Weekly Mail January 13, 2019

And we're back..


2019 wasn't even a week old when we lost 3, well for lack of a better term, celebrities. Mean Gene Okerland, who was one of wrestling's most beloved characters, Bob Einstein, who I knew more as Super Dave Osborne, and Daryl Dragon, the Captain from Captain and Tennille, all died January 2, all at the age of 76. Kind of a creepy coincidence if you ask me.

One thing about pro wrestling, whether you love it or hate it, you have to admit that the guys who did the announcing were extremely talented. I guess they had to be, because it was up to them to sell it to the public. I always thought Vince McMahon, as crazy as he is, was great when he was the straight blow by blow man for the WWF. Mean Gene was more the sideline reporter/interviewer. But with his voice, he easily could have worked the NFL sidelines or between the hockey benches. (His son Todd, played briefly for the Islanders at one time). It's tempting to say he could have used his talents on a real sport, but he was perfect where he was, as I said, he was able to sell a show as genuine sport.

Of the three 76 year olds that died January 2, he's the one I remember the most. Regardless, may they all RIP.


Onto the news...


FOOTBALL: Gase! How low can you go?

Let me start off by saying although I was none to sorry to see the Todd Bowles Era end here in New York, I felt bad that they didn't even let the poor schmuck get on the plane home from Foxborough before they announced he was canned. Used to be they called the Monday after the regular season ended "Black Monday" because they announced all the firings then. Not anymore, now they don't even let the coach take his post game shower.

But it had to be done. More importantly, the replacement had to be a slam dunk. So what do the Jets go out and do?

Hire a guy who himself just got fired after posting a losing record.

The Dolphins weren't quite as eager to run Adam Gase out of Miami as the Jets were to run Bowles out of NY, but it was damn close. And at least the Jets all seem to like Bowles, though you'd be hard pressed to tell with the way they played this year. The Fish all pretty much hated Gase and admitted they quit playing for him.

I'm not saying the players all have to love you, shoot, Mike Keenan won a Stanley Cup here in NY with a roster full of Rangers who thought he was the biggest a-hole on two wheels, but to have them hate you to the point they don't play for you? That's a guy I tend to stay away from.

But the kicker of all this to me is that there was a guy available who 1) Won a Super Bowl as a head coach 2) wanted to come here and 3) had experience working with two potential Hall of Fame Quarterbacks.

Mike McCarthy may not be Vince Lombardi, or even Mike Holmgren, the two other Packers coaches who won Super Bowls. But his resume is still pretty impressive. A Super Bowl champ who coached both Brett Favre and Aaron Rogers, he's someone I wouldn't mind mentoring Sam Darnold.

He's got to be better than Adam Gase.

I'm writing this on Saturday... exactly 50 years to the days the Jets won their one and only Super Bowl. In 4 more years, they will beat the Rangers record for longest time between championships. I hope to God I'm wrong, that this guy is the one to finally get the Jets another Lombardi Trophy. I'm just not feeling it dawg. I think's it's decisions like these (and maybe Joe Namath making a deal with the devil) that has kept the Jets from the promised land for half a century.


Bar Room BS


POLITICS: Government Shutdown.

Twenty some odd years ago, (Razor) Ray McGarvey invited me and his sister Mary (also one of my dearest friends) to come on Cooper Union's annual ski trip the second week of January. The two years I was lucky enough to go, I didn't shave for the whole week. So the past couple of years, to remember the good times, I have either grown out a goatee or just abandoned shaving altogether for the week. Tara asked me when I was going to shave and I told her when the government shut down ended.

At this rate, I'm going to end up looking like I'm auditioning for ZZ Top.

I realize there is enough blame to go around here, but President Trump proudly told Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi that he would gladly shut the government down if they didn't fund his border wall, so he pretty much answered the question himself.

The sad truth of the matter is that the only people who are getting screwed here are the hard working federal employees who are either not working or working for no pay. Trump, Pelosi and Schumer aren't struggling to feed their families or keep roofs over their heads, neither is Mitch McConnell or Mike Pence. They all suck as far as I'm concerned.


SPLITSVILLE: Jeff and Mackenzie Bezos

I don't like to write about marriages that flop, don't even like reading about them. Divorce is one of the saddest things that can happen to people and I hate making light of it. I understand that because Amazon boss Jeff Bezos is worth a zillion dollars, this split is going to make news.

What I didn't need to hear about were the text messages Bezos was sending to his mistress, news anchor Lauren Sanchez. Unfortunately, my paper the Post was all over that.  Far be it for me to bite the hand that pays me, but this was too much man. At Mass on Sunday, I said a small prayer that no dicpics surface, cuz lets face it, that's the next logical step right?


I hope you all enjoyed your holidays. Here's to a great 2019, Lord knows we need it.


Have a Great Week