Weekly Mail October 30, 2016

Hey Everybody:


Sorry I didn't write last week.


Good news last week was that I got to see many relatives who I hadn't seen in a while on my dad's side of the family. The bad news was that it was for a sad occasion.

My Uncle, Sam Garcia passed away last week. A veteran of both WWII and the Korean War, he was buried with full military honors at Calverton National Cemetery. I had never been to a military funeral before, and it was quite moving. There are 6 veterans at the entrance to the cemetery, three of them are holding American Flags, the other three are saluting. That pretty much gets me every time.

When my Uncle Jack passed in 1997, he had a full police funeral. The sight of all the cops in full uniform saluting as his casket went by made me openly sob like I couldn't believe.  Just how each man was saluted by their country and their city respectively, it can't help but move you.

RIP.


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2016 ELECTION

So Wikileaks has released a slew of e-mails that they hacked from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta's account. These e-mail's not only confirm many of the suspicions I have of the Democratic nominee, but also raised a few new ones.

So why am I not happy about this development?

Mainly because I can't believe a slug like Julian Assange could possibly have a say in how this election turns out. I'm not a big fan of hacking. I didn't like it when Wikileaks did it to George W. Bush and friends during the war in Iraq, I didn't like it when my fellow News Corp. employees were accused of doing it at the News of the World, and I don't like it now.

Dammit, if we can't protect the government's e-mail from hackers, how the hell can we be certain that any of our e-mails are safe. Now granted, this is coming from a man who broadcasts his thoughts all over God's green earth once a week, so it shouldn't really bother me, but it does.

Because if a weasel like Julian Assange can do it, than so can ISIS.


2016 WORLD SERIES

I can't believe the Indians are but one win away from winning the World Series. I should be happy for them, after all they haven't won diddly since 1948. But that's a mere 68 years ago. Compare that to the 108 years that the Cubs have had to wait, and 1948 seems like yesterday. Besides, Cleveland just had a championship back in June with the Cavaliers. One title every 50 years in enough for Cleveland, two in one calendar year? Spare me.

Of course, I blame all this on that ESPN 30 for 30 documentary, Believeland. That brilliantly done film dealt with the highs and mostly lows of the city that hadn't won a championship of any kind since December 27, 1964. This came out a couple of months before LeBron and Co. ended the drought, so in a way it's kind of like the reverse of the Sports Illustrated cover jinx. Maybe the good folks at ESPN can do a documentary of Mets, Jets, Ranger and Knick Fans born after 1973, who have witnessed two titles in their lifetimes and none since 1994. Joe Beningo from WFAN could narrate it.


NFL RATINGS DECLINE

It couldn't have happened to a better bunch of guys.

Multiple reports has said that the TV ratings for the NFL have never been lower. There have been a whole slew of explanations/excuses, including that fiasco of a Presidential Campaign, the quality of play (or lack thereof) and my personal favorite an over saturation of games.

Let's examine the last one there shall we? You now start the football weekend off on Thursday night, which always throws off my picks, then the past couple of weeks, there's been a game in London on Sunday, so now your football day starts at 9:30 AM. Then you have the usual slate, which is 1 PM, 4:15 and then Football Night in America, a Sunday Night Game on NBC with history's most overrated broadcaster, Al Michaels. And then to end things off, Monday Night Football on ESPN. There was a time in my life where I didn't miss Monday Night Football, now I don't even watch it if the Jets are playing in it.

A couple of years ago, they played a game on Tuesday night, because the roof of the Metrodome in Minnesota caved in. I clearly remember Mike Francessa saying "If the ratings for this are any good, they'll start playing games on Tuesday too" Can you imagine? The ratings would really go down the toilet.

I submit that part of the reason people are so turned off is that the NFL has this attitude that it doesn't really matter if our players are smacking their women around, or driving drunk or generally just being a-holes, you're going to watch us anyway.

Well maybe not.

Maybe people are finally waking up and realizing that there's more to life on Sunday afternoons then watching these spoiled millionaires. Maybe Roger Goodell should wake up and realize that guys like Josh Brown aren't guys we want to root for. (And yes Giants fans, I realize I have a guy on my team who was pulled over for speeding with a 12 year old kid and a shotgun in his car) Mike Vaccaro called the NFL our national addiction.

Maybe some of us have entered rehab.

And one more note on the NFL. There was some considerable hang wringing a few weeks ago over the behavior of Odell Beckham Jr. Let me break it down for y'all.

If the Giants win, Beckham is firery, passionate and competitive.

If the Giants lose, Beckham is hotheaded, uncontrollable and a head case.

I always quote Ted Turner...There's a fine line between being colorful and being an a$$hole.


Happy Halloween

Have a Great Week