JULY
July 10- Here Come Da Judge....
This was the All Star Game Home run Derby. We all were hoping for a Giancarlo Stanton-Aaron Judge final. Now Yankee fans can call this batting practice. GRRRRRR!
July 21- I guess this means Melissa McCarthy is out of a job...
President Trump's fact challenged yet somewhat lovable Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigned. Unlike the aforementioned Alec Baldwin's lame a$$ Trump impersonation, McCarthy's Spicer take was brilliant.
July 24- How many times did I say this year I don't care if he gets knocked around as long as he doesn't get hurt. It....Never....F-cking......Ends!
And then there were the Mets. This was regarding Zack Wheeler, ending up where he spent the better part of two seasons previous... On the DL. GRRRRR
July 30- Why Ace can get a job here and you and I can't Ray.
Two of my favorite Post reporters, the great Kathianne Bonniello and Susan Edleman, reported that a lawsuit filed in Manhattan Supreme Court claimed that a recruiter for NBC News asked a potential employee to provide Facebook or Instagram photos before they could proceed with the hiring process. This didn't bother me at the time because I wasn't interested in working there, but a job opened up in late November that I would have been perfect for....
AUGUST
August 3- Where is Roscoe P. Coltrane when we need him?
Yeah, at the time, I thought it was a chance to bust out a reference to one of my favorite childhood shows. But Tom Wopat C-list actor that he is, was just the first of a plethora of famous men accused of sexual misconduct.
August 10- All season I lauded the Mets for not trading Jay Bruce for garbage. So what do they go and do? WTG Idiots!
Ryder Ryan. A 30th round draft pick of the Indians. If he turns out to be good, I'll gladly eat my words. But this reminded me of when Phil Esposito was GM of the Rangers back in the late 80's. They had a defenseman named Brad Maxwell, who Espo traded away for "future considerations." When he was asked what those future considerations might be, Espo responded, "I don't really care, I just wanted him the hell off my roster."
At least HE was honest.
August 14- As soon as Gary Cohen said (Aaron Judge) has only 5 homers since the All-Star Break, I knew he was going to put the next one in the seats.
2017 may go down as the worst season in Mets history, which is saying a lot for a team that once lost 120 out of 160 games.
August 21- The Solar Eclipse...
I was on vacation that day, so I had some fun with it...
1) Whatever you do today, DON"T LOOK AT IT (followed by a clip of the Nazi's faces melting off at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark)
2) To those who looked at the eclipse without glasses. (followed by I Go Blind by Hootie and the Blowfish)
3) Of course he did- RE: An article reporting that President Trump looked up into the sky without glasses to see the eclipse. He also claims to live on a diet of McDonalds and Coca-Cola, so maybe he really is indestructible.
4) THAT was IT?- I sat out on my stoop and without looking to the sky, tried to see if I could tell a difference. It was barely noticeable from what I could gather. A complete letdown.
SEPTEMBER
September 5- First day of 4th Grade. I should be proud (and I am) but my little buddy isn't so little anymore.
With Timmy's birthday being at the end of August, I get a double punch. He gets a year older and a few days later he goes a grade higher. Next year at this time I'll be writing about his 10th birthday! WTF?
September 6-WOW!
This was regarding Craig Carton's arrest by the Feds for investment fraud. I figured he might lose his job at the FAN because he said something inappropriate. But not for something this stupid.
September 30- Mysti Nicole- A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by for Lemonade and Looms for Lara We got shut out early from the rain but still managerd to raise a little over $200.00. So proud of our kids for showing support and kindness for Lara Almost 800.00 raised to date.
I'm not gonna lie. 20 years ago, if you had told me I was going to live on long Island, I'd have said you were nuts. Shoot I'd have told you that if you said that to me on my wedding night, 12 years ago. But in the 8 years since I moved to Oceanside, I have rarely been prouder of my new town and the people in it than I was watching these kids raise money for Lara, a 14 year old girl severely injured in a car accident last September. What a community should be about.
OCTOBER
October 2- The first story I woke up to was the tragedy in Las Vegas. The next bad bad news I got was from Mouse about the death of Pally. I only got to meet him once, but when he heard I was married to Tara, he treated me like we were old friends. A NY Original. RIP.
50 innocent lives taken away in a mass shooting during a country music festival at Mandalay Bay. That would have been sickening enough Then, Steve (Pally) McFadden, who helped many of my friends who are in the hospitality business get their start, the McFadden of Ryan McFadden's, when Jimmy and Timmy Tubridy were working there with Tara and Kerry Connors. If not for that, I wouldn't have overheard Tara saying she knew those guys, and I wouldn't have told her I knew them too and well, you know the rest. Tom Petty's death, prematurely reported but ultimately confirmed capped off an awful awful day in America.
October 3- It means squat if they don't win. Good luck Yanks!
They won. onto the playoffs they went.
October 15- OK Somebody explain to me what the f-ck just happened in the Jet game? Why was that not a touchdown?
The past couple of years, I've been avoiding the NFL as much as I can. Ever since Post columnist Mike Vaccaro wrote a column basically saying that no matter how bad the players act, no matter how crappy the league treats it's fans, no matter how much bad behaviour is rewarded, it doesn't matter because we the fans are addicted. We are the crackheads to the NFL dealers, the drunks to the NFL bartenders.
But with Tara's dad so sick, I wanted to spend the little time I had left with him doing what we did so often during my marriage, watching sports. Big Tim, a former football star himself, loved watching football, college and pro. So that's what we did.
And unfortunately I knew things were going south when ref Tony Carrente made his ruling, I explained it to Tim, and he didn't really say anything. If that had been the year before, he would have said that they league was trying to screw over NY, because "they all hate NY Billy." I wouldn't have argued with him in this case either.
October 21-Sorry Yankee Fans, Hell of a run though
And for a brief shinning moment, I felt sad for the Yankees and their fans. It was an unexpected run, they did it with home grown talent, and they knocked off a loaded Cleveland team who had made it to Game 7 of the World Series the year before. All those good feelings would come to an end in December, when Derek Jeter gifted his former team a 59 HR hitter....
NOVEMBER
November 8- I realize deBlasio was a shoo-in, but 70% of the vote? That I don't get.
This still blows my mind. Maybe if I still lived in Queens or worked in Manhattan I would have a better understanding, but for someone nobody seemed to like, the Dope from Park Slope cleaned house. A couple of people thought I was suggesting hanky-panky, but that honestly never crossed my mind. I think low voter turnout, lack of a sufficient push from his opponent and city still reeling from the election of Donald Trump was the real culprit.
November 11- If I were a college basketball coach, I wouldn't schedule ANY of my games overseas, but if I HAD to play in another country, I'd make Midnight Express the in-flight movie. If that flick can't prevent stuff like this from happening, nothing can.
I wrote this in response to the story about the three UCLA Basketball players who were arrested for shoplifting in China. Midnight Express, was based on the true life story of Billy Hayes, arrested for trying to smuggle hashish out of Turkey. His prison experience should be enough to scare anyone out of doing something illegal in another country.
November 29- First Charlie Rose and now Matt Lauer?
The week before, I had ripped Matt Lauer a new one, wondering aloud how a bald, geeky looking fellow like him could command a salary of 25 million hosting one of the two preeminent national morning shows. A mere 4 days later, he was gone. Buried under an avalanche of deviant sexual accusations, that he didn't deny. Charlie Rose meantime, was accused of exposing himself in front of subordinates. It was a tough year for the perverts. Unless of course you were the President.
DECEMBER
December 11- #bragadocious
Timmy received a certificate for being a good citizen from his school. Also had lunch with the principal. He never ceases to amaze me.
December 31- Awfully Nipply in Times Square tonight...
I realize in this year of the #metoo movement, this could get me in trouble, but I wrote this watching Mariah Carey's performance in Times Square. In 10 degree weather, pouring out of a dress and fur coat. And Lord forgive me when Ryan Seacrest said that Mariah was taking care of her twins, I couldn't have been the only person in America who didn't think he was referring to her children..
October 30, 2017
I can't do any look-back at 2017 and not address this sad day. Much of the year for me was dominated by what was going on with Tara's dad. So much of what I wrote above was just a distraction from what was really important and what this year was really about for Tara, Timmy and myself. As much as you feel like the world should stop when someone you love passes, we know of course that it doesn't. Obviously when I look back on 2017, losing my father in law will always be the first thing that comes to mind, and that's how it should be. But every year has it's ups and downs, and I hope that everybody looks at these last two blog posts and at least has a chuckle or a shake of the head.
And once again, thank you all for you support, prayers and love this year. From my family to yours.
Weekly Mail Returns Next Week
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