And so it begins..

Football 2011 is underway.. 2 a days (some 3 a days) are all in the bag..  And teams are now in that ‘Fine Tune’ process.

 First suggestion from your neighborhood Pollock: Make sure to have rosters for all our local teams, you’re going to need them. It has been beaten into the ground (probably by me) the tremendous class that graduated last year, and that leaves Gaping holes in Butte High, Butte Central, and Montana Tech’s rosters.  There are a couple of things that I am very ADHD about, during Football season and first on that list is I have to know players numbers, I feel like ‘Rents’ in Trainspotting if I don’t know players numbers, I get a little manic. Watching practices and scrimmages this fall has been.. a bit hard, to say the least.  Not recognizing players, not knowing the kids..  and having to remind myself every 4 seconds  that Matt Berg is not under center… that Green 36 is NOT my fat headed friend Skyler Knuchel, and that the incredibly electric Richards boys are not in BC maroon any longer..( and Danny Thatcher.. (Dan gets mad if I don’t mention him)).  

It really is what makes High School, College football, (and all sports for that matter) so enjoyable. New faces, new stories and legacies ready to be written. Thinking of the 3 local schools, off the top of my head the names that pop up first are, Zach Kasperick, Kyle Shaw, and Pat Hanson.

  Kasperick.. aka “spook”  is one of a whopping two seniors on BC’s roster. I believe I’ve heard rumors he will play just about everything this year for the Maroons. Whether it is at QB or RB, or wherever, you know ‘spook’ will play a huge factor for BC. Zach is one of those rare kids as well, where his on-field accomplishments will only be exceeded by his off-field deeds.. He’s a tremendous kid, from a great family, and you just know, being around him he has a bright future ahead of him..

Kyle Shaw, Mighty Mouse incarnate.  As one of only a few starters in the skill positions for Butte High expect a TON of touches for Shaw, and that equates into fun.  At 5’9 ; 160 ish.. (I think in KISS boots, and holding a keg of nails.. he is tiny.. BUT. He runs like he’s on fire. Has tremendous hands (my guess is he will lead the team in receptions) and can block when held in the backfield. #5 is going to play a huge factor for the Dogs, and will be a rip to watch play.

Pat Hanson, Montana Tech… damn I already used the Mighty Mouse line… my first encounter with Pat Hanson came at ‘The Cleav’ the annual 8man all-star game at Alumni , Two years ago.. Coach Bob Green comes into our broadcast booth, and points out all the guys playing in the game that have signed with the Digs, as he did every year I called the game. And as Green was prone to doing, he would talk about each kid, what he liked, strengths, etc.. But when he got to Pat Hanson it felt like one of those old English events where the trumpets started, then the ‘Crier’ announced all his titles… needless to say Coach Green was a fan, and ecstatic  about his signing with Tech. …sidenote… in that game Hanson returned a punt to the house, AND a kickoff for a TD as well.. He reminds me of one Tech great right off the bat.. Josh Johnson… and kinda has a bit of Jay LeProwse in his running as well..

So I guess that’s about enough for now.. get out and support these kids, coaches, and schools.  Kisses.

Big day yesterday.

An emotional, beautiful and painful day yesterday. Wrapped up in a 14in. flour tortilla, with salsa… and jalapeño’s.

FIRST!! Mariahs Challenge Scholarship night, 47 kids from Butte, accepted Mariah’s Challenge over 3 years ago. These kids said no to the peer-pressures of High School, and to our community, and did not drink while under age, my hats off to them… It’s an extremely tough decision, and even harder to implement, and stick to it through high school. These 47 individuals are going to make great waves in the years to come. I’d lay a wager many will affect our great city, in the years/decades ahead, for the betterment of us all.

Brother Leo..

I can’t tell you what Leo means to me honestly, when I think about him speaking, the day they put his angel in the ground… I can’t breathe.  When I think of how hard he has worked to make all of our kids safer… I get goose bumps… When I see his passion for this group of Seniors , these 47 individuals living the promise,  this group of HIS kids, I’m filled with nothing short of Awe. I love him. Plain and simple.

To the McCarthy’s, the Okrush’s and the Kilmer’s, I thank you for fighting to make it safer, and easier for my daughter. I love you all.

I most certainly am going to talk more about Alcohol, drinking and driving and the like, in this blog.. But ill save it for a later date.

 moving on..

Pain part 2… The Pittsburgh Penguins.. Gods.. WTH.  Losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning.. seriously??

Excuses first.. no Melkin, No Sid. 2 of the top 5 in the game. Out..

Melkin: Knee

 Sid: Hair issues? Maybe he felt their sweaters clashed and didn’t want to go there? (concussion in seriousness)... but still TAMPA BAY? SERIOUSLY?? Tampa Bay, the closest thing they have to ice is the TONS of cocaine smuggled into the country through Florida..

The ONLY redeeming thing about Tampa is they do have the coolest name in the game, skating for them .. Martin St Louis. You can’t say it like the city..no no…Stretch each syllable like you’re a really excited Pat Kearney..

Mar-Taaaan Saaaiiinnn- Looo EEEEEEEE… that’s it.. the only redeeming factor of Tampa.

 It hurts me badly to know I have to root for Washington to slap the smile of their faces.. Caps in 6.

Philadelphia-Boston should be a Real physical matchup, Phili can beat anyone IF they get good play between the pipes out of any of the 3 goalies they pack, the ‘waterboy’ Boucher is their boy IMO. Phili in 6 , maybe 7.

The West is all Detroit, and gods it hurts me to say. BAD.  I think they’ll get by the Sharks in 5. Maybe 6.

I think Vancouver will rebound after getting run 7 games by Chicago.. and steamroll Nashville… in 5.

Officially ill go Washington over Phili, and Detroit smackin our neighbors to da north, dontChaKnow, in Vancouver.

For Lord Stanley’s? The Capitals.. hopefully.. I have WAY too many Red Wings as friends, and they are really hard to stomach as it is.. let alone if they win AGAIN.. for like the 4356 time..

So those are my picks.. So you should take that to Vegas, and go.. Tampa v. Nashville.

And if that’s the Final, im taking up Kickball.. or better yet.

NASCAR..

-p-

Paneek

My grandparents house after the “Mining City Trail of Tears”, (AKA the McQueen relocation) was an incredible meeting place.  There was always family, both blood, and ‘adopted.  It was always incredible growing up, driving up to their house and spotting new cars, seeing Butte plates, Montana plates I didn’t recognize, and several out of state plates. New faces, familiar faces, beautiful people.

I can tell you without hesitation, the plate that I longed to see in my grandparents driveway as far back as I can remember, was on an unassuming two tone stationwagon…

It read … PANEEK.

I would love to sit here and tell you even at the age of 5, I was ecstatic to see him because of his worldly knowledge, and enlightening discussions (that came later). No, at 5 we salivated when we saw Paneek because it meant money, not going to lie. He would give us 50 cent pieces everytime he was at the house and as any 5 yr. old will tell you, you love anyone who gives you money.

 I still remember fondly a 4^th of July when it seemed our whole family was together.  Frank sat myself and my cousins down on the concrete back steps of my gram’s house, he reached into his back pocket, pulled out an envelope, and produced from it several 2 dollar bills., lucky 2 dollar bills mind you.  He had one for each of us, printed in the year of our birth. That bill hasn’t left my wallet since that day. Which is incredible in its own right, because I lose Everything… Nothing is safe. Granted I’ve had several Bruce Willis “Pulp Fiction, watch-like freak-outs”, when I’ve thought its gone, but incredibly it’s still with me.

That bill was with me for some of the greatest times of my life… It walked the aisle with me for my wedding, it was in St.John’s several years later for the baptism of my daughter…  Full disclosure, it was not in the room for the birth of my daughter… I know., it was in the building., (does that count?) When I changed into scrubs, I DID NOT take it with me.. and maybe that is why my girl is ‘normal’ not “Panisko  Bat Guano crazy.”

It has also been with me for some of the hardest damn things I’ve ever had to do.

For those that know me well, you know I don’t burn many calories worrying about what people think about me. But there is a mental list of people that I really do care about their perception of me, whether I make them happy, proud… whatever. I’m telling you right now, the Panisko brothers are 2 that I worry about all the time, Frank and my grandfather Raymond.

Paneek…

what would this town be like if Frank Panisko didn’t call it home, if he didn’t love this valley like he did. I don’t think I ever want to know. The amount of work he did for our town, to put smiles on peoples faces, was staggering… As kids he used us for sounding boards when he was over, “Kids! Do you think this would be cool in the parade? How about this.?”  He would take advice and help from anyone, and he had no idea what the word NO meant.

There are parts of me that want to absolutely scream in rage about what’s happening to Paneek’s legacy with Butte Celebrations. But I also realize that maybe those shoes were just too big to fill, maybe.  I certainly know its not a pair of shoes that I want to lace up. It’s funny to me, every year I get people who approach me and tell me I should ‘take over Butte Celebrations’.  I know I’m in no position to do so, It is a full time job (and then some)and well… I have a good one of those already.

Molly and I have talked several times about Frank, about how she looks up to Frank and thinks about him, which I can sympathize with wholeheartedly, but I just don’t think Molly can sit in front of the mirror, and honestly tell herself that Frank would be pleased with the direction and mistrust associated with Butte Celebrations as of late.

 First I can’t make excuses for the DUI’s,  in my opinion those are just unacceptable. Period… That needs to be addressed ASAP. And addressed not only in a court of law but also in the scope of the position she holds.

 I run through the full gambit of emotions when I think about it. As far as Butte Celebrations goes, I do have sympathy. I truly believe to make memorable parades, and functions it takes a ton of work, and money. Also community help and support, and it feels like there is a serious separation between Butte Celebrations and the bulk of local business people, but saying that, I also believe that banged up bridge can be shored up quickly.

And that brings us to the other ‘rub’ , the complete mistrust, when it comes to dropping a few bucks in the bucket come parade time.  Which I would think could be remedied quite easily. Be upfront and honest about the funds it takes to run these events, and the amount of money brought in…period!  Get a group of caring people on a Volunteer Board and move forward.  

Because I’m sorry there have been several steps… Leaps, backwards for years.

We all know how wonderful these events can be. I just hope we can take that first step forward, even if it’s a small step at first. We can worry about running when we have the full force of Butte Pride behind Butte Celebrations once again.

 It just takes an honest look in the mirror, the ability to swallow ones pride and ask for a helping hand off the street.  That’s real easy to say, but far harder to do. Asking for help is never easy, especially when a person has to bare their soul, admit to their pasts, and try to put it behind them.

Maybe the face staring back in the mirror doesn’t have the intensity anymore,  maybe the eyes just don’t want to fight anymore, especially when is obvious this fight is destined for 12 rounds, 12 ugly rounds to have a chance to turn this around . If that fight is going to be too hard, too uncomfortable, maybe a new fighter is needed, someone to relight the torch for Butte. I’ll sure as hell tell you this Paneek never would have let the fire on that torch burn so low, so close to extinguishing.

We are blessed with an incredible community, we see so many great people do so much for all of us without asking for a thing in return, and its always been that way, and will continue to be the case for generations to come. I’m partial, but in my opinion the greatest champion we have ever had, the guy who loved us all, kids, teens, adults, seniors, alike… drove a 2 tone brown station wagon with PANEEK on the plates.

-p-

Have you hugged your online poker player today?

April 15th..
A day that normally makes a person pucker a wee-bit, but with the 3 day extension, Tax Day was April 18th..
So one would think, that April 15th would be a day that would slide by with no fan-fare.. But Uncle Sam and the Dept. of Justice had other plans.

Black Friday.. as the poker industry will herald it from this point forward.. More inportantly the Online Poker industry.. The 'Big 3' internet poker sights were shut down friday afternoon. (Poker Stars, Full Tilt, and UB), now i guess sayin they were shut down might be a bit off.. you can still download the software and play as many tables of 'funny money' Hold-em or PLO as you like you just cant wager one REAL cent in the states.. PERIOD.

So that might not seem like a big deal.. BUT>
There are thousands of people who make their living multi-table'ing, ring games, or sit-n-go's, hours a day, thousands upon thousands of hands.. daily. 7 days a week. Several individuals that I know in Big Beautiful Butte, MT do..So i can only imagine the number of people that i Dont know, who do.. So the loss of 'work' is bad, but the REAL sticking point across the board is the DOJ not only shut down the games.. they also Froze EVERY dollar on those sites.. every digital cent, from the new player who just deposited 50 bucks.. to the grinder who might be in for a couple of grand.. to people like Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey and Patrick Antonius.. whom im actually AFRAID to know how much they have locked up.

For the non-gambler, those people who dont tivo High stakes poker, or watch Vids online of HUGE hands, the 3 guys i mentioned are 3 of the Biggest Sharks in the online (and live) game.. Patrick has won a single pot worth $878,000 online.. Eight HUNDRED and eighty THOUSANDS dollars.. REAL money.. that was in 2009.

 In the past calendar year the biggest single pot online, was 635,000 dolla. Out of the top 10 biggest pots this past year, 7 of them involve those 3 guys.. and if i add Ziggy, (a finnish player) and Phil Galfond ( a guy who installed a stainless steel slide to link his 2 NYC apartments),.. those 5 guys were involved in 10 hands of poker that totaled 4.5 million dollars... changing hands.. Real money. not tournament money.. not monopoly money....
i wonder how many boxes of monopoly you'd need...

so try and imagine the bankrolls those guys have online.. now frozen.

Now if you watch High stakes, or have read any of the books about the biggest games ever, you know that there are bigger games, and bigger hands live.. but the key is , in live games Uncle Sam gets his cut. If you cash out in Bobby's room at the Belagio, you can pay your taxes there (if its over 10k), or you can wait.. BUT Uncle Sam gets his..either way. Uncle Sam was NOT getting his from the off shore, online sites. And that is what the DOJ is out to change.. reading Tweets, blogs and articles from some of the big players, none seem to be to worried about losing their online bankrolls, most feel they'll get it all back.. But the question is when, some feel it could be a year.. maybe more. I just wonder what is going to happen to the game in that time.. will poker rooms start to pop up again.. or will the 'sport' go the way of the WNBA.. Either way im now looking for a few good home games.. Holdem, PLO, and i'm always willing to straddle..

-p-

Friday.. friday .. friday

If I wasn't held back by my beautiful Polish heritage, I'd write a Haiku about friday..

You should be happy I know WHAT a Haiku is.

Or better yet i could make a moving little ditty like my daughter did a couple of years ago, while driving ALL over the Bozeman area looking for the Pumpkin Patch.. First I was lost, and of course that led to me not asking for directions for at least 45 minutes.. and once i swallowed  what little pride i have, and started asking people, no one, not a soul in Bozo had a clue what i was talking about..

So this whole time, while driving endlessly looking for this Pumpkin patch, the 3 yr. old keeps asking when we are going to get there.. and of course the parental answer back is.. " in just a minute honey'' , not knowing a 'minute' would stretch into 45 minutes.. then an hour... So my daughter who has my patience.. aka. None, starts singing a little ditty with the chorus.. ' I hate FALL... I hate Fall'... if i remember correctly there was something in there about wanting to be a giraffe so she could stretch her neck 'above' Fall, i believe.. Not going to lie.. it was fantastic..

The pumpkin patch is an absolute rip though, and HEY!! i know how to get there if you need directions, ill hook you up..

Otherwise its a busy weekend, Montana Tech has a big day tomorrow, with the signing day luncheon, football meet and greet, and the Mighty Digger Auction, we should have some fun.. hope to see you there.

And the absolute Best to Butte's Softball teams.. big couple of days for them.. BC is on the road today at, 'don't call us Lew-IS-tun', Lew-is-TOWN, and Livingston tomm, And the Dogs are in billings tonight and tomm for HUGE games..

and im gona pass along a Youtube Vid.. my wife showed me, which is just a kick. have a Great weekend, and remember if you drink and drive.. ill kick you in the junk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnBau6fL8S8-p-

Tech's Easter Egg hunt for a Chancellor

I always try and act like getting older doesnt bother me.. And to be honest i dont think its the actual 'getting older' that bothers me, its the change.. for the most part i feel i really embrace change.. im a huge Techno geek.. i love new machinery, CPUs, Cars.. etc.. but its when 'bedrock' truths change, that throw me off. Coach Green retiring.. Brett Favre never retiring... stuff that seems like a pipe dream,..happening, just makes me evaluate a bit.

Frank Gilmore retiring is one of those moments.. that man has worked his Ass off for 'Harvard on the hill', and has accomplished more than can be realized right now. I think its gona take some years, before the footings, foundations and walls are fully 'viewable'.. What he has accomplished can be seen on a daily basis, by the reshaped campus, and the continued growth in students, and the integration of Tech and the city we love.

I really wish i was one of those 'prepared' people.. i could stun you with the incredible comparison of numbers between when Frank took over, and Now as he leaves us.. but i cant.. i do urge you to grab the last M news that was sent out.. the numbers are there.. and they are incredible.. period.

And for some reason if you dont know Frank and Anne, i guess its your loss.. they are two of my favorite people in this valley. Even if Anne is an Ole Miss fan....

-p-

Garbage...

Alright back after it a bit.. Butte Montana. Monday morning, coffee's good.. life (as i know it anyway) is good.  Was a pretty damn good weekend to be honest. The Masters is one of my favorite things to watch, period.. the course is always Incredible, and the level of golf just seems to rise. And if you dont think Golf needs Tiger ... your High.. For Me.. the Masters isnt the Masters Without Tiger.. He made a great front 9 run.. and just couldnt get the putter to play fair on the back..

Couple of other "bigguns' for me, sportswise this weekend. FIRST Robbie Johnson got his first action behind the plate for the Padres. 1-3 from the plate, with a Double. Woot.!! In the National League i really expect Rob to get alot of action.. but with Hundley starting the season as hot as he did, its easy to see why he has been gettin so much action.

Secondly the NHL Regular Season wrapped up.. the playoffs should be Excellent. No secret im an East fan, and i expect good series across the board.. The Capitals as the 1 seed are gona get a good test out of the Rangers..IMO.. Historically the Habs, Bruins should be fun..

Alright im done.. kisses.. -p-