A video clip shows a surly Justin Bieber being very rude to attorneys; boy, that is a tough one, who do you cheer for there? Justin Bieber or attorneys? One is a sleazy parasite sucking off life and, well, so is the other one.

A New Mexico horse trainer was suspended for 16 years for giving his race horses Viagra; they became suspicious when his horses were winning by something besides a nose.

To Big Lew

One of the many things they don’t tell you as a kid is you only get to have so many great childhood friends. There is nobody prouder of their childhood friends than I am, and one of the best anyone could have was Steve “Big Lew” Lewis.

Although we haven’t seen each other in 30 years, Steve and I were very close when it really counts: ages 9 to 14. Then we went to different high schools and then colleges and it was harder to stay in touch.

Steve had the same problem as a kid I had: there were very few children our age we could play hard with and not accidentally hurt. So, against each other, Steve and I could go full speed. And to be honest, I think Lew had the upper hand in accidental sports injuries. With no malice or anger at all, I can say I have a slightly bent left pinky and three to four lifetime scars thanks to Steve.

As hard as we played one-on-one hoops or football, we never once got in a fight.

In retrospect, I suppose it is no accident my best friends growing up were, like me, also the biggest guys in school, Howie, Jeff and Big Lew.

Thanks to Facebook, the last few years we had renewed our friendship and became extremely good Facebook friends. Glad to see Steve had the loveliest of families, a great wife, Liz, three beautiful kids under 10.  And a great house in Rochester, New York.

When another one of my best childhood friends, the aforementioned Howie "Big How" Detmer, and I were in Fourth grade, we somehow go it in our heads -  as I have said a few times now- we were the biggest and most athletic kids in school, we labored under the misconception we had to act the part and become mean, scary, hard cases. It was Steve who showed us you can still be a tough jock and be nice and funny, even goofy, and be kind at the same time.

That was an important lesson I like to think I never forgot. I know Steve didn’t.

We both loved "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid." To this day I still think of Big Lew on the Crow Island elementary school playground quoting the famous Butch line:

"Who are those guys?" 

It was on Facebook I learned that Steve had fought a hard and brave battle against Hodgkin’s lymphoma many years ago and, like he usually did in sports, he had won. It was on Facebook last month I learned it had come back with a vengeance.

The Sunday just before Lew passed, I had a dream. It was a typical borderline anxiety dream I’ve had countless times before; there I was in the quaint, seaside village of La Jolla, where I used to work, and I can’t find my car anywhere. And I have to get to my home in Carmel Valley – about seven miles north –  to make dinner for my family and guests. 

Guess who drives up in front of my favorite old La Jolla bar, Jose’s Courtroom?  None other than “Big Lew” his own self, driving an ocean foam blue/green  rusty 1950’s Ford pick-up truck and blasting tunes. Without my needing to ask, Lew yells:

“Get in, big Al, I’ll give you a ride home.”

We started chatting away as if 30 years apart had never happened. We laughed about sports, movies and girls just like we used to. 

"You just keep thinking, Butch, that's what you're good at."

Finally I told Lew I really had to get back home. He dropped me off in front of my house, I thanked him, invited him in and he told me he had to go. When I asked him where, he said;

“The hospital.”

And then Big Lew drove off down my street.