Category Archives: Featured Story

  I am truly inspired after attending the inaugural induction of the first class of athletes/coaches into the South Hills High School Athletics Hall of Fame in 2025. While the school is now 61 years old as of this entry … Continue reading →

… our granddaughter Kaitlin, who was a ‘tweener’ at the time, accompanied me to our local Starbucks as was our daily custom. And as you know, their actual drink sizes are small, medium and large but that is not what … Continue reading →

…providing investment advice has been my profession since December, 1983. Over these many years, I’ve experienced the coming of the information age, the birth of social media, countless geo-political crises, global financial meltdowns, the .com boom/bust cycle, the emergence of … Continue reading →

“UHK” …while in the hotel bar after three days at a conference, a few of us were enjoying a beer and some light banter when somehow, we began talking about our alma maters and their respective athletics programs. One guy … Continue reading →

  The Set Up …in the fall of 1966, I was a rookie physical education teacher and boy’s gymnastics coach at South Hills High School in West Covina, Ca when I met Gordy. He was a professor in the Department … Continue reading →

…Nancy and I just returned from our expedition with National Geographic magazine which literally took us around the world in three and a half weeks and we are already talking about the next one. This was truly an amazing experience … Continue reading →

…having come of age in Philadelphia during the fifties, I knew ‘those guys’. They were family, neighbors and friends…especially at 7th and Mountain St. in South Philly where pop had his place of business, and 11th and Wolf where my … Continue reading →

  …my last official duty in academia and athletics was fulfilled at the conclusion of the ’84 Olympic Games in Los Angeles where I was the manager at the Gymnastics Venue for the Awards Ceremonies. That position was the result … Continue reading →

…just how does an ol’ coach go from 20 years in academia, athletics and education go to the world of high finance? This is a story that has its beginnings in 1966 at the Covina Hofbrau Restaurant.

From Riches to Rags … having proudly entered those hallowed halls of the academy through the front door at age 29 in the Summer Quarter of 1972, I exited through a basement window at the end of Spring Quarter, 1984… … Continue reading →

Leaving Norman, OK  …John and I began planning our move to LA in early August of ’66 and departed for the coast two weeks later. I traded my ‘61 Chevy for the “Green Hornet”, that ’59 Ford station wagon (with … Continue reading →

The back story: … how a native Philly boy winds up in Norman, Oklahoma is still a bit of a mystery, but in the grand scheme of things, a great personal decision. I was a mid year bachelor’s recipient at … Continue reading →

…BMC in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania is the place where I began that seminal transition from ‘insecure, skinny, immature, wise ass high school kid’ to something much different and a bit better.  That transformative process took place over six … Continue reading →

  …how do two young high school coaches new to LA spend a day off?  You’re right…playing basketball at the Pasadena Athletic Club.  On Washington’s birthday of 1967, my bud John and I were a bit parched after running full … Continue reading →

…I was born in South Philadelphia as the second and last son (and child) to Dominick and Marion Marino. I have one older brother, Jimmy, who is two years and eight months my senior. To understand me it is important … Continue reading →

The set up: …and you thought Kinky Friedman was the only Jewish cowboy in America.  Ha! The legend begins… While on one of our many backpacking trips into the eastern High Sierras, my good friend Bull thought we might vary … Continue reading →

…for years I have mused and mostly joked about a non-existent, mythical and fantastic place called Alfieland where ‘Alfie’ (that would be me) creates the laws, rules and modus operandi for all of its citizens.  It is not for everyone, … Continue reading →