2012: One Last Look.....

Boy, I didn't blog much here, did I?

I was a little bit busy on my other blog, carefully disguised as a web site that I am extremely proud of (www.hanovercountysports.org), and its corresponding Twitter page.  It's been up less than eight months and we've already eclipsed 1,000 followers, thanks to a lot of great people.

So, let me catch up on my 2012 in one fell swoop, shall I?  When I think of 2012, I will think of, in no particular order, the following:

--Getting to watch my kids' teams in the NFL playoffs, my son's team almost make it back to the Super Bowl, and my second favorite team winning it for the 4th time....
--BBC World News (a great addition to our cable lineup)
--Speaking of cable, GOODBYE COMCAST!  Thank you, Verizon FiOS.  So far, so good.
--My fifth evening with The Moody Blues, and, for the first time, with my brother, in Durham, North Carolina...
--Watching Bubba Watson win the Masters at a Virginia Beach restaurant on an overnight trip and being so impressed with his humility.
--The London Olympics.....in spite of NBC....
--The Patrick Henry girls basketball team's 23-3 season, and following Katie Anderson over to Randolph-Macon...
--Speaking of Macon, what a beautiful new football facility!  The press box is incredible, the field even moreso...
--Trips up I-95 North to watch:
     --The Patrick Henry softball team play for a state championship
     --Mechanicsville Post 175 play for an American Legion state championship
--Happily eating Chick-Fil-A
--Me-TV, added by one of our local stations to their digital lineup in February.  Perry Mason and The Untouchables were nightly appointments, The Fugitive on Sunday nights...
--Our second trip to Cincinnati to see Rachel's Bengals battle MY RAIDERS....and, ah, beat the living tar out of them....:)
--Going to Cincinnati with an extra hole in my head, thanks to my crown coming out the night before after coming home from a football game...

Oh, did somebody say football??

--13 straight weeks of tremendous high school action, including seven Hanover games, three games that ended on the final play, watching Morris Jackson score some of his 33 touchdowns for Atlee, watching Chris Simpson and his offensive line from Lee-Davis manhandle opponents, and another regional championship for the Hawks.
--The end of the Central Region (thanks, VHSL....no, really, thanks.  Not.)
--My daughter's stage debut in "Guys and Dolls" and subsequent first speaking role in "It's A Wonderful Life" at Glen Allen High School
--My son's summer with the Richmond Flying Squirrels, keeping vendors straight, fans fed, and even meeting  Bret "The Hitman" Hart...
--My wife's move after years in Short Pump to the Virginia Credit Union branch in the DMV Building next to the Science Museum....
--Welcome, Chanel Ann Witham!  I have a chihuahua, over 30 years after losing Teko.... :)

Milestones...

--24 years of wedded bliss.....for the most part.....;)
--Robbie turning 20!!!
--Rachel turning 15!!!
--Our 20th anniversary living on Tavern Way.  Hard to believe I've been in this house longer than I lived in Beaverdam...
--Speaking of which, an October trip to Beaverdam with Rachel to relive memories and make new ones reporting on Heritage Days for the Herald-Progress...
--Speaking of which, my work all year with the Herald-Progress, writing most of the sports section, and, unbelievably, teaming with my former English and Advanced Novel teacher from high school, Nick Liberante, as a devastating tag team!  I shoot from the hip, he shoots with a Canon.  It's a win-win relationship.  Who knew?  One day my toughest teacher would become my sports superhero partner. :)

People we said hello to in 2012:
--Bonnie's new best friend at work, Margaret
--Great coaches I worked with in various sports like Matt Crowder, now AD at Patrick Henry, John Earley, Jackie Davis, Brian LeTourneau, Phillip Cobb, Leslie Nuckols, Curtis Carpenter, Sharon Gaston, Zac Hayden, and Eddie Gates, ONLY to name a few.....:)
--Janice Murias at the Herald-Progress, just as sweet as they come...
--Our new editor, Lee Francis!

People we said hello again to in 2012:
--High school friends I ran into again in my newspaper travels like Melissa, Kara, Claudia, Lyn, Julie, Charlotte, and Logan....for starters...

What I'd Like To Forget About 2012:
--The Presidential Election and its 5,210,443 commercials in this, a swing state...
--Bonnie's November blood pressure scare...
--Nausea
--Medical Insurance and Co-Pay hassles
--The Kardashians
--Anything "Gangham Style"
--"We Are Young"....

People We Said Goodbye to in 2012:
--Randy Barnhill
--Elsie Rusnak
--Donnie Sipos (just yesterday...)
--Barbara Nicely
--Jack Moynihan (my first postmaster at the Beaverdam Post Office)...
--Dick Clark (boy, tonight's so different without him...)
--Neil Armstrong
--General Norman Schwarzkopf
--Donna Summer
--Jack Klugman
--Earl Scruggs
--Andy Williams
--Ernest Borgnine (I need to watch The Poseidon Adventure again...)
--Joe Paterno
--Whitney Houston
--Etta James
--Andy Griffith
--George "Goober" Lindsey
--Junior Seau
--Mike Wallace (of "60 Minutes")
--Larry Hagman (Major Nelson to me moreso than J.R.....)
--Deborah Raffin
--George McGovern
--Robert Hegyes ("Epstein" of Welcome Back, Kotter fame...)
--Davy Jones
--Gary Carter
--Freddie Solomon
--Chuck Colson
--Don Cornelius
--Maurice Sendak
--Kathryn Joosten (just weeks after her character on "Desperate Housewives" died...)
--Bob Welch
--Richard Dawson
--Ray Bradbury
--Frank Cady ("Mr. Drucker")....
--Phyllis Diller
--Ron Palillo ("Horshack" of Welcome Back, Kotter fame...)
--Steve Sabol
--Zig Ziglar
--Dave Brubeck
--Charles Durning

Songs of 2012 (not necessarily favorites, but what's scorched in my brain, thanks to Rachel):
--Maroon 5
--Maroon 5
--So Good, B.O.B. (was on Atlee softball's warm-up CD, heard it...A LOT)  :)
--50 Ways To Say Goodbye--Train
--We Are Never, Ever....you know the rest....--Taylor Swift

And for 2013?

--Our 25th wedding anniversary is up first...
--Robbie turns 21...
--Rachel hits Sweet 16 and....gasp....drives!
--And I just hope to live to see another year of ups and downs....with significantly less nausea and exhaustion.  :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  :)

Rob's 2012 NFL Season Predictions

So, here we go again........:)

NFC EAST:  1) Giants, 2) Cowboys, 3) Eagles, 4) Redskins
NFC NORTH: 1) Packers, 2) Lions, 3) Bears, 4) Vikings
NFC SOUTH: 1) Panthers, 2) Saints, 3) Falcons, 4) Buccaneers
NFC WEST: 1) 49ers, 2) Seahawks, 3) Cardinals, 4) Rams

SEEDS: #1--Packers
             #2--49ers
             #3--Panthers
             #4--Giants
             #5--Saints
             #6--Lions

NFC CHAMPIONSHIP: Packers over 49ers
-----------------

AFC EAST: 1) Patriots, 2) Bills, 3) Jets, 4) Dolphins
AFC NORTH: 1) Ravens, 2) Bengals, 3) Steelers, 4) Browns
AFC SOUTH: 1) Texans, 2) Colts, 3) Titans, 4) Jaguars
AFC WEST: 1) Broncos, 2) Chiefs, 3) Chargers, 4) Raiders

SEEDS: #1--Texans
             #2--Patriots
             #3--Ravens
             #4--Broncos
             #5--Bengals
             #6--Chiefs

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP: Ravens over Texans

SUPER BOWL XLVII: Packers 23, Ravens 20

MVP: Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers
ROOKIE OF YEAR: Andrew Luck, Colts
COACH OF YEAR: Ron Rivera, Carolina

BIG SURPRISES: Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts
BIG BUSTS: Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, Pittsburgh Steelers

2013 NFL DRAFT ORDER:

1) Cleveland Browns
2) St. Louis Rams
3) Arizona Cardinals
4) Oakland Raiders
5) Miami Dolphins......

Lovely To See You...For The Fifth Time!!!!