Weekly Mail April 5, 2020

Hey Everybody:

Sorry we didn't publish last week, and I'm kind of embarrassed to admit why I didn't. I did one of those virtual happy hours with my friends and got a little to well,m happy. That made for a rough Sunday.

But we are back this week and well, I mean, what's there to say? There's no sports to complain about, no real gossip we can have fun with. The 2020 election is pretty much on hold for now, and to be honest, I've decided I'm going to lay off criticizing the government for now, both the federal, state and local. Right now, I just feel like the best thing is to try to be positive, try to stay together in spirit (obviously not physically)  and to stick this thing out as best we can.

If you are someone who is inclined to pray, please do so for all the people that are stricken with this virus and their families. Also, please pray for the first responders, doctors, cops, firemen, and especially the nurses who are fighting this battle. Also for those working in pharmacies and grocery stores, the aptly names essential employees.

I've stopped watching the news, which I'm almost ashamed to admit. When 9/11 happened, I was like addicted to the news. All I wanted to know was, who did it and what were we going to do about it.

I'd still love to know how this all started, was it really someone eating bat soup? Was it environmental, something that just came out of the blue? Or was it something more sinister. I really do hope someone gets to the bottom of that. Because assuming we do flatten the curve and get out of this, we sure as $h-t can't go through this again.

But now, all the news is bad. It's people dying, it's health care workers not having enough PPE, it's a lot if name calling and finger pointing.

Social Media has been both a blessing and a curse, but I'll focus on the blessings:

First of all, my hats off again to the folks who created the Coronavirus Quarantine Virtual Bar. Between the hysterical memes and the live music, they have been a godsend. The other night, my man Paddy Tubs started DJ'ing on his deck in the back of his house. You could see everyone on the West side of Broad Channel dancing on their back decks. All while keeping a safe distance.

Later on, Jamesy and Timmy had a trivia contest on Facebook live. So good to see those guys in action as they spun awesome tunes between questions.

And then there has been my personal favorite.. A great guy named Patrick Grady created a Facebook page called Brooklyn-Queens CYO Basketball. Are you kidding me? How many times have I come on here and waxed poetic about my CYO basketball career? That page was made for me.

And don't get me wrong.. It's not because I was a great player-I wasn't even close to being a great player. Twice, I led my team in DNP's.  But I also made the all-star team in 8th grade, but that's all irrelevant. It's the stories, the characters, the memories.

Thanks to this page, I’ve reconnected with some great friends from high school. So awesome.

On Friday night, I was talking with WM co-editors Ace and Razor, and I was telling them about this page. We started coming up with stories ourselves and came to the conclusion that some of this stuff you couldn't get away with now. One of these days, I may write about some of these stories, if I can get those involved to promise not to sue. LOL


So what I have been doing is some reading- Here are a couple of book reviews- Speaking of Hoops...


Loose Balls- The Short Wild Life of the American Basketball Association. By Terry Pluto

The story is told directly by the players, coaches and executives involved. So when I saw in the cast of characters that one of the people was Al Bianchi, and that his current job was listed as GM of the Knicks, I thought maybe I wouldn't enjoy the book as it had to have been at least 30 hyears old. (It was-it came out in 1990)

But in many ways that was better because the stories were still relatively fresh. The ABA had a few really good teams, and a lot of really bad ones. They played their games in some interesting arenas, some with no heat or hot water. The three point shot and the slam dunk contest were all invented in the ABA. Moses Malone, Dr. J, George (the Iceman) Gervin and Artis Gilmore all started their careers there.

To be honest, I haven't finished it yet, but I've read enough of it to recommend it. If you're a basketball fan or just a sports fan who likes wacky stories from the early 70's, I think you'll dig this book.

4 Auggies.


America's Last Great Newspaper War: The Death of Print in a Two Tabloid Town
By: Mike Jaccarino

Mike Jaccarino was a runner for the Daily News. A runner is basically the person who gets sent to cover a story, then calls in their quotes/notes to the rewrite people on the city desk. I did that for the Post back in the day. Jaccarinio started right after I had stopped running, so we never met. (At least I don't think we did)

But he talks about going up against some folks from the Post who are good friends of mine. Perry Chairmonte, Jen Fermino, Erin Calabrese, Lorena Mongelli, the legendary (and fellow Donovan's patron) CJ Sullivan, and last but not least, my man Tom Liddy.

I loved the book, but really only because I lived it and knew many of the characters.In addition to my aforementioned peeps, he talks about Kerry Burke and Melissa Grace. Sometimes when you knew you were trying to get the same angle, runners from the News and Post would make a deal. I'll leave if you leave. Or you might even work together. Melissa and I were "married and divorced" before I officially married Tara. We played a married couple going to visit a sick relative to get into a hospital, another time we pretended to be brother and sister visiting our mother. You didn't do that too often because you were competing with each other, but it was a way to keep an eye on your opponent.

Jaccarino's got a bunch of stories like that. If you're not a newspaper junkie, it might not be your cup of tea. As one of my all time favorite colleagues Billy Gorta once said, "I love hot dogs, but I'm not interested in going to the Sabrett Hot Dog Factory to see how they are made."

I'm giving it 4.5 Auggies cuz I really enjoyed it. The stories he tells are good.


OK Folks. Stay Safe, and if you can Stay Home.

Have a Great Week