As we continued to mourn the loss of Nonno, 2007 would be a very busy year. Nicky was becoming a teenager, playing tennis for UMMS and prepping for his entrance exam for Holy Ghost Prep. Go Nick! Joey was preparing for the Little Flyers tryouts again for next season and starting baseball. I would come out of retirement to coach baseball again for his team. This season would be a real trip. Our team would end up with a 17-0 record, a great accomplishment for a great group of kids. The journey to get there was wrought with controversy and emotional ups and downs. My assistant coach was a great dad and guy going through a terrible time with his own long battle with cancer. It was not going well and his two boys were really hurting. They were both on our team and compassion was the main word when handling their issues. It was a tough time. Our championship game ended with a great win and I put the coaches son in to pitch the last 3 innings where he won the game. Tears were flowing and the team rejoiced their phenomenal season until, of course, a deranged parent told the other teams coach to protest the game on a substitution technicality. The teams coach called in the Umpires, lodged the ridiculous protest which made the championship invalid until a board hearing in two weeks was held to discuss the outcome. The team could not celebrate their perfect season. These were ten to twelve year old kids…Nice job parents. Well, needless to say, this led to a big fistfight in the stands among parents and the police coming out in force to control the melee. My team and I remained in the dugout until the fracas subsided…totally disgusted. The outcome…an apology by the opposing coach and the championship restored. Nice job…Too little, too late. The boys never got a chance to celebrate their season.
The rest of the summer included a week in the Pocono mountains where we relaxed, fished, went to the Pocono 500…amazing, and a wild ride in the pouring rain to Pocono General Hospital where I was throwing up out of the car window as another freaking kidney stone attack beat me up. Oh well, just another day in my life! After the mountains, a hockey trip to Boston! What a great town! We toured Harvard, MIT, Boston University, Fenway Park, the TD Gardens, USS Constitution, Boston Aquarium and saw The Blue Man Group! The hockey was great and the trip spectacular. Last up, the final ” Team Belaggio” golf outing.
Like I mentioned earlier, running the “Team Belaggio” event was a labor of love and a lot of labor. This would be my last hurrah. My goal was to reach a grand total of 100k in donations to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We followed the same game plan with golf, prizes, raffles, great food and Texas Hold-em Poker after the banquet dinner. We did it! All total, we surpassed the 100k goal for the four years of the event. It was a fabulous day. Everyone reached deep into their pockets and the donations exceeded the past three years by far. A job well done by all of my crew and a wonderful sense of accomplishment for such a great cause. This was now eleven years since my diagnoses and a few months after Dr. Dave gave me my all clear, thumbs up, keep the faith, annual report. Now it’s time to get ready for the holidays. This has been a great year for business so I know that the season was going to explode! Fingers crossed.
Another footnote : This blog marks my 100th post so far! I really appreciate everyone who has followed along on my journey. That being said, I need to give love to a great woman who always gave her time to so many charities including my own. A fixture at the front table at all “Team Belaggio” events as well as a major donor and great friend to our family, Helen Piszek Nelson lost her own battle with cancer this week. She fought valiantly over the past five years with class and dignity, always commenting kindly on my blog while she endured. She will be greatly missed. RIP Helen❤. I also would be remiss in not mentioning my partner in baseball, Coach Jack Bennis. He too lost his battle with cancer a short time after our season. A wonderful Dad, Husband and friend, his boys carry on his legacy turning out to be great young men ❤.
Yep, Cancer Sucks
Next up: Another Championship and More Controversy