Betsy Archives - Chris Carosa

We Just Wanted To Play Hockey… Before The Miracle

By Chris Carosa on February 17, 2026

It’s that time again. The quadrennial event. The Winter Olympics. And you know what that means.

Men’s ice hockey.

That and curling. My most favorite things to watch. But that’s not all we watch.

Before going out with friends, Peter decided to start playing the movie Miracle. Again.

He had no intention of watching the entire film. When I asked him why, he said, “You and Mom will watch it to the end.”

He was right.

He likes the beginning. It’s a montage of news stories from the 1970s. If you were to choose Continue Reading “We Just Wanted To Play Hockey… Before The Miracle”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life Tagged 1970s, 1980 Olympics, Al Michaels, Baby Boomer, Betsy, Forgotten Boomers, Generation Jones, Herb Brooks, Iran, Jimmy Carter, Lake Placid, mailaise, Miracle, NHL, Peter, second wave, Soviet, U.S. Hockey, Yae Hockey

To The Tables Down At Yorkside… (Wherever That May Be)

By Chris Carosa on December 2, 2025

The Game. For generations, it has been referred to as that. Not the “Yale Harvard game” (or alternatively, depending on your home team, the “Harvard game” or the “Yale game”). No. It’s simply “The Game.”

That tells you everything you need to know. There may be other contests throughout the fall sports season. There may be other seasons throughout the year. But only one singular event towers above all. It is the ultimate game (or at least it used to be—but more on that in a moment) of the Ivy League football season. It is the world’s second-longest continuous football rivalry (behind only Yale-Princeton). Students, alumni, and affiliates of New Haven and Cambridge eagerly await the finale between Yale and Harvard.

But it’s not just “a” game; it is “the” game, as in “The Game.”

People don’t go merely to watch a classic eleven-on-eleven gridiron clash. They go for Continue Reading “To The Tables Down At Yorkside… (Wherever That May Be)”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 2019, Betsy, Blue, Brown, Cambridge, Cantab, Catarina, Cesidia, Crimson, Davenport, Eli, FCS, football, hockey, Ingall's Rink, Ivy League, New Haven, Peter, Princeton, tailgate, The Game, Villanova, Yale Bowl, Yale Harvard, Yale Harvard game, Yorkside, Youngstown

Quenching Thirsts With Bud, Pepsi, And The Arch That Defines America

By Chris Carosa on August 26, 2025

It turns out the Gateway to the West isn’t all that different from any other gateway. It allows travel in both directions. Whether heading in or out, all travelers seek the same thing: to quench their thirst.

The thirst they wish to slake can include many things. It can be physical, like food, drink, or air conditioning. It can be emotional, like happiness, a sense of belonging, or simply a good joke. Finally, it could be spiritual, like being closer to God, Country, or the Green Bay Packers.

Americans grew up trained to satisfy their thirsts. It doesn’t matter which part of the country you come from; the grass is always greener on the other side. Chances are, if Americans see a doorway, they’ll eagerly pass through it. Such a portal always signals a better place, a better future, a better life.

Perhaps that’s the purpose of the West. It symbolizes something new, a place where dreams can come true.

Or am I confusing the promise of the American frontier with Hollywood?Continue Reading “Quenching Thirsts With Bud, Pepsi, And The Arch That Defines America”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1982, Abilene, annual party, Appleton, Betsy, brisket, Bud Light, Budweiser, Budwieser Tour, Calvin Trillin, Catarina, Cesidia, choice, Cincinnati Reds, Clydesdale, Colorado, Columbia, Dala Horse, Diet Pepsi, Dwight Eisenhower, Eero Saarinen, Ellen M. Reimer, Fat Racks BBQ, freedom, future, Gateway Arch, Gateway to the West, Gus the Gorilla, hope, Hubert Humphrey, indivuduality, isobar, Joe's Kansas City Barbeque, Kansas, Kansas City, koozie, Labatt's, Lewis and Clark Expedition, Lindsborg, Missouri, optimism, past, Pepsi, Pepsi Generation, personal, Peter, Pittsburg, Pittsburg State University, prairie, present, pressure gradient, promise, Rocky Mountains, St. Charles, St. Louis, St. Louis Arch, St. Louis Cardinals, Super Bowl, T.S. Eliot, thirst, Tom Sawyer, Tornado Alley, Wisconsin, Wizard of Oz, World War II, Yale

Gold And Ghosts Of The Weird And Wild West

By Chris Carosa on July 29, 2025

Whisper “Wild West” and your mind instantly sparkles with images of saloons, gold diggers, and gunfighters. That’s what we looked forward to. (Yes, “gold diggers” is an intentional double entendre.)

Dawn’s soft glow stirred us from sleep. Day 5’s itinerary brimmed with stops that promised not merely a drive, but discoveries. Memorable ones. Trust me.Continue Reading “Gold And Ghosts Of The Weird And Wild West”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Betsy, bison, Calamity Jane, Canyon Lodge, Catarina, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cody, Deadwood, Devils Tower, Fat Racks BBQ, gold, Homestake Mine, Jack, Large Hadron Collider, Lead, neutrino, Nuttal & Mann's Saloon No. 10, Peter, Sanford Underground Research Facility, South Dakota, Steven Spielberg, SURF, Theodore Roosevelt, Wild Bill Hickok, Wyoming, Yellowstone

Tourist Traps to Timeless Landscapes

By Chris Carosa on July 22, 2025

Not all tourist traps are alike. At some point, a tourist trap transcends its label, becoming a “must-see” simply for being so over the top. I can’t remember when we saw the first Wall Drug roadside sign, but its fame far exceeded its actual appearance.

We’d long left Chicago’s skyline behind for the flatlands. Of course, before the wide-open spaces, we traversed Wisconsin and Minnesota. It’s kind of arbitrary, but somehow poetic, to declare that crossing the Mississippi River truly makes you feel “out West” for the first time.

I-90 crosses the Mississippi on the Wisconsin-Minnesota border immediately south of Lake Onalaska. Yeah, they call it a lake, but it looks like it’s part of the river. Stretching 4 miles across, this is the widest span of the Mississippi River (if you include the Lake).

Oddly, crossing the Mississippi didn’t immediately scream “out West.” Instead, my brain went Continue Reading “Tourist Traps to Timeless Landscapes”

Posted in History, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Advertising, American Dream, Bandlands, Betsy, billboard, bison, Catarina, confidence, consecrated Americans, dinosaurs, Dune, E Pluribus Unum, Emma Lazarus, erosion, Faith, fossil, Founding Fathers, France, freedom, geology, Gutzon Borglum, Hamburger, hope, I-90, Italian, Italian American, jackalope, kitsch, Lake Onalaska, liberty, Lincoln Borglum, Luigi Del Bianco, marketing, McDonald's, melting pot, Minnesota, Minuteman Missle Silo, Mississippi River, Mount Rushmore, Peter, photography, prairie dogs, quarter pounder, Rapid City, Reptile World, roadside sign, sedimentary stone, South Dakota, Space Invaders, spirit of America, statue, Statue of Liberty, strata, sweet light, tourist trap, Wall Drug, William Andrew Burkett, Wisconsin, wretched refuse

Chicagoland: Gateway to the West

By Chris Carosa on July 15, 2025

“I’ve hit Chicago, but Chicagoland? Never. That alone made this leg of the journey even more enticing, a perfect way to kick things off.

Not that we needed enticing.

Remember your first day of school? Work? Summer camp? The eagerness. The excitement. That urge to dive in headfirst. Optimism bubbling up. Anything feels possible.

Now, imagine embarking on a long vacation. Same vibe. That first-day buzz. All that anxiety Continue Reading “Chicagoland: Gateway to the West”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, Abbott Parkway, Bean, Betsy, Catarina, Cesidia, Chicago, Chicagoland, Cook County, Daley Plaza, Do-Rite Donuts & Chicken, Federal Center, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, George Gipp, Glenbrook North High School, Home Alone, I-90, Ilio's, Italian Village, Jeanmarie, John Hughes, Knute Rockne, Maine North High School, Millennium Park, Notre Dame, Odessa Steps, Peter, Portillo's, Save Ferris, Sears Tower, Seurat, Sisteen Candles, The Battleship Potemkin, The Blues Brothers, The Breakfast Club, The Untouchables, Thruway, Touchdown Jesus, Union Station, Willis Tower

Growing Old With The Sandman

By Chris Carosa on November 13, 2023

I’ve been to Bills games. I’ve been in Bills games’ traffic jams. I know how to navigate those slowdowns. I don’t have the patience to wait. I see the shortcuts like I see the back of my hand on the steering wheel. Most get overcome with frustration at the sight of these roadway snarls. I buckle down with calm confidence. I know the way out. And I’m not afraid to take it.

The Adam Sandler “I Missed You Tour” wasn’t supposed to be a Bills’ game. Even a sold-out Blue Cross Arena would require only a fraction of the people.

And yet, there we were. Stuck in traffic on 490 West.

It seems like everyone made the same decision. Park at the Civic Center Garage and stay out of the rain. Or sleet. Or snow. Or whatever decides to precipitate from the skies above.

I wanted to make it a relaxing evening. A casual drift down memory lane. A respite from Continue Reading “Growing Old With The Sandman”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Betsy, Blue Cross Arena, Buffalo Bills, Chris Farley, Civic Center Garage, Jonathan Loghran, Kevin James, Kevin Nealon, Luis Guzman, Nick Swardson, Norm McDonald, Rob Schneider, Rochester, South Avenue Garage

Ground Control To Commander Tom

By Chris Carosa on June 13, 2023

Source: http://megomuseum.com/community/showthread.php?69360-Mego-Museum-Podcast-Growing-up-Parkdale-Tomland-Famous-Monsters

You hear stories from older generations about having to “walk a mile back and forth to school each day… in a snowstorm… and it was uphill both ways!”

Well, truth be told, for my brother and me, it was just under a half mile each way. Four-tenths of a mile from our house at the end of the street (187 Abbott Parkway) all the way up to the school bus stop at the corner of South Park Ave, then a narrow two lanes.

Living in Blasdell meant we were in the crosshairs of the lake effect snow machine south of Buffalo, so you could bet your bottom dollar we often walked during snowstorms. And rainstorms. And thunderstorms. And thundersnow. And even hot (almost) summer days towards the end of the school year. Yeah, mom made sure we always dressed for the Continue Reading “Ground Control To Commander Tom”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Abbott Parkway, Acquaviva, Angelo, Betsy, Big Tree Elementary, Buffalo, Canada, Channel 7, Commander Tom, Dancing Notes, Dave Thomas, Dustmop, Erie, Eyewitness News, Flash Gordon, Irv Weinstein, Jamestown, Kenny, Kingergarten, Markie, Rick Azar, Rochester, Rocketship 7, School Bus Stop, sewer rat, South Park Ave, The Adventures of Superman, Three Stooges, Tom Jolls, Toronto, WKBW, Woodlawn Elementary, Woodlawn Intermediate

Adventures In White Knuckle Driving

By Chris Carosa on February 22, 2022

This past weekend reminded me there’s a good reason why I stopped scheduling travel meetings during the winter.

It didn’t always used to be this way.

In the time before Covid, unusual was the week when I did not put on several hundred miles of business meetings. I find riding for an hour (or more) relaxing. I’ve got a huge library of college-level lectures on a variety of subjects. (As the price for an intensive virtually triple major in the hard sciences, my college major left little room for electives.)

The destination also (usually) excited me, too. Either a conference to learn more and meet Continue Reading “Adventures In White Knuckle Driving”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Angola, Batavia, Betsy, Blasdell, blizzard, Blizzard of 1999, Buffalo, Cesidia, Chili, Christmas Eve, Dad, Dodge Charger, hamburg, Jamestown, Kenny, lake effect, learning to drive, Monroe County, Nor'easter, Rochester, Sabres, Seven Fishes, snow, Thruway, Uncle Larry

Fandemonium: Passing the Generational Torch

By Chris Carosa on January 12, 2021

I can’t understate how many times people asked me the following question in the past week: “Chris, did you get tickets to the playoff game?”

For those of you who didn’t go to St. Catherine’s Church when people still went to church, the Carosa family has a certain reputation. Each Sunday – football season or not – one or more of us (usually more of us) stood in line for communion resplendent in official and unofficial Bills attire.

Those were our Sunday clothes. It became such a tradition that, on those rare occasions (usually in the summer) when our garments didn’t sport a Bills logo, people would notice.

This “worship” of the Buffalo Bills began long ago. My father, however, was too young to remember the original Buffalo Bills.

Incidentally, did you know the first version of the Buffalo Bills appeared in the All-America Continue Reading “Fandemonium: Passing the Generational Torch”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged AAFC, AFC Championship, AFL, Andre Reed, Baltimore Colts, Berlin Wall, Betsy, Bruce Smith, Buffalo Bills, Catarina, Civic Stadium, Cleveland Browns, Dad, fandemonium, Frank Reich, George Preston Marshall, Jim Kelly, Josh Allen, Kenny, Marv Levy, mom, NFL, Oakland Raiders, Otto Graham, Pat, Paul Brown, persistent, Peter, Ralph C. Wilson, resilient, Rockpile, San Francisco 49ers, Superbowl, Teresa, Thurman Thomas, War Memorial Stadium, Washington Redskins