Weekly Mail April 25, 2021

 

Hi There:

Hope everyone got to enjoy their Saturday afternoon. A beautiful warm spring afternoon. Also, I hope all of you are hanging in there and that those of you who got your vaccines are starting to once again enjoy life and getting back to some semblance of normal. I know we still have a ways to go, but little by little it's getting better.

So I want to start off with an essay....

**************************************************************************

A Day In 2021

April 20

  It was about 11:30AM on Tuesday when I got a call from Timmy. Tuesday was one of his remote days, and he called from home to tell me he heard that there was a shooting, the shooter was on the run, and they locked down the school where my niece and nephew attend. 

Of course I thought the worst. And not that it wasn't bad, but it was better than what went through my mind originally. 

Ends up somebody came into the Stop and Shop in West Hempstead and shot three people, one fatally. The Stop and Shop wasn't super close to the school, but they ended up locking down most of the businesses in the area, including as it would turn out, my hospital. Of course, right before I was about to go to lunch, they advised us to stay at or near our work area. 

All the local stations picked up the story quickly, and even CNN and Fox News weighed in. And that took away from what had been the top story that morning.... The jury in the Derek Chauvin murder trial was deliberating the case in a Minneapolis courtroom, the eyes of the nation,  if not the world, focused on them. 

There was an edginess all over the country as it was. And we all know why, ever since the video of Chauvin, a Minneapolis cop, kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, had gone public. The protests, some of which turned violent. The curfews and lockdowns that took place. The arguments, finger pointing and frustration, exasperated by the fact that most of us were living in quarantine, all of us dealing in our own way, with a once in a lifetime pandemic. 

All of that was in the forefront of our minds as we waited to hear what would become of Derek Chauvin. 

But now we here in NY, and specifically on Long Island, was dealing with another issue we Americans just can't seem to get away from.. Another lunatic with a gun, causing trouble. My co-worker, whose daughter went to school nearby, was also on lockdown. A day in 2021, already uncomfortable, now even more so. 

I was familiar with that Stop and Shop too. In the strip mall right next to it there is Taco King, for my money, the home of the best Steak Quesadilla on Long Island. Every once in a while, I'll head over there on my lunch break. One of the radiology techs I'm friends with, used to go to Taco King every Tuesday. 

And for all you basketball junkies, the NBA team that currently calls Brooklyn's Barclay's Center home once played their home games at Island Garden in West Hempstead. When the Nets moved to the Nassau Coliseum in 1973, a portion of the arena was demolished and the shopping center with Taco King was built. What remained of the arena is now a youth basketball center. 

All that would come to mind later on, for now, I just wanted this guy off the streets before he hurt someone else. The Nassau County cops knew who they were looking for, as it was becoming more clear that this was a dispute between a manager and a disgruntled employee. 

Around 2PM, the news was coming in that the suspect had been apprehended. My co-worker received an alert that her daughter's school got the all-clear. I was free to leave the building and my nephew and niece would be leaving their school on time. Thankfully nobody else was hurt. 

Around 3:45 though, the focus went right back to Minneapolis. News broke that the jury had reached a verdict. They were saying the verdict would be announced around 4:30, just as my shift was ending. 

I got to my car and still no verdict. I listened to CNN as I drove from RVC to Oceanside. I had it on, but I wasn't listening to the commentators. First I thought back to my days working at the Post during the week. I was there for three big verdicts, Martha Stewart, Michael Jackson and Robert Blake. I remember how the usually loud newsroom went silent as those verdicts came down. (Guilty for Martha, not guilty for Jacko and Baretta) 

But then I was thinking back to the day 29 years ago, when the Rodney King verdict came down in Los Angeles, and what happened in the days that followed. What if Chauvin was found not guilty, would that happen again?  

I hadn't watched much of the trial, but from what I saw it was pretty open and shut. Cop after cop took the stand and testified that what Chauvin did was not S.O.P.  I couldn't imagine the jury could see what they saw and hear what they heard and could find Chauvin not guilty. 

I got home around 5 and waited. The verdict came down a few minutes later, guilty on all three counts. Some people celebrated, but most just breathed a sigh of relief. 

But it was later that night that it struck me how Tuesday, April 20, 2021 was really such a microcosm of the world we live in today. Of the debates we see every day in real life and on social media. 

A couple of celebrities who I won't name, took to Twitter after the verdict and wrote #defundthepolice. 

These dopes weren't sitting at my desk around 1 PM wondering who was going to catch this dude who killed his manager at Stop and Shop. They didn't have to worry about their kids being locked down in school while the suspect was on the loose. 

They had nothing to say when he was caught, by the cops, by the book, no shots fired, no beatdowns. These cops were in a situation where all they knew was someone had a gun and was obviously willing to use it. That they were able to bring this guy in without the perp or themselves getting hurt, not to mention any innocent bystanders, I mean those cops aren't going to be celebrated, but they should be. 

We got to see it all last Tuesday. The best of our men and women in blue and the worst. How to handle a difficult situation vs what can happen when you handle a situation badly. Good cops and bad cops. 

Someone explained the term Black Lives Matter to me this way.. After the 9/11 attacks, Americans said "We Stand with New York City" after the Boston Marathon bombing, we all were "Boston Strong" Nobody said We Stand with All Cities or All Cities Strong. We stand with those who needs us. Explained in that manner, I agree: Black Lives Matter.

But also, knowing that our cops go into situations like what happened in West Hempstead on Tuesday every single day, not knowing if they are the next ones to get cut down, many times having to make a split second decision with life altering consequences, I'm also proud to say" Blue Lives Matter. 

It was all there on Tuesday. With the pandemic still going on, another gun incident, good cops saving the day, a bad cop being held accountable. 

All in A Day in 2021.

******************************************************************************

BASEBALL: Stupid Rules Changes

When MLB announced they were going to play a 60 game schedule last year, I was so grateful to have live sports back that I didn't get too bent out of shape when they also announced three major changes to the rulebook. 1) The Universal DH,  2) The 7 inning Doubleheader and 3) Starting extra innings with a runner on second. 

I understood the first two, really I did. With a limited spring training, why risk pitchers getting hurt by batting and running the bases. And because we were still in the clutches of the pandemic, and games were being called off all the times because of positive COVID tests, it made sense to get in as many games as possible, even if you only played 7 innings.

Giving teams in extra innings essentially a leadoff double I didn't think was a great idea last year, but at least last year was the year to experiment with it. But now that we are back to playing a full 162, that is definitely one idea I'd scrap.

Instead the one they scrapped was the Universal DH. Now I consider myself a traditionalist when it comes to baseball. I'm not a fan of the DH. I also wasn't all for interleague play, but some of these Met-Yankee games have been a blast, so that's a change I accepted. I've also come around on having the NL adopt the DH. 

And yes I will readily admit the main reason I want the NL to have the DH is so that I can have JD Davis bat in our anemic lineup without having to watch him try to play 3rd base. He makes Luis Guillorme look like Brooks Robinson. 

Now after Friday night's game, I realize that our best hitter just might be our best pitcher too, Jacob deGrom.  Thankfully the Mets scored some runs for him on Friday, after he pitched a complete game 2 hit shutout and BTW struck out 15. Right now, he is the only person on the Mets worth watching.

POLITICS: Alright, Alright, Alright!!

Award winning actor Matthew McConaughey has apparently been considering throwing his 10 gallon hat in the ring for a Texas gubernatorial run. 

He recently told an interviewer on the podcast "A Balanced Voice" that running for Governor of Texas is "a true consideration."  

Why in the name of all things holy he would want that job is beyond me. I mean I realize his heart is in the right place, by all accounts he's a really good guy, and obviously a very talented actor. 

But politics, especially down in Texas, is not for the faint of heart. Former President George W. Bush, who would know better than anyone, telling his daughter Today co-host Jenna Bush Hagar, "It's a tough business."  Sure is. And if you're gonna play the game down there, you'll have to play dirty sometimes. As much as I grew to like Bush when he was President, and ever more since he left office, I know some of the tricks his campaign pulled down there. I also know there was no love lost between him and his successor, fellow Republican Rick Perry, who basically talked himself out of the 2012 Presidential Campaign. 

I remember when Arnold Schwarzenegger became Governor of California after the recall of Gray Davis, and I said "It's California so who cares?" One of my friends pointed out than many times as California goes, so does the nation. And while it didn't happen right away, we did get around to putting a reality TV game show host in the Oval Office. If McConaughey does end up running and winning down there, is it possible he could make a run for the White House a few years down the road? 

He hasn't even said what party he belongs to, or what any of his positions are. My guess is he goes back to making movies and commercials, but in this day and age, can we really count on that? 

And speaking of California, I'm not going to even go there with Caitlin Jenner's planned run for their Governorship. I used to say that Trump was the Kardashian presidency, can you imagine if we got a genuine Kardashian in there. Perish the thought. 

I saw this story in the Post yesterday and it cracked me up.

SCAMS: 35 Birthdays a Year.

Some dude in Japan scammed 35 different women by pretending to be their boyfriend and telling each of them a different birthday. 

Takashi Miyagawa a 39 year old part time shower head salesman, and if you look at the pictures of him you wonder how he could get any woman to talk to him, much less date him.  

Be that as it may, he was able to get these 35 women to fall for him, and by telling them his birthday was on all different days, he ended up with 35 different birthday cakes and gifts. Man, there's a Judd Aptow movie in here somewhere right? 

Actually, when the ladies found out they were being played, as Post reporter Ben Cost points out, they put together a "John Tucker Must Die" type union and went to the cops. It's unclear how they figured this out, but the Dell Griffith of Japan swindled these chicks out of $929.44 worth of clothes and cash. 

My question is, what did he do for their birthday? I mean the way I look at it, that's 35 bouquet of flowers and bottles of White Zinf he had to spring for, no?  I'd like to know how he got around that? 

Not that I would ever do anything that dastardly, even in my younger single desperate days. For starters, I don't futz around with my birthday. I have a bad rep in my family for making my birthday a big deal, but what I don't do is pretend any other day is my birthday. I may be an insufferable pain in the a$$ every August 5th, but I'm pretty good the other 364 days of the year. I would never tell the waitress it was my birthday when it wasn't, even if it meant free dessert or some shit like that. I've lied about the year I was born, but never the day. 

And like I said, what do you do when it's one of their birthdays, tell them you have a shower head salesman convention in Sun Valley, Idaho that you simply must attend? Whose going to buy that excuse?

I do feel bad for these women, how hard up for love do you have to be to fall for a dude like this? I'm attaching Ben's story here so you ladies can judge for yourselves. 

https://nypost.com/2021/04/23/man-with-35-girlfriends-busted-for-fraud-over-birthday-gifts/

Every Saturday Night NBC plays an old episode of Saturday Night Live. This week they showed an episode from 2016 with Brie Larson as the host.

Saturday also marked the 45th anniversary (4/24/1976) of the night Lorne Michaels made his offer to reunite the Beatles on SNL for 3 grand. ("If it's money you want, there's no problem here") Unbeknownst to Mr. Michaels, John Lennon was home at the Dakota watching the show with his houseguest that night, Paul McCartney. Paul has said that the two of them seriously considered hopping in a car and heading down to 30 Rock that night, but ultimately decided they were too tired. 

I don't know who's in charge of deciding which old SNL they are going to show each week, but don't you think it would have been a good idea to dig that episode out of mothballs this past Saturday? 45 years to the day*? 

I always say "I'm in the wrong line of work" 

Stay Safe; Wear a Mask

and Have a Great Week

*Raquel Welch was the host with Musical Guests Phoebe Snow and John Sebastian

Weekly Mail April 18, 2021

 

Hello:

On Saturday, my train pulled into Penn Station just as the Rangers were putting the finishing touches on a 6-3 win over the Devils. So I got to walk up 7th Avenue with a bunch of folks in Rangers gear. 

Have to admit, that was pretty cool. 

More and more of us are getting vaccinated, which means more events and places can have more people attending them. We really are I believe, getting close to the end of this.

There are places where the numbers are going back up, which means we still have to be diligent. Keep washing our hands, keep wearing a mask in public, social distance as best we can.  

But that light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter and brighter. That's a good thing.

So let's see what else is going on....

WAR ON TERROR: Biden's Plan for Afghanistan.

President Biden announced on Wednesday that the US would withdraw all military forces out of Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of the September 11th attacks, 5 months from now. 

In his address given from the White House Treaty Room, the same spot where President Bush 43 announced he had ordered airstrikes in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, Biden told the nation "I have concluded that it’s time to end America’s longest war.  It’s time for American troops to come home." 

He noted that our main objective had been met: The capture and killing of Osama Bin-Laden and the destruction of al-Qaeda. He noted that once these objectives had been met, that the mission in Afghanistan had become less clear. He also noted that it was President Trump's administration that had previously negotiated a May 1st, 2021 deadline for troop withdrawal. 

Indeed in February 2020, then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed a deal under which the United States pledged to withdraw its forces by that deadline.  In exchange the Taliban would sever ties with what remains of al-Qaeda, and agree to begin negotiations with the Afghan government toward a cease-fire and peace agreement.

I have to admit I'm very mixed about all this.

On one hand, as stated, our main objective upon beginning this conflict in Afghanistan was to put Bin-Laden and al-Qaeda out of business. President Bush put the apparatus in place by attacking known al-Qaeda training sites and military bases. In short time, the Taliban was overthrown and a new government was established. 

It wouldn't be till May 1st, 2011, almost 10 years after the 9/11 attacks that President Obama ordered the Seal Team 6 raid in Pakistan that tagged and bagged Bin-Laden. 

So with Bin Laden dead, al-Qaeda in tatters, it would have seemed to be a good time to end our involvement in Afghanistan right?

Except, while the Taliban was out of power, they were far from out of business. And they were hell bent on getting back control of Afghanistan. 

There's a part of me that wonders if it's a good idea to leave the Taliban to their own devices. They are a brutal, barbaric organization. Their treatment of women and children are horrific. Back in 2001, the US, the UN, and most of the civilized world refused to recognize the Taliban as the legitimate leaders of Afghanistan. (Only Pakistan recognized them). Most Middle East experts agree that withdrawing forces from Afghanistan will surely lead to the Taliban once again ruling Afghanistan. Are we just supposed to forget about or disregard them?

But as been pointed out, we have other hotspots in the world we have to concern ourselves with. Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, etc. These places need our attention. And if we haven't figured it out in Afghanistan after 20 years, it begs the question, will we ever?

I guess I'll just have to leave it up to the guys in charge. 

One thing is for sure...Whenever we bring these troops home, every single one of those who served should be honored with a parade down the Canyon of Heroes. I hope we can all agree on that. 

CRIME: The Million Dollar Question

According to The Smoking Gun, two women from a Knoxville, TN suburb sought to pay for their purchases at a Dollar General store with a $ 1 Million bill. The alert Dollar General cashier instead called the cops. 

A Sherriff's deputy came and questioned the dastardly duo, who claimed that the "money" came from their church, and they were using the funds to set up care packages for the homeless. Indeed the ladies shopping cart contained gift cards amongst other items not specified. It also was not mentioned what the church's name or affiliation was.  

I have a couple of questions myself: One, whose picture was on this million dollar bill? Considering the bill came from "a church" and the religious right seems to think he's just the bees knees, could it have been our nation's 45th President gracing the face of this bill? I'll betcha a million fake dollars on that. 

Also I wonder if the cashier actually knew that the highest denomination that is currently produced by the US Mint is the $100.00 bill (all about the Benjamin Franklins) In the past we had a $500 bill (President William McKinley) $1,000 bill (President Grover Cleveland) a $5,000 that was used during the Civil War (President James Madison) a $10,000 bill (Solomon P. Chase-former Treasury Secretary under Abraham Lincoln and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) and a $100,000 bill (President Woodrow Wilson). The $500 bill is still considered legal tender. 

Now I overheard this story on the radio, and the guy who was reading the story wondered aloud how many things you could actually buy at a Dollar General if you had a million bucks in your pocket. Now I'm the last guy who can make fun of anyone's math skills, since I'm the genius who last week somehow multiplied 25 by 25 and came up with 500. (Thanks for pointing that out to me Ray.) But unless this guy was being facetious, I'm guessing he needs to call his physician to see how often he should take his One-A-Day multivitamin. 

BTW: The two would be criminals were not charged with any crimes, but they have been banned from Dollar General. 

The Knicks, Rangers and Mets all won on Sunday. It makes the week so much nicer to start when my teams do well.

Next week I’m going to review a book about the Mets I just finished reading. I was hoping to review it this week, but there’s a few parts I need to re-read. 

Sorry this ones a bit short this week. I hope everyone is doing well.

Stay Safe. Wear a Mask

and Have a Great Week

Weekly Mail April 11, 2021

 Hi everybody:

Hope everyone had an awesome Easter. We got to spend it with my folks, my sisters, brother in law and my niece Rachel. Hopefully we are getting closer and closer to the end of the pandemic and we can all spend time with the ones we love. 

Three things from the world of sports happened within hours of each other on Monday, so we will start there....

FOOTBALL: Jets Trade Darnold 

With the Giants and Jets having the 2nd and 3rd picks respectively, it's a unique opportunity for both teams to draft busts in the same year.-Weekly Mail April 22, 2018

Now maybe calling Sam Darnold a bust is unfair. After all in three seasons, he played for three head coaches, two general managers, and an interim owner. Not to mention a roster with more holes in it than a slice of Swiss cheese. Not exactly a blueprint for success. 

But the fact of the matter was he was the number three overall draft pick in 2018. When you are drafted that high you were expected to be a franchise quarterback, not somebody who gets himself traded three seasons later. 

Darnold was traded Monday to the Carolina Panthers for a 6th round pick this year, a 2nd round pick next year and a 4th rounder in 2023. Some are saying the Jets got a good haul for Darnold. I'm like, he was the 3rd overall pick in the draft and you're not even getting a 1st rounder for him? 

I have to say I was surprised to see that he actually threw 45 touchdown passes and 39 interceptions. I really thought he had thrown more interceptions than that. Seemed to me like every other throw was to the other team. 

What was more disturbing to me was the list of Jets 1st round draft picks the last 10 years...... 

2011: Muhammad Wilkerson

2012: Quinton Couples

2013: Dee Millner

2014: Calvin Pryor

2015: Leonard Williams

2016: Darron Lee

2017: Jamal Adams

2018: Sam Darnold 

2019: Quinnen Williams

2020: Mekhi Becton

Of these 10, only Quinnen Williams and Mekhi Becton remain. Couples, Milliner, Pryor and Lee were pretty much busts. Leonard Williams and Jamal Adams were considered the best players in their respective drafts, but both were traded away for (wait for it) more draft picks. 

Look at that list and tell me why I should have any faith that the Jets are going to hit the jackpot with any of these future draft picks. 

Darnold may turn out to be a very good QB. If the Panthers can surround him with a good coach, some weapons and protection. On the other hand these 3 years in NY may have scarred him for life (ala Mark Sanchez-another USC Bust) 

Like I said a million times before, I'm sick of draft night being the highlight of the Jets season. But it looks like that's what we have to look forward to for the foreseeable future. 

What a shame. 

BASEBALL: A tale of two Opening Days:

Because the Washington Nationals had several team members test positive for COVID-19, the Mets opening day was delayed from last Thursday in DC, to Monday night in Philadelphia. 

The Mets lost to the Phillies 5-2, and there were two schools of thought as I browsed social media that night and the next morning. The first was that it was only one game and surely only a fool were panic after one game. The second was that this was an unmitigated disaster and that heads should roll. 

I'm going to assume that you all know that I was in the latter camp as opposed to the former. But let me try to explain my reasoning (or lack thereof) 

Us Met fans don't have a hell of a lot to hang our hats on, but one thing we can boast of is our amazing Opening Day record. That was the Mets 60th season opener, and that loss dropped them to a still impressive 39-21 all time on Opening Day. Easily the best record in MLB, and one of the best in professional sports. 40-20 would have meant we have won 2/3 of our openers. 

Now factor in that the Mets lost their first 8 openers, and the record is even more impressive. 39-13  since 1970. 40-12 would have looked even better. 

And of course, it's not just that they lost it's HOW they lost. Another brilliant start from Jacob deGrom, more runners stranded on base, and of course another implosion by our always reliable bullpen. What did Led Zeppelin sing? The Song Remains the Same. 

And we can't even pin this one on Fred and Jeff anymore can we? With Steve Cohen taking over, we were all hoping for a change in culture. And I'm still hopeful that it will come. But that game could have been played any year between 2018 and 2021. And that's what's so aggravating. 

Then there was the home opener at Citi Field on Thursday afternoon against the Miami Marlins. Another game with disaster written all over it. 

The Mets starter on Thursday was the recently acquired Taijuan Walker, and similar to deGrom on Monday he pitched a gem. 6 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts. And with that line he was on the losing side since the Mets could only manage one measly run. 

Miracle of miracles though, the bullpen held, and Jeff McNeil led off the 9th inning with an upper-deck blast to tie the game at 2. The Mets got the bases loaded with 2 out and up stepped Michael Conforto. Conforto is playing for a contract this year, but so far all he is leading the league in is leaving runners on base. Against the Phillies on Wednesday afternoon, he left 9 runners on base. That's almost impossible to do. 

Conforto worked a full count before taking what appeared to be strike 3 to end the inning. But the home plate umpire said that the ball struck Conforto on the elbow, ergo the winning run scored when Conforto took 1st base. 

Marlins manager Don Mattingly was furious and I have to admit he had a case. Actually he had two cases really 1) Did Conforto do enough to get out of the way of the pitch, or more egregiously, did he lean his elbow into the pitch?  

The more compelling argument to me though is 2) Whether or not Conforto leaned or didn't lean, whether or not he made an honest effort to avoid being hit, if the pitch was in the strike zone, than the pitch was a strike and he should have been rung up. Indeed it looked like the ump was about to do just that. Until he didn't. 

The Met broadcasters, more specifically Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling, were so besides themselves, you would have thought they were Marlins broadcasters instead of the Mets broadcasters. And I give them credit for that, because I'm not sure Michael Kay and Paul O"Neill, David Cone et al, would have been so incensed if a play like that benefitted the Yanks. I know for a fact that the Braves announcers on TBS wouldn't have cared. Those guys were the worst homers you could ever listen to. 

But my attitude is screw the Marlins. I still remember how they celebrated on the field at Shea Stadium when they beat the Mets the last game of 2007 and 2008, losses which cost the Mets playoff spots. It was especially obnoxious in 2008 as the Mets were getting ready to close Shea for good that afternoon. I still insist the Marlins should be contracted, they are a poorly run franchise in a city where they are far behind the Dolphins, Heat, and Miami University Football on the sports food chain.

The Mets wasted another deGrom gem on Saturday, getting shut out by the aforementioned Marlins. 14 strikeouts in 8 innings and he loses. I really hope we all look back on this blogpost in the near future and laugh about how I overreacted. My guess is that we won't be. 

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Gonzaga comes up short. 

Over the weekend, one of my Facebook Memories popped up in which I declared that the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers could rest easy, as they will be the last Men's College Basketball Team to ever finish as season unbeaten and win the National Championship. The last team that had a shot at it was the 2015 Kentucky Wildcats, and they were one of the greatest teams I had ever seen. Once they came up short, I really figured that the pressure on these kids is just way too intense, especially now where the tournament bracket is made up of 68 teams. 

Gonzaga it appeared, was about to lay another one of my fearless prognostications  to waste, as they prepared to face Baylor for the National Championship Game, coming into the game with a perfect 31-0 record. 

In fact, they were damn lucky to get there. UCLA, in what they are calling one of the greatest games in NCAA history, nearly knocked Gonzaga out on Saturday night. It took a wing and a prayer from Zags guard Jalen Suggs in OT to send Gonzaga to the Big Game on Monday. A half court bank shot at the buzzer. 

Meanwhile in the first game last Saturday, Baylor made a very good Houston team look like the Washington Generals. (on a side note, remember how I was telling you about what a disaster my brackets were? Well, I will have you know that my Final 2 were Houston and Gonzaga with Houston winning-So as bad as it was, I still had a shot to finish in the money as it were going into last Saturday)

So I knew Gonzaga would have their hands full on Monday night, but just seeing that FB Memory made me think I'd end up with egg on my face again. Baylor though was just too tough and they blew Gonzaga out as bad as they had blown out Houston two nights before. 

The only record in sports I can truly guarantee will never be broken is Cy Young's 511 Wins as a pitcher. Even if you won 25 games over 25 seasons, you'd still be 11 wins short. And since very few pitchers nowadays win 25 games in one season, I will guarantee that record will stand forever. 

But an undefeated team in the NCAA tournament? I don't know. It's been 45 years now. As I've said, that was a 32 team field and well before the tournament was perhaps the 2nd biggest sporting event in the country (behind the Super Bowl). Can it be done? I guess, but I really can't see it. There are just too many factors working against these kids. 

*********************************************************************************

RIP: Prince Phillip and DMX

On the surface it would appear the the Yonkers born rapper and the Duke of Edinburgh wouldn't have anything in common. However, both of these men had a tendency to get themselves into trouble for the controversial things they said. 

Some of DMX's lyrics would make the hairs on your arms stand up. I'm not going to get into them here, you can Google 'em up yourself. 

Prince Philip also said some things that would make you cringe. I suppose it had to be frustrating being 2nd banana all those years. 

Both men also had issues behind the wheel too. A 3 car pileup including a police car was DMX's 3rd driving offense in 2005. Prince Philip got into a fender bender in London a couple years ago. He was 97 years old at the time and oh, BTW, married to the Queen of England at the time! 

But both also had their upsides. Despite DMX's myriad of issues, he did manage to overcome horrible circumstances as a child to become a grammy winning artist. He also (and I admit I didn't know this) was an ordained minister and had studied to become a pastor. 

Prince Philip according to the New York Times, helped build playing fields for British kids and was somewhat of a conservationist, spearheading programs to protect wildlife. As much of a cold hearted snake as he could be, especially to his kids (Prince Charles in particular) he also carried his own luggage, I mean it's not much, but many famous people have people carry their bags. 

So maybe the fact that these two larger than life figures died on the same day was no mere coincidence. But what's sad is that while Philip was just two months short of the century mark, DMX had just turned 50 last December. That's too young. 

********************************************************************************

Was off from work all last week. Back to the grind on Monday  

Stay Safe

Wear a Mask

and Have a Great Week