Hi Folks:
We took last weekend off, but we're back for this Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial kickoff to Summer 2024. For you teachers and students you are definitely in the homestretch.
RUNNING FOR REBECCA: We had another awesome turnout despite some iffy weather a week ago this past Thursday.
And thanks to your love and generosity, Running for Rebecca raised over $5,300 for the American Heart Association. Team Weekly Mail contributed a shade under $1,200. Since we've started doing this in 2019, Running for Rebecca has raised close to $40,000 for the AHA. That's incredible. My family and I can't thank all of you enough for this. You are all amazing.
R.I.P The 2023-24 Knicks
So this is normally around the time I write about what a bunch of dogs my team is because they fell short of where they were supposed to land based on their playoff position. As the number 2 seed in the NBA's Eastern Conference, the Knicks by all rights should be the ones playing the Boston Celtics this weekend.
But as aggravating as it was watching the Knicks get their asses handed to them last Sunday vs those crybaby Indiana Pacers, we had to take it with a grain of salt. OG Ananouby tried to do his best Willis Reed impression, but just couldn't get it going, and sat out the rest of the game. Jalen Brunson was basically playing on one foot, and then fractured his hand with about 8 minutes to go in the 4th quarter for good measure. Josh Hart, whose a freakin warrior, played with a bad abdominal strain. Throw in there that Mitchell Robinson, Bojan Bogdanovic and of course Julius Randle were already out of service, and I don't care how much depth you have, no team is going to overcome all that.
And the thing is, they all tried. Especially Brunson and Hart. Hart, had to be dragged out kicking and screaming. Brunson left everything he had (and a lot he didn't) on the court.
The whole team did.
Alec Burks, who has been sitting on the end of the bench for the past couple of months, came on and contributed. The effort was there.
And there were some knuckleheads on the FAN who were shaking their heads at all this. "They lost! Why are you celebrating them?" Were some of the questions I heard coming from what Bob Raissman refers to as the Valley of the Stupid.
And to be fair, there were things that happened in these games that were inexcusable. In Game 7, the Knicks came out of a time out and were called for a 5 second violation! What? When I played CYO for St. Mary's 100 years ago, every out of bounds play run by St. Pancras was a stack play. One guy take the ball out, 4 guys line up behind each other. All the years we played St. Pancras, I don't think we ever caught them in a 5 second violation. I wanted to reach out to a couple of the guys on Patrick Grady's CYO Facebook page who I know from St. Pancras and see if they remembered those plays. And if so, could they get them to Tom Thibodeau, so that the Knicks could avoid a 5 second violation. Under normal circumstances that's inexcusable. Coming out of a time out? That's a disgrace. They also got called for a couple of 10 second violations not getting the ball over half court in time. Again, haven't seen that since my CYO days.
And I won't even go there with all the foul shots they missed. Even the Villanova 3 were having trouble from the line. They may have made Game 6 close if they had made more free throws.
So yeah there were things to complain about.
But if you watched these games, you saw that they really did lay it all on the line. And if either one of Brunson, Anunoby and Hart were healthy, I believe the Knicks would have won.
I took a lot of heat from people when I blasted the Mets after losing the 2015 World Series. "you would have signed up for that in April" more than one person told me. Sure I would have. But to get to the World Series and lose because of poor fielding and sloppy baserunning was too much to bear. Plus they were all healthy.
Sometimes you can't predict how you are going to feel. I easily could have pointed to the violations and missed free throws and drove myself crazy. But I also know what I saw, and I saw a team that wore it's heart on it's sleeve, that battled through injury after injury and who emptied the proverbial tank. I'm dying to see the Knicks win a title. I know next year isn't guaranteed, believe me I don't have to be told that twice.
But this team went as far as it could. I know that in my heart. That's why I praise them as I bury them today.
HOCKEY: Rangers to the ECF...
Driving home from Running for Rebecca, I was having some considerable angst.
The Rangers had won the first three games of their second round series vs the Carolina Hurricanes. Then proceeded to drop the next two. And now it was Game 6 in Carolina.
Timmy and I had the game on the car radio, and it wasn't looking good. The Canes were up 3-1 after two as we pulled up to our house. "Maybe if I don't watch or listen, something good might happen." I told Tim.
We had dinner and I showed Tara some of the pics we took from the Walk. The third period was underway and Tim couldn't help but take a peek at the score on the ESPN app. "The score changed Dad, but I'm not gonna tell you in what way." Yes folks, I've created a monster, and it's all because of the no-hitter we saw at Citi Field. (WM-May 1, 2022)
I waited a little more and then I bit the bullet and turned on the TV. Chris Kreider had just tied it up seconds before I tuned in, so I thought maybe I should shut it off. But they controlled the play and even when Carolina would get the puck, they couldn't do much with it. Meanwhile, the Rangers kept coming and then Krieder put them ahead. Tara wanted to play music on our Alexa and I told her "In 4 minutes and 19 seconds, you can play whatever you want." When Barclay Goodrow scored the empty netter, I told her "Start playing whatever you want to hear!"
Kreider's performance was one of the most clutch in Rangers playoff history. Regardless of whether or not he told the team between periods that he felt he was going to score. (Me thinks that might be a tall tale)
And now we are into the Eastern Conference Final against the Florida Panthers, who are really really good. I spent a few minutes trying to come up with a description that doesn't make me sound like I dropped out of school in 7th grade, but they really can do it all. The can skate, they can score, they can hit and their goalie is incredible. No, we didn't play up to our capabilities in Game 1. The goal Igor Shesterkin allowed to Matthew Tkachuk was a softie and the second goal was an own goal courtesy of Alexis Lafreniere. But the Panthers seemed to get to all the loose pucks and gave the Rangers so little open ice, even when the Rangers were on the power play.
Game 2 the Rangers played a lot better, much fewer mistakes. But still it was a battle of attrition that went to OT. The Rangers scored within the first 5 minutes of the game and the Panthers scored with a couple minutes left in the first, and that was it till Goodrow blasted the game winner from the blue line that got past Sergey Bobrovsky. I went bananas and was lucky not to wake up my condo complex, but then I saw that the Panthers were thinking of challenging the goal because they said that Goodrow had hit the puck with a high stick. Ray Ferraro, who I like as a color guy, scared the crap out of me because he said "This will be waved off." He meant the possible challenge because Goodrow wasn't in the zone when he hit the puck with his stick, and not the goal itself. I may have pulled a George Brett after the Pine Tar Game if they had called that one back. (Look it up on YouTube if you don't get the reference.)
Game 3 by the stats and even on the sight test the Rangers had no business winning. I felt like most of the game was played in the Rangers zone, the Panthers had almost three times as many shot attempts as the Rangers did, and it seemed like the Panthers got to almost every loose puck. But somehow the Rangers pulled it out again in OT. It really wasn't until I saw the puck get past Bobrovsky that I even felt they could win that game. I'm quite frankly still in shock that they pulled it out. They are nothing if not resilient.
Keep those seatbelts fastened.
Morgan Spurlock (1970-2024)
I was sad to hear about the death of the documentary filmmaker from cancer on Friday.
I watched Super-Size Me with Tara a couple years after it was first released. (Right after we got married) I watched as he ate McDonalds for breakfast, lunch and dinner. "They're making a movie about eating Mickey D's three times a day?" I asked Tara, "In college I called that Tuesday."
Yes, I'm sure I visited the McDonalds on Kissena Boulevard more times than I should have back in the mid 90's. I don't know that I ever ate all three meals there, nor do I think I super-sized everything I got. As I've gotten older and have had my share of health issues, I'm really appreciating more and more the point he was trying to make.
One thing I remember was that before he embarked on this project, they did his vitals. His height and weight before he began was 6ft 2in and 185. I'm 6'2 and I haven't been 185 since I was high jumping at McClancy.
In reading multiple obits about him, it seems that he was also drinking heavily while making Super-Size Me, and one thing I know from my frequent trips to the Golden Arches is that they don't serve booze there, so his results may have been skewed somewhat.
Still, the point was made. Fast food is a fast way to gain weight, raise your blood pressure and cholesterol and hurt your quality of life. Spurlock was far from a perfect person, but if he got someone to kick fast food, or even cut down considerably, he served a worthy purpose.
RIP.
Next week will be our 400th blogpost on Facebook. I don't think I'll do anything special for it besides point it out.
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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
