Hi There:
Last weekend was bittersweet.
On Thursday evening, we did our 5th Running for Rebecca, the third one we've done at Maurice Park. A crisp, clear sunny late afternoon. We had a really nice turnout, and thanks to all of you who made a contribution, team Running for Rebecca was able to raise $7,050.80 for the American Heart Association. The Weekly Mail division of Running for Rebecca raised $1482.06. Once again you all came through and for that I offer a million heartfelt thanks.
And not too brag too much, but I completed the whole 3.5 miles. Two years ago I got there late and last year I ended up chatting with people and only did 4 laps or so. This time I did all 6.
Then on Saturday, it was the Kevin "Buck" Ludwig Memorial Golf Outing up in the Catskills.
As I was getting my golf clubs all ready for this last Friday night, it dawned on me that I hadn't played golf, no scratch that, I hadn't swung a golf club since before Timmy was born. (Spoiler Alert-he's going to be 15 in August)
And even back then, I wasn't exactly knocking on the door of the PGA Tour. So the golf aspect of the golf weekend was one I wasn't really looking forward to.
I had to said Ray, who was kind enough to drive us to and fro, I really wish Ed "Auggie" DePuy was in our foursome. When we arrived at Thunderheart Golf Course, Karl told us that our original 4th member had to pull out due to back spasms, and Auggie would indeed complete our foursome. "I should have wished for a billion dollars while I was at it" I said to Ray.
The golf went about as well as I thought it would go, I only made solid contact a few times, the rest were either all out whiffs or in baseball would be the equivalent of the 5-4-3 double play. But just being there, cracking jokes and having a blast with my best buds was worth it.
The BBQ and afterparty at Sunny Hill Resort was the highlight of the whole thing. It felt less like a cookout and more like a getaway camp for big people.
Our group shared the grounds with (I kid you not) The New York Bowhunters Associations Annual Banquet. That was a recipe for disaster, a bunch of us drinking beer and other assorted booze while a bunch of folks were hunting for their dinner. Thankfully the good folks of the NYBA didn't use any of us for target practice. I'll tell you this, I'll guarantee they were better at shooting their arrows than we were hitting our golf balls. And none of our crew decided to borrow a bow and arrow from these guys. That would be a whole different blogpost.
It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway.... as much fun as last weekend was, as great as it was to see so many people, as amazing a job we all did for the AHA, I still miss Becky and Buck tremendously, and I'd give anything for them to still be with us.
But when we do these incredible things in their honor, I'm reminded that it so many ways..
They Are.
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There are a few items in the news I plan on touching on, just not this week. A couple of icons died this week and I would like to discuss them.
Tina Turner- In the fall of 1984, when What's Love Got to do With It was playing constantly on the radio, I was getting my introduction to Tina Turner. I was too young or actually not even born when she first burst on the scene. I liked WLGTDWI, but back then you couldn't turn on the radio and not hear that song. PLJ and Z-100 were playing because it was Top 40, oldies radio was playing it because it was a legend making a comeback, and it was mellow enough for the light music stations to play.
The songs of hers that I really liked were We Don't Need Another Hero, and Private Dancer. (One of my St. Mary's classmates did a really funny impersonation of her singing that.-I won't mention HIS name) I also liked Simply the Best, mostly because whenever I hear it, my mind goes back to watching my Rangers skating around Madison Square Garden with the Stanley Cup in 1994.
It was only when I got a bit older that I heard her early stuff, her and her husband's version of Proud Mary, and River Deep, Mountain High. Absolutely powerful music.
There was of course the horrible abuse she suffered at the hands of her ex-husband, whose name I won't mention. The courage that she showed to leave him and eventually have the success she enjoyed in her 40's and 50's has no doubt served many as an inspiration. She was an absolute treasure. Her passing this week was a sad day for the world. But thankfully we still have her music.
Jim Brown- Now going from talking about a woman who was abused to a man who had several accusations of domestic violence against him may not be in a matter of speaking a smooth transition .But I promise we'll get to all of it.
To me, when I think of Jim Brown there are three aspects to him:
The first is the football player- When ESPN did their top 50 athletes of the century, Brown came in 4th and was the highest rated NFL player. I have always said that the greatest football player I saw was Lawrence Taylor. Yes I lived through Tom Brady and yes he is right up there, as is Peyton Manning, and Barry Sanders, and Jerry Rice and Reggie White. LT single-handedly affected the outcomes of games more than anybody I've ever seen.
Whenever I mentioned this to anybody, say my father's age, they always said "You had to see him play." Having now gotten to the age where there were so many things that I can only say to my kid and others his age, You had to be there, I really do take their words for it.
The second aspect of Brown's life was his social activism. I remember in the wake of the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, that Ted Koppel on Nightline sought to bring the Crips and the Bloods together to work out some sort of truce. As a mediator, he brought in Jim Brown, who at the time was head of the social change organization he founded Amer-I-Can.
I don't know if anything came out of those discussions, but I had to admit I was impressed enough that with all the anger and hate flowing those horrible days in 1992, than these gangs would even agree to sit down with each other if Jim Brown was willing to hear them out.
Then of course there is the aspect of all the domestic violence accusations that came his way. One of those are too many and there were a lot more than one. Many times the women who had made the accusations didn't follow up by pressing charges. I lived long enough to know that there are no such things as coincidences.
It all has to be part of the story... The greatness on the gridiron (and to hear many tell it, he was an even better lacrosse player.) and the work he did to make life better for minorities and the poor, but also his bad behavior towards women. A complicated man, that's for sure.
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And as always on this Memorial Day Weekend......
Never forget why we are off this weekend. All gave some, this weekend is to remember those who gave all.
Stay Safe
and Have a Great Week
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