Diamond Life

If you're among the unfortunate unemployed, it's difficult to be forced into re-evaluating the career you've worked so hard to build. I've spent 15 years on radio and television- two areas hit especially hard by the economic downturn- and assessing the next move is maddening. The difficulty and frustration come from the reality that a successful and lucrative body of work can be stopped in its tracks when times get tough, compounded by the fact that we all have skill sets limited to our lines of work. I've proven myself to be a reasonably intelligent and resourceful guy, but it's a bit of hard cheese to learn that broadcasting and performing is really all I know how to do. I'm certainly not above getting a "normal" job; I'm just not quite qualified for anything else. So it's nice to find out that you can still learn new tricks. My son is turning into a fantastic baseball player and working with him has made me improve my game, too. As much as I love baseball, I didn't have much acumen when I was his age; I swung a bat like a crazed ivory poacher machete'ing his way through the Amazon rainforest. But my kid's got a great arm and, as it turns out, I've actually been able to show him a thing or two to help him bring the heat.

He starts football in the fall and I'm stoked to add "tackle dummy" to my resume.