News-Record.com

Several people have asked me to post the comments I made about Jeff Carlton at his memorial service last Saturday. So here they are. Are they enough to do Jeff justice? Of course not. But they were my best shot.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like everyone here, it's been hard these last few days thinking about where Jeff won't be.

He won't be at the desk next to me in the office, spinning around in his chair to offer a bit of wit, insight or maybe a sarcastic comment about my Atlanta Braves and Bobby Cox.

He won't be sitting across from me in a booth at lunch, offering his wit, his insight, or maybe a sarcastic comment about my South Carolina Gamecocks and Steve Spurrier.

He won't be sitting around the table during a poker game, offering his wit, his insight or maybe a sarcastic comment about how lucky I got the hand before.

He won't be a lot of places in my life anymore, which is leaving an enormous hole that I have no idea how to fill.

But I'm going to try, as Jeff and other Phillies fans like him have learned over the decades, to accept crushing disappointment and move on.

To that end, I'm trying to stop focusing on the places where Jeff won't be and to spend more time thinking about the place where Jeff is now. Rob Daniels and I started riffing on this Thursday while in the office. It's exactly the sort of thing Rob, Jeff and I would have hatched over lunch at Fisher's.

Where Jeff is now: it's always 1980 for the Phillies. (Rob Daniels gets the credit for this one).

Where Jeff is now: the Washington Capitals are the most clutch playoff team in hockey.

Where Jeff is now: Al Groh is not Virginia's football coach and Craig Littlepage has no authority to offer contract extensions.

Where Jeff is now: Virginia Tech is on probation. Looooong probation.

Where Jeff is now: a road trip to see minor league baseball has already been planned and the car's got a full tank of gas. That car, by the way, has an XM station that plays only the Fixx, all day long and another that plays only Cracker.

Where Jeff is now: Ronald Reagan is probably the president. Yeah, Jeff was a bit different than the average journalist in that respect.

Where Jeff is now: he's always getting the card he needs on the river.

Where Jeff is now: he's got television with a channel that shows only Seinfeld, another that shows only Sopranos episodes and another in which every baseball game he watches is broadcast in the voice of Harry Kalas.

Where Jeff is now: deadline is always thirty minutes later.

Where Jeff is now: the copy editors always let him add five inches to his game story.

Where Jeff is now: he has the personal cell phone numbers of all the coaches and they all call him back, IMMEDIATELY.

Where Jeff is now: he has a dog that looks and acts a heck of a lot like Floyd.

Where Jeff is now: he's happy, at peace and waiting for the rest of us to join him one day ... and probably making a sarcastic comment about how long we're taking to get there.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

God grant you peace, Jeff.