It's been more than awesome, but it's time for a change—my time here has ended. Today is my last day at Patch. I'll head into the three-day weekend before joining a great team at an online car magazine on Tuesday. The ride here has been wild. Early in 2010 I was continuing my impossible (but sometimes fun) job as a managing editor for Pioneer Press—I was part of a fantastic team covering northern Lake County—when a longtime co-worker (who had been laid off from Pioneer) called to ask about another former co-worker interested in working for an online-only company called Patch. She was hired …

I sing. I sing in the shower (usually Marvin Gaye), in the car (anything from Sinatra to Guns and Roses) and I sing to my kids (they like Elvis but they love the Beach Boys). I would have loved to have toured the world, singing to screaming fans while trying to find a vice like drugs, alcohol or depression to climb out of just so I could have my own VH1 Behind the Music Special. But I'm not that good. In fact, I'm not good at all. I'm not good enough to sing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" before my kids play T-ball in the back yard. But I've always wondered what it would be like to not only …

Season two opens Saturday morning for Crystal Lake Baseball, with all the fanfare expected for an Opening Day Ceremony. The excitement starts at 9 a.m. Saturday at the fields at 875 Canterbury Dr. in Crystal Lake. It's right behind Nick's Pizza & Pub; get there early to grab a great spot.  CLB will roll out the excitement when the National Anthem is sung, the first pitch is thrown out (who could be this year's big celebrity?), the player parade is brought out and, oh yeah, baseball is played. Parents and grandparents, get your cameras ready, because other than the actually games, the …

You might be planning on going out to eat tonight, or Friday, or this weekend. You might be thinking burgers, pasta or maybe Chinese—but who really cares right now, right? If you could make it pizza on Thursday night at Nick's Pizza & Pub you could also be making a difference in the lives of some families in McHenry County. And there's no catch. There's no extra charge. Nobody with a pamphlet is going to corner you and try to sell you something. You're just going to enjoy your pizza, peanuts and drinks like you normally would but from 4 to 10 p.m. this Thursday, April 26, every single penny …

You're 10 minutes late to work and the boss is tapping his watch as you walk by. On most days you might look and feel guilty, but not today. Today is Friday the 13th and it's not your fault. It's the evil day. The day when everything bad that happens to you can be blamed on the day and date. "Sorry, boss. I actually left three hours earlier today but I got a flat tire, was sideswiped by a bus and was attacked by a wolverine in the parking lot. What can I say, it's Friday the 13th." It can work against you as well. "Uh, ma'am, the fish I ordered has the end of an orange crayon in it." "Oh, …

Opening Day means a lot to me. Some people use New Year's Day, some Lent and Easter, for me I start fresh on Opening Day. When I was seven, my dad took me to the 1981 Cubs home opener and I've been a Cubs fan ever since. That team was horrible, not unlike a lot of Cubs teams. We all know the history of the Cubs: The 1984 collapse against the Padres (thanks, Leon), being over matched against the Giants in '89 and then against the Braves, and, of course, Bartman. This isn't a column about the trials of being a Cubs fan—we all know what that means, it hurts. This is about the optimism of a new …

So here comes Newt Gingrich, traveling throughout the area. His wife stopped by Lake in the Hills and he's out in Palatine and Barrington. Rick Santorum plans a couple of visits around Arlington Heights. And Mitt Romney is planning on roaming Rosemont Friday. So, where's the love for Crystal Lake? Nothing against Rosemont, Arlington Heights, Palatine and Barrington, but they have nothing on Crystal Lake. Our food is better, the photo opportunities are endless and our schools? Please. The Crystal Lake schools can compete against anybody. Do those cities have the most recent 6A state …

It's been asked a million times: If you were on a deserted island, what album would you want with you? My first response is to have a box set so maybe I'd have enough to make a raft. But my real answer is: The Beatles' Abbey Road. I stumbled upon my mom's Abbey Road album when I was in grade school, played it and haven't stopped listening to it. In high school it was in my tape deck, in college it was in my CD player and now it's on my iPhone. I just listened to the entire thing yesterday. And because The Beatles won't be performing any time soon, or ever, us Abbey Road lovers will have to …

Davy Jones passing away is actually upsetting me. It sounds harsh, any time someone passes away I should be upset. But celebrities pass away all the time. When someone notifies me of a celebrity who's passed on a lot of times my response is, "Wow. He was still alive?" I didn't follow Jones' career. I know he had been a part of a number of Monkees' reunions, but I figured he was on a cruise ship somewhere, or a Branson stage, belting out "Daydream Believer." When I was very young the Monkees television show had wrapped up and was already in syndication. If you turned our television slightly to…

For years a family member of mine used to pull me into these debates over politics. He was way on one side of the political aisle and I just had enough knowledge to be able to hold an argument, which is all he wanted. So I would give him my side and he would spew garbage from his side. At every Christmas, Easter, kids' baseball game or chance meeting in the grocery store we would throw a little tidbit out there that got under the other's skin. Sometimes these were full-blown arguments and sometimes they were light jabs as we passed each other in the living room. I envisioned a world where …

The holidays are officially over and I need my kids back in school and daycare. It goes without saying but I'll say it anyway, I love my kids. But, I'm exhausted. I have a five-year-old, two-year-old and a four-month-old. When we're at the grocery store, with one kid hanging out of the cart, one screaming for a bottle and another knocking down a display of Gatorade, people often say to my wife and I, "Enjoy it. They'll be a time when you really miss this." I know that will eventually happen but I think these people forget what it was really like. It can be a lot of fun but it's like being in …

It's Dec. 24 and you know what that means? That's right! There's only 84 more days until St. Patrick's Day! Yahoo! But while we wait patiently for our favorite leprechaun to dance let's track Santa! Where is Saint Nick right now? Thanks to a tracker, and George Orwell's 1984 coming true, we can now follow Santa's every move. For the past 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), have tracked Santa Claus as he travels the world on Christmas Eve. According to the NORAD website, the command center uses four high-tech systems to monitor the jolly old elf’s …

Your turkey hangover is still fresh and it's already time for that fat guy to come visit. No. Not your neighbor asking if he can borrow your ladder. I'm talking about Santa. Although The Home Depot, Menards, Wal-Mart and a host of other stores want us to think the Christmas season begins three days after the Fourth of July, it's really the day after Thanksgiving. That's Black Friday and that's when Santa rides into town during the area parades. It's a time when children start wanting every toy they see and smart parents start holding Santa's pending arrival over their children's heads to make…

Most of us want our public officials to be squeaky clean. We want them to be good looking, have great families and be well spoken. But with the media digging around and scrutinizing everything, most people wouldn't be able to maintain that image. When President Bill Clinton was in office conflicts with other countries were at a minimum, the economy was doing great and there were jobs out there. And then the Monica Lewinsky scandal came and voters were forced to think about whether they could support a candidate that had a dark background, even if it was a detriment to our way of living. …

I need to thank someone close to me. Most of us know somebody that fought in a war. We might have a father who fought in Vietnam, a neighbor who fought in Korea or a brother in Afghanistan right now. For me it's my grandfather, Robert Gross. And this man means everything to me. He taught me how to ride a lawnmower, how to bend my back when pitching and how to stay away from angry grandmothers and mothers when you know you're in trouble. He's been such a huge influence on me, my siblings, my cousins, my mom and her siblings, his friends, the people at church, the guy at the hardware store, the…

Today at 1 p.m. will be the now-famous alert test where the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Federal Communications Commission, and the National Weather Service will conduct the first national test of the Nationwide Emergency Alert System. This will interrupt your favorite song on the radio and either your cartoons or soap opera, depending upon your taste. Here are five ways to use up the big 30 seconds the test will take out of your life: Run for the hills! Try to sing along with a song on the radio before the test, continue singing during the test and see if you can match up with the …

I won't apologize. I love the McRib. It makes me happy. A guilty pleasure that I will no longer feel guilty about. I'm tired of hiding it, and I'm not sure why I've had to keep it from my loved ones for so many years. I love the dripping, messy barbecue sauce covering the "rib" meat with what I assume are fake marks where the bones are supposed to be. I wonder why they don't offer that barbecue sauce on burgers. I wonder why the barbecue sauce offered for McNuggets isn't the same as the sauce on the McRib. I wonder if the McRib will ever be offered in March so I could rinse down the sandwich …

We've seen a lot of pink lately. There's pink ribbons on a lot of outfits lately, volleyball players are selling pink spoons, my favorite football players are wearing pink shoes and there was even a pink ribbon emblazoned on the bag of potato chips I gave my daughter last night. And I think we could use even more. With October being Breast Cancer Awareness month the pink ribbons are everywhere, reminding us all that there's a real battle being fought against a disease that is ripping apart families everywhere. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 192,370 new cases of …

Avast! Me's worried this way of talkin' might stick! Arrr! It's Sept. 19, and that means it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day! A day to change up your dialogue and have a little fun with your kids, spouse, neighbors and anyone else you might come in contact with. According to the good people at www.talklikeapirate.com, "silliness is the holiday's best selling point." There's nothing to reflect on, no service or ceremony to attend, just something to have a little fun with throughout the day. And it shouldn't cost you a dime, unless you'd like to stop by Long John Silvers or grab a Big …

On Sept. 10, 2001 I was working in Arizona. I worked late and, not having to work the next day, I spent the early morning hours on Sept. 11 hanging out with my neighbor talking about our favorite Neil Diamond songs. I ended up crawling into bed around 5 a.m. A few hours later my phone rang. I found my phone somewhere under the covers and answered. Seeing on caller I.D. that it was my dad, who was back in Illinois, I answered. "Dad, I live in Scottsdale. There's a time difference. Do you realize what time..." "Are you watching this?" he interrupted. "What? What channel?" "Any channel" And I …