Sunday, December 31, 2017
Weekly Mail 2017 Year in Review Part One
Happy New Year!!!
JANUARY
January 10- A Sad Day for NY-RIP Steven MacDonald
And so it began.... An absolute inspiration, to fellow cops and regular folks alike, Stephen MacDonald passed away January 10.
January 20- Here Goes Nothin'
Pretty self explanatory. But he spent the first few days of his presidency arguing that they under reported the inauguration attendance. The first of many things I can't believe I wrote.
January 28-With Everything going on tonight, I thought this song appropriate
The Song: Let 'em In, by Wings. The occasion, President Trump's ban on immigrants from certain Muslim countries. The strange thing is, I'm normally a hawk on illegal immigration, but something about this felt wrong. I still think there is a debate to be had about stricter immigration laws without all out bans on countries.
Mostly though, I just like this song.
FEBRUARY
February 3- Wojo from Barney Miller and Doc from The Love Boat on Hawaii Five-0 tonight. The things I find exciting on a Friday night. #getalife.
There was one Friday night many years ago when I went out for a few beers with my co-workers from 292 Madison Avenue, took a train downtown, got lost on my way to the Meatpacking district, ended up going into a Bulgarian Bar to pee (and a courtesy beer to boot) repeated that for about a mile till I got to Cody's before finishing up the night at Culture Club. How the mighty have fallen.
February 4- The state of basketball in this city, between the Knicks, the Nets and St. John's is an absolute disgrace.
Hopefully, it's getting better. The Knicks sans Phil Jackson have been fun to watch, St. John's is improving under Chris Mullin and the Nets, well honestly, I don't really give a $h-t about the Nets.
February 8- Am I hearing this right? Charles Oakley went after James Dolan at the Garden tonight?
I still think we should get him season tickets to the Mets next year. Especially now that he's banned from MSG.
February 27- I didn't see the Oscars last night, did I miss anything?
And I still think this was all a setup. How stupid can you possibly be? (Wait, don't answer that)
MARCH
March 11- Whose watching the Kid's Choice Awards?
When you are more familiar with who is on this show than you are with the Oscars, you are either a prepubescent teen, or the parent of one. Fact of the matter is, this show was 100x more entertaining than the Oscars.
March 17- Rangers+Dayton losing = a lousy end to an otherwise fun St. Patrick's Day.
There a few more fun activities than watching the NCAA Tournament with my wife when her alma mater is playing. A few years ago, we were out to dinner, when the the elite 8 game between Dayton and Syracuse came on, and damned if she didn't have the whole place pulling for Dayton by the time we left.
March 19- Jimmy Breslin's column from the day after John Lennon was killed
I posted this upon hearing the news of the great Daily News Columnist's death at age 84. The last line in this column, referring to the fallen ex-Beatle as "another person who died after being shot with a gun on the streets of New York." is both brilliant and chilling.
March 22- A diagram of Izzi's bedroom is shown below. Tell me the area of her room, win valuable prizes.
I was never good at Math. And in case I didn't mention it, I hate Common Core. I know, I know, Welcome to the Club right?
March 23- Why the f-ck did Michigan hoist a three when they were down by one? This is why college basketball is so hard to watch nowadays.
I notice a trend inn these posts is that I really sound like an angry old man don't I? Maybe because I am one. To quote the great Keri DeAngelo #getoffmylawn
APRIL
April 1- Well, that sux.
This was after the South Carolina Gamecocks lost their final four match to Gonzaga. A South Carolina win would have made my friend and SC alumnus Sean Lanigan and his family very happy. But more than that, it would have clinched an improbable victory in our bracket pool for my sister Kris Eller. I don't have the words to express this enough, how huge this would have been. Alas it was not to be, and I'm sure I took it harder than she did.
April 3- Right now we're undefeated- Jim Breuer
Gonna be a great season for us Mets fans right Jim?
April 5- In other news, the sun is expected to rise in the east tomorrow...
I wrote this as several news outlets breathlessly reported on the coming out of 70's pop icon Barry Manilow. This was my reaction.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeXatpVSInA
April 20 You mean their chances of going 3-13? I like those chances a lot.
The question, posted by WFAN.com was How do you like the Jets chances this year. This was when the schedule came out. They already have beaten by prediction by two games. The Giants on the other hand....
April 22- WOOHOO!
This was truly a great night. I watched the Rangers put away the Montreal Canadiens while I was working at the Post, then while walking around MSG before my train came, I got to meet Noah Syndergaard outside a bar on 33rd Street. I'm posting a lot of stuff that makes me seem old, this night made me feel like a kid again.
MAY
May 6-D'oh!
Hold on, need to back up a bit here.....
May 6 was the day Timmy made First Holy Communion. It was an awesome day. He was so handsome walking down the aisle. One of the proudest moments in my life, watching him take the next step in his Catholic life. Then it was onto the party at Rocco Anthony's in East Rockaway, which went off without a hitch (for the most part), and a splendid time was had by all.
But when I got home, is when the trouble started. First I find out the Rangers gave up the tying goal to the Ottawa Senators with less than 2 minutes left to go in the game. (Scored by Derrick Brassard of all people) And now I'm with my in-laws (Islander fans BTW) getting ready to watch OT. About 4 minutes in, it appears we got the game winner from Michael Grabner, but a video review takes the goal away. I knew right then and there we were f-cked. And two minutes later we were.
But of course I can't flip my lid, after all my kid just made First Communion. Right? Somehow I held it together. Must have been my Catholic school education come back to haunt me.
May 9- Dear Rangers:Right now you are 20 minutes away from being eliminated by a team that quite frankly you should have put away already. On home ice nonetheless. So now would be a good time to show some heart and show some pride and take it to these guys. Let's get this to a Game 7 for crying out loud!
Do I even need to insert the spoiler alert here? They must not have gotten the memo.
May 20- He says it every time he plays the part. He also says he's leaving the country anytime a Republican gets elected President, and yet we are still stuck with him.
This of course is Alec Baldwin who is still here in the USA and still portraying (Poorly IMHO) President Trump.
JUNE
June 1 This is the last time we let you dress as Mr. Met, Keri-Ann Hart...
No, the mom of three from out east didn't dress as Mr. Met, but whoever did thought it was a good idea to flip off some fans at Citi Field. Pretty much symbolized our entire season, if you as me.
June 11- What a crappy end to the hockey season.
Pittsburgh beat Nashville to win the Cup. With the Patriots winning the Super Bowl in February and the Tar Heels winning the NCAA tournament, this was turning into one of those crap years in sports.
June 13- Marie Drexler- Wow, an old friend just reminded me that 30 years ago today, I graduated from St. Mary's. Wow!
In honor of that amazing feat, here's some bar room BS
http://barroombs.blogspot.com/2017/12/1987-vs-2017.html
June 30- For most of the 90's and early 00's I held this title "NYC's most undateable man.".. but a new champ has emerged.
The dude's name was Billy Peck. He's an aspiring actor, 24 years old. I had my own issues at 24, but this guy's big mistake was taking to the pages of Time Out New York, to embarrass a woman he met on a blind date. He blasted her for showing up 5 minutes late, said he "knew right away she didn't have the goods" and blasted her choices for dinner and dessert. (Steak and Ice Cream). For all that, angry women all over the city attacked him on his Twitter. He used the old I was misquoted defense, but no one was buying that jive. I'm sure the Pecker will live to date again, but he certainly did himself no favors here.
Next Week- Part 2, July-December.
Sunday, December 24, 2017
Weekly Mail 2nd Annual Christmas Eve Special
Thank you so much for tuning in....
Last year when I wrote this I had visions of people taking a few minutes out of their busy Christmas Eve's to have some fun. I realize that many of you might not read this till Christmas or even after the fact. No matter. I hope you enjoy it whenever you get a chance.
Let's kick it off with a song parady shall we? In honor of the new GOP Tax bill...
A HOITY-TOITY CHRISTMAS
Sung to Holly-Jolly Christmas
Have a Hoity-Toity Christmas
'Cuz even though it's cold,
Santa brings me lots of things
Made of 14 karat gold
Have a Hoity-Toity Christmas
And check out my new boat
It cuts through ice and goes real nice
with my new full length fur coat
Oh-ho there's a foot of snow
Out in my front yard
But not a snowflake on my Lexus
Or the bow on top of my new car
Have a Hoity Toity Christmas
And don't you shed a tear
Don't resent that the 1%
Will have a hoity toity Christmas
next year
My list of Christmas songs haven't changed. If you want to check 'em out you can go to last year's blog. http://weeklymailfb.blogspot.com/2016/12/weekly-mail-christmas-eve-special.html
But here's some fun we can have.....
BAND AID 1984 VS. BAND AID 2014.
Seems every 10 years, Bob Geldof gets together the hottest group of British musicians to do an updated Do They Know It's Christmas Time. You've probably never heard of Band Aid 10 20 or 30, because well, like the 1992 Dream Team, no matter who you got in the following years, you'll never top the first one.
(Not that I'm against his trying. Shoot, if they raise enough money to combat African famine, more power to them)
Anyway, here is a tale of the tape between the original Band-Aid and Band-Aid 30....
It's Christmas Time There's no need to be afraid
1984-Paul Young
2014-One Direction
At Christmas Time we let in light and we banish shade
1984-Paul Young
2014-Ed Sheeran
And in our world of plenty, we can spread a smile of joy
1984-Boy George
2014-Rita Ora
Throw your arms around the world at Christmas time
1984-Boy George
2014- Sam Smith
But say a prayer, and pray for the other ones
1984-George Michael
2014-Paloma Faith*
At Christmas time its hard but while you're having fun
1984 George Michael and Simon LeBon
2014-Emeli Sande
There's a world outside your window, and its a world of dread and fear
1984-Simon Lebon and Sting
2014 -Guy Garvey (lead singer of Elbow*)
Where the only water flowing, is the bitter sting of tears-Simon Lebon and Sting
Where a kiss of love could kill you-2014 Bastille
And there's death in every tear-2014 Angelique Kidjo*
And the Christmas bells that ring there, are the clanging chimes of doom
1984-Sting and Bono
2014-Chris Martin (Coldplay)
Well tonight thank God it's them, instead of you 1984 Bono
Well tonight we're reaching out and touching you 2014 Bono
And there won't be snow in Africa this Christmastime -1984 Chorus
Bring peace and joy this Christmas to West Africa- 2014-Seal
The Greatest Gift they'll get this year is life-1984-Chorus
A song of hope where there's no hope tonight -Ellie Goulding
Where nothing ever grows, no rain or rivers flow-1984 -Chorus
Why is comfort to be feared why is to touch to be scared Sinead O'Connor
Do they Know it's Christmastime at all? 1984-Chorus
How can they know its Christmas time at all?- 2014-Bono
Here's to You-1984-Glenn Gregory
Here's to You-2014-One Direction
Raise a glass for everyone-1984-Paul Young
Raise a glass to everyone 2014-Ollie Murs*
Here's to them-1984-Glen Gregory
Here's to them-2014-Bastille
Underneath that burning sun-Paul Young
And all there is to come- Sam Smith
Do they know it's Christmastime at all-Chorus
Can they know it's Christmas time at all- Rita Ora
Yeah, I'm a little obsessed with this song...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjQzJAKxTrE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w7jyVHocTk (WARNING- the first 15 seconds of this video is hard to watch.
*Not a clue who these people are
FINALLY...
and I have to give a shout to my pal Mike Macchi for this one. Every year between 1963 and 1969, the Beatles recorded a Christmas song that was sent exclusively to members of their fan club. Can you imagine how many records they would have to send out today if they were so inclined? Their fans have to total in the billions.
Anyhoo, the one I'm posting here is from 1967. Why this is of particular interest to me is that it also served as the B-Side to 1995's Free as a Bird, the John Lennon demo the remaining three Beatles took and made into a Beatles song for the Anthology series. I knew Santa Claus was going to bring me the CD, Beatles Anthology One, so I went out and bought the Free as a Bird single cassette, with Christmas Time is Here Again as the B-Side.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovX5bcIxTQ8
Thanks for indulging my craziness...
Merry Christmas!
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Weekly Mail December 17, 2017
Hey:
So this will be the final regular Weekly Mail for the year, as the next three weeks will be specials. I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for reading this every week. This blog service records all the times the link was clicked on, and since September, many of my blog posts have had over 100 hits (my tribute to my father in law had 215 hits) The more eyeballs I get, the more I can charge my advertisers. And I pass those savings onto you. So please keep reading people!
TERRORISM: Bumbling Bomber
Last Monday, some wanna be ISIS nut tried to blow himself and several commuters up in the tunnel that connects the 7th Avenue subway with the 8th Avenue subway on 42nd Street. Like Jerry Seinfeld once noted, those who try to kill themselves and fail now have one more thing they can't do right to add to the list.
I don't mean to make light of suicide and if this guy had succeeded in his quest, this would be a very different post. But all he did was screw up the morning commute for many, and not even that badly at that. The cops and first responders did their usual outstanding job and life went on. I do shutter to think what would have happened if this creep was able to do what he set out to, but luckily he wasn't. Idiot.
MEDIA: Francesa says Goodbye
A few years ago, my mom bought me a book called Fraternity: A Journey in Search of 5 Presidents. The author, Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene set out to talk to all the ex-Presidents who were alive at the time. His first interview was with Richard Nixon.
Greene said as he was leaving his meeting with Nixon, he began to feel a weird sense of sentimentality, "as if I was saying goodbye to an uncle I never got along with, but now would probably never see again."
I kind of understand where he was coming from, because that's kind of how I felt listening these last few days to Mike Francesca's final shows. As much as the pompous blowhard pissed me off over the years, he's been one of the few constants in my life.
The first time I heard him, I was with my dad on a Saturday morning, listening to Francesa on a college football show on the FAN. I had never heard anybody on the radio who sounded like that. I almost thought it was a joke.
The original weekday lineup at the FAN was Greg Gumbel, Jim Lampley, Art Shamsky, Pete Franklin, Howie Rose and Steve Somers. Francesa and Ed Coleman would take over for Lampley when he moved to Los Angeles. With Eddie C, he was a pleasant listen, knowledgeable but low key.
When Franklin left in a contract dispute, the decision was made to team up Francesa with Chris Russo and call it Mike and the Mad Dog. That was September 5,1989. I was 16.
Now 28 years later, both Francesa and Russo are off the FAN. It's weird. How many media people can you say took you from your junior year of high school into your mid 40's?
That's why I'm feeling a touch sad.
To be sure, he got very hard to take these past few years. In an online interview on WFAN.com, Francesa was asked about Phil Mushnick, the NY Post columnist who has been one of his biggest critics. Francesa answered that they got along fine in the beginning, but about 20 years ago, things changed.
20 years ago, 1997, was when Bill Parcells took over the Jets. And that's where I felt Francesa began to become hard to take. He made no bones about his friendship with the Tuna, adopting a sort of "I know something you don't know attitude" towards the audience
From there he seemed to rely more on schtick than substance.
He had such a beef with Rex Ryan, that he suggested that the Steelers let the Jets back into the AFC Championship game on purpose in 2011. That sticks out as the stupidest thing I ever heard him say. I'm sure I could come up with others. Oh, here's one... When Russo left to get his own station on Sirrius/XM, Francesa claimed someone told him it was like when the Beatles broke up. WHAT?!
Yes he was as the great Ed (Auggie) DePuy would say, a legend in his own behind, but doing anything for 30 years is an accomplishment. And I've been listening to him, from high school, through college to all the jobs I've had. It's going to be weird not hearing him on the FAN anymore.
And yeah, a bit sad.
POLITICS: Roll tide!
No, I am not changing my tune and rooting for that scumbag Nick Saban. I hope the Bill Bellichik of college football gets destroyed on New Year's Day.
I'm talking about the big thank you we all owe Alabama for not putting that slime-ball Roy Moore into the US Senate.
I don't know if he really did try to pick up girls at 8th grade dances, but too many accusations came out for it to be just a coincidence. There were just too many question marks with this dude. Surely, there had to be some Republican in Alabama with less questionable character.
And his wife didn't help matters any, when she said that her husband couldn't possibly be an anti-semite, "because one of our lawyers is a Jew."
Well, then....
I once heard a comedian (I don't think it was Jeff Foxworthy, I think it may have been Kinky Friedman) say that a redneck can turn the word "Jew" into a 10 syllable word. Well, that's what Mrs. Moore did last week. If Moore's fate wasn't sealed before that, that probably did it.
Anyway, thank you Alabama.
And speaking of disrespecting the Jewish people, I sincerely apologize for not wishing my Jewish friends a Happy Hanukkah on this page last week. A Happy and a Healthy to all who celebrate.
Christmas Eve Special next week. It's been a bit slow going, so I shouldn't hype it up too much. Hopefully I can pull it off in the next few days.
Have a Great Week!
Sunday, December 10, 2017
Weekly Mail December 10, 2017
Hey:
So on Saturday, I had to battle the weather, the tourists and SantaCon to get into the city. If there is one thing I don't need it's a snowstorm in December. Let Bing Crosby have his White Christmas, I'lltake mine snow free thank you very much.
Sorry to be a grouch. As Karl (the Ace) Ludwig pointed out to me last year, if they had SantaCon back in my day, I'd have been the first guy in the city with a Santa hat looking for fun. But at this point, I just want to get a seat on the train.
And the lousy weather didn't keep the gawkers off the streets of Manhattan either. Neither snow, or rain, or sleet stays these tourists from clogging up our sidewalks.
Tis the season.
Unto the week that was...
POLITICS: RIP John Anderson
So I mentioned earlier this week that I would write more about John Anderson, a third party Presidential Candidate who died last week at age 95.
Anderson ran against Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan in November 1980. A few days before the election, my second grade teacher, Miss Armstrong, gave out paper ballots. We were to check off who we wanted to be President.
It's 37 years later folks, and I can remember as if it was yesterday the results as Miss Armstrong wrote them on the board...
Reagan 17
Carter 15
Anderson 2.
And of course since I opened by big mouth and told everyone I voted for Anderson, I was the one who got his balls broken.
I wish I could sit here and tell you that I voted for him because I agreed with his platform or that like I did last year, I voted for him out of contempt for the other two candidates. The truth of the matter was, to me, he just LOOKED like what a President should look like. He had white hair and wore thick framed glasses, if you were casting for President, he'd be perfect.
Of course nowadays, that kind of thinking would get you labeled a close minded racist. But WTF, I was 7 years old, oh and BTW, I was probably the only one in that class who could name in order all 39 (at the time) Presidents, so maybe instead of laughing, y'all should have listened to me. (and you know who you are)
For the record, Anderson was a liberal leaning Republican who supported the Equal Rights Amendment, was pro choice and in 1968 played a large role in getting the Fair Housing Act passed in Congress.
Here's the Washington Post obit...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/john-b-anderson-fiery-third-party-candidate-in-1980-presidential-race-dies-at-95/2017/12/04/dd25dfda-d92a-11e7-b1a8-62589434a581_story.html?tid=a_inl&utm_term=.8c3547a7c788
BASEBALL: Hey we can all go back to hating the Yankees now!
My first thought on hearing the rumors that the Yankees and Marlins were in the process of completing a deal that would send Giancarlo Stanton to the Bronx was something my father in law used to tell me.
Back in the 50's and 60's they used to joke that the Kansas City Athletics (now the Oakland A's) were like a Yankee farm team. Roger Maris, Clete Boyer, Ralph Terry, and Hector Lopez were amongst the stars the Yankees were able to acquire from Kansas City for either cash or washed up players.
And now with Derek Jeter in charge of the Marlins, it appears they have become the modern day Kansas City Athletics.
I mean are you kidding me with this $h-t? One of the best hitters in the game in exchange for Starlin Castro and some prospects?
I hate the way the Marlins do business. I understand having to tear it down every once in a while to rebuild, but the way they do it is just obnoxious. I understand that the Mets were the beneficiaries of previous Marlins fire sales, but it doesn't make it right.
I'm not one for contracting teams, but there are two franchises in sports I think should be either contracted or moved. One is the Arizona Coyotes in the NHL and the Marlins are the other. Two horribly run franchises in cities that don't support them. Hockey in the desert should speak for itself, but baseball in 95 degree heat was 100% humidity is equally dumb. I know the Marlins now play in a roofed stadium but still they don't draw.
They are a joke. They need to go away.
RELIGION: Pope messin with The Lord's Prayer?
In an interview with Italian television last week, Pope Francis said that the line in the Lord's Prayer "Lead us not into temptation" can be misconstrued to imply that God could or would lead us into temptation if we don't explicitly ask Him not too.
“It is not He that pushes me into temptation and then sees how I fall,” the Pope said late Wednesday. “A father does not do this. A father quickly helps those who are provoked into Satan's temptation.”
He has a point and far be it for me to argue with the head honcho, but I'm still having trouble with the changes the church made to the mass several years back. I still need the missalette for some of the prayers and responses. I really would rather not have to relearn a prayer I've been saying for close to 40 years now. I've got enough on my plate as it is. Let's leave this one alone, shall we?
One more post next week, then the Christmas Eve Special and then we do our year in review.
Have a Great Week
Sunday, December 3, 2017
Weekly Mail December 3 2017
Hey There:
We've just about made it to the end of 2017, a year I have to say I won't be sorry to wave goodbye to. On a programming note, I'm hoping to have two more regular posts, a Christmas Eve special, and our annual Year in Review for 12/31 and 1/7. At least that's the plan.
Let's get to it shall we.....
BENCHED (Part One) Matt Lauer:
FLASHBACK (From last week)
First of all, I don't get it with Matt Lauer. He's not particularly handsome or funny or much of anything, yet he's like the highest paid person on TV. I literally sit there and say to myself, "I could do what he does, and do it for a lot less money." And trust me, I'm not so arrogant as to think I can do any job on TV better, but his I could definitely do.
So as my dad pointed out to me this week, someone at NBC must have been listening to me, because just a mere 3 days after I posted the above words, Today show host Matt Lauer was given the boot by the network. The fact that he was not only untalented but also a perverted creep to boot made his ascent to the top of the TV world even more baffling than it already was.
I'm not going to rehash all the icky things he was alleged to have done, but rather I'd like to focus on possible replacements. As I have previously said, I'd take the gig if offered and I'd do it for half the money. But I'm guessing that's not going to happen, so I'll move on and offer these two alternatives.
1) Ann Curry- Why not give her another shot. Maybe with Lauer out of the picture, maybe her true colors could come shining through. Already a respected journalist, a more relaxed Curry could make the most of a second shot at the big time. Plus it would be the ultimate middle finger to Lauer, to be replaced by the woman whom he helped ouster a few years back.
I'm not nearly the first person to come up with that one, but here's someone I hadn't heard anyone mention,,,
2) Brian Williams- With all these dudes being outed for various inappropriate behavior, isn't time to forgive and forget with Lyin' Brian? I mean, telling everyone you were shot at in a helicopter while in Iraq doesn't seem so bad when you've got Lauer using his NBC office as his own personal brothel. As long as Williams managed to keep his hands to himself and his workplace manor appropriate, I think he deserves a shot at redemption.
BENCHED (Part Two) Eli Manning:
In his Sunday NY Post column, Phil Mushnick asked rhetorically, "If Eli Manning started Sunday and had his knee wrecked, how many would say 'With a 2-9 team going nowhere, why was he even in there?'"
Think about it, the Giants have no offensive line and all their receivers are hurt. I would think by putting Eli on the bench, they are kind of doing him a favor. Let Geno Smith get his a$$ kicked.
I remember when Ray Handley gave the Giants starting job to Jeff Hostettler over Phil Simms. Everybody was up in arms about that too. They dismissed his reasoning, that two of the Giants best offensive linemen had held out of training camp, and Hostettler was more mobile than Simms. No, Handley was a moron who disgraced Phil Simms.
The problem isn't the decision, it's the way it was handled. Just like with Handley, Ben McAdoo came off as a bumbling idiot. Instead of stating the obvious, that the Giants are a lost cause and there's no sense in watching Eli get destroyed back there, he said that it was his decision that Geno Smith is the Giants best option to win. That he wanted to see what he has with Geno Smith and rookie QB Davis Webb. We all know what he has in Geno Smith, a decent backup QB at best.
I like Eli Manning, I really do. He took a lot of abuse before he won those two Super Bowls. He could play on my team anytime. Maybe he'd be better off somewhere else, on a team a QB away from Super Bowl contention. Maybe Ben McAdoo will be left off the plane in Oakland. (That's the rumor as of press time.) I don't see what Eli has to gain by playing these last 4 games, but he deserves to have a say in it, however that shakes out.
Here's some Bar Room BS in honor of Eli...
http://barroombs.blogspot.com/2017/12/jet-qb.html
BTW The Jets won on Sunday. I don't know if that's good or bad, but as someone pointed out to me while I was wearing my Jet jacket the other day, "It's safer wearing that jacket in this town than a blue one."
And who would have predicted that in September?
That's all I got
Have a Great Week
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Weekly Mail November 26, 2017
Hey:
Hope your Thanksgiving was a good one.
We always put the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on, every Thanksgiving morning. I don't usually watch it that closely. I'm either reading the paper, or checking e-mail or something. Timmy will watch it for a few minutes but like me, will eventually find something else to occupy his time. We watch for the floats we like, and maybe a song or two, but otherwise it's quite boring.
For one thing, NBC's coverage is a joke. First of all, I don't get it with Matt Lauer. He's not particularly handsome or funny or much of anything, yet he's like the highest paid person on TV. I literally sit there and say to myself, "I could do what he does, and do it for a lot less money." And trust me, I'm not so arrogant as to think I can do any job on TV better, but his I could definitely do.
Secondly, I almost forgot how much the parade is actually a three hour infomercial for the network. And Lord knows NBC is far from the only network that's guilty of this, but holy $h-t, every time a cool float was being shown, they'd cut to that creep Al Roker shmoozing someone from one of NBC's shows. Sullivan Stapleton from Blindspot, Mike Vogel from The Brave, the guy who plays Kevin on This is Us etc. They spent more time humping NBC shows than showing what was going on in the parade.
They also decided to push the big hockey game they were showing on Friday between the Penguins and Bruins. Fair enough, you know I can never get enough hockey. But they put Raymond Bourque and Bryan Trottier on a float, with Trottier in a Penguin jersey, because let's face it, when you think of the Penguins, Trotts is the first player to come to mind. To add insult to injury, they put a graphic on TV with Bourque's name on Trottier and Trottier's name on Bourque.
Then this happened..
This was the Prairie View A&M University marching storm, or so they call themselves. And this particular dude decides to do this to the millions of families watching this over breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. I would have loved to hear the explanations parents were giving to their kids as to why this band member decided to make it look like he was using his instrument, on his, well, instrument.
Unfortunately, you have two choices, wake up early and go out in the cold and watch the parade live, or sit at home and be held hostage by NBC's crappy coverage. If it were up to me, I'd sleep in. Wake me up when the lousy football games start.
And BTW, could they have picked three worse games to show? The Lions who are usually putrid are actually having a decent year, but played like they usually do on Thanksgiving, which is to say like crap. The Cowboys, sans Ezikiel Elliot got destroyed by the Chargers, and of course our Giants continued their losing ways with another putrid game against Washington.
Believe it or not, that was actually the fun part of this week's rant. Here now the obituaries...
Charles Manson- With the long overdue death of one of our nation's most notorious criminals, came the replaying and retelling of the gruesome crimes he perpetrated.
And to me, the scariest aspect of the whole sordid tale, wasn't Manson himself. It was the women he had carry out those murders.
All the major news websites posted pictures of the young (at the time) ladies as they were being led to the courtroom, and they were smiling and laughing as if they were on their way to the beach. And they looked, well, normal! Manson had those bug eyes and the long hair and he just looked like a homicidal monster. Those women didn't look like killers at all. And that's what made them so scary to me. Those are the images that would have kept me awake if I was alive back then.
Most of those psycho bitc-es are still in jail. One of them died in prison a few years ago. Another was apparently granted parole, but that decision is being reviewed by California governor Jerry Brown. Here's hoping Governor Moonbeam keeps his senses and overrules the courts. Lock 'em up and throw away the key.
David Cassidy- It's rare that someone who is at one time insanely famous and popular falls hard on their face and that I find myself feeling really bad for them. But such is the case upon hearing that David Cassidy was knock knock knockin on heaven's door last weekend.
When I was in 7th grade, my teacher gave us a handout of some sort and told us not to lose it, suggesting we put it up next to our poster of David Cassidy. We must have looked at him like he was nuts, because he said "When I was your age, every girl in my class had a David Cassidy poster." It was later on that summer when I was watching Partridge Family reruns on Channel 9 in the morning, that I saw who Cassidy was. (Watching my then 3 year old sister Katie scream "Happy!" whenever that egg appeared on the screen was an added treat)
When the Partridge Family was first on in the early 70's, David Cassidy had the world on a string. He played to sold out concerts all over the world, the overwhelming majority of the crowds being teenage girls. My 7th grade teacher wasn't fibbing, if you were a teenager in the early 70's chances are you were sweating David Cassidy.
But like most people who find fame early, Cassidy began to encounter problems. Unable to shake his teen idol status, he had a hard time finding more adult roles, both musically and in tv/film. This frustartion led him to bouts of drug and alcohol abuse, and the financial difficulties that those problems usually lead to.
It's just sad, maybe because I've been in a sad mood myself the past few weeks, but that's where I'm at with David Cassidy. I wonder if stronger management could have helped him. I mean even in the 80's and 90's he still looked much younger than his years, he could have made it as a singer or an actor. It just seems like such a waste. Even though he made it to 67 in a life where many people don't make it that far, he stills seems to have died young, doesn't it?
Just sad.
If you were keeping score at home, the first reported violence on Black Friday took place in Hoover, Alabama.
OK, here's some good news...
DRINKING: This Bud's for You (on Mars)
A report on Fox News.com (don't tune out just because it's Fox, people) says that Budweiser is planning on sending a shipment of barley to the International Space Station, where it will stay for a month in orbit before heading back to earth to be analyzed.
The ultimate goal according to Budweiser VP Ricardo Marques is to eventually brew Budweiser on Mars.
“Budweiser is always pushing the boundaries of innovation and we are inspired by the collective American Dream to get to Mars,” said Budweiser Vice President Ricardo Marques in a statement. “We are excited to begin our research to brew beer for the red planet.”
So there you go my friends. One day we may be spending the night before Thanksgiving on Mars. Pounding Buds. How about a Hat Party on Mars. Although I'm guessing the hats would have to be helmets. So we have that going for us.
Which is nice.
That's all I have to say. Salud!
and Have a Great Week
Sunday, November 19, 2017
Weekly Mail November 19, 2017
Hey:
It's Thanksgiving week. Which means the holiday season is upon us. The good (getting together with family and friends) the bad (24 hours of Christmas music) and the ugly (competitive shopping)
Buckle up!
In other news....
MEDIA: WFAN Unveils New Shows
With the pending departure of Mike Francesca and the arrest of Craig Carton, those of us who listen to WFAN (in spite of ourselves mostly) have been eagerly awaiting the decision as to who will replace the morning and afternoon blowhards.
Those decisions came down this week, Francesca will be replaced by Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray and Bart Scott. Carton will be replaced by Greg Giannotti.
Please try to contain your excitement.
Carlin is all right, to me no more talented than Joe Beningo, Evan Roberts or Steve Sommers. Joe and Evan probably should have been moved to afternoon drive, if truth be told. I don't know much about Gray, but all reviews on her have been positive so I'm willing to give her a chance. I would have preferred Kim Jones if the FAN was hell bent on a female perspective in afternoon drive, but she'd reportedly turned down the gig.
My beef with all this is with Bart Scott. Another ex football player getting his own show? WTF? I'm looking for less football talk on the FAN, not more.
I realize that the other ex-football player on the FAN, Boomer Esiason has been a success. But he pretty much forced his trade to the Jets in 1993 from the Bengals looking to hone his skills as a broadcaster in his post playing career. I also realize that Boomer can hold his own talking hoops, more than hold his own talking baseball, and let's face it, he's pretty much by default the FAN's hockey expert.
But Scott hasn't proven he can do any of that. His broadcast experience has been the NFL Today and that's about it. Is the FAN now going to be a 365 day a year football station? That will make it un-listenable.
Giannotti replacing Carton doesn't exactly quicken my pulse either, but I give the FAN props for not catering to the lowest common denominator with their selection. I always thought they were hypocrites, replacing Don Imus who was fired for insulting the Rutgers Women's Basketball Team, with a guy who every year had a "tournament of babes" on the FAN, who encouraged female fans to wear nothing but a team jersey to please their man (then have the women call and report about it). If that's what they were going to do, why not give Imus a 6 month RIP and bring him back? In any event, I didn't see anything wrong with the morning show just promoting Jerry Recco to full time co-host. Is he that much worse than Giannotti? I don't think so.
When the FAN was talking about auditioning the likes of Chris Christie to replace Francesca, I thought they were nuts, but I kind of like the fact they were thinking outside the box a bit. I'd almost would have rather had someone outside the sports world than someone who is strictly into one sport. Especially if that sport is football. Boomer and Carton was a successful show, which I know I didn't give much of a chance either. Maybe I'll be wrong about The Afternoon Drive with Carlin, Bart and Maggie too.
I just can't see it working.
POLITICS: Trump to the rescue!!!!!
Who said President Trump was useless?
Last week, he came to the rescue of three UCLA basketball players who were facing weeks of confinement in a Shanghai jail after being arrested for shoplifting. Our fearless leader asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to step in and have the three players released. Sure enough they were back on a plane to Los Angeles hours later. Crisis averted. Our hero!
All the $h-t going on in the world, people far more deserving of freedom, he gets these 3 knuckleheads sprung?
How stupid do you have to be to go to a foreign country, a communist country at that, and steal? One of the thieves was LiAngelo Ball, brother of Lonzo Ball of the Lakers and son of loudmouth LaVar Ball. Obviously this Ball has no brains They were caught stealing from Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Yves St. Laurent. How did they think they wouldn't be caught?
The latest development in this sorry story os that Trump is now saying he wishes he had left the three dopes in China because of Ball's father saying that Trump wasn't the reason his kid got sprung. Don't know what rump expected, LaVar Ball might be the one man in America who says more ridiculous crap than does the President.
As I mentioned on Facebook last weekend, if I were a college coach and I had to play a game in a foreign country, I'd make the in-flight movie Midnight Express. Show these spoiled bastards what can happen if you run afoul of the law in a foreign country.
I will spare you my annual rant about Black Friday. Unless you want to take a guess as to which city will report the first serious injury/death. Feel free to respond. Otherwise, and especially this year, make sure you tell someone you love how thankful you are for them in your life.
Happy Thanksgiving
and Have a Great Week
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Weekly Mail November 12, 2017
Hello:
First of all, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who wrote, called, clicked or otherwise reached out to send sympathies last week. As hard as these last few days have been, the outpouring we've received has been really heartwarming. And will be long remembered.
Onto the week that was...
TERRORISM:
On the afternoon of Halloween, a 29 year old terrorist drove a truck down a bicycle path downtown, killing 8 and injuring many others. Just under a week later, another terrorist walked into a church in Sutherland Springs Texas and killed 26 people.
2 terrorist attacks within days of each other. One with a truck, one with an automatic rifle.
They weren't connected. Technically.
But they were. In this sense. Because they brought out the ugliness that we are capable of.
The NRA pointed out that the terror attack in NYC was committed by a guy driving a Home Depot truck, so lets ban trucks or Home Depot? They also pointed out that the creep who shot up the church was in turn shot by an armed citizen. Surely he would have gotten away if that guy didn't have rifle on the rack of his truck.
The anti-gun people said that it took far less time for the church shooter to cause his carnage than it did the truck driver, and that while 1 death is too many, 8 dead compared to 26 should tell you all you need to know. Some even went to so far to accuse the pro gun people of racism. I saw one person write that when a foreigner kills people (the truck driver was from Uzbekistan) we demand walls and border security, but when a white guy kills people, we offer thoughts and prayers.
Meanwhile nothing gets done. I'm sick of the carnage, more importantly, I'm sick of the rhetoric.
Because the rhetoric is what's tearing the country apart. I feel like if I listen to these yahoos enough, I should be choosing a side. Which of the bad guys do you root for? If your with the NRA, you have the church shooter, if your anti gun, the truck driver is your guy.
Does that sound sick to you? It should, and to most right minded people, it is.
Yet that's what we are being fed here. Once again the extremists on both sides are controlling the argument, while the majority of us in the middle suffer the consequences.
It never ends man, it never ends.
ELECTIONS: The Quietest Landslide
The night Barack Obama defeated John McCain in 2008, the people in the apartment next to me audibly cheered, nearly waking up my then 2 month old son. I looked out the window onto York Avenue and saw people hugging and high fiving. The next day at work, people were giddy. I was none of the above, but I got it. It was exciting.
Thing is, Obama won the popular vote with a percentage of 53% of the vote. A clear win, to be sure. But not a landslide by any stretch.
Last Tuesday, Bill deBlasio was re-elected mayor of New York City. The Dope from Park Slope captured nearly 67% of the vote, clobbering Republican candidate Nicole Malliotakis by over 400,000 votes. And yet, for a guy who supposedly had 2/3 of the electorate vote for him, I have yet to meet one person who has copped to doing so.
It's the strangest thing.... Not one person went on any of my social media and said Thank God we got him re-elected. I either had my fellow right wingers screaming their heads off like that poor thing in Washington DC did the day Trump got sworn in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh1Pj8HyWhk.
Or my left wing friends maintaining radio silence or even bashing TDFPS. I'm not exaggerating here, I didn't hear anybody say they were happy about this.
Now there were some good theories going around. One of my political experts suggested that DeBlasio's critics are actually folks like myself who commute to the city for work, but actually live outside the city (Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester etc.) I'll buy that to an extent, but I still have plenty of friends in the boroughs, of all races and creeds, and I'm telling you not one of them told me they voted for DeBlasio. Look, it's none of my damn bidness who anybody voted for. I'm not looking for you to spill your innermost secrets, but the next person who tells me they voted that big doofus back for another 4 years, will be the first person to do so.
FYI: Out here in Nassau county, I actually voted for someone who won, believe it or not. Laura Curran was elected Nassau's first female county executive and although WM's policy is usually to bash the person I didn't vote for, I will admit I voted for Curran. I will also tell you I would have had no issue in NYC voting for Malliotakis, so anybody who thinks I didn't vote for Hillary Clinton last year because she's a female can take it and tuck it.
AVIATION (Sad News): RIP Roy Halladay
Former Blue Jay and Phillie star pitcher Roy Halliday died last week when a single passenger plane he was piloting crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. Halliday left behind a wife and two young kids. One of the premier pitchers of the early 21st century, Halliday is the only other pitcher besides Don Larsen to throw a post season no-hitter (Larsen's was in the World Series).
Two idiot shock jocks in Boston took Halladay to task for "screwing around in his toy plane" and called him a moron and a jackass, and said he deserved what he got.
I don't necessarily disagree that Halladay was reckless and maybe should have considered taking up a less dangerous hobby. I've read that the plane he was flying was considered quite risky. But to call the poor guy names just hours after his death is simply classless.
AVIATION (Fun News): Mile High Heater
A 48 year old woman and a 28 year old man were arrested and received citations after they were caught, well, I'm trying to put this in a way that I don't get in trouble.. aw the hell with it, the 48 year old was blowing the 28 year old.
The in flight hummer took place on a Los Angeles to Detroit Delta flight on October 29. Officials say the two were total strangers before the flight. So I guess that's one way to make friends.
According to the Detroit Free Press, while the highly intoxicated woman was going to town on this dude, who probably thought he should have played the lottery before he left LA, another man was sleeping in the seat next to them.
Apparently he was the only person to miss the show, as several passengers did see it and complained to the flight crew. One witness told the Detroit Metro Police that he approached the two and "witnessed the lady in the man's lap performing felatio...they had a blanket partially covering the act. I asked for boarding cards and names."I don't know if this witness was on the flight crew, but if it was just some random passenger, I would told him to get lost.
Then again, I wouldn't be getting paid on a plane either.
This ended up being investigated by the FBI, but no charges were filed. The woman apparently is banned from flying Delta again. It's too bad Donald Trump's airline went belly up, along with many of his other businesses. She probably could have flown on that airline free for life.
Again, thank you so much for all your thoughts, prayers and good wishes. Please keep them coming.
And Have a Great Week
Sunday, November 5, 2017
Weekly Mail Special-Remembering a Legend
Hi Everyone
I've been hinting that I was pulling hard for the Yankees this post-season, but not really giving the reason.
Many of you already know, but for those who don't, my father in law, Tim Connors put up a brave fight against brain cancer this year. The battle sadly came to an end last week.
As I was sitting there with him, watching the Yankees through this playoff run, and seeing the Dodgers take care of business against the Cubs, my mind wandered back to probably the first World Series I remember watching. The last Yankee-Dodger World Series, 1981.
As an 8 year old New Yorker, I thought I was doing my civic duty by pulling for the Yankees despite my being a Met fan. Because I couldn't stay up to watch the end of the games (and come to think of it, I still can't) my father was kind enough to write YANKS WON on an index card, and stick it on my night stand so that it would be the first thing I saw when I got up in the morning.
The first two games at Yankee Stadium, I woke up, happy to see that YANKS WON index card on my nightstand. After Game 3 in Los Angeles the index card was nowhere to be found. Games 4 and 5 were weekend day games, (remember those?) so I knew they had lost.
I watched the first few innings of Game 6 back in the Bronx. When I went to bed, the Yankees were winning and Tommy John was cruising. I fully expected to wake up the next morning, see the index card and get ready for Game 7.
I looked everywhere the next morning.....on the nightstand, under my bed, under my pillow.. then I thought maybe the big guy forgot. I mean that had to be it right?
I then over heard on the radio that they had lost. A couple of years later, when I really began to understand the game, I learned about Bob Lemon's decision to take Tommy John out, and a cavalcade of Yankee relievers gave up 9 runs. (again sound familiar?)
Needless to say I was disappointed that they lost, and I remember asking my father if he was as upset as I was.
He shook his head no.
Well why not?
He explained that he was a Dodger fan as a kid, and that whenever the Dodgers and Yankees played in the World Series, he always rooted for the Dodgers. His favorite players were those 1960's Dodgers, Willie Davis, Maury Wills, Wes Parker. Besides the Mets, the Dodgers were his team.
Except in 1977 he said. That year I rooted for the Yankees. I wanted them to win for Raffy.
Raffy was my mom's father, my grandfather who died suddenly in July that year.
And so I found myself this year rooting hard for the Yankees, to honor my father in law the way my father did for his 40 years ago. To send Tim out with a championship.
But the truth of the matter is, Tim Connors didn't need any team to win. He was every bit a champion in his own right.
He was a champion as a kid, making the long commute from Woodside to the North Bronx, playing football and going to school at Mt. St Michael High School. And he was a champion as a student athlete at Hofstra University.
He was a champion and a hero when he served his country in Vietnam. Earning his country's third highest civilian honor, the Bronze Star, for an unimaginable act of bravery that saved his platoon from capture.
He was a champion to the young brokers and traders that he took under his wing on Wall Street. A kind and compassionate mentor in a business that is more known for being mean and unforgiving.
He was a champion when at an age that most people begin to retire, he went back to school and took classes and landed a job working with medical records. That took courage and a self confidence that we all should be so lucky to possess.
He was a champion because he was a devoted and faithful husband to my mother in law Joan. In this day and age, that is an amazing thing and as special an example of true love as you will find anywhere anytime.
He was a champion because along with Joan, he raised three beautiful, strong independednt daughters, Tara, Kerry and Megan. I'm very lucky to have a wife as incredible as Tara. And I owe that to Tim and Joan.
He was a champion in his favorite role of all, as a Grandfather. Pop, to the three lights of his life, Timmy, Connor and Finley. His love for them, and theirs for him is a thing of beauty.
He was my champion too. No question about it. I could have easily been Meathead to his Archie Bunker, Phil Dunphy to his Jay Pritchett. But he never made me feel that way. Not once ever.
For as firecely loyal and protective as he was of his girls, he was protective of me as well. I never felt that he wasn't in my corner. I can't express how much that love meant to me. I will carry that with me for as long as I live.
The outpouring of love that we saw this past week will also stay with me for a long time. Three words I heard more often than not were "larger than life." It's one of those phrases that is often abused, but in this case I can attest to it's accuracy. He touched so many people with his generousity, personality and his love. I'm so lucky I had a front row seat these past 13 years to all of that. I'm sorry I missed the years before, but I look forward to hearing the stories.
For now all I can say is thank you. As an American, thank you for serving and defending our nation. As a husband, thank you for raising my amazing Tara. As a son in law, thank you for your love and support. As a dad and uncle, thank you for being such a wonderful Pop.
You really were, really are larger than life.
Our champion.
Thank you so much to everyone who reached out during this awful time. Your continued prayers and good thoughts are always appreciated.
Have a Great Week
I've been hinting that I was pulling hard for the Yankees this post-season, but not really giving the reason.
Many of you already know, but for those who don't, my father in law, Tim Connors put up a brave fight against brain cancer this year. The battle sadly came to an end last week.
As I was sitting there with him, watching the Yankees through this playoff run, and seeing the Dodgers take care of business against the Cubs, my mind wandered back to probably the first World Series I remember watching. The last Yankee-Dodger World Series, 1981.
As an 8 year old New Yorker, I thought I was doing my civic duty by pulling for the Yankees despite my being a Met fan. Because I couldn't stay up to watch the end of the games (and come to think of it, I still can't) my father was kind enough to write YANKS WON on an index card, and stick it on my night stand so that it would be the first thing I saw when I got up in the morning.
The first two games at Yankee Stadium, I woke up, happy to see that YANKS WON index card on my nightstand. After Game 3 in Los Angeles the index card was nowhere to be found. Games 4 and 5 were weekend day games, (remember those?) so I knew they had lost.
I watched the first few innings of Game 6 back in the Bronx. When I went to bed, the Yankees were winning and Tommy John was cruising. I fully expected to wake up the next morning, see the index card and get ready for Game 7.
I looked everywhere the next morning.....on the nightstand, under my bed, under my pillow.. then I thought maybe the big guy forgot. I mean that had to be it right?
I then over heard on the radio that they had lost. A couple of years later, when I really began to understand the game, I learned about Bob Lemon's decision to take Tommy John out, and a cavalcade of Yankee relievers gave up 9 runs. (again sound familiar?)
Needless to say I was disappointed that they lost, and I remember asking my father if he was as upset as I was.
He shook his head no.
Well why not?
He explained that he was a Dodger fan as a kid, and that whenever the Dodgers and Yankees played in the World Series, he always rooted for the Dodgers. His favorite players were those 1960's Dodgers, Willie Davis, Maury Wills, Wes Parker. Besides the Mets, the Dodgers were his team.
Except in 1977 he said. That year I rooted for the Yankees. I wanted them to win for Raffy.
Raffy was my mom's father, my grandfather who died suddenly in July that year.
And so I found myself this year rooting hard for the Yankees, to honor my father in law the way my father did for his 40 years ago. To send Tim out with a championship.
But the truth of the matter is, Tim Connors didn't need any team to win. He was every bit a champion in his own right.
He was a champion as a kid, making the long commute from Woodside to the North Bronx, playing football and going to school at Mt. St Michael High School. And he was a champion as a student athlete at Hofstra University.
He was a champion and a hero when he served his country in Vietnam. Earning his country's third highest civilian honor, the Bronze Star, for an unimaginable act of bravery that saved his platoon from capture.
He was a champion to the young brokers and traders that he took under his wing on Wall Street. A kind and compassionate mentor in a business that is more known for being mean and unforgiving.
He was a champion when at an age that most people begin to retire, he went back to school and took classes and landed a job working with medical records. That took courage and a self confidence that we all should be so lucky to possess.
He was a champion because he was a devoted and faithful husband to my mother in law Joan. In this day and age, that is an amazing thing and as special an example of true love as you will find anywhere anytime.
He was a champion because along with Joan, he raised three beautiful, strong independednt daughters, Tara, Kerry and Megan. I'm very lucky to have a wife as incredible as Tara. And I owe that to Tim and Joan.
He was a champion in his favorite role of all, as a Grandfather. Pop, to the three lights of his life, Timmy, Connor and Finley. His love for them, and theirs for him is a thing of beauty.
He was my champion too. No question about it. I could have easily been Meathead to his Archie Bunker, Phil Dunphy to his Jay Pritchett. But he never made me feel that way. Not once ever.
For as firecely loyal and protective as he was of his girls, he was protective of me as well. I never felt that he wasn't in my corner. I can't express how much that love meant to me. I will carry that with me for as long as I live.
The outpouring of love that we saw this past week will also stay with me for a long time. Three words I heard more often than not were "larger than life." It's one of those phrases that is often abused, but in this case I can attest to it's accuracy. He touched so many people with his generousity, personality and his love. I'm so lucky I had a front row seat these past 13 years to all of that. I'm sorry I missed the years before, but I look forward to hearing the stories.
For now all I can say is thank you. As an American, thank you for serving and defending our nation. As a husband, thank you for raising my amazing Tara. As a son in law, thank you for your love and support. As a dad and uncle, thank you for being such a wonderful Pop.
You really were, really are larger than life.
Our champion.
Thank you so much to everyone who reached out during this awful time. Your continued prayers and good thoughts are always appreciated.
Have a Great Week
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Weekly Mail October 29, 2017
Hey:
I signed Timmy up for the Cub Scouts.
I was in the Cub Scouts for a couple of years as a kid, and it was fun, but I used to run around the St. Mary's cafteria during pack nights, and my dad said if I was going to do all that running around, I might as well do it playing basketball. So after 4th grade or so, no more Cub Scouts.
But the den leader of Timmy's pack is one of my JPaul's drinking buddies, so Timmy said he wanted to give it a shot and so far it's been awesome. This last meeting he used a pocketknife to make a wooden boat that he got to race on Saturday afternoon. He won a couple of races but didn't qualify for the finals. He was bummed (he takes losses only slightly better than I do) but he still had a blast.
SUPERSTORM SANDY: 5 YEARS LATER:
Whenever a major event happens, as a news junkie, I watch all the anniversary retrospectives. 9/11, Oklahoma City, The Challenger explosion etc. The good stuff too, the moon landing, the 1980 Olympic hockey team, I love hearing the stories.
But I remember on October 29, 2013, making a conscious effort not to watch all the Super Storm Sandy 1 year later specials. The wounds were too raw, the memories still fresh.
Now it's 5 years later, and you know what? I still can't.
I realize that earlier this year, I complained about folks who compared unpleasantness in life to 9/11. 3,000 people died that day, hundreds more severely injured. It wouldn't be fair to compare the two.
But I have to admit, Sandy affected me more adversely.
I was angry and scared after 9/11. but also proud. Proud of my country, proud of my city. 9/11 was perpetrated by an enemy I knew we would go after and take out.
Superstorm Sandy was Mother Nature. Nothing to do but try to dig out and recover.
I remember walking down Long Beach Road about 5:30 the next evening and it looked like a black and white photo. It was so bleak. And I had no way of knowing that things were so much worse in other places, like Rockaway.
It was an awful time.
I try to remember the good. The friends and family who helped out. I remember DiCoCo's across the street from us, had a generator and had their oven working. It was the only place we could get a hot meal. We took their last two baked ziti's and ate by candlelight.
But more often it's the other stuff I remember. The utter incompetency of the Red Cross. The infighting between the politicians. I see houses that were never rebuilt. Stores that never reopened.
It still burns me.
The only Superstorm Sandy special I watched one year after was Bar Rescue. The special they did with Bungalow Bar. Having seen several other episodes of Bar Rescue since then, I can truly appreciate how Jon Taffer and his crew held Dee, Terrance, Martin, Sean and Ryan in such high regard. That show was everything that was right about the recovery effort.
But the rest of it sucked. I pray for many things. Never having to go through that again is on top of my prayer list.
SEXUAL HARRASSMENT: Former Horndog in Chief and America's sweetheart
Now if you read the first part of the above sentence, and your muscle memory directed your brain directly to William Jefferson Clinton, I think you could be forgiven. However I'm referring to Bubba's predecessor, George HW Bush or as I like to call him Bush 41.
Three different women came out this past week and accused Bush of grabbing their a$$es while saying that his favorite magician was David (get ready for this) Cop-a-feel. (get it?)
Bush is 93 years old, wheelchair bound and suffering from Parkinsons. He spokesperson issued an apology on his behalf.
Also this week, daytime talk show host Ellen Degeneres caught some heat because she sent a tweet out for Katy Perry's birthday encouraging the singer to "bring out the big balloons" attached to a picture of Ellen oogling Perry's boobs.
The uproar with that of course is that if oh lets say Jimmy Fallon did that, there would be hell to pay.
I think we need some perspective here.
Bush was wrong to do what he did. He is a former President, who by the way, ran on a "family values" platform. But at 93 and wheelchair bound, I don't consider this sexual assault. Those comparing him to Harvey Weinstein need to take a chill pill. Weinstein used his power to try to get laid, putting up and coming young stars in an awful position. Weinstein should be in jail for what he did.
Bush? He should knock it off, try to find a different way to put people at ease. But I don't think this is harassment or assault.
As far as Ellen goes, yes, there would be more heat if a male posted that, but again lets take Ellen's body of work and her job into consideration here. She's a comedian and sometimes comedians go over the line. She's also someone who doesn't generally go for the lowbrow laugh, or the cheap laugh at the expense of someone's shortcomings. She's one of the good people.
I'm not a woman obviously, so if I come off as insensitive, I'm sorry. I know I can't tell people what should and shouldn't offend them. I just feel like reasonable people can look at these incidents and not lose their minds. That we can separate legitimate evil behavior from simple not appropriate behavior
BASEBALL: HELLO MICKEY AND GOODBYE JOE:
My initial reaction to the news that the Mets hired Indians pitching coach Mickey Calloway to be their new skipper was that he must have come cheap. It was looking like hitting coach Kevin Long had the inside track on the job. Calloway sort of came out nowhere.
But I'm kind of glad the Mets went outside the box on this one. He's done a nice job with the Indians staff. He's come highly recommended from Terry Francona, and he seems like a guy you can get behind. Very positive. Of course if the Mets don't get a few new players, and keep the ones they have healthy, it won't matter whose managing the team. I'm curious to see who they hire as a trainer.
Now what the Yankees did this week has me somewhat baffled. Joe Girardi just led these guys to within a game of the World Series, why fire him now? Why not the last two years when they didn't even make the playoffs? They're saying they wanted to wait till his contract ran out. What? Now the Yanks are worried about money? Since when?
Apparently Girardi and GM Brian Cashman weren't seeing eye to eye, and some players, notably Mark Texiera said that Girardi's intensity turned off some of the players.
I don't know. from where I'm sitting, Girardi took a team that was supposed to be a year or two away and led them on a deep playoff run. I'm not saying that the next Yankee manager won't have success, shoot he'd better. I just don't think you mess with a good thing.
In honor of Joe Girardi, here is some Bar Room BS. http://barroombs.blogspot.com/2017/10/25-years-of-yankee-managers.html
I have a feeling the next coaching change I'm going to be writing about is with the Rangers. Stay tuned.
Stay Dry
and Have a Great Week
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Weekly Mail, October 22, 2017
Hey:
Hope everyone enjoyed this beautiful (weatherwise) weekend. For Yankee fans, all I can say is, I feel your pain.
Anyway onto the week that was...
POLITICS: Trump's lack of decorum
When I first heard about President Trump telling a fallen soldier's widow that he "Knew what he signed up for" I was as offended as anybody else. As I thought about it though, I allowed myself to think for a split second that maybe it wasn't all that bad.
After all, what makes the soldier special, or the fireman, or the cop, is that what they sign up for is putting their lives on the line so that the rest of us can be safe. The soldier who defends our nation, the firefighter who goes into a burning building, the police officer who goes after the criminals, they know what they signed up for. And they do it anyway.
I couldn't do it. Some of you could. Some of you do. And as always I thank you for what you do.
But of course this is Donald Trump we are talking about here. The same guy who belittled John McCain's POW status, who told the family of another fallen hero that "he made sacrifices too", who made taking care of our vets usually the second of third item on a list of priorities he campaigned on and yet, I haven't seen one bill, or executive order giving our vets one cent more in compensation, and well, the benefit of the doubt I considered giving him goes out the door.
According to Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D-FL) Trump didn't even bother to remember the hero's name, referring to Sgt. La David Thompson as "your guy" to his grieving widow.
I could fill these pages with all the lousy stuff the President and his staff has done. I try to avoid it because 1) You can't open a newspaper, magazine or turn on the TV and the radio without it slamming you in the face, and I'd like this to be a place to get away from all that stuff. 2) I have a natural tendency to look at a story from multiple angles, and to try to see where the person was coming from, especially if it is the President of the United States. I did it with Bush 43, I did it with Obama, and yes, as much as I didn't like her, I'd have done it with Hillary too.
But with Trump, it's become almost impossible. Yeah, I still think the media leans left, I'll always think that. But there's leaning left and the fake news that he squawks about and I'm sorry that doesn't exist.
I still want to judge President Trump on a case by case basis, but as these shenanigans keep adding up, how are we supposed to do that?
BASEBALL: The Yankees lose
I was really hoping for a Yankees Dodgers World Series, for some reasons I can't get into now, but also for the pageantry and the history between the two franchises. The Yanks and Dodgers played in 7 World Series when the Dodgers were in Brooklyn, the Yanks winning all but one. They played 4 more times since the Dodgers moved west, the teams winning 2 each. The 1977, 78, and 81 World Series contained enough drama both on and off the field, to be the stuff of legends.
Since there is nobody on either team with the baggage and dramatics of Reggie, Billy and George, chances are we would have just gotten good old fashioned baseball.
Instead we now have the Astros and the Dodgers, which still to me seems like it should be an NLCS.
After the Yankees swept all three games at the Stadium, I figured they would have a tough time in Houston against Justin Verlander, but I thought they could get some stick against Charlie Morton. I wouldn't have bet on a shutout. Not at all
I suppose the right thing to do is pull for Houston after all they have been through as a city. And Lord knows, I can't stand that mutt Justin Turner, but I'd like to see the Dodgers win it all.
Two years ago, I watched the Mets sweep the Cubs to make it to a World Series nobody in their right mind would have predicted in the beginning of that season. As much as it pained me to see the Yankees having an unexpected great season, while the Mets season went down the crapper early and unexpectedly, I really did enjoy watching them win these playoff games. A couple of years from now, I may be in therapy, asking a shrink what the hell I was thinking pulling for the Yankees when all I want them to do is lose because they are so damn good.
But that's down the road. For now, I'm sorry they didn't make it to the show. I have no interest in Houston vs. LA.
Yankee fans hold your heads high.
And lets hope both the Mets and Yankees are good next year so we can go back to hating each other again.
FOOTBALL: More Grief
I'm still fuming over last week's brainless call in the Jets-Patriots game. Tony Corrente, the moron ref who made the call, said it was obvious. I still can't believe the NFL is not investigating to see if Corrente is on the take.
But what's done is done.
Where I really got screwed was on Monday night.
I still do my dad's football pool and I allowed myself to get roped into a fantasy league with my sisters and cousins-in-law. In the fantasy league I've won my first three games and dropped the next three. Consistently inconsistent.
On Monday night, one player cost me in both my pool and my fantasy league.
Miracle of miracles, I was in a tie for first in the pool going into Monday night's Colts-Titans game. I had the Colts and the other guy had the Titans.
Meanwhile I had a 10 point lead going into the Monday night game in my fantasy league, despite the fact that my QB Aaron Rodgers had bitten the dust early in the Packers Sunday game with the Vikings, breaking his collarbone, ending his season.
So while the Yankees were beating the Astros, I was keeping an eye on the MNF game, which I haven't watched in years. And for a while I was doing well; the Colts were hanging in there against the Titans, and while my opponent was starting to creep up on me in the other league, I was still leading.
But in the last play of the game, Titans running back Derrick Henry ran for a 72 yard TD. Every 10 yards is a point and a TD is 6 points so my 10 point lead was now a 3 point loss, not to mention icing my loss in the pool.
So I've decided if I lose in my fantasy league this weekend, I'm pulling a Sandy Alderson and having a fire sale. My QB and feature RB are both done for the season, so whatever good players I have left I'm either going to trade or drop. I pulled this stunt once in the fantasy baseball league I was in with Karl (the Ace) Ludwig and Ray, and I received an official reprimand from the league commissioner.*
But I need to get back to enjoying my Sundays with the family and not stewing over football.
Some Bar Room B.S. http://barroombs.blogspot.com/2017/10/if-wildcard-was-around-in-80s.html
That’s all folks
Have a Great Week
*who happened to be the Ace
Sunday, October 15, 2017
Weekly Mail October 15,2017
Hey:
OK, so if you read this blog you know that I have tried to stay away from watching NFL football,for a variety of reasons, but mainly because I want to spend more time with Timmy and Tara and not glued to the TV all day Sunday.
Well, Timmy had a playdate and Tara and her mom went out for a bit. so I stayed with my father in law and watched the Jet-Patriots game with him. And 3 hours later, remembered why I hate the NFL so much.
The Jets jumped out to a 14-0 lead that anyone with half a brain knew wasn't going to last against Tom Brady. Sure as hell, it was 14-14 at halftime, with a second half blowout on tap.
But hold the fort..
The Patriots scored an TD and a FG, and after their FG, the Jets drove down the field and scored what was a very apparent TD.
As CBS was coming back from commercial where I assumed the Jets would be kicking the extra point,. I heard the referee saying that after reviewing the play, it was determined that the receiver fumbled the ball out of the end zone, so not only was there no TD, the Patriots were getting the ball at the 20!
What the hell?
The receiver never lost possession of the ball. Ever. He may have bobbled it, but I didn't see that in the replay, nor did any of the commentators. Under no definition of the word was that a fumble.
I've been watching sports for a long time. That was without a doubt the worst call I have ever seen. The only call that I think was worse happened before I was born, the 1972 Olympic Men's basketball final between the US and the Soviet Union when the refs kept replaying the last three seconds of the game till the Soviets scored to win by a point. That's what this reminded me of.
I sometimes joke that the officiating is WWE worthy. What happened here looked like corruption. I truly believe someone or some people were on the take here. This could be a Tim Donaghy situation. I really believe that.
BTW: When our friends dropped Timmy off after his play date, the dad asked me how the Jets did, I told him not to read my Facebook page with all the F bombs I dropped, he might not let his daughter near Timmy or his psycho father again.
Good news was the Yankees won!!!
FLASHBACK: From WM's October 1 edition....
But before my Yankee fans friends get their knickers in a twist, let me also say that I believe the Yankees will win on Tuesday and I wouldn't be shocked if they found their way to the World Series. I think they are better than Boston, and Cleveland is due to falter. Houston has a really good team, but the Yankees played them tough this year. The Yankees had their period of sputtering, but are now playing as well as they have played all year. They could be peaking at the right time.
So all you people who like to break my chops every time I get something wrong better start giving me my props for getting something right.
Of course there are caveats to this whole thing.
1) I'll admit after the disastrous Game 2 in Cleveland, I had a tough time thinking the Yanks would come back. I never thought they'd knock Cory Kluber out of the box once never mind twice.
2) I also wouldn't have bet that the Yankees could have won with Aaron Judge doing his Dave Kingman impression. 14 strikeouts in 5 games is almost as impressive as 52 home runs as a rookie.
3) And let's hear it for CC Sabathia. He dominated the first three innings before he ran out of gas, but he struck out 9 guys in 4 1/3. Gutsy.
The ALCS now matches the Yanks with the Houston Astros who I still can't believe are playing in the American League. (Among my first acts as commissioner of baseball would be to put the Astros in the NL Central, the Brewers in the AL Central and the Royals in the AL West. but that's for another day.) Again this is a tall order for the Bronx Bombers, and once again they are down 2-0 after a pair of 2-1 heartbreaks in Houston, but you bet against them at your peril.
SPOILER ALERT -If you are a fan of CBS shows Kevin Can Wait, NCIS Los Angeles, Hawaii Five-O or Blue Bloods, and you haven't seen all the shows this season, please scroll to the stars to skip this story.
TELEVISION- WTF?
In the second to last episode of NCIS Los Angeles last season, agent Sam Hanna's (LL Cool J) wife Michelle (Aunjanue Ellis) was kidnapped in exchange for letting a terrorist out of jail. Michelle was locked in an almost airtight box and the team was unable to get to her before she died.
On the season premiere of Kevin Can Wait, Kevin Gable (Kevin James) opens a letter from the gym where his wife (Erinn Hayes) works out, saying they miss her. Kevin remarks that he misses her too, and we find out she's been dead for "almost a year"
On the season finale of Blue Bloods, members of a drug cartel that Danny Reagan (Donnie Wahlberg) put away got revenge by burning his house to the ground. Thankfully his wife Linda (Amy Carlson) and sons Jack and Sean (I just noticed that technically the Reagans named both of their sons John) survived. In the season premiere, Danny is strongly contemplating retirement, no doubt feeling guilty about the job costing him his house. Only to find out that in the meantime, Linda died in a helicopter crash.!
We seeing a trend here people? Maybe CBS should add a K at the end of it's name, CBSK Cold Blooded Spouse Killings.
The stunt that Blue Bloods pulled seemed to really smack of desperation. It's still a good show, but maybe getting a bit long in the tooth. Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck) has now been NYC Police commissioner for 9 TV years, that's longer than most administrations. He has buried his wife, one of his sons (killed by a fellow cop nonetheless) and now, a daughter in law. Nobody who goes through all that stuff, looks as good as he does at 72 years old.
As previously reported here in June, Hawaii Five-O got rid of two main cast members, Chin-Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim) and Kono Kalakaua (Grace Park). They replaced Kono with a hot new female cop Tani Rey* (Meaghan Rath), and another ex-navy SEAL Junior Reigns (Beulah Koale) to eventually replace Chin. At least they had the common decency not to kill them off. Kono is off fighting human trafficking and Chin is leading a Five-O type task force in San Francisco.
I don't really watch Kevin Can Wait, but killing off Hayes to bring in Lean Remini seemed a bit heartless and short sighted. And also brings up another pet peeve of mine..
What the hell is with bringing back all these old shows? Now I admit, I love Hawaii Five-O (a remake) and McGayver (same), but did we really need to bring back Will and Grace for crissakes? I didn't like that show to begin with. There was a reason Ameircan Idol bit the dust, and it wasn't because people were clamoring to watch it. They brought back Dallas a couple of years ago, so it stood to reason that Dynasty would make a comeback as well.
I realize that part of the issue is that with hundreds of channels on cable, plus Netflix, Hulu and Amazon,there are now more channels than shows to put on them. But it just seems to me like there is a total lack of imagination on TV nowadays.
*****************************END SPOILER ALERT********************************
I know I should be more riled up about Harvey Weinstein than I am, but to me it's just another Hollywood sleazeball doing what Hollywood sleazeballs do.
As mad as I am about the Jets game, there were no hurricanes, mass shootings, or beloved music icons dying, so at least we have that.
On that note, Have a Great Week
*if you think I'm being sexist referring to her as "hot" please refer to the previous paragraph in regards to Tom Selleck)
*if you think I'm being sexist referring to her as "hot" please refer to the previous paragraph in regards to Tom Selleck)
Sunday, October 8, 2017
Weekly Mail October 8, 2017
Well, what a $hitty week THAT was huh?
I woke up around 4 AM Monday and saw the CNN notification on my phone saying that 50 people had been killed in a mass shooting in Las Vegas. I somehow got back to sleep, most likely because it didn't really register in my half asleep brain. I don't even want to allow for the possibility that I've become desensitized to all of it.
When I woke up for good a couple hours later, I found out that Steve (Pally) McFadden the former owner of the legendary Ryan McFadden's bar on 42nd Street, died. Tara worked at McFadden's back in it's heyday, and it was my overhearing Tara talking about working at McFadden's with mutual friends of ours, that got us talking the night we met. So I consider Pally partially responsible for the past 13 years of my life.
And to wrap Monday up, Tom Petty, one of my favorites died of a heart attack just shy of his 67th birthday. How on earth do you slog through the rest of the week when in starts off like that?
LAS VEGAS MASSACRE: I hate conspiracy theories.
As a kid I loved them. Even as a young adult I still enjoyed them a bit. But after 9/11, I tried to stay away from them. It burned my a$$, listening to jerks like Charlie Sheen and Rosie O'Donnell talk about 9/11 being an inside job, when millions of people saw those planes fly into the World Trade Center. There's a cottage industry created by people who think JFK was killed any other way besides the way the Warren Commission says he was. It's gotten to a point where people have turned the slaying of a sitting US President into a joke. And I'm not even going to get into discussing a slug like Alex Jones, and his heartless, clueless theories on Sandy Hook.
So, I tend to tread lightly when I feel like the story I'm hearing about a tragedy like the one that took place in Las Vegas last week doesn't quite add up. But that's where I'm at with some of this.
Obviously, my heart breaks for the victims, people who were just having fun at a country music concert. A beautiful early autumn Sunday evening, rocking out to Jason Aldean. And if the President won't say it, I will; it was terrorism, in it's purest most evil form.
What I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around is how a 64 year old man could lug all that equipment undetected to the 32nd floor, and more to the point, fire off all that firepower, in that short amount of time and cause all that carnage. The sick f-ck had no previous military training, and some experts have said that even a well trained military sniper could have been that accurate.
I realize we are early in the investigation, and at this point we commoners should focus more on what we can do to help and comfort the victims families. I also know the authorities are insisting that only one person carried out this attack. I'm not there and my criminal investigation experience consists of some CSI reruns, But some of the people there in the early hours after the massacre swore that shots were coming from different directions. I realize in the heat of battle that testimony is unreliable, but as much as I hate to go there, I can't help but believe that there is more to this than meets the eye.
Of course this also led to another round of name calling between the anti gun people and the NRA and fans thereof. At the risk of sounding like President Trump saying that some skinheads are not bad guys, there are valid arguments on both sides. Yes guns rights people, you can kill people without guns, cars and airplanes can be weapons too, and banning all guns isn't going to stop mass killings. But why hand the car keys to a drunk, let the guys with knives and masks on the plane? There is common sense gun regulations, ones proposed by President Obama for example, that no right headed person should have a problem with.
I'm a conservative, I don't think we should mess with the Bill of Rights too much, but I also don't think the 2nd amendment gives you the right to stockpile enough weapons to arm a small nation. Apparently, the NRA and the Republican Party are considering regulations on bump stocks (devices that turn semi automatics into full automatics). It's a very small step. But a step nonetheless. The only way this problem has a chance of being solved is if both sides can find common ground and go from there. The mudslinging isn't going to do anything and this whole mess is going to happen again.
RIP: Tom Petty (1950-2017)
It was bad enough that as we were still coming to grips with the horror in Las Vegas, reports started coming in that rock legend Tom Petty was near the end of the line. He was in cardiac arrest and on life support. Soon thereafter, the first reports that he had died came over, along with tributes and accolades. From the time I left my office at 4:30, till I picked Timmy up from after-school and came home about 5, the reports had changed. CBS News had jumped the gun. They had cited a LAPD report seemingly confirming that Petty had died. But the LAPD was backtracking, saying it couldn't confirm Petty had passed. TMZ also said that Petty was unresponsive and off life support, but couldn't confirm he died. This was awful, sitting around for a confirmation that he was dead. The waiting was the hardest part.
By the time the 6:30 PM national newscasts began, Petty's death was confirmed by his manager.
Much like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty was a guy whose deep tracks I'm not that familiar with, but his more popular stuff was good enough for me. Free Fallin I could do without hearing again as I've heard that song 10 billion times, but the rest of Full Moon Fever is fantastic, I Won't Back Down, Runnin Down a Dream, Yer So Bad, all classics. His work with the Travelling Wilbury's speaks for itself, and Learning to Fly and Into the Great Wide Open are two of my favorite all time songs. I haven't even mentioned his early classics with the Heartbreakers and his duet with Stevie Nicks.
Someone tweeted that the reason Petty's death wasn't confirmed right away was because he was standing up at the gates of hell and not backing down. I prefer to think he was knock knock knockin on heaven's door. I realize that last line was Bob Dylan's, but what the heck, I'd like to think it was all for one and one for all in the Wilburys. In either case, his talent will be missed.
PROTESTS: Columbus Day:
I've broached this subject before, but once again it kind of came to light during the Charlottesville mess over the summer.
Many people, including several of my readers, think Christopher Columbus was a real scumbag, and not deserving of a federal holiday. (If it makes these folks feel any better, I haven't had Columbus Day off since I was in college) There has been a movement to take down his statues and some cities have taken to calling the second Monday in October Indigenous People's Day
One of the questions that sent the people who wanted the statues of Robert E. Lee taken down into a tizzy was "Where do you draw the line?" As I said, with those statues in Charlottesville, taking them down was probably a good idea.
But with Columbus? Well once again I ask, "Where do you draw the line?"
You want to take his statues down? Fair enough. Indigenous People's Day? I won't call it that. Ever. But if that's what you want to call it, so be it.
But what about the city in Ohio, the one where the Blue Jackets play, the one that gave the world one James (Buster) Douglas? What about that university on the Upper West Side that several of my friends have graduated from? What about that coffee you had this morning? Or the country the beans came from?
What about our nations capital? Named for a slave owner and Christopher Columbus? What do we do about that?
I don't think it makes you heartless or a bad person to say it's time to let some of this stuff go. Maybe Christopher Columbus didn't really discover America and maybe he treated the natives like crap wherever he did end up. But we have somehow survived the 525 years since he crossed the Atlantic, and the 80 years or so since congress made it a Federal holiday. If you are lucky enough to have the day off (which to reiterate I don't) just enjoy it. We have too much other $h-t to worry about.
BASEBALL: Yanks make the playoffs!!
At press time, the Yankees will be taking the field for Game 3 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium. Had they lost against the Twins on Tuesday night, their season would have been over and it would have been considered a failure. But they took care of business, overcoming a shaky start from Luis Severino to beat the Twins 8-4.
In Game 7 of the 1986 World Series, Sid Fernandez pitched 2-2/3 innings of scoreless relief, enabling the Mets to rebound from a poor Ron Darling start. David Robertson played the role of El Sid the other night, shutting down the Twins as they clawed their way back. Once Aaron Judge hit that 3 run homer to give the Yanks a 7-4 lead, I felt they had it in the bag. I just felt the Twins figured even if they scored, the Yanks would come right back. It had to me demoralizing.
Speaking of demoralizing, aside from Joe Girardi's boneheaded decision not to challenge the HBP call on Lonnie Chisenhall, the Yanks have to feel doubly aggravated to have knocked Indians ace Corey Kluber out of the box like they did, (a seemingly impossible task) only to lose Game 2 anyway. I will give the Yanks all the credit in the world if they can bounce back from that.
In any event, Yankee fans have a lot to be happy about, no matter how this all turns out.
FOOTBALL: The NFL's worst team is the New York....
Ask me to fill in that blank 6 weeks ago, and I would have penciled in my beloved Jets. But after Sunday's games, the Jets are in a 3 way tie for first place in the AFC East, with a showdown with the Patriots on tap. I have little to no doubt that order will be returned to the universe after that game.
But the answer to the above blank is Eli Manning and the Giants, who after losing to the woeful LA Chargers are now 0-5. To my Giant fan friends I say welcome to my world, a world where your team is expecting big things only to go right down the proverbial crapper. (See-NY Mets 2017)
HOCKEY: The Rangers Return:
I always try to watch opening night for the Rangers, even if I can't really get into hockey till mid November. But I was probably better off not watching the game the other night, as they started right where they left off, aggravating me on home ice, losing to the worst in the league last year Colorado Avalanche 4-2. I am hoping like hell this isn't a harbinger of things to come. Saturday, they fell behind 5-1 to the Leafs, stormed back to tie it up, before losing 8-5. They didn't take my advice in the offseason and can coach Alain Vigneault, so we'll see what happens.
Some Bar Room B.S. to lighten things up... http://barroombs.blogspot.com/2017/10/wfans-10-greatest-moments.html
Let's all hope this week is better than last week. I'd say it can't get any worse, but the scary thing is that's not true.
Have a Great Week
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)