Life 2.0

A hiatus is defined as: "a gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break." And that's exactly what I'm going to do for a few weeks. But before that starts, I came across a piece of paper with words I wrote nearly 30 years ago on a trip to Arkansas with some friends. I clearly remember the circumstances that led to me putting pencil to paper on a weathered picnic bench under a massive tree with a big red-tailed hawk perched above my head. It took me about five minutes to write "A Season of Peace," but it's taken decades to understand what I wrote. 

So, what do the rage-fest of Burning Man, the late Dolly Parton's songwriting prowess, Earth Matters with Bill Kurtis, and cryptocurrency have in common? Probably nothing, but in this episode of Saints & Sinners, GM and JSA have a "throw everything they can think of in 35 minutes against the virtual wall of sound and see what sticks" kinda show as they span the globe in search of pointing out the obvious buried in the absurd. Side liner note: the boys are on hiatus after this episode until September 23rd, 2026, so you're gonna have to live off previous episodes until then, so deal with it.

Long before NFL players had teams of trainers, nutritionists, therapists, agents, and other specialists, the dynastic Green Bay Packers of the 1960s relied on a different kind of support staff: their wives. In Lambeau Ladies, mother and daughter Laura Kostelnik Biskupic and Katherine Biskupic tell the remarkable, largely untold story of the women who helped to keep the Lombardi-era Packers performing at a championship level. From preparing game-day sandwiches, nursing injuries, and reviewing game film to managing households, hosting social gatherings, and providing emotional strength to their spouses, these women were a driving force behind one of the greatest teams in football history. Lambeau Ladies is a fantastic book and vital piece of NFL history, and coming from this Bears fan, that says a lot. 

So what do a Double Beaver, ME-TV, and live radio have to do with this episode of Saints & Sinners? As it turns out, Garry starts his day with a double dose of "Leave It to Beaver" to stay balanced in the 21st century. John prefers the town of Mayberry for his METV fix, and then it's a deep dive into the virtues and shtick of the Beav's buddy Larry, Barnard T. Fife, and our growing fascination with shows that make us feel better, decades after they aired. Don't miss John whining about his recent guest-hosting experience on live radio (he's exhausted), but after he gets a little tune-up from the G-Man, all is well. Add in an episode of "Earth Matters with Bill Kurtis" and you have another outing in audio excellence. Kinda. Sorta.

I first met Dino over 30 years ago, when we were both working on a big sports memorabilia project focused on Joe DiMaggio. Selling high-end fine sports art wasn't on my dance card, but I knew there was more to this project to explore than the commissions (which were great!). Back then, he was an intense, intelligent, and interesting guy that I'd never thought I would ever see again. But through the magic of online connecting platforms, we reconnected, and I learned of his journey from millionaire promoter to finding out that you can have it all-and still not be satisfied, and fill the emptiness with alcohol and drugs. Now sober and clean, Dino shares his  remarkable story, and how a little wristband is changing lives. 

Have we lost our collective perspective on the rapture of being alive? Has unsocial media bent our joy factor totally out of whack? Are the billionaires (and millionaires) who live lives filled with stuff, bells and whistles that most of us don't have creating a modern-day caste system? Garry and John take a deep dive into figuring out what makes up happiness and how to offset the influx of internet overflow that can erode our sense of wonder. Does it really matter if you are someone who "Summers in the Hamptons" as opposed to summering in your own backyard with your feet in a kiddie pool?

You might be asking yourself, "Why is John doing an episode on an office chair?" Well, if you listen, you will learn about the puzzle pieces that led to me getting a new chair called "The Vortex" have more to do with than just replacing an old chair; it includes another strange "WTF, how did this happen" moment for me, when I found someone's car keys in my pocket after going to a White Sox game, which then led me to trying to find the owner, which in turn led to my conversation with Garry Meier about the "vortex" concept and a set of keys I lost 18 years ago. Yeah, it's a lot, but the real takeaway is that if you listen within, you will never go without.

When he was just a 14-year-old lad, Dan Mason was sending production notes to radio stations he listened to and was a "contest pig," sucking up everything from Beatles tickets to trips to Coney Island. He became an overnight DJ and moved up the radio ladder to program director at various stations and eventually was named President and CEO of CBS Radio not once, but twice. He talks with Garry and John about his new book "FEARLESS," his rise to fame, what it was like having to fire Don Imus, the time when Howard Stern called him the "C" word on air, and the time Taylor Swift jumped up on a table and gave him a private concert. Wrapping up the episode, John shares his recent unexplained experience of how a set of car keys (not his) ended up in his pocket after a recent White Sox game, with zero idea of how they got there. Garry thinks a vortex or the full moon is responsible. So, if you were at the Sox game on August 8th for Ozzie Day, and you lost your car keys...JSA has them.

Contrary to the Rolling Stones, time is NOT on your side. Digging through some of my audio archives this morning, I came across one of my favorite clips from back in 2001, when vaunted sports writer Dick Schaap was my guest on the radio talking about a new book, and we surprised him with a call from an old friend, Jerry Kramer. Dick passed away six months after our conversation, but Kramer is still kicking it at 90. The average life span is 78, which translates to 28,470 days to be alive-if you get that far. Dick passed away at the age of 67, which is the same age I am now-or 24,455 days for his lifespan. Some get more, many get a lot less, and maybe it's not adding years to your life, but rather life to your years that matters most.

They're back at it again, another weekly foray into varying levels of WTF with John's experience of spending 3 hours watching Matt "Bourne" Damon and his son Tom "Spider-Man" Holland while learning that it takes 6 feet of film to create 1 second of an IMAX movie. And why does it cost so much coin just for a couple of sodas and popcorn? Garry takes a deep dive into R-rated AI content with "Leave it to Beaver" (what's next? The Waltons?), and Bill Kurtis adds his thoughts on an indoor compost toilet on Earth Matters. Are you ready to use your own waste in the garden for bigger, plumper tomatoes?

It was a random Facebook post by a young friend of mine that seemed to be filled with despair about another horrible human tragedy that prompted this particular episode of the Life 2.0 podcast. The post started with..."What's happening to our world?..." and went on from there. I've been pondering (once again) what appears to be the deterioration of the human condition, until I think back to the time I was the same age as my friend, and all the difficult, horrible, low-down, bad news of that time. The "same shit different day" line comes to mind. A perspective shift is needed if we are to maintain our spiritual balance, and I suggest you take a stroll through history through times much more difficult than we are living in now, and consider that if your moral compass is determined by someone in political office, you're giving up your inner GPS to the headlines, and not your lifelines.

This is a total free-fall, free-for-all, freebie S&S episode in which a listener wants to know whether Garry and John are really doing this podcast or if it's AI-generated. From there, it's a deep dive into another year of Shark Week (more JAWS!), the evolution (or devolution) of the human condition when it comes to the DUI/OWI of Tony Romo, John explains to Garry the phenomenon of owning a Jeep, and more about Gavin McLeod and "The Love Boat" than you ever wanted to know. And for the record, the content is unscripted and human-generated, because we checked the box.

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Sweetness.   Worked with Walter on his foundation, golf outings, and other assorted projects for a couple of years. There's a whole chapter on him in my first book, "Living An Uncommon Life."   One of my favorite memories is when I once brought my three-year-old son Andy to the office. We had meetings with K-Mart about a major sponsorship for a project. About halfway through, Walter gets up, takes my son by the hand, and leaves the conference room. After the meeting is over, I find them both on the floor of his office, using golf balls to knock over tees like a mini-bowing alley while crunching down on "hard candy," aka Starlight Mints.   One of a kind, on and off the field.

111 years ago today, July 24th, 1915, the Eastland was bound for a day trip across Lake Michigan filled with employees of The Western Electric Company. Over 2,500 people boarded the boat, docked on the Chicago River, and less than an hour later, 844 men, women, children, and crew were killed in what was the largest loss of life from a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes.   So, how is it possible that over 90 years later, the name "Niels Petersen" was broadcast in an edit suite at the Oprah Radio Studios in 2008 on a speaker that wasn't even plugged in?   One of the most unbelievable experiences of my life, and it's why every July 24th, I make sure to remember the victims of the Eastland and to visit the resting place of Niels and his son Royal, who also perished.

In light of the recent attempt by a rabid fan to get at everyone's benign weather uncle, Al Roker, Garry & John share a couple of near-miss stories when it came to having a listener cross the radio threshold. Then it's a rollback to their first paying jobs and the lessons gained from pouring concrete or pulling nails for a few hours a day compared to being an "influencer" in the 21st century. AI isn't going away, so the guys are trying to figure out the limitations of avatars, and Garry is ready to roll out his chain of retirement homes called "Fallen Arches," which is the perfect segue to a 96-year-old who is upending the apple cart by partying with her group of Silver Seniors until the sun comes up. Finally, Garry & John remember Ozzy Osborne one year after his death. 

It's a rare occurrence that I find myself in Green Bay, Wisconsin, this morning. Even though I'm a Chicago Bears guy, I can't help but think about my long friendship with the greatest guard in the history of the NFL-Jerry Kramer. Last night I had dinner in Lambeau Field at the 1919 Club, and the images of Lombardi and those great Packer teams over the years are embedded in the culture here. So, this SMR is from a couple of years ago, and my conversation with JK and Bob Fox about their book "Run to Win," which also includes a clip from 2001, when Jerry and I talked with the late, great Dick Schaap as well. 

He's quite possibly the most recognizable meteorologist on the planet, and he's Garry & John's special guest on this episode of Saints and Sinners! The favorite son of Aurora, Illinois, where he would send letters to Chicago radio stations as a boy, offering to provide them with a more accurate forecasts, to the millions of viewers who watched him for decades on WGN-TV to his latest foray into acting (kinda) on The Bear, Tom Skilling is not only a man for all seasons, but he knows everything about all the seasons and more.  It's another robust outing in audio excellence!

I was out of the internet landfill for three days last week, which was a blessing in disguise. I took a break from my usual routine and spent some time cleaning out old audio files. I came across a folder of shows I did back in 2015/16 for CBS called Life Matters, and there are 30 episodes in the file with some great conversations, like the one I had with Pulitzer Prize winner (and one of my favorite writers) Mary Schmich. Amazing how so much of what we discussed a decade ago is still relevant today. The more things change...the more they stay the same.

Yep, you read that right. Only these two guys could have an unscripted conversation that covers everything from Garry's impressive mane to John's follicle- challenged dome and the time Carol Channing wanted to meet John for a date (and he was the dessert!) Then there's the guy who carved his way out of a frozen grave with a dagger made of his own feces. Add in Garry's comments on air conditioning and John sharing a few thoughts about how his old friend John Denver's hit "Take Me Home, Country Roads" is once again in the mainstream due to soccer, and it's another off-the-wall, over-the-top audio outing for the masses.

GM and JSA are back at it for episode zwei (that's number two for your non-Germanic types), and besides exploring the dark corners of each other's minds, it's a show chock-full of Dracula stories (John's dad had a Bela Lugosi crush) Garry's thoughts on how AARP needs to let us live in denial as long as possible and of course beating up a little bit on the radio industry in light of the recent "iHeart Media Massacre." Add in a bit about the hit FX show "The Bear" featuring a cameo by "The Walt Disney of Weather" Tom Skilling and the fact that 99% of the fireworks we use to celebrate our Independence Day every 4th of July come from China and... well, you'll have to listen and figure it out for yourself.

What happens when artificial intelligence intersects with human intelligence? Well, since humans have a hard enough time discerning what reality is, chances are if you don't have your firewall of common sense up, AI is gonna take you to the cleaners, because behind the beauty that insists they have your best interests at heart, is a lower life form human who doesn't. After getting a text from a friend that described how a family member fell in love with an AI-generated woman and lost serious coin, I thought it was time for a PSA when it comes to common sense for uncommon times.

What happens when you put a Radio Hall of Fame broadcaster (Garry Meier) and an award-winning radio voice (John St. Augustine) in the same podcast space? Not really sure, but certainly worth a listen! In this first episode, we go behind the glass in the world of radio with war stories about Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Laura, and hate mail. Add in "Earth Matters with Bill Kurtis," a discussion about Disclosure Day and aliens among us, and why John always thinks of Garry when the movie "Silverado" comes on the screen. Must be the chaps.

Legendary stand-up comedian and favorite son of Harvey, Illinois, Tom Dressen, passed away on June 17th at the age of 86. From hardscrabble beginnings, to forming the Tim and Tom comedy duo with Tim Reid in 1969, to finding himself as the opening act for Frank Sinatra and 61 appearances on the Tonight Show, Tom was an everyman who made it big, but most importantly, never forgot where he came from, or the basic building blocks needed to live a life of faith, family, and friends, which is what success is all about. This is one of my favorite conversations with Tom, shortly after his book "Still Standing ... My Journey from Streets and Saloons to the Stage, and Sinatra" in which he shares his incredible rise from dirt poor kid who shined shoes to becoming one of the most beloved comedians and humanitarians of the last 50 years. On this Father's Day weekend, Tom's experience of finding out that his biological father was not who he thought he was and a deathbed confession underscores the power of forgiveness. 

Jim Alstott’s spiritual awakening didn’t happen on a mountaintop in Nepal; it happened on a Florida beach at nearly 400 pounds, exhausted, broken, and ready to give up. That night, a voice that wasn’t quite his own told him things would change. And they did. Blending irreverent humor with profound spiritual inquiry, Did I Just Have a Spiritual Awakening, or Was it Something I Ate? traces one man’s magical, mystical journey through Dolores Cannon’s twelve stages of awakening, with each chapter anchored by the song that defined it. From seeing his deceased great-grandfather at age four to receiving prophetic dreams that saved his son’s life, Jim chronicles fifty-nine years of experiences that defy explanation with raw honesty and occasional profanity. Mind kinda guy.  Music used by permission of the John Denver Estate. 

I arrived at Coast Guard Air Station Chicago in June of 1980. After my 4 years were up, I returned to civilian life, but I always wondered what happened to the men and women I served with...Joltin'Joe, The Penguin, Doc, The Sheik, Metz, Brenda, DJ, Strolie... Fast forward to 2019, when Coastie veteran Mike Phillips came across one of our helicopters, CG 1459, sitting outside in a parking lot. What followed has been a seven-year roller coaster ride to see how we could save and restore not just a military aircraft we all flew in, but as it turned out, ourselves in the process. Disclaimer: the podcast is 1:50 minutes long, because the story of the 1459 and the band of brothers who are dedicated to its restoration has been nearly 50 years in the making.

In an age when most people get their news from a handheld device locked into the platform of their choice, which feeds their confirmation bias, Charlie Meyerson stands as a testament to old-school journalism and fact-based reporting. He's a winner of the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for his work, a relentless purveyor of truth at all costs, and add to that. a mighty fine flautist. Charlie is the very definition of journalistic integrity, and in this episode, we talk about the business of podcasting, reliable news sources, and why it's a really good idea to go visit a Farmer's Market as often as possible. Photo credit: Steve Ewert

Let me be clear. There's nothing "happy" about Memorial Day. It was created as "Decoration Day" shortly after the Civil War to commemorate those who lost their lives. Somehow over the years, it's become a three-day weekend, and an excuse for retailers to sell more tires, mattresses, and televisions. It's the official start to summer. But for two fathers, Memorial Day is filled with the memories of their sons, Ryan and Nick, who gave their last full measure in service to our nation.  Lest we forget.

It's a glorious morning in the outskirts of Chicago. A light rain is falling; the baby robins in the nest under the overhang of the house next door are looking for breakfast, and a slight rumble of thunder interrupts the early-morning silence. All of these things have me remembering my friend, the late, great Earl Hamner. This Saturday Rewind takes us back to November of 2001 and my conversation with Earl about "The Waltons" as well as life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and the book he had out at the time (that I still read on occasion), The Avocado Drive Zoo. Music used by permission of the John Denver Estate.

Ah, nothing like a colonoscopy to bring a little perspective! It occurred to me as I went through the wonderful pre-procedure flush that sometimes getting totally cleaned out and starting all over again is a really good thing. Add to that a short preview of an upcoming podcast project with radio legend Garry Meier, a few hours digging in my sister's garage and finding evidence that at one time, I had really good handwriting, along with some incredible artifacts and the reminder comes that one man's trash is another man's treasure. Music by Mark Cleveland used by permission.

On this overcast spring morning, I am reminded of a different place and time, when my whole life was encased in a massive two-story building that my family lived in until 1966. It was just this side of heaven to me, as every adventure was in our backyard, or just down the street with my best friend, Garry. 50 plus years later, so much has changed outside, but inside, where it counts, it remains the same. Darcy's Guitar by Pete Huttlinger used by permission.

On this, the 56th anniversary of the first official Earth Day in 1970, I pulled a few of the "Earth Matters with Bill Kurtis" episodes that aired in national syndication on the radio for a decade. It was a great project that shed light on some of the darker environmental issues we face, as well as a few reminders that if you think globally and act locally, you can make a world of difference.   Music used by permission of the John Denver estate.

There are as many definitions of love as there are hearts in the world. But what about that which lies above and beyond the human experience? My guest, Glenn Aparicio Parry, writes, "What we are experiencing is tantamount to a shamanic dismemberment. We need to dismember to remember; we need to put ourselves back together again in ways that are healthy and whole. We are compelled to reconstruct the whole out of what has been torn apart; we are being called to dig deeper into our psyche." Get ready to take a deep dive into the source of love and how you can recognize, understand, and reconnect to that which binds all things together.

After 9 days and over 600,000 miles, the crew of Integrity has safely returned to Earth after taking a lap around the Moon. I couldn't wait to talk with Ashlee Nichols, the award-winning producer and content creator, who is currently working with NASA+ in telling the story of Artemis II. It's a listen behind the scenes about the massive amount of effort that goes into the media end of things, and the the amazing connection she has through her father, the late, great Roger "The Immortal" Nichols who always wanted to be an astronaut, but ended up being a GRAMMY Award winning sound engineer for everyone from Steely Dan to John Denver. 

It's been quite a week for your host. First, watching Artemis II break the surly bonds of Earth brought me back to being a 10-year-old boy as we rocketed to the moon in 1969. Then, I received a message from someone who used to listen to my show nearly 30 years ago, who took the information they heard and applied it to their own life, which led them to their own life's calling. It's the perfect segue to roll back the years to 2000 and my conversation with the brilliant Dan Millman, best known for "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior" book and many others. Finally, when I got a call from my son in the middle of the week so my twin granddaughters could say hi and warble out a few lyics from "Country Roads" in my ear, all was right with the world. Music used by permission of the John Denver Estate.

At 14, Christian Picciolini went from naïve teenager to white supremacist -- and soon, the leader of the first neo-Nazi skinhead gang in the United States. How was he radicalized, and how did he ultimately get out of the movement? He is the best-selling author of Romantic Violence: Memoirs Of An American Skinhead. This Saturday Rewind goes back to 2017 as Chris and I discuss his riveting, revealing journey from hate-monger to peace activist.    

The Saturday Morning Rewind takes us back to 2015, and my conversation with the late, great Arun Gandhi, the youngest grandson of Mohandas Gandhi. In going through more vintage audio, I came across our conversation (one of many over the years) and was sad to find out that Arun had passed away in 2023, which makes this conversation even more important. Its an exercise in the idea of non-violence that Arun made his life's mission and an opportunity to share a few words I wrote at a peace conference back in 1997 that are sadly, still true today. "It's About Time" used by permission of the John Denver estate.

So, what do Bill Kurtis, Jean-Michel Cousteau & Ed McMahon all have in common? They're all part of the ongoing purge of my vast Aurora Media Productions audio archives. These vintage clips are like digging up buried treasure, because I haven't heard this stuff for years. Add in a current offering from radio hall of famer Garry Meier, and you've got a solid half hour of common sense for uncommon times.  

Just about a month ago, I was watching Super Bowl LX and waiting for the highly anticipated and controversy-stirring halftime show featuring Bad Bunny. Since I survived everyone singing the Macarena in the 90s, I could endure 15 minutes of Spanish music. But imagine my surprise when the camera panned over Bunny's shoulder, and I caught a glimpse of Rose Crelli in a tuxedo playing the violin at the biggest event in the world! There are few people I know who have had a greater journey than Rose, from being adopted from an orphanage in China, to living without electricity off the grid as a child in Canada, to becoming one of the premier violinists in the world.  Time & Space by Rose Crelli ft. Tyler Reese, produced and recorded by Rossy Angelo, used by permission.  

This is one of those episodes that created itself out of bits and pieces of life stuff over the past week. It started with me finding an email from March 1st, 2020, about a radio concept that would become a reality, bringing my voice to Beijing, China, for a year. Part of that team was Cimcie Nichols, who also floated into my orbit again, and it was great to catch up on her latest effort called Hatchet Granny. Add to that a profound Facebook post (there aren't many) from Rolland Smith about the impact that John Denver's Windstar blueprint had around the world, and you realize the importance of being bridge builders, no matter who you are. Music used with permission from the John Denver Estate.

Yesterday, the budget axe fell on the careers of nine on-air personnel at WGN-TV, including notable names like long-time entertainment critic Dean Richards and sports anchor Chris Boden, along with stalwart news anchors Ray Cortopassi, Sean Lewis, and Judy Wang. Reporters Julian Crews & Bronagh Tumulty, as well as meteorologist Mike Janssen and political analyst Paul Lisnek, have all been given pink slips. I can tell you from the inside out, that the inner workings of the media is often built around the good, the bad and the ugly and cutting out trusted names, is a real blow to the community they serve and only benefits the shareholders. I remember my time at WGN Radio and when my ID stopped working...so did I.

She's one of my favorite gal-pals, and a true force of nature for all things good in the world. After leaving the "If it bleeds, it leads" media world (with a few awards in hand), Jen Weigel decided to turn her talents to creating content that lifts people up, not pushes them down. As always, it's a rousing conversation about the human condition and how each of us can make a difference in our own lives, which is where all real change starts. With the Olympics taking center stage, I was moved to include a song by John Denver that he wrote for the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo called "The Gold and Beyond." This particular version was recorded in the former Soviet Union, by Roger "The Immortal" Nichols in 1985. Music used by permission of the Denver Estate.

Three days a week, I watch the ebb and flow of discarded items get dropped off at the local Goodwill Store. From my perch on the treadmill at the gym, I have a ringside view of this $6.1 billion industry that takes in discarded items, slaps a price tag on them, and the re-sells it to people who wait in line for 30 minutes for the doors to open. But it wasn't until I inadvertently dropped off an item that was buried in a bag with other stuff, and went back to retrieve it, that the sticker shock of the mini-fridge I donated for free wasn't worth it.  The bottom line? We're all estate sales, garage sales, or yard sales in the making. Or, Goodwill inventory contributors. A little musical backup from the great David Stoddard on this one.

Once again, we are out buying cards, candies, and roses for our beloveds. But how did this all start? Why is it celebrated on February 14th? Beyond all that, this is the date that I remember when a bunch of 2nd graders helped me find my heart again, during a very turbulent time in my life, and how the power of love triumphs over all.

The first AFL–NFL World Championship football game was played on January 15, 1967, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. The National Football League champion Green Bay Packers defeated the American Football League champion Kansas City Chiefs by a score of 35–10, winning their tenth championship and becoming the first NFL team to win double-digit championships. It wouldn't officially become the "Super Bowl" until the 2nd matchup of the Packers vs. the Raiders in 1968. Jerry Kramer is one of a handful of men who are still alive from both SBI & SBII and now at the age of 90, we take a look back 60 years with the Hall of Famer Green Bay Packer legend. 

In 1967, singer Danny Hutton invited Chuck Negron to join him and Cory Wells to form the band Three Dog Night. The group became one of the most successful bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s, selling approximately 60 million records and earning Gold records for singles that featured Negron as lead vocalist, including "Joy to the World", "One", "Mama Told Me Not to Come", "Old Fashioned Love Song", and "Easy to Be Hard". Back in 2001, Chuck joined me to talk about his book "Three Dog Nightmare," in which he described his life as a high school athlete and a member of a successful rock band. He talked about his descent into drug abuse and attributes his recovery from heroin addiction to his turning to God in desperation after dropping out of more than thirty drug treatment facilities. Chuck Negron passed away on February 2nd, 2026 at the age of 83-clean and sober. Godspeed.  

He's one of a handful of men who played in Super Bowls I & II, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018, and is the author of five best-selling books, including Run to Win, written with Bob Fox in 2023. Jerry Kramer turned 90 yesterday (and shares a birthday with my son, Andy). This Saturday Rewind was an easy choice, with another look back at the glory days of pro football, when it was more of a game than a business, with the best guard who ever strapped it up and stepped on the gridiron...and then shared his story with the world.

I had to wait a few days to mourn the Bears' loss to the Rams and gather my thoughts (not really), but once again, I am reminded that football (really all sports) is tribal warfare and is based on the woulda, coulda, shoulda game plan. That means that if we woulda changed a play, or coulda caused a turnover, or shoulda kicked a field goal, somehow we'd reach the promised land. I've got about 20 years in the game as both a player and coach, and I am here to tell ya that you can play your heart out and still lose, and conversely, play like shit and win. To me, it's just a game, but for way too many humans, it's an obsession that borders on insanity, like the 4-year-old kid who's getting death threats because people are losing money on her NFL picks. Wow. Get a grip, and get a life. 

During his lifetime, Pete Huttlinger became widely known as one of the most awe-inspiring acoustic guitar players in the world. His unique arrangements and spell-binding musicality and precision entertained audiences from Nashville to Los Angeles to Milan. He toured with such major acts as LeAnn Rimes and John Oates of Hall & Oates and became John Denver's lead guitar player in 1994.  Born with a rare heart defect, Pete underwent a series of operations, beginning as a teenager, that ultimately failed to normalize the heart’s functions. In 2010, he suffered a stroke that his doctors initially thought would permanently immobilize him. But with characteristic determination, he returned to playing guitar within three weeks. His first performance was for his incredulous doctors. Soon after, he suffered a heart failure so catastrophic that it kept him at the Texas Heart Institute in Houston for four months in 2011. Again, he worked his way back, first to proficiency and then to mastery of his instrument. He and his wife and manager, Erin Morris, chronicled his ordeal and recovery in their 2015 memoir, Joined at the Heart: A Story of Love, Guitars, Resilience and Marigolds. Pete Huttlinger passed away ten years ago, on January 15th, 2026, at the age of 54. My conversation with Pete and Erin, just about a month before he passed, in December of 2015, once again proves that your cause of death isn't nearly as important as your cause in life and Pete's mantra of "Don't just live, live well"...lives on.

I had thought about taking the easy route today, as Da Bears are hosting the Packers tonight in the first playoff round and chatting up that decades-old rivalry. But then, the events of the past week wouldn't leave me alone, and I literally sat for an hour before turning on the mic this morning, arguing with myself if I had anything at all worth sharing as it pertained to making sense of the senseless. Three things came to mind, and for better or for worse, I've once again attempted to find the obvious in the absurd. Music speaks where words fail, and I kept hearing the lyrics of Stone Haven Sunrise in my mind.."For the needs of the many, are the sins of a few, and the day is forthcoming when accounting is due." Music used by permissIon of the John Denver Estate.    

Here we are once again, at the beginning of a brand new calendar year. I've got a few thoughts on where we've been, why we are here, and where we are going in the next 365 sunrises. In addition, a good friend of mine sent me a sorta "Rules of the Road" message to start the new year, mostly as it pertains to those of us who are past the half-century mark, and I found it worth sharing. And just like I ended 2025 with a tribute to my old pal Mr. Denver, I found it fitting to kick off this year with his voice as well, to wrap this 1st episode of the Life 2.0 podcast of 2026. All music used by permission of the John Denver estate.