Slainte!
Pig and Whistle NYC: March 15, 2025
Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone:
The parade is on Monday, and since I'm working I won't be able to watch the big parade down 5th Avenue. If you are attending or even watching on TV, you'll get to see something pretty cool.
I spent every summer between age 2 and age 23 on 112 Street in Rockaway. The stories I can tell about those days, the stories I HAVE told, I mean some of the best memories I've got took place on that crazy block.
Two doors down from me lived the Benn family. Mike was the oldest and while I was good friends with him, two of my best friends were Richie and Billy Benn, Rich was a year older and Billy and I the same age. (We were two of the many Billys on that block. Billy Perrone and Billy Deitrich also lived on 112.)
I had many adventures with Richie and Billy Benn, either playing on the beach, in the streets, in the park on 109th Street or later on in one of the many watering holes Rockaway has to offer. Those were good times.
And now, their dad, Michael Benn, is going to be the Grand Marshal of the parade on Monday, the granddaddy of them all.
Mr. Benn has been in charge of the parade in Rockaway since 1998. If you've ever been there for it, you know how much fun that is. For his work in producing that parade, and for his service to the Rockaway community, Mr. B has been given the honor of leading the most famous St. Patrick's Day parade in the world.
Here is Kate McFadden's story in the Rockaway Times
and here is News 4 New York's write up. Channel 4 is where you can watch the parade here in NYC.
And congrats to Mr. Benn and his family for this honor.
Last year, I reported on the 10 best cities for St. Patrick's Day according to WalletHub.com, a list I found somewhat dubious, being that it included such hot tourist destinations such as Pittsburgh, Buffalo and Worcester, MA.
This year's list came out last week, and I'm sorry, it's even more baffling than last year's list. (Last year's rankings are in parenthesis)
1) Boston (1)
2) Reno (4)
3) Savannah (3)
4) Santa Rosa, CA (10)
5) Worcester, MA (7)
6) Chicago (2)
7) NYC (6)
8) Henderson, NV
9) Buffalo (8)
10) Pittsburgh (5)
Again, Boston has a huge Irish population, so I get that. Chicago is a big city, and they dye the river green, I can dig that. Tara and I went to Savannah in 2005, and we did a pub crawl while we were there. Some of the bar patrons we met told us about the Savannah St. Patrick's Day parade and it does sound like fun. I'll give you those three.
But Reno? Johnny Cash once shot a man in Reno just to watch him die, he should have sang, I did shots with a man in Reno because it was St. Patrick's Day.*
And the folks who put this list together must live in Santa Rosa, CA, because I have never heard of it, much less heard what makes it the 4th most popular St. Patrick's Day destination. Worcester is Boston, so they shouldn't be on the list. Henderson, NV is right outside, Las Vegas so I can see where that could work.
But Pittsburgh and Buffalo again? Look man, no offence to anyone who may live or have relatives in those cities, but to me, they have the cold weather of NY, BOS, and CHI with none of the charm. I can't imagine those cities being St. Patrick's Day hotspots.
So, since I have neither the time or $$$ to go check it out on my own, I'm going to ask my readers who travel a lot, either for business or pleasure.. if you are even in Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Santa Rosa or Reno at or around St. Patrick's Day, can you let the rest of the class here know what the big deal is? Because I am genuinely curious to know why these cities make this list. Like I said last year, if it's affordability, that's a weak argument because naturally it's cheaper to go to places where there aren't any travelers. I need to know what these cities have every March 17 that the folks that put this list together think is so desirable.
HERE'S YOUR HAT, WHAT'S YOUR HURRY?
Pro Sports teams are forever looking for way to create new revenue streams, or as legendary Post sports editor Hondo used to say, to separate us from our disposable dead presidents (DDP's). One of the more annoying ways they do this is by creating alternate jerseys, or in baseball's case, alternate baseball caps.
New Era, a company that produces caps for all sports, came up with the idea for a new hat. The hat would have either the team name or city on the front with the capital letter of the city or team name enlarged and put in the middle of the cap.
For example, here is the Mariners hat
Harmless enough, right? Not my cup of tea, but then again, I'm a traditionalist. Here is the Marlins hat.
Again, I wouldn't buy it, but that's a matter of taste.
Here is where the trouble starts. Let's check out to two teams representing the Lone Star State, starting in Arlington...
Putting a huge T where the X is supposed to be in Texas spells out a whole different word. Apparently a Spanish slang word for
And then there was Houston, where someone thought it would be a good idea to put a giant H over the T in between the AS and OS.
Needless to say, these were pulled off the market and are now collectors items.
Who are the ad wizards who came up with this one!
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Red Storm Rising
St. John's won the Big East Tournament on Saturday night, beating Creighton much the same way they beat Marquette on Friday night, they were down early, not making any shots, sloppy turnovers etc. Then all of the sudden, everything clicking at once. They are just a fun, crazy team to watch.
And now they are in the dance for the first time in 10 years. They’ll play Omaha Thursday in Providence. Again, we really need the Johnnies to make a nice run. They have already given us an amazing winter. Here hoping they keep the good times rolling.
FOOTBALL: Jets New QB
The Jets signed former Bear and Steeler QB Justin Fields to a 2 year contract early last week. I was kind of surprised how positive the reaction was from Jet fans. Lots of people calling into the FAN and talking about how excited they were about this.
Fields is young and athletic, I'll give him that. He'll at least be more mobile than was Aaron Rodgers, so hopefully he won't get clobbered, especially if the Jets can beef up their offensive line. (they lost one of their decent o-linemen to free agency around the same time they were signing Fields)
But there was a reason Fields was available. If he was a Pro Bowler, he wouldn't be on his third team already.
Look I realize one of these days, the Jets will figure it out and turn it around, the law of averages and all that crap. But they have been so bad for so long, it's impossible for me to get excited about anything they do. What would get me excited would be if the Johnson brothers announced they were selling the team. Till then, all I can do is hope one of these shot in the dark moves works out for them. Maybe Fields will be like a reverse Sam Darnold or Geno Smith and come here and figure it out instead of the other way around.
Again, a Happy St. Patrick’s Day on Monday and Happy St.Joseph Day on Wednesday.
Stay Safe
and Have a Great Week
*I know that joke wasn't funny when I said it last year either, but I had nothing else so.
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