Episode 46: Tony Berrios
This is a weird one.
For me.
Tony Berrios and I have played hockey together for about five years.
I'm not sure if the number's actually five. It might be seven or it might be three and-a-half.
I just don't know anymore.
Point being: I have come to know Tony pretty well, and -- if you'll pardon the cliche -- they certainly broke the mold when Tony was born.
He is -- without question -- one of the super-fantasticist human beings I've ever met.
Like...he has a serum in his blood that I'd love to distill and drop beneath my tongue before my morning coffee. He's always in a good mood. Super-smart. Awesome sense of humor. Great dad. Spectacular hockey player. The list goes on.
But...but...
Tony and I recorded this episode almost six weeks ago, and his interview did not go without the token number of gaffes; in this one I talked too much and I probably spent too much time in the beginning talking to him about his mother.
Tonight -- as I write this (after we played an awesome game of hockey together) -- Tony has probably nestled himself into bed and will embark upon another trip to Chicago in the morning. And things don't appear to be looking amazing in that the message from Tony's mom's doctor to Tony and his sister were to be prepared.
As in, Come up and prepare to send for the wife and kids.
Tony's mom is in I.C.U., and so is Tony's mom's mom, and the former doesn't know about the latter.
It's a hard thing for me to envision: having a deep, meaningful relationship with a parent into my 40s (Note: Oh, and, happy belated birthday to Tony, too.).
Anyway, I kid you not when I tell you that choosing the intro/outro audio for this episode was one of the hardest decisions I've made in recent memory. I landed where I did because, well...I'm not exactly sure, but I feel good about it, and sometimes that's as deep as a thing goes.
Regardless of all of that, Tony dropped by and we bullshitted about Nirvana and Pearl Jam and A Tribe Called Quest and Common. I mean, we touched on those first three artists, but mostly I gushed about Common, and Tony was like, Yeah, dude...I know.
Specifically, we talked about In Utero (1993), Ten (1991), The Low End Theory (1991), Resurrection (1994), and One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997).
It was good, good fun, though.
Tony's the best. I wish him and all of his people peace and love, and I won't even begin to try and articulate how grateful I am that he carved out a little time to do an episode with me.
Where you at, Moose?
copyright disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the intro/outro audio. They are samples from the title track of Chuck Mangione's 1977 record, Feels So Good (c/o A&M Records/UMG Recordings, Inc.).