J-NO Celebrates Birthday 1980's Style

On the 22nd day of March during a wide-ranging span of years throughout history, the Heavens parted and out dropped the likes of many famous individuals from various walks of life including: comedian Chico Marx (1887), actor Karl Malden (1912), "Captain Kirk" William Shatner (1931), Canadian figure skater Elvis Stojko (1972), actress Reese Witherspoon (1976), composer Andrew Lloyd Weber (1948) and sportscaster Bob Costas (1952). Each spent this day celebrating the anniversary of their birth some number of years ago.

Little did Boston Breakers' midfielder Jen Nobis know that when parents Pam and Mike Nobis headed for that little hospital in Quincy, Illinois on that fateful day in 1984, that she would end up sharing her special day with such an illustrious group.

With Marx and Malden laid safely to rest and Captain Kirk, Stojko, Witherspoon, Weber and Costas undoubtedly celebrating with family, the star of the Breakers got together with a couple of her closest friends, Darci and Kim, and celebrated birthday number 26 this week, 1980's style.

JNO, as she is called by friends and teammates, will likely miss the season due to an injury to her ACL. She has healed enough, however, to exhibit a few of her famed dance moves and displays of flexibility as filmed in her suburban (and somewhat unkempt) Boston apartment.



Nobis, whose outgoing and open personality has made her a media darling amongst local professional athletes, was willing to share her celebration as part of this exclusive birthday interview and her festive YouTube video shot prior to her night on the town with Darci and Kim.

Somehow I think I can hear Girls Just Wanna Have Fun blasting out of the eight-track player of Nobis' lime green Gremlin tooling around the streets of Boston. Happy Birthday JNO...and many more.

Todd Civin: Were you especially excited when you woke on your special day?

Jennifer Nobis: Yes, and then I realized I was up at 6:00 AM because I had to nanny! Such is the life of an injured Breaker.

TC: What flavor birthday cake is your favorite?

JNO: Confetti birthday cake!!!!!

TC: Do you eat the cake or the frosting first or both at the same time?

JNO: All at the same time. Love the feeling of double sweetness!

TC: Do you have a special birthday ritual?

JNO: I turn my music loud and sing the birthday song in whatever style of song I am listening too! Happy Birthday to me!

TC: What was the menu for your birthday dinner?

JNO: My favorite meal of ALL times is Macaroni and Tomato juice, so that's what we feasted on. I'll share the recipe with your readers. It's super simple. Drain the macaroni and put Campbell's tomato juice in it. DON'T mistake this for Tomato paste or soup. It's straight up JUICE. The key ingredient though is lots and lots of pepper! Enjoy!

TC: Was there a theme to your party?

JNO: I was born in '84, so our theme was 80’s!

TC: Did your host family get you anything special?

JNO: Sure did. They left for Paris for ten days and I had the big house to myself. The perfect gift.

TC: Any game playing like pin the tail on the donkey, bobbing for apples, clothes pin in the bottle?

JNO: Spin the bottle. Just kidding. We had a handstand contest, dance contest and, of course, who could get the most numbers that night! Ha,ha.


TC: Tell us about your best birthday party growing up. How did this compare?

JNO: I had too many great ones. My twin and I use to have our birthday parties at the gymnastic center. Ha, ha I miss sharing my parties with Tyler.

TC: Who had the most outrageous 80's costume?

JNO: The birthday girl of course!! I was “Classic” 80’s, while Darci was “Cheerleader” 80’s and Kim was “Barbie” 80’s.

TC: Describe the music played at your party.

JNO: Ace of Base, Michael Jackson, Gangster Paradise. Let's say, I'm a well-rounded girl with lots of variety.


TC: Were there any birthday spankings or other approved "rough play"?

JNO: Todd, you know better that any kind of spanking isn't approved or appropriate at the age of 26.

TC: What is your preference, the traditional happy birthday song or the version sung at the 99 or Outback?

JNO: Neither, I like the Beatles version , but my favorite is when my parents and brother call me every year and sing to me!

TC: After playing in Sweden this season, can you say Happy Birthday in Swedish?

JNO: Grattis pŒ fšdelsedagen.

TC: What was your favorite gift received?

JNO: My underwater IPOD, so now I can swim laps and listen to music. From my parents. I LOVE YOU!!!

TC: Do you prefer a Hallmark or a homemade birthday card?

JNO: Homemade, by far!!

TC: Do you consider yourself to be 26 years old or 26 years young?

JNO: I am a 26-year-old who lives in a ten-year-old's body and mind! Well maybe not so much body, but mind for sure.

TC: At what age will you stop celebrating birthdays?

JNO: Never! Celebrating keeps you young no matter what age!

Jennifer Nobis' frequent blog posts can also be found at Connect World Football , along with that of fellow Boston Breaker, Tiffany Weimer and several other female soccer stars.

Todd Civin is a freelance writer who writes for Bleacher Report, Sports, Then and Now, and Seamheads. He also shares his top stories on his blog The 'xoxo' of Sports. He is a supporter of Team Hoyt, the father/son marathon and triathlon team of Dick and Rick Hoyt. He encourages you to support their movement of "Yes, I Can" by visiting their Web site at www.teamhoyt.com

Why Build Your Kids a Fort When You Can Build Them a Web Site?

A couple summers ago, I thought I'd score some big points with my step son, Dakota. I promised him I'd build him and the neighborhood kids a fort in our back yard. I slaved for literally hours. I sat down and drew out plans. I used a T square and a triangle and designed a mansion that looked like it came from Newport, RI.

Unfortunately for Dakota and the rest of the kids, my design skills are far superior to my carpentry skills. The poor little guys ended up with a dilapidated shack that looked like it had been built by Spanky and the crew from Our Gang. My wife, Kate, wouldn't even let the kids venture inside.

I later found out that the kids used to pee in the fort when they were locked out of the house and nature called.

When the guy next door, who happened to double as a carpenter came over laughing but with hammer and saw in hand, was I relieved?

So, I assume that when Mike Winn's kids, Michael, Ryan, and Samantha asked him to build them a sports journalism Web site instead of a fort, Mike was equally relieved. Unless, of course, he happens to be blessed with that G.D. carpenter gene that some how eluded my gene pool (Thanks, Dad!).

In December of 2008, Winn, who is the general manager at Absolute Broadcasting and WGAM Radio in Manchester, NH, used his knowledge of sports and the Internet to create Boston Sports U18, a sportswriting and reporting web site for aspiring writers under the age of 18. Much like Bleacher Report, but for the Hanna Montana crowd, the site allows both Winn's kids and others to report sports from a kids perspective.

"During my career I have met many very talented kids that really want to get into sports journalism," said Winn, who also coaches baseball, football and basketball in his free time. "I thought this would be a great way to give them practice. I just kind of put my love of sports and the need for a journalism site together."

Much the opposite to my kid's fort, Winn's project seems to be built on a sturdy foundation. "Right now, we have 7-10 bloggers between the ages of 9 and 18. It fluctuates as kids get busy or they go and get girl friends" laughed Winn.

The well designed site, which can be found at www.bostonsportsu18.com, has articles about the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and Celtics, as well as many of the minor league sports. "The kids can pretty much write about anything they want to, as long as it is Boston or New England sports related. It's their site."

Winn, who playfully taunted me when he told of he and his kids had dinner with Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek last fall, sees the site as a way to give opportunities to his kids and any child who participates.

"I've been in the radio business for 15 years or so," Winn says. "It has given me the opportunity to do things I never imagined I would be able to do and meet people who were my heroes growing up. It has also allowed me to offer perks to my own kids."

Being slightly over the age of 18, Winn doesn't write for the site, but he too gets excited when he gets to meet sports legends.

"I got to have lunch with Red Auerbach about five or six years ago as part of a promotion," he says. "For a kid who grew up bleeding green, you can't get much better than that."

I asked if he shared a victory cigar with Red and he said, "He gave me a cigar that I will probably never smoke."

Boston Sports U 18 currently has promotions running with the Pawtucket Red Sox and the Lowell Spinners, where youth bloggers are actually able to go to the games and interview budding major league ball players.

"I am thrilled to be working with an organization like the Pawtucket Red Sox” explained Winn. “The PawSox are the Red Sox of tomorrow and will be a great partner for Boston Sports U18.”

Though I, too, am about three decades beyond the 18-year-old age limit, I visited the site and was amazed at all the bells and whistles it offers. Articles about kids nutrition, videos about how to break in a baseball glove and how to shoot a slap shot, as well as photos, games, and even a story about Ryan and Mike Winn's sky diving experience.

"I was only an average athlete growing up but I've been involved in sports through coaching and through my job," Winn says. "I love the lessons of life that sports can teach kids and I think involvement in sports has helped me to deal better in business situations as well."

I asked Winn if any of the parents ever get involved. "I make all parents sign a consent form because we publish the kids names and in same cases a bio on the kids. All of the parents have been very appreciative of the opportunity that the kids have been given.

"I also hear from the parents of readers who like that the site is a 'positive site' and doesn't get into many of the 'off the field issues' that some of the athletes run into."

I concluded my day with the "Winn"er of the Father of the Year Competition by asking what he'd like to see the site become. "I would really like to expand into radio and TV with a weekly show," Winn says. "I think the goal is to provide interesting information to sports minded kids and also develop some good sports journalists.

"My wife and kids have been very supportive to put up with Daddy being on the computer a lot at night posting blogs, emailing out marketing ideas and reaching out to total strangers and asking for help."

I left Mike's office and drove home thinking what I could do to give to my kids and their friends in the same way Mike has. And then it hit me. I got home, strapped on my tool belt and headed into the backyard to try to shore up that fort I built.

The Man with the Golden Touch

In the grand scheme of things, I know nothing. Oh sure, I think I have things all figured out—some days more than others. But, whenever I try to think of the world, the Universe, God's creation, I truly get freaked out.

It is bigger than I am. God is too amazing, too huge, and too omnipotent for a mere human like me to stay one step ahead.

I often think that this amazing play that God is writing is similar to a soap opera. In a Soap, something may happen last July, which helps to explain what happens six months from now.

I'm not sure if the writer's know in advance or figure it out as they go, though. God, I believe, has a little better handle on things than the writers of "As All My Children Turn the World's Hospital."

Well, I'm about to tell you about the story of Danny Gearin. It's a two part story. Part one is how his touch forever changed my world. The second part is about how his touch changed the worlds of many.

In the fall of 1976, I was a wide-eyed freshman at David Prouty High School. I had long brown hair to about my shoulders, which was the rage in the mid 70's in Spencer.

As I walked down the crowded halls of dear old DPHS, I was dwarfed by the throng of kids in the hallway. At about 5'0" tall, I was clearly the Little David in which represents David Prouty to this day.

As I hustled to Mrs. Rivers' English class, a hand reached out from the office of the Athletic Director and touched my scrawny shoulder. I looked up and saw a man with a bald head and a gentle, kind smile. He was wearing a plaid sport jacket and khaki slacks.

He squeezed my shoulder with his big, wrinkled mitt.

"Hey kid. You like sports?" I remember being startled until I saw who it was.

I recognized Mr. Gearin as the school A.D.

"Yes, sir." I said it in a tiny pre-pubescent crackling voice (or so I suspect).

"Can you write?" he continued.

I lied and said yes.

"I need you to be at the football field tomorrow for the Prouty-Millbury game. You're our stringer. I need you to call the Worcester Telegram and Gazette office and tell Gus Gushe who you are."

For the next four years, I didn't miss a high school basketball or football game. Like the post office, I sat through wind and rain and autumn snow and never missed calling in stats, buzzer beaters, and long touchdown runs. I covered cheerleading tournaments (rode on the bus with the cheerleaders, I might add).

I also ended up having my own weekly sports column in the local paper, The New Leader, and twice had cover story pieces.

Once I wrote about Mike Pecha, an independent truck driver and his plight to survive as diesel fuel rose to almost a dollar a gallon...(yes, $1.00 for a gallon of diesel...1978). I also wrote about small town farmer Ken Adams and his plight to survive due to state regulations which controlled the price that he could sell milk for.

Gearin's golden touch sent me to Syracuse University where I majored in newspaper journalism and met the greatest friends that a guy could ever ask for.

In the mid 90's, I published my own magazine for three years, and now, I do what I love and write for the Bleacher Report. I even believe that Danny's touch will be instrumental, as I wait for a call from MLB.com in hopes of landing the greatest job this guy could ever hope for—a gig with the Red Sox.

Yes, Danny Gearin's firm touch upon this 13-year-old boy's shoulder forever changed my life.

When Danny passed away unexpectedly of a heart attack during my senior year of high school, I wrote a good bye piece entitled "Only The Good Die Young". Danny was good.

But, my life wasn't the only life that Danny changed.

See, 53 years ago today, "Little Danny" Gearin's touch changed the lives of more than just me, when tiny Assumption College of Worcester took on, then perennial power-house, Holy Cross.

The following is excerpted from a story which appears in the Assumption College Intercollegiate Athletic Brochure to this day.

It was Assumption's grandest moment on the court . . .

"Little Danny Gearin, a home-grown product, perpetuated the greatest upset the auditorium has ever known last night when he blithely swished home a free throw after playing time had expired, to shove Assumption College's perky upstarts to a 69-68 victory over Holy Cross." It was March 7, 1957 - 50 years ago!

Worcester Telegram Sports Editor Paul Johnson's memorable first paragraph said it all. Assumption College, a school with barely more than 100 students, knocking off the former N.I.T. and N.C.A.A. champions from across town. It was then, and still is today, the single most important date in Assumption College athletics history.

When the tornado ripped through the old campus on June 9, 1953, the rebuilding process began immediately. It was the idea of then President Rev. Armand Desautels, A.A. to give scholarships for basketball in the hope it would help raise awareness and much-needed funds. By 1957, the College had relocated to a brand new campus and the basketball team finished 21-1 as the premier small college team in New England.

The Greyhounds chose to play in the Pete Houston Appreciation Day doubleheader in lieu of advancing to their third straight regional tournament. The games benefited Houston who suffered a head injury earlier in the season and twice required brain surgery. The funds collected helped defray medical costs.

"Gearin's free throw-and he might well have stifled a yawn before shooting, so calm was he at the line-was the climax of a dramatic evening of basketball in front of more than 3,000 fans."

....... And the drama unfolded over the waning minutes as the Hounds crept back in, down 68-64, with 1:53 left. Gearin's rebound and left-hand hook shot cut the gap to two. With 25 seconds left O'Brien hit his fourth straight jumper over a Goba screen to tie the game and set the stage for Gearin's post-buzzer heroics.

Gearin's heroics may have been foreshadowed by the season opener, when he swished a jumper at the buzzer to give the Hounds a rousing 57-56 overtime win at Providence College. It was one of Assumption's most impressive years, as the Greyhounds would never again beat both Providence and Holy Cross in the same season.

So, I sit and wonder if Danny is overlooking us all today. His protege of sorts is busily typing at the computer and thinking of how Danny's touch changed his life...

And I suppose his teammates are sitting in their living rooms at 15 different parts of the Globe telling their grandkids how Danny Gearin's touch changed their lives too.

Danny...wherever you are...Swish. Swish.