Western New York State of Mind

Nobody Knew: When “The Miracle” Touched Greater Western New York

By Chris Carosa on February 22, 2020

Everyone knows what happened. Forty years ago this past weekend, when Al Michaels asked the world “Do you believe in Miracles?” a new generation discovered the power of belief. It may surprise you, then, what many people didn’t know…

In the months leading up to the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, Team USA hockey coach Herb Brooks scheduled a rigorous sixty-one game exhibition program for his ragtag group. One of those games was played right here in Greater Western New York. The event was held at Buffalo’s Nichols Arena against the Yale hockey team.

Just a couple months earlier, Yale hockey coach Tim Taylor used that game to lure me away from my intention to join the crew team. “Chris, we’ll fly you to Buffalo so you can visit your family,” he said. I took the bait and agreed to serve as manager of the team, (hockey being my second favorite sport and all).

Little did I know that decision fated me to meet history head on.

After all, it was just hockey – at the time an unassuming game played by generally Continue Reading “Nobody Knew: When “The Miracle” Touched Greater Western New York”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged 1980 US Olympic, Buffalo, Herb Brooks, Miracle on Ice, Nichols School, Yale Hockey

First They Came for Our Plastics Bags…

By Chris Carosa on February 4, 2020

First they came for our plastic bags, and I did not speak out – because I am but a small voice and could do nothing.

I offer this allusion because Martin Niemöller’s poem remains as profound today as it was when the Lutheran pastor penned his post-war confession in 1946. It’s language of persecution, oppression, and injustice, along with the attendant feelings of shame, regret, and the aura of culpability, ring true today in the Empire State as they once did in the totalitarian morass that immediately succeeded the Weimar Republic.

More on that in a moment. First, a bit of (more) recent history.

By the time Mr. Maguire whispered the word “plastics” into Benjamin Braddock’s attentive, albeit naïve, ear in the 1967 hit movie The Graduate, it had already been two years since Continue Reading “First They Came for Our Plastics Bags…”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Albany, Benjamin Braddock, Cellopast, Cuomo, Empire State, Gustaf Thulin Sten, Kroger, Martin Niemoller, Mr. Maguire, New York, plastic bag, Safeway, T-shirt plastic bag, Wegmans, Weimar Republic

Bills Fans May Be Hurt, But We Are Not Slain

By Chris Carosa on January 7, 2020

This is not the Commentary I had planned to write. Nonetheless, I write it with reluctance because a community cries out for it. Not our entire community, so if this doesn’t apply to you, feel free to skip it.

Of course, to ignore this piece betrays a certain detached coldness many of your neighbors would find less than appreciative. Read it to understand them. Read it to empathize. Read it to sympathize.

Those within the portion of our community to which this column addresses – especially those new to the cause – will read this to recognize the true meaning of resiliency.

By the time you receive this, Saturday’s heart-breaking loss will be nearly a week old. A lot of stuff has happened between now and then. A lot of stuff that separates you from that pain. A lot of stuff way more important than a game.

Nonetheless, it’s important to capture the emotion of that moment when an overtime field goal ended a Cinderella season. That feeling must be bottled. Not bottled-up, but Continue Reading “Bills Fans May Be Hurt, But We Are Not Slain”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind

Mike Alcorn: A Helluva Guy

By Chris Carosa on December 31, 2019

There’s something about a fraternal bond that is indescribable. It’s like a secret sauce that forever bands brothers together. And I’m not talking “brothers” in the genetic sense. It’s more a sense of kindred, a fundamental commonality that goes back, way back. It goes so far back our conscious mind can’t explain, can’t predict it.

But we know without a doubt when it’s there.

Like many, I knew Mike Alcorn. For certain not as well as others, but I knew him as a fellow-traveler, like most parents with kids the same age know each other.

Perhaps a little more given our shared entrepreneurial experience.

I can’t remember when I first met Mike, but I’m almost certain it was well before we knew Continue Reading “Mike Alcorn: A Helluva Guy”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged 50 Hidden Gems, beer, CBS, Custom Brewcrafters, Dan Poliziani, erie county fair, HFL Youth Football, Honeoye Falls Chamber of Commerce, Josh Alcorn, Luanne Alcorn, Mike Alcorn, West is best

A Memory of Frank Ricci

By Chris Carosa on November 5, 2019

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You probably never heard of Frank Ricci.

You probably never met Frank Ricci.

But I have and I did. He is among the thousand points of light that have illuminated my life. This is my salute to him. As you read this, I’m confident you may find some familiar tidbits that you didn’t expect to be there. I promise you, before you come to the end of this column, you’ll discover why.

Francesco “Frank” Ricci was born in the mountains south of Rome, Italy on February 10, 1935. He immigrated to America in 1959 after marrying his wife Teresa. Teresa DeAngelis grew up on Abbott Parkway in Blasdell, New York. I grew up on Abbott Parkway, only many years later.

I remember much about growing up on Abbott Parkway. On the other hand, I don’t Continue Reading “A Memory of Frank Ricci”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Abbott Parkway, Angelo, Blasdell, Buffalo Bills, Jeanmarie, Kenny, Markie, Robert

Cuomo’s Albany Red Flags New York

By Chris Carosa on September 3, 2019

Imagine a knock on your front door in the middle of the night amid urgent screams from the other side. Half-asleep, you stretch yourself out of your comfortable bed and stumble your way to your foyer.

More awake now, you’re curious as to where all that light is coming from through the small sidelight windows that sandwich the entrance to your home. The knock at the door suddenly turns into a rapid pounding as your hands fumble around the door knob. “I’m right here!” you shout back. The bellows on the other side get only louder, and deeper.

After a moment, you can feel the lock disengage. You twist the knob and slowly begin to open the door. Perhaps a crack to see what’s going on, you tell yourself.

Only you never get the chance. The moment the bolt is released, the door bursts open and Continue Reading “Cuomo’s Albany Red Flags New York”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged 1967 Boston Red Sox, Aldous Huxley, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Andrew Cuomo, Anthem, Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Brave New World, dictator, Fahrenheit 451, Nancy Pelosi, Nazi Germany, police state, Ray Bradbury, Soviet Russia, The Gulag Archipelago, totalitarian

The Stormy Beginning When the Erie County Fair First Waded Into The Rock and Roll Craze

By Chris Carosa on August 13, 2019

On the subject of Pat Boone. It’s really interesting. It’s so interesting I thought readers might have a fun time with it.

I found this out while researching the history of my grandfather’s pizzeria in Blasdell, New York. Specifically, I discovered this little factoid when I began reading about my grandparents various marketing efforts. One of those ventures turned into a wholly separate business. To promote their new pizzeria, they accepted an invitation to operate a pizza stand at the Erie County Fair.

The first year they were at the Fair (1956) featured the Erie County Fair’s first ever Rock and Roll concert on its first two nights (Saturday, August 18^th, 1956 and Sunday August 19^th, 1956). Box seats for the concert were $1.50; grandstand and front row bleacher seats were $1; and other bleacher seats were 50 cents.

Remember, Rock and Roll was a relatively new phenomenon at the time. Elvis had his first big hit in 1954 and Little Richard (“Tutti Frutti”) and Chuck Berry (“Maybellene”) had big hits in 1955. In many ways, though, 1956 was to become a breakout year for Rock and Roll. It Continue Reading “The Stormy Beginning When the Erie County Fair First Waded Into The Rock and Roll Craze”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Bill Haley, Blackboard Jungle, Blasdell, Blue Suede Shoes, Butera, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Donna Rice, Elvis Presley, erie county fair, Gary Hart, Gene Vincent, grandfather, Happy Days, Heartbreak Hotel, Hound Dog, Johnny Burnette, Jump the Shark, Lassie, Lillian Briggs, Little Richard, Maybellene, Milton Berle Show, Monkey Business, Pat Boone, pizza, Rock and Roll, Rock Around The Clock, Ron Howard, Sonny Dae and His Knights, Stage Show, Steve Allen Show, Superman, The Ed Sullivan Show, Tutti Frutti

A Salute to My Greatest (and Most Favorite) Teacher

By Chris Carosa on August 6, 2019

What’s the difference between a mentor and a teacher? Dictionary enthusiasts will quickly point out a teacher imparts broad knowledge while mentors provide advice and guidance. Teachers offer lessons you can apply generally to all aspects of life. Mentors show us how to live a very specific aspect of our lives. Teachers educate. Mentors demonstrate.

These are very universal terms. Certainly, teachers give advice and mentors instruct. Since I’ve had great teachers and great mentors (not to mention great coaches, a wholly different creature), I want to make the distinction as stark as possible.

By their very nature, it’s likely you experienced your greatest teacher as a young child. There’s a number of good reasons for this. Youth represents your most formative – your most impressionable – years. Elementary school teachers therefore occupy the greatest Continue Reading “A Salute to My Greatest (and Most Favorite) Teacher”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged astronomy, Dad, Galileo, Lackawanna, lowest grade, Mentor, Miss Powell, mom, teacher, Woodlawn Intermediate

Was This Written 50 Years Too Early or 50 Years Too Late?

By Chris Carosa on July 30, 2019

I‘ve always been puzzled by this thought: Was I born 50 years too early or 50 years too late? This thought resurfaced this week as I rode the train back and forth to Chicago while the rest of the world dazzled itself with remembering the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11.

It reminds me of a skit I once did as Cubmaster for Peter’s pack. We had our meetings in the cavernous Mendon Firehall. It was always filled to capacity. Filled with boys, their parents, and their siblings.

That night I donned a pair of Buzz Lightyear “wings” (actually they were my young nephew’s and I don’t know how I fit them over my shoulders without overstretching them). After strutting a few steps with those wings, I added a Woody hat on top of my head.

Maybe one of the Toy Story movies was out that year.

In either case, I asked the pack to guess who I was. Some of the boys says “Buzz” and some said “Woody.” I said “Nope” to each guess. Then I looked up to the parents in Pack 105 and said – in a distinct John Wayne kind of voice – “Well, pilgrim, some people call me a ‘The Space Cowboy.’”

And so it has been in my life. Teetering on the precipice of “born too early” while simultaneously straddling the ledge of “born too late.” Some might view this as a Continue Reading “Was This Written 50 Years Too Early or 50 Years Too Late?”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Amtrak, Apollo 11, Apollo 13, astronomy, Buzz Lightyear, Catarina, Cesidia, Chicago, Cubmaster, Hamburger Dreams, History, John Wayne, Mendon Firehall, Miss Powell, Pack 105, Pat, Peter, space, Space Cowboy, Toy Story, train, Woody

I’d Rather Have A Bottle (of Diet Pepsi) In Front of Me…

By Chris Carosa on June 25, 2019

Those of a certain age remember Dr. Demento. Those who aren’t of a certain age should discover Dr. Demento.

Dr. Demento was what might be called a “free range” DJ in the waning days of AM music. He didn’t fit in any acceptable genre. He played novelty songs no one else would play. In doing so, he popularized Elmo and Patsy’s “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” and would help launch the career of Weird Al Yankovic.

It wasn’t all about the music. Dr. Demento’s shows featured oddball skits and comedy routines. In the late 1970s and early 1980s it was likened to an audio version of Saturday Night Live. (Those of a certain age know that was Saturday Night Live when it used to be Continue Reading “I’d Rather Have A Bottle (of Diet Pepsi) In Front of Me…”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged architecture, Buffalo State Asylum for the Insane, Buffalo State Hospital, Dr. Demento, Dr. James W. Watts, Dr. Rock, Dr. Walter Freeman, Elmo & Patsy, Existential Blues, Glenn Close, Gothic, Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, Hotel Henry Urban Resort Conference Center, Kim Basinger, Lena Carosa, National Society of Newspaper Columnists, NSNC, Patsy Carosa, Randy Hanzlick, Robert Duvall, Robert Redford, Romanesque Revival, Saturday Night Live, The Natural, Weird Al Yankovic, Wizard of Oz