Back to the 80's

Okay,
I mentioned that I should reminisce about days gone by. Hmmm, where should I start. Well, let me just jot down a few things that come to mind. To begin with, as I stated before, I am totally a child of the 80’s. It is true, I was born in the 70’s, but I really don’t remember much about those days (except for a few of the songs---DISCO… oh yeah!)

Baseball played an important role in the 80’s (and continued into the mid 90’s). I remember exactly where I was at when Bruce Sutter threw the final pitch in the 1982 Word Series to give the Cardinals the win in the final game (strangely enough, I hardly follow baseball these days). I also played for a variety of different teams, and traveled all over Southern Illinois dreaming of one day making it big. I wanted so bad to be a major league ball player. My dad would catch for me, pitch me balls, and hit fly balls and ground balls to me. Those are memories I will cherish forever! My cousins would invite their friends over, and we would play the game all day. I became a descent player, winning three MVP trophies in junior leagues, and hitting a few home runs in the little leagues. I even threw a no-hitter in high school. I remember playing on all star teams, throwing the final pitch for a championship game, and doing my best to imitate Ozzie Smith and Pete Rose (without the gambling). I always dreamed of one day pitching off the mound at Busch Stadium. Would you believer, that day actually came true. Not as a major leaguer, but in a high school game. Our coach arranged a deal where where got to play one of our games before a Cardinals game. I got to warm up in the bullpen, and start the game off the mound at Busch Stadium! Who says dreams don’t come true?

When I wasn’t playing baseball in the 80’s, I would ride my bike, three-wheeler, fish, and spend hours and hours in the woods behind my house. My cousin would try to break-dance, and get me to listen to a new kind of music called “rap.” I hated it then, and I hate it today. I did develop a liking for country music. Groups like Alabama were my favorite, as well as the Judds and of course Dolly Parton and Kenny Rodgers. When those two would sing, “Islands in the Stream,” I knew life good. Too bad country music went to pot somewhere in the 90’s. When I wasn’t listening to country, I enjoyed Huey Lewis and the News, Cindy Lauper, and yes, Michael Jackson (before he became white).

Movies? I remember Gremlins, and Back to the Future, and of course, Ghost Busters! Man those where good movies. Going to the show was a lot cheaper back then, but it was still expensive. Generally, I stayed home and watched shows like Cheers, Growing Pains (by the way, Curt Cameron is an awesome Christian who has a ministry called Way of the Master), The Dukes of Hazard, and of course, my all time favorite and best television show of all time, MacGuver! Richard Dean Anderson could fix anything, build anything, and do it all under an extreme amount of pressure. Best of all, he never shot anyone.

Cartoons were great too. Scooby Doo was the best, but there were also the Transformers (more than meets the eye) and He-Man. Saturday morning brought The Littles, The Smurfs, and a girly show called Wildfire that I watched.

I didn’t follow politics much back then. I do remember Regan getting shot, hearing him say, “Tear down that wall,” and speak of a “Shining city on the hill.” Everyone I knew seemed to hate him, but looking back he indeed was “not too bad at all.”

I owned a swatch watch (or something like it), a pair of parachute pants, and the ugliest neon shoe laces you could imagine. I had an Intellivision (kinda like an Atari), and a Commodore Vic 20 computer that did virtually nothing…but it was soooo cool!

We could all sing, “I’d like to buy the world a coke” with the commercial. And we could all sing “We are the World.” I remember a lot of money went somewhere for something, but mostly I remember the song being played and played and played on the radio. Most people got sick of it, but I never did.

Well, that is enough for today. If you read all this, then you must be really bored.