Hey There:
This coming Thursday Evening we'll be Running for Rebecca at Maurice Park.
So far, our team has raised over $6,300, well past our $4,500 goal.
And thanks to all of you who donated to my page, we are at $1406.50!
I can't thank you all enough. You are all amazing!!!
The weather for Thursday is looking good, so if you'd like to come and join us that would be awesome. Maurice Park is exit 18 off the LIE. Here is a map.
And of course if you would like to make a donation, https://www2.heart.org/site/TR/HeartWalk/FDA-FoundersAffiliate?px=17407286&pg=personal&fr_id=5680
Should be a great night.
And now, onto the week that was...
POLITICS: Liz Cheney Out
We haven't discussed the goings on in Washington lately. But what happened this week, even though it wasn't a surprise, still moved me to have to say something about it.
On Wednesday, House Republicans voted to remove Wyoming Rep Liz Cheney from her position as the number 3 House Leader. According to the AP, it was a voice vote and was done in less than 20 minutes.
And all because Congresswoman Cheney refuses to say that the 2020 Election was stolen from Donald Trump. All because she refuses to perpetuate that lie.
It's funny, it wasn't that long ago that the name Cheney invoked a lot of the same anger that the name Trump does now. Dick Cheney, as VP under George W. Bush, was considered by many to be the evil mastermind behind that administration. If you would have told me in 2006, hell if you would have told me in 2016, that someone named Cheney would be lauded by the Democrats for having some morality, I would have thought you'd gone crackers.
But this is the world we live in now. This is the power Trump has over the GOP. I don't know how this doesn't scare the $h-t out of everyone, because it sure scares the $h-t out of me.
Liz Cheney was one of the few House Republicans who had the guts to say the truth; that the then-sitting President of the United States incited a terrorist attack against one of the branches of the Federal Government.
Captain Orange released a statement on Saturday that read in part..
"Had Mike Pence had the courage to send the Electoral College vote back to states for recertification, and had Mitch McConnell fought for us instead of being the weak and pathetic leader he is, we would right now have a Republican President who would be VETOING the horrific Socialistic Bills that are rapidly going through Congress"
I don't get it. Mitch McConnell had the power to do something about this. He had the chance to tell the people he leads, the Republican Senate, to put this idiot out to pasture. Instead, he let him off the hook during the impeachment trial and said he would support him if he ran again in 2024. And for that he gets called a "weak and pathetic leader"
He IS a weak and pathetic leader, on that, Trump and I agree.
You know who is not weak and pathetic? Liz Cheney. She stood up for what she believed in. She stood up for what was right. She refused to buy the BS. And for that she was stripped of a leadership position. Elsie Stefanik, who at one time also had the nerve to stand up to Trump, is the new No. 3. Reminds me of this line from A Man for all Seasons, when Sir Thomas More finds out that a former associate testified falsely against him and was awarded an ambassadorship to Wales.
"Why Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul to the whole world, but for Wales?"
That's my question for Mitch and Stefanik and the rest of them
But for Trump?
For Trump?
HORSE RACING: Baffert's B.S.
Medina's Spirit won the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago. Last week, it was announced that the horse had tested positive for a banned substance.
Medina's Spirit's trainer, Bob Baffert at first denied any wrongdoing.
Then I was driving home from work on Tuesday and I heard Craig Carton on WFAN report Baffert's next explanation. And I actually thought Carton was making it up and putting us on.
According to Baffert, one of the stable hands or grooms had taken cough syrup then relived himself on the hay. The horse then ate the pissed on hay, hence the positive drug test.
Nyquil Nyquil Nyquil, we love you. You giant f-cking Q.- Denis Leary. Sorry I had to put that in there.
Anyway, the next day Baffert came up with a more plausible (if not more truthful) excuse, that Media's Spirit had been given a topical cream that unbeknownst to all, contained the banned substance.
Like I said, I don't believe either of these theories, but the pee hay I really don't believe.
The people who take care of these horses, especially in a place like Churchill Downs, are the best of the best. You are all familiar with the phrase "You don't $h-t where you eat". I can't imagine the grooms that work at the hallowed stables of Churchill Downs would piss where the horses eat. Hell, I couldn't see the guys doing that to the horses that pull the buggys around Central Park, never mind to a thoroughbred racehorse.
So my understanding is that there was a split sample sent to the lab. If the second sample comes back dirty, Medina's Spirit forfeits the Derby. Now that RRRRRambauer won the Preakness, it won't affect the Triple Crown, but that's a lot of $$$ to have to give up. Not to mention stud fees and all that.
Of course our nation's 45th President weighed in, referring to the horse as a "junky" (his spelling mistake, not mine) And to be honest, that's really what Trump should be doing, putting his $0.02 into horse racing and other less important matters. Let the pros handle foreign policy and the important stuff.
And I'll refrain from stating the obvious... that this was one horse's a$$ talking about another horse's literal a$$. That would be too easy.
HOCKEY: Quinn doesn't Win
The Rangers continued their house cleaning last week, firing head coach David Quinn, just days after they got rid of team president John Davidson and GM Jeff Gorton.
Not sure how I feel about this. I mean, part of the problem of course, is that I still think getting rid of JD and Gorton was a big mistake. With all due respect to Chris Drury, I still think neither of those guys did anything to deserve their being shown the door.
And to be honest, neither did Quinn.
I don't believe this team underachieved, I do feel like they played hard every night, and Quinn was brought in to help the young kids develop. And most of them showed great improvement over the season. So on the surface, I think this may have been premature.
But there were some issues. Whoever the next coach is has got to figure out what to do about Chris Kreider. We are too far into this guy's career for him to be this inconsistent. He has got great size and great speed and when he puts that all together, he can be a fantastic player. But he disappears for large stretches of games. I don't think he's not trying or giving the effort, but I don't know what the issue is.
Also, I've heard rumblings that Quin tried to get the team to shoot more instead of making the perfect pass, or to play a more north-south, rather than east-west. And the team didn't respond to that. So if they can find someone who can get them to commit to a more complete game, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Apparently they are looking for an experienced coach, and again I'm all for that if it's for the right reasons. If a more experienced coach can get Kreider to be more consistent then by all means. But if you think hiring a retread is going to put the team in immediate Cup contention well I think they are barking up the wrong tree.
And what I'm really nervous about is Drury making a win now trade that will inevitably bite us in the behind. The Rangers have made some doozies, Rick Middleton for Ken Hodge is the Rangers version of Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi. If the mandate is win now, that's a huge concern.
Speaking of the Mets, the kid they traded to Seattle for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz got his first MLB hit Friday night.. a HR.
Here's some more Mets..
BASEBALL: Happy Harvey Day
Not quite sure how I would have acted if I was at the Met game on Wednesday afternoon.
Matt Harvey came back to Citi Field for the first time as a visiting player. To me he was a disappointment as a Met. The Tommy John surgery and the Thoracic Outlet Syndrome were beyond his control. But he could have controlled his partying, kept his personal life out of his pitching, and not gone AWOL. I should have been more upset when he was released than I was. By the end of his time with the Mets, I just felt he wasn't worth the headache.
But the fans that were there on Wednesday felt otherwise.
They gave the Dark Knight a standing O when he came out to pitch, when he first came up to the plate and then when the Mets knocked him out of the game. He said he was fighting back the tears as he left the game.
And you know what? The fans did the right thing.
They chose to remember the good times.. His 2 scoreless innings in the 2013 All-Star Game at Citi Field, his 2 run 4 hit 9 strikeout masterpiece in the 2015 NLCS. Hell, even though it ended up being the wrong move, I bet these fans remembered the chill down their spines when Harvey came out to pitch the 9th inning of Game 5 of the 2015 Series. I know Collins should have went to Familiia, but anyone who heard Citi Field roar that night will never forget it.
Mike Vaccaro caught it perfectly in his Thursday Post column. I don't know if I would have given Harvey a standing O on Wednesday afternoon. But it would have been the right thing to do.
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Billy Preston was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this week, along with Tina Turner, Carole King (as a performer-she was already in as a writer) and LL Cool J amongst others. Preston's induction means that all 5 Beatles are now enshrined in Cleveland.
Can you believe that the NFL actually has a 3 hour extravaganza to announce the following season’s schedule? Have you ever heard of a bigger waste of time and money? Please tell me none of you tuned into that? I must confess that I took a look at the Jets 2021 schedule and was reminded again of the asinine decision to expand to a 17 game season. 16 games was perfect and no one had a problem with it for over 40 years. The Super Bowl is now scheduled for February 13. The Jets won their only Super Bowl on January 12. Pretty soon they’ll be playing the Super Bowl on St. Patrick’s Day. SMH 🤦♂️
Finally today, the CDC announced that they are recommending that fully vaccinated people can now go without masks outdoors and even some places indoors. Airplanes, buses, subways, and hospitals are still mask mandatory. I kept mine on walking in Manhattan on Saturday, but around Oceanside I took a walk without one on Thursday evening. I felt like Kevin Costner at the end of the Untouchables when someone asked him how he felt about the end of Prohibition.
“I think I’ll go have a drink” he said.
Again thank you to everybody who contributed to Running for Rebecca.
Stay Safe. Wear a Mask and/or get vaccinated
and Have a Great Week
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