The year was 1986. There wasn't anything to do, but there was everything to do.

When you're 11, life is simple. You go to school, and you try to get good grades. Food is taken care of, and you don't need a job.

What else is there to do? Go out and play. Mom never had to tell me to get out of the house. We had a lot of boys in the neighborhood, so I was always playing baseball, football, and basketball. Dad was a big kid at heart, so he often played with us.

Pro sports were also important to me, as I watched the Cleveland Indians every chance I got. Dad and I never missed a Cleveland Browns game.

We didn't have cable TV, so our viewing options were limited. I hadn't discovered pro wrestling yet, so cartoons were still king: The Flintstones, The Super Friends, The Smurfs, and the granddaddy of them all, the 90-minute Bugs Bunny & Road Runner Show.

I wouldn't start my paper route until the next year. I didn't have a care in the world.