Weekly Mail June 11, 2017

Hi Y'all:

So I had a pretty good week last week. Thursday, they had a dinner at McConnell Gardens in Oceanside for Mercy Hospital Employees celebrating anniversaries in multiples of 5. I received my 5 year pin. Had a better time than I thought I would too. 5 year folks aren't allowed to bring a date so I went stag, which, while I missed Tara, I still had a few yucks. Our CEO, who was also the MC for the event, kept asking trivia questions and I kept getting them right. Certain questions carried $$ value so I took the big guy for 20 bucks when I guessed the Oscar for Best Picture in 1986 went to Platoon. Again, I'm in the wrong biz.

Friday the three of us went to the St. Anthony's Feast in our home parish. Now I know I've said this before, but it bears repeating. Timmy is now finishing up 3rd grade. Between preschool, kindergarten 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade, we've gotten to know a ton of people. But the parents we met at Timmy's day care, they really are the best. At one point, there were four families from pre-school hanging out and catching up. I guess I have such an affinity for them because they were our first friends in Oceanside. We met some great people in kindergarten, quite possibly my best bud in Oceanside I met in first grade and there have been some folks in second and third grade we are friends with.

But collectively, the people we met at Loving and Learning are pretty awesome. I love running into them, and catching up with them. Besides the sausage and peppers, that's my favorite part of the feast.



POLITICS: Comey faces the Senate

So I was able to catch a replay of James Comey's testimony on Thursday, the testimony everyone said the country grind to a halt to hear.

Lee Cowin, an MSNBC reporter, once gushed that it was "hard to be objective" in covering then Senator Barrack Obama as he ran for President. Though I called foul at the time, maybe I was too harsh on Mr. Cowin. Maybe acting like a 16 year old at a Justin Beiber concert when covering a candidate isn't the worst thing in the world.

In 2016, we had two candidates who were impossible to get excited about. And James Comey, managed to piss them both off.

Hillary continues to whine that Comey cost her the election. And the Russians. But mostly Comey.

And Trump fired him because he wouldn't stop the FBI investigation into the Russians interfernce in said election.

So the fact that both of these a-holes think Comey's a bad guy naturally makes me think he's all right.
And from what I saw on Thursday, I feel strongly about that.

Comey isn't perfect. And what I respect the most about him is that he is the first person who will tell you that. In Washington, finding someone who will admit they did something wrong is about as rare as a Mets no hitter. Comey admitted he should have done certain things differently, and said that certain actions were just the by product of his being stunned by some of the goings on in the Trump administration. Well we can all certainly relate to that can't we?

Next week will mark the 40th anniversary of the Billy Martin-Reggie Jackson dugout brawl in Fenway Park. As that fight was being broken up, Yankee coach Elston Howard shook his head and said "Man I've been around a long time, but this.. is too much. I ain't seen nothing like this kind of $h-t, day after day." If ever a quote summed up the Trump administration, that's the one. Can you blame Comey for walking out of there with his head spinning?

Comey left no doubt that the Russians were up to something. None at all.

"The reason this is such a big deal is we have this big messy wonderful country where we fight with each other all the time, but nobody tells us what to think, what to fight about, what to vote for except other Americans. And that's wonderful and often painful. But we're talking about a foreign government using technical intrusion and lots of other methods tried to shape the way we think, we vote, we act. That is a big deal. And people need to recognize it. It's not about Republicans or Democrats. They're coming after America, which I hope we all love equally. They want to undermine our credibility in the face of the world. They think that this great experiment of ours is a threat to them, and so they're going to try to run it down and dirty it up as much as possible.

That's what this is about. They will be back, because we remain, as difficult as we can be with each other, we remain that shining city on the hill, and they don't like it."

He didn't say Trump was in cahoots with all this. He didn't say he wasn't either. He doesn't know. None of us do. If he was, then it's time to show his ass the door. That's for another day. 

At a time where America can seem awfully hard to love, James Comey essentially said he loved America. By his words and by his deeds, He got a raw deal from Donald Trump. He's getting $h-t from Hillary Clinton. I wish to God Trump and Hillary would go away.

And James Comey would stay.



NBA: The Overrated Champion:

When I was a kid, I used to get a kick out of my coaches and even some relatives and older friends who would regal us kids with stories of players of yesteryear. I find myself doing just that, especially with basketball. 

The Golden State Warriors are poised to win their second title in 3 years, and if they win Monday night, they will have gone 15-1 in the playoffs to do so. Last year, they went 73-9 in the regular season, but proceeded to spit the bit in the Finals against LeBron and the Cavs. I wanted the Warriors to win last year, because the 1996 Bulls are arguably my least favorite great team of all time. Good Lord I hated those bastards.  

But the Warriors can't hold a candle to them.

Or the Showtime Lakers.

Or the Bird, McHale, Parrish Celtics.

I don't hate the Warriors like I hated the Bulls or the Celtics (I didn't hate the Lakers), but I don't respect them as an all time great team. Now, admittedly, I don't watch as much basketball as I used to, but every time I watch the Warriors, it looks like all they do is hoist 3 pointers. I don't see the ball movement and the shot creation I saw when I was younger. 

Hell, I'd say these Warriors wouldn't have beaten the LeBron,Wade, Bosh  Miami Heat from earlier this decade. (Talk about a team I couldn't stand) I honestly don't know how this team wins so much. I think it just speaks to the poor quality of basketball nowadays. 

AGING- It Was 30 Years Ago Today......

Actually this Tuesday will mark the 30th Anniversary of my graduating from St. Mary's. I realize that people don't normally reminisce about their grammar school experiences. High school, maybe or college, but only a weirdo like me marks the anniversary of grammar school graduation. 

But consider this.. I spent 9 years at that place. From September 1978, till June 1987. The only job where I've lasted longer than that was/is the Post and that's been a part time gig. Otherwise St. Mary's was my longest running gig. 

And every once in a while, especially thanks to Facebook, a bunch of us will start swapping stories about some of the crazy $h-t that we went through. Those are the days I'm grateful for social media. 

Last year I wrote a note to my high school friends on FB wishing them a happy 25th anniversary. Some of them complained that I made them feel old, some ignored me and some said we should get together for a beer or 6. Being that I went to an all male school, none of us wanted to be the one to organize so naturally nothing came of it. 

But we did have a 25 year reunion for St.Mary's and that was a blast. Hopefully we can organize another get together this year.



Enjoy the weather and Have a Great Week