A warm greeting to my Imagine Sports colleagues. My name is Ron Carr, I go by the user id 8gobucs21 and even though the evidence seems to the contrary, I am buddies with Charlie Lent.
It was almost fifty years ago so the details are a bit blurry but the year 1970 was when I introduced myself to the world of sports. My father was not a sports fan, so everything I did back then, I did on my own. When I think back as an eight-year-old, a few memories have traveled with me; my mother buying me football, baseball, hockey, and basketball cards.
One pack every time she went grocery shopping. I remember Willie Mays making a spectacular catch against the fence, crashing into the Giant left fielder (Bonds?). I remember watching Saturday hockey on the old black and white television in one of the spare rooms upstairs.
I remember O.J. Simpson being carried off the field against Cincinnati after suffering a knee injury. Most importantly, I remember coming home on the bus from Boston Valley Elementary school located in my tiny hometown of North Boston, New York, listening and discussing the 1970 World Series with the elderly woman who was my bus driver. It was then that my love of baseball took hold.
Baseball vs Football: Which is Better?
Ron & Dave
The following year, phone calls were exchanged between my friend Dave, the Orioles fan, and myself, the Pirates fan, as we both watched the 1971 World Series. Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell were my first baseball heroes, and my love for the Pirates has stayed with me to this day.
My buddy Charlie might disagree with me on this point, but aside from vegetables, the one thing I hate more than anything else is talking about myself, Therefore, this foray into the world of autobiography is going to be a bit difficult.
Ron’s Life
My life took a strange turn back in 1998. I was 36 years-old, married with two kids and working for a cigarette company when disaster struck. I was laid off permanently thanks to government fines and forced to find another job. Instead, my wife recommended I go back to school for a teaching degree.
Two-years later, my degree was complete, and things would start moving at break-neck speed. I got a job teaching history and at the age of 38 finally figured out what I was meant to do. I was fortunate to have a principal who let me do things the way I wanted and let me do things how I wanted to do them.
I abandoned the textbook and decided to teach through stories and experiences. I really, really, don’t take myself seriously, but I am proud to say that through the years my students have spoken to and more importantly asked questions of; a Parisian who was part of the French Exodus and joined the French resistance at 16; possibly a victim of Lebensborn who was found in a box car when he was a baby by American soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge; two soldiers who survived the second wave of D-Day; a Bulgarian who escaped a Siberian Gulag and made his way through China into India on foot; a European Jew who was one of the survivors of the SS St. Louis; an Italian woman whose family lost her house after the Nazis confiscated it; a resident of London who lived through the Blitz; a resident of Zeist, Holland (no she hadn’t heard of Bert Blyleven – I was furious) who watched the Nazis march through her town, a Hungarian who was forced to watch her relatives being executed during the 1956 uprising, a South Vietnamese who lunged, grabbing onto a rope and climbing onto the final ship out of Vietnam headed to the U.S., a Rwandan who lost his father during the 1994 genocide; and countless others who came to my history class for a question and answer session.
About the same time I began teaching, I was introduced to online baseball. I got one season of Bill James in before I went to ESPN and joined a league featuring, among others, Steve Pepi who is still active in this game today. Soon after, I joined up with a crew from Chicago who 19 years later I still consider good friends. I, along with Charlie Lent, George Kreiner, and Dan Moore played in countless leagues together at ESPN before moving over to Simnasium. We would soon be joined by Greg David and Jason Masterson and the six of us would be the core of a group that played themed leagues for years. We had one rule, the winner got to pick the theme for the next league and if you didn’t like the theme, then you had better win the next one. I have been fortunate enough to meet Charlie, George, Greg, and Dan on a few occasions. Our first get together was PNC Park, followed by an excursion to Cooperstown.
My wife and I took a trip to Chicago to hang with Charlie and his wife and had the time of our lives. My wife asked one favor; no baseball game, so I stumbled past Wrigley with a few tears in my eyes. No problem though, Charlie showed us a great time and this trip was for the girls, not us. One of my favorite times with Charlie, George, and Greg was when they came to Buffalo.
I hit them with famous Duffs wings, Mammoser’s wings and Beef on Kummelweck. Then it was on to Cooperstown again, this time with a surprise in hand. As member of the Board of Directors for the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, I was in constant contact with Jim Konstanty’s daughter, as the Philly 1950 NL MVP was being inducted into our HOF. She graciously invited me to her father’s fishing cabin outside of Cooperstown. I told her I had friends, she was good with it, so the four of us got to spend the day with Jim Konstanty’s daughter, try on his World Series ring and pose for pictures with his MVP trophy. A great day.
Meeting people like Charlie, Dan, George, Greg, Steve Brightman, and more recently Russ Mason is what this game is all about and by extension the IS community is what makes it all worth it. As for the game itself, I have little use for the advanced stats required to excel in this game. Heck, after my first 25 ImagineSports leagues, I had only one league win under my belt. My first ever team at Simnasium, London Calling, lost the World Series in six. I am up to 35 WS wins now, although I probably couldn’t give you details of any of them. Personally, I’m more into it for the interesting themes and required research. Decade and franchise leagues bore me to tears, I’d gladly take some whacked Jim Mudrock league or Bob Jecmen Masters theme any day. I’ve run countless leagues from the original déjà vu 28 players to max salary of 650k. To me, those are the fun ones.
With this, I leave with one final thought. Please Bills and/or Sabres; please win one championship before I’m done. Fifty years of nothing is a bit much to take. Just one before I’m gone.
Take care all!
Great personal bio mixed in with baseball .
Good luck with the Bills .