Hi:
Couldn't wait to get to writing this week, so much going on. I mean not the real important stuff, just stuff I find interesting. I hope you do too. Anyhow...
MEDIA: The Fat Man Returneth
It was two days after the Mets disastrous 2007 season was over.
Having blown a 7 game lead with 17 games to play, my fellow Met fans were besides themselves, none more so than I. Callers were flooding into WFAN, lamenting what had happened. What was worse, the Yankees, with an arguably inferior team (admit it guys) were preparing to play the Cleveland Indians in the ALDS.
Mike Francesa, then co-host of Mike and the Mad Dog had decided two days of Met calls were enough. "listen Met fans" he drawled, "you had your time to vent. There's a playoff team we need to talk about, OK? The funeral is over."
I thought a lot about that last line as it was announced this week that Francesa was returning to WFAN, a mere 4 1/2 months after he "retired" from the station, promising not to return. And after a farewell tour the likes of which are usually reserved for hall of fame athletes and rock stars.
If there is one thing I can't stand, it's when someone, usually an athlete, "comes out of retirement." Especially multiple times. It's why I usually rooted for Sugar Ray Leonard to get his brains bashed in. Or why I was thrilled when Bill Parcells was denied election to the football Hall of Fame for so many years, why no one was happier than I was when Michael Jordan fell flat as owner/guard for the Wizards.
I realize that a few weeks ago, I was complaining about the new afternoon drive show with Chris Carlin, Maggie Gray and Bart Scott, how unlistenable it was because it was all football all the time, despite the fact that the season was over and the draft was weeks away. This was in response to Francesa and Chris Russo's cheap shots at the trio on Russo's MLB Show High Heat.
(and if you need a reminder of what an a$$hole Russo is, you tube up his take on Francesa's return, especially the part where he says "let (my wife) take the kids to school and worry about (my son's) headache, ... let me just do a talk show, and I'll see you at 7:30." What a guy! Who wouldn't want to have a husband like that?)
I also realize that I said that the two bozo's should either come back to the FAN or leave the new team alone. I probably shouldn't have said that. I believe that Carlin and Maggie could really do a nice job together with some time and patience. Scott, has pretty much admitted he only knows about football, and as much as I can't stand Russo, he's right about one thing; you can't host a sports show in NY without knowing anything about baseball. I'm a hockey guy, but I realize the FAN gave up on hockey years ago. If you can only talk football, you don't belong on WFAN. Especially not at that time of day. I'm sorry but Scott has to go.
Apparently, after Russo and Francesa's digs at CMB, Carlin texted the two of them to "s-ck his d-ck." Francesa has said that he decided to come back after some people suggested he not. If Carlin's text is what prompted Francesa to return, then's he's a bigger a$$hole than I already believe him to be, and I didn't think that was possible.
I'm not exactly breaking news here when I say that Mike Francesa is completely full of $h-t. But he has gone above and beyond this time, (or maybe it's below and beyond) He bragged about job offers that weren't there, he offered not to turn his back on the station during the Craig Carton crisis, not mentioning he wanted a ton more money to do so. He vowed never to return, only to do so not even 6 months into his retirement.
He can count my a$$ out. I'll never listen to him again. Maybe I'll tune in the first day to see how he explains himself, but that's it. He's f-cking dead to me.
And the funeral is over.
FOOTBALL: Draft Night Recap.
OK, so a little side note here: A couple weeks ago, we got a really nice letter from Tim's school saying that an art piece he submitted was going to be displayed at Oceanside High School on April 26. Not to brag here, but Timmy has made some amazing drawings. I hated art and Tara is by her own admission not much of an artist either. But Timmy is excellent.
So we were pretty stoked to go and see what he had done. The strange thing was, he kept saying he had no idea what he had submitted. If he didn't get his artistic talent from me, he unfortunately got his air-headedness from me, so I didn't think too much of it.
It wasn't till we got to OHS on Thursday that we realized that pretty much every student in Oceanside had something to display, and they all had parents there to see it. It took me almost 20 minutes to park, another 10 minutes to get into the gym and another 15 to find Timmy's artwork. It was a mob scene.
And I really did want to get home to see the Giants and Jets make their draft picks. Don't get me wrong, I would have stayed to support Timmy, but he wanted out of there too. So we fought through a traffic jam to get home just as the Browns were making their pick.
Several outlets have reported that the Jets are most interested in Mayfield, which is fine, except I don't really think they needed to move up to get him. Darnold is probably headed to Cleveland,
-from last week's Weekly Mail.
So the Browns blew that whole sentence and a half to smithereens with one move. Drafting Baker Mayfield with the first pick ruined my prediction that Mayfield would fall and that Darnold would be heading to Cleveland.
The Giants saved me by drafting Saquon Barkley with the 2nd pick. I know the conventional wisdom is that you draft a QB that high, especially when your QB is 37 years old, but look, I think with a decent offensive line and a healthy Odell Beckham Jr., Eli Manning can still get it done. And if Barkley is as good as he's been advertised, (and I know that is a BIG if) the Giants will have a dynamic receiver and running back for the next 10 years.
http://barroombs.blogspot.com/2018/04/you-may-never-get-another-shot-at-qb.html
And I know people are going to shake their heads at me, but I'm sorry. The Giants will have a chance to draft Eli's successor in a couple of years. Almost every year we hear that the draft has a "once in a lifetime QB". You don't realize it because we forget every year as the new crop of college players come out, but it really does.
The Jets on the other hand, needed to draft a QB, because, well right now their QB's are 39 year old Josh McCown, injury plagued Teddy Bridgewater, and draft busts Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg. None of them have had Eli Manning's success, shoot none of them have had Cooper Manning's success.
Is Sam Darnold the answer? I don't know, USC hasn't exactly churned out Hall of Fame Quaterbacks lately. They showed a list of quaterbacks drafted in the first round from USC since 1990, and it's a Mt. Rushmore of busts. Remember Todd Marinovich? How about Matt Leinart? Or our old friend Mark Sanchez? Only Carson Palmer has been any good, and not great by any stretch. I seriously thought Sanchez was going to lead us to the Super Bowl if not multiple Super Bowls, but instead he'll be more remembered for the butt fumble.
I kept hearing the announcers say that Darnold checks all the boxes. I'm assuming those boxes are size, arm strength, speed, and accuracy. I would have preferred Josh Rosen from UCLA, but for all I know, they could both be busts or they both will be heading to Canton. More likely they'll fall somewhere in between.
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT: I'll take An Apple for $500 Alex...
Crystal Tadlock, traveling to Denver from Paris last week, decided to save the apple she was given as an in-flight snack to eat later. As she was going through customs, her bag was randomly selected to be searched. When the customs agent found the apple, he questioned her on it.
“He had asked me if my trip to France was expensive and I said, ‘Yeah.’ I didn’t really get why he was asking that question, and then he said, ‘It’s about to get a lot more expensive after I charge you $500,'” said Tadlock to Fox 31 in Denver.
So here are my thoughts on this matter...
1) If the customs agent really said that to her, he should at the very least be suspended if not outright fired. Maybe in her frustration Tadlock made that part up. If she didn't that's a problem. You still have to be professional, especially if you are about to levy a fine on someone. That sounded like he was mocking her and that should warrant a punishment.
2) That said, why on earth would you take food off an airplane to save for later? That's like asking the hospital to give you a doggie bag after you are discharged. Surely there is some place in Denver you can get an apple that is better than the one an airline is giving away.
3) Having said THAT, shouldn't Delta have warned the passengers that removing food off the plane might result in a fine? It's true that there are signs in all international airports that list what you can and can't bring into another country, and fruit is at the top of the list. But there is no way of knowing whether or not the apple was packed in Paris or was it packed in the US? Maybe, like me, Delta just figured nobody was flying with them for the cuisine, and would have either eaten the apple or tossed it in the trash on the way out.
In any event, I hope the poor lady gets the fine tossed out. I also hope she learned a lesson here. Saving food is a noble gesture, but saving airline food is nuts. Even the good Lord above understands if you toss airline food away. I probably should consult a priest on that.
Haven't had a chance to see what all this fuss about the White House Correspondence Dinner was all about. Sounds like someone got their feelings hurt again. Kinda thought that was the whole point of it, but what do I know?
Sorry I got this out late.
Have a Great Week
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