Hey Everyone:
Had a proud dad moment this week.
Timmy is on the Oceanside Middle School track team, and on Wednesday competed in his first meet. He ran in the 440, the 220, and the 55. Three races, three W’s for the Timster.
They divided the races into heats, so I’m not sure he was the fastest overall for his grade, but he won his heats, and not by a nose either.
Speed is definitely in his gene’s. You younger readers or folks I’ve met recently would never believe it but I was quite fast in my younger days. I was a jumper in high school, and not a very good one. But we had some great sprinters on that team and I could hold my own with most of them. My father was a runner for his high school and my father in law was a half-back both in high school and college.
I hope I’m not coming off as the jerk who brags about his kid’s athletic ability. I really just want him to have fun like I did. My problem was that I could run fast and jump high, I just couldn’t do them both at the same time. But some of my fondest memories of high school were with those teammates I had.
I have to admit though, watching him win those heats? That was freakin exciting!
Onto the week that was.....
POLITICS: The 1/6 Commission
The House passed a bill last week to create a 10 person panel to investigate the terrorist attack on the U.S Capitol last January 6. 35 Republicans joined all 217 Democrats to advance the bill to the Senate.
On Friday unfortunately, the Senate Republicans blocked the bill.
House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy said he opposed the measure, and Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell said he was still considering it before it went to the House vote. Anyone who thought McConnell would stand up and do the right thing probably still believes in the tooth fairy. The next time that tool does the right thing will be the first time.
I don't get it, why would you not want to get to the bottom of this? Maybe I'm being a Pollyanna here, but I don't believe that guys like McConnell, McCarthy, Lindsay Graham and Steve Scalise are OK with what happened on 1/6, and in their heart of hearts know that Trump was the cause of it. I know that slugs like Matt Gaetz, Josh Hawley and Marjorie Taylor Greene don't care about the truth, but why let them be the conscience of the party? Even McCarthy had the common sense to tell the brainless Greene that wearing a mask is not the same thing as being held in a concentration camp.
One of the arguments I am hearing from the right is that BLM and Antifa should also fall under the investigation of the commission. My take on that is this: You want a separate commission to investigate that? By all means. I believe what they will find is that most of the protests last summer were peaceful and the ones that weren't were dealt with. If there is anyone out there who assaulted a cop or damaged property during the George Floyd protests, by all means arrest them and bring them to justice. I really don't know anyone who would object to that.
But let's not mix apples with oranges. Let's not confuse random acts of violence with an all out attack on one of the branches of our government. On January 6, 2021, there was an all-out attempt to kill the Vice President of the US and several members of Congress, including the two men who have strongly voiced opposition to the commission. Like I've said before, if they were threatening to hang my a$$, I'd want that $h-t investigated fully.
Certain things should transcend politics. 9/11 was one. Benghazi to me anyway, was another. 1/6 is definitely another. As Americans, we should have been appalled at what happened that day. And we should hope that Congress would be smart enough to take the steps to ensure that it doesn't happen again.
But, no dice.
BOOK REVIEW: So Many Ways to Lose: The Amazin True Story of the NY Mets the Best Worst Team in Sports
By: Devin Gordon
You would think that with all the crap going in the world the past year or so, that the last thing I would want to read about is all the times over the past 48 years (and beyond) that my beloved Mets have ripped my heart out.
But the author is a very good writer who gives interesting takes on things....... He breaks down the whole Bobby Bonilla annual payout in a way that shows that maybe the Wilpon’s weren’t as clueless as we thought, then shows just how clueless they were on other matters.
That's not to say I agree with everything he writes, in fact he does something in the book that annoys me when other people do it. That is, he seems to look for racism where I don't believe it exists.
One example is during the 1969 season. There was a game the Mets were playing against the Astros and they were getting their doors blown off. A fly ball was hit to left fielder Cleon Jones, but he played it on the hop. Met manager Gil Hodges came out of the dugout, walked past the pitcher, past the shortstop and out to left field to confront Jones. Moments later Hodges walked back to the dugout with Jones behind him. Many people believed that was a turning point in the seson, an example of Hodges not accepting less than 100% at all times from his team.
Gordon didn't see it this way, and no only poo-pooed the idea that it inspired the Mets, he strongly implied that Hodges (who was white) only pulled that stunt with Jones who is black. That my friends was the first time in my life I have ever heard someone accuse Gil Hodges, a teammate and friend of Jackie Robinson BTW of racism. I certainly never heard any of the Mets players say that about him.
Then there was an interview Tom Seaver gave after the Mets beat the Reds in 1973 to advance to the World Series. Speaking to former Dodger great Maury Willis, then a broadcaster for NBC, Seaver said the following:
"And we got our cotton-pickin players in the lineup for six weeks, and we won the cotton-pickin thing and we deserved it. We played like hell and we fought like hell."
Gordon of course has an issue with cotton pickin, and while I agree it's a phrase better left unused anymore, I'm positive that Seaver meant nothing by it. In fact if I were to lay a wager, I'd guess Seaver figured cotton-pickin was a lot better than motherf-ck-n, which was probably what he wanted to say.
Interestingly, Phil Mushnick's Friday sports column dealt in part with how much the f-bomb has become common in the sports vernacular. I believe you can get away with motherf-ck-r a lot easier than cotton-pickin nowadays.
But if you’re a Met fan or even a Met hater, you’ll get a kick out of this. I did
3.5 Auggie’s
NBA PLAYOFFS:
Besides the Rangers cup of coffee last August, none of my teams have made the playoffs in 4 years. The Knicks of all teams ended that dubious streak this year and are currently playing the Atlanta Hawks. Naturally they are on the brink of elimination.
Besides Derrick Rose who has appeared to have found the fountain of youth, the rest of the Knicks are pulling a disappearing act. Julius Randle in particular, brings to mind what George Steinbrenner was talking about when he called Dave Winfield “Mr. May.” A great regular season player who does squat in the playoffs.
R.J Barrett has also struggled, but he’s in his second year and maybe he’s running on fumes at this point. I don’t know what’s going on, but the Knicks have picked an awful time to come back to earth.
NHL PLAYOFFS:
So here is what has become my annual dilemma.... As a Ranger fan, it’s pretty much sacreligious to be rooting for the Islanders in the playoffs. But from where I’m sitting, I don’t really have a choice. And no, it’s not just because my wife is demanding that I do so.
The Bums from Belmont Park took care of business vs the Penguins last Wednesday night. That’s good. I’ll never root for the Penguins. I despise Sidney Crosby and I’m still pretty convinced Gary Bettman rigged that draft lottery because the NHL owes Mario Lemieux a shit-ton of money. I realize that makes me sound like a quackadoodle but what can I say?
Now the Fishsticks are playing the Bruins. The one thing our fair nation doesn’t need is another championship parade down Boylston Street. The sooner the Bruins and Celtics (which is forcing me to root for the Nets) are on the golf course, the better. And had the Bruins not knocked the Capitals out of the playoffs, you think I could root for that scumbag Tom Wilson after what he did to Artemi Panarin? So I would have had to pull for the Isles in that case too. These are the things that make my hair hurt.
Boston won Saturday night. Game 2 is Monday night. Hopefully if you are reading this, the Isles tied it up.
Last but not least on this Memorial Day Weekend...
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
-from For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon
Stay Safe, please get vaccinated if you can
and Have a Great Week
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