Brian, aka Big South, Big Chief, Big Show or Long John Silver

Brian is a BIG personality.  Full of it ... literally!

I have so many stories I could recount of my time with Brian.  He was the closest to me in age (I think he was closer than Jerry Joe) but definitely the closest to me in terms of time spent.  We have similar interests and Brian has always been a hoot to hang out with.  He was the big brother I never had and "showed me the ropes", helped me "man up" and helped me teach me about girls, drinking and lots of other important elements of life.  Like I said, as I write this I am running through all the stories I have to tell, and trying to winnow the list down to one or two.

Ok, so one of my first was when I went to see Brian when he was living in Cedar Falls.  He was living above the Regent Theatre downtown and had quite the bachelor pad with at least two or three other college buddies.  I can't remember that the place even had a kitchen, but I do remember a huge living room and the refrigerator/bar complete, kegger included.  At that time in my life, it was AWESOME!  Come to think of it, it still is!  Anyway, Brian had a roommate named Aaron who drove a car with the top cut off (convertible thanks to a saws-all), and Aaron, Brian and I made the rounds to some pretty seedy bars where the typical chronology was to order a pitcher of beer and a fuzzy navel (you can guess which was mine) and then put quarters up on the pool table.  Now Brian and Aaron were both good pool players (a sign of mis-spent youth) and we typically took the table on the first set of quarters.  And as I recall it was usually from two guys who made Sturgis look like a black tie affair.  We wandered in and out of various bars with the same basic regimen.  How cool, eh?

Another story involved staying at his apartment during the Superbowl.  I can't recall who played or exactly which Superbowl it was - but McDonalds had a promotion that when either team scored a touchdown, Big Mac's were on sale for the next 10 minutes for 99 cents.  The closest McDonalds to that apartment was about 6-8 blocks away.  So Brian and I watched the whole game and had at least 5 Big Mac's each!  TOUCHDOWN baby!  Brian would grab his car keys and off we would go through the drive up window, pick up two 99 cent Big Mac's and back to the apartment.  Then repeat on every touchdown.  The final score must have been 45-38 or something.  At least that's what my stomach was telling me at the end of the game!

Brian truly has been the big brother I never had.  And whether we were playing basketball, going fishing, playing golf, recording an album in a Waterloo studio, or just hanging out there was always a story.  And we keep making them, which is even cooler.  The only thing better than the past with Brian is the future, and I'm looking forward to a lot more adventures with him as our families grow up together.

Ok, Marc/Brad.  Bring a story or two about Brian.  Mob ball, pear hurling or football with our kids.  Serve one up for Big Chief!