On this page, let’s have some fun. I am big list maker and since my early days, I have enjoyed ranking everything from restaurants to rock and roll guitarists. Would always love to see yours. Here we go!

Restaurants

  1. Cordellian Bages, Pauillac, France

  2. La Verriere Lapin, Loire, France

  3. The French Laundry, Yountville, California

  4. El Ranchito, Orange County, California

  5. Peter Luger, Brooklyn, NY

  6. The Marble Room, Cleveland, Ohio

  7. The Diamond Grille, Akron, Ohio

Golf Courses

  1. Royal County Down, Newcastle, Northern Ireland

  2. Spyglass Hill, Monterey Peninsula, California

  3. SandRidge Country Club, Chardon, Ohio

  4. Kingsbarns, Fife, Scotland

  5. Cypress Point Golf Club, Monterey, California

  6. Sunningdale Golf Club, Ascot, UK

  7. Turnberry Golf Club, Ayrshire, Scotland

  8. Pine Valley Golf Club, Camden County, New Jersey

  9. Crystal Downs, Frankfort, Michigan

  10. St. Andrews, Fife, Scotland

Chef’s List. The items I cook best (even better with the boys)

  1. Arroz Blanco. Rice, leeks, onions, chicken stock, spices and patience. (One of Jake’s favorites)

  2. Soups and Stews. Chicken noodle with a California twist, jambalaya, beef stew.

  3. Grilled Steak. Sounds simple, but takes skill to get it right with perfect temperature, seared, and appropriate sides.

Favorite Wines

  1. Staglin Cabernet, 2000

  2. Papapietro Perry 777 Clones Pinot Noir, 2007

  3. Zichichi Estate Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, 2011

Favorite Places to Visit

  1. Shaker Heights, Ohio

  2. New Orleans, Louisiana

  3. Cote D’Azur, France

  4. St. Andrews, Scotland

  5. London, England, United Kingdom

  6. New York City, NY

  7. Ireland, County Clare and Killarney

  8. Kauai, Hawaii

  9. Florence, Italy

  10. Napa Valley, California

  11. Beijing, PRC

Rock & Roll

Drummers

  1. Stewart Copeland (Police)

  2. John Bonham (Led Zeppelin)

  3. Ginger Baker (Cream)

  4. Carl Palmer (Emerson, Lake & Palmer)

  5. Keith Moon (The Who)

  6. Mike Shrieve (Santana)

Guitarists

  1. Eddie Van Halen (Van Halen)

  2. Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin)

  3. Pete Townsend (The Who)

Peeves

  1. “Sorry for the inconvenience”. Ridiculous and insulting statement when received. The person who says it attempts to get off the hook by saying they are sorry and for the recipient there is NO solution to the problem. Aggravation ensues.

  2. “With all due respect”. Meaning = “F*** You”.

Writers

  1. John Steinbeck

    Great reads: Grapes of Wrath. Perhaps my favorite book ever. One of the few I have read more than once. In high school and then later in my 40’s. Meant even more the 2nd time. East of Eden. Tortilla Flats. Cannery Row. Of Mice and Men. Travels with Charlie. I think every word he ever wrote from books, to magazine articles, to short stories. Impossible to go wrong with reading any Steinbeck

  2. Ron Chernoff.

    Great reads: Grant. Hamilton. Washington. All stellar.

  3. Charles Dickens.

    Great reads: Tale of Two Cities. A Christmas Carol.

  4. Cormac McCarthy.

    Great reads: Blood Meridian, No Country for Old Men, The Road, All the Pretty Horses.

  5. Paul Erdman. He has since passed, but wrote the best novels ever in the financial world. Lived on these in grad school and after.

    Great Reads: Billion Dollar Sure Thing, The Crash of ‘79, The Swiss Account, The Panic of ‘89

PIES

  1. Fresh Peach. Preferably ala mode.

  2. Shepherd’s Pie. With beef, not lamb.

  3. Chicken Pot Pie.

  4. Banana Cream.

  5. Humble Pie. Best delivered.

Greatest Sports Events That I Have Attended

  1. Game 6, 2002 World Series. October 26th. Angels v. Giants. Angels came back from a 5-run deficit in the bottom of the 7th. We had went into the bar area of the Diamond Club to have a drink to drown our sorrows. As we were at the bar, a person who we had never seen before said “The Angels will win—bet your house on it”. And walked away. Then it happened. Spiezio’s amazing home run which should have been caught near by the right fielder (Sanders) and made it into the first row near the foul pole. It was also 5 days after my son Luke was born about 1/4 mile away from Angel Stadium.

  2. 2006 Rose Bowl, January 4th. Texas v. USC. Two undefeated teams that was the proverbial slugfest. Texas won on a 4th down run with 16 seconds left in the game. Final score was 41-38 and it was back and forth for the entire game. Adding to it was USC had won 34 games in a row and many of my bloviating friends who went to USC were claiming that when USC won, this would be the coronation on the greatest college football team of all-time. It would have been hard to argue had they won. Sweet indeed when they did not.

  3. 1996 Olympic Games, August 1st. Michael Johnson 200 Meter Gold Medal. Whenever I think of “electricity” at a sports event, this was the ultimate. MJ walked into the stadium with gold shoes and you just knew the night would be incredible—and it was indeed. I was there with my son Nate (who was 11 years old at the time) making it even more fun. I was also representing other track & field athletes including Steve Fritz, Stacy Dragila, and Sheila Hudson, so it was a fun two weeks in Atlanta. We were sitting in the Olympic Stadium in the area that later would be torn down as part of the rebuild to house the Atlanta Braves. Johnson did not disappoint and amazingly broke his own world record with a time of 19.32 seconds. What a night.

  4. 2015 Rose Bowl, January 1st. Oregon v. Florida State University. In a fantastic matchup with two of the best college quarterbacks of all time, Marcus Mariota was facing Jameis Winston. The first half was very close, with the Ducks leading 18-13. However, FSU had scored at the end of the first half and the momentum had clearly shifted. The Seminoles came into the game undefeated at 13-0, with Oregon having one loss at 12-1. They were ranked number 2 and 3, but this was the game to see of the college bowl playoffs and over 91k were in attendance. In the 2nd half, the Ducks went crazy, scoring 27 points in the 3rd quarter and romped to a 59-20 landslide victory. What made it memorable was not that it was just a great game, but I was there with my two sons, Jake and Luke. We had all been spending time each year in Eugene and my company owned Triathlon Eugene. For both of my sons, the race would be their first triathlons where they competed and both did remarkably well each year. We had become big Oregon Duck fans and had all the gear and great seats we were able to get from contacts in Eugene.