A Phone Call Is Better Than Dolphins 3-0

For seven years I have been covering this team here on PhinPhanatic.com.  I have watched them win and I have of course watched them lose.  What I haven’t done is seen them go 3-0.  Sure I was in my 30’s the last time they opened 3-0 and in 1995 when they started 4-0 I was still an adult and married.  It takes a lot to move me after the thick skin I have developed.  Especially when it comes to the comments from a lot of you on how bad I really am as a wannabe sportswriter.  Good thing for Salguero I suppose.

Tonight however something shook me of my “professional” tree.  It’s happened to me only one time before.  While I may be an amateur writer I always keep a prof approach to my writing and my opinion.  I don’t let emotion get in my way of being objective and I don’t let it mess me up.

On Tuesday nights for the last 6 years I have been co-hosting “On The FinSide” with James Lancaster of FinNation.com and for the last three years Brian Catanzaro has joined us to make a three man booth.  About 35 minutes into our show we got a call that disrupted me rhythm and to be honest, made me cry like a giddy school girl.  We tend to forget that we here at home have things like gas prices to worry about or what changes “ObamaCare” will have on our wallet.  There are however bigger worries for those of our brothers and sisters serving overseas.  My brother Jim is one of those guys.

Tonight…he gave our show a call.

I don’t know why I didn’t recognize the voice.  Perhaps it’s just that it’s been awhile since I heard it.  He has been training for more than a month and landed in Afghanistan about a week or two ago.  Where I have no idea.  We took the call as we would any other and he posed us a question like every other caller would.  Realizing that he had the drop on me he dropped a hint to his location and his voice slapped me across the face.  I broke down.  I’m proud to say I did.  I love and miss my brother a lot.  As much as all of you miss your loved ones who are serving this great nation.

My brother is a huge Miami Dolphins fan and he is not home to witness this start and it’s killing almost as much as being away from his wife and son…well maybe not quite as much.  Regardless the call made me realize once again that football is a sport and it’s also when put into perspective entertainment.   Knowing that many Dolphins fans are out of country right now makes me want the Dolphins to win that much more.  Give the soldiers over there something to cheer about, high-five, and clap their hands.  Return to the wall they guard with a smile on their face.

Tonight, give a little prayer to the soldiers defending our country.  Protecting each other and remember that they may be there but they wish they were here.  For a brief minute or two my brother was here with me with us and his wife and son got to hear him on the internet…and me cry like a girl…(I won’t likely hear the end of that anytime soon).  Pray for our soldiers and their safe return.  All of them.  And thank them for what they do each time you see them.

Jim, I love you brother!  The call tonight made my month.  Stay safe and come home to us soon.  I know you will be reading this which is the real reason I wrote it.

We Miss you!