Nick Sudzina==>30 Years - Baseball - Stephen Colbert

Wednesday==>This morning got off to a very different start for your favorite blogger here in the Sunshine State.

What am I talking about? Well, a couple of weeks ago a staff member from the Court Administrator’s Office in the Tenth Judicial Circuit, in Bartow, FL, called to ask if I would be willing to participate in a surprise party honoring Nick Sudzina’s 30th year as Court Administrator. This would take place during a regularly scheduled staff meeting at 9:30am on Wednesday, September 9th. Of course I agreed.

The plan was that during the meeting with his staff the phone would ring, they would put it on speakerphone and I would then make whatever comments I wanted to make.

Well, everything went down as planned and Nick was totally taken by surprise. This is what I said --

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“Good morning, Nick. This is Bill Norris and I am so happy to have this opportunity to be a part of this momentous occasion, acknowledging your 30 years of service as Court Administrator for the Tenth Judicial Circuit.

Nick, I know I said this to you many times in the past but today, in front of your friends and staff, I again want to express my deepest gratitude for your assistance during my 6 years as Chief Judge.

With your help, perseverance and management skills, together we brought this Circuit out of the dark ages and into the forefront as one of the most respected Circuits in the state.

One of the most difficult tasks I ever experienced was having to tell you, face-to-face, that you had not gotten the job as Court Administrator. Then, thankfully, a couple of years later, that egregious error was corrected and what turned out to be your 30 year tenure began.

I also must thank you for the extra help you gave me during my time as Chairman of the Florida Conference of Circuit Judges and how you have continued to have input into that organization.

I, of course, could go on and on and on ... but ... let me just say, my dear friend ... from the depths of my heart and soul  ... thank you, thank you, thank you ... may you have many more years.

Now ... go back to work and ... GO GATORS!!”

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Yes, my friendship with Nick spans more than 30 years. He is the very personification of professionalism, coupled with extreme loyalty.

Moving on ...

Yesterday was a kinda blah day since most of my time was devoted to working on my errands and chores list.

As planned, for the evening I stayed in the cool and comfortable confines of my new apartment, in front of my TV watching baseball.

Dammit!! Even though our starter, Masahiro Tanaka, pitched an excellent game over 8-innings, giving up only one run, we ultimately lost 2-1 to the Orioles in what was a classic pitcher’s duel.

The Blue Jays beat the FuckSox so we are now back to being 1.5 games behind in the AL East.

Tonight at 7:05pm from Yankee Stadium, The House That Greed and Ego Built, will be the rubber game of the 3-game series.

On the mound for the Yankees (77-60) will be our former ace, CC Sabathia (4-9) making his first start since coming off the 15-day DL vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (10-9) for the Orioles (66-72).

Tomorrow the Toronto Blue Jays come to The Bronx to begin a crucial 4-game series.

While we are talking about sports ... 

On Saturday my son Bill III aka The Bill and I will drive up to Gainesville, FL, for the 7:00pm Florida vs. East Carolina game. We were invited to the game by my dear friend Linda Goshorn, who has season tickets in the posh Touchdown Terrace area.

When the game is over we will come back home because Bill has a worked-related event early Sunday morning.

Really charged about this. It has been a long time since I was in Gainesville and even longer since I was at a Gator game.

Moving on ...

I really enjoyed last night’s highly anticipated debut of “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.”

His first guests were George Clooney and Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush. His friend and former "Daily Show" boss Jon Stewart popped in for a cameo. Even Jimmy Fallon made an appearance, via TV.

I liked Colbert’s approach toward establishing his own persona. His comments during the interviews were funny but also often very thought-provoking.

It was totally entertaining and, frankly, much better than I had anticipated. This will be a problem for me because I also like Jimmy Fallon a lot.

I think I will watch Colbert exclusively for about 2 weeks and then decide who will get Billi Pod’s time and attention in the future.

In closing==>no word yet from anyone about scheduling the next biopsy. Unless I hear something in the next couple of hours I will call my oncologist’s office to find out WTF is going on.

KICK CANCER’S ASS!!

GO YANKEES AND GO GATORS!! 

Yesterday’s mileage==>4.62 miles (or, 10,107 steps)

Total mileage for 2015==>1,021.43 miles (average 4.07 miles per day)

Billi Pod

“Don’t pick a fight with an old man. If he is too old to fight, he’ll just kill you.