Hello:
So, I'm thinking about cutting back on the politics for the next couple of weeks. On Sunday November 1, we will have our election special. This week we will give our commentary on last Wednesday's VP Debate, but I'm thinking next week and the following week, we'll try to keep it a bit light, if we possibly can. We may not have a choice, as things just get nuttier and nuttier in Washington. But that's what I'm hoping we can do.
Anyway, let's get to it shall we.
POLITICS: THE VP DEBATE RECAP
1) It's really a sad state of affairs when I found myself giving props to Vice President Pence for doing things such as a) thanking the moderator b) greeting Senator Harris, c) thanking Senator Harris and Vice President Biden for their get well wishes to President Trump and d) congratulating Senator Harris on becoming the first woman of color to be nominated for VP. In other words, the things that most other normal people would do, but things Pence's boss, Captain Orange, wouldn't do in a million years.
2) Having said that, Pence's constant interrupting of Harris, and answering questions that weren't asked were more up the alley of our current President, right out of his playbook.
3) While I believe Harris won the debate because she had the facts on her side while he lied his ass off, I thought she would do a better job. The narrative that Trump/Pence and the rest of the GOP are harping on is that Trump closed down travel to China and saved millions of lives. Which of course is nonsense. He restricted some travel from China, not all of it, and thousands of people were still coming in. Harris needed to point that out. I also think when Pence accused Biden and Harris of plagiarizing their COVID-19 plan, I would have told Pence that there is no such think as plagiarizing a blank sheet of paper. She wasn't terrible, but she could have done better.
4) My reaction to the fly was the same as I'm guessing a lot of peoples, "Damn, there's a fly on my TV." But when he started moving his head and the fly was clearly on top, it made for some comic relief. Someone said the fly was the clear winner in the debate. I would have loved to hear debate moderator Susan Page say "Vice President Pence, your time is up and there is a fly on your head."
5) Speaking of Susan Page, how do we think she did the other night? Chris Wallace was lambasted by both sides, but I haven't heard much complaint about Page. I know Pence and Harris weren't as out of control as the other two, but Pence went over his time constantly. I really believe nothing short of a mic drop button is going to solve that issue.
BASEBALL: RIP 2020 Yanks
With their loss to Tampa on Friday night, the Yankees have now gone 11 seasons without a trip to the World Series. They are now approaching the same drought suffered between 1964 and 1976. As a Met fan of course, it's hard to feel sympathetic, especially since the Yanks have been to the ALCS in two of the last 4 seasons. But the goal in the Bronx is World Series or bust, so that makes this a hard pill to swallow for the Yankee die-hards.
I was as pissed as anyone when my team couldn't make a playoff bracket that invited half the sport's teams to it. But as hard as it might be, I encourage my Yankee brethren to write this year off as an aberration. That's what I ended up doing. It's like the old fable about the Fox and the Grapes.
And trust me, if the Braves happen to win the whole thing, I'll be the first one to remind those tomahawk-chopping nitwits that their two World Championships in the past 25 years both came in abbreviated seasons. Remember, they played 144 games in 1995 because of the strike. I don't think it's going to come to that, I believe the Dodgers will send the Braves back to Dixie, and Tampa will finally put the Astros where they belong. But I also went 1-4 in my DS predictions so for Petes sake, don't go by what I say.
But seriously Yankee fans, as aggravated as you might feel because your closer spit the bit for the second year in a row, (and you know I feel your pain there as well), I would look to next season for redemption. Assume we get a full proper spring training, a full slate of games, (and hopefully fannies in the seats) 2021 has got to be your year. If not, then you gotta talk about at the very least, sending Aaron Boone packing and maybe even Brian Cashman. I just wouldn't do that now.
BOOK REVIEW: Three Ring Circus: Kobe, Shaq, Phil and the Crazy Years of the Lakers Dynasty.. By: Jeff Pearlman
This is the second book about the Lakers that master sports storyteller Pearlman has written. The first one Showtime, about the Magic, Kareem, Riley Lakers of the 1980's was a classic. And while I suspected this one would be excellent too, I wasn't as pumped as I was for let's say his last book about the USFL. There were even parts in the middle of the book that I felt dragged.
But the stories he tells are always good. He is brilliant at getting his subjects (or people who know them well) to open up and tell him things that make you laugh out loud, shake your head, or piss you off.
This covers the Lakers from the summer that they drafted Kobe Bryant and signed Shaquille O'Neal as a free agent, till the end of the 2004 NBA Finals. I won't give away any of the craziness, but I will say this.
Before I started to write this part of my blog, I went back to what I wrote the day Kobe Bryant was killed, and the first thing I said was that I wasn't the world's biggest Kobe fan. And this book not only reminded me of why I wasn't, but also shed light on things I hadn't heard about him. Things had I known, would have made my initial dislike of him even stronger.
The book was pretty much finished at the time of Kobe's death, the author prefaced the book about how he found out about it. If you are a huge Kobe fan, and get easily offended, then you might not want to read this book. But I always say, Jeff Pearlman hasn't written a bad book yet.
He still hasn't.
4 Auggies
A couple of notable deaths this week...
EDDIE VAN HALEN- The man could simply do things with a guitar that nobody else could. I'd be less than honest if I came on here and claimed to be a huge Van Halen fan, but there are a bunch of their songs I really like. I remember playing Running with the Devil, when the Knicks were going to the NBA Finals in 1999. (I dedicated it to any of my fellow Knick fans wo thought Latrell Spreewell was misunderstood.) The other day, when they announced EVH had passed, Ken Dashow played Van Halen's remake of You Really Got Me, complete with Eruption, Eddie solo which segues into You Really Got Me. It don't get much better than that.
WHITEY FORD- The greatest Yankee pitcher of all time. I'm not sure I'll get much of an argument from anyone about that. His 236 wins all came in Pinstripes. He's second all time in strikeouts, tops in shutouts, and amongst starters, he is 7th in ERA.
Remember, there were no LCS or LDS or Wild Card when he pitched. If he made it to the postseason, it was the World Series.
22 World Series starts, 10 wins. Both still records.
If you need any reminder about what an screwed year this has been, consider that both NY baseball teams lost their greatest pitcher within weeks of each other.
Hope everyone is hanging in there.
Stay Safe
and Have a Week
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