Published: April 23, 2008 10:23 am         

Direct Kick: Stepping away from sports for a minute

Allow me to step away from the world of sports for a few moments. Even though my life is covering sports, it’s not my entire life. Just a big part of it. Sometimes too big. But I have many other interests, and music is one of them.

As a person who is on the road a lot with his job, I’ve spent many hours listening to music while navigating my way to some gymnasium or ball field. And usually my music of choice when I’m on an extended road trip is The Boss, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Springsteen’s songs have kept me company down many highways and byways in the Bluegrass State, and sometimes, beyond. I used to have a female friend who lived in Georgia, and when I would go to visit her, “Live 1975-1985” was my constant companion.

Last week, Danny Federici, keyboardist for the E Street Band, passed away at age 58 of melanoma. “The Phantom” played along Springsteen for 40 years, and left the current tour recently to battle his disease. He came back and played a few songs on March 20 in Indianapolis, and that ultimately became the final curtain call for Federici.

I saw the band two nights later in Cincinnati, the third time I’ve had that privilege. Federici was with Springsteen the other two times I saw them, on the “Tunnel of Love” tour and “The Rising” tour.

I was always impressed with his playing, as I was the entire E Street Band. Now, his passing leaves a rather large void that, while it can be filled, will never be the same.

Like I said earlier, Springsteen’s songs have made many trips bearable. Whether he’s taking me to “The Promised Land,” “Badlands,” “Racing in the Street,” or down to the “Darlington County” or the “Cadillac Ranch,” Bruce has never failed to entertain with his heart-felt songs about things I can relate to, not like today’s music, where it’s all style over substance.

Springsteen’s songs are like mini chapters of his life, or your life, or my life. They deal with things the common man can understand; things the common man has dealt with. Fears. Hopes. Dreams. Longing to escape. Looking for a better life. Finding the keys to the universe in the engine of an old parked car, to borrow a line from “Growin’ Up.”

And Federici was a major player in all those songs. He was a classical trained musician, and he complimented pianist Roy Bittan perfectly. He added a fullness to the Springsteen sound, one that many might have overlooked if they didn’t listen closely. But it was there. And now it’s gone.

If you are a Springsteen fan, I suggest you get in your car, take a long drive down some stretch of highway with the windows rolled down, cranked up “Incident on 57th Street,” “Rosalita” or “Blood Brothers,” and maybe, just maybe, The Phantom will drift into your vehicle.