I got my ass kicked in the first month of my freshman year at high school. I have no idea why, but I am sure I deserved it. Then it got worse…..my pops went nuts on the football coach and told him to tell his players to not touch me or they were dust. Ok, so freshman year was off to a solid start and it was clear all the chicks digged me…NOT. Hey…that is not what this article is about at all……..but my freshman year suckkkkkkkkkkked! Ultimately, I became known as a nice guy…….not a cool one….but a nice guy. More like….what is he about to do and why is he pretending to be dead in essay hall…..man it has been an hour and he is still lying there.

Well, I just recently started taking a solid look at my graduating class from 1989 and realized we have plenty of folks who have accomplished big things in their own right. So with that said I am going to rattle what I know from memory and what I read in the police blotter:

• Ishak Kang – Brilliant business man who holds all kinds of intellectual property in his pocket. The kid is a savant in life
• Sang Jin Shim – Some smart peoples job in Asia
• David Epstein – Actor/Director – Super talented dude in NY
• Ryan Raddon – Just google Kaskade and poop in your pants when you see where this kid went
• Steve Binder – Aside from just making me pee in my pants for years he writes for NCSI and is really doing well in LA
• John Kaboff – EXTREMELY accomplished musician. Toured with Yo Yo Ma. Good friend of mine
• Heather Johnston – Brilliant doctor and chocolatier
• Greg Ogus – Brilliant
• John Margolin - Brilliant
• Jenn Lofchie – She could make the inside of any house paradise with her creative design
• Liz Castro – Killing it in the agency world. Very creative and smart and has it all
• Kelly King – Putting it simple…..saving lives all the time
• Paul Sorkin – What has this guy not done! Entrepreneur and one of my closest friends
• Marty Cless – Took his brilliance back to GBN as a teacher
• Adam Novy – Accomplished Author and Academic
• Bill Race – He followed Marty and has been teaching the kids at GBN all about English and how words sing
• Patrick McAvoy – Has his own Agency – Digital and all kinds of cool stuff
• Jared Leisure – I have no idea, but I can tell the guy is brilliant…some smart peoples job in finance
• Rob Pasanato – Super smart finance guy…..always witty
• Mark Green – On the verge of helping make the world change….he really is and he knows it
• Scott Luke – Became a doc……kid never did a thing wrong that I can think of
• Kurt Anderson – Doc….worked for Eric Heiden at one time……pretty cool stuff
• Bernard Moon – Silicon Valley brilliance…just google him..he has done too much right
• Paul Beban – Big time journalist and making the world a better place. He really is…….
• Matt Fishman – Some big job in college sports at XM Sirius Radio
• Matt Fradin – Brilliant attorney with Comcast
• Eric Glasson – Accomplished attorney out on his own and the same great guy you knew back in the day
• Adam Carl – Facebook dude helping change the world and how companies move the needle
• Rob Tag – Entrepreneur
• Arnold Becker – Pushing technology solutions at CDW
• Brad Weisman – Writes poetry for Jim Carey
• Ben Soldinger – Brilliant finance guy
• David Strauss – Driving the ship of a family business and continues to make it grow…smart guy
• Jim Chinetti – Leading the path in Riser Management solutions and he really is…..

Well, I have many more I could add to the list, but if you don’t know these folks you really don’t care. In the end you should care about anyone who helps change the way the world spins on its axis. I love movement and the shifting of plateaus. The class of 1989 did that back then and we are going at it once again right now.

By Bradley D. Weisman
bweisman@inthesport.net www.inthesport.net
Approved by Edison Nation www.edisonnation.com