Weekly Mail January 30, 2022

 

Hey There:

I first posted the above Ron Burgundy meme a few years ago, when the meteorologists were breathlessly predicting another huge snowstorm. It was meant to be funny, a slight exaggeration. 

But this week, I actually heard a few weather forecasters make similar predictions. Talk about hedging your bets!

But that's how truly unpredictable this weather track was. It was a matter of a few miles. By late Thursday, it was apparent that most of the Northeast was in for it. Here in NY, it started around 7 PM on Friday night. By daybreak Saturday, I could barely see out the front window. 

So kudos to the weather people, I spend many a day blasting them when they are wrong, so today I tip my cap to them as it seems like most of them nailed this one.

Please let me know how the city does in terms of getting you all dug out, as this will be an early test of the new Mayor Adams administration. So far it seems to be OK, he seemed to be and and about offering moral support if nothing else. But since I’m here in the burbs, I can’t really say for certain. Again, to my peeps in the 5 boros, let me know how it goes. 

Onto the rest of the week. Mostly Sports 

FOOTBALL: Playoff Classics

We usually post this between 8 and 9 PM on Sunday night. So it was put up before the end of last weeks classic Bills-Chiefs AFC divisional playoff game.

I'm not old enough to remember the old AFL, but I've read the stories. I also remember reading about the classic USFL shootout between Houston Gambler QB Jim Kelly and Los Angeles Express QB Steve Young as they passed for over 1,000 yards combined in one 1984 game. 

The late 4th Quarter of this game reminded me of those games. Two amazing quarterbacks, duking it out, playing "Can you top this". And while I think those USFL shootouts were defense optional, the Bills came into Kansas City boasting the league's most stingy defense, making Patrick Mahomes performance all the more impressive. 

And Josh Allen, well, as a Jet fan, the thought of having him in the same division as us for the next 10 years or so is to say the least, disheartening. About the only solace I can take is that he is in Buffalo and not New England. 

The big issue that this classic raised (again) is regarding the overtime rule. For years, it was sudden death, first team to score wins. Then they modified the rule to make it that you had to score either a TD or a safety to win. Kicking a FG would force you to kick off to the other team. 

And since Mahomes and Allen were basically throwing touchdown passes at will, it placed even greater importance on the coin toss. And I dig the argument that no team should lose a game, never mind a playoff game, on a coin toss. Kind of reminds me of the time George Steinbrenner ripped Yankee president Al Rosen for calling the wrong side of the coin toss to determine where the 1978 play in game for the ALCS would be played. 

But then you had this afternoon’s game, between the Bengals and the Chiefs. 

In the beginning, the Chiefs were moving the ball at will, kind of like they picked up where they left off last week. But all of the sudden, they looked a lot like they did in last year’s Super Bowl. They just fell apart. 

The Chiefs had a golden opportunity to score a TD at the end of the 4th quarter, but Mahomes tried to scramble and ended up nearly running the Chiefs out of field goal range. That’s inexcusable. I was all over Zach Wilson for doing the same thing, but he’s a rookie. Mahomes is a Super Bowl Champion, throw the f-cking ball away! Running 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage accomplishes nothing. 

The Chiefs managed to kick a field goal to send the game to OT. They even managed to win the coin toss. But Mahomes threw an interception and the Bengals marched down the field and probably could have scored a TD if it was necessary. All they needed was a FG. That’ what they got. 

I shouldn’t be as mad as I am. The Bengals are a great story, Joe Burrow seems like a really easy guy to root for, and the other two times they were in the Super Bowl, they were good games. 

I can usually laugh it off when I end up with egg on my face, because it happens so often, but for some reason tonight, it’s just humiliating. I was so sure that whoever won last weeks Bills-Chiefs game was going to win the Super Bowl, now neither team is even in it. I just feel like an idiot. 

As far as the OT rule debate, I’m wondering if what happened today will quell that for the time being. We’ll see.  I don't really like the college OT rules, where each team gets  the ball at the other team's 25. If that was the rule last week, they’d still be playing. But maybe figuring out a way for both teams to get the ball in OT would be ideal. At this point, I really don’t give a $h-t. 

Even before this afternoon’s debacle, I had no interest in Niners-Rams, I don't like either team. I’m sure since I’m not watching it, they’ll be talking about it for years. 

But I will give my $0.02 on the whole Mina Kimes-Jeff Garcia feud... Kimes, a panelist on various ESPN football shows, basically said that the 49ers were winning games in spite of QB Jimmy Garoppolo and not because of him. She compared him to a kid on a group project for school who doesn't do any work but gets the good grade with the rest of the kids who actually did work on the project. Garcia, took great offense to this, and gave the old "She never played football so how would she know?" argument. 

Where's Howard Cosell when we need him? 

So, while I think Kimes was being a smidge unfair in her criticism of Garoppolo, Garcia's point is outdated and despite his denials, offensive and sexist. If Garcia wants to hear QB critics who never played a game in Pop Warner, never mind the NFL, he should spend a week here listening to the FAN. With the QB's we've had here the last few years, there's been a lot to criticize. And with the exception of Boomer Esiason, none of the other hosts have lined up under center. (Tiki Barber was a running back) There is no shortage of  critics who never played. 

                              Mina Kimes

Jeff Garcia

HOCKEY: Number 30 to the Rafters

Lord knows I've made it crystal clear that Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan doesn't do much right. (Talk about a kid who gets A's on projects he didn't do any work on) but one hat tip I will give the thin skinned phony is that he's done a great job of honoring the Knicks and Rangers of the past. 

It seems weird to say that Henrik Lundqvist is a Ranger of the past. It's only been 2 seasons since he was between the pipes, but Friday night, he got the well deserved honor of having his jersey retired. 

I got stuck running some last minute before the blizzard errands, so I caught most of the festivities on the radio, but I'm sure it was brilliantly done. I've seen enough of these ceremonies to know the Garden does this right, all the time. If they were as good at hanging championship banners as they are hanging old jerseys, we'd be on to something huh? 

That having been said, those who claim that Lundqvist didn't really deserve this because he never won a Cup are morons. I'm telling you (and anyone who saw this man play can attest to this) the Rangers would have never gotten as far as they did in 2012, 2014 or 2015-trips to the Conference Finals in 12 and 15, a trip to the Cup Finals in 14) without him. 

It's the same moronic argument people make about Patrick Ewing. How have things worked out for the Knicks since Ewing was traded to Seattle? How about the worst record in the NBA since 2000? 

Thankfully the Rangers have a goalie in Igor Shesterkin who has been very good so far. Of course the Rangers had to go screw things up on Friday by losing to the Minnesota Wild. In what can only be called poetic justice, the Rangers were robbed at the end of the game, first by the referees, who waved off an apparent game tying goal, and then by the Brainiacs who run the replay reviews in Toronto, who confirmed the crappy call. 

On a night where his number was retired, what better way to truly honor the man who gave up a goal against the Kings in the 2014 SCF with defenseman Dwight King laying on top of him with nary a whistle for goalie interference, by calling a phantom goalie interference penalty. Not that I'm pissed off about it or anything.   

Cheers to you king Henrik!

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I wasn’t going to say anything about this, but I was working on a deal with Spotify to have James Earl Jones do an audio version of Weekly Mail. However, I decided to join Neil Young and Joni Mitchell and cancel the whole thing. It would have been a nice opportunity to expand, but well, sometimes you gotta take a stand. 

Also found out this morning that Howard Hesseman, who played Dr. Johnny Fever on WKRP in Cincinatti, and Mr. Moore on Head of the Class, passed away at 81. WKRP was one of my favorite shows, and now I think the only ones left are Venus Flytrap, Les Nessman, Andy Travis, Bailey Quarters, and Jennifer Marlowe. We lost Herb Tarlek a few months ago, and the Big Guy, Mr. Carlson in 2003. 

And yeah, if you must know, I watched Head of the Class. I had a little crush on Simone. (Khrystyne Haje). 

Besides Fever and Mr. Moore, my other favorite Hesseman role was  Capt. Pete Lassard in Police Academy 2. Specifically this scene

I still yell “Is all that crap necessary?” at the chef whenever I go to a Hibachi restaurant. People love going out to dinner with me. 

Good luck digging out NY. 

Stay Safe

and Have a Great Week

Weekly Mail January 23, 2022

 

Hello:

There are some weeks where writing this blog is a breeze. It's fun, easy, and my hope is that the people that are reading it are having as much fun as I am writing it. 

Then there are weeks that it's hard. That is usually due to one of two things. 1) There is nothing to write about, or 2) There are things to write about that I'd rather not write about. 

This week falls into the latter category.

We started off the weekend with the most horrible of news.. a young police officer, shot and killed in the line of duty, while answering a domestic dispute. 

I've said this all along, all during the protests after George Floyd was murdered, the most basic right we all have is to be able to come home to our families, safely. Cops, firefighters, they don't always know that is going to be the case. I can't imagine living with that kind of uncertainty. 

There are few things more soul crushing to the spirit of NY than when a cop gets killed in the line of duty. That the officer who died was so young, just makes it even more of a heartbreak. 

We went into the city early Sunday afternoon to see my sister in law, and we saw police officers, firefighters, EMT’s  lined up along the FDR Drive. A boat in the East River was spouting water into the air and an NYPD helicopter was flying low above the river. All were saluting as the body of Officer Jason Rivera was being transferred from the morgue. If that sight doesn’t break your heart, then there’s something wrong with you.  

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POLITICS: The Biden Administration: One Year In

And I was reluctant to write about any of this because I'm sure this is going to ruffle more than a few feathers around here. But I think one year in is a good time to make an assessment of how things have been going. 

So, many of my friends on the right have asked rhetorically, "Do you regret voting for Biden yet?" or "Would you rather have mean tweets or high gas prices?" things like that. Well, here's my short answer to the first question.....

I'd vote for him again, pretty much against anyone the Republicans put up. And if they're going to put up the 45th President, you can carve my vote in stone. 

But you know what? In the interest of fairness, I'll start with where I disagree with President Biden. 

The pullout from Afghanistan was a disaster. I can buy the argument that there was going to be no clean way out of there to an extent. But after 20 years, to watch as the Taliban took over in less time than it takes Dominoes to deliver a pizza was a disgrace. And while I don't lay it all at the feet of Biden, he had doubled down on his decision. Maybe there wasn't a clear way out, there had to be a better way than what transpired. 

But other than that? 

I'm not going to sit here and tell you there aren't challenges ahead. But the idea that Biden has put us behind the proverbial 8-ball is utter nonsense. 

Do I like paying $3.50 a gallon for gas? Not really. Do I understand that the reason gas was so cheap back in 2020 was because the world was pretty much locked down and no one was filling up their gas tanks? Yes, even a dunce in economics like me can figure that one out. 

Inflation is a problem, It was going to be a problem no matter who was in charge. It wouldn't be as big of an issue if the Republicans in Congress would work across the aisle to come up with a plan to fix it, but it seems like their only goal is to block and obstruct. Again, we are still dealing with a pandemic and as much as things have opened back up, there is still a long way to go.

And speaking of the pandemic, I don't know whether to laugh or cry when folks try to blame Biden for people dying of the coronavirus. The Biden administration has made getting vaccinated as easy as going to 7-11 for a Big Gulp. Yet people don't want to get it because well you know, Let's Go Brandon and all that. 

Here's what I've seen from my corner of the world: 

1) The biggest drop in unemployment in a single year, as well as 6 million jobs added. 

2) 70% of Americans vaccinated against the coronavirus

3) A $1.2 billion infrastructure bill that will fund new roads and bridges and upgrade internet access.

4) Most Federal Judges appointed since Ronald Regan 

5) Reuniting with our traditional allies to fight climate change. 

He's had every Republican and two Democrats opposing his every move. He came into office without the benefit of a peaceful transition of power, having witnessed with the rest of us the terrorist attack on the Capitol a mere two weeks to the day before he was to be inaugurated. A terrorist attack orchestrated in part by his predecessor's nonsensical belief that the election was stolen from him. 

I've tried to avoid bringing Captain Orange into this, but really it's unavoidable. The circumstances that Biden faced coming into the job were unprecedented. All things considered, I don't know too many other people who could have made the transition as smoothly as Biden did.  

Joe Biden isn't above criticism, no President is, but what I don't get is the hatred towards him. And before you answer "What about the hatred towards Trump?" well, I'm sorry but Trump peddles in hate and division.  Anger, so much anger, and for what? 

All I've been hearing from the right this week is what a disaster Biden's presser was last week. Hey, I didn't like all the answers Biden gave, but you know what? At least he answered the questions! Trump used to ignore people who asked him tough questions, call them fake news, and usually change the subject. How many times was Trump asked a question about foreign policy and he answered by talking about his poll numbers? If it happened once, that was too many, and it happened much more than once. 

I'm not here to change anyone's mind, that's the equivalent of pissing into the wind. But I'm sticking with my guy as well. I still believe that history will show that Joe Biden was the right choice. 

OK Let's Lighten it Up a Bit.....

PURCHASES- SNL Stars Buy a Boat

And not just any old boat...an old Staten Island Ferry.

Pete Davidson and Colin Jost both from Staten Island, got together with comedy club owner Paul Italia and ponied up $280,000 for the decommissioned ferry named after President Kennedy. 

They are planning to turn it into entertainment event space -aka a nightclub. The boat can't move on it's own, two of it's engines have failed, but it has been declared structurally sound. 

I think it's a brilliant idea, and neither Davidson dating sex video star Kim Kardashian, nor Jost, whose married to Scarlett Johansen, will have trouble attracting A-List Celebrities to the boat when it opens.Davidson’s  little black book alone would be the envy of most velvet ropes. However much it costs to convert the boat into a functioning nightcl-, um I mean entertainment event space, those two will make it back 10-fold, I would think. 

I'm too old, too poor and too irrelevant to think I would ever get to hang in a place like that, but maybe our kids will in a few years. When they get this place up and running, maybe we can get one of you youngins to go there and give us all a report. 

NFL PLAYOFFS 

Last week I got to witness Bill Belichick get sent packing by the Buffalo Bills, easing my fear of a Belichick- Tom Brady Super Bowl. This week Brady himself was sent home by the Rams. The Rams and 49ers will play for a berth in the Super Bowl. I’m not a Niners fan by any stretch, but it was nice to see Aaron Rogers season come to an end. I didn’t watch much of that game on the Frozen Tundra the other night, but Rogers just looked like he was miserable. He didn’t play awful, he just looked like he didn’t want to be there. As much as I don’t like him, I found myself feeling sorry for him (a little bit). 

As we go to press tonight the Bills and Chiefs are playing. With all due respect to the Bengals, I’m thinking the winner of this one will represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. 

And with my two least favorite people in the NFL already on the golf course, I may actually tune in this year. 

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Please pray for those who keep us safe. 

Thank you

Stay Safe

and Have a Great Week 

Weekly Mail January 16, 2022

 

Hi There:

I don't know about you, but where I am this weekend, it's freakin freezing. It was a balmy 13 degrees when I woke up Saturday morning. I bundled up and went into the city. As long as I kept moving, I was OK. But when that wind whipped, that was no joke man. 

I realize it's the middle of January, so I'm not really complaining, this is kind of what a NY winter is all about. The folks who are getting screwed by Mother Nature are the one's down south and in the Midwest. 

Folks in Memphis are expected to have 2-4 inches of snow by Sunday afternoon, 6 inches in Nashville. Even Elvis' home town of Tupelo, Mississippi is bracing for some snow, though it's 50-50 according to the National Weather Service. 

There’s a coastal flood warning in effect now until Monday morning. If this was snow coming down instead of rain, we probably be digging out to the next three weeks.

Ugh!

Onto the week that was...

ROYAL FAMILY: More Trouble for Andrew

A federal judge in Manhattan denied Prince Andrew's motion to dismiss the lawsuit that was brought against him by a woman who claims Andrew raped her when she was a underage over 20 years ago. Lawyers for Andrew tried to argue that the settlement that the accuser, Virginia Giuffre, reached with the late sleazebag Jeffery Epstein, released him from any liability. 

The judge disagreed and allowed Giuffre's lawsuit to proceed. In the meantime, Andrew was stripped of whatever was left of his duties and titles in the British Royal Family. To be honest, I kind of thought that had already happened. Back in early 2021, I remember reading (and reporting) that Andrew had lost his office at Buckingham Palace, and I figured it was only a matter of time that he'd have to move into a Motel 6 in the London outskirts. Now, he can no longer be called His Royal Highness and in a statement released by Queen Elizabeth's office, he will be defending himself as a "Private Citizen" As the preacher in Blazing Saddles told the new Sherriff Bart.   Son, you're on your own

I haven't written much about this whole sordid mess because quite frankly, it's nauseating. Epstein and his lover/partner in crime Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted here a couple of weeks ago, just give me the creeps. 

And Andrew, I mean, is he not the oldest 61 year old man you've ever seen? Look at the pictures of him from 20 or 30 years ago. I wouldn't call anyone in that family good looking, but at least he kind of looked like a Prince. It's unreal how much he's aged. Now, if you saw him sitting at the end of a bar with a pint of Guinness in front of him, you wouldn't give him a second look, (though if he keeps losing titles, he's going to be drinking Midnight Dragon on a park bench soon.) 

        Doesn’t he look like a guy who used to hang out at the Beautiful Palm Garden on Rockaway Beach Blvd???

And if Giuffre wins this case, I don't know where he's going to get the money to pay her. I guess that all remains to be seen. If he did what they are saying he did, he really belongs in jail. 

BASEBALL: Mets to retire Number 17

At WM's editorial meeting on Friday night, we discussed our thoughts on the Mets decision to retire number 17 in honor of Keith Hernandez. And while I agreed with my co-editors that it was the right call, I do understand some of the, well, I don't want to call it pushback, but....

I really believe that retiring a number can't be taken lightly. You are talking about never being able to give that number to another player. The Yankees right now cannot issue a single digit uniform to anybody else. 1 through 10 are all retired. Jeter, Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Berra, Dickey, Maris.  I don't think anyone can argue those numbers 2,3,4,5,7,8 (twice) and 9. shouldn't be retired. 

But Billy Martin, or Joe Torre or Phil Rizzuto? I don't know, I mean please don't look at this as a disgruntled Met fan woofing on the Yanks. I loved Scooter in the booth, I have always given Torre all the props in the world for managing the Yanks to 4 titles with George Steinbrenner on his case 24-7, and Billy Martin for all his issues, when he was the manager, the Yanks were always in the hunt. 

There's a part of me that just feel like we are going to start seeing triple digits on the backs of some of these ball players coming up. 

Right now, that's not an issue with the Mets, since Hernandez will only be the 6th number retired (7 if you count Jackie Robinson-whose number is retired from MLB, and rightly so). But the Yanks are going to have to deal with that one of these days. I guess that's what's called a nice problem to have. 

Back to Hernandez though.... Let's face it, the Mets don't win in 1986 if not for him. The trade they made to get him in 1983 was one of the first real signs in my eyes that maybe one day I'd get to see some winning baseball at Shea Stadium. I was just 3 years old in 1976, the last time the Mets had finished over .500. I watched the 1982 World Series and saw how awesome Hernandez was for the Cardinals, and thought, "Too bad the Mets don't have anybody like that." 

So I'll be watching on TV that night as number 17 goes up with Gil Hodges, Casey Stengel, Tom Seaver, Mike Piazza and Jerry Koosman. I'll be remembering all those amazing plays in the field and the clutch hits he got for us back in the day. And I hope upon hope, that night, that we'll be in a pennant race ourselves. 

LAWSUITS: It's in the Cards

This story was reported in Saturday's Post by my friend, the great Kathianne Boniello. 

A Manhattan man is suing his mother over two baseball cards he says belongs to him. Both are Topps 1953 edition cards. One of Ralph Kiner and one of Satchel Paige.  The plaintiff, Christopher Trencher, is claiming that his mother bought the cards for him as a gift in the 80's, but she never gave them to him. According to the story in the Post, mom and defendant Carol Ivanick, had no idea her son was suing her. 

She also claims that the cards were actually a gift to her from him. She says that she considered Paige to be an icon (she's right) and that she keeps the cards safe. 

My grandmother, God love her, hated to throw things out, so my dad was able to bring home a whole bunch of baseball cards from 1961. He also had Met yearbooks from 1963 and 1965, and Yankee yearbooks from 1961 and 1962. 

My grandmother also had what she called a "junk closet" at the top of her stairs, that me and my sisters were prohibited from entering under penalty of death.* I of course had somehow convinced myself that Grandma had a 1962 Met yearbook in there. My dad told me hundreds of times that it had accidentally gotten tossed out, but my brain wouldn't allow me to consider that possibility. If someone lit an M-80 right on Grandma's front porch, she wouldn't have heard that go off, but heaven forbid I opened the door to that junk closet, she could hear that from a mile away. 

Look, there is no one who loves sports memorabilia more than I do, but what kind of a$$hole do you have to be to take your own mother to court?  And that goes for just about anything, but for a couple of baseball cards?  This just sounds like some loser with too much time on his hands. 

Here's the Post story

NFL PLAYOFFS:

The annual battle I have with myself to not get too much into the NFL Playoffs have been mixed so far.

I watched the Raiders-Bengals game to kick off Wild Card weekend, as they are two teams that haven’t been in the playoffs in a while. Indeed the last time the Bengals won a playoff game, WFAN’s morning co-host was their QB. 

The announcers were talking about how much trouble the Raiders have in the Red Zone, and I usually chalk that up to a bunch of hooey. But sure as hell, the Raiders were in the red zone a bunch of times and settled for field goals. 

Alas, they had one more shot to tie it up, when they got the ball back with time on the clock and down by a touchdown. Derek Carr the Raiders QB, marched them down the field in no time, but once they got inside the 20, then the 10, they were a Pop Warner team. Should I credit the Bengals for having a bend don’t break defense? Or are the Raiders just a bunch of chokers? We here at WM will opt for the latter. 

I watched the Rangers beat the Flyers, then flipped over to see the end of the Knicks beating the Hawks before I tuned into he end of the Patriots-Bills game in Buffalo. It was 5 degrees at game time with a well below zero wind chill. On a January night in Buffalo…go figure.

I picked the Pats in this one because I saw how the Bills had played against my Jets last week and figured they were ripe for the picking. Well, this is why I haven’t made a fortune in the football picks department, because by the time I tuned in, it was already 37-3 in favor of Buffalo. I always enjoy watching Bill Belichick get his a$$ handed to him, as rare an occurrence as that is. At least I don’t have to worry about a Bucs-Pats Super Bowl now. Though Tampa won bigly today, a game I did not watch. 

I did watch the Nickelodeon game, Niners-Cowboys in Dallas, which really, if it wasn’t for all the bells and whistles, and the Noah Eagle, Nate Burleson, and All That star Gabrielle Naveh Green broadcast team, would have been an utter waste of three hours. Both teams played sloppy,  uninspired, football, and the officiating was as usual brutal. As we go to press tonight, the Steelers are playing the Chiefs, and I’m watching an old episode of The Fall Guy. 

All right, that’s all we got this week.

Stay Safe

and Have a Great Week

*Actually it was more like penalty of no Ice Cream or Chocolate Pudding (which she called puddin), which I pretty much equated to a death sentence. God I loved my chocolate puddin. 

Weekly Mail January 9, 2022 (300th Blogpost)

 

And we’re back….

Yes my friends this is our 300th post since our September 2015 comeback. I’m not going to do anything special for it, but I figured it was worth noting. And also another opportunity to thank all of you for reading it, for your comments both pro and con, and most importantly for your friendship and support. I wasn’t sure when I re-started this how far we would go, but thus far, it’s been almost 6.5 years! We’ll keep going till it stops bring fun, and hopefully that won’t be for a long time. 

Unfortunately, we have to start with some over the holidays obituaries. 

Hey Wait a Minute! John Madden in an 80’s Miller Lite Commercial 

John Madden- As a kid in the 80’s, even though I wasn’t a Giants fan, my dad and I would catch both the Giants games on CBS and the Jets games on NBC. More often than not, especially as the Giants became contenders, we had the good fortune of getting the Pat Summerall/John Madden broadcasting team. To me, they will always be the gold standard. 

Madden had retired young as coach of the Raiders because he was burned out and afraid to fly. Broadcasting allowed him the chance to get to his games in a trailer known as the Madden cruiser. More on that later. But when he began as a color commentator, he sounded like no other voice who had ever broadcast a football game. Like Howard Cosell before him, he had a voice and a personality that you only had to hear once and then you would never forget him. He and Summerall were perfect together. Summerall was low key and succinct, Madden anything but. The two of them knew there football though, that was undeniable. 

Now the tributes that poured out for him were well deserved, and as I said, I love watching and listening to him on CBS. But I will also say that as he moved around, first to FOX when CBS lost football, then to ABC/ESPN so he could do Monday Night Football and finally to NBC, I sort of felt like Madden almost took on the caricature of himself. What came naturally and genuinely at CBS, at times seemed forced at his other stops. 

I like to play a game sometimes when I go on the NY Post’s  Sports website: I try to guess which link will lead me to Phil Mushnick’s column. It was pretty easy this past Friday…

Mushnick had made it clear by the end of Madden’s run that he had little use for him*. Most of Mushnick’s issues with Madden were with his refusal to condemn bad behaviour from NFL players, be it on the field or off. Mushnick seemed to think that Madden promoted sometimes immodest celebrations on the field. I’m not sure about that, there were plenty of times I remember the camera would show something, probably in the hopes Madden would have something to comment about it and he said nothing. You want to argue that Madden could have and should have looked to put a stop to it? That I can buy, but I’m not quite as confident as the Post columnist is that Madden would have been successful. 

But again, I felt as he got up in years that he was more about marketing himself than breaking down the games he was broadcasting. I could be way off on that, and if I’m being honest, if you asked me if I had the power of personality that he had, would I look to cash in on that anyway I could? I’d probably would. 

In any case, there is no getting around the fact that he revolutionized football broadcasting, nobody can take that away from him. Some of the most enjoyable Sunday afternoons I had were listening to him commentate on a football game. And if the Madden cruiser, the video games, his appearances on commercials from Hardware stores to beer to athlete’s foot fungi were part of the package? Well, then that was the price we paid for that. 

Betty White: We are still in the grips of the Coronavirus pandemic. We continue to be a hotly divided nation, this weeks look back at what happened this time last year was a perfect example of how split we still are. 

But there was one thing I think, in fact I’m sure would have brought the whole of us together, a chance to raise our glasses a salute a national treasure. 

That is, if Betty White had lived to celebrate her 100th birthday. 

Alas, if we still do that a week from Monday, it will be without her, as the legendary actress passed away on New Years Eve-a mere 18 days away from her centennial birthday. 

The best thing I saw written was a meme that said of White, “You must have been something special if you lived to be almost 100 and people still think you died too young.”  That’s as perfectly said as you can get. 

Mary Tyler Moore was a bit before my time, (I remember my grandmother watching re-runs in the afternoon when I was really little) but I caught enough of the Golden Girls to see how talented and funny she was. 

But mostly she became America’s grandma, didn’t she? And if it may not have been a role she necessarily wanted, it was one she embraced. And embraced it with style, grace and most of all good humor. 

Of the many stories that I heard over the past week or so, this one stuck out..

White had her own variety show back in 50’s (the 1950’s I guess I have to point out) and had hired Arthur Duncan and African American dancer to perform. When hate mail began to pour in from the South and stations were threatening not to air the program, White stood by her decision and kept Duncan on the show. “I’m sorry, but he stays” she told the network executives. Her show was canceled after a year. There was no regrets on her part either, and Duncan went on to a very successful career in Hollywood. 

It’s stories like these that are why we mourn her passing, at 99. Too young

Way too young.

Sidney Poitier- And then to lose this national treasure just a week after losing Betty White was simply hard to take, another hero, who at 94, still feels like he’s gone too soon. 

The first African American to win the Oscar for Best actor, Poitier starred in some of the world’s greatest films. In 1967 alone, he did Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, In the Heat of the Night and To Sir with Love. (And I thought Carl Yazstremski was the only one who win the Triple Crown that’s year) 

As a freshman in High School, we read the play A Raisin in he Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. When we were done, we watched the 1961 film, which starred Poitier, Ruby Dee and Louis Gossett Jr.  All of them had also performed the play on Broadway. All of their performances were powerful, but Poitier was something else. I knew, even at that young age, I was watching an all time great. 

And I never knew he directed one of my favorite movies as a kid, Stir Crazy, with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. According to Wikipedia, that was the highest grossing film ever directed by an African-American for many years. 

But perhaps his most important legacy, is how many actors and actresses, both black and white have cited him as an influence, an inspiration. I know it’s cliche, but we owe so much to the people who were trailblazers, and Sidney Poitier was certainly that. 

“I owe you nothing!”

Sidney Poitier in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

RIP to all 3.

FOOTBALL: Wrap it up already…

So I know I’ve brought this up before, but now that we’re here, I will repeat that this 17 game schedule for the NFL has been a disaster. I’m sorry folks, but here on January 9th, I feel like we should be watching the playoffs, not a shitload of meaningless games. I cannot be the only person in America that feels this way. 

Maybe I’d feel different in my Jets were actually in contention for a playoff spot, or even if the Giants were, but I don’t think so. I think 16 games were perfect, and as much as I would have preferred having the Super Bowl wrapped up by the end of January, I was learning to live with an early February Suoper Bowl. But now we’re playing the Super Bowl on the second weekend of February? I’m sorry man, I’m in Spring Training/Hockey/College basketball mode by then.

And if it ends up being a Patriots-Buccaneers Super Bowl, and two weeks of hype about Brady vs Belichick, well I may have to leave the county for a couple weeks. That would just be a nightmare.

As for the Jets, last week’s game against the aforementioned Bucs was both exhilarating and aggravating. For 59 minutes they had the lead, only to lose, mainly because of a bone-headed play call by coach Rob Saleh. I know that offensive coordinator Matt LeFleur called a hand off to Braxton Berrios, and I know Zach Wilson said he took it upon himself to run the QB sneak, but from where I was sitting, it was on the head coach to say to Wilson, “Whatever you do son, don’t run a QB sneak.” He didn’t and I had to watch Brady march his team down the field in the 2 minute drill for only the 1,000,000th time. Tonight, the Jets lost to the Bills in a game that should have been like a 50 point blowout instead of the 17 point blowout it was. All I can say is if the Bills play like that against whoever they meet in the playoffs, it’s going to be a short playoff run for them. 

But what’s amazing is that as $hitty as the Jets were this year, they weren’t even the worst team in their own stadium. That would be your NY Football Giants*, who while they finished with the same pathetic record as my Jets, did so in such unwatchable fashion. Yes, I know they were down to their 3rd string QB, but Dr. Daniel Jones wasn’t exactly setting the place on fire before he got hurt. Is that because of bad coaching, a lack of talent around him, or some combination of the two? That seems to be the $64,000 question around these parts doesn’t it? 

I swear, watching the Jets and the Giants these last several years is like watching near the end of Rocky II, isn’t it? Both guys down, have been beaten to a pulp, every time you think one of them is going to get up they slide down the ropes back onto the canvas. Of course we know how rocky II ends (spoiler alert-he wins) but the Jets and Giants keep falling back down. Right now, it looks like the Jets are on one knee, about to grab the rope and pull themselves up, while the Giants are on their backs. Next year it could be the other way around. I saw some good stuff from the Jets this year, but I’ve seen too much as a fan to get too optimistic. That’s about all I can say.

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THIS JUST IN…….As we are going to press, Bob Saget, the actor who played family man Danny Tanner on Full House, then became a raunchy, foul-mouthed stand up comic, was found dead in his Orlando hotel room this afternoon at age 65.  Details are still coming in, but this is not the start to 2022 we all were hoping for.

And of course our hearts go out to the families today who were victims of that awful fire in the Bronx. 19 dead so far including 9 kids. Just awful. I just thank God we have the best fire department in the world, or it could have been even worse, hard as that is to imagine. 

Let’s just hope things get better from here. 

Thanks again for your friendship and your support. I do hope even if you don’t agree with some of my takes, that you are at least enjoying it.

Stay Safe

and Have a Great Week 

*Mushnick had little use for Summerall as well, and took some shots at him after he passed.

**I don’t know why I referred to them as the Football Giants being that the NY baseball Giants skipped town almost 65 years ago

 

Year in Review Part 2

July 4

They just compared Joey Chestnut to Bill Russell, Henri Richard, Margaret Court and Rafael Nadal. Our nation’s greatest athlete is a competitive eater. 

Happy Birthday America!

If that don't sum it up for 2021, I don't know what will

July 11

I’m furious about the Mets today, but this Euro soccer final is no joke man

Italy vs England decided by penalty kicks. I still can't really sit through 90+ minutes of soccer, but the older I get the more I appreciate the game 

July 12

WTG Polar Bear!! WOW!

Another HR Derby win for Pete Alonso. Sadly, it would be the highlight of the season

July 19

Oink oink

A report came out that American kids who spent the pandemic watching Peppa Pig were now developing British accents. I found this to be a jolly good development 

August 11

August Wow! Michael Richards is the new host of Jeopardy? 

Didn’t see that coming..

And what the producers apparently didn't see coming was that Richards had used homophobic and sexist words on an old podcast. 

August 19

and away we go….

A crushing injury to a NY Jet. If he had stayed healthy we may have gone 5-12 instead of 4-13

August 21

Barry Manilow is singing Copacabanna live in central Park right now, so i'm gonna need you to leave me alone for the next couple minutes.

Re ipsa loquidor

August 22

A Sad night for us Ranger fans. RIP Rod Gilbert

And the tributes that came from all over the sports world were touching if somewhat surprising. Both Mets and Yankees announcers paid tribute to Mr. Ranger, with Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez crediting him for welcoming them to NYC

August 30

And now we have a teenager! How the hell did THAT happen? Well, Happy 13th buddy. We love you and we can’t wait to see what’s in store for you. ❤️❤️

Still wrapping my brain around this one nearly 6 months later. I'm the dad of a teenager Holy $h!+

September 1

Before I post my annual first day of school picture of Tim, I want to take this opportunity to once again state that I don’t believe kids should have to go back to school before Labor Day. You are all welcome to voice your agreements or objections in the comments. Looking forward to at least one objection from Suffolk County by way of Maspeth. 

Funny, Ms. Keri-Ann Hart never did respond to my complaint. She thinks the kids should go back after 4th of July. 

September 5

I’m doing a shot every time they mention or reference Bobby Bowden in tonight’s FSU-ND game. 

It’s going to take me a week to dry out. 😂

The long time Seminole coach died just 4 weeks prior at age 91. ABC showed every single banner the fans brought in to the stadium that night. 

September 26

How can anyone on the Jets get a taunting penalty? WTF do we possibly have to brag about?

Things that make ya go hmmmmm

October 2

At least ND had the common decency not to wait till New Year's Eve to ruin my weekend.

But they came damn close to making the playoffs. Then pooped the bed in the Fiesta Bowl anyway 

October 5

Good luck tonight Yanks. Win and you’re in. 

I say Cole earns his $$$ tonight

Predictions gone wrong number ...... well I've lost count quite honestly

October 10

I’d be terrified if I was that woman singing the National Anthem at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium today.

They make the singers go to a tiny stage at the top of the stadium, then do a RAF flyover. I'd politely request I sing at the 50 yard line thank you very much

October 23

I canNOT believe the Braves are going to the World Series. The Dodgers are a bunch of overpriced choke artists!

Don't even get me started about Atlanta winning the World Series...This might have been my least favorite baseball season of all time

October 31

I’m quite certain the Jets will screw this up, but man this has been fun!

Surprisingly enough, they didn't screw it up and ended up with most likely will be the highlight of the year, (bedsides when they were slugging beers at the Nassau Coliseum) Editors Note-I thought for a nanosecond today I was going to have to exit this for highlight of the year, but no dice.

November 10

Judge Harry Stone must be making these rulings

A ruling on mask mandates in Texas and on a Captain Orange motion to hold papers related to the terrorist attack on the Capitol on 1/6 came down at 10 PM on a Wednesday night. Hence the Night Court reference.

November 25

Bears have no guts. C’mon Lions, block this FG!

I’ll take things that ruin Thanksgiving for $500 please Mariym

November 26

This is what we call a good day in sports

Rangers beat Boston. Dayton upsets Kansas. On Black Friday 

December 5

Where’s Pat Leahy when we need him????

Of the frustrations the Jets provided us with, their inability to find someone to kick the ball might have been at the top. 

December 10

My favorite Monkee. RIP Mike Nesmith

and then this kick in the shin on NYE

It's weird... driving around this morning, I heard the 80's song Forever Young by Alphaville on the radio, and I remembered the version that Jay-Z and Mr. Hudson performed on SNL the night Betty White hosted and how Jay-Z dedicated the song to her. I'm sure the announcement that she had passed hadn't been made yet, but I also feel that God likes to play DJ sometimes. 

RIP to an icon, I'm so sorry she didn't make it to 100

I had heard Nesmith was not well, so his passing, while sad wasn’t totally unexpected. Betty White though? That close to 100, which I think would have produced a huge celebration? That was a sucker punch. 

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

I’m gonna say something about 2021 that I don’t usually say about a lot of years…..

This wasn’t a horrible year.

I saw many posts and social media Memes stating how happy people were to see 2021 go by the wayside. I’m not gonna say it was a great year. We’re still dealing with COVID-19, people who lost friends and family to the pandemic are still dealing with their loss. In no way shape or form am I minimizing that. 

But many of us got to spend time with loved ones that we didn’t get to do the previous year. Some of us got to travel to places we couldn’t go the previous year. Some of us got to go to concerts or sporting events that we couldn’t go to the previous year. 

Some of those we lost the previous year finally got the goodbyes and farewells that they so richly deserved. 

Yes the temperature in this country is still way too high. Inflation and prices are as well. These are issues that need to be dealt with in 2022 and probably won’t be to all of our satisfaction.

But as I was looking back on 2021 and putting this year review review together I saw so many pictures and posts of things that were good. Getting to actually see people in person who while I may disagree with them on social media I can tell them in person how much I really do care about them 

and that goes for just about all of you.

Happy New Year. Let’s make it a better one than last year.

Weekly Mail Returns Next Sunday