Sponsored by the letter "N"

So I occasionally utilize this space to promote friends of mine and their projects or blogs. One of the blogs I always enjoy reading is that of Susan Courtad, who I graduated from Pascack Hills High School way back in 1986. It's called "One Woman Show" and details her life and musings as a single mom raising two kids in the Pittsburgh area and trying to survive bouts with dating nightmares and pimping her manuscript.

Recently, she posted a witty article in which she responded to someone else's response to the following challenge:

Leave a comment and I’ll give you a letter. Post ten things you LOVE that begin with that letter. Then give a letter to anyone who leaves a comment for you… and the cycle will continue.

I responded to her response about the letter "O" and pointed out that she didn't post the word "O'Donnell". I suggested this for the former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Neil O'Donnell, who guided Susan's beloved Steelers to Super Bowl XXX. Today, she responded to my comment and assigned me the letter "N" in honor of Neil.

Of course, the mind immediately began to race with possibilities, but I decided to somehow choose just 10. Also, I decided not to go for the easy and obvious ones, such as "New Jersey Devils", "New York Mets", "New York Giants", and "Notre Dame Fighting Irish". I also had a couple that I liked but just missed the cut, such as: night life, North Hollywood, North Wildwood (where my uncle owns the best Bed & Breakfast on the planet), NBC Sports, and the first Naked Gun movie, which still cracks me up every time Leslie Nielsen tries to sing the national anthem as Enrico Pallazzo.

So, here they are, my submission of 10 things that I love beginning with the letter N:

(1) Nieces. I could use 5,000 words alone just on describing the love that I have for my two nieces, Bella and Vivi. They are awesome. They are funny. They are adorable. They are smart. They are well-behaved, with total credit for that going to their parents. And they are growing so fast. Fortunately, anytime I need to see them, I can always go here.

(2) Nine Irons. When you are an occasional weekend duffer who just hopes to be within four shots of par on a given hole, and praying to the golfing gods to keep my overall scores within two digits, grabbing the nine iron out of the bag means that I'm close to the putting green. I am awful off the tee, and tend to try to hard to read puts the right way. But the mid-range shots I seem to be able to handle. I just wish I could play more to further enjoy lining up and addressing the ball with my niner. "Hello ball..."

(3) Newcastle Beer. I know this may come as a shock to many, but I tend to enjoy partaking in an alcoholic beverage every now and then. Over the years, my beer of choice has tended to change. When I first legally started drinking, it was Michelob Dry. Then it changed to Bud Ice. Then I moved to Red Dog. Then I became a Killian's drinker. Nowadays, it's either Guinness (room temperature please) or Newcastle. It drinks fairly smoothly, doesn't feel heavy, and is reasonably cost-effective in most places. Hey bartender, top me off please...

(4) Nerf. This can mean two things to me. One of them is the first part of a phrase I use to describe Domino's Pizza or Pizza Hut: nerf pizza. Actually, credit for this phrase should go to Jon Doscher, but I continue to use it. It describes, for those like me who grew up in an area filled with the best pizza in the world, just how generic and slightly rubbery their pizzas can be. But the other thing this refers to is Nerf footballs. Growing up, my friends and I always played pick-up football games using a Nerf, because it was easy to throw (especially when we were younger) and you can make crazy catches with them. I also wanted to play "Kill the Guy with the ball" when I first moved to Montvale in 1976 as a 3rd grader. In fact, on my 20-year reunion website blog from 2006, I wrote a posting about this primal morning ritual. So I asked my dad for a Nerf for Christmas, so that I could supply the ball for the morning game before school began each day. In the 31 Christmases since, he has given me a Nerf every year but once. It has become a tradition, and one of the many things that I cherish about my relationship with him.

(5) Narration. This might seem an odd choice at first, but since part of what I've done in my career as a writer has been to write narration for documentary films and sports television programs, it seemed like a smart inclusion. But my love for narration stems back into my childhood because of NFL Films. I don't care what is going in my life, if there is an NFL Films program coming on television, especially if it includes narration by the late John Facenda, I stop what I'm doing and watch. The marriage of his narration in which he sounds like the voice of God would sound to the slow-motion footage and the accompanying music is what serves as an influence in my writing style.

(6) NCIS. I always tended to be a fan of drama shows on television more so than comedies, and I've always tended to gravitate to "cop shows". In fact, I wrestled with trying to find a way to include NYPD Blue, one of my all-time favorites, into this list. But I have become addicted to NCIS in just this past year. This is because of the intelligent writing, and the cast of actors and the characters that they play. The banter is very snappy, the plot lines are believable, and the camaraderie of the characters make it an enjoyable hour that goes by way too quickly.

(7) Nutter Butters. You knew I would need to sneak in some kind of snack food here, as someone who basically considers the four food groups to be: Beer, Wings, Snacks, and Soda. I can eat a lot of different type of cookies like Oreos and Chips Ahoy, but every once in a while i will have a craving for Nutter Butter cookies, with a peanut shaped wafer and peanut butter inside. It's something I remember I used to have with my grandmother Mom-Mom (not nicknamed Nana) when I was a little kid. Maybe that's why it has a special place in my heart for me.

(8) "Not So Fast My Friend". Anyone that watches College GameDay on ESPN on Saturday mornings know exactly what I'm talking about. For those that don't, the show originates live on the campus of each week's biggest game. The host is Chris Fowler, and he is joined on set by former Ohio State quarterback Kirk Herbstreit and former college coach Lee Corso. Corso was a college teammate at Florida State of Burt Reynolds, and he's unintentionally humorous in his analysis. He's kind of like a lovable grandfather who thinks he knows everything (and sometimes does). But the two things he does each week that are 'must-see' in quality are his final pick of the show each week, where he wears head-gear of the team he is picking, and when he interrupts one of Herbie's predictions that he disagrees with by saying, "Not So Fast My Friend."

(9) New Car Smell. Do I really need to describe why this is so intoxicating? I mean, it has to do with the chemicals that they spray on the dashboard at the end of the assembly process, but I don't care what those chemicals are. I just enjoy the sense of adventure and freedom that it seems to engender.

(10) New Jersey. Yes, I grew up here. Yes, I've had to endure all the idiotic jokes made by other people about what exit I'm from, and why it's nickname is the Garden State not the Toxic State, and why we just call it Jersey, and why we go "down the shore" instead of "to the beach". Still, you can't get better bagels anywhere, or better pizza. The list of entertainers born and raised from New Jersey reads like an entertainment Hall of Fame: Frank Sinatra, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise, Bruce Springsteen, Abbott and Costello, James Gandolfini, Bruce Willis, and even the Jonas Brothers, headline this who's who. The casinos in Atlantic City, all the strip malls on Route 22, the Meadowlands. I could go on and on. As my former drama teacher Phil Bernardi is famous singing, "I've been a lot of places, seen pictures of the rest, but of all the places I can think of, I like Jersey best."

There you have it. 10 things that start with the letter N that I love. Now it's your turn. Post a comment and I'll assign you a letter to work on. Come on, it's fun!