the emcee announced that here come the survivors. I made my way around the side and towards the front and tried to spot my Mom. While this was going on the ceremony itself was very powerful and I was tearing up. When they said it was over I found my way around a barricade of sorts to where they were letting the survivors stream out. Within 30 seconds I spotted my mother with her YELLOW Angels 4 Angels hat and yelled but she couldn't hear me. I made sure to get in her path and make eye contact and when we did the emotions just poured out of me.

I could not be prouder of my mother. She has overcome so many obstacles in her life and reinvented herself with each one. With this challenge she walked 60 miles in 3 days and even endured sleeping and camping OUTDOORS!

Mom, you are my hero! I love you and if you are up for it I will walk with you next year and you can forget the minimum amount we need to raise, we will hit $10,000!

Can this really be happening...

I wanted to blog yesterday about the cool stuff that happened over the weekend but I was tied up all day in meetings and then my attention last night turned to the World Series where my beloved Fightin' Phils had a chance to end 25 years of 'civic pain'. As is typical for us Philadelphians we are left 'on the hook', in suspense having to wait another day but this time not because of a loss but because the game last night was SUSPENDED, which is a FIRST for the World Series. I can't even begin to explain how exasperated I feel. It started of great, 2 runs in the bottom of the first and Cole Hamels pitching masterfully. Then, the real rain begins and it's 39 degrees...do they stop the game? NO. The umpires continues realizing that the game gets scrapped and started over if it doesn't go 4 and 1/2 innings with the home team leading. We trudge on and get through the 5th and I am thinking, would they really end a World Series game early...NO! Will they keep playing? What other option do they have? In the 6th inning I got my answer and the realization that Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig must have made a deal with Al Pacino's devil character in 'The Devil's Advocate' because the Rays plated a run to tie it a 2 and all of a sudden the game goes into rain delay and quickly into suspension mode...

I am happy Hamels got to pitch 6 strong innings. I think we come out in the bottom of the 6th and put up some runs and end the series. If not we still lead 3-2 going back to Tampa, but this has now become a very strange World Series with HORRIBLE umpiring!

As for the weekend:

1. I saw my favorite live band, Cowboy Mouth (www.cowboymouth.com). They put on a great live show and for me it was 2 hours of singing, screaming and even a little toe tapping which left me soaked with sweat, exhausted but GLAD TO BE ALIVE! I also caught one of Fred LeBlanc's (lead singer and drummers) drumsticks in the pit which Cydney equated to catching a foul ball.

2. The girls soccer seasons ended on Sunday. Cyd had a very pretty goal in their 6-3 win so their season ended on an up note and Rachel scored the only goal in her teams loss. Both girls enjoyed their seasons and their teams improved greatly. I am proud to coach to great kids on two teams filled with great kids.

3. Saturday afternoon I watched the Gators take Kentucky to the woodshed as they get ready for this weekend's World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party with the University of Georgia. Saturday night I was out so I missed the first few innings of the baseball game but got to catch the last few innings and the Phils great win.

4. Sunday was an historic day in Philly, I wish I was there. The day started with the Phillies beating the Atlanta Falcons and then carried over to the ballpark where the Phils whipped the Rays 10-2.


I am looking forward to the World Series ending and being able to focus on the Gators the back half of this week.

Oh yeah, tomorrow I want to write about politics...there still is an election going on...right?

Our best show yet...

and we go on the air on Wednesday morning at 9:10 on 790 the Zone here in Atlanta. You can listen live at www.790thezone.com

ONE down THREE to go

Last night was full of tension and excitement. The game went pretty to form though I am still concerned with the slumping of Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins. From the glass is half full side of the world, the Phils still won and two of their best players are not playing well; from the glass is half empty perspective, you can't expect to win a lot of games going 0-11 with runners in scoring position.

Anyway, I do have a real bone to pick with the 'national mainstream media' and their portayal of the Phillies in this World Series (yikes...I just re-read that and I sound like Sarah Palin - LOL). I am not really sure why the Rays have been installed as the favorites; I guess it is some combination of them beating the Red Sox, winning there division and being baseball's 'best' story, but for whatever reason this Phillies Club is getting ZERO credit. What exactly have they done? They are back to back NL EAST CHAMPS, beating out the favored New York Mets this year. In 10 postseason games they are now 8-2 and have roundly dispatched of both the Brewers and Dodgers and in both cases roughed up the best pitchers on either staff. Last night, as the overly LONG pre-game show went on I tried to figure out why this Phillie line up is not getting credit, especially compared to the Rays line up. If this were ANY other American League team there would be a lot of talk about the DH and the advantage that gives the AL team, but there is no such talk here. In fact, outside of Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria and BJ Upton this Rays line up is not very scary and they showed that last night. From a pitching perspective I think it is pretty close but I'll give the Rays starters a slight edge in depth but does that really that matter in a 7 game series? I remember when the media would say, "give me 2 quality pitchers and you can win in the post season". Well, Cole Hamels is one and Brett Myers has shown in the second half of the year he might be the other. Go to the bullpen and all of the sudden you hear about the Rays amazing bullpen by 'committee'. Bullpen by committee means your best guy is hurt (Troy Percival in this case) and you really have no idea what to do. Thus far it hasn't hurt them except they SHOULD have wrapped up the AL in 5 games when they had a 7-0 LEAD WITH TWO OUTS! They are getting a pass because Boston is the toughest team to put away - MY ASS!

Look, FOX needs viewers and they need to try and get a way for you, Joe the Plumber, to watch this series...fine, I get that, but let's give this Philly team credit. I am tired of hearing about ONE World Series in 125 years and 10,000 losses in franchise history...THIS TEAM IS 81 OUTS FROM BEING WORLD CHAMPS!!!!!!!

Phils in FIVE

I can't believe I said/typed that but it is truly what I feel in my heart. I am always one to be superstitious, see post below, but I can't help it here. A few weeks ago I was at the Florida-Tennessee game and I received a text from a good friend and he asked my prediction. I replied that I won't type it in because of my superstition. We went on to win the game and then I told him my prediction. Pretty anticlimactic since I knew the final score...

So why am I doing this now? I'm a risk taker, a guy who lives life right on the edge...not! Who knows, I can't help myself I guess, I am just giddy with the anticipation of the Series starting tonight and my hometown getting the HUGE monkey off our backs! I hate when we, as Philadelphians, get mocked for our behavior..granted booing Santa Claus is not politically correct but we came back and booed the crap out of Sarah Palin on the Flyers opening night - so we do know a few things :). But really, this is a town full of some of the most knowledgeable and passionate fans, we just expect our heroes to be like us. We want them to work hard, do their job and hustle every time out. In my 39 years I can only think of ONE player we never booed and that was Julius Erving. I love all of our sports stars, none more than Michael Jack Schmidt but even I can admit to booing him at times.

Anyway, back to the prediction - I like Hamels tonight in the opener in Tampa. The place will be rocking but Cole has been steady and I think we get just enough offense and maybe blow it open a little bit late, I'll say 6-2 Phils tonight. Tomorrow we have Brett Myers on the mound and that is a bit of a toss up, I think it is possible the Rays win Game 2, but if they don't win Game 2 they will win Game 3 in Philly. The Phils Manager Charlie Manuel is a loyal guy (we like that in Philly) and he is sticking with Jamie Moyer to pitch Game 3. Moyer has been great all year but he is 46 years old and that is showing. He had a poor outing against the Dogdgers and this might be a tough game for the Phils. Personally, I would have like to see Manuel move Joe Blanton up to Game 3 and potentially put a stranglehold on the Series but who am I to complain? The aforementioned Joe Blanton goes in game 4 and I think he is becoming a big time pitcher in this spot and then we get to game 5 where Cole Hamels retakes the hill and the Phillies win their SECOND World Series ever and doing at HOME in the BANK would be sweet!

I am holding out hopes that a ticket to Game 4 and/or 5 drops in my lap and I can get there from Atlanta. The Eagles play the Falcons Sunday afternoon across the street as well...can you see Gilly from Philly watching the Eagles at 1:00 and then walking across the complex to Game 4 of the World Series? I can!!!!!!!!!!

Go Phils!!!!

Next week it is back to College Football as I prepare for the annual trek to Jacksonville, FL or the FLORIDA-GEORGIA game and this year I am traveling with and sitting with DAWGS...

I'm very nervous about sharing this information...

THE PHILLIES ARE IN THE WORLD SERIES!