Weekly Mail Christmas Eve Special 2022

 

                                                 Christmas Eve 2022 -Rockefeller Center (16° F) 

Thank you for tuning in.

The average temperature for Christmas in New York City is 41°/29°. The coldest Christmas in my lifetime was the year my sister Kate was born. 13° for a high in 1983. In 1980, the low actually went below 0°, but I think the high was above 13. 

This year, we practically had a tropical storm on the 22nd, followed by plunging temperatures throughout the 23rd, till we got to today's frigid weather. It only got up to 16 today in NYC. 

So I hope you are all OK and are all dealing with the cold. I actually wore a hat and gloves today in the city (I took them off for the annual selfie with the Rockefeller Center tree) And I hope you are enjoying Christmas Eve and looking forward to a wonderful Christmas Day tomorrow. 

1) Do They Know It's Christmas Time-Band Aid- Yeah maybe one of these days, I'll get so sick of this song that it will drop down the list. Hasn't happened yet. Still sounds great 38 years on...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3fSknbR7Y4

2) Happy Christmas (War is Over)  - Plastic Ono Band-   Another song I can never get enough of. And I feel like we need the sentiment of the song now more than ever...

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xbdyg51MVbg

3) Fairytale of New York-The Pouges with Kirsty McColl-  The official Christmas song of Cousin's Christmas. Still captures the thrills and the challenges of living in NYC. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv0hlbWpa1w

4) Oh, Holy Night -Josh Groban - The older I get, the more I appreciate it.  As my friend Emily E. O'Connor said of it "It tells you everything you need to know about what Christmas means" I can't put it any better than that. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17kiIIxSdC0

5) Wonderful Christmastime -Wings- I feel bad knocking Macca down another notch,. But this is still catchy and fun. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94Ye-3C1FC8

6) 7 O'Clock News/Silent Night-Simon and Garfunkel- On one side of your speaker, you hear Simon and Garfunkel singing the classic Silent Night. Out of the other speaker, you hear a newscaster (Charlie O'Donnell of Wheel of Fortune fame according to Wikipedia) reading the news headlines of the day, including the death of comedian Lenny Bruce, the indictment of serial killer Richard Speck, and former Vice President Richard Nixon predicting 5 more years of war in Vietnam. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkJlmYwMgRM

Depressing, but powerful.  So let's pick it up a little.

7) Christmas in Hollis- Run DMC - I'm not much of a rap fan, but this is the closest song to represent my hometown. The official Christmas song of Queens. Ray told me I had to put this up higher or else I'd have to turn in my Queens passport. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR07r0ZMFb8&t=101s

8) O Come O Come Emmanuel-Joan Baez- Every year at least once or twice, my hippie parents would gather my sisters and I around the entertainment system, bust out the the incense and the lava lamps, and pop  "A Joan Baez Christmas" into the cassette player

Ok so most of that story is bull, but we did have A Joan Baez Christmas in our collection. It was probably a buck and a quarter at some supermarket, which is most likely the reason someone in my house bought it. This is the one song  I remember from it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq_6seRbB2U

9) Blue Christmas -Elvis/Porky Pig- The Elvis version is a classic by itself, but the Porky Pig version is hysterical.  

Elvis

Porky

10) Christmas in New York-Shilelagh Law- I should have had this song on here a lot sooner than this year, but this year for some reason, I'm just feeling it more. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9POSq7qJ5Oc

Hey, who put this in here???? Cousin's Christmas

OK here is this year's new feature. A little trivia for ya

 WHAT CHILD IS THIS?

These 10 famous people share (or shared) a birthday with the little baby Jesus* See how many you can get

1) This one's in honor of my wife. One of America's most famous nurses, credited with founding the Red Cross. Born in 1821

Who is  _____________________________

2) Here's looking at you kid. This Casablanca's star's  life began on Christmas Day 1899. Hint- At the beginning of Scarface, Tony Montana (Al Pacino) gives him credit along with James Cagney for learning how to speak English. 

 Who is ________________________________

3) This television pioneer allowed us to travel to a different dimension, creating of of TV's most iconic series, which has been done over many times, most recently by Jordan Peele. Born Christmas Day 1924.

Who is ________________________________

4) Nicknamed The Snake, this late NFL quaterback gave John Madden his only Super Bowl coaching win. Considered one of the best left handed QB's in NFL history. He was born on Christmas Day, 1945

Who is _______________________________

5) Hopefully this singer will be celebrating his 76th birthday tomorrow with a cheeseburger in Paradise while wasting away in Margaritaville. Born Christmas Day 1946

Who is ______________________________________

6) If she was in New York this week, she might have said "Here Comes the Rain Again."  If she can get through tomorrow without "walking on broken glass", she'll have a happy 68th Birthday. Born Christmas Day 1954

 

Who is __________________________________

7) Just hope he's not spending Christmas Eve in the drunk tank, as that would put a damper on his 65th birthday. He and his band sang one of the above mentioned songs with the late Kirsty MacColl. Born Christmas Day 1957

Who is __________________________________

8) This former Yankee and Met infamously said "Don't need no press now" in his first spring training with the Yanks, and was playing cards with Bobby Bonilla during a playoff game with the Mets. Oh, and he's also baseball's all time stolen base leader. Turns 64 tomorrow. Born Christmas Day 1958

Who is ________________________________

9) This stud turns 51 tomorrow and is the current Prime Minister of Canada, a job his father held when he was Born Christmas Day 1971. 

Who is ______________________________________

10) If you wish her a Happy 51st birthday tomorrow, she may "thank you for giving her the best day of her life."  Early 2000's singer born Christmas Day 1971

Who is _____________________

WELL, TONIGHT THANK GOD IT'S THEM INSTEAD OF YOU! 

These 10 famous people died on Christmas Day. I was going to call them poor souls, but one of them was a real bad guy. See how many you can get..

1) His tombstone supposedly read, "I'd Rather be Here then in Philadelphia". It doesn't, but if it had, this famous comedian would have gotten his wish on Christmas Day 1946. 

Who is ___________________________

2) This R&B pioneer was in between sets at a Houston concert on Christmas Day 1954, when he picked up a gun and accidentally shot himself in the head, dying at age 25. His song Pledging My Love, was featured in John Carpenter's Christine, and Bad Lieutenant starring Harvey Keitel. 

Who is _________________________

3) Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark in the Avengers movies) was nominated for an Oscar for portraying this legendary English comic, filmmaker and composer, who died on Christmas Day in 1977.

Who is __________________________

4) The people of Romania got an extra gift under their Holiday Tree on Christmas morning 1989, when their brutal dictator was put before a firing squad along with his wife and executed on Christmas Day 1989. SPELLING DOESN'T COUNT ON THIS ONE 

Who is ___________________________

5) No doubt this man would have been named manager of the Yankees for a 6th time some time in 1990, but for the fact that he spent Christmas Day 1989 getting shnockered at an Upstate NY bar, and proceeded to try to drive home, crashing his car, killing himself and injuring his friend. 

Who is _______________________

6) This man was a multi talented, singer and actor, my favorite role of his being a race car driver dressed as a priest along with fellow Rat-Packer Sammy Davis Jr. in the Cannonball Run. He died Christmas Day 1995. 

Who is ________________________

7) This singer sang Living in America before the Creed-Drago fight in Rocky IV.  He also died in America on Christmas Day 2006. 

Who is ___________________________

8) This amazing singer and actress played Catwoman in the final season of Batman. She also sang the original version of Santa Baby. She died Christmas Day 2008. 

Who is ___________________________

9) Last Christmas, he gave you his heart. Sadly on Christmas 2016, he died of heart failure. Andrew Ridgley's former partner in Wham. 

Who is ___________________________

10) "Driving that train, high on cocaine...." this former Boston Celtic championship player and head coach who died Christmas Day 2020 didn't do either of these things, but if you know the next two words of that Grateful Dead song, you'll get the answer. SPELLING COUNTS ON THIS ONE! 

Who is ____________________

AND HERE ARE THE ANSWERS.. 

Born on Christmas 

Clara Barton-1821-

 Humphrey Bogart-1899

Rod Serling-1924

Ken Stabler-1945

Jimmy Buffett-1946

Annie Lennox-1954

Shane McGowan-1957

Rickey Henderson-1958

Justin Trudeau-1971-Fun Fact- He has a brother, Alexandre Sacha Trudeau who was also born Christmas Day, two years later. 

Dido-1971 

Died On Christmas

WC Fields-1946

Johnny Ace-1954

Charlie Chaplin-1977

Nicolae Ceausescu-1989

Billy Martin-1989

Dean Martin-1995

James Brown-2006

Eartha Kitt-2008

George Michael-2016

K.C. Jones -2020

*So here's a fun fact, all these folks who were born on December 25? According to most theologians, they do not in fact share a birthday with Jesus. 

The bible never actually mentions December 25 as Jesus' birthday. In fact, it doesn't mention a date at all. Nobody is actually sure of the exact date of Jesus birth, but many have offered educated guesses based on the scriptures.  

For example, the bible mentions "shepherds in the fields tending to their sheep..." At the end of December? Not likely. You know what they say about keeping your pets outside on cold nights, right?

Also the reason Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem was to be counted for the census. The powers that be at the time, even as ruthless as they could be, would not have had people travelling all over the Middle East at that time of year. Most likely it would have been in late September/early October

December 25, was the last day that the pagan festival of the winter solstice was celebrated, so the Christians, specifically newly converted Roman Emperor Constantine, co-opted the day and created Christmas out of that.   

And if you thought that I learned any of this in my 12 years of Catholic School, guess again. It was easier and more cost effective just to have us all believe that Deceember 25 was Jesus birthday. 

The first person to tell me about Jesus not being born in December was the manager of the first OTB I  worked at, on Grand Ave in Maspeth. This manager, who every other word out of his mouth was usually an f-bomb, told me one of his nephews studied theology in college and he "told me all this $hit" 

                                                                   Merry Christmas 

Weekly Mail December 18, 2022

 Hey Everyone:

Sorry we didn't publish last week. Celebrated another milestone birthday with another long time, well, almost lifetime friend. 

Back when WM was a recap of my wild and crazy weekends, the star of many of those recaps was one Patti-Ann Fitzsimmons, who to this day is one of the best planners of get togethers I have ever known. Those crazy nights on the Upper East Side and in midtown Manhattan were orchestrated by Patti-Ann. And we were coming from all over, PA and crew were usually coming in from Westchester/the Northern Bronx, while the rest of us were coming in from Rockaway, Woodside, Brooklyn, etc. But we all got there, and many times this was before everyone had a cellphone. 

And that's why we all descended on Rory Dolan's in Yonkers last Saturday to celebrate. 

What a blast it was. A perfect Saturday afternoon. Paddy Tubz who've I known even longer than I've known Patti-Ann,  was the DJ, the France-England World Cup quarterfinal was on (rendering the majority of Rory's a French FootBall Club supporter bar no doubt).  And of course catching up with everybody. Friends I hadn't seen in years. 

Two weekends in a row, getting to catch up with old friends. What an awesome way to kick off the holidays. 

Before we proceed, here's a programming note.... We'll have our 6th annual Christmas Eve Spectacular next Saturday night, posting to Facebook at 8 PM EST. After a couple of years struggling to come up with interesting stuff to write, I think we'll have a fun one next week. Pretty stoked about it actually, so I hope you'll enjoy it. 

Let's get onto the news of the last couple weeks..

FREED-Brittney Griner

Lots to unpack here. Here's where I will start. 

1) I am happy that WNBA star Brittney Griner is home. To me, no matter how you slice it, 9 years in prison for not even pot possession, but pot residue possession?  That's not a prison sentence, that's a hostage situation, which is how I viewed this. I'm not an expert on Russian law, (such as it is) but I'm pretty sure if a Russian citizen was caught with some grass, they wouldn't be sent packing for 9 years. Sure Griner been more careful? Probably. But 9 years for pot? C'mon. 

2) There was a time not too long ago, where not standing for our National Anthem was a offense by which while I knew you couldn't be locked up for it, I also had little sympathy for the people who chose to take this stance. 

I heard many people saying this week that they didn't want Griner released from Russian prison because she "hated America" This is actually her exact quote to the Arizona Republic back in 2020 when she suggested that they not play the National Anthem before the WNBA Games that season. Keep in mind, this was in the heart of the George Floyd protests, not long after Breona Taylor's death and while the arenas were empty because of COVID-19. 

"I don't mean that in any disrespect to our country. My dad was in Vietnam and a law officer for 30 years. I wanted to be a cop before basketball. I do have pride for my country."

Maybe I'm buggin, but that don't sound like someone who hates America, maybe just someone who thinks we can do better. 

When she was first drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, I read a profile of her in either SI of ESPN the Magazine. She is 6ft 9in tall, a Gay, African-American woman. She talked about the slew of insults she received  growing up. You want to say it's unfair to lay that entirely on our country? Fair enough. But is also fair to say that our country as a whole hasn't always done a great job protecting folks like Brittney Griner? I mean, if we're being honest here, how can we not say that? 

3) Then there is the criticism of President Biden and the deal he made to get Griner free. 

There are two fronts on this:

a) why free Griner when there is another prisoner, a genuine American hero, a former US Marine named Paul Whelan, who was convicted of espionage, and sentenced to 16 years in jail, of which he has now served 3 years. 

So let's get this out of the way first...officials have stressed that this wasn't a choice Biden or anyone else in America got to make. It wasn't Griner or Whelan, it was Griner or they both stay in Russian prison. This was clearly a case of a bird in hand being better than two in a bush. Anything else is just right wing baloney. 

b) and to me what's a more fair criticism of the deal is what the US gave up to secure Griner's release. Viktor Bout, nicknamed the Merchant of Death, is a convicted arms dealer. Amongst Bout's clients, were al-Qaeda, the Taliban and militants in Rawanda, three groups who are clearly not on our side. I was watching CBS this Morning the day Griner was released. Catherine Herridge a CBS Investigative Correspondent said she spoke to some of the federal agents who were involved in apprehending Bout, said that "while they wanted to see families reunited, they still had deep concerns with any trade involving Bout because of the message it would send: that it makes good business sense to target Americans." 

I can't get past the feeling that perhaps we could have found someone else to trade to get Griner out of Russia. I know people much smarter than we were working on this deal, but the Merchant of Death for a basketball player?  I'm sorry, but that's a reasonable concern. And again, I believe the Biden adminisration acted here in good faith. I guess we just have to pray that we did enough damage to Bout's operation that we were able to dismantle his network and keep him out of business.

As a fan of teams who have won but two championships in my almost 50 years on earth, I have extensive experience in holding my breath for trades to work out. What's one more? 

WORLD CUP FINAL: An all time classic 

The final game of the World Cup never ceases to amaze me. 

Think about all the hype the Super Bowl gets in this country. Millions of people watch it, but there are plenty of places in the world that simply aren’t interested.

But the World Cup has the attention of every corner of our planet. 

And that was all I could think about as I watched both the French and Argentinean players lining up to take those penalty shots. How must that feel? How do you block that out as you prepare to take those kicks? 

I was happy Argentina won, happy for Lionel Messi to finally win. I thought they had it wrapped up, what with a two goal lead and clearly dominating possession in the second half. But these games can turn around in a heartbeat and this one did. The French, scoring on a penalty kick and then tying it up a minute or so later. 

And anytime a champion is crowned in overtime, it’s the most dramatic way to win and the most excruciating way to lose. 

Congratulations to Argentina. Condolences to France. In 2026, the fun comes here. 

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

I’m not going to bore you by kvetching about the Jets. Only to say I don’t blame Zach Wilson or even Robert Saleh’s clock management. I blame the poor defense. That game winning TD the Lions scored was inexcusable. 

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

Happy Chanukah to all who celebrate. 

Christmas Eve Special next Saturday at 8 PM. 

Till then

Stay Safe

and Have a Great Week 

Weekly Mail December 4, 2022

 

Hey!

Saturday night I went to a surprise 49th birthday party.

This was brilliantly planned and coordinated by my friend Trina for her husband, my brother from another mother, Kevin Woods. What better way to surprise your husband for his 50th birthday then by throwing him a birthday party on his 49th? 

It worked. He definitely was surprised! 

The DJ said that the mike was open if anyone wanted to get up and say a few words about the guest of honor. Woodsy’s Dad volunteered me to be the first to speak. (DOH!)

I went up and talked about how Kev and I first met…. A rainy miserable day in August 1986. My friends on 112th Street decided to go over to 113th Street to Kevin’s house. I didn’t know who he was and he didn’t know who I was. “I can’t let this guy in!” Kevin said pointing at me. Somehow, my buddies negotiated my way in and we sat playing whatever was the big video console at the time (Nintendo maybe?) At one point Kevin’s sister came downstairs and one of my buddies had the idea to throw a blanket over me because that wouldn’t raise any suspicion. (When I told Nancy this story years later, she laughed and said “Yeah..YOU were we the one I was worried about out of that crew”) 

From that day on though, Kevin and I hit it off. We ended up in high school together, where I wouldn’t have gotten through without him. Then after college I worked with his brother Jim for a few years, my first real 9-5 gig. I told everyone how much the Woods’s meant to me and how happy I was to see them all. I was a nervous wreck, but I’m glad I got to say that to them. 

It was an awesome evening. 

What wasn’t awesome? Well, this past weekend in sports. 

FRIDAY NIGHT-Jacob deBum 

Timmy broke the news to me on Friday that Jacob deGrom had signed with the Texas Rangers. Sure enough, there it was..a five year deal worth $185 million. On the surface, it’s a lot of money, but it’s actually 37 mil per year, which while not chump change, it’s also not what Max Scherzer is getting, and I was pretty sure he was going to want at least that much. Instead he gave up $$$ for years. 

But it’s also quite obvious that he wanted out of New York. And a couple of years ago, I may not have blamed him, all those nights where he gave up 1 or 2 runs and got nothing to show for it? Yeah, I wouldn’t have blamed him for wanting to skip town either. 

But the team now has an owner willing to spend, a GM who has an idea of what he is doing and a manager who is one of the best in the business. Not to mention he got paid handsomely the past couple of seasons not to pitch. 

I just remember watching him warm up on the mound at Citi Field that Sunday in August, his first game back at home after his latest injury. I remember that ovation he got from the crowd, people I knew who were at the game getting emotional watching him warm up as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Simple Man played. He had already announced he was opting out of his deal as was his right, but I thought to myself, “Why would he want to leave here, knowing how much the fans here respected him?” 

Of course I shouldn’t have been that naive.

Bill Madden often talks about Scott Boras’ strategy of finding “one dumb owner.” Just one owner who will overpay someone and set the market for the rest of the league. It seems like more than once, that one dumb owner resides in Arlington, TX. Remember A-Rod’s $252 million deal? That was also courtesy of the Rangers. By year 3 of that 10 year deal, the Rangers were looking to get out of it. 

5 years for a guy with arm trouble is insane. I am glad the Mets didn’t bite on that. 

I’m not going to insult you by saying that if deGrom had simply taken the better deal, I wouldn’t be upset, because of course I was going to be upset either way. I don’t begrudge the man for taking a 5 year deal if someone was dumb enough to offer it. 

But what bugs me is that he seemed to have his mind made up and that his heart wasn’t in it at the end. I wonder how hard he rehabbed, how much he cared about getting back to the Mets in 2022, knowing he was on his way out the door? I hate to think like that, but I think it’s a legitimate question. 

There may come a day where I appreciate what he did for the Mets, but for right now he just comes off as a fraud. I guess for $37 million a year, it doesn’t matter what we think of him. He’s laughing all the way to the bank. 

                                                  

SATURDAY MORNING- While My Qatar Gently Weeps…

So before I write about the US Men’s Soccer team’s loss to the Netherlands on Saturday, let me first shower them with praise. First, for beating Iran last Tuesday 1-0, and even more, for the classy way team captain Tyler Adams handled questions from the “Iranian Media”. 

First the so called reporter reprimanded Adams for mispronouncing the name of the country. The correct pronunciation is Ear-Ron, but many of us ugly Americans call it I-Ran, basically we pronounce it as it is spelled. Adams apologized. 

I would not have.

Then they asked Adams about discrimination in America, and Adams answered with the most dignified and classy answer, saying that discrimination exists everywhere, and that U.S continues to make progress every day. 

Bullseye. 

Again I wouldn’t have handled that nearly as well. Taking a question like that from a man representing a country that treats women like garbage. The World Economic Forum ranked Iran as 140 out of 144 countries in regards to gender parity. Is there racism in our country? Still way too much. But for someone from Iran to call us out? GTFOH!

It made the win on Tuesday all the more sweet. 

As for the loss on Saturday, well, there was no shortage of good chances, we just couldn’t cash them in. The Dutch are really good and they made the most of their opportunities. It would have been great to keep going, but we can take the moral victory. A tie against a really good British team and a win over Iran. We get the world on our turf in 2026. We can all look forward to that. 

SATURDAY NIGHT- Hockey Letdown

I won’t write too much about the Rangers now with everything else going on, but so far they have been a major disappointment. Coming off their trip to the ECF last year, they have been mediocre at best. Their inability to resign certain players because of the salary cap seemed to have come back to haunt them. It’s too early to panic, but not too early to be concerned. They lost a bad game to a bad team (the Blackhawks) 5-2 Saturday night at MSG. 

SUNDAY- No Medals for Trying

It is a sign of progress that the Jets lost on the last play of the game and there was no solace in that. 

The Vikings are one of the better teams in the NFL, now at 10-2. The Jets were trailing at halftime 20-6, but dominated on both sides of the ball in the second half. They did everything but score touchdowns, kicking 3 FG’s to come to within 20-15. Minnesota scored a TD to make it a two score game, and the Jets finally scored a TD, to get it to 27-22. They even had one more shot to win it after the defense held, but Mike White threw an interception in end zone on the last play of the game. 

While there are no such things as moral victories when you are trying to make the playoffs, there were a bunch of positives, mainly, now that we have a competent QB under center, we can see just how good our receivers and running backs are. The running game was pretty good on Sunday, with  Zonovan (Bam) Knight rushing for 90 yards, and Garrett Wilson looks like he’s going to be a star receiver. 

And QB Mike White while maybe not as dominant as he was against the Bears, still made a few really nice throws. His biggest test yet comes this Sunday against the Bills in Orchard Park. 

The Giants and Commanders played to a 20-20 tie. I heard a lot pf people saying that was akin to a loss and I may have agreed, but they are really banged up with injuries. 

OBITUARIES

I’m a big Fleetwood Mac fan, so the death of Christine McVie was very sad. One of the most amazing and underrated voices in rock and roll. I always felt that Stevie Nicks got more attention (and she is an icon in her own right) but McVie to me was one of the best to ever do it. 

And even though he lived to be 90, and I hadn’t watched him on TV in years, I was also sad to hear of the passing of Bob McGrath from Sesame Street. He was always my favorite, just one of those faces that everyone felt comfortable with. And from all accounts, just as kind a man off the air as he was on. 

And Kristie Alley, who was hysterical on Cheers, passed away on Monday night at age 71. 

RIP.

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As we go to press tonight, the runoff election in Georgia between incumbent Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker is taking place, the polls due to close at 7PM EST. That we are even at this stage with someone as unqualified as Walker is a sad state of affairs, but, well, here we are. 

Sorry this was late. 

Stay Safe

and Have a Great Week