Weekly Mail, October 1, 2017

Hi Folks:

On September 8, a 14 year girl here in Oceanside was hit by a car and was very seriously injured.

She has a long road ahead for recovery, but because we have such awesome people in this town, the road may be somewhat easier.

Looms for Lara, was started by our friends the McNeils. Timmy's friend Vanessa McNeil led a group of kids in making and selling bracelets and lemonade, with all proceeds going to help Lara. If ever the news gets you down, think of kids like these and know our future is in very good hands.


FLASHBACK:

From Weekly Mail September 10, 2016

Many of you already know where I stand on the issue of (Colin Kapernick) not standing for the National Anthem. For those of you who don't, I'll sum it up thusly; I once gave out my loser of the year award (The Nerd of the Herd) to a female college basketball player named Toni Smith,  who turned her back on the flag while the anthem was played before her games. She of course blamed America for all the problems in the world and blah blah blah. I wrote at the time that while she did have the right to do what she was doing, she also had the right to leave if she hated it here so much,

Some people took exception to my choice and others said I had no right to pick on her, but freedom of speech goes both ways. Does Kapernick have the right to sit for the anthem? Did Toni Smith have the right to turn her back on the flag? Sure they do. The Westboro Baptist church has the right to protest outside the funerals of fallen soldiers, like they do all the time. Just because they have the right doesn't mean 1) That its the right thing to do, and 2) Doesn't mean I don't have the right to rag on them for doing it.



So here we are, a little over a year later, and still this issue is festering and dividing us. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age, maybe my liberal friends have finally worn me down some. Maybe I'm just frustrated with Donald Trump.

But I'm not as angry at Kapernick and the rest of the kneeling protesters as I thought I would have been.

Make no mistake. I will NEVER not stand for our national anthem, our pledge of allegiance, or God Bless America etc. I still despise those who would step on or burn in protest the American Flag. I still believe this country to be for all it's imperfections, the greatest nation on earth. My dad, my father in law, and both my grandfather's defended this nation. For them, and for all the freedoms and opportunities we enjoy, I will always salute.

But I spent enough time in church to know that genuflecting is the ultimate sign of reverence.  On CNN last week, Bob Costas noted that Kapernick's first protest was to sit during the anthem. Costas suggested (and I tend to agree) that by kneeling, Kapernick is still getting his point across while still showing some respect. I can get behind that.

Of course what brought all of this back to the forefront was President Trump deciding that with Houston and Florida still drying out, Puerto Rico destroyed by a Hurricaine, and his party trying (and once again failing ) to repeal Obamacare, that now would be as good a time as any to drop his $0.02 on a subject that was dying out.

I'm a bit upset at myself that I took the bait on this. If we all freakin ignore it, everybody wins. Those who don't like the protest won't fan the flames of it, those who hate Trump will force him to deal with the stuff he SHOULD be dealing with, and Congress will have a tougher time sneaking legislation by a distracted public.

But I see what's going on with fans boycotting teams, burning jerseys and tickets, and I can't help but think this is going to be something else we will have to explain to our bewildered kids and grandkids years from now. If you're going to boycott football, boycott it because their players are smacking women around, or carrying illegal guns, or driving while intoxicated. Boycott it because lying lowlifes like Bill Bellichick and Tom Brady are considered the kings of the sport. Boycott because some cities are blackmailing their taxpayers to fund billion dollars stadiums, used 10 or 12 times a year, while schools are failing.

But to boycott because some guys are taking a knee? Man, I'm as patriotic as anyone, but that just seems a bit silly.

BASEBALL: RIP Mets and Let's Go Yankees! (waitasecond)

First the funeral.... Sunday marked the end of what was the most frustrating baseball season I can remember. The 2007 and 2008 collapses stung more, losing the 2015 World Series was agonizing, but at least we had a couple of months of good baseball in those years.

This was a year in which NOTHING went right if you were a Met fan. A 90+ loss season, tons of injuries, under performance and a resurgent team across town made this a year of much head banging.

And while I believe that almost anytime a manger loses 90 games in a year he should have no expectations of keeping his job, it's very hard to fault Terry Collins for what happened this year. There was a report that several of the Mets lost confidence in Collins, but David Wright and Jacob deGromm seemed to shoot those reports down.  If you lose most of your rotation and half your starting lineup, no manager can win under those circumstances. Collins is going to be 69 years old next season, he doesn't need this $h-t. It's probably good for all parties if he rides off into the sunset, but I don't think he should be canned.

Who should be sent packing is the Mets training and medical staff. I mean, how many pitchers have to have arm injuries before someone realizes maybe the way they train and treat these guys isn't working? They are going to end up renaming Tommy John surgery to Met Pitcher Surgery. I've never seen anything like it.

Anyway, the Mets are done and not a minute too soon.

The Yankees play Tuesday in the play-in game against the Twins. And it bears repeating, that as far as WM is concerned, if the Yanks lose on Tuesday, they will have failed to make the postseason. I said it two years ago when they lost to the Astros and last year when the Mets lost to the Giants. Both teams had nice seasons, but they may as well have finished in second place. Or last.

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.


RIP: Monty Hall

There are probably a million stories about Monty Hall, who died Saturday at age 96, here is mine...

Back in 2012, I was listening to NHL Radio on Sirius/XM and during that year's finals between the Kings and the Devils, the hosts of the radio show, Scott Laughlin and Hall of Famer Phil Esposito interviewed Monty Hall by phone. I wondered why they would interview a game show host (albeit perhaps the G.O.A.T game show host). Turns out, Mr. Hall's first job in America (he was from Winnipeg) was color commentator for my beloved New York Rangers! Imagine that?

He only held the job for one season (1958-59) before heading to Hollywood, but he told Laughlin and Espo that one of the games he called was the game in which Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante first donned a facemask. Goalies back in the day worse little padding and no mask. Hall recalled that the crowd at the Garden that night was less than understanding, peppering the Habs goalie with all sort of challenges to his manhood.  Hard to believe the Garden would give an opponent such a hard time (LOL)    I thought it was cool that Monty Hall had been a witness to all that.

He went on to tell the guys that at one time he had season tickets to all the pro teams in LA, but gave most of them up. The ones he held onto were the Kings tickets, and he considered himself one of their first fans. The team had invited him to the Finals that year, but he said at 91, he figured he couldn't handle the noise.

Funny thing, he didn't sound like he was 91. He was clear as a bell that day with almost perfect recall. 96 is a real good run, but I'm sad to see him go.



I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the passing of America's favorite horndog, Hugh Hefner. The Playboy founder died this week at 91, which I normally consider a good run, but I could've easily seen Hef living to be 100. He walked around all day in a bathrobe surrounded by hot women. They say he was still involved with publishing the magazine, but I don't really buy that. I think he just hung around his mansion and collected babes. Some guys collect baseball cards. To each their own.

We made it through September !!

Have a Great Week!