Worst of times, best of times

They say bad things come in threes.

In a span of 24 hours I lost a basketball pool (thanks, Arizona), lost a Wordle streak, and somehow frittered away the end of my Spring Break.

The cure?

College basketball, MLB, and the Masters all in the same week.

Aldo Brozzetti, 1940-2026

Say “797-9960” to anyone who lived in the Binghamton area the past few decades and no one looks at you strangely.

They will respond as though provoked a la Pavlov…

Call Brozzetti’s for pizza to go!

That’s a legacy.

The man behind that legacy? His name was Aldo Brozzetti. He passed away last week at the age of 85, still attracting folks to his namesake pizzeria with a catchy jingle and delicious wares right up to his final years.

Mr. Brozzetti operated Brozzetti’s Pizza in Johnson City, New York, from 1959, when he took over the already decade-old store after his father’s passing. A man who lived his life in the pizza business? Yeah, I think 67 years qualifies.

Mr. Brozzetti was also a musician and an antique car enthusiast, the former producing the aforementioned jingle and the latter bringing him into the company of my father and his fellow autophiles. That’s how I knew Mr. Brozzetti. He and my dad were friends for years, and when I read that the recently deceased was 85 my initial thought was, wow, Brozzetti was so much older than my dad. No, my dad would turn 84 shortly, his car-filled days having ended too soon. Lesson: no matter how long or short, fill your lives with the things you love. Music, pizza, and cars are pretty much my favorite things too.

The jingle, the pizza, the ’32 Ford… they were all mentioned in Mr. Brozzetti’s official obit (Allen Memorial Home in Endicott: classic Tri-Cities Italian). But what was mentioned first? His wife, his children, his 14 grandchildren. The thing that brought him the most joy was watching his grandchildren… because that’s what he did, and that’s what he loved, and that’s how he and taught his family to love.

Now that’s a legacy.

Something old, something new

Ah, baseball, sweet baseball, and its opening… night?

Yeah, Opening Night tonight in Oracle Park, as the San Fransico Giants host the team of my youth, the New York Yankees.

Two of the most successful and storied franchises in sports facing off to start the season…

on Netflix.

Netflix?

Yeah, I guess–whatever gets the thing on your TV, right?

This truly is a new era.

For century-old baseball teams.

Eh.

Play ball!