Weekly Mail Special- Our Miracle

         When I look at my family, there are certain words or phrases that come to mind immediately.


I look at my dad and see an American Hero, a man of unquestionable courage. Someone who has been overcoming obstacles for a long time.

I look at my mom and see a pillar of strength, a rock on which our family has leaned on so much. Also, I see grace and compassion.

I look at my sister Kris, and I see someone who has always been wise beyond her years. Someone who was a born leader, who takes charge of a situation and more often than not, gets the best possible result.

I look at my sister Kate, and I see another natural leader, and another person who has overcome obstacles in her life with little or no complaint. I see someone with an amazing work ethic and an unextinguishable spirit.

I look at my brother in law Steve, and I see the kindest, gentlest soul on earth. I see someone who gives everything and anything to make people's lives better.

I look at Tara and Timmy and see the lights of my life. The two people who have made my life complete. I see my wife as she works to bring health to the sick and I see how Timmy puts smiles on every face he comes across.

I look at my niece Rachel and I see her honesty. You know exactly where you stand with Rachie.

When I looked at my niece Rebecca, I saw all of the above.

She overcame obstacles like her grandpa and her aunt. Born two months early,  she fought like hell as an infant and grew to be a beautiful young lady.

She had the leadership qualities that her grandma and her mom have. One time, I remember Rachel looked like she was about to step off a curb and Becky grabbed her before her foot ever touched the ground. With Timmy, she would plan all their play dates. More often than not, he followed along. Their love for each other was a joy to behold.

She was kind and compassionate like her dad. Always there to give you a hug and a kiss. Always polite. Just the sweetest person you'd ever meet.

A couple of years back, my mom gave Timmy a magnet that read "Expect a Miracle. And why not?All you needed to believe in miracles was to look at Becky. And how far she had come from those first few weeks and miracles were easy to believe in. She was the definition of miracle.

Right now, believing in anything is hard. How does this happen? As Katie said in her wonderful eulogy. "We don't know why God decided to take her away." I'm sure there is an explanation, but to be honest, He can keep it, because whatever it is, I'm not buying it.

But we are still a family of faith, and while that faith may have been shaken, it will never be broken.

Eddie Miskovsky, who I've known forever, said something to us that he told his two daughters. "You know that you have a guardian angel now, that you can call on anytime."  He's right.

We all do now.

It doesn't make us miss her any less, make us wish she was still here with us any less. Nothing is going to fix that.

It was Bill Shakespeare who said Twas better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all. It was my father, Bill Gallagher, who said "we were lucky to have this miracle for 10 years." We may not be feeling lucky right now, but he's absolutely right.

She was a light in this world, a bright light. It's dark now, but Rebecca Marie Eller shines on in heaven. On all of us.

Our guardian angel.

Our miracle.

Becky

      I'm sure most of you have heard by now, but on Friday, my family suffered an unspeakable tragedy. My 10 year old niece, Rebecca Eller died suddenly. I'm someone who tries to write how I'm feeling for pretty much everything that happens in life, and at this time the words aren't there.

This is just a note to say thank you to all who have called, texted or written and my promise that I will, as soon as I possibly can, return all of those messages personally.

I also want to let you all know that my sister Katie has started a page to collect money in lieu of flowers, to purchase books for the library at Becky's school Our Lady of Hope. Becky was a passionate reader and we believe that by updating the school library with new books, we will keep her memory alive.  I realize that money can be tight and everybody's situation is unique. But please take a look at it and consider making a donation, or forwarding the link to spread the word and let people know that something good is coming from this horrible loss.

https://www.gofundme.com/reading-with-rebecca?member=480520

And not to sound like some Jerry Lewis Telethon shill, but as of this writing, the page has collected almost $8,000. From the bottom of our hearts, Thank you.

I'll be writing more in the coming days. For now, please pray for my sister Krissy, my brother in law Steve, my niece Rachel, Katie, my parents, Tara, Timmy and I and the rest of the Gallagher and Eller families.


Love to you all

Bill

Weekly Mail July 15, 2018

Hey There:

Ever since he completed his Living Wax Museum project, Timmy has been all about the Beatles, asking me to put the Beatles Channel on, and singing their songs all the time.  The other night we were went for a walk, and he started singing Hey Jude as we were heading home. "Do you know any songs that are popular now?' Tara asked him.  She said to me "I know he's kind of an old soul, but I hate to see him singing songs nobody else knows."

So when we got home I went on-line to see the Billboard Hot 100. What I saw horrified me.

Drake, who a couple years ago drove us all bat$h-t with that annoying song Hotline Bling (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrYd2dbxiT4) now occupies 7 of the top 10 spots on the chart, and 23 of the top 50. Nobody has dominated the charts like that since, ..........take a guess.......times up.......the Beatles.

I had to read that a couple times myself.. Drake?

Now, look I'm not a prude when it comes to music OK? Well maybe I am a bit. I think music is like wine, you have to age it to appreciate it. Having said that, there are a few artists that I enjoy listening to today. I like The Weekend, Ed Sheeran, Camila Cabello, and Taylor Swift. Rihanna just might catch Elvis and the Beatles for most number 1 hits in history at the pace she is going, and that wouldn't bother me. Maroon 5 seems to put out a new single once a month, and are helplessly played out on the radio, but they are still pretty good.

I just find Drake really annoying, and that Hotline Bling nearly did me in. When I saw that Drake had all those songs in the top 10, I turned to Timmy and said "Love, Love Me Do!"


POLITICS: Trump does Europe

60,000 people showed up in London's Trafalgar Square to protest President Trump. So that shows all you liberals who have been saying that Trump can't draw a crowd. (heh heh heh)

But seriously, what came to mind was several years back, when people in other countries would come and protest when George W. Bush would visit a country, and also when Bill Clinton and his sexual shenanigans would make worldwide headlines. I used to argue that Europe laughed at us because of Clinton and hated us because Bush was aggressive in the Middle East. I took it personally when another country mocked our President, especially when it was one of our so called allies, like England, or France or Germany.

60,000 people in Trafalgar Square on Friday. A balloon mocking Trump as if he was a baby. And you know what? I didn't bat an eyelash.

That's sad.

THAILAND SOCCER KIDS- Was thrilled to hear that rescuers were able to save the 12 kids and their coach from the cave in Thailand earlier this week. At a time where the news just seems to get worse and worse, this was one story with a happy ending. I've looked at the diagrams and read many of the stories and even with that, it still blows my mind how they could have gotten so far in there with no way of getting out. The rains filled the cave with water so quickly.

I had read one report that said the 25 year old coach had gone in after them, not knowing at first where they were, every other story I read, said he led them into the cave, which of course led to some outcries. But his leadership while they were stuck, including meditating to keep them calm has been widely praised, even by those who criticized him for getting them in there in the first place.

I think we just have to chalk this up to all's well that ends well and leave it at that. Again, good stories seems so few and far between.


FOOD AND DRINK: A case for the Big Mac

90 cases of cyclosporiasis were reported by the Illinois department of health last week. The illness, caused by a parasite, has been linked to salads served at McDonald's. The most common effects of cyclosporiasis are diarrhea and fatigue.

So the lesson here is if you don't want parasites crawling around your tummy, go and have yourself a Big Mac and fries at McDonald's. Stay away from those salads.


****************************************************************************

I was pulling for England to win the World Cup, and was quite frankly pretty bummed when they lost the other day. I have friends and/or family from Croatia and France, but neither one of these countries do anything for me. Congrats to France for winning it all, but truthfully, I really don't give a spit.

I don't see myself wasting much more ink on the Mets this year, unless they start making trades and/or firing people. The All-Star break is this week, followed by a three game series in the Bronx against the Yankees. If they get swept, I'm done with them for the season. Two out of three? One could only dream.


Have a Great Week

Weekly Mail July 8, 2018

Hey:

We signed Tim up for a basketball league in Baldwin, along with his friends Ethan and Cyrus. They play in Baldwin Harbor Park, which I have to say is a beautiful place. The basketball courts feature brand new backboards and nets, and the park itself is huge. I didn't even know it was there, to be honest.

Anyway last week was the first practice/game and it was hot as blazes. This week, the weather was perfect. 72 and sunny and no humidity. As for the basketball, well, Tim has some skills, but this week he was more like Dell Curry than Steph Curry. Every time he touched the ball he chucked it towards the hoop. I don't blame him, that's pretty much how the Warriors have won their most recent NBA titles, but still we're going to work on maybe looking to make that extra pass, or maybe drive to the hole.

All in due time.


So let's get to the news of the week


HOCKEY: A Dream Come True?

      Last Saturday night, Islander fans were walking on eggshells, waiting for their franchise player, John Tavares to decide where he was going to play. Midnight was the deadline for Tavares to be able to sign an 8 year contract with the Isles, so if he didn't sign with them by then, the figuring went, he would sign elsewhere.

Sure enough around noon on Sunday, JT announced he was signing with the Maple Leafs, the team he rooted for growing up in Toronto. On the surface, it seems like a nice story, the superstar heading back to his hometown to help end a long championship drought. And as a Ranger fan, this should be no skin off my nose, in fact, I should be over the moon. Not having to deal with him in our division should be something worth celebrating.

But there something here that doesn't pass the smell test with me. A number of my Islander cronies said that Tavares asked the Isles not to deal him at the trade deadline, the inference being that he would at the very least give them a fair shot at re signing him. To turn around and sign with Toronto hours after free agency starts and then declare that this was your childhood dream?

That's balls man. That's balls.

As I've said countless times, athletes and politicians are both lying sacks of $h-t. The difference is we can theoretically at least vote the politicians out. We're stuck with our athletes. It's easy for me to sit there and say, " What do you expect?" But I know if it one was someone on one of my teams, I'd be apoplectic.

The last time I remember someone pulling a stunt like that was when LeBron James announced he was taking his talents to South Beach.

BASKETBALL: LA LA LeBron


Ironic, given that just mere hours after JT announced he was taking his talents to Toronto, LeBron announced he was taking his to Los Angeles. Signing with the Lakers, while not the proverbial kick to the crotch as his signing with Miami 8 years ago was for the people of Cleveland, is more an utter lack of imagination and creativity on the part of LeBron.

I'm not just saying that because he didn't sign here, though, lets face it, he comes here and wins a title, they might rename 7th Avenue after him. In Cleveland he was the big fish in a small pond. In LA, he's a big fish in a vast ocean. So what if he leads the Lakers to a title?  He won't be considered an all time Laker, like Kobe and Shaq, Magic and Kareem, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor (who didn't win a title in LA, but is still considered a great Laker). LeBron will just be looked at as a mercenary.




POLITICS: Not so Great Scott

Scott Pruitt either resigned or was fired by President Trump this week as head of the EPA. Apparently Pruitt was involved in one too many scandals for even Trump's liking, which is saying quite a bit.

Now maybe this is just me, but I would imagine that in order to lead a group like the Environmental Protection Agency, one of the first or second qualifications is that you have to, I don't know, care about the environment?  I'm the first to admit I don't go out and celebrate Earth Day every April, but it seems like all this guy did was roll back regulations protecting the environment.

Watching Pruitt leave this week with his tail between his legs brought me back to Rex Tillerson, and how of all of Trump's cabinet choices, Rex seemed to be one who actually got up in the morning and tried to do the job he was given. Pruitt, didn't even fake like he gave a crap about clean air and water, he was all about 5 star hotels and political favors. I'd say good riddance, but his replacement could be worse.


WORLD CUP: Complaint Department

I don't think I was blogging or e-mailing for the last two World Cups, so it's probably been a while since I aired my grievances with international soccer. So here goes.

1) The Flops- Is there anything more annoying than watching these guys barely get touched and then throwing themselves to the ground as if they were shot by a sniper? There is a rule in hockey that if you try to embellish a penalty, you get two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. If they gave a yellow card every time someone did that in soccer, they'd have to pull fans out of the seats to finish the games.

2) Injury time- Years ago, my Uncle Eammon tried, unsuccessfully, to explain injury time to me. Granted this was back in the days where you could only watch the World Cup on Channel 41 in Spanish. I'm sorry, but that's one of the dumbest rules in any sport this side of Pro Wrestling. How can you have it where someone can arbitrarily decide when the game is over?  One might argue that an umpire can do that in baseball, but that would be wrong because there is no clock in baseball. There is one in soccer and the referee can decide to add time onto it. That makes no sense to me.
Many years ago, when I was playing basketball at St. Mary's two guys were arguing whether a particular game was decided by a buzzer beater shot. But the way they kept saying it was "That game didn't end at the buzzer.!" and "Yes it did end at the buzzer." leading the great Les McCurdy to scream at the two idiots that "Every game ENDSATTHEBUZZER!"
Not so in soccer. It ends when the ref feels like it.

3) Offsides- The rule here is that you have to advance the ball past the defender, you can't send someone down the length of the field and kick the ball over the defenders head. That's stupid.
I would make it like hockey, where off-sides is each blue line. Just make a line halfway between the goal and the center of the field. Allowing the defenders to determine the off side line is a recepe for cheating.



All that said, I caught the end of England vs. Columbia, and for all the complaining of low scores, anytime a game goes to penalty kicks, it's must see TV. And the game on Saturday between the Russians and Croatia was another classic. Soccer is never going to be the huge TV sport here that football and baseball are, but these World Cup matches are damn exciting. And watching the countries who win celebrate in their respective streets is always fun. To think a whole country can band together like that is a really cool thought. Yes, our country stops for the Super Bowl, but once the game is over, it's usually one city celebrating, one city rioting, and the rest of the country getting ready for work the next day. Winning a match in the knockout round causes whole countries to party like its 1999.

CRIME:  Sonofabitch!

Anna Mae Blessing, a 92 year old Arizona woman, was arrested on first degree murder charges after she allegedly gunned down her 72 year old son who was attempting to put her in a nursing home.

Blessing argued with her son and his 57 year old girlfriend, and then pulled a handgun out of her bathrobe and shot her son. The girlfriend managed to knock the gun out of her hand, only to have the heat-packing granny pull a second gun out of her bathrobe. Fortunately, the girlfriend got that gun away from her as well. But it was too late for the son, who died from his wounds.

My sister* and I used to tease my mom that since she loved Rockaway so much that when she was old enough, we'd put her in one of the nursing homes on the boardwalk, or if she wanted to be closer to Conolly's the one on 95th Street. I told that story to a former cop I knew and he said (no joke)
"That's why I keep my guns."

Apparently so did Anna Mae Blessing.


I love America with all it's warts and imperfections, and there are enough people criticizing it for me to not jump on the bashing bandwagon, but I have to admit, it speaks to the state of our great nation that competitive eater Joey Chestnut is arguably our greatest athlete.

Enjoy the beautiful weather

and Have a Great Week




*my sister not named Katie.

Weekly Mail July 1, 2018

Hey:

Hot enough for ya?

Man I love the summer, but it was 90 degrees at midnight Sunday morning. Brutal.

Anyway let’s get to it....




A TALE OF TWO ELECTIONS...


Tuesday as I was leaving work, I saw that amongst the electees to the hockey all of fame, amongst all time greats like Martin Brodeur, pioneers like Willie O'Ree and fan favorites like Martin St. Louis, there was Commissioner Gary Bettman.

Really?

The same Gary Bettman who presided over three lockouts, including one that shut down the game for an entire season? THAT Gary Bettman?

That man shouldn't be allowed in there unless he pays admission.

Now some of you will say look at the growth of the sport since he took over. OK, sure you've had Stanley Cup Championships in Dallas and Tampa Bay. I have a friend from Nashville who tells me what the Predators have done for that city is mind blowing. "Used to be all about football," he told me "now they are all hockey crazy down there."  I guess i begrudgingly have to give him credit for that.

But what's happening in Phoenix is a sin. He allowed the Winnipeg Jets to move there and it's been nothing short of a disaster. And the only reason Winnipeg got the Jets back was because another southern based team went belly up (the Atlanta Thrashers). They ought to move the Coyotes either to Hamilton or Quebec City.

And maybe I could forgive him wiping out the 2004-05 season if he didn't end up locking out the league again a mere 8 seasons later. That time at least they played a partial season, but the other work stoppage, which happened in 1994, right after the Rangers won the Cup, killed the momentum that the Rangers win had brought to the league. Shoot, even OJ Simpson couldn't knock the Rangers off the back pages that month, but by not raising that championship banner in October, the commissioner of the NHL did!

Say what you want about Bud Selig, (and I don't think he belongs in Cooperstown either) but after HE wiped out the 1994 World Series, they have never had another work stoppage. 24 years of labor peace.

The only two commissioners I believe should be represented in their sports Halls of Fame are Pete Rozelle in the NFL and David Stern in the NBA. Sure both presided over costly work stoppages, but both had also developed their brands in leaps and bounds before said work stoppages. Rozelle in particular seemed like a good man, forever beating himself up for the decision to play NFL games two days after the Kennedy assassination.

Bettman getting voted into the HHoF burned my a$$ in the afternoon.

But not like the election that was called that night.....


A couple of weeks ago, I read somewhere that Rep. Joe Crowley (D-Queens Bronx) had skipped a debate against his primary challenger Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I had a bad feeling about it because there were a lot of folks on social media who were up in arms over this, and you know what? Rightly so. After what happened in 2016, how could anyone take any election lightly?

But even with that, I figured he would still win. It might have been closer that he was used to, but
still, he'd pull it out. And if he managed to win in November, and the House went blue, he was a contender for Speaker of the House!

Now full disclosure here: I've known Joe Crowley since I was 8 years old.

He coached my first CYO basketball team at St. Mary's. There was an A team and a B team. Joe coached the B team. They had tryouts and at first I didn't make the A team. For some reason, after a practice or two with Joe's team, the coach of the A team took me and two other guys and said we could come to the A team. I'll never really know why he did this, but for some reason, Joe came over to me and asked "Do you want to stay on my team? I said yeah. He wanted to know how come?

I told him I had never played basketball before and I didn't know the rules. He went to other coach and then came back. "OK, you're with me." he said.

He was great, Taught me a lot about the game and made sure (as best he could) that the older guys didn't give me too much crap.

He also bonded with my dad, because Big Bill drove to all the road games. For years, whenever they'd bump into each other they'd always chat for a bit. Many years later, I ran into Joe at Donovan's, and he told me that my dad was one of his heroes. "Everything he went through and the injuries he suffered and never a complaint, never a bad word. He made me rethink how I felt about Vietnam." We were both pretty buzzed that night, but I'll never forget how genuine his admiration for dad was.

So you can understand why I was fit to be tied Tuesday night when I saw that he had lost, and not by a couple of votes either. Ocasio-Cortez won big.

I was ready to go on line and start ranting on about what a disgrace it was that a good man like Joe Crowley could get voted out at the hands of a 28 year old socialist*, who had been waiting tables just a year before. How the same folks screaming about how the knucklehead right elected a President with no experience just elected a candidate for the House with no experience. How maybe the people of Queens and the Bronx were getting what they deserved if they didn't have the sense to vote for a good guy like Joe Crowley.

But I didn't. Instead I let my cooler head prevail.

The fact of the matter is, it's a great story. And let's face it, it's democracy at work. For whatever reason, these people wanted fresh blood in there. Lord knows, I'm always railing on about Congress, and how we need to get fresh faces in Washington.  Of course I was talking about goobers like Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, and also the Chuck Schumers and Nancy Pelosi's of the world.

But I guess Joe was one of them now.

Of course, I'm not nearly as classy as Joe is, and while he immediately endorsed the woman who defeated him, I will do no such thing. I'm pulling hard for Anthony Pappas, the Republican who will go up against Ocasio-Cortez in November. Shoot, I'm going to be his biggest fan here in NY, which means he will probably get his clock cleaned on election night.

I hope Joe Crowley runs again, but he probably won't.  It just would have been cool to say that I knew the person who was third in line to be President of the United States.

********************************************************************************

Obviously the shooting at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis hit home for me on many levels, not the least of which being the squadron of anti terrorism cops greeting me at the doors of the Post on Saturday. walking through Grand Central in the weeks after 9/11 and seeing the National Guard standing there gave me the same jolting uneasy feeling. I suppose I'll get used to it like I did back then.  Just kind of wish I didn't have to.

*********************************************************************************

For the record:

I think they should have served Sarah Sanders at the Red Hen.

I also think they should have baked the cake for those two dudes who were getting married.

I also think Joe Biden should have been able to get cookies at that bakery in Virginia.

I understand that you want to make a statement, but I'm not sure turning people away is the answer.

If I was a business owner, I'd try to avoid serving skinheads, white supremacists, al-Qaeda, ISIS and Bill Bellichick. Everyone else, I figure even if I don't like them, I'm still taking their money.

*********************************************************************************

I like to finish these things up on a positive note, but positivity and humour are in short supply this week. So thanks to Weekly Mail co-editor Karl (The Ace) Ludwig, here is a flashback story from Weekly Mail, June 29, 2004..

 Actually had one of my proudest moments in my 7 month newspaper career on Thursday night. One
of the copy editors was reading a story about a judge in Oklahoma who was caught playing with his
bearded bagpipe while on the bench. Can you imagine going before a judge, who has the fate of your
life in one hand, and his pecker in the other?  
   We were all cracking up, but I asked if I could suggest a headline. The chief copy editor, Barry, said
sure and I said how about "here cums the judge"?
    The guys loved it. It wasn't the headline, they used it as a photo caption, and they changed it to the
Flip Wilson version (Here come da judge) But the best part was that the chief managing editor and the
editor in chief, two men not noted for their sense of humor, laughed at my contribution.
I hate to toot my own horn...
what the hell? I love tooting my own horn. beep beep baby!

https://nypost.com/2004/06/25/jerky-judge-uh-pounded-the-gavel-in-court/

Editors note: unfortunately the photo and caption are not included in the story. 

Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

Have a Happy 4th of July. Happy 242nd Birthday America!

and Have a Great Week

* I had it pointed out to me that Ocasio-Cortez isn't an actual Socialist. She's a Democratic Socialist, meaning she believes in things like single payer healthcare and other government run programs, but not a federal takeover of all businesses. Thanks to Ed Robinson and his friends for clarifying that for me.