ALWAYS 65

/in /by

Good afternoon everyone, I trust you slept well? I mean if not, maybe hit up a massage therapist. I do know a really good one!! Speaking of, I am overdue to go see her, this old body needs a tune up. Still waiting to hear back about this 40 yard dash thing, I issued a challenge, everyone saw it last week! But i am a tad bit disappointed that i did not see many #teamrick tags out there other than my guy Quinn ( appreciate it that man! Hey watch out for the deer!) I am in a super good mood today, why you ask? Well if you keep reading maybe you will find out, hey let’s go! Story time!

Real quick- I wanna say i am sorry to anyone that was looking forward to me calling the boys baseball game from last Wednesday. I guess I pressed too many buttons and somehow caused my broadcast to have no audio. So everyone just got to stare at a baseball game and not really know what was going on! I promise I will work on that for next time!! It was fun to get back into the booth so to speak and call a game of any kind. I didn’t quite realize how much I missed doing this.

To every dad out there, Happy Father’s Day from me and everyone else! Huge shout out to my dad down there in Columbus! Love ya pops! I kinda feel like I got my Father’s Day gift early. Let me explain, or rather give a little backstory here. So my oldest daughter is 16, a tremendous student, an amazing athlete (much better than i ever was). Anyway, she has always excelled at sports, and i have always gone to her for advice on softball as i feel she knows way more about it than i ever will, and mind you i have been coaching it for 7 years now haha. She just recently returned to the travel softball scene and has been in what you call a slump with hitting. She asked me today via text if I could help her with her hitting to get out of this slump. This is a complete opposite from the way it usually is! I always ask her for help with my girls when it comes to hitting because I feel she is so in tune with it and knows so much of the little things that I may miss. But it just filled me with pride that she wants me to help her! I mean I really don’t know that I have much to offer her in the way of help!  I do know when you are struggling you should always go back to basics, and guess what?? That is about all I know when it comes to hitting in softball! So it should really work! So to say I am beyond excited that she asked me to “coach” her so to speak is awesome! I mean look, what kid wouldn’t want me to coach them? Like come on, I am the best coach out there( that nobody knows about). Haha ok so i am kidding there, but i do enjoy coaching and i do enjoy helping so i look forward to this! Happy Father’s Day to me!

So, bad news on the 40 yard dash training front, I had talked about before how i was so pleased that when i started training again i wasn’t having any issues with my knee. Well i guess i spoke too soon. Shortly after I hit on that subject I did have an issue with my knee. It swelled up about as big as a grapefruit, the good news is after about 4 days I am happy to report the swelling is gone, but I am not left looking into different training methods to avoid this happening again. I am still coming for that 40 yard dash title some way somehow! But let me just say i hate any kind of cardio training, always have and i always will. It’s just too much work in my mind, plus the fact that sweat so bad doesn’t help matters any. I swear my pores are the largest that they make, and I am reminded almost daily from my kids that they inherited that trait from me! Sorry kids, at least you didn’t inherit my hate for the sun! And before you ask, I am not a vampire, it’s just me and heat don’t agree, again back to the sweat thing. So today’s hashtag i dedicate to what i feel is the ideal temperature #always65. Yeah i could definitely live in the world where it was always 65 degrees outside, man that would be perfect. 

That’s another week in the books, another week of me just jabbering away about who knows what! I will just sit here and patiently wait for the next 65 degree day so I can try to enjoy the outdoors with my love/hate relationship with the sun! Until next time everyone! Stay cool!

RUN FOR GLORY

/in /by

I know, I am a week behind. My sincerest apologies on that one. I fully intended to have a blog ready for last week and then some issues popped up and I was unable to get it done. But no worries for I am back this week with a new exciting full of adventure tale of well…….stuff. So enough of my nonsense, onward to a new adventure!

 

Was I the only one who missed this 40 yard dash thing between Quinn and DJ? Cause like seriously I had no idea this even happened. Today on Power Hour I got filled in on how the whole thing went down. So let me break down a recap based on the info I got. Quinn challenged DJ to this race, DJ accepted and they set the stage for the field on EP high school. Quinn, as usual, was running late and somehow was not prepared. He ended up running without shoes, WHO DOES THAT? Anyway Quinn slips or so he says and DJ is victorious, and somehow is the 40 yard dash champion. That’s the skinny on that whole thing. Well now it appears DJ has a new challenger in our COO (not Triple H, but that would be so cool) Paul Munson. This challenge went down on Power Hour today. But during this whole exchange it got me thinking, how does Paul call in and suddenly become the number 1 contender for the 40 yard dash title? From what i have been told this Mr. Munson has hardly ever been to YSN studio, so I spoke up and asked this very question. Now it appears it will be me challenging Mr. Munson for the right to challenge DJ for this title.

 

Before I go any further let me say I was not prepared for this in any way shape or form. But being the competitor I am, I am going to accept this because I will not stop until I climb to the top of the mountain and become the 40 yard dash champion, which suddenly has been added to the top of my bucket list. I have laid out the challenge and begun training for this title chase. I offer some words to Mr. Munson in an attached video you will find with this week’s blog. Which brings me to this week’s hashtag. You have two options here, and I hope you pick the right one, but pick one nonetheless. If you think i can win this 40 yard dash then #TeamRick is what you want, and if for some reason you think Mr. Munson can beat me feel free to use #TeamMunson. Again I would trust everyone to make the right decision here and use the correct hashtag until this race has concluded. 

 

I am sure by now everyone has seen the video of me running my practice 40 in the YSN parking lot today. I must say I was quite amused with the commentary as you can clearly hear some unnamed people in the background claiming they didn’t think I would be as fast as I was. I was quite satisfied with my performance today as i have not really run like that in probably over a year. The biggest victory I took away from that was my knees were pain free and that was the biggest question mark since I have had both of them operated on. Don’t worry folks, i am not gonna let you down in this race. This old man still has some gas left in the tank, wait and see.

 

So I want to switch gears for a minute here tonight and pay homage to a few people in my life that within the past few weeks have passed on. As I mentioned earlier in the blog I was unable to provide a blog last week, and that was due to my cousin passing away. My cousin Joe who battled cancer for quite some time was unable to win his fight, and passed away last thursday. Joe was a legend in the independent wrestling scene in PA for a very long time. I started learning from him when I was 14. I used to travel with him to shows and he taught me a lot about a business I have loved for a very long time. Through him I was able to be involved with that business and I also met a few very awesome people who to this day I still talk to. I have been in talks with some people and we would like to put a memorial show together in his honor, and I decided for that show that I would get back into the ring one more time, for him. There isn’t enough room or time in this blog to fully explain what kind of impact he had on my life, so maybe i’ll save it for another time. Rest easy Joe-fu. 

 

So there we go, another eventful writing venture down. Another week another new hashtag created (remember the correct one is #TeamRick) and as always thanks for reading. Now we wait for an answer from Munson!!!!!!!

 

YSN’s Rick Dailey

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQHa7f4LeAw[/embedyt]

FOOTBALL’S MIXED FEELINGS

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Holy cow is it Friday already? Yes it is, and it is currently 6:27 pm EST on Friday of course. Hi I am Rick and I just realized I never wrote a blog for this week so as per the norm I am doing this so last minute. I know, I know, I had all week to do this, and while this is true I will not lie, I forgot. Now, let’s get to the meat for the week.

 

I am sure most of you have heard by now they have kinda taken off the handcuffs so to speak for contact and non-contact sports. I for one am excited, and I am also worried. Wait, how can I be both? Simple, I am excited as a fan/broadcaster since it looks like there will be a high school football season. I am worried as a parent as I have twin boys about to be freshman playing said high school football. So I get the best of both worlds or the best of one worst of another…….I am not quite sure at this point, so let’s dive in!!

 

I can’t wait for high school football to begin mainly because I absolutely love my job of getting to call the games for YSN. Not to mention football is my sport, I breathe it, I sleep it, I love it. All aspects, from the coaching to the strategy, to the bone-crushing hits(which due to rule changes over the years all done with player safety in mind have been very limited.) There is just something about football on a Friday night that excites me, the air smells better, the waters taste better I just love it. Being in the booth has been a dream come true for me, so thanks in advance for allowing me to bring you the coverage every Friday. I also have to thank my sideline reporter CW for helping me out and bringing some entertainment value to the broadcasts (if you don’t know who he is, just ask me. I am sure I can introduce you.) The biggest reason I cannot wait for Fridays to get here is I get to call the games that my kids will play in! That in itself is simply amazing, and something I will cherish forever!

 

Now onto why I am dreading football season. Like I said before I have twin boys who will be a freshman this season. As a parent I am concerned about them playing. Now I bet I am not the only one who shares the concern for their child in any sport, I just get to write about it in my blog! I just fear them getting seriously injured or even worse not wanting to play after this year. Going from junior high to high school football is a HUGE jump and transition. Everything is faster, players are bigger, stronger, meaner, have more hair than I do! But my fear is tied into my love of the game. I fear something could happen to them which would cause them to not want to play anymore, which would be crushing to me because football is my thing. I can’t imagine going to the games in the future and having one or both of them in the stands instead of on the field. I know both my boys love football, and I hope they will continue to do so. Which brings me to this weeks hashtag, I think it is only fitting since I am torn to label it #footballyayfootballnay

 

In other news, I see the Dallas Cowboys have signed former Bengal QB Andy Dalton to be the backup for Dak Prescott this year. I think this is a huge move for this franchise for 2 reasons, number 1 it gives Dallas a very good option in the event Dak gets hurt during the season. Number 2 basically eliminates the possibility that Dak holds out in the event they can’t come to an agreement on a long term contract. Before the Dalton signing Dak had leverage there to hold out possibly and force Dallas to maybe overpay him because they did not have another option to be the starter. With Dalton in town now, Dallas does in fact have a valuable replacement if Dak wanted to play hardball. In my opinion Dallas really only has a few year windows at a Superbowl just based on that roster, upcoming contracts, and other outlining factors. If Dak was to hold out, to me that would mean he is not interested in championships he is only interested in money, which is fine, but if he were to gamble on himself and holdout and watch Dalton have a Nick Foles like affect and win a championship, I don’t think Dak could get the kinda money he is looking for from another team. What are your thoughts on this subject? Let me know on twitter @ysn_rick or Instagram @ysn_rick. I want feedback, is anyone even reading these things?

-YSN’s Rick Dailey

RICK’S FOOTBALL CHALLENGE

/in /by

One day I’m going to buy an island somewhere. One day I am going to have a super huge house, on said island. One day I am going to have a super-duper fast car to drive from my house on said island. Ok who am I kidding, I never will have an island. First of all, I can’t afford one, the second I do not play the lottery so I have zero chance. Those are dreams, dreams are a good thing though. Dreams to me are goals, you’ve set in your sleep. Now I need to get back on topic here, I seriously did not plan to blog about my dreams, but yet somehow here they are. Weird, I know right? Moving on……….

Sad to report my hashtag movement of #seniorslastblast has gotten as much traction as a bald tire on ice. I still hold out hope though since it has only been a week, and my new social media accounts are still growing (SOMEONE PLEASE FOLLOW ME). Like a flower, it takes time to grow. I will have patience in this front as I saw the good news today that some sports in Ohio will be back by the end of the month. There is some light at the end of the tunnel of pulling off the event of the century.

A friend of mine recently texted me with a great concept of an idea for all football fans of the world. I will now challenge all the readers to follow suit. Please send in your answers to me on any social media platform, either twitter YSN_Rick or Instagram YSN_Rick. I want to hear back from you on this! I am curious about how different people will view this. *Note to self, Rick quit rambling and get to the point!* You have to fill a football team. You can only play with the bottom of the barrel talent, except you get to pick 5 players from any era of any time. Give me the player’s name and what year of that player you would pick. For example 1 I picked was LG Bruce Matthews from the 1999 season. So let’s see what you guys and gals think!!! #RicksFootballChallenge ( I think I will keep creating hashtags each week and hopefully one will stick sooner or later.)

I have to say what an honor it was for me to be able to be on this week’s episode of Power Hour at YSN. I can honestly say anything I have ever been able to do since joining the team has been an absolute blast. Hopefully, I did well enough to get an invite back some time, we shall see! Being given a platform to talk about things sports with a larger audience has been a dream come true for me! I will forever be grateful to all those who believe in me and give me opportunities to entertain the masses.

Something new I am going to try this week is a poem. I have been writing them off and on for years and it is something I actually enjoy doing. I will never claim to be a good writer because I do not feel I am, but that is not for me to decide. So let’s get feedback on this if you approve of my poetry skills let me know and I can continue to put them into these blogs somehow. Today’s selection goes out to our buddy Quinn, who feels Tom Brady will be NFL MVP for the upcoming season.

Flat on his back pass after pass
He cannot outrun anyone for he is not fast
He left a sure thing for something unknown
I bet by midseason he wishes he was home
In a new system so different from before
Broke into someone’s house before knocking at their door
The path to it all will be harder than before
The teams in his new division can actually score
The patriot way is what guided his success
Tampa Bay’s no risk it no biscuit mentality is a mess
He thrives on quick throws and dumps to the back
This new system uses 7 step drops to attack
He did get his Gronk but what man will he be
We will have to wait until week 1 to see
I do admit he will make the team better
He will push them all to be go-getters
In the end, for Brady I do not see
Them being better than the Saints with Drew Brees

-YSN’s Rick Dailey

#SENIORSLASTBLAST

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Well hello there, Rick here on behalf of YSN. Welcome to the first of what I hope to be many blogs RIGHT HERE on YSNLIVE.com (cheap pop). I hope to be entertaining, informative, and attention grabbing. This is quite new to me so please be patient as I learn to navigate these new waters in hopes of hitting land someday! Today’s selection is one I am sure everyone has thought about or talked about. The 2020 seniors are losing out on their spring seasons. Without any more delay I invite you to sit on the magic carpet and enjoy the ride! Off we go!

Close your eyes for a moment, picture everything as normal as it ever has been. Same routine going on the 4th year, same patterns 9 months out of the year. You are excited about this particular month because it means spring sports. Outdoor games, people and lots of them everywhere. Being with your friends and family for the very last time as a high schooler. Smiles, memories, happy times.

OK, now open your eyes, you see that this is not the case right now. How do you feel? Disappointed, annoyed, heartbroken, devastated, lost, confused just to name a few. I bet you got at least one of those feelings if not more. This is exactly what EVERY high school senior is feeling right now. All the excitement about their respective seasons, gone. The goals of division titles, league titles, state tournaments, personal accomplishments just vanished into thin air. 

I feel for every one of these kids who were looking forward to this season. As a coach and parent I am disappointed and upset about there not being a season, but in no way can I feel anywhere close to how these kids do. Sure some of them may continue their careers at the college level  and maybe even go pro, but that is a small percent. A lot of these kids will not get that chance to continue at a higher level due to a variety of circumstances. So for their careers to be over, and not on their own terms, is completely unfair. 

But I had 2 ideas, both I think are doable but will in no way be able to make up for this loss. The first is to put together a weekend or two where we can bring area teams together for a tournament of sorts. Sure it isn’t a full season but I feel these kids deserve one last time on the field/track. One last time to be a teammate, and a leader. Let us pack the stands and facilities ( social distance permitting) and cheer these kids on one last time. We set aside a 2 week window where the teams can practice, get their conditioning, timing, everything down and then head into what I call the Last Blast. Let’s make this about the kids, no records, no stats, no wins or losses. Let’s just let them enjoy one last run as their career comes to a close. I call for a #seniorslastblast on all social media platforms to get this to happen.

The 2nd idea i had is more of a longer term one, but I feel it will have great benefits. I encourage and invite these seniors to come back around in the coming years and talk to these younger teams. Tell them this story about your senior year and how everything got turned upside down. Come be special assistants during practices and games. Give back to the sports you loved all these years. We can use this moment to teach a valuable lesson to our youth, never take anything for granted because you never know when it can be taken away for any reason. Appreciate every day, every practice, every game, because it could be your last. I think this would really be an eye opener for these younger kids coming up.

There you have it, 2 ideas I have that we can send these seniors out the best way we can! I think they deserve a lot more, but circumstances permitting I think if we come together as communities we can make this happen! And we start it by making our voices heard everywhere! #seniorslastblast all over social media, spread the word! 

Feel free to reach out to me on twitter (@YSN_Rick or Instagram at YSN_Rick) I want to hear from you! What types of things would you like to read about? Let me know! Until next time boys and girls!