Orange and Black

It has been awhile since I mentioned my orange and black team...
Pretty bad when this blog used to be colored orange and black.

Due to the great events of 2012, I had to let my season tickets go.
Tough decision as I had had them for more than a handful of years...
But, I couldn't afford to buy all of the tickets in the Spring and not sell them until the Fall.
Heck, I couldn't even afford just my seat...

So, I let them go. 
I plan on going to at least one home game every year.
The Bengals played a huge part of my life for such a long time that I just can't quite cold turkey!
I was at the Giants game this year.
Loved it!
Felt a pang that I didn't get to go to more.
In fact, with all of the tornado repair and grandbaby stuff (and those pesky blackouts), I didn't get to watch all of the games on TV either.
That hurt, but that's life.

I still got out my orange and black garb every Sunday.
I still have a pile of Bengal stuff that will be hung in the basement.
I still have a Bengal screen saver at work.
I still am a Bengals fan.
I still don't care for their front office people.

Was watching the game today and felt that pang...

Namaste.

Ready For Some Football?

I miss professional football.
This is the first year in many that I am not a season ticket holder.

It was a hard decision.
It was my decision alone.
In the end, I decided that football wasn't there for me anymore.
And my pocketbook could no longer be there for football.

My decision has had some reprocussions.
Relationships I had with some are no longer the same.
And I've realized, relationships based on tickets (could write a lot more on this, but I won't)...better that they changed.

I still wanted to go to training camp, but with the move to downtown, I just couldn't see it happening.
I still wear my orange, but I couldn't tell you a name when I see a number.
I still plan on watching, but I may not make it through the game (especially tonight) if checking Algebra II homework turns into teaching and won't fit into the commercial times.

I still attend Friday Night Lights.
But it just isn't the same.

Namaste.

Go Orange and Black!

Stole this from a friend who posted it somewhere else... :)

Four football fans go rock climbing one afternoon, a Bengals fan, a Browns fan, a Steelers fan, and a Ravens fan. They had been arguing all the way up the mountain about who among them was the most “die-hard” fan.

Upon reaching the top of the mountain, the Ravens fan proclaimed to the other four… “This is for the Baltimore Ravens!” and promptly threw himself off the mountain as a sacrifice.

Not to be outdone by a Ravens fan, the Browns fan jumped up and said…”This is for the Cleveland Browns!” and then threw himself off the mountain as a sacrifice.

Refusing to be outdone by the Ravens and Browns fans, the Bengals fan rose to his feet and yelled at the top of his lungs “This is for the Cincinnati Bengals!” and shoved the Pittsburgh Steelers fan off the mountain.

Let's hope this happens today. :)

Namaste.

R.I.P.

Today is a sad day.
Today, the Bengals lost one of their own.
Today, a family is saying goodbye to a loved one.
Today, I feel for everyone involved.

Over the years, I had not a big fan of Chris Henry.
For a few years, he was "he who shall not be named" because of the negative influence he was portraying for our youth. I'm sure if you go back through my Bengals posts, you'll find at least one on him in the midst of his trouble.
When the Bengals resigned him, I was in the group that thought they were crazy.

Over the last year (specifically the football year), I started using his name again.
I started giving credit where credit is due - he was getting his life back on track.
He was focusing on what was important. . .His family.

At 26, he is way to young to go.
At 26, his kids are loosing their dad way too early.
At 26, he was finally on the right track.

RIP Chris Henry

Namaste.

Who Dey!

OB and I spent the day in Bengal gear.
Even though we were up early and we are both exhausted, it was a fun, packed full day!

Beastie at the first game of Corn Hole (we don't need to talk about the second).
Taught OB the basics of Euchre.
Spent the second half of the game sitting with Lucy (we don't need to talk about the first half).
Enjoyed a W (a W is a W. . .Doesn't matter what it looked like).


Tickets to a Bengals Game: $138
Food to Tailgate: $24
My share of parking: $10
Spending some quality time with my 12 year old: Priceless

Namaste.

MMQB

I started to do my normal "bits and pieces" from Monday Morning Quarterback. Not normally an issue because I link back to the article and since it appears that no matter what the Bengals do - Peter King barely gives them a glance, there is not a whole lot to share.

This week, WOW. Way too much to put here - it feels like I would be doing something wrong.
Since that is not something that I want to be guilty of. . .

Please click Here to read "These are not your father's Bengals." and "Mike Zimmer's slowly coming back in Cincinnati, under the kind of pressure that would break most of us.". Yep, the ENTIRE page is about the Bengals. Yes, Peter King wrote it.

Here are the rest of the tid-bits. . .Still quite a bit!
The Fine Fifteen
5. Cincinnati (7-2). Wow: 5-0 in the division, 5-0 in its past five road games, home-and-home wins over the AFC Championship Game contestants last season. This is a team I swung on and missed badly. The Bengals will be a tough out in the playoffs.

The Award Section
Special Teams Player of the Week
Bernard Scott, RB/KR, Cincinnati.
First, what can't be overlooked on Scott's weaving, sprinting, game-changing 96-yard kick return for touchdown -- the first kick return for a touchdown by a Bengals rookie in 33 years -- was the ridiculously weak tackle try by kicker Jeff Reed. What, Reed can get in fights off the field but can't contest a runner on the field?
That was the only touchdown of the game, but it wasn't Scott's only impact on the game. After Cedric Benson went down with a hip injury early, Scott, a rookie from Division II Abilene Christian who scored 73 college touchdowns for the Texas school, had to bang against the great Steelers run defense. He rushed 13 times for 33 yards and caught a swing pass from Carson Palmer for 21 yards. He also returned five kicks for a 41.5-yard average. Imagine someone named Bernard Scott accounting for 260 all-purpose yards in your biggest game of the year. Kudos to the Bengals oft-maligned scouting staff, headed by Jim Lippincott, for finding this diamond in the very deep rough.

Coach of the Week
Mike Zimmer, defensive coordinator, Cincinnati.
In four victories this fall, Zimmer's Bengals have held the Steelers and Ravens to 20, 14, 7 and 12 points. As I wrote higher in this column, Zimmer has shot up the charts and is now a legitimate 2010 head-coaching candidate. "What he's done is teach our players the total game of football,'' Marvin Lewis said after the win over Pittsburgh. "He's been invaluable.''

Ten Things I Think I Think
5. I think this is what I didn't like about Week 10:
i. A 46-yard penalty is important in any game. In Cincinnati-Pittsburgh, it was vital, with Bengals safety Chinedum Ndukwe's senseless pass-interference on Mike Wallace, which set up a Jeff Reed field goal.

9. I think I blew the Chad Ochocinco fine story on NBC last week, and I'd like to explain myself. You all saw the funny bit about Ochocinco semi-waving a dollar bill at a game official last week, trying to get him in jest to change a call. Later that day, I spoke to someone with knowledge of NFL discipline, who said to me the thing didn't strike him as discipline-worthy. So I went on TV eight nights ago and said I didn't think Ocho would be fined for it. What my knowledgeable person didn't know was that after the game, in interviews with the media, Ochocinco used the word "bribe'' in discussing his use of the dollar bill. And when the combo platter of the dollar bill being shown to the official and the word "bribe'' came to the attention of the league office, it was deemed worthy of a $20,000 fine.
To me, the fine was totally out of whack. When you fine Tommie Harris $7,500 for slugging a player in a game and give another player three times that for a joke that went too far, I've got a problem with that. To me, it's political correctness run amok. But in any case, I was wrong, and I should take a journalistic hit for that. My fault.

Namaste.

MMQB

I was a bit busy yesterday taking both kids to the doctor so my MMQB recap is a day delayed.
We have one with bronchitis and one with a severe viral cold. Time to medicate!

The Fine Fifteen
8. Cincinnati (6-2). OK, OK, Bengals fans. I give up. I acknowledge your greatness. Well, at least your very-goodness. The thing that impressed me watching Cincinnati's relatively easy victory: 44 total yards by the Ravens in the first half and just 215 in four quarters. "Not the same old Bengals,'' Chad Ochocinco told me after the game. Apparently not.

Ten Things I Think I Think
5. I think Marvin Lewis is going to get serious coach-of-the-year consideration from me. I remember seeing him in HBO's "Hard Knocks'' show rail at his team after a preseason loss to St. Louis, lost when the ninth-stringers were on the field. And I thought: This guy's making it very uncomfortable for his team to lose. And the Bengals have gone out and played like that.
8. I think the Cincinnati corners, Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph, were the league's unsung heroes Sunday. Not saying the Ravens have Swann and Stallworth on the flanks, but Joe Flacco looked unsure in the pocket all day, and it's because Hall and Joseph pestered the Raven receivers all day.
9. I think the league won't do anything about Chad Ochocinco's little money gag, where he took out a dollar bill and waved it at an official during a disputed call. "You know, like, here's a dollar, change the call,'' the Ocho told me. "Just kidding. Just having fun.'' Wasn't sure the league would see it that way, and though I think league officials will look at the replay in New York today, I hear they won't be inclined to fine Ochocinco. Harmless fun. Well, I didn't think it was fun, but I'm old and boring.

Namaste.

Who Dey - MMQB

I started to post the "Bengals' type time" from MMQB, but then realized that there is way too much of it this week.
Feel free to click HERE to go read tons of Bengals verbiage - and most of it good, surprisingly!

On a sadder note: My condolences go out to the Zimmer Family!

Namaste.

Who Day? NOBODY!

I haven't forgotten about my blog. . .
Have lots of posts started. . .
Have lots of pictures taken. . .
I see an end in sight - I should be back to regular blogging in about two weeks (crossing fingers)!

In the mean time, here are some excerpts from MMQB. All credit goes to the author, not me.
Peter King writes that the Bengals may have earned some respect from the Steelers.
Could they have also earned some from Mr. King?


Now that's what I call some drama, and some good stories.
Carson Palmer converting two fourth-downs in the final minute to slay the Steelers.

Could it be? Could it possibly be? Could the Steelers actually respect the Bengals?
Time will tell if Cincinnati deserves it. But it was interesting after the Bengals pulled the 23-20 stunner at home -- breaking an eight-game home losing streak to the Steelers -- to hear Ben Roethlisberger say: "Tough loss for us. Tough divisional fight.'' Tough divisional fight -- those words have been reserved for games with the Ravens, not the Bengals or Browns.
Two reasons this happened. One: The Bengals played a physical game, and they have players -- Brian Leonard on offense, Rey Maualuga and Keith Rivers on defense -- more suited to that style than Bengal teams have been in the past. Two: Carson Palmer. A good quarterback (a healthy good quarterback) always gives your team a chance. "We deserved to win the game,'' Palmer said afterward, and he was right.

The Fine Fifteen
14. Cincinnati (2-1). Andre Caldwell! Andre Caldwell! Or, as Keith Olbermann called him on TV last night: Ocho Siete. You know -- 87. That's who caught the winner from Carson Palmer in the end zone against Pittsburgh.

Quote of the Week I
"Let's go win the game! Let's go win the game!''-- Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis, with 60 seconds left at Paul Brown Stadium and the Bengals trailing Pittsburgh 20-15 and Cincinnati with a fourth-and-two at the Steeler 20. Lewis yelled this out to his offense, and the offense, of course, went out and converted two fourth downs in the next 30 seconds en route to the 23-20 win over Pittsburgh.

Offensive Player of the Week:
Carson Palmer, QB, Cincinnati
Stats, schmats. Palmer was 20 of 37 for 183 yards, with one TD and no interceptions in the 23-20 upset of Pittsburgh. But his value to this game, and to his team, can be measured in one very important one: He gives the Bengals hope that they can win any game they're in late. Against the Steelers, he led his team 71 yards in the last five minutes, bleeding the clock so the Steelers wouldn't have a chance to score after the Bengals did. A brilliant, clutch drive by a guy we've forgotten could be this good.

Ten Things I Think I Think:
4. I think there's no question the happiest man in the league Sunday night was Carson Palmer. He might not have shown it, but I can tell you the immense personal satisfaction he derived from that game in Cincinnati. When I convened five quarterbacks for the SI quarterback round table in Lake Tahoe in July, Palmer was the de facto leader of the group. He was into the topics, and I thought he liked how the others there looked at him with the respect they all obviously had for him.

Palmer was sitting next to Ben Roethlisberger when I asked the guys who they hated. "Since I've been in the league,'' Palmer said, "the Steelers have been at the top of our division. We just happen to be in the same division. You always want what you don't have. You're always jealous because you all want the same thing. [Turning to Roethlisberger.] He's got two Super Bowl rings; we all want one. They've got two and you're jealous, you're envious, you want what they have and personally ... Ben, don't take this the wrong way, but when the Steelers were in the playoffs [in 2005], after I got hurt and I was on the couch and I was watching in California, and Jon Kitna was back in Cincinnati and we were going back and forth talking during every playoff game as it went on every week. I was like, 'Oh, I just can't watch. I can't believe they're winning,' and I'm just pissed off and mad, like drinking beers and throwing bottles against the walls because you just kept going.''

And then Palmer went out Sunday and out dueled Roethlisberger 35 miles from Big Ben's college campus in Oxford, Ohio. That's a great day for Palmer.

"Who Dey?"
The answer this week: "Not the defensive Super Bowl Champs!"

Namaste.

WooHoo!

It's been a long while since there has been anything in the MMQB column to make me smile.
The author lived in Cincinnati for awhile which leads me to believe that he despises the Bengals as he rarely has anything good to say about them.

Until today (though I must admit - for having both an offensive player of the week and a defensive player of the week, I really expected to read more than one more thing about them in the column, but see note above). . .


OFFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (4 players total identified)
Cedric Benson, RB, Cincinnati
The one thing the Packers were convinced they could do after an off season adjusting to the 3-4 and a preseason in which they played it well and an opener in which they snuffed out the Bears is stop the run. And so here came a totally unimpressive running game, Cincinnati's, into Lambeau. Benson rushing 29 times for 141 yards (a 4.8-yard average) was the biggest reason the Bengals pulled the upset of the day.

DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (4 players total identified)
Antwan Odom, DE, Cincinnati
Before this season, Odom had played 60 NFL games and totaled 15.5 sacks. Guess who's the 2009 sack leader? Odom, the former bit-part Titan, who had five sacks, two additional tackles for loss, and five tackles in the Bengals' stunning upset at Green Bay. That gives Odom seven for the season, and it gives the Bengals a pass-rushing end they've been lacking for years, even when Justin Smith was a moderately successful rush end before leaving in free agency for the Niners last year.

Ten Things I Think I Think
7. I think this is what I liked about Week 2:
j. Loved how the Cincinnati offensive line made a shell around Carson Palmer.

Namaste.

Sight Around Town. . .

I'd heard about them.
I'd even read Mike Brown's comment on them.

I finally saw one and had my camera handy.
Namaste.

FINALLY!

Namaste.

His Priorities A Bit Confused?

What would you do if you got fined for having the wrong name on your uniform?
Me? I'd stop using the wrong name.
What about you?

I would not go through the legal process and pay money and disrespect my family by CHANGING MY NAME!

I guess that Chad Ocho Cinco has different priorities.

Namaste.

IN MOURNING!

**NOTE: SassyMarie is still staring at the screen in disbelief.
She will most likely be in mourning for most of the football season as Rudi and Willie have both been cut.**

Looks like the Bengals are in worse trouble than initially thought.
Not so sure if being a season ticket holder is such a good thing right now.

Namaste.

He Who Shall Not Be Named. . .

No, I'm not talking about Harry Potter.

I am in favor of giving someone a second chance. . .
Heaven knows that I have needed a few of those myself.

In certain cases, I may even support a third chance.

I do NOT support giving someone their 100th chance.
But the Bengals disagree with me.

As a result, there is a player who I will refer to as: He Who Shall Not Be Named. :)

Namaste.

Say What?

From Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback:

Quote of the Week II
"Going back to the Bengals is possible. I wouldn't mind it happening because I loved playing in Cincinnati. I got real close with all the guys out there and I planned on being out there for a long time. I really had a good time playing ball out there in Ohio.''-- Suspended former Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry, on the prospect of returning to the team.

If the Bengals do that, I will personally demand the entire front office be drug-tested.

I think Peter King is right. . .I will seriously wonder what is going on if he is brought back!

Namaste.

Pretty

We live in the country.
We have a constant fight with small animals getting into our house - yep, mice.
We have won a few battles with mouse traps, but we haven't won the war - YET.

We are considering getting a cat.
Not a kitten.
A cat.
One that hates mice as much as we do.

MaBelle pointed out some cats that she would like us to consider.
I'm not too up on paying a lot of money for a cat or having one that is the size of a dog.
In otherwords, we'll probably get one from the pound or find a "give away".
BUT, I admit they are gorgeous! And the Bengal cat would fit right in with all of my Bengal decor!


Meet, the Bengal Cat (photo from here - no, I don't take credit for it)

Meet, the Egyptian Cat (photo from here - no, I don't take credit for it)
Namaste.

Mom's Day Event

There is a great article on bengals.com about Rudi's Foundation and an amazing lady.

I can't take credit for the article, but I can take credit for the following pic.
I took it at the 2007 Rudi Johnson's Mother Day event.

Yep, I was there.
Yep, I heard the speech that she "thought" was recorded.
Yep, I thought she was a pretty amazing lady that day.

Namaste.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

Yes, I know. . .
We are still months away from training camp and even longer until preseason.
But, it was draft weekend and I think that warrants an ORANGE post (and I've already made the first payment on my seats)!

With everything going on at home (We have a birthday to celebrate this week!) and the big deadlines at work, I haven't had a chance to do any research and formulate any opinions. . .

We drafted five offense and five defense.
I'm intrigued by the THREE WRs included:
One - absolutely!
Two - I can probably make a believable case for.
But, did we really need three?


Round 1:
Keith Rivers (Southern California), LB, 6'3", 235lbs

Round 2:
Jerome Simpson (Coastal Carolina), WR, 6'1", 199lbs

Round 3:
Pat Sims (Auburn), DT, 6'2", 310lbs
Andre Caldwell (Florida), WR, 6'1", 200lbs

Round 4:
Anthony Collins (Kansas), OT-G, 6'5", 317lbs

Round 5:
Jason Shirley (Fresno State), DT, 6'5", 329lbs (he's gotta keep his act clean!!!)

Round 6:
Corey Lynch (Appalachian State), S, 6'0", 205lbs (married to Rev. Billy Graham's granddaughter)
Matt Sherry (Villanova), TE, 6'4", 255lbs

Round 7:
Angelo Craig (Cincinnati), DE-LB, 6'5", 235lbs
Mario Urrutia (Louisville), WR, 6'5", 232lbs

Mark Curnute graded this year's draft as a B-/C+.
I'll wait until we cut down to our final team for regular season before I make a judgement.

Namaste.

I'm Impressed. . .

I have a habit about getting on my soap box about people in the spotlight.
Those of you who read this blog should not be surprised by this! :)

I may be strange, but my feelings are:
If you are in the spotlight (especially in the sports and entertainment arenas), you have a responsibility to be a good role model for the kids watching you.

To be fair, I am giving equal billing to someone in the spotlight who impressed me.
In fact, the story brought tears to my eyes.

I take no credit for the article copied below, all credit belongs to Geoff Hobson.

Friend for life

Frostee Rucker has a new offseason workout partner.

Devon Curling was buried in his No. 92 jersey that first week of 2008, but Rucker is still wearing the boy's 11-year-old heart on his sleeve.

Come to think of it, their hearts are what made their differences seem so inconsequential at the end.

"Both Devon and Frostee," says Mike Curling, "have hearts the size of Texas."

Leukemia took Devon's last beat on New Year's Eve, the day after Rucker, a backup defensive end, finally made it back on the field for the Bengals in the season finale in Miami. Despite his brief number of snaps, two of Rucker's four tackles were for losses.

"I called him right after the game to see if he had watched," Rucker says. "But he was in a coma ... "

Mike Curling, Devon's dad, watched the game sitting on his son's bed. Devon had barely moved during the holiday week, opening his long-awaited box with the iPod Christmas morning and holding it just long enough to give it to his 15-year-old brother John.

"That's the kind of kid he was," Rucker says. "Always caring about his brothers and his sisters and his classmates. So mature."

"Christ-like," is how Mike Curling remembers the minister describing his son at the memorial service.

Rucker made the drive to Florence, Ky., with a friend and his dog later Christmas day for a holiday visit. Then when word came Devon was fading, he came back Friday, the day before the trip to Miami.

"I don't know why, but they were friends," Mike Curling says. "All I know is that on Friday, you could tell he wanted to be left alone, that he was sick. But when Frostee came in the room, he sat right up in the hospital bed with a big smile on his face. That's what I'll always remember about Frostee. In my kid's last
days, literally, he put a smile on his face."

Pro athletes aren't supposed to do this, right?

Especially a backup lineman with just five NFL games to his credit in a career known more for injury than impact.

Especially a guy who had experienced the worst part of the game and fame when a domestic violence case from college put him in the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

Frostee Rucker, a pro jock from the other side of the world in Los Angeles, just wasn't supposed to befriend a fifth-grader from Kentucky via Michigan, right?

Wrong.

"There was just something about him," Rucker says. "I wanted to help and be around him. "I think it's because we had the same personality. Socially outgoing. Like to be around people. Like to talk. He understood. He told me he was going to die. He said he knew it. But he said, 'As long as I'm around, I'm going to do as many normal things as I can.' I thought that was really courageous."

Yeah, wrong.

Because, as it turns out, Devon Curling has had as much of an impact on Rucker as the other way around.

Drafted in the third round out of USC in 2006, Rucker blew out his shoulder during the first preseason game in season-ending fashion. Then he suffered a hamstring injury in the first practices of this past training camp and couldn't play in the opener. Then he broke a hand in an October practice and although he didn't miss any time and played with a cast, he couldn't get back in uniform after ringing up four tackles in seven snaps in the Nov. 11 victory in Baltimore.

"Maybe there is a reason he came along now," Rucker says. "To get me grounded. To give perspective. Here I am worried about trying to get on the field more and he's fighting for life."

It began last spring with an e-mail from one of Devon's teachers at Fort Wright Elementary, about the time they found out his bone marrow transplant had failed. While the Ben-Gals cheerleaders got involved, Rucker and fullback Chris Manderino also visited and then set up a date that the Curlings could come down to Paul Brown Stadium for one of the spring workouts.

"The norm. He wanted to meet Carson. Chad. T.J.," Rucker says. "Coach Lewis met him. He played basketball on the court. It was huge for him and it gave the guys a chance to shake his hand, give him a hug."

That's all the Curlings really expected. They had been dealing with the disease for two years, when they moved from their home in Warren, Mich., to be close to Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Chauncey Billups, the Pistons guard, had been nice, reaching out and inviting him to a game and into the Detroit locker room.

But after the PBS visit ...

"You just thought that they would leave and that would be it and that it was nice," Mike Curling says. "But
Frostee kept coming back."

On Devon's 11th birthday in September, Rucker, Manderino, and some of the Ben-Gals showed up at Fort Wright Elementary and led a birthday bash with Devon getting out of class and leading the players around school.

Tracy Todd, the school's resources coordinator, remembers asking Devon if he was having a good birthday.

"Now I am," is the line she remembers.

"I gave him my cell phone number and told him to call me any time," Rucker says. "He'd call, and if I was working out, or in practice, I'd call back. I'd always ask him, 'Tell me what happened at school.' "

Rucker would sometimes stop by the house on his off day and they would play video games (usually Madden), or just talk.

"He liked to talk about me and USC. He liked Reggie Bush," Rucker says. "I told him Reggie deserved
everything he got with his work ethic. When we'd play Madden, he wanted to know everything about football, and it was fun explaining it to someone who was young. And he wanted to know when I was going to play."

A couple of days before Christmas and Rucker trying to make things as bright as possible, he again invited the family to PBS, this time for the Saturday walk-through before the home finale against the Browns.

"We couldn't park that close and he was really sick and I didn't think he could make the walk," Mike Curling says. "About halfway there I said, 'We can go home,' and he said, 'No, I want to see Frostee.' ''

And this is one of the reasons Rucker loved the little man. T.J. Houshmandzadeh called Devon over to him and egged him on to ask Lewis, "Will I see this (Rucker's) jersey on the field this week?"

Rucker tried to shoosh him, but there was Devon saying OK and Houshmandzadeh saying, "Hey Coach Lew, this little dude wants to ask you something."

And Devon did.

"They were very comfortable around each other. Frostee treated him like a friend," says Dodd, who was there that last Friday. "I can't say enough about what he meant to Devon and his family."

During that last visit, as Devon slipped in and out of sleep, Rucker told him, "If you want to let go, it's OK.
And if you want to hang on, that's OK, too, because we'll be right here with you."

As Todd arrived at the service, a large throng where Mike Curling says he didn't know most of the faces, she wondered if the family needed a suit to put him in. But then she thought, "He wouldn't want that," and when they told him they had put him in Frostee's jersey, "that sounded more like it."

"He always wore Frostee's jersey. He'd wear it in the shower if we let him," Mike Curling says.

"My wife washed it so much that it began to fall apart. We asked him to bring another one, and he showed up with a brand new one."

Mike Curling, who does drywall, hasn't been to work since October. He's mulling moving the family back to Michigan, where they buried Devon next to his grandparents. Now, he's just not so sure.

"We didn't want him to be alone," he says. "But, it's funny. When we went back there, it just didn't seem
like home anymore."

They may end up bringing him back. But if this is where he met his buddy Frostee, this is also where Rucker got a life-long inspiration.

"There's a printout of a picture of me and him. I'm going to put it up in my locker. No matter where I go," Rucker says. "It was a pleasure to get to know him. To know that I touched his heart and his whole
family and brought his spirits up and it helped make me a better person."

In the end, he wasn't a pro athlete, a backup, or a college star.

"I told Frostee," Mike Curling said, "you've got a friend for life."

Yep, I think Frostee Rucker is one of the good ones.

Namaste.