BIRTHDAY
June 22
HOMETOWN
Grimes, Iowa
EDUCATION
Yes, plenty
PERSONAL QUOTE
The difference between success and failure in life is not from a lack of talent, nor is it from a lack of ability; it's from a lack of will.
NOBODY KNOWS I'M
A black belt in karate. I'm sort of dangerous, but don't worry......I wouldn't hurt ya!
PSYCHOLOGISTS WHOSE WORK HAVE INFLUENCED ME THE MOST
Kenneth Spence, Leon Festinger, Sigmund Freud, Kurt Lewin, Solomon Asch, Franz Alexander, Robert S. Baron, Clyde Hendrick
IF I WEREN'T A PSYCHOLOGIST, I'D BE
An F.B.I. profiler
HOBBIES
Football, baseball, college basektball, running and working out, live music, computers, traveling, writing
CHILDHOOD HEROS
1. Ronald Reagan
2. Terry Bradshaw
3. Franco Harris
4. Ryne Sandberg (famous Chicago Cubs second-baseman)
5. Dan Fouts (San Diego Chargers Hall-of-Fame Quarterback)
FAVORITE KINDS OF MUSIC
Smooth jazz and R & B, classic country, 1980s alternative
FAVORITE BANDS AND MUSICIANS
1. Steeley Dan
2. Earth, Wind, and Fire
3. Sade
4. Johnny Cash
5. George Benson
6. Tom T. Hall
7. U2
8. Wes Montgomery
9. The Spinners
10. Simply Red
TOP TEN FAVORITE ALL-TIME SONGS
1. The Cool Dude (Booker T)
2. Free as the Wind (Jazzmasters)
3. Faster Horses (Tom T. Hall)
4. Give me the Night (George Benson)
5. Never as Good as the First Time (Sade)
6. Aja (Steeley Dan)
7. It's a Shame (The Spinners)
8. So Not Over You (Simply Red)
9. Street Life (The Crusaders)
10. I Like the Way You Move (Kenny G and Earth, Wind, & Fire)
THINGS I'LL NEVER GET EXCITED ABOUT, EVEN THOUGH OTHERS ARE:
1. Reality TV
2. IPODs
3. Soccer
4. The MLB All-Star Game
5. Sushi
6. American Idol
7. Paris Hilton
8. Brittney Spears
9. Daytime television
10. "Hip hop"
FAVORTE ALL-TIME TV SHOWS
NYPD Blue
Hill Street Blues
The O'Reilly Factor
Andy Griffith Show
Miami Vice
FAVORITE TV SHOW MUSIC THEMES
Hill Street Blues
Miami Vice
LA Law
Doogie Howser, M.D.
The Rockford Files
FAVORITE MOVIES
Goodfellas
Animal House
The Natural
Oliver Twist (the 1968 musical)
The Great Escape
Shawshank Redemption
FAVORITE ACTORS AND ACTRESSES
Clint Eastwood
James Garner
Robert DeNiro
Bill Murray
Dennis Franz
Jennifer Aniston
Don Johnson
FAVORITE FOODS AND DISHES
Italian
Seafood
Grilled steak
General Tsao's Chicken
FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
Gene and Georgetti (Chicago, IL)
Ginos (Des Moines, IA)
Italian Village (Chicago, IL)
Miller's Pub (Chicago, IL)
Legal Seafood (Boston, MA)
FAVORITE BREWSKIS
Zywiec (Polish import)
Sam Adams
Budweiser (Cub fan = Bud man)
Harpoon
FAVORITE BOOKS
Who's Looking Out for You (Bill O'Reilly)
Skeleton Crew (Steven King)
Freakanomics (Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner)
Intuition: It's Powers and Perils (David Myers)
LAST BOOK READ
Making the Second Ghetto (Arnold Hirsh, 1983)
FAVORITE SPORTS TEAMS
Chicago Cubs
Pittsburgh Steelers
Chicago Bears
Iowa Hawkeyes
Texas Tech Red Raiders
LEAST FAVORITE SPORTS TEAMS
New York Yankees
Dallas Cowboys
New York Mets
Michigan Wolverines
Ohio State
Texas A & M
FAVORITE SPORTS ANNOUNCERS
Harry Kalas
Howard David
Vin Scully
Pat Summerall
Steve Stone (long-time Cubs broadcaster and straight man for Harry Caray)
Al Michaels
Dick Enberg
LEAST FAVORITE SPORTS ANNOUNCERS
Dick Vitale
John Madden
Lee Corso
Thom Brennan
Marv Albert
BEST SPORTS TEAMS I'VE EVER SEEN:
1. 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers...the closest thing the NFL has EVER had to a "dream team"
2. 1985 Chicago Bears...Ditka's Chicago thugs demolished anything in their path
3. 1984 Chicago Cubs...trust me, the '84 Cubs SHOULD have won it all!
4. 1976 Cincinatti Reds...had the pennant wrapped up by August 1st
5. 1989 San Fransisco 49ers...the 49er's could beat you 200 different ways
6. San Diego Chargers of the late 1970s-early 1980s...no Super Bowl, but their offense was unstoppable
7. 1987 Indiana Hoosiers...Bobby Knight's finest hour
8. 1998 Denver Broncos...the Bronc's were typically up by 30 at halftime back in '98
9. 1983 Los Angeles Raiders...one of the most TERRIFYING teams ever
10. 2004 New England Patriots...this team was in league all by itself
WORST SPORTS TEAMS I'VE EVER SEEN:
1. 1976 Tampa Bay Bucs.....0-14 says it all.
2. 1981 Chicago Cubs.....thank God for strikes.
3. 1980 New Orleans Saints....fans put bags on their heads and called them the "Ain'ts."
4. 2003 Detroit Tigers....looked like a high school team.
5. 1997 Chicago Cubs.....started 2-17, and only got worse.
6. 1989 Dallas Cowboys....1-15, should have been 0-16.
7. 1993 Cincinatti Bengals....ugly uniforms, ugly team.
8. 1994 Chicago Cubs....thank God for strikes.
9. 1983 Houston Oilers....long ago, but trust me; they were BAD!
10. 1990 New England Patriots....remember Victor Kiam? Lisa Olson? Enough said.
PEOPLE I ADMIRE MOST
Mom and Dad
Anybody who has served this country in the military
FAVORITE COMEDIANS
Jonathon Winters
Chris Farley
Robin Williams
Will Sasso
George Carlin
Larry the Cable Guy
Jonathon Winters
COACHES I WOULD LOVE TO PLAY FOR
Bobby Knight
Mike Ditka
Coach K
Bill Parcells
Joe Gibbs
FAVORITE CITIES OUTSIDE OF BOSTON
Chicago
Paris
Burlington, VT
Montreal
Los Angeles
LEAST FAVORITE CITIES
New York
Cleveland
Seattle
Katowice, Poland
Dubuque, Iowa
IDEAL VACATIONS
Sipping Cognac at a Paris cafe as the sun goes down
Oktoberfest in Germany
Hawaii, anytime
New Years eve in L.A.
Las Vegas for the weekend, on a whim
Any afternoon at Wrigley Field
TURN ONS
Kindness
Honesty
Sincerity
Not being afraid to express your opinions
Having half a brain
TURN OFFS
Cigarette breath
Being rude
Self-centeredness
Being materialistic
Intolerance
MEMORIES OF GROWING UP IN IOWA
Playing football in our neighbors' yards till the sun went down
Twenty-five-cent packs of baseball cards
Building tree houses in the woods behind my parents' house
Secretly listening to "Radio Mystery Theater" when I was "supposed" to be asleep
Detassling corn in the sweltering Iowa sun
Little league baseball
Farmers selling their produce by the side of the road in the summer
Pick-up trucks with shotgun racks in the back
Camaros with jacked-up tires being considered "cool" cars
My first girlfriend
The Iowa State Fair every August
"Teen Night" at Temptations night club in West Des Moines
State wrestling and basketball tournaments in Des Moines
Driving with my friends into Des Moines on summer Saturday nights to seek adventure
THINGS THAT BRING A SMILE TO MY FACE:
1. October foliage
2. Sunny, 70-degree mornings in April and May
3. A phone call or email from a long-lost friend (or girlfriend)...it happens now and then
4. The mere thought of the holiday season
5. Hearing that a destitute elderly person has won the state lottery
6. A good "Boston Bullet" martini on a Friday night, after a long week
7. Summer weekends on Cape Cod
8. Driving through Vermont
9. Coming from behind to beat the Yankees in the bottom of the 9th
10. A smile and greeting from an anonymous stranger
THINGS THAT MAKE ME ABSOLUTELY FURIOUS:
1. ANY form for racial prejudice or discrimination
2. Taxes
3. Economic entitlements for illegal immigrants
4. "Outsourcing" jobs
5. Powerful people who exploit weaker people
6. The fact that going to a baseball game costs about $200 (tickets, parking, and snacks)
7. People who drive while talking on their cellphone
8. The mafia and other "organized crime" thugs
9. Overpaid athletes and CEOs
10. "Movie stars" and musicians who spout their dopey, uninformed political opinions. Just shut up and act or sing, we don't need to hear your half-baked political views!
WHAT I THINK IS WRONG WITH SOCIETY
We are now living in an age of Enlightened Self-Righteousness. The 1960s and 1970s were a time of "letting go," doing your own thing, going with the flow, and being cool. Now, it's no smoking, no more than one glass of wine with dinner, no caffeine, no sugar, no casual sex, no fattening foods, no fun. We have become conditioned to think that "feeling good" involves jogging, going vegetarian, cutting carbs, fat-free everything, drinking $2 bottles of water, and going to bed early. One of the few remaining thrills we have is ridicule people who do not suscribe to the rules of this new age of Enlightened Self-Righteousness. Where did we so self-righteous along the way? Where did we all become so inhibited? Whatever happened to the idea of "everything in moderation?"