
Group of diverse people enjoying summer afternoon and evening in garden party
A little-known sports blogger named Sammy Sportface launched his wayward venture some eight years ago. There have been times when the whole project and vision seemed destined for the trash heap. Whit, an expert on all things business-related, once told Sportface he should shut the whole thing down, which motivated Sportface to press on with more zest. Whit’s advice couldn’t be trusted because Whit went to Gonzaga and therefore doesn’t have Sportface’s best interests at heart.
The number of followers of Sportface has been increasing at the pace of a turtle’s strut. But through it all, there has been a bright light of hope that this Sammy Sportface Baby Boomer Brotherhood Blog has value and is worth continuing on through the new year – notwithstanding the naysayers.
It is this undying spirit that compels Sportface to tell you the story of the first-ever holiday party for all BBBers across this nation most of whom live in Bethesda, Maryland.
They gathered at the Tastee Diner in Bethesda, Maryland flapjack stacks piled to the ceiling and calorie-crammed milkshakes.
All of you were invited but most didn’t attend. But a few did: Caitlin Clark, Nikola Jokic, Jayden Daniels, Terry McClaurin, Tommy Haley, Russel Lacey, Rhett Butler, Ed Woodson, Larry Bird, the Crash Adams Band, Bert, Rudy, Idea Man, Charles Barkley, Stephen A. Smith, Rick Rubin, Adam Grant, Rip, Mac, Sillie Willie, Arnie, Bruce Springsteen, Taylor Swift, and Spoog.
A few formally declined including Hanby, Spars, and Dave Clawson.
Nanoseconds after the milkshakes were set on tables, Sportface clicked a spoon on his glass to call everyone to attention as the father of the bride does at a wedding party. In the serious format of a college commencement address, Sportface launched:
Dearly Beloved,
We are gathered here today to celebrate this thing called the Sammy Sportface Baby Boomer Brotherhood. Many of you are long-time members, others newcomers, but all of us are bonded forever in our commitment to the ideals of this unique group of human beings. We live every day by one credo: to inspire, educate, and amuse the Baby Boomer Brotherhood.
Sometimes we stray from this because we’re human beings who are, because of the indiscretions of Adam and Eve, flawed to our cores. We can’t behave perfectly all the time.
So be it. Life is precious and we all cling to BBB ideals when we need uplifting, when a laugh is necessary, when we need Sportface to calm our nerves and share his considerable wisdom.
But enough about Sportface. We have a special guest with us this evening whom we all know so much about because of the blogs Sportface wrote about her this year as if he was on a literary tirade.
I would ask Caitlin Clark to please stand. Caitlin, you have a better outside shot than Rudy, LeBron James, Walls, Moose, Dell Curry, Dame Time Lillard, and even, I have to admit, Sportface. You have given our lives meaning by the way you stroke the Logo Three. I just want you to know that, in all sincerity, I love you and always will until death do us part.”
A spontaneous standing O fills the Tastee Diner.
“Sportface, Sportface, Sportface,” they chant.
“Another round of flapjacks piled to the ceiling for everybody,” Sportface shouts to the waiters. “Pour another round of milkshakes.”
“Encore, encore,” the BBBs shout.
Sportface stands and continues:
“Many of you may not know this but earlier this year I traveled for the first time to the state of Wyoming. While there my wife and I hopped in a raft with a thirty-something male tour guide for a float down a lake.
We were out there in the water in coats because it was chilly surrounded by blue and dark gray Grand Teton Mountains covered in snow. The paddler talked about his life in Wyoming which was all about being outdoors most of the day and then meeting his friends at night at Jackson Hole bars to drink. Then doing it all again the next day.
I remember thinking how different his life was than mine was at his age when I lived in New Jersey doing corporate communications for Lucent Technologies. I had a wife and three kids. He had the unimaginable natural beauty of Wyoming.
He said he and his friends would drop acid and go for long runs. That struck me as bad for long-term brain health. Why damage your brain voluntarily? You will need it your whole life. Don’t do that, kid.
We all do it sometimes, but messing up my mind isn’t high on my list anymore.
He was living a wild life out in the wild world of Wyoming while I was deep into a corporate career thousands of miles geographically and attitudinally from Jersey.
People take different paths. It seems random at times while at others all part of a grand plan none of us are fully aware of.
He seemed fairly content though talked about a few times being poor living there. In Winter when tourism plummets, the pressure to survive is intense. I sensed he was a lost soul but maybe I was wrong. I do know that as beautiful as the scenery was I wouldn’t want to live my life paddling boats in Wyoming every day.
He said he had never been to the East Coast. It sounded unbelievable until I thought of the dozens of U.S. states I have never been to. No matter how hard we want to or try, it’s hard for any of us to see huge chunks of the Earth. We are born into a world that during our lives we will never see. The world was a mystery when we came into it and stayed that way when we leave it. That’s provocative and strange. A lot of unanswered questions.
That day in that boat listening to that guy talk is a lasting 2024 moment for me. He’s out there probably for life and I am where I am probably for life and that’s nothing special, I guess, but for some reason speaks to my ongoing quest to understand why any of us are here.
2024 has been the best of my life because I have become more free mentally to write what I want to with no concern other than enjoying the experience. I love doing this because it feels meaningful, and connects me with friends from all over the place, all of you are here today in the best restaurant in the world where I met for lunch with Tommy Haley earlier this year and that was some experience let me tell you. Two high school friends reconnecting forty years later sharing how their lives had unfolded. Totally wild how life whizzes by as we all do whatever we do, traveling down different paths, and then converging again, after just about everything imaginable has happened to both of us.
Enough wondering. Through writing, I can tell you what I think about Caitlin Clark, and what I think about her is she’s an inspiration to all of us to improve at what we do. She shows us how great we can all be if we work at our crafts.
Hers is the prevailing message I want to leave you all with heading into 2025. Work at your crafts.
Get better.
Caitlin proved this is possible for all of us.
The crowd stood up again for a standing ovation chanting even louder this time “Sportface, Sportface, Sportface.”
Author Profile

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Sammy Sportface, a sports blogger, galvanizes, inspires, and amuses The Baby Boomer Brotherhood. And you can learn about his vision and join this group's Facebook page here:
Sammy Sportface Has a Vision -- Check It Out
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