Know your "mid-period" Beach Boys: A 5-song primer

For most casual music fans of the 20something variety, the history of the Beach Boys is a 3-chapter saga that breaks down something like this:

1.  The candy-striped, surf & car-obsessed Beach Boys.

Mama don't let your babies grow up to be Bills (or Mets) fans

Sports shouldn’t matter. In the grand scheme of things the ending of a particular game or how one of my favorite teams performs shouldn’t affect me. I mean, I’m not the one getting paid. My future isn’t riding on this outcome. Hell, the chances that the result of a particular game changes my activities for the day is relatively small.

When I was little, I would rise and fall with every game. Every Mets and Bills game seemed so incredibly important. A win would equal euphoria. A loss would mean heartbreak.

As I’ve gotten older, I have been able to gain perspective. Every game doesn’t matter. Sure, I still get wrapped up in the occasional big game against a certain New England rival or a particularly big series with the team from the City of Brotherly Love, but I’ve been able to grow enough where it doesn’t seem like a matter of life and death. Sports are a form of entertainment. They are there for enjoyment and shouldn’t be taken so seriously that they become the focal point of somebody’s life.

#FlashbackFriday: Would-Be SI for Kids Masterpieces

I drew a lot of artwork back in the day with the idea of getting it published in the "Art Gallery" section of Sports Illustrated for Kids.  But I only finished some of it and, more notably, submitted none of it.

Why?  Because no one wants to stuff their masterpieces in an envelope and toss them in a mailbox, potentially never to be seen again.  And (of course) because I knew, if I stashed them away for a few decades instead, they'd eventually make a grade-A #FlashbackFriday blog post.

Good call, young self.  Good call.