Weekly Mail November 26, 2023

 

Hi:

Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. 

A quick perusal of the interwebs showed that for the fourth year in a row there were no reports of major Black Friday violence. There was several shootings in the Memphis metropolitan area and a shooting at a mall in Los Angeles, but this was your standard run, of the mill violence. I'm looking for folks who are fighting over a microwave oven at Wal-Mart, or people getting trampled at 4 in the morning when Target opens. Thankfully, it seems those days are now behind us, the combination of the rise of on-line shopping, coupled with these large chain stores giving their employees time off for Thanksgiving and not opening up in the middle of the night have contributed to this most welcome trend. 

If I missed something (which is always possible) please let me know. 

Onto the rest of the news, such as it is.....

                                             Hall and Oates in happier times 

MUSIC-Say it isn't so...

Rock and Roll history has been filled with successful groups or duos who have had very public spats leading to breakups. The most successful songwriting team of all time, Lennon-McCartney had perhaps the most famous breakup in 1970, and spent the next couple of years writing icky songs about each other (Paul's Too Many People- about John, and John's How do you Sleep- about Paul) They eventually patched things up, but not enough to ever write together again.

I read Keith Richards autobiography a few years back.  While Keef was genuinely fond of the late Ian Stewart* and Charlie Watts, and current Stone Ronnie Wood, he had little use for Bill Wyman, even less for Brian Jones (he wasn't all that broken up when Jones died in 1969), and least of all for Mick Jagger. He spent so much of the book bad-mouthing his fellow Glimmer Twin, I couldn't imagine the two of them ever being in the same room together, much less recording an album and going on tour again. (more on that later on in this broadcast. 

Don Henley and Glen Frey so much couldn't stand each other, that when the Eagles got back together in 1994, they named the album and subsequent tour Hell Freezes Over, the answer the two of them generally gave anyone who asked them when the Eagles were getting back together over the previous 15 years or so. 

A couple of years ago, someone asked Art Garfunkel to describe his relationship with Paul Simon and he answered "On again, off again." When asked how it was currently, he said "Off. Apparently I said something to upset him." Garfunkel didn't seem to be in any particular hurry to see what he said to upset his old partner and definitely not to see if he could rectify it.**

The one duo who seemed impervious to any friction between them was Darryl Hall and John Oates.  

I'm a Hall and Oates fan, I'll make no bones about that, but to be honest I haven't really done a deep dive into their relationship. I honestly don't recall ever hearing about any issues between them. They seemed to embrace their roles in the group and any interview I've ever seen with either one of them never produced any negativity. I could be off on that, but as I sit here writing this, I can honestly say I've never heard either one of them having an issue with the other.

Until this week.  According to the AP..

Hall, 77, sued Oates, 75, over plans to sell his portion of their joint business venture. Oates’ intentions to sell his portion of Primary Wave Music, an independent music publisher, allegedly violates the terms of their business contract. 

A judge in Nashville unsealed part of the lawsuit on Wednesday, November 22. The judge granted Hall a restraining order to temporarily block the sale during the ongoing legal proceedings. The judge ruled that Oates, and others involved in his trust, can’t close the sale of Whole Oats Enterprises LLP to a private investment firm until either an arbitrator in a separate case responds or the judge’s restraining order expires.

To sum up, Oates wants to sell his half of their partnership and Hall said "I Can't Go for That" 

Ahem..sorry. 

Now what jumped out at me this week was that several news outlets breathlessly reported that Hall had taken out a restraining order against Oates. Of course when I saw restraining order, my first thought was that Hall was afraid Oates was going to physically harm him. The order though is to restrain the sale from going through. 

I have to admit that's a relief. But still it's a shame that it's come to this. They have been together since 1970 and it would be cool if they could ride off into the sunset together with all their affairs in order. But life is never without potholes, especially when the big mamoo ($$$) is involved. 

Here's hoping they can work out an agreement. 

SPORTS- A tale of two teams...

It hasn't been like this in a few years, but it used to be I wouldn't really throw myself all in to hockey until Black Friday. The Rangers play at 1 PM every almost every year on that Friday afternoon, either vs the Bruins or the Flyers. In previous years, I would watch opening night, then tune in here and there till the day after Thanksgiving. 

But this year with both of our baseball teams out of the money, and our football teams unwatchable, I've watched a whole bunch of Rangers games already. I don't want to jinx it, we've got a loong way to go and I've seen them get off to hot starts before, but man, they have looked really good. 

On the other hand, the Jets were chosen to be one of the teams to play the NFL's first Black Friday game. And I know that it will probably not happen, but part of me is hoping that their performance was so gawd awful, that the NFL will look at it as a sign from above and let the Friday after Thanksgiving go back to being a college football exclusive day. 

I was driving home Friday afternoon when I heard Tim Boyle attempt a Hail Mary at the end of the half, only to have the Dolphins intercept the pass (which isn't unusual) and return it all the way back for a touchdown (which is almost unheard of). 

I make it a point during the season not to look ahead at the schedule. If I'm listening to the FAN, and they start reading out the remaining games, I either turn it down or change the station. But at this point, it really doesn't matter who they play, I can't see them winning another game this season. The Bills and Dolphins are good teams don't get me wrong, but with their QB situation, their decimated offensive line, and now even their vaunted defense starting to fall apart from being on the field continuously,  there isn't a team in the NFL right now I can see them beating. The Patriots are so bad that they want to run Bill Belichick out of town, (tough crowd man) and I know we'll lose to them by at least two touchdowns. 

I lived through the Rich Kotite era, and I'll tell you, as bad as that was, they were in a lot of those games. Our Quarterbacks those years were Boomer Esiason (who will gladly tell you every morning on the FAN how great he was) Bubby Brister (Boomer's backup, who started 3 games after Boomer got crushed by Bruce Smith....something else he loves talking about) and in year two of the Kotite era, Neil O'Donnell, (who set a record for referring to himself in the third person at his Jets signing press conference) Glenn Foley, and Boomer's best friend and college roommate Frank Reich. None of those guys are in Canton, but all of them save for Foley won playoff games. 

I wish I could sit here and tell you I'm not going to watch anymore Jet games this year, but I know if they are on and I'm not out doing something more productive, I'm going to be watching. Sad, but true. 

HISTORY- 60 years ago this week..

November 22, 1963. Along with December 7, 1941 and September 11, 2001, one of the darkest days in American history. 

Anyone who lived through that day remembers where they were as clear as if it had happened yesterday. Honestly, any time that comes up, people who lived through it almost automatically tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when the horrible news broke. Kids who were in school, who couldn't remember all their teachers, can remember who was their teacher and what subject they were learning when the principal came over the loudspeaker with the announcement. It's uncanny. 

It's also why as much as I sometimes worry that the further away we move from 9/11 younger people won't remember or appreciate the horror of that day, I still believe that ultimately they will. 

The National Geographic Channel had a three part special about the Kennedy Assassination this month. Everyone who appeared and spoke on the special were there in Dallas that day.  

Amongst the people that spoke, were Clint Hill and Paul E. Landis, the secret service agents assigned to protect First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy that day. Both men still feel remorse that they didn't save President Kennedy. "I didn't do my job that day, said Hill. Actually he did, since Jackie survived. They also had the co-worker from the Texas Book Depository who gave Lee Harvey Oswald a lift to work that morning. Imagine living with that knowledge these last 60 years. 

There have been countless books, tv shows, movies etc. about it, probably the most media covered event in US if not World history. My former Post colleague Bill Sanderson wrote a book about Merriman Smith, the UPI reporter who filed the first bulletin from Dallas after shots had rang out that day.  

I highly recommend Bill's book and if you get a chance and this is something you are interested in, to watch the National Geographic Documentary. Guys like Clint Hill are in their 90's now. This may be the last time we get to hear from them. 

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

As I mentioned above and should have mentioned earlier, the Rolling Stones also released an entire album of new songs called Hackney Diamonds. I haven't heard the whole album but the lead single off the album, Angry, is pretty awesome. It didn't make the Billboard Hot 100, but it did make Billboard's Hot Rock and Alternative charts, peaking at number 32. 

I really like the song. 

I really LOVE the video

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Ron Hodges died last week at age 74. Don’t know who Ron Hodges was? When I first started following baseball in the early 80’s, he was the Mets backup catcher. He got a bunch of playing time in 1982 because the starting catcher John Stearns, spent time on the injured list. 

But Hodges was the Mets backup catcher from the middle of their miracle run in 1973 till the beginning of the 1984 season. When people complain about social media, I think of someone like Ron Hodges. Years ago, if someone who had a pedestrian career like Hodges did passed away, it might get a small blurb in the paper, or a quick mention in someone’s Sunday baseball column. But I’m in several NY Mets fan pages, and folks told stories about him and paid him a very nice tribute. An otherwise forgotten ballplayer was fondly remembered. And I think that’s a good thing. 

Hope everyone is doing well as we head into the holiday season.

Stay Safe

and Have a Great Week 

*Stewart was demoted by Stones manger Andrew Loog Oldham from featured performer to only participating in recordings. He also took over as the Stones road manager, a job he held till he passed on December 12, 1985. 

**I'm not sure what kind of guy Art Garfunkel is, but I've read and been told by those who have met him that Paul Simon is an insufferable prick. I love their music, but personally I have no desire to meet either one of them. 

Weekly Mail November 12, 2023

 

Hi there:

So first and foremost, on this Veteran's Day Weekend, we here at WM want to thank all of the men and women who have served our nation, defending our freedom and our way of life. I tell my son often that he's fortunate to have had both of his grandfather's serve in Vietnam, as I was fortunate to have had both my grandfather's serve in WWII. To them and all our other relatives and friends who were willing to sacrifice their lives for our liberty, we give thanks from the bottom of our hearts. 

BASEBALL: The Mets new manager

As we were publishing and posting last week, the news broke that the Mets were naming Yankee bench coach Carlos Mendoza as our new manager. That meant either Craig Counsell was staying in Milwaukee or heading somewhere else besides Flushing. Turns out, he was named the new Cubs manager, which apparently was news to the current Cubs manager, who had no idea he was on the hot seat. 

I realize baseball is a bottom-line business, but it seems a bit cold what the Cubs did to David Ross. I guess it no different than if they had talked to Counsell in the last week of the season, then cut Ross loose to being him in. But it felt different. It felt Ross was planning on coming back in 2024, only to have the rug pulled out from under him. I could be wrong about all that, but that what it looks like from where I'm sitting. And that just doesn't feel right.

But that's the Cubs and Brewers problem to deal with. Here in NY, my team has once again decided to hire a first-time manager. And look, there is something to be said for giving someone their big break, right? I mean that's the stuff that makes the world go round. And he's paid his dues. He bounced around the minors as a player for 13 years, then coached and managed in the minors before becoming Aaron Boone's right-hand man in the Yankee dugout. He could turn out to be a great hire. 

But the fact remains they had an experienced winning manager already in Buck Showalter. And the last two first time managers we hired didn't turn out so well. The team played hard for Mickey Calloway but didn't win often enough and then he turned out to be a total screwball. I still think Luis Rojas has the makings of a good manager, but he looked overmatched much of the time he was here. I realize it's two different men and two different situations, but the similarities between Rojas and Mendoza are spooky.

Again, I would have kept Buck, or maybe someone who had won previously like Joe Girardi. The last time the Mets hired a first-time manager who was any good was Davey Johnson 40 years ago. Maybe Carlos Mendoza will turn out to be as good. Or maybe he'll be Luis Rojas. Time will tell. For now, they have done nothing to make me feel any less disappointed in them. All of them. 

Speaking of disappointing....

FOOTBALL: Jets Primetime Disasters

The Jets last two games, last Monday night vs the Chargers and this past Sunday night vs the Raiders, were equally aggravating. They were both games that they were capable of winning, both games they should have won, and didn't. 

The Chargers game was a blowout and the Raiders game was a bit more competitive. The difference was that the Chargers have a halfway decent QB in Justin Herbert and the Raiders have a rookie QB named Aidan O'Connell. 

The Jets of course have their own QB woes with Zach Wilson, but the thing is, 'm not sure they win the Raider game with Aaron Rodgers and I know they don't win the Chargers game with him. 

The QB didn't do them in in either one of those games.

Penalties did. 

They were penalized 8 times in each game, for 40 yards against the Chargers and for 83 yards against the Raiders. But that only tells part of the story. The penalties killed drives and in the Raiders game actually cost them a touchdown, something they haven't been able to accomplish since the first quarter of the Giants game. 

Wilson wasn't good in the Charger game, but he made a few nice throws in the Raider game and actually ran in the right direction a couple of times. (He was the Jets leading rusher against the Raiders.) 

Zach Wilson isn't blameless here, not by a long shot, but I really don't think he's as bad as the media has made him out to be. I really do believe it's the poor discipline that has screwed the Jets over, the self inflicted wounds. And I hate to say it, because I really like the guy, but that falls on the coach. 

I'm not calling for Robert Saleh's head just yet. I do believe he has good qualities, the guys play hard for him, and let's face it, he deserves at least some of the credit for the solid defense. But he also deserves blame for the crappy offense. And the penalties have got to stop. 

Saleh needs to figure this the f--k out or else it will be impossible for me to defend him anymore. 

ELECTION WRAP UP- The first time I voted was when I turned 18 in 1991. Like this year, it was an off-off year election. Growing up in Queens, you voted for President one year, the mayor the next year and the governor after that. Then there was the year where it was all local races. Like this year. 

And I know its hard to get motivated sometimes to go out and vote if it's people you are not familiar with, but still I feel it's our duty to go out and make your voice heard. 

There were a couple of governor's races outside New York, including Kentucky, where a Democrat won re-election in a state dominated otherwise by Republicans. In Mississippi, the Republican incumbent beat by a challenge by a second cousin of Elvis Presley. He ended his concession speech by saying    "A-Thankya. Thanya very much."  

And in Ohio, which I had put into solid red state category, they voted for codify abortion rights and to legalize marijuana. WM will adhere to it's strict "No Abortion Discussions" rule except to say that this was a noteworthy development.  And once again we've gone from "A Chicken in Every Pot" to Pot for all us Chickens." Party on Ohio!

I did not watch any of the Republican debate the other night in Miami, hosted by NBC, I relied on the counsel of some good friends and of course the interwebs to keep me up to speed. I will have to start watching though as we are now less than two months away from the raucous Iowa Caucus. From all the reports I got, Nikki Haley seemed to be the most competent of the lot, especially after that creepazoid Vivek Ramaswamy dragged her daughter into the fray in a discussion of Tik-Tok. 

Like I said, less than a couple months till the circus kicks off. 

And in the "Well that's not a good sign" department, Mayor Eric Adams had his phone and other media seized by the FBI this week. His chief fundraiser had her apartment raided by the feds as well. The investigation is looking to see if the mayor received any illegal campaign contributions from Turkey via a Brooklyn construction company. Adams attorney said he was cooperating fully with the investigation. We will be keeping an eye on this.

On a positive uplifting note, two hero cops saved a man who fell onto the tracks of my beloved 7 train last Saturday morning. This all took place at the 90 Street Elmhurst Station. A man walking too close to the edge of the platform took a header onto the tracks. When the man didn't respond officer Jonathan Valle jumped onto the track bed and hoisted the man up to his partner David Canarte. Canarte had been trying to get the attention of the engineer of the 7 train that was rapidly approaching the 90th Street Station. 

Officers Valle and Canarte are two years out of the academy, and as Valle told Channel 7 Eyewitness news, "All those pushups at the academy helped." 

We always hear about the bad stuff. We need to appreciate and be thankful for the good stuff as well. 

Probably won't publish next weekend. If I don't have a Happy and Restful Thanksgiving

Stay Safe

and Have a Great Week 

Weekly Mail November 5, 2023

 

Hey Everyone:

We went from summer like temps last Saturday to a small taste of winter earlier this week. There was frost on the car windows when I was heading out to work on Wednesday. It was chilly enough for those who went trick or treating on Tuesday. There weren't as many kids around this time as in previous years, but we still had a fairly good turnout for trick or treating. It's always fun seeing the kids and the costumes. I miss taking Tim around to be honest. 

Anyway, the last few weeks it seems like all the news around here hasn't been good. Thankfully we had some good news come out on Thursday. Let's start there...

MUSIC: New Beatles Song!

At 10 AM on Thursday, I put aside what I was doing at work and turned up the clock radio on my desk to Q104.3, where IHeart Radio was debuting what is being called the "very last Beatles song." 

As we reported here at WM on June 25, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr took an old John Lennon demo they had worked on in 1994 with George Harrison, used AI to separate John's voice from the piano he was playing, and created a new single called Now and Then. 

There were leaks all over the internet, but I waited till the official launch on Thursday to hear it for the first time.

I remember when Free as a Bird and Real Love came out around Thanksgiving 1995, I told myself that no matter how good or bad either song was, I was going to proclaim it to be an awesome song. Turns out I convinced myself they were both awesome songs. Were they? Or was I just so excited for my favorite band to put something new out? 

To this day I still enjoy both songs. But the quality of John's vocal in those songs wasn't great. I had to put the close captioning on my TV during the Beatles Anthology show so I could write down the lyrics. 

That's not the case here. 

The AI they used did a great job of making John's vocal loud and clear on this song. If anything, you can't really hear Paul's backing vocal that clear. But it's so much more crisp and clear than the new songs from the 90's were. 

Now for the song itself, it's really good, and I'm hoping upon hope that enough people download it and that radio stations play it that the Fab 4 makes another trip to the Billboard Hot 100. 

But like one of the critics who wrote about the song remarked, "There's a reason it was a demo." I thought Paul could have added his own lyrics to it because John's lyrics while solid, were for lack of a better term, incomplete. 

On Free as a Bird, Paul added just one line, which fit in with the song and made the song feel much more complete. John may have gotten around to adding more but didn't. 

I don't mean to be nitpicky, it's still exciting to get new Beatles stuff. And as I said to Ray and Karl and have expressed here before, I'm still not convinced they are totally done either. Free as a Bird and Real Love were supposed to be it too, and so was the Get Back documentary, yet here we are all  these years later and stuff is still coming out. We just never know where technology will take us.  

GOOD RIDDANCE: The 2023 Baseball Season

The 2023 baseball season ended on Wednesday night in appropriate fashion, the Texas Rangers, a team I'm thinking nobody outside of the Dallas-Ft Worth area cared about, winning the World Series in 5 game excitement free fashion. 

Every year that the Mets or Yankees aren't in the Fall Classic, it becomes a challenge to tune in for me. 

Back when I was a kid, I couldn't imagine not watching it. The first time I tried was in 1988, my sophomore year of high school. Still hurting over my Mets getting upset by the Dodgers in the NLCS, (and the ABC booth's obvious bias towards LA) I refused to watch the 88 Series, something my pal the late Kevin (Buck) Ludwig bet me I couldn't do. For the most part I was able to avoid it, but I did happen to see Kirk Gibson's famous home run. 

From there I watched the earthquake World Series, the Reds win in 1990 and the Twins beating the Braves (before they became baseball's most despicable franchise) in 1991. 

By 1992 and 1993, I was out and about during the series, there was no series in 1994 because of the strike and I didn't watch the Braves win in 1995.

The Yanks played in 6 of the next 8 World Series including beating my Mets in 2000. I watched most of those. By 2004, I was working at the Post and also spending more time with Tara. The Mets losing another NLCS they should have won in 2006 followed by their late season collapses in the following two years turned me off of October baseball. In 2009, I fell asleep watching the Yanks-Phillies World Series as Timmy liked to wake up with the roosters. 

And really besides the Mets Royals 2015 World Series, I haven't watched too many lately. 

But now that I'm getting older, I feel like it's kind of like my duty as an American to at least give the WS a chance. So I did with this one, but I have to tell you it was hard to watch. I tried to work up a head of self-righteous steam knowing that the Rangers had two former Mets who left for greener pastures, but even that wasn't enough to get me into it. Sure I wanted the D'Backs to win, but really all I could muster when it was over was a "bleh" which rhymes with what I really felt.

Meh. 

Yes Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer are now going to get rings that neither one of them, especially Jake, really deserve. I guess it's nice that Dallas/Ft. Worth/Arlington now have a World Series trophy to go along with the 5 Super Bowls, one NBA title and (Seriously) one Stanley Cup they already have. 

But as a couple of my friends discussed on my FB page, if the World Series continues to be a snooze fest between teams nobody gives a spit about, if teams that win 100 regular season games give way to teams that barely finished over .500, basketball and maybe even the NHL are going to catch it and pass it. 

I really believe they need to get it back to 8 teams making the playoffs (3 division winners, one wild card) , and FFS make sure Game 7 doesn't go past Halloween. I realize that goes against every marching order Rob Manfred has gotten from the baseball owners, but baseball wasn't meant to be played in November. 

I know I'm pissing into the wind on that one, but it's always worth a shot. 

Bobby Knight (1940-2023)

The final straw for Bobby Knight at Indiana took place when he reportedly grabbed a student at Indiana by the arm to yell at him after the freshman yelled out "Hey Knight, what's up?"  I'm kind of glad I never met him, because I'm positive I would have (at the top of my lungs nonetheless) done my Dick Vitale impersonation, ROBERT MONTGOMERY KNIGHT BAYYBEEEE! 

If "Hey Knight, what's up" got the General that riled up, he would have probably sent me to the emergency room. 

All joking aside, the word that bounced around all the obits and tributes I read this week after Knight who was battling dementia and Alzheimer's disease, died Wednesday at the age of 83, was complicated. 

If ever the word complicated applied to anyone it was Bobby Knight. 

When I posted my tongue in cheek tribute to Knight on my FB page, (toss back a few {chairs} in memory of RMK), I got two reactions from guys I respect tremendously. One praised him as a great coach, the other called him a vile human being. 

As much as I have to acknowledge the former, I tend to lean towards the latter. 

Yes he was a phenomenal basketball coach, his record speaks for itself. He won three NCAA Championships including the last unbeaten team to win it all in 1976. His graduation rates for his players was remarkably high, instances in which his kids got in trouble were remarkably low. 

But as Ted Turner once said, and I've quoted on these pages many times, there is a fine line between being colorful and being an a$$hole. Bobby Knight crossed that line way too many times. 

From clocking that cop in Puerto Rico in 1979 (he would have been arrested had he ever stepped foot in PR again) to "telling the ref to have a seat" as Warner Wolf put it when it happened in 1985, to his insensitive comments about rape to Connie Chung, putting his hands on the neck of Neil Reed, and all the countless times he exploded in unwarranted over the top anger, there were just too many of these instances to just ignore. One or two of these things would have finished most people. 

And what gets me the most is how he seemed to lash out at the people who were closest to him. I read Ian O'Connor's biography of Mike Krzyzewski a couple of years ago, and to read how that friendship ended was a heartbreak.  Something that could have been cleared up over dinner. I've read how he clashed with another former player turned solid head coach Steve Alford. If you read A Season on the Brink, you know how tough Knight was on Alford as a player. A couple of times as a fellow coach, Knight treated him like garbage. Still Alford defended Knight till Knight's dying day this week. 

That's how he was able to survive all those years at Indiana and then again at Texas Tech. Somehow he was able to patch things up enough to have all these folks defend him. What that shows me is that he could have been better, he should have been better. He could have taught all these young men about life, won a ton of games, made all the donations to charities and to others in need that he did, and had friends out the wazoo without flying off the handle. 

I don't get it, why people feel the need to act out like that. None of us are perfect, we all have bad days, we all lose our cool sometimes. Not like he did, and not nearly as often. 

He was complicated. He didn't have to be. 

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Not much to say about the Giants, only that I’m heartbroken for Daniel Jones. That’s just awful. Hoping he can come all the way back. 

Jets play Monday night against the Chargers. We’ll recap that game next weekend, and it also looks like the Mets got a new manager and it’s not Craig Counsell. Again we’ll break that down next week.

Hope you’re all adjusting to standard time. I really don’t like it pitch black at 5 PM, but I do like the extra hour of sleep for the first few days. 

Tuesday is Election Day. Please get out and vote if you haven’t already. 

Other than that 

Stay Safe 

and Have a Great Week