Ken’s Bio
I was born in Western Pennsylvania and moved to Memphis, Tennessee in the summer of ’69. We lived a few miles from Graceland and I remember going down there one day with my mother to get Elvis’ autograph. There was a large crowd at the gate and we all waited patiently for Elvis to emerge and sign autographs for all his fans.
Every car that pulled into the driveway were checking to see if Elvis was inside. Finally after an hour or so he pulled up, got out of his car and stood on a tree stump so that he could pull whatever it was he was being given to sign.
There had to be a hundred people there that hot evening, I could barely get a glimpse of the King due to all of the fans reaching their hands high and far just to get Elvis’s signature.
I was only eight years old at the time and coming from Pennsylvania I had no idea who Elvis Presley was, but I knew he must have been someone important because so many people had come to his house just to get him to sign his name on a piece of paper.
I came to Tennessee with four loves. The Steelers, the Pirates, Penn State Nittany Lions and Brenda Brubeck. It was a typical schoolboy crush where I was smitten with the young lass and she didn’t know that I existed. My love for the Pirates has faded, but the memories of having Roberto Clemente as my favorite player have not.
I still love Penn State and Joe Pa. But, I am a Memphis Alum so that makes me a Tiger fan. Most of my friends think I’ve fallen off the face of the earth because I don’t get to all the games like I used to but that’s okay. I am still a huge Steelers fan and am so glad that Coach Bill Cowher was finally able to get a Super Bowl ring. He is such a quality coach; I can’t wait for him to get back into the NFL.
Over the years I’ve followed the Pirates, the Reds and the Expos for various reasons. However upon graduating from college I took a trip to Chicago with some friends and made a visit to Wrigley Field.
In 1986 the Cubs and Mets had all their games televised on basic cable, so I was familiar with most of the players. I went to the beer vendor and ordered an Old Style. One look at that historic field on a beautiful weekday afternoon for the second game of the season against the Pirates of all teams, and I was hooked. I’ve followed the Cubbies ever since.
I love the Memphis Tigers and the Memphis Grizzlies.
I am also into NASCAR. My favorite was Dale Earnhardt and I followed his son Dale Jr. for a few years. About three years ago I was intrigued by a rookie driver who had won a lot of Busch races the previous year.
I wasn’t much into the Busch circuit, but I had a supplier that sponsored his car and they fixed me up with tickets to watch the guy race. He was awesome. The next year he was hired by legendary football coach Joe Gibbs and Fed Ex signed on as the primary sponsor. I’ve pulled for Denny Hamlin from the start. He has a ton of talent and he is as humble a person as there is.
