Hi Everyone:
Sorry I didn't publish last week. I've been teasing a special about sports gambling in relation to a book I read about Pete Rose last month. I started writing it last week and realized I had a lot more work to do on it. So I'm kind of still putting that all together. Hopefully I'll get that out in that not-too-distant future.
But First and Foremost........
RUNNING FOR REBECCA
I apologize for not sending this out as soon as Katie announced it, but once again we are Running for Rebecca at (the artist formerly known as) Maurice Park on May 16, 2024. You are all welcome to come and or you can donate to Team Weekly Mail at the below link.
https://www2.heart.org/site/TR/HeartWalk/FDA-FoundersAffiliate?px=17407286&pg=personal&fr_id=9845
Any questions, please feel free to hit me up on FB or at WildWill45@aol.com.
Thank you all so much.
Let's get to what be happenin now.
CAMPUS PROTEST: Mass protests have broken out on college campuses all over the country. Here in NY, the biggies have been at Columbia University and NYU.
Columbia's president Nemat Shefik testified before a House committee investigating antisemitism on college campuses. This ramped up the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia.
According to CNN.com.....
Pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia said they won’t disperse until the school agrees to cut ties with Israeli academic institutions and commits to a “complete divestment” of its funds from entities connected to Israel, among other demands.
Protesters at other campuses are making similar demands, calling on campuses to divest from companies that sell weapons, construction equipment, technology services and other items to Israel.
Columbia officials warned earlier this week that the encampment violate school rules but did not provide specific disciplinary consequences. Officials also pushed back on assertions from protesters that the school threatened it would bring in the National Guard to help address the pro-Palestinian protest encampment.
Columbia University has a history of famous student protests. It was a hotbed of protest during the Vietnam War, scores of protestors occupied various campus buildings including the Dean's office.
I only participated in one protest when I was in college, big radical that I am, On March 23, 1995 I went down to City Hall to protest the proposed CUNY budget cuts. I had classes in the morning, then I drove home and took the 7 train to Grand Central and the 6 down to City Hall. A couple of guys I knew from the Newman Center were planning to get arrested. I kept singing "I'm gonna get myself, gonna get myself, gonna get myself arrested." to the tune of Connected by Stereo MC's, all while making sure I didn't run into the two dudes who were planning just that. It was Thursday, which meant Friends, Seinfeld and Karaoke night at Donovan's, and I really didn't want to miss any of that because I was cooling my jets in a jail cell.
My main goal that day, as it was for pretty much the entirety of 1995*, was to meet women, and to that end, I was in a coffee shop around 4 PM that had NY1 on. The reporter on scene at City Hall was quoting Mayor Guliani as saying that "all these protestors should be in class instead of out here protesting." Not that I wasn't genuinely annoyed at how tone deaf he was to the situation**, but I also thought that would be a great ice breaker to the table of ladies having a post-protest snack.
"Can you believe Guliani said we all should be in class instead of protesting? If he gets his way, we won't be able to afford to go to class!" I exclaimed to the table of my fellow protestors of the female persuasion.
They all agreed and offered their $0.02 on the situation. I sat down at a booth across from them and talked about our experiences that afternoon. When I offered them to come to Donovan's for further discussions over drinks and karaoke, they politely but firmly, um, declined.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
I don't remember how everything turned out, I'm sure eventually the cuts came and maybe they weren't as severe as originally proposed. I don't remember if my pals from the Newman Center got busted or not. I don't even remember what songs I sang at Donovan's that night (we usually sang Beatle songs-Back in the USSR was Russell the DJ's favorite so he usually put that on for us) It was just one of those days I didn't think too much about at the time, but looking back, well it was part of the college experience I suppose.
Now, what these people are protesting and counter-protesting these days are a lot more serious than budget cuts. People are getting killed in the Middle East. And again,. I'm not going to get into who is wrong and who is right, I certainly have my opinion but I'm not going to get into that here.
I'm just going to add one more anecdote here.... We were watching News 12 LI one night this week, and they of course led with the protests at Columbia and NYU etc. They then went to another local story, before they did a story about a protest at Nassau Community College.
This protest had nothing to do with Israel or the Middle East. Rather, the vendor that operates the college cafeteria has stopped providing services due to a breakdown in contract negotiations.
Per News 12 Long Island.....
Kind of reminds me of the scene in Airplane when the flight attendant is explaining what's happened to the flight crew and the issues with the plane, when one of the passengers asks "Are you telling us everything?" And the flight attendant says "We're also out of coffee."
Yes I think it sux that the kids have to head over to Roosevelt Field to get something to eat between classes. There was a Subway Sandwich in the Student Union at Queens College that I usually ate at, if I didn't feel like eating the lousy food in the cafeteria. I do hope that the situation gets resolved sooner than later.
But I give all props to the managing editor at News 12, for not segueing straight from the Middle East protests at Columbia to the Bring Back our Starbucks protest at Nassau Community College. I mean in all fairness, the kids at NCC have a better chance of getting their pizza and coffee back then we have of getting nay peace in the Middle East. Not to be a pessimist or anything, but there has been 2000 years of this crap. I was born two months and a day before the Yom Kippur War of 1973, so I've been around for 50 of those 2000 years. If you were a betting person, what would you lay your money on?
PLAYOFFS (Part I) Rangers-Caps-
The Rangers took care of business on Sunday night, completing the 4 game sweep of the Washington Capitals in DC.It’s the first time they’ve swept a best of 7 series in 17 years.
The Blueshirts dominated Games 1 and 3. Game 2 was a close one, and I felt like Game 4 was destined for OT. It’s why I was dozing off around the time Artemi Panarin scored what would prove to be the game winner. I guess I should have had more confidence. The Rangers were head and shoulders the better team.
It's always makes a playoff series more interesting when you can identify a villain on the other team. The Caps have a couple. One is Alex Ovechkin, a Putin sympathizer. I try to keep politics out of my sports as best I can, so I won't go into him too much. I really hope he doesn't break Wayne Gretzky's career goals record. Right now he's 41 behind, and a couple years ago, 40 goals was a chip shot for Ovechkin, but at 38 and slowing down, he may not make it. One can only hope.
The other villain on the Caps is Tom Wilson, who may have inadvertently done us a favor. A few years back he rag-dolled Panarin in a late season game, and received no suspension from the NHL powers that be.
So incensed over this was MSG owner James Dolan that he fired the team president, John (JD) Davidson and GM Scott Gorton, and replaced them both with Chris Drury with the mandate of not letting something like that ever happen again. As much as I thought (and still do think) that Dolan is an a$$hat, and as much as I thought firing the president and GM was a bad idea, Drury went out and made sure we put guys on the roster that will make sure guys like Wilson are held accountable. Hello, Barclay Goodrow, hello Will Cuylie, hello Ryan Lindgren and hello, our 6ft 8in man-child, Matt Rempe. Larry Brooks often talks about how every team needs what he refers to as "a little sandpaper" Not goons per se, but guys not afraid to hit. And if necessary, fight.
We needed that sandpaper in this series, and we got it. Now we get ready for Round 2.
PLAYOFFS (Part II) Knicks-76ers.
The Knicks took care of business in Game 1. Not an easy win, but a win with some wiggle room.
Towards the end of Game 2, Mike Breen said "The Sixers are hoping to tie the series up, while the Knicks are hoping for a miracle. I love Breen, but I thought he was being a tad overdramatic. There was 1:09 left and the Knicks were down by 4, a two-possession game. (unless a Knick was fouled while making a 3-poiner, then it was a one possession game) The point being, I didn't think they needed a miracle.
They did need one a few seconds later, when they missed a shot then fouled Kyle Lowry. If he makes them both, the Sixers go up 6 with 47 seconds left.
Say goodnight, Gracie.
Except Lowry missed the second free throw, Jalen Brunson, who had shot poorly all night drove down the court and hit a three pointer than seemed to bounce around the rim a half dozen times before it went in.
Here it gets crae-crae.
Josh Hart stripped Tyrese Maxey and got the ball to Donte DiVincenzo. The big Ragu missed a three, but Isiah Hartenstein got the rebound passed to OG Anunoby who got it back to DiVincenzo who buried a three and sonofagun, we were up one with 13 seconds left.
Another missed Sixers shot and two made free throws from Anunoby and the miracle such as it is was complete.
Unbelievable.
As in the above mentions Rangers series, Joel Embid is the clear villain on the Sixers. First of all he is a crybaby and a big mouth. Then that stunt he pulled in Game 3, pulling Mitchell Robinson by the ankle while Robinson was in the air should have gotten Embid ejected from the game. Instead he was allowed to stay in and of course he killed us. He's like Barry Bonds a great player but an ever bigger a$$hole.
And he was at it again today in Game 4, though maybe not as much. He was still beefing with the refs and using his elbows, but the Knicks also held him in check, especially in the 4th quarter. Meanwhile Brunson set a new Knicks record for most points in a playoff game with 47, and they stole one down in Philly, in yet another all out battle, 97-92. A Knick win at the Garden on Tuesday, and it’s on to Round 2.
And I’m sure it will be another war.
PLAYOFFS (Part III) Islanders-Hurricanes
I haven't watched too much of this series, but kudos to the Isles for stayin alive on Saturday with a double OT win courtesy of Matt Barzal. I did watch the end of Game 2 on Tuesday where they blew a 3-0 lead and lost 5-3. That was a killer but that has apparently been their M.O all season. Kind of like the baseball equvalent of a leaky bullpen, which as a Met fan I know all too well. The Islanders, as my in-laws like to point out, are one of the few teams in pro sports to have come back from an 0-3 deficit. So you can hang your blue and orange hats on that.
The winner of this series faces my Rangers in Round 2.
NFL DRAFT-A NY Holiday
For us NY football fans, it was our high holy day. Once again because both our teams sucked it up this past season, we both had high picks. The sixth pick for Big Blue and tenth for Gang Green.
The Giants took a stud wide receiver from LSU Malil Nabors. I don't usually listen to the two of them, but I happened to catch the beginning of BT and Sal (Brandon Tierney and Sal Licata) on the FAN, and while BT praised the pick, Licata blasted it, saying all the WR's in the world don't matter if you don't have a QB who can throw the ball to them.
Thing is, I didn't love any of the QB's in this draft. Even Caleb Williams, as highly touted as he is. Go back and look at how many QB's have come out of USC and excelled lately. Here's a hint, two of them were drafted by the Jets.
I think the Giants made the right decision.
Speaking of the Jets, most of the draft prognosticators said the Jets would take Georgia TE Brock Bowers with their first round pick. Instead, they swapped spots with the Vikings and even with Bowers still on the board, they chose Olu Fashanu, and OT from Penn State. I mean, I get it, the offensive line has been our Achillies heel for years, to me, it's the main reason we can't develop a good young QB***. So it makes sense to stock up on offensive linemen.
Thing is, GM Joe Douglas signed two veteran O-Linemen in free agency, so if by some miracles the guys that were signed stay (dare I say it) healthy, this pick will be on the bench. Meanwhile Bowers could have had an impact right away.
Look I get draft pick stuff right almost as much as I get NCAA tournament picks right. The problem is, the guys getting paid the big $$$ for making the picks don't do much better than I do. So there's that.
Timmy, my aspiring draft guru, has reassured me that the picks we made in the third round- Malachi Corey (WR-Western Kentucky) and 5th round -Jordan Travis (QB-Florida State) will be steals.
Ah to be young and innocent. Of course, if he's right, he'll never let me forget it. And that will be a good thing.
Back to the NHL….
RIP-The Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes-1996-2024
On Facebook, I saw a video of the last home game for the Arizona Coyotes. The fans there all stood and applauded as all the players, coaches, front office staff, and pretty much anyone involved with the organization stood on the ice and waved to the crowd, many of whom had tears in their eyes. It was really kind of sad.
Then the great Howie Rose retweeted a video from Coyotes broadcaster Todd Walsh. He told a story of how he was working for Phoenix's Rock Station when the team moved from Winnipeg. When his station signed the deal to broadcast the games, he was offered a job even though he knew little about the sport. He talked about the relationships he built and the good times he had with the fans. He was so eloquent and honest, you couldn't help but feel heartbreak from him.
And I do. For him and for the fans.
But here's the bottom line...
1) The Coyotes played the last two years at Mullett Arena on the campus of Arizona State University. Mullett Arena has a seating capacity of 5,000. And most nights, they couldn't even get that many to come to the games.
2) The Coyotes played their first seven seasons at America West Arena in downtown Phoenix, before moving to a brand new arena in 2002 in Glendale. In 2016, the team announced they were in partnership with Arizona State University to build another arena in Tempe. That plan fell through and in 2021 the city of Glendale chose to end it's agreement with the Coyotes. I'm not clear on why Glendale kicked them out, but I'm thinking it had to do with them talking about leaving for Tempe and also
3) Multiple Owners- The Jets were sold to Richard Burke and Steven Gluckstern in October of 1995, and the original plan was to move them to Minneapolis, to replace the North Stars that had moved to Dallas. (Gluckstern I believe also owned the Islanders at one point). That plan fell through and the team was moved to Phoenix, with more than one hockey expert predicting instant success for the franchise. After all, the Nordiques had moved from Quebec to Denver the year before and won the Cup straight away. I believed that had more to do with the Nordiques/Avalanche having Joe Sackic and Peter Forsberg and then trading for Patrick Roy than it did moving cities, but you can’t go by me.
Upon his retirement from the NHL in 1999, Wayne Gretzky joined a group to by the team from Gluckstern and Burke. Gretzky and partner Steve Ellman missed two deadlines to secure financing, which should have sent up multiple red flags, but did not. The sale finally went through in 2001.
Gretzky’s ownership of the team was awful. (see also-Derek Sanderson Jeter’s tenure as owner of the Marlins and also see why Wild Bill rarely asked his Lord and Savior to intervene in anything sports related, but did so when A-Rod and J-Lo were considering buying the Mets) He also coached the team for a time and they went nowhere. By 2009, the team was forced to declare bankruptcy and the NHL took over operations. An offer from Research in Motion (BlackBerry) owner Jim Balsillie was rejected by Gary Bettman because Balsillie planned to move the team to Hamilton, Ontario. This began Bettman’s stubborn insistence that the franchise remain in Arizona.
After 4 years under NHL control the Coyotes were purchased by Renassiance Sports and Entertainment Group. A little over a year later a hedge fund honch named Andrew Barroway bought controlling interest. 5 years later, he sold them to Alex Meruelo. Meruelo just completed the sale to Utah Jazz owner S. Ryan Smith, who has moved the team to Salt Lake City.
And with all this, Meruelo has an agreement with Bettman that if he can secure the land and the financing to do so, he will build an arena in Tempe and the NHL will grant him an expansion franchise!
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Some believe Albert Einstein first made that statement, though that has been widely rejected. I’m guessing whoever said it had a crystal ball and was referring to the NHL trying to run a franchise in Arizona.
I’m sorry I went on so much about this, but it’s just one of those things I don’t get. And again, I feel for those fans, losing a franchise has to be just an awful feeling. As much as I complain about my teams, who have suffered epic collapses, horrible draft picks, poor coaching decisions, and owners one more despicable and incompetent as the other, at least they have stayed put.
But hockey’s not gonna work in Arizona. It’s worked in Dallas. It’s worked in Tampa. And it’s worked in Nashville, I have a couple of friends of mine and Tara’s who grew up in Nashville, moved here around 25 years ago, and cannot believe how hockey crazy their hometown has become. Bettman, as much as I can’t stand the bastard, can boast that he has made hockey work in some southern cities.
He needs to let go of Arizona.
The Knicks, Mets and Rangers all won on Sunday, the Rangers win was a series clincher, the Knicks win put them one win away from a series clincher, and the Mets won in walk off fashion against the Cardinals. It’s rare that I have three of my teams playing in one day and like Hailey’s Comet rare that they all win.
Now that’s a Happy Sunday.
Thank you again to all who support Running for Rebecca.
Stay Safe
and Have a Great Week
*Who are we kidding? That was my goal for pretty much the entire 90’s decade.
**Imagine Rudy Giuliani being tone deaf? Mr. Four Seasons Landscaping himself?
*** That and the screaming heads on sports radio around here who seem to get off on running young QB’s out of town.
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