WeissCrax: TOP 10 PLAYS OF A LIFETIME

One hundred and six. Sure is a BIG number. Especially if you are Leonard Cruess … and that’s your age!

Lara Cooper’s recent Noozhawk piece provided keen insight into the looong life of this famous Goleta resident. Check it out for yourself.

Me? To go that distance – it’s another 50 years. EXACTLY today, in fact!

Yes, my 56th birthday and a BIG number for me, as well. Relatively speaking…

And while watching my fave ESPN SportsCenter – something crazy dances in my cranium:

COULD I EVER PULL OFF “A LeBRON-SKI” (Hey, did you know he left The Cavs recently?) IN ONE OF THOSE IT’S “ALL ABOUT ME” GOLDEN MOMENTS (his words) – WHAT WOULD BE MY TOP 10 SPORTS MOMENTS?

So far, that is…

OK, what the heck — let’s go for it!! Ready?

Do that SportsCenter DA DA DANT jingle tune in-your-head-thing here …  

With apologies to that SportsCenter Sportscaster Icon, Chris ‘BOOMER’ Berman — here we go:

THE TOP 10 PLAYS OF A LIFETIME….

A 6-year-old Randy back in New York

10. Weiss was so b-b-b-b-b-bad batting in Bayport (NY) Little League in early 1960’s that his coach had him ‘take’ on 3 & 2 counts! 

9.  Working at New Hampshire’s Camp Robin Hood Basketball Camp in the summer of ‘66 – he gets mesmerized secretly watching NBA Pro Jerry ‘Mr. Ohio State’ Lucas ’in the zone’ who makes so many 3-point-like shots in a row under the lights of a private outdoor court  that the net hangs by one hoop-loop  (and seemingly smoking!) when finished.

8. In 1968, Weiss’ HS frosh soccer team – THE BAYPORT PHANTOMS – (WHAAAT?) go 9-0-1 into the last game – with amazingly only 1 goal scored against them all season! Only to lose The Grand Finale 1-0 — while two of his shots hit the crossbar!  THEY SURE COULDA USED A ‘PHANTOM’ GOAL HERE…

At number seven….

Willis ‘THE CAPTAIN’ Reed of his then-beloved NY Knicks hobbles out of the Madison Square Garden tunnel in his warm-ups for Game 7 and hits his only 2 shots vs. the LA Lakers for the 1969-70 NBA title.

6. Then, in 1976, little bro, Jimmy ‘I’M OPEN’ Weiss incredibly banks in – (But, did he call BANK?) – a two-pointer from the top of the key to win a JV hoops game. Wild pandemonium erupts amongst the 27 fans in the stands!

5. Twenty-three years later in 1999, Taryn ‘BOOM BOOM’ Weiss does a similar thing in AYSO soccer action – blasts a midfield shot to the BACK -BACK- BACK of the net!  She’s eight-years-old at the time.

4.  And speaking of soccer…little buddy Christina Shackelford and others also score BIG in the inaugural AYSO VIP (Very Important Players) 2002 game and season for kids with special needs and challenges. For nearly all of them – it’s their 1st official sports team ever!

Also at number four…

Tucker, Weiss’ then-3-year-old Golden Retriever, gets the ride of his short life in 2004 when launched on a surfboard to the command of SIT and STAY. He does and rides all the way to shore by himself and then hops off like ‘no big deal’ to the amazement of about 100 Junior Lifeguard campers. COWABUNGA!!

3. ‘KOOL’ Kelsey Weiss, then 17, plays her greatest game in The History of Womankind and scores a header to tie it at 1-1 in semi-final CIF soccer action vs. Nordoff HS at SBCC’s Harder Stadium, before her San Marcos HS team wins in penalty kicks, en route to their 2006 CIF  Co-Championship one week later!

2. At the 2009 Santa Barbara Sprint Triathlon, rookie Randy Weiss crosses The Finish Line in under 1 hour and briefly entertains wild visions about trying to become more like AGELESS INSPIRATIONAL LOCAL LEGEND Joe “POW” Howell when he (Weiss, that is) hits the 60+age bracket. Howell does the long triathlon course on Saturday AND the sprint course of Sunday – both in pretty remarkable times!

AND THE No. 1 TOP PLAY FOR THE 1st 55 YEARS …

1. The LAKER BOYZ scream hysterically together after the final buzzer as the real Los Angeles Lakers win Game 7 for the NBA title two months ago!! This most recent championship caps an incredible 13-year– and still growing — run for these five great friends watching occasional Laker season games, then EVERY LAKER PLAYOFF GAME TOGETHER.

And there you have it, folks….

So what will the next 50 years bring??

Not sure. Hopefully, more life and good stuff.

Stay tuned.

Oh… Buh-Bye LaBron & Happy Belated Birthday, Mr. Cruess!

DA DA DANT!!

LAKER BOYZ - Gregg Hart, Steve Weintraub, Mike Underwood and WeissCrax' Randy Weiss toast good friendship and good fortune prior to Gamne 7 tip-off. Missing: John Sener.