Weekly Mail May 1, 2016

YO!

       There's a commercial on TV, I believe it is for State Farm, where a guy keeps saying that he'll never get married, never have kids, never move to the burbs, etc, and as he states all this stuff he says he's never going to do, the next scene has him doing just that.
       
       Of course, we've all been there. The one I can most relate to is that I never in a million years thought I'd move to Long Island. Long Island represented boring shopping trips as a kid, relatives I didn't mind not seeing, and of course the Islanders.

        But lo and behold, I married Tara, and Tim came along and our apartment in the city, which was barely big enough for two, was way to small for three. So we shuffled off to an apartment if Floral Park. 8 months later, we moved to Oceanside.

         Oceanside is really nice. It is clean, relatively crime free, and the people are for the most part lovely. I've run into a bunch of Woodside people and a bunch of Rockaway people, so it kind of feels like I never left the homestead. Most of the time, it's a lot like Pleasant Valley Sunday by the Monkees:

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Charcoal Burning everywhere
Rows of houses that are all the same
and no one seems to care

Most of the time, that is.

Last week it wasn't.

Last week, I don't know what was going on, but it seemed like all hell was breaking loose.

Sunday night I was getting Timmy ready for bed, when I heard some lady screaming. I ran downstairs and just outside my door, and saw a woman who looked like she was being chased by a man. One of my neighbors from across the way yelled over to me, "It's OK their dog got loose." I had visions of Kitty Genovese in my head, but then, why would my neighbor say that? Maybe they really were afraid the dog was going to run out onto Long Beach Road. In any event, nothing came of it, and I felt OK going back into my house. Besides, if I'm your last line of defense against a knife wielding maniac, you are pretty much, for lack of a better term, screwed.

Monday morning, I was taking Tara to work, when we saw a bunch of firetrucks about halfway down LBR. When I got to 7-11, I heard one of the customers saying that Oceanside Chemist had burned down. Sadly, it had also taken down a bunch of apartments, leaving about 50 people homeless. The schools, churches and synagogues have all pitched in to help with the recovery, which has been heartwarming.

But remember last week, how I told all of you about Phat Daddy's and how much fun we had unwinding with a burger and a few adult beverages? Well, that also fell victim to the fire. From the outside, it didn't look too bad, but it hasn't been open since Sunday. hopefully it will get back on it's feet and the folks who were put out will recover.

The news vans and helicopters were back on Thursday for a story that I know I shouldn't find funny because someone could have gotten hurt, but still...

A retired cop went to see a friend of his, a podiatrist, in his office on LBR. The ex-cop took out his gun to show the doctor, when the gun went off, shooting the cop in the thigh, and LordHaveMercy, the podiatrist in the foot. Again, guns are no laughing matter, and with all the senseless deaths because of guns, I know I shouldn't make light of it, but c'mon? A foot doctor gets shot in the foot. The headlines write themselves.

When I was a kid, MAD Magazine did a spoof on afterMASH, a short lived show that followed the lives of Col. Potter, Cpl. Klinger and Fr. Mulcahy upon their return from Korea.  In the MAD spoof, Potter tells a patient he can't help him. The patient tells Potter all he has is an ingrown toenail, and surely as a surgeon, that should be easy to take care of.

Potter; Son I suggest you go out and get yourself shot in the foot.
Patient: Why would I do that??!!!
Potter: Because gunshot wounds I can treat!

Lastly, there was the curious case of Harold Guretzky.

Guretzky, 70, had a small Cessna plane in his driveway. Apparently, he had been ordered to do what normal people do and park it at an airport. Not wanting to spring for the storage fees, he chose to defy orders, and logic, and keep it in his driveway. While Guretzky was away, the Town of Hempstead came and dismantled the plane and removed it from his driveway. This prompted Guretzky to contact the Town of Hempstead and threaten two of their officials... with a crossbow!

Guretzky was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated harassment. He ought to be charged with threatening people with outdated weapons.

All of these incidents would be not much news if they happened on their own, but that they all happened within days of each other in my otherwise quiet neighborhood made it all the more fascinating.

Before all this, the biggest story I remember here in Oceanside was that time we had that mutt who was selling hot dogs from a truck, and then flashing her boobs at the customers. She was arrested for indecent exposure. She should have been arrested for ruining two of my favorite things.
She would have had to sell me a quart of tequila with my hot dogs for me to want to view her assets. Lawd was she disgusting!

SPORTS: RIP the 2016 Rangers.

In what was a fitting end to the Rangers forgetable season, washed up defenseman Dan Boyle jumped ugly on two reporters from my beloved NY Post. When I called him out on it on a Ranger Fan page, I got verbally assaulted about it.
     According to some of these shut-ins, Boyle beef with the Post wasn't because of their calling him out for his shoddy play, but because the Post published personal info about him. Nobody was able to produce exactly what was written to set him off. Maybe it exists, maybe it doesn't. Quite frankly either way I don't care. All I know is Boyle got paid 9 million bucks for two years and did squat for us. Meanwhile Anton Stralman was allowed  to go to the Lightning, Boyle can got to hell, and so can all those defending him.

The real bad news for the Rangers is that they are now going to be a year older and have only one decent prospect in their system and no draft picks the next couple of years. Sadly, 2015 was their last best chance at a Stanley Cup. Unless Scott Gordon can work some magic with the salary cap, we may be in for some long winters the next few years.

Hey, guess what I don't give a $h-t about? The NFL draft, that's what!

2016 ELECTION:

Donald Trump won all 5 states up for grabs last Tuesday, and Hillary Clinton won 4 of 5, losing only Rhode Island to Bernie Sanders.

I'm going to offer a rare compliment to Hillary, I like that when she is asked if Bernie should drop out, she says "That''s up to him." As opposed Trump, who keeps insisting that Ted Cruz and John Kasich drop out. Maybe they should, and maybe Bernie should too, but calling on them to do so makes you look like a wimp.

Hillary also claimed that she was never as divisive toward Barack Obama in 2008 as Bernie is towards her this year, but that of course was dispelled with video evidence right away. Still, it's pretty obvious that Hillary is probably going to clinch the nomination (or come damn close) on pledged delegates alone by the time the last states votes on June 7.

And some folks are saying that Cruz last stand may be this Tuesday in Indiana, but I'm afraid that Cruz ship has sailed (seewhatididthere?) There is no way he or Kasich are catching Trump, and even if he's short the delegates by the time the convention rolls around, I don't see how he can be denied the nomination, In some ways, I feel bad, I would love to see one of these contested conventions I keep hearing we're going to have every four years.

Hopefully things quiet down around here.

Have a Great Week

Weekly Mail April 24, 2016

       One of the criticisms I received before I went on my long writing hiatus was that the tone of my writing had turned somewhat dark. Whereas my old e-mails were recaps of wild weekends of drinking and dancing (so to speak), I was now strictly writing of politics and sports, and since my sports teams and politicians were both perennial losers, much of the good humor had been sucked right out my stories.

        I am going to do my best to put a humorous spin on this past week, but I have to tell you it won't be easy. A lot of bad $h-t went down last week.

Monday- Actually Monday was OK. Work was busy but no major disasters, Timmy didn't clobber anyone at school, the Mets beat the Phillies, and I had a real nice conversation with my Mom. Yeah, Monday was all right. Except Doris Roberts died. The Mom from Everybody Loves Raymond, and a favorite show of mine from the late 70's Angie, died at age 90. In addition to Doris, this classic one year wonder sitcom starred crazy Annette from Saturday Night Fever, Ted Striker from Airplane!, and Hotsy Totsy from Welcome Back Kotter. Here is the theme song, you're welcome that you won't get it out of your head for the rest of the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roEOCNPeALA&index=17&list=PL_-

But it will be as Marie Barrone, the pain in the a$$ mother, wife and mother in law from Everybody Loves Raymond that will cement her legacy.


Tuesday- OK so here's where stuff started to go south.

The primary was held in New York on Tuesday. The good news is we went and voted without a hitch. We got the correct ballot, made our choice no issues whatsoever. Timmy pointed out that the last time I voted, I was having trouble putting my ballot through the scanner and one of the volunteers was giving me grief about it. This was two days after the World Series ended, so I was in no mood to have my chops busted that day. I can't believe I had forgotten about that but my son is beginning to look like he's going to remember all the goofy shit that I remember too. Oh, well.

But other precincts reported having issues. In Brooklyn, over 100,000 eligible voters were accidentally purged from the voting rolls and were unable to cast ballots. Queens had multiple complaints of faulty voting machines. Would it have made a difference? I don't know, but they left themselves open for questioning that's for sure.

The results themselves of course didn't turn out good for yours truly. Donald Trump won nearly 60% of the vote, meaning he's most likely going to be the Republican nominee. My guy, John Kasich finished a distant second and Ted Cruz finished in third. That there were 126,000 people in NY willing to vote for this guy is mind boggling.

On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton won big. Ray asked me if I heard that when Hillary thanked her home state of NY she cackled. I didn't, but really that's the beauty of Hillary isn't it? She's full of $hit, she knows she's full of $hit, she knows we know she's full of $hit, and so on and so on and scooby dooby doo,

There was a bit of an uproar because independent voters were shut out. NY is a closed primary and has been for a long time. Also, if you wanted to switch up your party affiliation, you had to do so in October.  I'm not sure how long that rule has been in place, but I suspect it has been in force for a while.

Should the rules be changed? Probably. But my point is that it's not unique to this situation. It just made news because Bernie Sanders has relied so heavily on independent voters, and had they been able to vote, it might have made the results closer. There's a lot of shenanigans being pulled by the DNC to secure the nomination for Hillary, this isn't one of them.

Meanwhile at the Garden, the Rangers were laying another egg against the Penguins. More aggravating was that an intentional slash by Penguins forward Kris Letang on Ranger Victor Stalberg was uncalled and then no suspension given out by the NHL. If the same thing had been done to Sidney Crosby, the offending Rangers would have been suspended at least two games, if not the remainder of the series. Selective justice.

Meanwhile, the Mets blew out the Phillies 11-1.


Wednesday- Mets lose to the Phillies. The Phillies suck this year.

Also at soccer practice, Timmy thought it would be a good idea to pour the bottle of Fruit20 grape water over his head. That was bad enough, but then he gave out to me and Tara when I told him he needed to take a shower. "It's just water" he said. He's the greatest kid in the world, IMHO, but man does he know how to push my buttons.



Thursday-Mercy Hospital plays KJOY-98.3 over it's speaker system, and as I was getting ready to go to lunch, the news came over that Prince had died at the age of 57.

As a kid, I have to admit, I wasn't too keen on admitting how much I liked Prince's music because, well, I thought he was strange. I remember seeing the cover of his album Lovesexy, and thinking, who would put themselves on an album cover looking like that?

But as I got older, and started heading out, and Let's Go Crazy would come on the jukebox, that's exactly what we all did, didn't we? And we got to party like it was 1999, in 1999! How lucky were we?

The most mind blowing thing about Prince was the number of songs he wrote for other people. Nothing Compares 2 U, I was surprised to learn, but then I never knew Manic Monday by the Bangles was his!.

His guitar playing was amongst the best of all time. His songwriting too. The outpouring of grief upon learning of his death was really amazing. What a shame. Gone too soon.

For the record, here is my favorite Prince song...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lmq6RDn5O8

Just as the Ranger game was about to start I had to go pick Tara up from work. In the time it took me to walk from the house to the car and to turn on the radio, it was 1-0 Pens. I stopped at the store for 5 minutes, got back in, 2-0. Went and grabbed a quick dinner with Tara, in the restaurant, a guy who saw me in my Ranger jersey shook his head at me. I asked him how bad, and he held up 4 fingers. Losing is one thing, not showing up? That's another story.


Friday-It's the end of the week. Hillary and Trump are going to be our choices for President. Doris Roberts and Prince are dead. The 2015-16 Rangers are about to join them. Timmy's been giving me lip, work has been a pain. It looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinkin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iAYhQsQhSY


So Tara and I left Tim with our Islander fan baby-sitter and went to Phat Daddy's on Long Beach Road. We walked down, despite the threat of rain.

Now, Phat Daddy's is one of my favorite places since I moved to LI. I'm not going to compare it to Donovan's in terms of decor, in fact, it's a bit of a dive. John Taffer would have an anyerism if he walked in there. But the people in there are really nice, they treat Tara and I (and Timmy when we bring him) like royalty. And it's the best burger in Oceanside, if not Long Island. Obviously, I can't go there that often, because pub grub was no small contributor to my heart woes, but after a week like this, it was just what the doctor ordered.

So I washed down a Phat Daddy's burger with a couple of pints of Coors Light, and since I'm such a lightweight, (I hadn't had a beer since early December) I had a nice buzz going for the walk home. We got home so our sitter could go watch her beloved Islanders and then I went and bought a 6 pack of Coors to watch Hawaii Five-0 with.

So at least the week ended on a good note.

Of course the Rangers put us all out of our misery on Saturday, but I had my pity party on Friday so f them right?

Primaries on Tuesday night in CT, Delaware,Maryland, PA, and Rhode Island. For what it's worth.

Have a Great Week

Weekly Mail April 17, 2016

    So we go to the polls in NY on Tuesday in what I keep hearing is the first NY Primary that means anything in years. It's true that this is the first one with any real buzz, probably since Bill Clinton vs. Jerry Brown in 1992. However NY participated in Super Tuesday in 2000, 2004 and 2008, so the nominees were not yet decided in those years. The reality is, this is the first time NY has had the stage to itself and the nominations not been sewn up since 1992. Any way you slice it, it's an exciting time.
       I realize many people think that between the ugliness of Trump vs. Cruz vs. Kasich, and the yelling and screaming between Hillary and Bernie, much of the excitement is tempered. But I say the fact that people are so engaged one way or another is a good thing. No, I don't think riots and fighting between protesters and supporters is a good thing, but the turnout has been enormous, and I do believe the more of us involved in the process, the better.
       Usually the way it works here at Weekly Mail is that rather than out and out endorsing a candidate, I give you a tons of reasons why not to vote for the other person running. In other words I do non-endorsements. Think I'm going to change that up a bit for this cycle.
        Just a reminder, I'm a registered Republican, I had been an independent, but switched after I got married and moved to Manhattan, mainly in anticipation of supporting John McCain. Anyone who read last weeks blog post knows that when I went to cast my vote for McCain in 2008, I was put into a Democrat voting booth and had neither the time or the inclination to explain to the morons at the polling site that I was in the wrong booth. I simply cast my vote for hope and change, and got the hell out of there.
        I should have better luck on Tuesday, and assuming I get the correct ballot, I'll be casting my vote for John Kasich of Ohio. But first my non endorsements...

Ted Cruz-Texas- Where to start with Lying Ted.... Well how about here, of all the candidates running in BOTH parties, he's the one who cares about NY the least. In fact, he's one of those people that can't stand NY. Ted Cruz, is the John Rocker of politics.
       No, he didn't come out and bash us 7 train riders, (when Rocker spouted his infamous spew, I was a daily 7 train rider) but he did vote down the Zadroga Act for 9/11 first responders, voted against funding for Super Storm Sandy, and in Rocker like fashion, deplored NY values. Pandering to rednecks to win a national election is just cheap. Cruz probably figured he wouldn't be in a position where he would need NY support to win the nomination. To be honest? Neither did I.
        Cruz would be the first Generation X President, which is something I should embrace. But in reality, that's the only thing he's got going for him. I also don't like the fact that he was born in Canada, (though I believe if he hasn't been disqualified for that already, he shouldn't be disqualified for that now.) I just find the man very shady. He's got a thing against NY, I've got a thing against politicians from Texas. The last time we had one as President, the economy ended up in the toilet, we were put into a war with not enough of a plan to secure the peace, and the price of gas shot up as did unemployment. People are always saying I defended the man too much. Maybe I did. People say I don't give his successor enough credit, maybe I don't. I have my reasons (and rebuttals) for both statements, but I'll say this here though. We don't need a return to that time in the country.
       And I think that's where we'd be headed in a Ted Cruz presidency. A bigger wage gap than we have now, tax breaks for big oil, and screwing over the middle class at every opportunity. Of the 5 people still running, Cruz is the last one I want to see marching down Pennsylvania Avenue on January 20.
       

Donald Trump-NY- Now in fairness to Rocker, er I mean Cruz, part of the reason he's so anti-NY is that the man he is chasing for the nomination, is a New Yorker. Trump, he of the three marriages and two divorces, is the type of New Yorker Cruz wants to bash.
    When I told Weekly Mail co-editor Karl (The Ace) Ludwig that I would consider voting for Trump, he literally shuttered. I had to quickly explain that Trump wasn't my first choice, he just wasn't my last choice.
      And I have to be honest, the more folks tell me I can't vote for Trump, the more inclined I am to do just that. The Daily News, whose Trump bashing has gone from the ridiculous to the sublime, has become a joke. A few weeks ago, they breathlessly reported that Chris Brown was bashing Trump. Yes, the same Chris Brown who used Rihanna as a punching bag, was not going to support Trump, no doubt because of his mistreatment of women.
         But I have to put that aside and focus on what's important, and to me, that is the fact that I haven't heard enough from Trump to make me think he can make a difference here. He is constantly talking about the polls and how he is winning, to the point where I wonder if he's going to realize that on January 20th, he is actually going to have to run the country. Part of me thinks if he wins, he's going to spend the following two months partying in Boca Raton as if he just led the Mets to the World Series title.
          The sad thing is, I think he's got the smarts and the work ethic to do a good job. I don't buy the notion that he has all his money because of his father. I think he has built some successful companies, and done so really positive things. Too often during this cycle though, he has allowed his rhetoric to overshadow his accomplishments. There is a pro-trump video on Facebook that I saw, where a number of years ago on a talk show, someone asked him "where does an average person like me start if they want to become successful."  He answered by saying the first thing you have to do is not refer to yourself as average. If he could get THAT message out, instead of bashing his opponents, and mocking John McCain's military service, he could win this going away.
          But instead, he's become almost a sideshow. But a sideshow that is quite close to being the Republican nominee for President. Maybe he wins NY going away, and tells the world about it. I won't be casting the vote to make that happen.

John Kasich-Ohio. Is he a perfect candidate? No. Will liberals embrace him? No, they're going to vote for Hillary or Bernie. I don't know if he'll unite the country, I doubt it.
        But I still think Kasich is a good man. I still think he has more of a heart than either Cruz or Trump, I think he cares about the country and it's well being. I think his immigration plan is fair, and his message is positive (for the most part). Maybe I'm biased because he worked for Fox News around the time I was working at the Post more often.
        Mostly, I think I like him because he didn't rag on anyone's wife, comment on anyone's appearance, speculate over the size of one's unmentionables, and generally didn't make an a$$ out of himself.  Is that enough to vote him into the Oval Office,
This year it is.

I can't cast a vote in the Democratic Primary (unless they screw it up like they did on the UES in 2008) but if I could, I would vote for Bernie Sanders. I don't know what the hell he would do if we were ever attacked again, People say Trump has no foreign policy, but Trump has something resembling a foreign policy, Bernie has nothing. And I can't imagine too many of his economic and social plans coming to fruition.
But I wouldn't mind seeing him try. And his tries will leave the country better off than perhaps any of the other candidates, especially his opponent in the primary. That he is still in this fight this late in the game is both a testament to his message and that of Hillary Clinton. I'll leave that right there.

SPORTS NHL Playoffs:

I was hoping for the Rangers to get out of Pittsburgh with a split, and after their hard fought 4-2 victory Saturday, they got it. Can they pull off a series win? Well, they're capable as evidenced by the win, but this isn't last year's Penguins, or last year's Rangers. To me, the key to this series is making sure coach Alain Vigneault plays Dylan McIllrath and Brady Skjei on defense. McIllrath is aggressive and can make life difficult for the Pens scorers. Skjei is young with excellent skating ability and an improving puck handling. I love Dan Girardi, but he's an old 31, and Dan Boyle is just old. Once Ryan McDonagh comes back, I'd sit Boyle and Girardi and play the youngsters. I just think that would be the best way to put away the Penguins.

The Islanders also split their first two games against the Florida Panthers. I think this might be the year they break their long playoff series drought. They have the scoring and the grit, question is do they have the defense and the goaltending?

NEWS ITEM: Mike Piazza Jersey Controversy

On September 21st 2001, my father had decided that we should all go to the Met game that night. It was going to be the first live sporting event in New York City after the September 11th attacks.

I didn't think it was a great idea to be honest with you. They were telling us that security was going to be so much extra tight that night. They were saying that it was going to take close to an hour from the time you got to the stadium until you got to your seat. I also figured the game might be sold out.

It ends up that it wasn't sold out. But I can tell you that I very rarely heard the stadium rock as loud as it locked at night. I can also tell you that of all the decisions I've made in my life this will rank up there with one of the best. As the years have gone on the significance of that game has only increased.

And when Mike Piazza hit his home run off of Braves pitcher Steve Karsay, it would go down as one of the most significant home runs in Mets history if not New York baseball history. A great moment for our city a great moment for our nation.

The jersey that Piazza wore that night was apparently sold by the Met organization and put up for auction. Fred and Jeff Wilpon will apparently do anything for money, and have absolutely no shame.

Thankfully some well-to-do at fans for the jersey at the auction and are planning to donate it to the 911 Memorial Museum, and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown New York. So this story which could have gone really bad will apparently have a happy ending.

Regardless of who you are supporting please make sure you get out and vote on Tuesday.

Have a great week.

Weekly Mail Special Report

 So this is what is commonly referred to as a bad night .

 As of 10 o'clock Tuesday night, Donald Trump has won a huge victory in the New York primary.  Of course this does not come as a surprise as he was leading in the polls for most of the cycle . John Kasich placed second, quite a distant second, but second nonetheless.  The good news is that Ted Cruz finished a pathetic third.

But what's the real disappointment for me tonight is on the Democratic side.  The first exit poll I saw had the score Hillary Clinton 52% to Bernie Sanders 48% .   I could've lived with that .

However,  as of 10 o'clock the score is Hillary Clinton 59% to Bernie Sanders 40% ,  A landslide victory for Hillary.

 I love my home state and I gave Cruz plenty of grief for the things he said about it .  But goddamn I just wish one year we would freakin think outside the box .  Every single time our people take the path of least resistance .  We always go for the front runner, it never fails .  And that's exactly what happened here tonight .

 I always think back to the election of 2000 as a prime example of how New York just doesn't use its imagination.  On the Democratic side that year you had a Rhodes scholar.  On the Republican side that year you had a war hero . Both of those men lost two sons of privilege.  Not to mention that that in that years U.S. Senate race, we voted somebody in based solely on the fact that She was the outgoing first lady.  Nothing more.

And now Hillary Clinton has parlayed that into at the very least the Democratic nomination for President, and most likely the Presidency itself.

 And Donald Trump, because let's face it, he was leading in the polls like he told anybody who would listen, ran away with the state as well.

 On top of everything else the Rangers lost 3-1 to those scumbag Pittsburgh Penguins and now trail 2 games to 1.

 At least the Mets clobbered the Phillies tonight.  Thank God for small favors .

Weekly Mail April 10, 2016

Hey:

Sorry for the delay.  Let's get right to it.

2016 ELECTION: Buyers Remorse

I really hope my vote means something on this day. 

I wrote that back in February when I was putting together my Primary/Caucus calendar. Usually, the primaries are decided sometime shortly after Super Tuesday. I know the DNC was counting on the nomination being wrapped up by Hillary Clinton well before April 19. And as much as I couldn't see anyone running away with the GOP nomination, I figured someone would clearly emerge as a solid frontrunner.

But alas, here we are, now a little over a week away, and we have what we have. And for me, it's a bit of a quagmire.

I was very tempted to switch party affiliations so I could vote in the Democratic primary. At least there I know who I would vote for.

But since I stayed in the Republican party (which I joined so I could vote for John McCain back in 2008-you can read here about that debacle http://weeklymail.blogspot.com/2008/11/super-tuesday-flashback.html) I am now in a quandary.

Let's be honest, it's a two horse race. The third horse, John Kasich, has no prayer. His plan is to stay in the race and hope for an open convention. (And all the yahoos who say that could happen every single cycle, may finally get their wish). He is still in it and I said he was one of the two (along with Marco Rubio) I said I would consider voting for. So by that account, that should seal that deal for me.

Except...

I really really REALLY don't want Ted Cruz to be the party's nominee. You want to talk about a guy with a set of stones.... he voted against the Zaroga Bill for 9/11 first responders funding, he voted against Hurricane Sandy relief for New Yorkers. (Something I felt strongly about obviously) and he derides New York Values. Now look, I lean rightward on several issues, and as a New Yorker, I feel it's OK to break the chops of my left wing brethren (and sisteren) on some of their views, (and they to give me a hard time) But I'll be damned if some hick from Texas (who BTW was born in Canada) is going to woof on my hometown, then come here and campaign. What gall!

Which leads me to the man Cruz was referring to when he first talked about New York values. Donald Trump. Cruz says a vote for Kasich is a vote for Trump, but is it? Is a vote for Kasich actually a vote for Cruz?

Because I'll tell you right now, and you can hate on me all you want, I would rather have Trump as the nominee than Cruz. For all the stupid things Trump says, for all the policies he pushes that have no prayer of working, for the way he has treated this election like a game show, I still think he'd be a better candidate than Ted Cruz.

Now according to the polls, I don't have too much to worry about. Trump has a comfortable lead here, and in some polls, Kasich is actually ahead of Cruz. I could vote with my conscience and choose the candidate I feel the best about, rather than strategically choosing a candidate just so another candidate doesn't win. Polls aren't always accurate, but the reception that Cruz got while campaigning here last week make me think I may be in good shape.

One way or another, next week I will let you know what I decide to do. Try not to die of anticipation.

SPORTS: The Jets get Capped.

Sportswriters are stupid.

I'm sorry, that a horrible thing to say, of course they are not. They get paid to write about something fun, so how dumb can they be? Plus I have a few friends who are sportswriters and they are great guys (and gals). And lets face it, if I didn't read sportswriters, I would really read much at all.

But watching what has gone on with the Jets the last few years, you have to wonder how these guys can get the same things wrong year after year, if even a simpleton like me can figure it out.

Two years ago, the Jets had an awful season, finished 4-12 and got rid of their GM and coach. The verdict on Rex Ryan was mixed, but on GM John Idzik it was unanimous. Run his a$$ out of town like he was working for ISIS. His crime? He didn't spend enough money.

Now look, it was obvious that talent evaluation wasn't Idzik's strong suit, but they brought in Mike Macgagnan, considered at more prudent talent evaluator, but no expert on the salary cap. Macagnan went out and spent wildly on players. To his credit, the Jets went from 4-12 to 10-6 and just missing the playoffs. Big wins against the Giants and Patriots. For the most part, a fun season.

But now, it's become apparent that the Jets are out of cap room. That they can't pay Ryan Fitzpatrick a decent salary because they have no room. And wouldn't you know, some sportswriter in this town started out his column saying  "Nobody's saying bring back John Idzik, but..."

But what?

But the Jets could use someone who can manage the salary cap? Ya don't say?

But nobody NO BOD EEE, was saying last off season, "shoot maybe the new GM may want to save some cap space in case they have to make some moves next season." No, he spent like a 16 year old with a credit card and now we have no space.

It took the sudden and (as far as I'm concerned) fishy retirement of D'Brickashaw Ferguson to clear some cap space. That it even got to this point is a sin.

Baseball Opening Week

         Last week, Matt Harvey stopped talking to reporters because he didn't like the way they made fun of the issue he had with blood clots in his bladder. I honestly wonder sometimes if he is better off pitching somewhere else, if stuff like that is going to (sorry) piss him off.

        All of that crap would have been forgotten if Harvey had pitched lights out on Opening Night agianst of all teams, the Royals. Instead I had LSD like flashbacks right off the bat.
     
         Our 25 million dollar man, Yoenis Cespides, dropped a routine fly ball. Luckily it didn't lead to an inside the park home run, but it still led to the Royals first run of the game. That along with a pedestrian outing from Harvey, led to a Royals win. Thankfully, Noah Syndergaard came back on Tuesday afternoon, and shut them down. Now, I'm not one of those people who think that beating the Royals in April would in any way shape or form make up for what happened last October. But it would have been nice to put a damper on their banner raising ceremony.
         I do offer kudos to Royal manger Ned Yost though. He was very classy this week, saying he didn't feel comfortable having the Mets in the house for the ceremony. "For them to have to relive that, it was a little awkward."  I think he meant that sincerely. If not for their big-mouthed third baseman Mike Moustakas and castoff pitcher Chris Young, and the fact that they beat us last year, I could root for them.

Have a Great Week

Weekly Mail April 3, 2016

Hi!!!!!!!

        Want to to thank all of you who wrote in to congratulate Tim on his writing award. It means a lot to us.  Not much else going on, so onto the news....

News Item: We had my eighth birthday at Burger King:

       One of the cool things about being a parent is seeing all the creative ways one can celebrate a child's birthday. I've been to a bunch of birthdays at Bounce U in Oceanside, (including Timmy's 4th) I've been to bowling parties, (including Timmy's 7th) I've been to more Frozen parties than I care to admit, a couple of movie parties and in a couple of weeks, Timmy's going to a pool party at Saf-T-Rob (er Swim)
      One party I will not be attending with Timmy is one in which a stripper is hired for the festivities. Nor will Tara and I be hiring one for Timmy's next shindig.  Now you may ask, what kind of a moron would do such a dastardly deed?
       Well according to The Daily Star, a woman in Tampa FL, hired a stripper to shake her money maker at her kid's 8th birthday party. Video of the incident was available on line, and showed the kids tossing dollar bills at the dancer and the birthday boy slapping the dancer's bottom. Can you imagine? Even Donald Trump wouldn't be that crass.
         There are calls for the mom to be arrested as well as the stripper for accepting such an assignment. The mom? Sure, she's a idiot, lock her up. The stripper?  Maybe she didn't know it was going to be 8 year olds, and why turn down a payday? I don't know.
          If it was socially acceptable to have strippers perform for kiddies, they could have done it at my grammar school. After all, there was a jiggle joint right around the corner from St. Mary's They could have come over for lunch, and been back in time for their next show. As George Carlin once said, "These are the ideas that kept me from getting in to the really good schools."

Sports: The NCAA Tournament.

      Speaking of girls at a bar, filling out a tournament bracket to me is like chatting with someone and buying her drinks all night, until she walks out with some other guy. That's the feeling I get every year, around the elite eight. I think I'm going to get somewhere, and I end up leaving humiliated.
This year was a perfect example.
        My Final Four was Virginia (in honor of my sister in law), Oklahoma, Kentucky and Kansas. not exactly going out on a limb. I had two 1's a 2 and with Kentucky a 4 with their coach bitching that they should have been higher. Well, John Calipari and his one and done wonders were out by the second round.
         So going into the Sweet 16, I still had three of my four teams alive, including my two finalists. Kansas and Virginia. The three survived the Sweet 16, in Oklahoma won to get my first team into the Final Four. Kansas played Villanova, and as much as I love the Big East, Nova has screwed me over so many times in the past, I usually avoid picking them. So of course they knock out my runner up.
         And then, scumbag Jim Boeheim and his Syracuse Orangemen, knock out my National Champ, Virginia, after they also knocked off my wife's team, the Dayton Flyers. I hate Syracuse, hate that they left the Big East for the ACC, hate their lying coach, and hate a lot of their alumni. All those guys at WFAN who went to Syracuse act like big shots. Now I'm sure someone's reading this who went to Syracuse and probably hates me now. I'm sorry but it is what it is.
           Then to add insult to injury, the college team I hate the MOST, the North Carolina Tar Heels, beat Notre Dame to become the 4th team to make it.
            So I have no chance to win the pool I'm in, three of the Final Four teams I despise, and two of those teams played Saturday night, North Carolina beat Syracuse.  The beat goes on. (literally)
          But the Syracuse/NC provided me with one great memory. A great man I knew once said that Syracuse could have the greatest team in the world, they'd never win as long as Boeheim was the coach. Well, they did win one championship, but as  Ed (Auggie) DePuy pointed out "The only reason he (Boeheim) won that one was because he beat a bigger choke artist than he was in Roy Williams".
           That was the night Willams told Bonnie Bernstein on national television that he "Didn't give a sheet about North Carolina" then signed on to coach them a week later. A job he holds to this day.

Mike and the Mad Dog Reunion.

       I got to watch a good portion of their show the other night at Radio City, and I hate to admit it, but it was good to hear them together again. They really are better together than they are individually.
        One thing they discussed though, which to me was indicative of really what kind of people they are, was a time when they had a disagreement about going to do a show in Indianapolis for a Knick-Pacer playoff game, and they ended up not speaking to each other for 6 months! How can you work with someone who part of the job is to converse with them, and not speak to them off the air for that long? You have to be a special kind of a$$hole to pull that off. When I worked with Karl, we'd have a disagreement at 9, yell at each other till 9;30, and head out to lunch at 12.  6 months? Damn.

I would be remiss however if I didn't point out that they raised over $1 million for the Garden of Dreams foundation.
     
       Not much going on worth noting in politics. Wisconsin votes on Tuesday.

Mets open in Kansas City Sunday night. So we can all see them get their World Series rings. Oh, happy day!

Have a Great Week!