Column: Thanks for Listening

The National Football League needs to hire the regular referees back right away. My major worry is that someone is going to get hurt.

Steve Young, Hall of Fame quarterback and current TV commentator, said after the debacle between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks Monday night that “the speed the NFL plays at is so much faster than college.” It would be such a shame if Adrian Peterson, Aaron Rodgers or Matt Forte would get hurt. The National Football League has heard from the fans, players and coaches a lot this week and needs to get veteran regular referees on the field soon or they will be tarnishing the game.

 

Happy birthday, Merle

My mom, Marilyn Schmeltzer, is turning 76 on Oct. 5.

Everybody calls my mom Merle and has for as long as I can ever remember. It is funny because even her own grandkids call her Grandma Merle. My mom has a great sense of humor and has had to because putting up with me as well as raising three girls and two other boys was probably not only exhausting but also not always fun and games.

Some traits that I am pretty sure I picked up from my Merle are stubbornness, a love of the Green Bay Packers and my love of dogs.

Merle will argue the point about the dogs as she always said stuff like, “I hate that damn dog,” and, “Get those dogs out of here,” but I always knew her heart was in the right place because, when she did not know I was listening, I would hear her talking to the dogs and sneaking them treats all the time.

Something we kids did not know when we were young is that parents need to play the hard-nosed disciplinarian a lot of the time to instill us with values and the confidence we will need while growing up. Merle taught me many lessons that I did not understand for years and years. Most of the lessons do not become clear until you become a parent yourself.

I remember that the only time our family ever went to eat out was on birthdays. We always went to the Villa Capri, which was an Italian restaurant that was decorated all in black and red shag, and the songs “Volare” by Domencino Modgno and “That’s Amore” by Dean Martin belted from the speakers. We always joked that it was the cooks arguing in the back kitchen and not the songs, which were sung in Italian.

What we did not know about our birthday trips to the Villa was that roughly about two hours earlier Merle would make us all peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which as kids we just happily ate. It took me until my child was almost 10 for that bomb to hit me. Dang! She fed us those sandwiches so we did not order more at the restaurant.

I started to remember that when my dad and her would order a steak and lasagna, all of us kids would get salad and garlic bread. Dang! Merle was clever.

So with 76 years of cleverness right around the corner, I want to thank Merle for her stubbornness, love of the Packers and for feeding the dogs treats even when they probably did not deserve them.

Happy birthday, Merle. I love you.

Your third favorite son.

XX OO

 

Tigers!

This week is Homecoming Week, and we at the Tribune would love for you to send us your best photos from Homecoming Week!

What did you dress up as? What was the best costume or sporting event? We want your photos to share. Please either drop off or email us at lifestyles@albertleatribune.com.

 

Tribune Publisher Scott Schmeltzer’s column appears every Thursday.