Author Archives: mikegallo314

As a child, I grew up Catholic. Not because I wanted to be, but because that’s what my parents were. I went to Catholic grade school and high schools for thirteen years. During those years I would attend mass during the week and then again on the weekend. That was just the norm. I didn’tContinue reading “Why I’m Spiritual, not Religious”

A lot of people use New Years as a benchmark to look back on events gone by or an opportunity to set out and accomplish a new goal. I typically just view it as another day on the calendar. I am in constant reflection on events that have taken place, and I never understood whyContinue reading “I Am Not a Self-Made Man”

For most people and families, Christmas is all about traditions. Growing up, Christmas was always my favorite time of year because my grandparents would come and stay the night at our house. My brothers and I would spend hours plotting how we were going to sneak our stockings out from the living room in theContinue reading “My Favorite Part of Christmas”

Have you ever been fired from a job? If so, you know it takes a lot or a pretty big offense. If you have been fired, but you haven’t made a habit out of it, those moments are likely etched into your memory forever. The day I got fired changed my life, and my abilityContinue reading “Perception is Reality”

I have really been thinking about this question….a lot, lately. Being in a position of leadership is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, and when I think about the possibility of twenty more years of doing this, I have really had to evaluate myself and what makes a good leader. Despite aContinue reading “Keys to Successful Leadership”

When I was a kid, going out to eat was a big deal. While I didn’t have to wear a tie and jacket, I wasn’t allowed to simply get in the car with what I had been wearing all day. We were supposed to put on nice pants and a collared shirt and make sureContinue reading “Never Forget the Things That Used to Be a Big Deal”

Most die hard college sports fans have come to expect that the last couple minutes of college basketball games will take much longer than the time on the clock to complete because of the constant reviews. In college football, the reason the games can take so long to complete is in part due to theContinue reading “How Illinois Getting Screwed Has Changed College Sports”

Leaving the driveway this morning there was a thick batch of lake effect snow that was coming down at a good rate. Unaware that we were expecting significant snow, I commented to my 15-year old daughter that it was going to take a little longer to get her to school. She had a concert performanceContinue reading “The Life That Almost Wasn’t”

November 8th, 2022 was a day filled with a lot of uncertainty politically in America. After the events of January 6th, 2021, there will seemingly always be a fear and concern about democracy in our country. There was, and still is, a fear that candidates that lose an election will falsely accuse the election ofContinue reading “Donald Trump Isn’t as Powerful and Joe Biden Isn’t as Bad as Many People Thought”

Winning. That is the goal of every athletic competition. It is what athletes and fans take pride in, and what every organization is professional sports is judged on. As a lifetime fan of the St. Louis Cardinals, I have gotten to root for a lot of winning teams. In fact, since Bill Dewitt became theContinue reading “The Curious Case of the St. Louis Cardinals”