Happy Mother's Day!!!!
Saturday the weather was so nice, I decided to take the train to Penn Station instead of Grand Central Madison. In addition to wanting to get more steps in, I also was curious to see if they were doing any sort of fan experience activities for the Rangers and Knicks. If they are, I didn't see them. In year's past I think they only did that for home playoff games and both of them are playing on the road this weekend.
But what a week they had at home these past few days.
Let's start with the Rangers
HOCKEY: Rangers-Hurricanes
Not going to lie.., I turned in right after the first OT ended in Game 2 of this crazy series. Not that I gave up on them, hardly. This just looked like it had the makings of a long two OT or even a three OT game, and I knew I had a long week ahead of me.
So, I was delighted when I woke up around 1 AM and saw that Vincent Trocheck had put the game away for us fairly early in the 2nd OT. Man, what a pickup he has been. An uncanny combination of skill and toughness. A guy you can't stand when he's playing against you, but who you would have on your team in a heartbeat.
And I read somewhere this week that Alexis Lafreniere had been considered "a bust" by some people because he wasn't living up to his overall number one draft pick status. A bust? This is why we can't have nice things around here.
No, he wasn't Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid, but he's been solid. And this year he really came into his own. And there is still room to improve, but he gets better every season. And he's still only 22 years old.
I did manage to stay awake for the win in Game 3, another OT thriller that ended quickly in the first OT on a beautiful goal by the Breadman himself Artemi Panarin. Of all the players on the team, he was the one who needed to have a strong start to the playoffs. And he has. He had a phenomenal regular season, the fact that he wasn't a Hart Trophy finalist is a head scratcher. Though you can argue that the Rangers are so deep that perhaps he is not considered as valuable as a great player on a team with not as much surrounding him. Or maybe the voters are biased against NY.
The loss on Saturday night, while hard to stomach but also not totally unexpected. The Hurricanes were arguably the second-best team in the NHL this season and were not going down without a fight, especially in their barn.
Game 5 is Monday night at the Garden.
BASKETBALL: Knicks-Pacers
Now look, I realize I shouldn't have a lot to kvetch about these past couple of weeks. This past week, between Sunday and Wednesday, either the Knicks or the Rangers rocked the Garden. For once it was living up to it's billing as The World's Most Famous Arena.
But hearing that Pacers filed a complaint that the refs missed 78 calls between games 1 and 2, and Rick Carlisle complaining that the league is in the tank for the big market Knicks may have been about the dumbest thing I have ever heard.
I mean 78 calls? Carlisle said that there were 29 questionable decisions in Game 1. Even that's a lot. But then they think the refs screwed up 49 times in Game 2? Hey, I like to bitch about the officiating as much as anybody. It's 10 years later, and I still clearly see Dwight King of the LA Kings laying atop Henrik Lundqvist as the puck goes past him for an LA goal. It's 31 freakin years later, and I spent one Sunday night during the pandemic going frame by frame watching Charles Smith getting shoved from behind by Scottie Pippen.
But I wouldn't be so bold as to declare 49 botched calls. The refs in the WWE don't f-ck up that many times, and Vince McMahon (or whoever is in charge now) is/was paying them to do just that. Someone needs to get Rick Carlisle fitted for a tin-foil hat.
Having cleared all that up, here's where we stand with our Knickerbockers. Two gutsy wins at the Garden, especially in Game 2, where Jalen Brunson was hobbled to the point where he sat out almost the entire 2nd quarter, and OG Anunoby went down with a hamstring strain. God only knows if/when he'll be back. Meanwhile, they were comparing Brunson to Willis Reed on what was the 54th anniversary of the Captain hobbling out of the tunnel for Game 7 of the 1970 Finals. I'm not even going to get into the fact that the NBA season used to be over around what is now the 2nd round of the playoffs, and the Knicks are still a long way away from the Finals. But Brunson did inspire the team and the crowd, there is no doubt about that.
And in Game 3 at a loud and crazy Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the Knicks may have played their gutsiest game of all. As WFAN's Brandon Tierney tweeted out seconds after the 111-106 loss on Friday,
"It took a prayer 30 footer to beat the Knicks."
It sure did, even the guy who shot it couldn't believe that went in.
Game 4 is being called the Mother's Day Massacre. A 32 point loss that wasn't even that close. I guess the refs got all the calls right on Sunday. Or have the injuries and the heavy minutes finally caught up to them? I'll say it again though, these Knicks have all heart, maybe it's the only thing they have left.
I really hope this isn't the end for them. The Pacers have turned me off with their complaining. And I know the Knicks won't go down without a fight.
MOVIE REVIEW: Let It Be
Starring: The Beatles, Billy Preston, Yoko Ono
Saw it On: Disney Plus
Peter Jackson worked his magic once again to restore the original 1970 movie.
It was somewhat anti-climactic, after having seen the 8 1/2 hour Get Back documentary, to now go back and see the original. Especially since I had seen it a couple of times when it appeared on YouTube before the internet police took it down.
But thanks to the AI technology, the dialogue was clearer, and you could hear for yourself the tension that was so prevalent with the band during that time.
And the music was more clear and as always so good.
Once again the Disney people warned us the viewer that the film contained both profanity and um tobacco use. I guarantee you when the film was first released in 1970, there were no warnings about smoking. Probably 75% of the theater lit up their ciggies as soon as the opening credits rolled.
You wanted your own sections in the restaurant, we gave you that. But that wasn't enough for yas. You wanted the airplane, we gave you the WHOLE goddamed plane. You happy now? You own the f-ck-ng plane. -Denis Leary addressing non-smokers.
And I'm old enough to remember when there were smoking and non-smoking sections in the theaters.
I believe us Beatles fans would have been better served if they re-released Let it Be, and then put out the Get Back Documentary. I learned a lot of new info about the band watching Get Back, Let it Be really didn't offer any new insight. Maybe if I hadn't already seen it, it would have been more rewarding. Or maybe if they released it in theaters, it would have made it a better experience. Again, hats off to Peter Jackson for restoring it, but there's not much new to report here.
2.5 Aces.
Running for Rebecca is coming up on Thursday. I'm a shade under $200 short of my $1000 goal. Please consider donating if you can and a huge thank you to everyone who has donated so far. And please feel free to join us on Thursday at Principe (the old Maurice) Park at 5 PM.
https://www2.heart.org/site/TR/HeartWalk/FDA-FoundersAffiliate?px=17407286&pg=personal&fr_id=9845
And of course, I hope all of the Mom's out there had a wonderful Mother's Day. Thank you for all you do for us, you are truly the one's who make the world go 'round.
Stay Safe
and Have a Great Week
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