Weekly Mail June 27, 2021

 So first a belated Happy Father’s Day to all, I’m sorry I didn’t get to wish you this last week. I hope everyone enjoyed their day. 

Last Friday night we had our 30 year high school reunion. Two of my classmates, Chris Haughie and Mike O'Sullivan bought the Wharf on 116 Street in Rockaway, so that's where we had it. Jon Gaspari organized the reunion. 

It was a perfect night weather-wise and the view of Manhattan that you get from the outdoor deck is spectacular. And of course, getting to see the guys I got to spend the better part of 4 years with was a blast. 

It was nice really just to be out at a bar again, to be honest. We had a lot of laughs, a lot of good memories, and a lot of catching up. And it took me two full days to recover, hence no WM last week.

Hey, I’ve been outta high school 30 years now, I’m gettin old man!

Anyway... 

MUSIC: Beatles Documentary 

There was good news and bad news come out about the upcoming Beatles Documentary. The good news is that director Pater Jackson has added another three hours of footage. The bad news is that it is once again being pushed back, this time to November.

I'm also not happy that they are not going to show it in theaters, instead it will stream on Disney Plus. I was really looking forward to watching the famous 1969 Apple Rooftop concert on the big screen. I just think that would have been fun. 

This sounds more like the Beatles Anthology that they showed on ABC around Thanksgiving 1995. I mean don't get me wrong, it will still be a great thing to watch, and I'm sure Jackson will knock it out of the park. I would just rather see it sooner than later and with a whole bunch of like minded fans in a movie theater. 

RELIGION: No Communion for the President?

OK, so I had started to write about this last week, but there were reports going around that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, who I always feel should have better things to do (like making sure priests keep their hands to themselves) have advanced a measure that might deny Communion to politicians who support abortion rights. Turns out this was not totally accurate. 

What is accurate is that the bishops are preparing a report called The Meaning of the Eucharist in the Church. It was thought that somewhere in this report, that the bishops will propose not allowing pro choice Catholic politicians to receive the sacrament. Turns out, at least according to Bishop Edward Scharfenberger of Albany, the Bishops do not have the authority to do something like that. 

The report is more designed to educate and clarify what the Eucharist means. To reinforce that when the bread and wine is consecrated, that it becomes the Body and Blood of Christ. 

As I read the Bishop’s explanation, he really wasn’t clear in saying who if anybody had the right to deny a politician or any known Catholic who may not conform to the entirety of the Church’s teachings, Holy Communion.  

This is getting attention of course because President Biden, only our nation's 2nd Catholic President, and the first since JFK, is pro-choice. 

I'm not going to use this forum to get into an abortion debate, that's a waste of time and energy. I do however, question the logic behind denying any politician Communion. At best, it's bad PR. At worst it reeks of hypocrisy. And where do you draw the line once you go there? 

Mike Pence was the governor of Indiana, a state that has the death penalty. While no one was executed when he was in office, it was still the law. Say someone had been put to death, and Pence, as governor, and a practicing Catholic, could have stayed the execution. Would that also qualify to keep Pence from receiving the sacrament? 

That's what I mean, where do you draw the line? 

And regardless of how one might feel about Biden, he is a fully practicing Catholic. He doesn't just go to church to preen for the cameras. I really hope that this bishop is right and that this denying of Communion is not really on the table. 

RIP: The Nets and the Islanders 

Well, so much for that debate as to where the Nets are going to hold their championship parade, as they didn’t even make it out of the second round of the playoffs, which has to be a huge disappointment. On paper at least, they were better than both the Bucks (who they lost to) and the Hawks (who are now playing the Bucks in the ECF)

I realize that injuries to James Harden and Kyrie Irving played a factor in the series loss, but still, that has to be a huge concern going forward doesn’t it? I mean, you want to say “lets give these guys a full training camp and a full season to jell”, I can dig that. But these guys aren’t getting any younger, and the three of them spent a lot of time this year on IR (or whatever they call it in the NBA). Irving took games off just for $h-ts and Giggles right? Or am I making that up? 

I admit I watched very few Nets games this year. I saw one game against OKC where they scored like 150 points and looked like the Harlem Globetrotters out there. Focused and healthy, they can be dangerous. Too many times it seemed like they were neither. Again, if they don’t win an NBA title, in the next year or so, that trade for Harden is going to go down as a disaster.

As for the Islanders, they made it all the way to the Conference Finals for the 2nd year in a row, and for the 2nd year in a row, they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa will now play the Montreal Canadiens for the Stanley Cup. 

I suppose as a Ranger fan I should be giddy that the Isles got sent packing, but to be honest all I did was flashback to May 29, 2015, when my boys were also playing Tampa, also playing Game 7 of the ECF and also got themselves shut out. We lost our game at the Garden whereas the Islanders lost down in Tampa. In other words, I feel your pain. And I really don’t care much for Tampa.

I’ll also say this; if I were and Islander fan, I would have rather lost 8-0 like they did in Game 5, than to lose 1-0 like they did in Game 7. You knew by the end of the first period last Monday that they were toast. That feeling of “If we had just scored one measly goal we might have had a shot in OT” is going to be a hard one to shake. I know because I’ve been there myself more than once. 

One more thing: With the Isles moving into the UBS arena next year, I hope the new digs and the higher ticket prices that go along with them don’t rob them of their soul. The Nassau Coliseum, dump that it was, had to be the loudest building in the NHL. I’m positive they won games there they may have otherwise lost because the fans just had that place rocking. I’ve only been to the Garden once since they did it over and that was for a pre season game, but I’ve heard that the acoustics in the refurbished place are not as loud. That, and the sky high ticket prices that have priced out many passionate fans (like me) have taken some of the magic out of it. For the sake of the Islander fans I care about (and you know who you are) I hope they can rock the new place like they rocked the old barn.

As for the Stanley Cup Finals, no team from up north has won the Cup since the Canadiens did it back in 1993. Here’s hoping they knock the Lightning off, give Canada something to celebrate, and close in on the Yankees for most North American team championships. (Currently it’s Yankees 27, Canadiens 24) 

BASEBALL: Only the Mets

I told you all about the book I read So Many Ways to Lose by Devin Gordon, which was an at times hilarious look at some of the ways the Mets fell spectacularly on their faces. I’ve also heard many of my fellow Met fans talk about something happening that was “the Metsiest thing they have ever seen.”

Well, what happened Friday night gets my vote for the Metsiest thing ever. Because I truly believe the Mets are the only team that could pull this off.

On April 22, 1970, Tom Seaver ended a game against the Padres by striking out the last 10 batters he faced. For 51 years, that record belonged to Seaver and the Mets. Several pitchers over those 51 years have struck out 9 in a row (Including Jacob deGrom earlier this year) but nobody else has struck out 10 in a row

Until Friday night, when Phillies ace Aaron Nola struck out 10 in a row against .....guess who?

Yes my friends, now the Mets are on both ends of the record, which c’mon now, is as Metsiest as you can get right? Add to all this that the Mets actually won the game and that just makes the whole thing more hysterical. 

Thankfully I wasn’t around to witness this monstrosity, as I was visiting some of Tara’s family up in northern Connecticut, which is considered Red Sox nation. But I saw someone on Facebook thanking Pete Alonso for at least making sure Seaver’s record didn’t completely fall.  To paraphrase Cindy Adams (that creep) Only with the Mets kids, only with the Mets. 

Sorry for the delay on this, as I was traveling and only finished it up Monday morning. 

On Thursday 2021 will be half over believe it or not. It will also be called Bobby Bonilla day, which many fans will tell you is the Metsiest thing ever. But you and I know better. :O) 

Stay Safe, 

and Have a Great Week

Weekly Mail June 13, 2021

 

Hey There: 

Timmy and I got to go to the Met game on Friday night.  It had the makings of one of those games you'll be talking about for years. 

It was the first game since the pandemic that stadium capacity was increased to 90%, so the place was packed. Jacob deGrom was starting, so we were almost guaranteed to see something magical. 

 Sure enough, deGrom was amazing.  6 innings, 1 hit (which was erased when the hitter, Wil Meyers was thrown out stealing 2nd) 10 strikeouts No runs  Zero. 

The man is pitching to a 0.56 ERA. For those of you not familiar with baseball, that's an unheard of statistic. 

The night was almost perfect, actually it was great, but not perfect. 

For one thing, deGrom left the game after 6 because his elbow was bothering him. That's enough to make my stomach turn. 

For another, the lines at the concession stands were unbelievably long. Because they don't take cash anymore, there weren't any walking vendors selling food or drinks, you had to go to the concession stands. Tim and I got there early enough that we didn't have to wait on a line to get our initial food. But the mid game pretzel, the late inning ice cream, and since deGrom was pulled, the consolation beer* was out of the question. You'd miss at least 2 innings if you went to get food. 

The other issue I had was the guy sitting next to me. 

He and his wife were there. It was bad enough he felt the need to chat me up after every play, but every time the Mets got a hit, or Jake struck someone out, he felt the need to slap me on the shoulder. 

His wife, who sounded like Mrs. Roper from Three's Company, kept saying "Just leave him alone, he's watching the game with his boy". But she was just making it worse, the more she told him to stop, the more he was determined to chat me up. 

I gave him a high 5 after one play, but when he tried to give me a hug after deGrom's two RBI single, I drew the line. "Dude, really? I asked. 

"What? C'mon!" 

Remember on the Sopranos, whenever someone would say "What? We're just breaking balls!"? Go back and look at the clips. Anytime that sentence was spoken, the speaker ended up either dead or close to it a few minutes later. That's what this guy reminded me of. And since I didn't have Paulie Walnuts or Silvio Dante near me, I just had to grin and bear it. 

Fortunately, Karl (the Ace) Ludwig and (Razor) Ray McGarvey, with Trish and Maureen respectively, were sitting a level down from us, so Tim and I headed down to them. We got to see Edwin Diaz close it out, and then the 6 of us took the 7 train back to Woodside. We grabbed the 10:53 Long Beach train and called it a night. 

But for all my kvetching, it was awesome to see the stadium packed and hear it rocking. And to see Jacob deGrom, who is a once in a generation pitcher in person is a thrill. 

And the more of y'all that get vaccinated, the more good things we can all enjoy. 

POLITICS: NYC Mayor's Race

Since I moved out to the burbs 11 years ago, I don't get to vote in the mayor's race anymore. It's a good thing too, because it looks awfully confusing to me.

Apparently you don't merely vote for who you want as mayor as much as you rank your choices. Here's how it works for choosing the Democratic Mayoral nominee according to the NY Times...

Think of ranked-choice voting as voting in rounds: If a single candidate receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes in the first round, then he or she wins, and that’s the end of the race.

If no one exceeds 50 percent of votes in the first round, the candidate in last place is eliminated, and all other candidates move on to the next round. All the votes for the eliminated candidate will be reallocated to whichever candidate those voters ranked second, and then the votes are retabulated. Then the candidate in last place after that will be eliminated.

In New York’s primary, these rounds of elimination will continue until there are two candidates left — even if a candidate collects more than 50 percent of votes before the very end. The candidate with the most votes in the final round wins. In each round, when a candidate gets eliminated, his or her votes get redistributed to whoever was ranked next on the ballot.

I don't get it. Are we looking to put someone in City Hall or Cooperstown? I'm not saying it's a bad idea, I'm just not sure what the point is. I understood mail in voting and early voting for President because we were trying to protect people from COVID-19, but I'm trying to figure out what the purpose here is. 

Seriously, this sounds more like how they vote for the Cy Young Award. To that end, why don't we just eliminate the middle man and make Jacob deGrom the Mayor of NYC? I don't even think Yankee fans would have a problem with that. 

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES- Help Wanted in New Orleans

Larry Flynt's Hustler Club in New Orleans is so hard up for hard on specialists, that they are offering $1,000 sign on bonuses for strippers to return to the Bourbon Street jiggle joint. The incentive is also open to those looking to make a career change. 

“We look forward to reverting back to a seven-day per week operation, just as we were prior to COVID,” said Ann Kesler, General Manager of Larry Flynt’s Hustler Club New Orleans. “In order to do so, we need to ensure that we have an ample number of entertainers to sustain our guests, which is why we are implementing a signing incentive to both local and out of state entertainers.”-WAFB Channel 9 New Orleans. 

There is this notion going around that folks don't want to go back to work because the money they are collecting on unemployment is too good to give up. On the flip side, the argument is that companies have to offer a wage that will make it worthwhile for people to return to work. It's just another thing for all of us to argue about, which we all need like we need a hole in our heads.

So I say kudos to the Hustler Club for this aggressive and out of the box approach to reducing unemployment in America. Other companies might want to consider it. 

I’m watching the Westminster Dog Show as we are about to publish. They are having it up in Westchester this year. They usually have it at the Garden. Don’t see why they couldn’t have it there this year, the Rangers and Knicks aren’t using it right? 

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On a sad note, please take a minute to say a prayer or give a good thought to my big brother Ed (Auggie) DePuy and his family, whose mom, Patsy DePuy passed away this week. Thank you

Stay Safe

and Have a Great Week

*I wouldn't have had a beer even if the lines were short since I drove to the Oceanside Train Station.

Weekly Mail June 6, 2021

Hey:

So unlike last weekend’s washout, where many of us had a 3 day weekend, this weekend was sunny and hot!! Summer May not be here per the calendar, but it’s here weather wise. I hope you all were able to get out and enjoy, especially now that the pandemic numbers are going down. 

Speaking of which, here is where we will start…

POLITICS: Fauci's E-Mail's

The Washington Post, thanks to a FOIA request, received and published about 2,000 of Dr. Anthony Fauci e-mails last week. 

Several Republicans, including and especially Rand Paul of Kentucky, are saying that the e-mails prove what they have been saying all along.. that Fauci was dishonest, misled the public and did all of that in the name of defeating Donald Trump in November 2020. 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that many of the people who are claiming that Dr. Fauci is a liar didn't bother to read any of the e-mails, or even any of the stories written about the e-mails. Just the little snippets provided by FOX News or Newsmax. 

Because if you took some time to read the stories and put the e-mails into context, you'd see a man who yes, made a few mistakes in the beginning, but who also had the presence of mind to change course when the data suggested it was necessary, who wanted to inform the public, even if they weren't going to like what he had to say, and someone who worked hours upon hours to help as many people as he could.

One of the major beefs of the Republican party is that Fauci dismissed the idea that the virus was created in a Wuhan, China lab. 

I wrote this in my Coronavirus Special Last Year...

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of a friend, posted an NPR article stating that the chances that COVID-19 was either manufactured in a Chinese Lab or was accidentally released from said lab were slim to none.

I'm not saying my friend, or the article he posted was wrong.

But I'm not ruling it out.

And I'm still not ruling anything out. I don't think Dr. Fauci was either, but the fact of the matter is that the chances of this being created in a lab are very slim. I saw nothing in these e-mails that changes my mind on that. 

Like I said, there were definitely missteps on his part, not mandating masks right away was a big mistake, but it's the ones who don't think masks and social distancing were necessary that are the ones going after Fauci the hardest. To me that's just more noise. I will always believe in my heart that as bad as things were (and with almost 600,000 of us dead, let's remember how bad this really was) it would have been a hell of a lot worse without Dr. Anthony Fauci. He's not the villain here folks. Not by a longshot. 

RELIGION: Back to Church?

I was notified last week by WM's Religion Editors (my Mom and my sister) that the dispensation for not going to Mass because of COVID-19 was being lifted as of June 3. 

In doing some research for this, I stumbled upon this article from The Jesuit Review. Many of the dispensations around the country have already ended, or ended and went back into effect after the 2nd wave over the winter. 

As you might expect, there has been much confusion over whether or not you are obligated to return to Mass. One bishop in this article said 

If you’re truly, truly afraid of catching the virus, then you stay home,” Bishop Thomas Freyer said in a video announcing the change. “If you’ve gone out to lunch, if you’ve gone out to dinner, then you’re not truly afraid.”

OK that sounds reasonable enough, since when I go out to lunch, I have complete strangers sitting right next to me eating the bread and crackers out of the same basket. 

Another Bishop said...

“I ask Catholics to look at their lives at this moment. Are you meeting with groups of people, perhaps attending sporting events and participating in other forms of entertainment, but not attending Mass? The Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, but are we making other things a priority in our lives at this time? Are we making this dispensation an excuse?”

I understand where this guy is coming from. During the pandemic, Tara, Timmy my mother in law and I have been watching The Sunday Mass on Channel 10/55 at 9 AM on Sunday. The Priests are from the Passionists Order and they do a really nice job. Fr. Paul Fagan is the host and usually about once a month, presides over the Mass. He's our favorite, but the other priests do a good job too. I treat that 1/2 hour as if I'm in church. In fact, I probably pay closer attention and say the prayers with more conviction than I do if I'm actually in church. 

I get it that the main reason for attending Mass in person is so you can receive the sacrament of the Eucharist. Well I hate to break to ya Bishop, but it's going to be a loooong time before I take communion again. And this is no knock on the Eucharistic Ministers, who I know take the proper precautions.. I count both my sisters, my wife (at one time) and many friends as eucharistic ministers. 

But I'm not ready for that yet. No way. 

So we've decided that we will for the time being continue to watch Fr. Paul and Co. on Sunday mornings, at least until Labor Day. (that'll piss off all those teachers and priests I had at St. Mary's who used to tell us "God doesn't take a summer vacation")  We'll re-evaluate it at that time. If I'm lucky enough to get to heaven, Jesus and I will hash it out then. I believe He will understand. 

BASKETBALL: Bye Bye Knicks:

The Knicks were put out of their misery by the Hawks last Wednesday night. The reaction from most Knicks fans was disappointment but hope that better days are here. 

I felt like they were a better team than Atlanta, but the Hawks rose to the occasion. Julius Randle on the other hand did not. Neither did anyone else not named Derrick Rose, but even he didn't play that well the last two games. 

Right now, I feel disappointed that they didn't make it to the second round, but if this truly is the start of a new era, then I can look back on this as a stepping stone. But for now, it's just a big letdown. 

The Nets meanwhile sent the Celtics packing and are taking on the Bucks. The Hawks will play the Sixers. 

Speaking of the Nets, there was an interesting debate the other morning on WFAN's Boomer and Gio show. Now, I'm not convinced the Nets are the mortal lock to win the NBA Title that the above referenced radio hosts say they are. But for the sake of this discussion, lets say they are.. Where do you hold the victory parade? 

Boomer Esaison and Greg Gianotti both said the parade would have to be somewhere in Brooklyn. Maybe down Atlantic or Flatbush Avenues. One of them suggested marching over the Manhattan or Brooklyn Bridges.  

Myself, like many of the folks who called to weigh in, didn't see why the Nets wouldn't be feted down the Canyon of Heroes like any other NYC team that wins a title. When the Giants won the Super Bowl in 1987 and 1991, they had their parade in East Rutherford, NJ, on orders of the spiteful mayor Ed Koch, but the last two times, they marched down Lower Manhattan. 

Otherwise, by Boomer and Gio's logic the Yankees would parade down the Grand Concourse, and the Mets down the Boulevard of Death. Only the Rangers and Knicks would get parades down the C of H. We've been waiting a long freakin time to see that happen too. 

The Islanders, if they manage to win, would probably have a parade down Hempstead Turnpike, which at least I could get over to from my office if I wanted to (I doubt I would want to). 

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Forgot to mention in last weeks blog that we had three celebrity deaths on Saturday. In the morning I found out that former Utah Jazz center Mark Eaton died in a bike accident at age 64. When I was a kid, he was a shot blocking machine. At 7'4, if he wasn't the tallest player in the league, he was in the top 3 or 4. 

Later on, we heard that someone else was going to have to captain the Love Boat into Puerto Vallarta as Gavin MacLeod who played Capt. Merrill Stubing on our favorite Saturday night early 80's show died at age 90. With his passing, only Lou Grant and Sue Ann Nivens remain from WJM in Minneapolis.

And then BJ Thomas succumbed to cancer at age 78. A few years ago I read a book about the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, and every chapter was named after a song from 1975. So one of the Chapters was Hey Won't You Play Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song. I never really liked that song till I read that book and now it's like a total brain worm. He also sang Hooked on a Feeling, and how apropos, that on the day the "Raindrops Keep Fallin on my Head" singer died, it was pouring here in NY.  

He also sang the theme to one of my favorite TV Shows, Growing Pains. RIP to all. 

That’s all we got folks

Stay Safe. Get the vaccine 

and Have a Great Week