Sunday, June 28, 2020
Weekly Mail June 28, 2020
Hey Everybody
Sorry again about the glitch from last week.
So despite the pandemic rendering the AHA Walk/Run a virtual event, Team Running for Rebecca was the number one community team. We raised over $8,000 for the American Heart Association. I promise next year, we'll make it the best ever. But I have to dsay we did damn good this year given the circumstances. Thanks to all.
CRIME: Carton Out of Jail
Former WFAN morning host Craig Carton was released from jail last week, having served a little over a year of a 3.5 year prison term for running a ponzi scheme.
When he was first arrested, people were saying he was facing up to 45 years. He was sentenced to a little under 45 months. He served a little more than 45 weeks. At this rate, they're going to pay him the money he stole.
I don't mean to make light of all this, but I don't understand how he could get so much of his sentence reduced. There were legal eagles who thought the sentence he got was light, and he didn't even serve half of that.
It shouldn't bother me Again from where I'm sitting, it seems like he screwed a bunch of people who were looking to screw other people out of money. He convinced a bunch of hedge fund honchos to give him money to buy bulk concert tickets that they would in turn sell at a high markup. That's call scalping tickets.
Everyone involved here is dirty IMHO. Carton, the people he ripped off, the judge who admitted she was a fan and gave him a slap on the wrist and whoever decided to change the slap to a tap.
And of course the speculation as to if/when he is going to return to the FAN has already started. Will they put him back with Boomer Esiason and cut loose Greg Gianotti? Will they put him on in the afternoon drive, tell Joe Beningo to retire as he keeps threatening to do, and move Evan Roberts back to mid-mornings, (Bye bye Maggie Gray and Mark the Moose Melusis)?
I kind of like the FAN how it is now. Gianotti's impersonations of Beningo and Mike Francesa are priceless, Moose and Maggie are fine, I don't know why people rag on them. Joe and Evan get criticized for being "strictly a sports show" On an all sports radio station? Go figure. The only one I really don't like now is John JJ Jastremski, who is nothing more than a Mad Dog Ripoff.
My one wish for Craig Carton is that he stay away from the gambling and repairs his relationship with his wife and kids. I don't wish him any ill will, I really don't. I guess it's just that I feel like if it was someone else who did what he did, Carton would be on the radio talking about what a scumbag that person was.
POLITICS-And the 51st State will be...
For the first time in history, a chamber of Congress approved granting statehood to our nation's capital.
On Friday, the House voted 232-180 to have Washington DC become our 51st state. All the Republicans and one Democrat in the House voted against the measure. It is not expected to pass the Republican controlled Senate. With DC overwhelmingly Democrat, it stands to reason the GOP would want nothing to do with adding another Blue State.
I gotta be honest, I didn't even know this was even a thing. I've heard of Puerto Rico looking to become the 51st state, but not DC. I mean in some ways it makes sense. And I realize there are more important reasons for the debate on whether or not DC should be a state, but I kind of like having an even 50 states, its a nice round number.
So if DC becomes a state, I say that's fine, but someone's gotta leave. Or combine the Carolina's or the Dakotas. 51 that's just a weird number. Or maybe I'm just neurotic like that.
BASEBALL: The 60 game season
Because the union and the owners were unable to come to a deal, which still kind of blows my mind BTW, Commissioner Rob Manfred implemented a 60 game season which will start July 24 (coronavirus permitting).
The teams will play 10 games against each of their divisional opponents, and the rest will be played against the same division in the opposite league. So the Mets will play the Nationals, Braves, Phillies and Marlins 10 times each (40 games) and the Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Blue Jays and Rays 4 times each (20 games).
There will be a DH in the National League, which as a traditionalist I can't stand, but I understand the logic here, plus it will get Dominic Smith some more at bats. They will also start extra innings with a runner on second base, which I hate even worse than the DH. I can live with anything for 60 games.
I heard some of my fellow Met fans grumbling that with our luck they'll win the World Series and we'll have to hear about how it didn't count because of the short season. I see the point, but whaddaya say we burn that bridge when we get to it huh? I'll call that a good problem to have.
FOOTBALL:
There's a new tradition starting with the Jets. Pro Bowl Defensive Backs who talk their way out of town.
First we had Darrelle Revis and now we have Jamal Adams, who this week demanded a trade because the Jets won't give him a new contract. He still has two years on his rookie deal.
Now I always believe that players should stick to their contracts. In rare cases, if a player is that grossly underpaid, maybe you tear it up and give him a new deal. But I don't care how good Adams is, I don't want to hear about his contract. There is too much craziness and uncertainty right now, and with over 40 million Americans out of work, and millions of African Americans protesting for social justice, do you really think it's a good idea to be demanding a contract that the team is under no obligation to give you?
What burns my ass is that he's openly talking about playing for other teams, mainly his hometown Dallas Cowboys.
I wouldn't trade him. That's the last thing I'd do. I'd force him to honor his contract. But when his contract is up, you just let him walk?
Yeah, because you're going to get pennies on the dollar for him anyway. It just never ends with the Jets does it?
I know it's been a rough year, but look at it this way: On Wednesday, it will be half over.
Probably won't publish next week. Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July
and Have a Great Week
Sunday, June 21, 2020
Weekly Mail June 21, 2020
Hello All:
Friday was the second annual American Heart Association Run/Walk. With the social distancing rules in effect, it was impossible to do it the way it was done last year. So the idea was to do the 3.5 miles wherever you could do it safely.
At the Starting Gate
So Timmy and I headed to the kindergarten center in Oceanside, which has a 1/4 mile track and we did our 14 laps. We started around 7:30 by checking in with Coach Katie, and we ended around 8:40. Now I know there was a time many moons ago where I could RUN 14 laps around the track. Did it practically every day in high school. Still I was proud of us for doing it, and proud of everyone who participated.
Next year, hopefully we can get back to doing it in the traditional way. For everyone who donated, thank you so much.
OK, we are going to go a little all over the place here this week..
October 4, 1995, the day after OJ Simpson was acquitted, I was channel surfing with Karl (the Ace) Ludwig, and when we got to the E! Channel around 1 PM EST, they were showing a re-run of One Day at a Time.
"So this is what's on E! instead of OJ" Karl said.
I think a lot of people are going to have a similar reaction when they turn on the telly Monday morning around 11 and discover that the Andrew Cuomo Hour has been cancelled.
I know more than one person who planned their day around the governor's daily presser. But now that NY has gotten it's COVID-19 numbers down, he's pulled the plug. Sort of a good news bad news scenario-good that the numbers are down, bad that you now how to watch them go at it on the View again.
All kidding aside, Cuomo did a really good job keeping everyone informed, and that we've gone from the hotbed of COVID-19 to having some of the lowest numbers in the nation is a testament to his leadership. He a'int perfect, I've had my beefs with him before this and I'm sure I'll have them after, but give credit where it is due.
Some people believed that Cuomo got a haircut while the state was on lockdown. I honestly don't know if he did, but I need to give a shoutout to Eyewitness News anchor Bill Ritter who set a great example by going on TV everyday with long and curly hair. His hair even had it's own Twitter Handle. Good stuff.
LONG GONE SUMMER
ESPN last week did a documentary about the 1998 Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa chase of Roger Maris single season home run record.
Sports Illustrated would rank the 1998 season as the greatest baseball season of all time. The documentary seemed to say that it was the McGwire/Sosa that singlehandidly saved baseball from the ill will of the 1994-95 strike.
My sister Katie, brilliantly gave her recollections of that season 22 years ago. It was the first year my family did a ticket plan (a 6 pack plus one if I recall correctly)* which entitled you to Opening Day tickets and tickets to one game of the Yankee series. It was also the year the Mets traded for Mike Piazza. For the Yanks, it was the year they started 0-4 and then it seemed like they never lost another game the rest of the season. There were a couple of good playoff races, the Cubs and Giants would play a one game playoff for the Wild Card. The Mets should have won the Wild Card outright, but lost the last 5 games of the season, a choke almost as bad as the one that would occur 9 years later. Cal Ripken Jr. would finally sit out a game, ending his ironman streak at 2,642 straight games.
But it was the Maris chase that dominated the 1998 season. I spent 10 days in Ireland in late August, and was fortunate enough to stay in a place that had CNN International. I set my tourism schedule around CNNI World Sport, once we got through the myriad of Premier League Soccer highlights I didn't give a spit about, (and do yourself a favor if you go to Ireland, don't mention that you don't give a spit about soccer) they would do a 30 second segment on the home run race in America. Then they'd quickly run through the MLB scores. This was the pre smartphone era so this was my only shot to keep up.
The documentary was good, if not great. It did a good job of showing the pressure that McGwire faced daily. Sosa eventually faced it too, but being that McGwire had come so close in 1997, the white hot spotlight was on him from day one.
And I'll tell you something else, I really didn't want to see the record get broken. I had heard what Roger Maris had gone through the year he broke Babe Ruth's record, and I felt bad to see him lose it. I remember the day Maris died in 1985, I was watching TV with my mom and when they previewed the 11 o'clock news, they said they were going to look back on the life of Roger Maris. "That's so sad. I really liked him" my mom said that night. She's not the world biggest baseball fan, so that stuck with me.
But McGwire won me over, with his graciousness and his humility. The Home Run Derby was at Coors Field that year, and folks thought McGwire might hit a couple of balls 600 ft. He didn't and actually apologized to the fans for not putting on a better show. He took the time to get to know the Maris family and to include them so that Roger wouldn't be pushed aside when the record fell. I felt like the documentary didn't capture this as well as it should have.
Sosa too, was easy to root for. He brought an unbridled joy to the game, he was always smiling and like McGwire, took plenty of time for autographs and pictures. If the record was going to be broken, I had no issue with either of these guys doing it. They were friendly, classy and appreciative of the history they were making. Plus they genuinely seemed to like each other.
I've said this before and I know I might get some blowback, but I really believe the issue of steroids wouldn't have come up if Barry Bonds hadn't come along and broken both McGwire's single season HR record, or Henry Aaron's all time record. Unlike McGwire and Sosa, Bonds was a creep, nasty to the fans and to the press. Just an overall lowlife, who threw the few friends he had under the bus to cover his lying cheating a$$.
And this has nothing to do with race, before anyone brings that up. Most people would have had no issues with Ken Griffey Jr. passing Maris (and/or Aaron) who was neither nasty or a juicer.
It's a shame things turned out as they did. Both McGwire and Sosa testified before Congress on March 17, 2005, neither one of them able to convince anyone they were clean.
Watching that 30 for 30 though, brought back good memories good feelings. I was 25 that summer, but I felt younger. Watching baseball in 1998 was like watching it as a kid, when it's all you have to worry about.
Everybody stay safe
and Have a Great Week
* I didn't go with them that season. I went from 1999-2004.
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Weekly Mail June 14,2020
Hi everyone:
So Timmy graduated from grammar school this week. Of course as we live in this crazy time period, it was a virtual ceremony.
The class president recorded a speech, as did the principal and the superintendent of the school district. The teachers read out some awards and then they read the names of the kids. Not fancy, but the best they could do under the circumstances I suppose.
A couple of days later, they had us drive around the school so the teachers could say goodbye. It was bittersweet. They let the kids come back an hour or so later to take pictures.
There have been so many just awful things that have happened because of this pandemic. Obviously the saddest and most horrible is losing a loved one to the disease and not being able to properly say goodbye with a wake/funeral. Nothing is worse than that.
But to me the kids who lost out on their last years of school is right up there on the list of heartbreaks. Timmy will get to graduate again two years from now, so it's not the worst in the world, but the kids who are graduating high school and college are really getting a raw deal.
Most of them are taking it in stride. A few parents of kids I know who are graduating from high school were saying that the kids aren't taking it as hard as the parents are. I don't know if that's good or bad. Maybe these kids have been through so much shit in their lives already that this is just another thing to deal with.
Timmy's been a trooper throughout this whole thing, and if he feels like he's being gyped he hasn't said anything to that effect. As parents, I think Tara and I are taking it harder than him. We just have to hope we are in the last throes of this.
TELEVISION: Sopranos Ending Revealed?
Sopranos creator David Chase, participating in a round table discussion to promote his new book The Sopranos Sessions, described the infamous final scene of the series as "the death scene." By describing it as such, the feeling is, that Chase slipped up and revealed what happened to Tony in that New Jersey diner.
Chase didn't deny it when it was pointed out that he referred to it as the death scene, instead saying F-you to the rest of the panel.
I was always one who didn't think that Tony got whacked, at least not there. Had Chase chosen to show Meadow coming in the door and then cut to black, I would have said yeah he got killed. But the last shot was Tony looking up, so based on that, how can you say for definite?
I have to be honest with you, if there was more things going on now, I wouldn't have even brought this up. 13 years later, I'm still furious at how the show ended. I rushed all the way home from Kevin and Trina Woods wedding, no radio or anything, so I could watch the finale off our DVR. I felt like I was taken for a fool after that. I still do.
I'm still not totally convinced Tony was whacked at the diner, I'm also not totally convinced David Chase accidentally slipped up. I think he's got a book coming out and sometime early next year, a Sopranos prequel The Many Saints of Newark will be out, so I think this is just some cheap promotional work.
God Bless him, its working.
That's about all we got here this week folks. Again, I said what I had to say about the COVID-19 for now, and as far as the racial tension in the country, I'm only using my listening skills and not my words.
Have a Great Week
Sunday, June 7, 2020
Weekly Mail June 7, 2020
Hey There:
So last night I published a special about the George Floyd protests. I hope you all read it and took it to heart.
For now, we'll address some other things going on in our neck of the woods.
DOCTOR! MY EYES-Jackson Browne
March 12. The day the earth began to stand still as far as I was concerned.
The previous night, the NBA had suspended it's season. That day the NHL suspended theirs, as well as MLB. March Madness was cancelled. The next day was most of our kids last day in a classroom.
That afternoon I had an appointment to see the ophthalmologist. I had long suspected that my days of not needing glasses had come to an end. Too many things had become difficult to read. I didn't notice till Tara told me that I often read things with my left eye shut. That couldn't have been good.
So when the doctor gave me the exam and told me the news, it wasn't exactly earth shattering. But of course the way he was talking, I was classified somewhere between Mr. Magoo and the Al Pacino character from Scent of a Woman. "Once you get these glasses, you'll be amazed at what you couldn't see." He kept telling me.
Before I went to see him, Tara had given me some advice, "Whatever you do, don't let him sell you anything. Get the script and we'll get it filled somewhere else." But as soon as he was done examining me he shuffled me into a room with about 100 frames and said "Pick one out and we'll fill it here for you." He went from eye doctor to TV pitchman telling me "I charge less than the stores do." maybe he did, but the way he was talking plus Tara's warning kind of had me thinking on my feet. A lady came in and had me try on a pair of frames that I really didn't like. Before she came in, I had tried on a pair that I thought would make me look like John Lennon*, but apparently those weren't for sale.
Finally, just to get the hell out of there, I told her I needed my wife to come with me, because after all, she was going to be the one stuck looking at me all day. (I really should have brought my co-workers, but I digress) She said she understood and I grabbed the script and split.
My eyes had been slightly dilated. Not enough that I couldn't drive, just enough to be disconcerting. Thankfully the drive back to work was short, but between hearing everything closing down and the fog that was my vision, March 12, 2020 goes to the top of the list of bizarre days in my life.
And of course, who else closed down but almost every eyeglass place in the country. So despite the fact that I was made to feel like I'd be a menace to society without glasses, I soldiered through for 2 1/2 months. Finally, the America's Best in my hood re-opened, and I went there two weeks ago and finally got the scripted filled. They came in on Thursday, but because there's a Target in that strip mall and there was a planned protest, they were closing early. So I went and got them on Saturday morning.
As soon as I put them on, I could read the fine print under one of the signs on the wall. The Dr. was right, it was unbelievable what I could now see. Of course the adjustment period has been somewhat discombobulating. But the upside as they say is tremendous.
And not to pat myself on the back too much, but I like the way they look. I've always gotten complemented on my blue eyes. And I was afraid that getting glasses, to go along with my big nose and multiple chins (not to mention my shaggy pandemic hair) would take away from my one appealing facial feature. But I think I'm rocking it pretty well. They are transition lenses too, so they turn into sunglasses outside. (If I was Corey Hart I'd be out of luck). So to all my bespectacled readers out there, I now join amongst your ranks. To us I say hear hear (or see see as it were)
SPORTS: Basketball and Hockey Returns?
Last week NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman put forth a plan to conclude the 2019-2020 hockey season. This week the NBA Board of Governors put forth a plan to re-open their season as well.
HOCKEY
They are scrapping the rest of the regular season and having a 24 team playoffs, 12 teams from each conference. 7 teams are staying home.
Phase 2 entails teams returning to their training facilities in small groups. Phase 3 is formal training camp to start no sooner than July 1st. Sometime in late July early August, the playoffs will begin.
The top 4 teams in each conference will play each other in a round robin to determine seedings. The rest of the teams will play 5 vs 12, 6 vs 11, 7 vs 10 and 8 vs 9 in a best of 5. The winners go on, the losers go home.
The dates for the playoffs haven't been determined, nor has whether the 2nd round will be a best of 5 or best of 7. The conference finals and the Stanley Cup Final will both be best of 7.
They are going to play in 2 hub cities with no fans. The cities being considered are Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dallas, Chicago, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton, Minneapolis and Columbus. By my count, that's 7 Western cities and 3 Eastern.
I'm going to predict Columbus for the Eastern Hub and Vegas in the west. Los Angeles and Chicago are big cities who like New York were hit hard by COVID-19. Minneapolis has bigger issues right now. I can't see any Canadian cities wanting to host, as the fear of the virus coming back across the border. That leaves Pittsburgh, Dallas, Columbus and Vegas. Given my theory that Bettman has a deal with Mario Lemieux to keep the Penguins in perpetual contention, I guess Pittsburgh can't be ruled out. But with Vegas being the NHL's newest home, and Columbus being a big enough city to host but small enough to contain the virus, that's what I'm basing my prediction on.
The Rangers and Islanders would both qualify, while the Devils are done for the year.
No dates have been set yet, as the NHL is still working with local authorities before even contemplating dates.
BASKETBALL
Their post lockdown plan is more specific and a bit more complicated. 22 of the 30 teams would be returning (our NY Knicks, mercifully, are not one of the 22). They would play 8 seeding games to eliminate the 6 teams that are less than 6 games out of a playoff spot before the playoffs would start.
According to NBA.com...
The seven teams in each conference with the best records (regular-season games + seeding games) would have clinched a playoff spot. The usual tie-breaker scenarios would be in place for those seeds. The eighth seed could potentially come down to a play-in tournament. If the team with the eighth-best record in its conference is more than four games ahead of the team with the ninth-best record in the same conference, no play-in tournament would be necessary. The final playoff berth would simply go to the team with the eighth best record (regular-season games + seeding games).
But if the team with the eighth-best record in its conference is four games or fewer ahead of the team with the ninth-best record in the same conference, then we'll have a battle for the final spot between those two teams.
The tournament would basically be a best-of-two series -- where the No. 9 seed would have to win two head-to-head matchups to take over the No. 8 spot.
All their games would be played at Disney World, with the players all being housed at Disney hotels. (I haven't gotten confirmation on the rumor that based on their records, the Bucks and Lakers will be staying at the Grand Floridian while the Wizards and Suns will stay at the Pop Resort.)
The anticipated dates are July 31 to start the seeding games and the NBA Finals to go no later than October 12.
For both sports, all of this is subject to an agreement with the league and their respective players associations as well as whatever government protocols are in place.
Look, as interesting and fun it would be to pop on the TV the night of my birthday with a cold one to watch my Rangers in a playoff game, part of me wonders if we are better off just chalking these seasons up to circumstances beyond their control and lets try it again next season. I mean if the NBA Finals are going to end around October 12, that would mean the Stanley Cup would be awarded maybe a week before? So now when would the 2020-21 season start? I guess I'm just wondering why you'd screw up two seasons instead of one. As I will point out to my dying day, Bettman had no issue cancelling a whole season to get his precious f-cking salary cap. No reasonable person would blame him for not having a Cup Champion this season. I realize they are trying to fill a void and trust me, I'll be watching if they can pull this off.
Of course one reason why I'm hoping they do is because the lords of baseball can't seem to get their $h-t together.
BASEBALL
The one sport that could get things rolling, play a good part of their season, have a playoff and award a champion in reasonable time, is of course doing none of the above because they are fighting over, what else, money.
So let me sum this up: When the pandemic postponed the season, MLB and the Players Association came to an agreement by which the players would be paid on a pro rated basis once the season started. If 1/3 of the season was lost, the players would still get 2/3 of their salaries. Fairly straightforward, even a Math dunce like myself can follow that.
But there was also language in the agreement that the "economic feasibility" of playing without fans in the stadium would be discussed. And now that's the hangup. The owners want the players to take a further pay cut, since they are missing out on gate receipts and concessions etc.
The players are saying that they are risking their health and already losing money so no more cuts will be acceptable.
Meanwhile, I'm arguing with Karl (the Ace) Ludwig about whether Yogi Berra should have started George Stone in Game 6 of the 1973 World Series or brought back Tom Seaver on 3 days rest.**
I've seen enough work stoppages in sports to realize that at the end of the day, it all comes down to the big mamoo (as Cosmo Kramer called it)
But on the other hand, with millions of Americans out of work, and our national psyche severely strained, both sides really do need to get this straightened out soon. The optics of millionaires fighting with billionaires is never good, but now its like a million times worse. And if we're all watching hockey and basketball when we should be watching baseball, that's really gonna make baseball look bad.
*******************************************************************************
I know we've all had a tough time of it lately, but look at it this way: You didn't have a judge throw out your defamation lawsuit because there was nothing anybody could say about you that was worse than what the truth about you is. So if you need something to be thankful about this week, be thankful you are not Lenny Dykstra.
https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lenny-dykstras-reputation-was-so-tarnished-that-he-wasnt-defamed-by-book-judge-rules
And finally, with all the protests going on, I forgot to mention something cool that happened last Saturday. The United States put two people back in space for the first time since 2011.
I was in transit so I missed the launch, but was thrilled to see everyone who posted something about it Saturday afternoon. Keep this in mind: In December, 1968 after the murders of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, Apollo 8 was the first manned spacecraft to orbit the moon, bringing a turbulent year to a positive, hopeful end. And in July 1969, with Vietnam raging on, Apollo 11 landed the first humans on the moon. It's amazing how space travel seems to come when America needs some .healing.
Stay safe everyone
and Have a Great Week
*The glasses, and maybe losing about 150 pounds or so and maybe I'd bear a slight resemblance. I now have the hair for it.
** Yogi brought Seaver back on three days rest with the Mets up 3-2 and they ended up losing in 7 games. I say Stone should have started Game 6 with a fully rested Seaver ready for Game 7. Ace says that's bull$h-t, that anybody worth their salt came back on short rest back then and who the hell was George Stone anyway? The real irony of all this was I was 2 months old when this WS took place and Ace was 2 months away from being born. So there's that.
Saturday, June 6, 2020
Weekly Mail Special
Last week, after I posted my COVID-19 special, I started to write my thoughts about George Floyd and the protests that were rising up all over America. I was at the Post and I had both CNN and Fox News on. Each showing one scene more tense than the next.
Of course I was monitoring social media, trying to get a handle on what was going on.
A couple times I started to write, and then stopped. I had ideas and thoughts that I wanted to share, but just wasn't sure exactly how to cobble them together.
One of the thoughts I had, and one of the things I started to write (and I'm a bit nervous about admitting this) was almost the same exact thing that Drew Brees said in that interview with Yahoo Finance that got him in trouble.
Like Brees, both my grandfather's served heroically in WWII. My father of course served in Vietnam, which is why I don't think twice about standing for the national anthem and never have.
Something told me not to go there. Maybe I just wanted to let the dust settle from my previous blog post, maybe I just wanted to gather more info. I don't know but I just didn't continue with the thought.
When the Brees clip posted and the reactions starting coming out, I'll admit my first thought was to defend him. Especially when Peter Greenberg of the Michael Kay radio show on ESPN Radio called him "an idiot."
But then I saw other videos posted, especially one from Brees Saints teammate, Malcolm Jenkins. When I saw the emotion in his face and heard it in his voice, it made me do a double take. I didn't get the feeling this was a guy who had an issue with Brees before this. He sounded like a man whose friend let him down. And if that's not the worst feeling in the world, it's pretty close.
And then I thought about what I had just written the week before. And the emotion that I had put into that. Why? Because of how close to home it hit. When you see someone you love having to go into a scary situation like a pandemic, only to have someone else tell you it's all a hoax, how could I not get emotional.
I basically told all the people who were calling the corona-virus a hoax to shut the f-ck up.
And now, it's my turn to do the same thing. And for that matter, Drew Brees. We need to STFU.
And listen.
Listen to those who feel like they are targets because of their skin color. Listen to those who feel like they have been denied the same opportunities as we have. Listen to those men who like my granddad's and Drew Brees granddads, fought for our country, but whose country didn't fight for them when they came home.
Listen to them.
We don't know. We can't know. But we can get an understanding.
We can listen.
I always say this blog is about getting my $0.02 in, which in fact is probably way too overvalued. Opinions are like a$$holes, everyone's got one, the old saying goes. I'll keep writing and giving as Billy Joel referred to it my pointless point of view. It's what I do.
But not here.
Here I'm going to offer my ears instead of my words. I'm not African American, but I can listen to their concerns. I'm not a cop, but I can listen to their concerns as well.
To say that 2020 has been a difficult year would probably be the understatement of all time. There is anger all over the place, and why not. None of us have gotten out of this unscathed, (not that we've gotten out of it at all to be honest). You saw how angry I was last week. And you all listened.
Thank you. Now it's my turn to listen. And learn.
That's a promise.
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