Weekly Mail May 29, 2016

Hello:

I hate to start this post off on a sad note, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the passing of my cousin, Eileen Raftery.

Eileen's dad and my maternal grandfather were first cousins. Eileen was born two weeks after me, and despite the fact that we were almost exactly the same age and lived mere blocks from each other, I didn't hang out with her much. She was a brainiac and besides our age and our bloodlines, we didn't have a whole lot in common.

But last year, at my cousin Deirdre's wedding, we caught up. She got to meet Tara, and they really hit it off. She got to meet Timmy and who doesn't hit it off with him? We talked about our jobs and where we were living, and we even went out and danced a bit. (Come on Eileen by Dexy's Midnight Runners naturally).

We talked about getting together, either out near us at her place downtown, but of course, as life happens, it never came to pass. You just kind of think, Well it will happen when it happens. And then something like this happens. You just never know.

In some ways it would be easier if my last memory of her was an argument, or no real memory at all. But since the last memory I have of her was positive, it makes me think of what might have been. But I'd rather have the warm memory of laughing and dancing at the wedding. Either way, nobody should have to die at such a young age. That just sucks.

*********************************************************************************

Wednesday will mark the one year anniversary of when IT happened. June 1, 2015, a day that will be forever etched in my mind.

I was really hoping that on this day, I would be rocking a lean and cut figure, but unfortunately, I have reached the dreaded plateau.

But there are still things to celebrate. On Wednesday it will be one year since I last had a soda, something I never thought I'd be able to pull off. It will be over a year since I ate McDonalds or Burger King, (I had Wendy's once, and Taco Bell maybe three times). I haven't eaten a hot dog in well over a year. (I may have one celebratory dog this week.)

Plus I get to the gym at least three times a week. I may have to mix up my exercise routine to re kick start my weight loss, but I'm keeping the ticker pumping.

Most importantly I want to thank my family, especially Tara and Timmy, and everyone else for their love and support. I couldn't have bounced back without you.


2016 ELECTION.

Donald Trump won last Tuesday's Washington State Primary, which wasn't news since everyone else has dropped out. What was news was that somewhere along the line on Thursday, it was announced that thanks to those annoying Super Delegates, Trump clinched the nomination. He will be nominated on the first ballot at the Republican Convention in Cleveland.

Every election cycle, folks bellyache about changing the system. Get rid of the delegate process, eliminate the Electoral College, make it one national primary day etc. I'd leave it the way it is, but Geez Louise, can we please get rid of this super delegate system? Letting party big shots choose a candidate regardless of the will of the people is just plain wrong. To see Bernie Sanders win state after state, and yet he can't close the gap with Hillary Clinton because she has more Super Delegates is very disheartening.  Finding out that Donald Trump clinched the nomination on a day where no election was held smacks of corruption.

While it's true that both Trump and Clinton would have won even without the super delegates, it made the elections (especially in the case of the Democrats) look more lopsided than they really were.

SPORTS: The NBA Playoffs:

If I were to compose a list of my least favorite athletes of all time, it would probably take me a month to compile a list. (Note to my co-editor Karl "the Ace" Ludwig; I realize upon reading that line your first reaction was "ok I got this" )  I mean the obvious ones are Chipper Jones and John Rocker in baseball, After last night Chase Utley is right up there) Bill Belichick and Tom Brady in football, Denis Potvin and Bryan Trottier in hockey, (though Sidney Crosby is right up there too)

In basketball though, it's Michael Jordan. Rocker, Chipper and Belichick are despicable human beings. (if you even want to call Rocker a human being) Brady I hate because he's good and he dumped one hottie (Bridget Moynihan) for another (Giselle Bundchen.)  Trottier was one of the dirtiest stickhandlers of all time and all you need to know about Potvin is that they still chant his name at MSG...30 years after he retired.

But Jordan is on a whole other stratosphere. His Bulls teams sent my Knicks packing for the summer 5 times. It still drives me nuts when people say he is in-arguably the greatest basketball player of all time, it even drove me more batty when ESPN declared him the greatest athlete of the 20th century.  People told me I was crazy not to think Jordan wasn't the G.O.A.T. I pointed out to those people that Jordan wasn't the NBA all time leading scorer (Kareem Abdul Jabbar) he doesn't hold the record for most points per game in a season (Wilt Chamberlain) and when they scream that he won 6 titles, I scream back that Bill Russell won 11.

And while many also thought him to be a tremendous person, I found him to be aloof and at times downright rude. Was it exciting to watch him play? Sure, he was amazing. So was Dr. J.

So, it would really do my heart some good if the Golden State Warriors would put the finishing touches on their record breaking 73-9 season and win this year's NBA title. The previous record was the 72-10 put up by you guessed it Jordan and the Bulls in 1996. The Bulls pretty much rolled to that years NBA title.

Not so the Warriors. After waltzing through their first two series against the Rockets and the Trail Blazers, they suddenly found themselves trailing their Western Conference Final series, 3-1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Fortunately, they bounced back the other night in Oakland, and then again last night at OKC, to force a Game 7 in Oakland on Monday night.

If the Warriors can't win that one, or they lose to LeBron and the Cavs in the Finals, they are going to end up being compared to the 2007 Patriots and the 2001 Seattle Mariners, teams that set records for most wins in a season, but couldn't git er done in the playoffs. And the 1996 Bulls will remain as the greatest NBA team of all time.

Sonofabit----  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EK4j88PvLyg


On this Memorial Day Weekend, I leave you with this..

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

from For the Fallen by British poet Robert Laurence Binyon.

To all who have served, but especially those who gave their lives; thank you and God Bless

Have a Great Week