In Defense Of Rico Bosco
I hate this gif purely because of the quarter zip he's wearing.
Right now, Rico hasn't done anything that actually needs a defense. I mean, we will see how December plays out because you never know with him but for now he's safe.
As I sipped my morning cup of Stella Blue, I came across a tweet that gave me pause…
Some may argue the above gesture was in hopes of helping during contract negotiations. To that I would say you have never met Dave - no shot buying lunch one time is going to sway him in any direction. After listening to Rico's dad on You Gotta Try This with Large, it's clear that he was raised to look out for others so I believe the gesture was genuine…and it made me wonder, "Has Rico fully turned the corner?"
People know the history but I never actually put it out there why I put everything behind me and thought maybe it was time so people can stop DMing me to ask about the whole thing. I see tweets and DMs all the time saying, "I would never get over Rico doing that to my wife." Well, I could and did. The reasoning was pretty simple.
I am not a grudge holder.
A long time ago, my dad taught me to never burn bridges because you never know when you might need to cross back over said bridge. He also used to whisper to me all the time when I was getting worked up over something, "let it go" and make a mini "safe" gesture with his hands like an ump would for a guy diving back to first. This is actually ironic though because when my dad met Rico two summers ago, he put him in a half playful half serious headlock and said, "What the heck were you thinking?!" in the middle of a Hootie and The Blowfish concert tailgate. My father was FURIOUS about the whole matter and I was actually the one who threw his teaching back to him when I told him how Rico apologized and I was over the whole fiasco.
After losing my dad in May, I find myself thinking about him at some point of every day. Today's thought was accompanied by a smile as I laughed thinking about him putting Rico in that headlock. So maybe I'm writing this because I wanted to tell a funny story about my old man.
Perhaps it's because my father's work ethic was unrivaled; As I reflect now being a father and realize what he did to provide for his family, I can also realize that at his core, Rico is trying to provide for his family. Albeit in a strange, roundabout, questionable manner at times.
You may not agree with that or you may dislike Rico (or me for that matter) but you can't argue with the facts. No one promoted store.barstoolsports.com harder than Rico this past weekend.
Store is still on sale by the way!
This Christmas and Advent season if you are at odds with someone, consider reaching out for a conversation. You might find (as Rico and I did) that you have more in common than you previously knew.
P.S. I wish more than anything I had a picture of the headlock but for a visual - my father was a big dude with meathooks for hands. He had Rico in his grasp and there was no escape. All time.