Since I didn’t get any urgent emails from anyone earlier this week, I’m assuming most of you didn’t notice that our blog site got hacked recently. I happened upon it just hours after the deed was done, and deleted it immediately. The hacker had replaced my most recent blog with garbage I care not to mention. They also changed the title to “Hacked By” followed by a name I will not print here.

It was a shock to me and very worrisome as well. After deleting it I contacted the Web expert we use here at The Perfect Game Foundation and told her about it. Within minutes she replied with the somewhat good news that the hack was not specifically aimed at Bob’s Blog but was instead a complete hack of WordPress, the internet platform that supports a huge number of blogs and sites. WordPress had, apparently, a hole in its security and the foreign hackers found a way in. We were not the only ones defaced.

But, whether it was random or aimed specifically at me, it was still pretty scary and really disappointing. WordPress has now updated its security and we’ve updated all of our passwords and security, as well, so hopefully that’s behind us. Fingers crossed.

As for the ongoing saga that has been “Bats, Balls, and Burnouts” for oh these many months, last night was yet another milestone. After nearly two weeks of painstaking copy-editing, I cried “Uncle” last night and called it done, once again. Are all the little mistakes gone? Hard to say but I doubt it. It’s an enormous book. I felt lucky to find a few more double periods at the ends of sentences and a few paragraphs that ran together instead of being separated, but I suspect when I get the first printed copy and dive in I’ll find something that leaps off the page and smacks me in the nose. That’s kind of how it works. The good news is, we’re doing this book in “print on demand” fashion so it’s not like 10,000 copies will be printed and shipped on publication day. When you go on Amazon or another site that will carry it, and you purchase the book, Outskirts Press will print it for you and ship it out. Amazing technology, if you think about it. So, if we find any egregious typos we can fix them and the next book printed will be correct.

And now that it is completely out of my hands and at Outskirts for good, I shall share one last snippet with you all. This is the actual final paragraph of the Epilogue, which comes after the final chapter of the actual book. In the Epilogue, I write about the year I took to write the book and what it was like. Early in the book I make it clear that I know I was the luckiest kid in the world, to have been born to my parents with no say in the matter. This is the final line:

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What a wonderful process this has been. Writing these stories, remembering these characters, and stringing it all together in one lengthy lifetime of experiences reinforces my belief that I’m still the luckiest kid in the world.

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There’s no doubt about it.

So what do I do now? Well, strategically there is still about as much work to do as there was with the writing. We have to get it produced and formatted, and there will no doubt be a lot of approval steps in that process. Then we need to promote the heck out of it once it’s available for purchase, and I’m looking forward to doing a number of signings and appearances when the time comes. Going to a lot of races will be a key part in that process.

And then what will I be doing a year from now? I’m not sure yet. Write another book? Maybe, but the subject matter would have to be something that I can get my head around. I’m not going to write a romance novel or a murder mystery, I can tell you that. I’ve had some discussions with a few people, and even the thought of writing someone else’s biography sounds pretty intriguing. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get this one out there first and see if anyone likes it. If it bombs, I’ll still be thrilled with the process of bringing it to life.  If I feel like going back to work, it will have been a couple of years since I was out there on the grind of the drag racing tour, so I suspect my batteries will be a bit recharged by then. Again, we’ll just have to see.

Throughout all the editing, some decent stories ended up on the cutting room floor and even more were never included. The thought of putting some of those out there, even if it’s just on my website, is a good one. I’m pretty sure I could also write another 800-page book of all the stuff that didn’t make it, although the names would often have to be changed to protect both the innocent and the guilty.

And, when I started the process of editing the text I also began to select the photos for the back of the book. I ended up with about 100 shots that were being considered. Some good ones didn’t make the cut, and some more might be cut if we end up going too long once the layout is finished.

For instance, here are the five Wilber kids in front of our house on Woodleaf Court, in Kirkwood, Mo. I’m the youngest and the cutest one, and I suspect I’m two years old in the photo. The fact my sister Cindy is being so angelic in her First Communion dress is humorous on a large number of levels.

There were a lot of other photos I originally wanted to use but the possibility of getting everyone in the shot to sign off on releases, or the fact the photos were copyrighted and I couldn’t find the right people to give me those releases, prohibited their use. So, once we get BobWilber.net up and running, I’ll make sure that a substantial photo gallery is included, with a lot of those photos that weren’t able to be included in the printed book.

WARNING: Complete change of subject coming…

Okay, I shall herein opine about the movie “Slap Shot.”

This is the 40th anniversary of the release of the movie, and last night the NHL Network aired a new 30-minute documentary on it. If you can find that on-demand you should.

I saw “Slap Shot” when it came out, four decades ago. I was in college, and it had been at the theaters for a few weeks, although it was destined to not be there long. I saw it in Effingham, Illinois.

Paul Newman played the lead role but the movie was really an ensemble piece, filled with incredibly rich characters. I’ve probably watched it 20 times in my life, and might just watch it again tonight. It’s brilliant, but like a lot of movies it took time for it to coalesce in people’s minds. It was so different in every way it was off-putting to the original movie crowd. It’s clear it was a risk for Newman, too, because he’d never played a character like Reg Dunlop, the player/coach of the Charlestown Chiefs. His character was very flawed, very devious, and pretty desperate.

What’s so unique about the film is how it grew on people over the years, to where it’s now a classic. The documentary nails the explanation for that. Right when it came out, the VHS era was just starting. For the first time ever, you could own or rent a movie and watch it at home whenever you wanted. Had that not been the case, “Slap Shot” would have come and gone and been, most likely, forgotten. Instead, it found its place, it found its footing, and it got handed down from generation to generation.

It’s also a dark movie. It’s about desperate people at desperate times, living in a depressed steel town where the mill is closing. Yet, it’s full of hilarious moments and great hockey action. It’s a juxtaposition of itself, in numerous ways. And, when I saw it at that little theater in Effingham, I didn’t much care for it. I went back to it on tape, a few years later, and the brilliance of it finally hit me.

I was the same way with “Caddyshack” and “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” – two movies on my all-time favorites list and two of the funniest movies ever made, at least to my warped sense of humor. Also the same with “Buckaroo Banzai” which I consider one of my Top 5 favorite movies of all time. When I saw those flicks at the theater, I left disappointed. Not much later, I had them in my personal movie Hall of Fame. I can’t really explain that, other than to assume it’s because these sorts of movies need time to be appreciated.

So there’s my movie segment today. You’re welcome.

And here’s another photo of little Bobby Wilber. I’m probably more like four years old in this one. Quiz: What is the make of the family car I’m standing in front of in the Wilber driveway? That’s a tough one because you can only see the back end and it wasn’t exactly a memorable vehicle.

So, I won’t wait to divulge the answer. It’s a Vauxhall. It was made in England, I believe, and the company was purchased by General Motors who sold a few of them through Pontiac dealerships here in the U.S. of A. I think. It was LONG time ago…

And this is NHRA Winternationals weekend. How is that even possible, and how is it possible that 2017 is the second season in which I’m not a full-time PR rep on the Mello Yello tour? Writing a book makes time fly, apparently.

Do I wish I was there? Of course I do, although I’d still prefer to have someone fly me there in a private jet, then have a limo take me to the track, where I’d be dropped off at my million-dollar motor coach that is fully stocked and set up. I’ve had that same desire for 20 years, but no one has ever taken me up on it. I’m flummoxed. Seems like a heck of a deal, to me. Or maybe just a heck of a deal FOR me.

So, barring any more hackings or hijackings, I’ll see you next week. Here’s hoping WordPress and our Web guru have this figured out.

And if you’re going to Pomona have a GREAT time and say hello to absolutely everyone for me.

Bob Wilber, at your service and hack-free.