Over the past few weeks, my mind and time has been wrapped up in so many diversions. First, there was the baseball playoffs followed by the World Series. And then there was watching a 12-part miniseries from 1976 I DVR’ed. Plus, as always, there is my love of books that I never neglect. All that plus trying to get in a round of golf every now and then and just trying to keep up with life’s everyday routine can certainly create havoc with one’s schedule. But I manage to create a sense of order to the muddled state I find myself wading through and come out on top of the self-created chaos surrounding me.

Where you’ll likely find me when my eyes aren’t stuck to the TV or my nose isn’t stuck in a book.

WORLD SERIES

As for the baseball, those of you who follow this blog already know that my favorite team is the Atlanta Braves. Unfortunately, once again they failed to make the playoffs though they did improve this year, improving from finishing last in their division to third. But after those 14 consecutive years of winning their division, they, as all teams do, find themselves rebuilding, and from what I’ve seen so far, new success lies not far over the horizon. That may be a true fan’s optimism, but hopes are free!

Still, I truly did enjoy the World Series. The two teams I initially pulled for didn’t win but it still turned into one of the best World Series I’d ever seen. And I was happy to see the team I pulled for, the Houston Astros, win their first ever world championship in their 56th year of existence after holding the record for being in the MLB the longest time without winning a championship.

RICH MAN, POOR MAN

As for the miniseries I watched, it was Rich Man, Poor Man, based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Irwin Shaw. I remember watching this along with my mom and then getting the book for the both of us. And both were the greatest! What’s cool about this series is that it was the first time I’d ever seen Peter Strauss and Nick Nolte. Nolte looked so young, though he was already 35 when this was filmed.

Talia Shire also appeared in this series, following her appearances in the first two Godfather movies and prior to her being seen in Rocky and its following sequels. Ed Asner had a major role in this series and he went on to star in Lou Grant, reprising a role he had in The Mary Tyler Moore Show, becoming one of only two actors to win an Emmy Award for a sitcom and a drama for the same role. And there was Norman Fell, who went on to star as the hard-nosed landlord Stanley Roper on the hit sitcom Three’s Company.

And seeing the series again allowed me to see so many great actors who had already made their name such as Dorthy McGuire, Dorthy Malone, and Ray Milland. But this is just a few of the many familiar actors that appeared in this series which truly had an all-star cast.

THOMAS WOLFE

On my last three visits here, I’ve shared my love of the great author Thomas Wolfe with you. And even now, I’m in the process of reading another one of his great works, Of Time and the River, the sequel to his first novel, Look Homeward Angel. Ironically, he died at the young age of 37, seeing less than half of his work published in his lifetime, leaving behind two complete, unpublished novels in the hands of his publisher. But after I finish Of Time and the River, those next two novels, The Web and the Rock and You Can’t Go Home Again, are #1 on my reading list.

NORTH CAROLINA TAR HEELS

But now it is time to “switch gears” and move on to my next sports-love, college basketball. And just as the Atlanta Braves are my favorite baseball team, the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, my home-state team, is my fave college team. Hopefully, as opposed to the Braves still working their way back to the top, the Tar Heels job for this season is to remain there, seeing that they are the defending national champions. So, here goes, a new basketball season begins in two days when Carolina plays their first game, while I write at this minute, I continue my countdown to the Braves first game of the 2018 season, 140-days, and counting!