In February, it was awesome watching
the Denver Broncos winning Super Bowl 50, giving future HOF QB Peyton Manning a
second Super Bowl ring in his final game.
My main source of entertainment during these months was attending
Barberton basketball games with the Prebynski family. The 2015-16 season was the 20th and final
season for Head Coach Ken Rector, who retired as the second all-time leading in
team wins behind Jack Greynolds.
Barberton Founder’s Day was held on
March 23 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Barberton. I attended the activities with Aunt Kathy and
our cousins, Jeanne, Shirley, and Dick.
On March 30, Dad’s family said goodbye to the Greatest Generation when
Uncle Lester died. He was Dad’s last
uncle, Grandma Webster’s last sibling, and the family’s last WWII veteran. On April 3, Aunt Kathy and I attended the
Cavaliers game at Quicken Loans Arena.
On April 13, I watched the end of Kobe Bryant’s final game with the L.A.
Lakers after a 20 year career. Bryant
was one of the last great athletes of my childhood, so seeing his career finish
with a thrilling 60 point game was great to watch.
The Cavs provided plenty of excitement
during their 2016 playoff run, which started in mid-April and ended with a NBA
Championship on June 19. The Cavs became
the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-1 games deficit to win the NBA Finals,
after a classic Game 7. Their championship
over the Golden State Warriors was the first in the 46 season history of the
franchise. Most notably, it was the
first major professional sports championship by a Cleveland sports team since
the Browns in 1964. I watched the
championship parade on TV, which was attended by 1.3 million fans.
During the Cavs postseason run, they
swept Detroit and Atlanta, and won their first two games against Toronto before
losing two to Toronto. Strangely enough,
during the NBA Finals, the Indians started a 14 game winning streak doing the
exact same. The final game was a classic
19 inning game in Toronto on July 1. It
got the momentum rolling for an exciting run to the postseason for the Indians.
On July 11 and 12, the Eastern League
(Double A Minor League Baseball) hosted its Celebrity All-Star Game, Home Run
Derby, and All-Star Game at Canal Park.
It was the first time Akron hosted these events since the Rubber Ducks
moved to the city in 1997. Scott and I
attended both events. On July 30, Scott
and I attended the Cleveland Indians game against the Oakland A’s at
Progressive Field. Prior to the game,
the Indians held its annual HOF induction.
Four players were inducted: Jim Thome, Albert Belle, Frank Robinson
(also a manager), and Charlie Jamieson.
Thome and his family were in attendance and his 14 year-old daughter
Lila did a wonderful job singing the National Anthem.
On August 6, the Pro Football HOF held
its annual induction at Tom Benson Stadium in Canton. Josh and I attended to see my all-time favorite
player, former GB Packers QB Brett Favre.
The other inductees included Marvin Harrison, Tony Dungy, Orlando Pace,
Eddie DeBartolo, Kevin Greene, Ken Stabler, and Dick Sanfel. The following day, I had my lone face-to-face
contact with Dad’s family this year when I met Cousins Jeanna and Teresa for
lunch at the Olive Garden in North Canton.
They were in the Canton area to attend the Pro Football HOF game, which
was canceled at the last minute under bizarre circumstances.
The Indians made the World Series,
defying the odds with a ton of injuries to their starting rotation. They faced the Cubs, who played in their
first World Series since 1945. I always
rooted for the Cubs in the NL playoffs, so this was such an exciting matchup to
watch. Similar to the NBA Finals, the
World Series featured a Cleveland team and was won in Game 7 by a team who
faced a 3-1 games deficit in the series.
The World Series came down to a
winner-take-all Game 7 at Progressive Field on November 2. The high temperature was an unseasonable 70
degrees that day, Scott had a personal day, and it was my usual day off
(Wednesday), so we decided to head up to Cleveland. Scott and I arrived early in the afternoon
before the crowd arrived, but it was awesome to be able to take in the game day
atmosphere. We went to the Team Shop and
walked around the stadium, allowing us to view and take pictures of the
exterior monuments much better than we could on a crowded game day. While the Indians lost, I can always say I
was at Progressive Field the day the Cubs won their first World Series there
after a 108 year drought.
The Indians World Series appearance
also took attention off the upcoming general presidential election, which was
held on November 8. I wasn’t a big fan
of any of this year’s candidates, but I thought Democrat Bernie Sanders was the
most qualified. John Kasich was a class
act during his campaign and definitely earned my respect. I was very disappointed to see Hillary
Clinton win the Democratic nomination and Donald Trump win the Republican
nomination. I voted for Clinton and
thought she would win, but I wasn’t the least bit disappointed to see her
lose. The country seemed more divided
than ever when Trump won the electoral vote, despite Clinton winning the
popular vote. Trump’s victory went down
as the greatest political upset since Democrat incumbent Harry Truman defeated
Republican challenger Thomas Dewey in 1948.
The successful sports year in NE Ohio
went beyond the Cavs and Indians. The Lake Erie Monsters won the AHL's
Calder Cup in June, the Akron Rubber Ducks won the AA Eastern League
Championship in September, and two of the four teams in the NCAA D-3 Football
Final Four were Mt. Union and John Carroll.
Barberton Magics sports had two
noteworthy occasions to close the year.
On November 4, the football team played in its first playoff game since
1998, where their season ended at Aurora.
On December 9, the boys’ basketball team hosted its first game under the
direction of new head coach, Jackie Greynolds, the son of legendary Coach
Greynolds. The following evening,
Jackie’s son Jordan won Player of the Game at the Greynolds Classic, held
annually to raise money for Barberton youth sports and stroke awareness (the
cause of Greynolds’ death).
The major holidays (Easter,
Thanksgiving, and Christmas) were spent with Aunt Kathy’s family as they are
every other year. I had a meal on Easter
and Thanksgiving at Prime 93 with my parents, Aunt Kathy, Uncle Tom, and
Susie. Cousins Nikki, Andrew, Mae, and
Lilly had the family over to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas the day after
the holiday. Cousins Krissy, Brett,
Kate, Ellie, Anna, and Julia joined us the day after Christmas. We also got together at Nikki and Andrew’s
home the weekend after Independence Day, in which I was able to provide dinner
thanks to a coupon I received at the Acme company party in June (see below).
I didn’t have any luck landing
full-time work in 2016, but I had an eventful year with Acme. In January, I had to get the Natural and
Organics department ready for annual inventory.
This included having to weigh all the contents in the bulk bins. In early March, I spent the first three days
of the Meat Sale stocking in the meat department. In late May, Acme celebrated 125 years in
business and on June 4, I was recognized at a company party for 15 years of
service. In early October, I visited
Hartzler’s Dairy in Wooster with dairy and natural-organics managers. We learned how dairy products are made
naturally while touring their farm. The
week after Thanksgiving, I spent a week working in the pharmacy.
Overall, I had no significant
accomplishments or setbacks in 2016.
However, there was still plenty to remember when looking back on the
year.
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