RIP Pa

I will inevitably write more later or this weekend or soon, but we lost a truly great man last night. My grandfather, whom we called Pa, was a superhero to me and my cousins. I just got off the phone with my cousin Jordan and he said "he was superman."

Cancer took away this physical superhuman and in the last few years diminished him to a man who was hunched over and had trouble breathing. It was depressing, yet I always had this feeling like if he could just get through a certain amount of time, he would get back to the gym and somehow transform back. 

A quick story - we were in Washington D.C. in probably about 2004 and were touring the Capitol. We were in the cafeteria having lunch and for some reason my cousin Scott, Jordan's brother, thought it was a good idea to arm wrestle Pa. At the time, Scott was a highly touted high school soccer player, strong and fit. Pa smoked him. Then he did it again. He had to be almost 70 years old at the time. Superhero. 

That's the man we already miss. A man who helped foster my love for sports. Who would call me while watching the Yankee game and say "I'll catch up on what you're doing from your grandmother, but what do you think of (insert sports story here)." I'll still be talking to you Pa, cause I know you'll always be listening.

NBA Draft Story - Hoff the Intern

Jahlil Okafor and D'Angelo Russell are on campus at ESPN today which reminds me of a funny, humbling moment from my ESPN internship. Over 10,000 student apply annually to be interns at ESPN and I was one of the nearly 100 selected. ESPN is truly like the commercials. You just never know who you're going to see when you turn the corner. Coaches and players from all over the sports world are visiting constantly. It was the NBA Draft prospects that got me though.

I was 21 years old and was living the dream! I was rubbing elbows with people I admired in the business, and their bosses. I was feeling pretty good about myself. "Who else has it like this? Young and accomplished. Yeah, man!"



Like today with Okafor and Russell, ESPN hosted two of the top two prospects in 2011: Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams. Kyrie was 19 years old and was a lock to be the #1 pick, make millions and become a star. I was a 21 year old intern.

This isn't a blog to make you think about perspective and all that. It's a blog meant for you to laugh at me. Or with me. Because it was funny. You're not that awesome, kid. You're not that awesome.

6-20 DJ & Hoff: Thoughts on Charleston

It's not uncommon for me to touch on serious topics on the radio. It is very uncommon for them to be completely disconnected from sports. What happened this week in Charleston, SC called for that rare exception. I felt especially moved after watching Jon Stewart talk about the shooting and his guest, Malala Yousafzai, talk about the power of one voice. I chose to use mine.