I am a Roger Maris fan. I’m so much a Roger Maris fan that when I was 9 years old, I bought a 34-ounce Roger Maris model baseball bat, which was much too heavy for me to actually swing at that age.

Most people are familiar with the name of Roger Maris. Most even know that in 1961 he hit 61 home runs to break the record of 60 homers set in 1927. Many of you will know that for 30 years an asterisk was next to the record.

Much has been written by the national press about Detroit Mercy basketball player Antoine Davis approaching the National Collegiate Athletic Association career scoring record held by Pete Maravich.

Davis, who has played five years of varsity basketball at Mercy, came up three points shy of tying the career scoring record of 3,667 set by Maravich while playing for LSU from 1967-1970. That’s three seasons that Maravich played compared to the five Davis played.

As many of you may already know, my gallbladder surgery scheduled for Feb. 20 was postponed due to concerns of the anesthesiologist. There are worries that I might possibly have something going on with my heart.

I know many of you are questioning if I even have a heart. I raised that point to the doctors, but they didn’t buy it.

It seems every day there are reminders that I’m getting older.

Having my gallbladder removed is a sure sign I’m no longer a kid. Another of those signs is the passing of the favorite baseball players of my youth.

I question the logic of the Florida High School Athletic Association. In recent years the FHSAA has tried to get the best teams into the playoffs. That’s something that I admire.

The way in which it is going about the task is something I question.

When most people think of the month of February, their thoughts probably turn to Valentine’s Day, Black History Month or, perhaps, Presidents Day.

When I think of February, I think of surgeries. On Feb. 22, 2003, I had the first of two neck surgeries. Three years ago, on Feb. 21, 2020, had radiation placement surgery for prostate cancer.

It’s hard to believe I’ve been back at the News Bulletin for a year.

Tuesday, Feb. 14, I celebrate one year back in the saddle doing what I love.

As a junior on the 1974 Gulf Breeze High School football team, it was the week of the Catholic game when the two largest players on the team got into an off-the-field fight.

Where the fight took place wouldn’t make for good reading in a family newspaper.

I just read that minor league baseball at the AAA level will be using robots to call balls and strikes this year. Personally, I don’t like anything that takes the human element out of baseball.

What can we expect next, autocorrect to catch words some machine thinks we misspelled?

In the past several days we’ve been reminded that there are bigger and more Important things in life than sports.

On Jan. 2, a national audience watched as Buffalo defensive back Damar Hamlin crumbled to the turf after what seemed to be an insignificant hit on Cincinnati receiver Tee Higgins.