Weekly Mail June 12, 2016

Hey:



         So, Saturday I officially hung up my whistle and retired as a soccer coach. Our last game was Saturday, and Tim thankfully said he wanted to try other sports. Plus since they are changing the rules, I wouldn't be able to work with the great coach I was working with the last 2 years, so it was a good time to leave. It something I can always say I did, and it gave me some good bonding time with Timmy. I'll miss the kids, and eventually the good memories will outshine the times I wanted to put them all through a wall. I've got a ton of teachers on my reading list, including my sister (well soon to be both my sisters) my brother in law and my cousin. I honestly don't know how the hell you guys do it.

BREAKING NEWS: Tragedy in Orlando

I really don't know what to say. I mean, I wish I had something intelligent or comforting or anything to say about this. Over 50 innocent people, just out having fun on a Saturday night, gunned down. Was it terrorism? Was it homophobia? Both? Does it matter?

The inevitable battle will take place between those who feel the 2nd Amendment means you can own your own military tank, and those who want all guns banned. Common sense gun regulations will not be discussed.

Thoughts and prayers will be offered for the victims, some will be sincere, some will be lip service.

I feel like a dope just writing this. To ignore it would be insensitive, but I have nothing, no answers, no suggestions.

The problem is,neither does anyone we elect to serve us. That's the real tragedy.

2016 ELECTION:

It happened again last week. Somewhere along the line on Monday afternoon, the AP announced that Hillary Clinton had enough delegates to clinch the Democratic Nomination. Just as had happened the week before, when out of the blue, it was announced that Donald Trump had enough delegates to clinch the GOP nomination. There was a whole slate of primaries coming up the next day, which no doubt would have given Hillary the plurality of pledged delegates. But because of all this super delegate crap, they called it for her one day early.

When the inevitable outcry from the Bernie Sanders folks came, some things were pointed out. Namely, that the system was the same in 2008, (and for that matter for the past 30 years,) and that Bernie knew the rules going in and chose to play by them. Which is all well and good except,

1) Yes, the same thing happened in 2008, and guess who complained that the system wasn't fair? That's right, Hillary Clinton.

2) Who stayed in the race in 2008 despite the calls to drop out and back the eventual nominee? Right again,

3) And then there was the reports of ballots not being counted, of people trying to switch from Independents to the Democrats to vote for Bernie only to encounter issues. There was all the controversy surrounding DNC Chairperson Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. And just the general feeling that the skids were being greased in Hillary's favor. I believe in 2008, the DNC may have been looking to get Hillary nominated, but they figured even with Barack Obama, they knew they had the momentum on their side.

          Look, I didn't like the system in 2008, even though I was happy that Obama won. If you recall, I urged Hillary to not drop out and defended her decision to stay in. And not just because I wanted them to slug it out, but because she had the right to stay in until she was mathematically  eliminated.

So did Bernie.
       
         But now that he really has no prayer, he probably should bow out. Unless he really thinks the super delegates will change their mind, he's pretty much pissing into the wind. He should be proud, against amazing odds he hung in there all the way to almost the last of the primaries, when most of the experts figured he would be toast by Super Tuesday. Whether you follow these elections because you care about the issues, or your into it strictly for entertainment value (and I honestly follow it for both) he gave us a really good show.



Gordie Howe (1928-2016)

         Almost exactly one week after America lost one of its greatest sports figures, Canada lost one of theirs.
         Gordie Howe is widely considered one of the greatest hockey players of all time. His 801 career goals are second only to Wayne Gretzky. His original 25 year career was amazing enough, but then he played several more years in the WHA. His WHA team, the Hartford Whalers, were absorbed into the NHL, so he got to play one final NHL season ......at the age of 52!
           Howe was as much of a gentleman off the ice as he was a miserable prick on it, which is probably what endeared him to Canadian fans the most, (not to mention the city of Detroit, where he played his first 25 years). One of the cool things about hockey is that one can achieve a Gordie Howe hat trick -a goal, and assist and a fight. (For a time there, I thought my son may have been the first player to pull that feat off in soccer. But alas he avoided dropping the proverbial gloves)  Howe had a legendary fight in 1959 with Ranger defenseman  Lou Fontinato that resulted in Howe breaking Fontinato's jaw. Years later, Howe and Fontinato and their wives became good friends, and hosted autograph shows together ala Bobby Thompson/Ralph Branca and Mookie Wilson/Bill Buckner.
            Stories have emerged in the past few days that a 15 year old Howe attended a Ranger tryout camp in Winnipeg, but the older kids trying out busted his chops so much, he ended up going home. Can you imagine? A quick look at the NHL top 10 all time leading scorers shows that 5 of them played for the Rangers. (Howe would have been 6) Gretzky, Mark Messier, Jaromir Jagr, Marcel Dionne, and Phil Esposito all played for the Blueshirts at one time. Gretzky, Dionne and Espo were at the very end of their careers, Jagr and Messier were still in their prime, but past their most dominant years. Howe never made it out of a tryout. And that's why we've won one Stanley Cup in 76 years. Can you imagine of Gordie had stuck around?
           Was he really the greatest hockey player of all time? I don't believe so, but he's right up near the top of the list. And the fact that the two greatest hockey players of all time (as far as I'm concerned) Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr, think he is the G.O.A.T. has to count for something, doesn't it?

So to end this week, I want to thank all of you who are reading this, and I hope you are enjoying it. I just want to make something clear, especially when it comes to the political part of the blog. There was a time in my life when I would write things hoping to somehow make a difference. Maybe I could convince someone who thought one way to change their mind. I've come to a point in my life where I realize that people are going to think what they think. All of this is my opinion, and it means nothing. And by that I mean, my $0.02 isn't any more valuable than anybody else. So if your reading this and getting all steamed because I'm bashing your candidate (or in the case of the Yankees, your baseball team) or I'm singing the praises of a candidate you can't stand, don't sweat it. Most of the time, I'm just writing what comes to mind. My days of trying to be Woodward and Bernstein are done.
For now.

Have a Great Week