With George Grande, things are always on the up and up

For those of you who aren’t in Ohio, this is the guy who does the Reds television broadcasts about 75% of the time. We are certain that his on-air persona is exactly like he is in real life. George can make chicken soup out of chicken shit. He is the type of gentleman who smiles and finds the silver lining when he has a urinary tract infection. When someone rear ends his car, he gets out and offers to buy them lunch. When his daughter got her first yeast infection, he told her that it was a sign of her becoming an adult. When his lawn mower spits out a rock at high speed that lodges in his leg, he simply moves to the front yard with a band-aid on. George is full of zest and always loves life.

He is an honest man, he loves his wife. He goes home every night and kisses her. Just celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary to the only woman he’s ever kissed. George is only 54 years old. You figure it out.

This is also the reason that we wanna wrap our hands around George’s neck on some nights. When it is 11-2 and Albert Pujols steps to the plate with 4 hits and 3 home runs already counting on his stat sheet, George still has that zest. When Jim Edmonds robs one of our Reds of a home run that costs us a win, he exclaims “HE GOT IT! HE GOT IT! HE GOT IT!”

We’ve grown to love you, George. Your greatest strength is also your weakness. Shine on you crazy diamond.