Tim had his last lacrosse game of the season on Sunday, a 7-5 loss to Lynbrook. The team was much improved this year, 3-4 after going 0-7 last year. What was frustrating was, with all the crappy weather we had this spring, many of is practices were washed out. Still, he had fun and the kids on his team are good guys, so I'm sorry to see it end.
Onto the week that was....
So we had a couple of athletes who died just after our deadline last week.
Onto the week that was....
So we had a couple of athletes who died just after our deadline last week.
Bart Starr: Several years ago, I read the autobiography of Vince Lombardi titled When Pride Still Mattered. The book went into great detail about the kind of discipline Lombardi instilled in the Packers.
Bart Starr respected Lombardi, maybe more than anyone else in Green Bay, but according to the book, there was no fear. Starr’s father was a Drill Sargent in the Marines, there wasn’t anything Lombardi was going to say that would rattle him. In fact, Starr asked if Lombardi needed to give out to him, that he do it in private, so that he wouldn’t look weak in front of his offense.
Bart Starr was the only player who could get away with a request like that. And he did.
Must have worked too. Under Lombardi with Starr at QB, the Packers won 5 NFL Championships in the 60’s. When the Packers lost to the Eagles in the 1960 NFL Championship game, Lombardi told his team “Gentlemen, THAT will never happen again.” It never did. Bart Starr went 9-0 in theplayoffs, including the first two Super Bowls, both of which he captured the MVP of the game.
He also coached the Packers from 1975-1982, but had little success. It seems like he was overshadowed by guys like Johnny Unitas, but make no mistake he was one of the all time greats. And by all accounts an all time great man too.
Bill Buckner: Just as foolish as it might be to judge Bart Starr on the basis of his coaching record, that’s how foolish it is to judge Bill Buckner on the basis of the one play he seems to be remembered for. The ground ball through his legs in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
I have always contended two things about that whole thing.....1) I believe Bob Stanley’s wild pitch that allowed Kevin Mitchell to score the tying run was as much if not more costly than was Buckner’s error. Even if Buckner fields that ball cleanly and we head to the 11th inning, whose bullpen do you have more faith in at that point?
2) I still believe that Mookie would have beaten Buckner to the bag in a foot race. Remember, Buckner was on two gimpy ankles, which is why 3) I also believe manager John McNamara ultimately deserves more blame than Buckner and Stanley.
No matter how you feel about my above $0.02, what’s not in dispute is that Bill Buckner was a hell of a good ball player. I read somewhere he never struck out more than three times in a row. Can you imagine? That’s over 21 year career. That’s amazing.
He finished with over 2,700 hits. He was the best player on some crappy teams in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
And the fact that he became good friends with Mookie Wilson and did the Rubber Chicken circuit with him show what class he had.
Two class acts. Two men who deserved better than what they got, but who also didn’t complain.
RIP
Also in the RIP column this week.....
95.5 WPLJ
I listened to the final days of WPLJ on Thursday and Friday and it was really kind of heart wrenching. In some ways, I appreciated that the new people coming in let PLJ have their send off. I remember some stations just switched formats in the middle of the day, with no chance for the on air staff to say goodbye. K-Rock did that back in the 90's, WCBS did it in 2005 when they switched to Jack-FM. Legendary DJ's like Pete Fournatale, Cousin Brucie and Bill Brown were unceremoniously dumped. That was just wrong.
But hearing how emotional these people on PLJ were, that was tough too. I didn't realize how long Todd Pettingil had been at PLJ (almost 30 years). That's insane!
I'm not going to lie, I haven't listened to PLJ much these past few years, but I respect what an institution it was, and for what it's worth, up until they switched the format on Friday evening, it was always the first preset on my car radio.
Now, 95.5 is going to be playing Christian Contemporary Music, and while I consider myself a Christian and I respect any artist who wants to express their faith through music, as a practical matter I have to ask, Who is going to listen to this stuff? In New York City? You may as well play Hillbilly Music.
I'm sorry folks, I just don't see the mass audience for that format. The people who took over the frequency are a non-profit group, which is good because I can't see them making any money on this. I have to imagine keeping PLJ on the air had to make more sense than this, but then what do I know?
Anyway, here's a song I wonder if they'll play on the new 95.5.
If you Don't Love Jesus
I hope I don't come off as unpatriotic, but I really hope the Raptors beat the Warriors in the NBA Finals. And I'm pulling for St.Louis in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Mets had two real bad losses out west this week, blowing 5 run leads against the Dodgers and DBacks. Is it that they can't win on the road? June is when things went south last year, I hope we don't have a repeat.
That's all folks
have a Great Week
I listened to the final days of WPLJ on Thursday and Friday and it was really kind of heart wrenching. In some ways, I appreciated that the new people coming in let PLJ have their send off. I remember some stations just switched formats in the middle of the day, with no chance for the on air staff to say goodbye. K-Rock did that back in the 90's, WCBS did it in 2005 when they switched to Jack-FM. Legendary DJ's like Pete Fournatale, Cousin Brucie and Bill Brown were unceremoniously dumped. That was just wrong.
But hearing how emotional these people on PLJ were, that was tough too. I didn't realize how long Todd Pettingil had been at PLJ (almost 30 years). That's insane!
I'm not going to lie, I haven't listened to PLJ much these past few years, but I respect what an institution it was, and for what it's worth, up until they switched the format on Friday evening, it was always the first preset on my car radio.
Now, 95.5 is going to be playing Christian Contemporary Music, and while I consider myself a Christian and I respect any artist who wants to express their faith through music, as a practical matter I have to ask, Who is going to listen to this stuff? In New York City? You may as well play Hillbilly Music.
I'm sorry folks, I just don't see the mass audience for that format. The people who took over the frequency are a non-profit group, which is good because I can't see them making any money on this. I have to imagine keeping PLJ on the air had to make more sense than this, but then what do I know?
Anyway, here's a song I wonder if they'll play on the new 95.5.
If you Don't Love Jesus
I hope I don't come off as unpatriotic, but I really hope the Raptors beat the Warriors in the NBA Finals. And I'm pulling for St.Louis in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The Mets had two real bad losses out west this week, blowing 5 run leads against the Dodgers and DBacks. Is it that they can't win on the road? June is when things went south last year, I hope we don't have a repeat.
That's all folks
have a Great Week
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