When I was ~10, my brother Steve penned an editorial in the North Pointe, our high school newspaper.
I don't remember much about it, aside from the structure.
It was a simple list of items he appreciated about his high school experience. I used a parallel format when I wrote my high school commencement address roughly eight years later, and oddly enough, after eight more years have elapsed: I'd like to do another callback.
A month ago, I moved from Boston to New York City. My experiences in Boston were filled with four years of tremendous growth and good times. Here is a rambling, non-exhaustive list of items I'm grateful for over that four year period in New England:
Year 1: Beacon Bros / KGM
- Carly linking me with Zach and Aiden, Mark from East Coast Realty, runs along the Chestnut Hill reservoir, singing Alabama with strangers at Loretta's, late night political arguments with Jon, Billy, Zach, and Aiden in Beacon, Drinksgiving I, singing HTTV at McGreevy's, Meg and the Bridge Teacher gang, Peter Parley's Christmas Parties, the Trader Joe's on Coolidge Corner, SJA bros Adam and William visiting and taking on Mt. Monadnock, Bez and Holmer and our Acadia adventure, solo Tigers/Sox games from Bleacher Bar, a Marathon Monday rager, Matt paying for utilities while living on our floor, Saturday reading on the backporch, VT beer exchanges within KGM Technology Finance, the 93 North / 95 South AM junction ramp maneuver, morning blood pressure rises from listening to WEEI 93.7, WEEI eventually canning Kirk and Callahan for spewing endless hate, doubling down on Tom Brady at +500 at halftime of the greatest Super Bowl of all time on Landsdowne St, Oracle BDR frat parties, the Greenwood Boys visiting over Memorial Day with sailing in the Hahbah and a 90s night at the Burren, a visit from Bart, a visit from JD and Rach with an 11 mile run in the snow, the Wisher fam for their invitations to Mt. Snow, Apres with Bruce at Cuzzin's, the WePo crew - Jon, Karol, Lesley, Ben, KB, and Kim, Noora's art gallery nights, Matoma at the HoB, nights out in Faneuil
Year 2: Redford / KGM
- 'Is Draymond good' debates at Hopewell, March Madness hooky at Bdubbs with Korey and Jason, Michigan sportstalk with Angela, KGM product finance: Kristin, Alaina, Sarah, Wes, the Accessories Squad, captain Katie D and the RTB crew, dogging on Rich for late POS reports, the Brew Crew softball team and happy hours in Woburn, Cam and our 0-x fail of a CAC hoops squad, Mark Loh's frat house, Matt for being the first to win at Fortnite, Mt. Rushmore nights, that one time Friel and I drove to Portland ME for beer but then got sick of each other after 8 hours together and didn't see each other for several months afterwards, trips to Wally's Jazz Cafe, Mike for finally remembering to pay the gas bill, Mike for hosting us x2 at his Fake Hamptons house and a Boardie Barn experience with 19 year olds, aggressively average pizza at Natalie's, another visit from JD and Rach, another visit from brother Bill, the GP Red Wings game with Carly and Christy, skiing at Attitash, Wildcat, Killi, Stratton, Okemo, Snow, and Crotched, Goodstein coming to visit and a man-date to Giacomo's/Mike's Pastries, randomly bumping into Katie G at the courtyard pool, the time Matt lost his Juul in his ear, the time Matt misinterpreted a fight at 7/11, Avenue Bar, Jon having us all up to Quechee, seeing the JBT at Hampton Beach, that one random time Tom, Shres, Kasey, Tom's KC friends, and my friends went to a Sox game together, Holmer coming out again for a Clery's trip, Westport Oktoberfest (ha ha ha), that night Mike and I went out on the town and did a cultural YoPro art thing at the MFA
Years 3/4: Eu(WOT)stis / BCG
- The half marathon in Ipswich with Matt, Noora, and KL, Ashley giving me a second chance after I initially bailed on our second date, an interrogation on Mt. Liberty from Virginia, vino nights on 5th St with Melissa, Suzy Bogguss/J/J/A at the City Winery, driving to NH to go shooting with Bez and AKR, hanging out with cousins Sam and Matty Jordan, Lamplighter, Cambridge Common, Drinksgiving II and III with Quiplash, Ashley, our trips to Acadia, India, CLT, DTW, and Thailand, getting inspired listening to the future of our world as a TedXYouth catalyst, grill-outs on the deck, Ashley spending her 25th birthday with all of my friends, my brother Steve hopping on a plane to move me, Woodstock Retreats, the TMT boondoggle in Miami, Melissa for introducing me to everyone, Jeff for teaching me how to model without a mouse, Mandy and our VBP vent seshes, Joe Davis' e-mails, Anita, Pat, Ally and our Pod Squad, Henderson's Pub, another visit from brother Bill, that one time Pat and Zach accidentally slept in the same bed, RTB round II, the Ohio Pats and the mute functionality in iMessage after the OSU/Mich game, that one trip to IHOP, a commute that involved a ferry, Charlie's Kitchen, Holiday parties at the MFA and Harvard Art Museum, SoFar sounds, AKR keeping me in check after a cancelled flight to make the family reunion, the CanTab, the JPM Corp Challenge, runs along the Esplanade
A few more overarching thank yous to people that helped me along:
Mom, Dad, Steve, Smills, Betsy, Jon, Billy, Martha, Ozzie, Ashley for always picking up from the airport and being available for FaceTimes
Matt, Joe-man, and Billy for making time for me to be a remote-Uncle
the Big Guy upstairs (aka JC)
CCDT
1:30am last call
The Esplanade
Yeah, You?
AKR showing us all how it's done re: remaining strong in the thick of it all
The HS crew for our trip to Poland to see Quacky O
Val @ Alton Barber Shop
Ok I am thoroughly exhausted and there's no way I covered everything but what a wild reminder of how fortunate I am.
I love you all. Thanks.
Danny
Thursday, March 5, 2020
Monday, April 3, 2017
It was a very good year
28 years ago today, Rumeal Robinson, a 66% FT shooter on the season, knocked down two free throws with :03 to go in OT – one to tie, and one to win the Wolverines’ first Natty ‘ship in school history.
Memorable? Sure. Legendary? Up there, but I'd say not. Each year, there are a few championship endings in this camp.
This year though...we have legit legends. Several of them. Music City Miracle, Jesse Owens vs. Hitler, Thrilla in Manilla, Short Heard 'Round the World, Miracle On Ice-caliber legends. I don't have the Costas/Rovell/Nantz sanctioned names for these yet, but I do have a library of mostly-intact memories, and the ability to make an amateur listicle. As the 2017 NCAAM National Championship tipped, I made two simple goals:
So here goes. (chronological order)
Outcome: 77-74, Villanova over UNC
Where I watched: R1246 – Ross Group Study Room
Company: Holm, Chris, Jules
Storyline: Back and forth game, Marcus Paige hits an incredibly off-balance, improbable 3 pointer, tying the National Championship game with 4.7 seconds left. This was only to be overshadowed by the greatest shut up-bucket of all time, Kris Jenkins’ buzzer beater three.
Personal context: Pumped for Jay Wright. I was in the middle of a whiteboarding session to help a friend prep for an interview during what is likely the greatest season-ending sequence in the history of the sport. Not the most ideal (we did have the game on), but she ended up nailing the interview and taking the job so I think we killed a couple of birds that day.
Google Trends tells us this game was the peak of crying Jordan. The photo itself actually originated during his 2009 HOF induction, with the meme following a few years thereafter. Say what you will about the fact that we're now well into 2017 and it's still going strong but I’m not mad about it.
Outcome: Cavs win 93-89
Where I watched: LaGrange, IL
Company: Jules and co
Storyline: Day Day gets suspended for Game 5, and the Cavs (i.e. Bron and Kyrie) turn a snowball into an avalanche. Game came down to the wire and the best regular season team of all time gets stuffed by Lebron.
Personal context: There’s only one person to blame for the Dubs' demise and it’s Marlins Man. While the rest of Oracle Arena was standing (avg. resale price to get in was $2,700), he was sitting down, head buried in his phone, getting bothered by trolls like me. C’mon man.
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Company: Big Drawers Petkus, CMTHolm, Chris, Zidar, Nolan, Palmer, TKSam, Plotnik
Storyline: While I was salty about it at the time…retrospectively, this could have turned out exorbitantly worse. I’m cutting out the bulk of this e-mail chain for fear of future landlords digging up dirt on me, but long story short, we negotiated our way to ponying up 1/3 of our deposit. One year removed from living in a college house, I’m chalking that up as a win for the ages
Outcome: Cubs win 8-7 in extras
Where I watched: Allard Ave, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI
Company: Bill and Ozzie
Storyline: Too many to note. 108 year drought. Schwarber, originally ruled out for the year, returns in time for Game 1 and ignites the 10th inning rally that sealed it. Grandpa Rossi goes out on top. Rizzo beats cancer. Theo Epstein’s a genius. Players’ meeting during the rain delay, practically the whole team’s in their 20s. Hard not to be happy for those boys.
Personal context: Night before our eldest bro’s rehearsal dinner, Billy and I still had yet to pen Stevo’s best man toast. We decided we would wait until the end of the game…a rain delay, extra innings, and several Cokes later, we argued on into the 05:00 hour. Crushed the speech though.
Outcome: DJT over HRC – 304 - 227
Where I watched: Brookline, MA
Company: Aiden, Dove
Storyline: One of the greatest upsets of all time. Let’s leave it at that.
Personal context: Roommates and I drank some whiskey. A lot of whiskey. People were shook the next day at work.
Storyline #2: Let’s not leave it at that. We put an incompetent, bigoted, dangerously divisive man in the most powerful office on the face of the Earth that day.
Outcome: Clemson over Bama, 35-31
Where I watched: Brookline, MA
Storyline: Down 2 TDs, Clemson wins with a :01 TD pass from Deshaun Watson
Personal context: I’mma be honest here. After a full day’s work in the real world, I fell asleep during this game. Add to the list of grievances with the NCAA: 4 hour national championship games.
Turns out I’m in good company...
Outcome: Patriots over Falcons, 34-28
Where I watched: Boston, MA
Company: Matt, Aiden, Dove and several thousand homers at a bar in Fenway
Storyline: The greatest Superbowl comeback of all time. There were literally grown people crying, down 25 halfway through the 3rd. Yet nobody went home. Somehow we just knew. Suddently there's a sack-fumble. Edelman's catch. Overtime. Goodell has to publicly present TB12 with the MVP trophy post-Deflategate.
Personal context: I loaded up on the Pats -3 before the game, and thanks to the Luke Bryan National Anthem under, had some cushion to play with. Doubled down at half. +500 Money line. ROGER THAT.
Being in a hometown for a National Championship is special. Especially one like this.
Outcome: (8) Michigan beats (2) Wisconsin for the championship
Storyline: K, realistically, no non-Michigan fan is including this, but c’mon…8-seeded plane crash boys win 4 games in 4 days to win the ship. Couldn’t be happier for those dudes. And for Coach. Passion, attitude, integrity and diligence pay off.
Simon's with me.
Outcome: Barcelona over PSG 6-1, 6-5 in aggregate
Storyline: Barca lost 4-0 in the first leg, and needed every one of these
Personal context: Not gonna pretend like I follow UEFA soccer very closely, but 3 goals in the 88th minute and beyond is nothing short of incredible.
Outcome: Mississippi State upsets UConn at the buzzer
Where I watched: West Dover, VT
Storyline: Essentially, the 1980 USA team beats the USSR (111 straight wins) and then loses to Finland in the gold medal game.
#FireGeno
I love sports. What'd I miss?
Memorable? Sure. Legendary? Up there, but I'd say not. Each year, there are a few championship endings in this camp.
This year though...we have legit legends. Several of them. Music City Miracle, Jesse Owens vs. Hitler, Thrilla in Manilla, Short Heard 'Round the World, Miracle On Ice-caliber legends. I don't have the Costas/Rovell/Nantz sanctioned names for these yet, but I do have a library of mostly-intact memories, and the ability to make an amateur listicle. As the 2017 NCAAM National Championship tipped, I made two simple goals:
1) Reflect on everything we witnessed this past year in an effort to pay homage to the sports gods
2) Document what I was doing during them, who I was with, money I won, etc. for when I’m an old man
So here goes. (chronological order)
2016 NCAAM National Championship
Date: April 4, 2016Outcome: 77-74, Villanova over UNC
Where I watched: R1246 – Ross Group Study Room
Company: Holm, Chris, Jules
Storyline: Back and forth game, Marcus Paige hits an incredibly off-balance, improbable 3 pointer, tying the National Championship game with 4.7 seconds left. This was only to be overshadowed by the greatest shut up-bucket of all time, Kris Jenkins’ buzzer beater three.
Personal context: Pumped for Jay Wright. I was in the middle of a whiteboarding session to help a friend prep for an interview during what is likely the greatest season-ending sequence in the history of the sport. Not the most ideal (we did have the game on), but she ended up nailing the interview and taking the job so I think we killed a couple of birds that day.
Google Trends tells us this game was the peak of crying Jordan. The photo itself actually originated during his 2009 HOF induction, with the meme following a few years thereafter. Say what you will about the fact that we're now well into 2017 and it's still going strong but I’m not mad about it.
2016 NBA Finals Game 7 aka the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead
Date: Sunday, June 19, 2016Outcome: Cavs win 93-89
Where I watched: LaGrange, IL
Company: Jules and co
Storyline: Day Day gets suspended for Game 5, and the Cavs (i.e. Bron and Kyrie) turn a snowball into an avalanche. Game came down to the wire and the best regular season team of all time gets stuffed by Lebron.
Personal context: There’s only one person to blame for the Dubs' demise and it’s Marlins Man. While the rest of Oracle Arena was standing (avg. resale price to get in was $2,700), he was sitting down, head buried in his phone, getting bothered by trolls like me. C’mon man.
Was trying to Block all rude Indians tweets before public read them...they kept me very busy https://t.co/IwfihomIkB— Marlins_Man (@Marlins_Man) June 20, 2016
The Tenants of 943 Greenwood v. Alvin J. Foland, Landlord
Outcome: After a tumultuous two years in the hellhole that we cherished so much, our laundry list of damages resulted in the remainder of our security deposit being confiscated.Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Company: Big Drawers Petkus, CMTHolm, Chris, Zidar, Nolan, Palmer, TKSam, Plotnik
Storyline: While I was salty about it at the time…retrospectively, this could have turned out exorbitantly worse. I’m cutting out the bulk of this e-mail chain for fear of future landlords digging up dirt on me, but long story short, we negotiated our way to ponying up 1/3 of our deposit. One year removed from living in a college house, I’m chalking that up as a win for the ages
2016 Masters/US Open/Ryder Cup
Date: Spring/Summer 2016
Outcome: Spieth blows it on the Back 9 at Augusta, DJ wins his first Major, US wins the Ryder Cup
Storyline: Lumping them all together probably doesn’t do these events justice, but from these three tournaments, we got an epic collapse ‘unlike any other’ by a 22 year old, some great camera work on Paulina Gretzky’s backside as the CBS cameras followed her and DJ to the clubhouse after the US Open, and Rory McIlroy going Happy Gilmore/WWE fueled by the energy from seemingly the greatest Ryder Cup crowd ever
2016 MLB World Series Game 7 aka the Indians blew a 3-1 lead
Date: November 2/3, 2016Outcome: Cubs win 8-7 in extras
Where I watched: Allard Ave, Grosse Pointe Woods, MI
Company: Bill and Ozzie
Storyline: Too many to note. 108 year drought. Schwarber, originally ruled out for the year, returns in time for Game 1 and ignites the 10th inning rally that sealed it. Grandpa Rossi goes out on top. Rizzo beats cancer. Theo Epstein’s a genius. Players’ meeting during the rain delay, practically the whole team’s in their 20s. Hard not to be happy for those boys.
Personal context: Night before our eldest bro’s rehearsal dinner, Billy and I still had yet to pen Stevo’s best man toast. We decided we would wait until the end of the game…a rain delay, extra innings, and several Cokes later, we argued on into the 05:00 hour. Crushed the speech though.
2016 US Presidential Election
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016Outcome: DJT over HRC – 304 - 227
Where I watched: Brookline, MA
Company: Aiden, Dove
Storyline: One of the greatest upsets of all time. Let’s leave it at that.
Personal context: Roommates and I drank some whiskey. A lot of whiskey. People were shook the next day at work.
Storyline #2: Let’s not leave it at that. We put an incompetent, bigoted, dangerously divisive man in the most powerful office on the face of the Earth that day.
2016 Michigan vs. Ohio State Football Game
Date: Nahahhhhh I’m not doing this. JT was short.2016-17 College Football Playoff Final
Date: January 9/10, 2017Outcome: Clemson over Bama, 35-31
Where I watched: Brookline, MA
Storyline: Down 2 TDs, Clemson wins with a :01 TD pass from Deshaun Watson
Personal context: I’mma be honest here. After a full day’s work in the real world, I fell asleep during this game. Add to the list of grievances with the NCAA: 4 hour national championship games.
Turns out I’m in good company...
Jim Harbaugh didn't see that epic game last night. He fell asleep 😂 https://t.co/EkRhtN1aLH— Jack Jorgensen (@JackJorgensen14) January 11, 2017
Super Bowl LI
Date: Feb. 5, 2017Outcome: Patriots over Falcons, 34-28
Where I watched: Boston, MA
Company: Matt, Aiden, Dove and several thousand homers at a bar in Fenway
Storyline: The greatest Superbowl comeback of all time. There were literally grown people crying, down 25 halfway through the 3rd. Yet nobody went home. Somehow we just knew. Suddently there's a sack-fumble. Edelman's catch. Overtime. Goodell has to publicly present TB12 with the MVP trophy post-Deflategate.
Personal context: I loaded up on the Pats -3 before the game, and thanks to the Luke Bryan National Anthem under, had some cushion to play with. Doubled down at half. +500 Money line. ROGER THAT.
Being in a hometown for a National Championship is special. Especially one like this.
Oscars Flub-up
Not sports but Elon Musk says this is proof we're living in a computer simulation (he's actually been saying so for years, but this is when I started giving credence to the theory).B1G Tournament Title Game
Date: March 12, 2017Outcome: (8) Michigan beats (2) Wisconsin for the championship
Storyline: K, realistically, no non-Michigan fan is including this, but c’mon…8-seeded plane crash boys win 4 games in 4 days to win the ship. Couldn’t be happier for those dudes. And for Coach. Passion, attitude, integrity and diligence pay off.
Simon's with me.
What if I told you they survived a plane crash and then took flight in the tournament.
— Simon Kaufman (@sjkauf) March 12, 2017
A new 30 For 30:
Michigan basketball: Up, Up & Away
WNIT Final
Date: April 1, 2017
I honestly didn't get a chance to watch but gotta give a shoutout to KBA and the girls. Triple overtime dub? PDC's gonna have to make some room for all that hardware.
Date: March 8, 2017Honorable Mention (not the Championship per se, but worth noting):
2017 Champions League Round of 16
Outcome: Barcelona over PSG 6-1, 6-5 in aggregate
Storyline: Barca lost 4-0 in the first leg, and needed every one of these
Personal context: Not gonna pretend like I follow UEFA soccer very closely, but 3 goals in the 88th minute and beyond is nothing short of incredible.
NCAAW Semifinal
Date: March 31, 2017Outcome: Mississippi State upsets UConn at the buzzer
Where I watched: West Dover, VT
Storyline: Essentially, the 1980 USA team beats the USSR (111 straight wins) and then loses to Finland in the gold medal game.
#FireGeno
I love sports. What'd I miss?
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Vitamin D
TL;DR:
I went to California.
Hiked with my brother
Attended a hippie music festival with some great people
We had a great time.
That's a wrap, CA. Thank yous to InNOut, brother/cousins hiking and tossing a pigskin with me, no thanks: LA traffic pic.twitter.com/JzddNluY11
— Danny Schrage (@djschrag) August 15, 2015
So I wanted to capitalize on a rare burst of motivation that I had to write. The last time I was this stoked to write anything at all dates back to 10/11th grade in Jon Byrne and Kate (Cal) Murray's classes back at 707 Vernier. Alas, a blog seems like a great way to preserve relationships with the people I've grown close with throughout the different stages in my life, and expose upfront all of my quirks to potential future employers. I don't think that's too narcissistic. It's easier for you to quit reading this blog than it is to step all the way through a 160 second snapchat MyStory.
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As I refuse to pay $8.99 for an internet connection, I'm braving it in airplane mode (nofomo) and handwriting this entry in a journal furnished by Shinola Detroit. En-route to DTW after a full week of vacation in both greater LA and the Bay Area. Throughout my time there, I was fortunate enough to take part in the essentials (at least 10, by my count) of what we Michiganders would call a #PureCalifornia experience. My eldest brother Steve and his fiancee** recently moved to Southern California and I didn't need much more of an excuse to scrounge some funds and visit.
** Fiancee, as in they got engaged last week. After having the pleasure of living down the street from Sarah in Ann Arbor last year, I can genuinely say Stevo made a stellar choice, adding to the All-Star cast of Schrages-in-law. Between JD/Mart-dawg/Smills, there's some serious pressure on ya boy but in exchange for the three I just mentioned, I can't say I'm mad about it.
While in LA: got to spend some quality time with cousins Matt/Jenny/Tommy. When we were younger, they would come to Michigan every summer and bitch about how much better of a state California is. I will never concede that to them, but I can finally understand some of the grounds for that claim, as well as where their "we are the best" LA mentality comes from.
So, took a drive up/down the Pacific Coast Highway (#1) with George and Sami, two of the finest people at UofM, to spend three days at Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park. On our way up, they deemed a light drizzle a downpour (#2) and disturbed my backseat nap with ooh's and ahh's anytime they saw lightning.
We met up with more UM friends once we got to SF including my housemate Tommy and were graciously hosted by the Lefanowicz family, having semi-invited ourselves to do so. Thanks again Molly :)
Mountains and palm trees in general are objects that are particularly foreign/exciting to me, so I took three hikes while out there (#3). Once with Tommy and Molly in the East Bay, once solo and once in 100+ degree weather with Steve in the foothills near Pasadena.
(#s 4-6 I'm going to chalk up as uniquely San Francisco experiences, things that would only be seen in that city and things that cannot be unseen. One involves a homeless woman and public defecation. I'll spare you the other visuals)
Other quintessential elements:
#7. Overpaying at a pretentio...nay, trendy bar in LA.
#8. Seeing a celebrity and telling people about it (Russell Westbrook at lunch in Westwood).
#9/10 aforementioned ocean dip/In-N-Out
All in all. An unreal trip. I'm really fortunate. Thanks to the people who were so hospitable throughout my time there. As real life (life post-college) looms large, the decision of what career to pursue and where to do it is on the front burner. With so much family in the midwest, it would be hard to up and re-root so far away in California. In the meantime, the guacamole and Vitamin D will have me back sooner rather than later.
After a summer spent in Ann Arbor working with the basketball team, I'll continue my role as Senior Student Manager into my last year at UM which will include some pretty awesome road trips that should last well into March (and with a little bit of luck, early April).
And hopefully sometime in the near future, I'll have an answer as to where I want a business/comp. sci degree to take me.
Thanks for reading. Come back for more
danny
danny
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