Hi Everyone:
First and foremost, a very Happy Mother's Day to all. I hope that all the moms out there had a fantastic day and weekend, and we thank all of you for all the amazing things that you do.
Weather wise, you could not have gotten a better weekend. I was down in Rockaway on Saturday morning and the wind was a bit much, but the sun was out and the skies were blue. In the city, there was not much wind, so the walk to work was perfecto.
RUNNING FOR REBECCA
I owe all of you an apology, as I have done a lousy job this year promoting our annual Heart Walk in remembrance of our sweet girl Becky.
The walk is going to be this coming Thursday at Principe Park (the former Maurice Park) at 5:15 PM. Please join us if you can.
I've set up my page if you want to donate to Team Weekly Mail. Again, I totally dig it if you can't donate, I only set my page up last week.
https://www2.heart.org/site/TR/HeartWalk/FDA-FoundersAffiliate?px=17407286&pg=personal&fr_id=11395
Big thanks to Judge Jenny Tubridy and Razor Ray for their donations. Also, this week's blogpost is sponsored by Pepsi-The Choice of a New Generation (of which we certainly are not)
And with that, on we go..
POPE LEO XIV
Back in 2013, before he left New York for the Vatican to vote on the replacement for Pope Benedict XVI, Timothy Cardinal Dolan was asked if he thought there was any chance the College of Cardinals would vote him in as the next Pope.
"I have a better chance of playing third base for the Yankees than I do being elected Pope" Cardinal Dolan answered with a chuckle.
Alas he wasn't far from wrong. Every single article I read in the leadup to this latest Papal Conclave stated unequivocally that the odds of any American Cardinal being elected to the papacy were slim to none. More than one said that the College of Cardinals believed that electing a Pope from a superpower was extremely unlikely, that a Pope from a developing nation would be better suited to handle issues of poverty and famine. Whether or not that argument makes any sense is irrelevant, the point is, that was always the conventional wisdom.
I had a laptop set up in my office with CNN on, with the sound down of course so that I could concentrate on my real job. For about 45 minutes prior, they were showing Captain Orange sitting behind the Resolute desk, rambling on about a trade deal he had just struck with the UK. In the corner of the screen was a live shot of the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel.
They had already had two votes (or as my co-editor Razor Ray McGarvey called it, two smokes) that morning, and I'm not going to lie, I thought they had some set conducting two votes whilst I was still asleep. But there's a six hour time difference between Oceanside/RVC and the Vatican (which I should know being that I spent a week in Italy almost 7 years ago) As I was heading to work, the College of Cardinals were heading off to lunch.
I looked on line to see what time they were going to get back from lunch (and prayers) to take another vote. USA Today reported that the next vote would start around 10:30 AM EDT, (4:30 PM in Rome)
I was set to go on break at 12 noon when the little picture in picture on my screen became the whole picture with plumes of white smoke emitting from the world's most famous chimney. I alerted my work partner, Andrea, (who starts and ends every sentence spoken to me with my name)
I said "looks like we got some white smoke there Dre!"
"Yo, Bill. Look at that Bill. Who you think they gonna pick Bill?'
I had actually convinced myself that they were going to play this one safe and pick Pietro Cardinal Parolin from Italy, who was essentially Pope Francis second in command, much like they had gone with Cardinal Ratzinger, who became Pope Benedict XVI after John Paul II had died.
I spent almost all of my hour long break waiting for them to make the announcement. CNN was saying that it usually takes about 1/2 hour between the white smoke, and the announcement/presentation of the new Pope. In that time, the newly elected Pope first goes into the "chapel of tears" named because usually once elected, the new Pope goes in there and reflects on the enormity of the responsibility he has just had bestowed on him and it's easy to become overwhelmed. Then he is fitted for his new papal garments.
But as a 1/2 hour became 45 minutes and then was closing in on an hour, Andrea suggested "Bill, yo, you better go get yourself something to eat. Your damn lunchtime is almost up, Bill"
So I took my phone and streamed another news network while I ran back and forth from the cafeteria.
I got back and still no announcement.
So I wolfed down lunch and prepared to get back to work, when Dominique Cardinal Mamberti, came to the balcony to make the announcement.
Now one of the CNN Commentators understood Latin, so he was trying to interpret what Cardinal Mamberti was saying. But he was talking over Mamberti so it was hard to hear what either man was saying. Then (I think it was Erin Burnett) started shouting something, and in addition I had Dre asking me "Yo, Bill, who dey pick Bill?" I didn't know because I couldn't freaking hear.
But I thought I heard the name Roberto somewhere along the line, which was not on my bingo card, so to speak. Then I realized that when Cardinal Mamberi had said Roberto, Erin Burnett was yelling "It's an American Pope! It's an American Pope!"
I have written so many times on these pages that nothing ever surprises me anymore. I'm pretty convinced I've just about seen it all. The last time something happened that I was certain wasn't going to happen was when I went to bed the morning of November 9, 2016 having watched Captain Orange defeat Hillary Clinton for the Presidency. After that, I was sure you could tell me that pigs could fly and I wouldn't bat an eyelash.
But this? This I did not see coming.
Not at all.
Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost was born and raised near the South Side of Chicago, a graduate of Villanova (Class of 1977) who earned a Masters Degree from Catholic Theological Union in 1982, and later in 1982 was ordained a priest. He began working in Peru in 1985. And except for an occasional assignment stateside, was pretty much assigned there until 1998.
He returned to Chi-town in 1998 and held administrative positions in the church until he was named Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru in 2014. He became a naturalized citizen of Peru in 2015, (which if I was a coldhearted cynic, I'd suggest that maybe the Cardinals forgot he was from Chicago and assumed he was Peruvian- again if I was a cold hearted cynic)
He was appointed by Pope Francis to be a Cardinal in September 2023. I wasn't aware of that till I started reading up on him these past few days, but to me, that was another reason I couldn't see him getting elected Pope. The other contenders had to have been Cardinals longer than he had.
People have asked me how I feel about it, and to be honest, even as I'm sitting here writing all this, it still hasn't sunk in. I have to admit, I'm getting a kick out of hearing his brothers and sister talk about him in their Chicago accents. And it's going to be something else to hear a Pope speak in clear English. One of the things that I admire about the Popes that I have seen and heard in my lifetime is their command of so many different languages. I went to the Mass that Pope John Paul II had at Aqueduct on October 6, 1995. And while his English was broken, I could still understand a lot of what he was saying. To paraphrase my late father in law, his English was a lot better than my Polish (or Latin for that matter)
Having said that, it will be a kick to hear a Pope address English speaking countries in English. I'm guessing with all the time spent in Peru, any sign of Andy Sipowicz or Bill Sworski will have been long gone.
I don't really want to get too political here, so I will save the whole Cardinal Prevost vs. JD Vance debate for another day, as well as the idea of Pope Francis/Pope Leo XIV are too liberal. I mean I just can't go there.
But I have to say CFCO wrote a very gracious post on his Truth Social account. I'm sure somewhere along the line he will take credit for Leo XIV's election to the papacy, but as of this writing, he has been nothing but cordial. All the living former Presidents have been equally congenial. Clinton, W. Bush, Obama and Biden all praising and congratulating the new pontiff.
I had posted a link to some Pope Trivia last week. To have a little fun, I'm posting and editing some highlights from that post... Here are my favorite Pope names...
My Favorite Pope Names:
Benedict - 16 times
Gregory - 16 times
Innocent - 13 times
Pius - 12 times
Stephen - 10 times
Hey don't yell at me. He's the one who posted it.
Onto sports..
HOCKEY-Rangers off season mess.
I feel like the hockey gods are punishing me. Or should I say, more than they usually do,
It's like they decided I was an ungrateful prick last year as I bitched and moaned after the Rangers were knocked out of the Eastern Conference Finals by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers. It was a Saturday night and the Rangers managed one measly goal in an elimination game. The game ended just as my shift at the Post was ending, so I spent most of my time on the train rage texting Karl and Ray, and rage posting on Facebook (something I really should consider giving up for Lent one year-and then not picking up after Easter either) Of course there was the subsequent blog in which I ripped the team for having no heart/guts and demanding half the team be dealt away.
One of the guys I wanted traded was Captain Jacob Trouba, who didn't want to leave, not necessarily because he wanted to be a Ranger, but because his wife was finishing her residency to be a doctor here in NY. And yeah, there was a human part of me that felt for the Troubas, especially someone willing to help heal people. But the hockey part of me saw Trouba as a defenseman who didn't play defense, a body checker who didn't check, and was taking a big part of the salary cap to not do what he was supposed to do.
He was eventually convinced to accept a deal to the Ducks.
I also wanted Mike Zibanejad traded, which broke my heart because he was one of my favorites. I just felt that he had one move, the one-timer from the left circle. Once teams figured out to have someone there, you could stop him. Well, he had an awful year, barely making it to 20 goals. The only way the Rangers could trade him now is to take back an equally burdensome contract in exchange. I'm more sad than angry about him at this point.
It's tempting for me to sit here and write that I have never seen a team that was so good one year completely $hit the bed the following year, but I sure did. The Rangers won the President's Trophy in 1992, beat the Devils in a 7 game first round series that should have been over in 5 games tops, then choked against the eventual Cup champ Penguins. If I had a blog back then, I probably would have written a lot of the same crap I wrote last June. In any event, the next year, they missed the playoffs altogether, and some folks were saying that perhaps Mark Messier was a tad overrated.*
Two days before that season came to a merciful end, the team announced that Mike Keenan would take over as coach the following season.
The rest as they say is history.
So now, the Rangers turn to Mike Sullivan, late of the aforementioned Penguins. I have to admit, I'm more exited about the team bringing Sullivan in than I was about the last two coaches the Rangers hired, Peter Laviolette and Gerard Gallant. Both of these retreads led the team to the ECF in their first year and were bounced in the first round, (Gallant), missed the playoffs altogether (Laviolette) and never got to a third season behind the Blueshirt's bench.
Is that the same fate that awaits Sullivan?
It's hard to see the roster as presently constituted making any sort of a run, but perhaps Sullivan can get these guys to dig a little deeper and perhaps make one more run at glory. More likely the roster has seen its best days and in that case will have to be made over. Then the question becomes, is Chris Drury the man to oversee that project?
To me, Drury is the main culprit here. And don't get me wrong, I liked him as a player, I love that he won a Little League World Series, (in Trumbull CT of all places) and I think he's a basically decent guy.
But he screwed up this year. First bungling the whole thing with Trouba, then sending out a memo that Chris Krieder was available for the right price. Maybe it wasn't his fault that the memo got leaked, but still it did. And as much as I'm a "you're getting paid enough money to block those distractions out" kind of guy, that had to be a tough pill for Kreider to swallow.
James Dolan gave Drury an extension because of course he did. Maybe at this time next year I'll be eating crow and having to admit I was harsh on Drury. I hope that's the truth. Like Evan Roberts said this week. "I'd rather be wrong and happy than right and miserable."
FOOTBALL -The 2025 NFL Draft.
Speaking of Evan Roberts, for lack of better judgement, I usually listen to the FAN on my way to work and on the ride home. I can't swear to this, but I feel like the two shows, Boomer and Gio, and Evan and Tiki, spent more time dissecting and analyzing this NFL Draft than any other I can remember. Almost every day between the end of the NFL Regular Season, and the draft that took place on April 23-25, they had long winded discussions about the draft. And it wasn't necessarily all about the Giants and Jets, who (and you'll never believe this..) each had a pick in the top 10.
No, the main thing these guys were droning on about was Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders, the son of legendary cornerback/loudmouth Deion Sanders, who was also his college coach.
For weeks, they debated, hypothesized, and predicted where young Shedeur was going to end up. If I had a dime for every time one of these FAN geniuses said "I think he's a lock to go to the Giants" followed by the other host saying, "I don't think he's going to slip down to three" or "The Giants won't take him because John Mara said they have to win now" I'd have enough money to buy a PSL.
I mean, they would turn that into the 30 minute segment. And it was every freakin' day. Every day. Even with live NBA Basketball going on, even with St. John's romping through the Big East and making college basketball relevant here for the first time in ages. I've long since realized they will never talk hockey on the FAN unless the Rangers or Islanders are in the Cup Finals, so I don't expect any real hockey talk here, but they beat the subject of the NFL Draft to death.
And having said all that, I still can't believe what became of Shedeur Sanders.
One of the things the FAN hosts said was that Sanders might go second overall in the draft, to the Cleveland Browns. Well, he did end up in Cleveland, but not until the 5th round, and AND, after the Browns had drafted another QB!
OK, I'm not what you would call a draftnik, but I have never seen a guy who was touted to be a Top-3 pick end up not getting drafted till the 5th round.
Now, what everyone is saying is that he talked his way out of the first four rounds. That he didn't "interview well" during the pre-draft workouts and conferences. I mean I can buy that to an extent, but the bottom line is, if a kid is talented enough, and a GM/coach thinks that kid can eventually lead them to a Super Bowl, the kid can tell the GM/coach that his mamma wears combat boots, they'll draft them. Look at all the guys who have gotten drafted who have gotten into trouble. The bottom line is, they saw something on the field they didn't like. I'm very curious to see if the scouts were right, or if Mr. Sanders is as good as he and his old man think he is.
As for our local teams who passed up on young Shedeur, the Giants drafted linebacker Abdul Carter, whose opinion of himself is about as high as Sanders is of hisself. Carter had the gall to ask the Giants if they would consider un-retiring Lawrence Taylor's number 56! Can you freakin imagine?
LT must have found Jesus or something, because he handled Carter's request a lot classier than he may have in the past. He encouraged Carter to "take a number and make it great on your own."
He will wear number 51 in minicamp, as he says, a mashup of LT and Phil Simms numbers. For the Giants sake, I hope his talent matches his chutzpah, because if it does, he's going to end up in Canton.
As for my beloved Jets, they drafted an offensive tackle with the 7th pick overall. The consensus is that after drafting an OT last year, they have an excellent young O-Line that will eventually do a great job protecting a QB. Now they just need a QB to protect.
It would be neat if these guys turned out to be the bookends of a Hall of Fame O-Line that will have a catchy nickname and end up in Canton along with Abdul Carter. More likely, they'll all either negotiate their way to another team (like Jamal Adams or Saquon Barkley) or just plain stink.
Again, like Evan Roberts said "I'd rather be wrong and happy than right and miserable." Neither one of our teams has earned the right from me to say "Hey, I think we're onto something here" till they start winning and we can say "Hey, it looks like we're onto something here."
POT STORY
On Thursday, I decided to tune into Q-104's 3@3 to see if they would play 3 songs to honor Pope Leo XIV. They didn't.
They played Rock this Town by the Stray Cats, Sweet Leaf by Black Sabbath, and Light My Fire by the Doors.
The theme of the 3 @ 3 according to host Ken Dashow was regarding a town in Turkey, that had confiscated a large amount of weed. (Sweet Leaf), decided the best way to get rid of it was to burn it, (Light My Fire) and that caused many of the town's 25,000 residents to get high, whether they wanted to or not (Rock this Town).
Girl, we couldn't get much higher.
According to the Irish Newspaper the Sunday World,
Police torched the mounds of confiscated weed in Lice, a town located in a rural area in the south-eastern Turkish province of Diyarbakır, leaving locals “dizzy, queasy, and, in some cases, delusional”.
“The smell of drugs has been enveloping the district for days,” one man complained to local media. “We cannot open our windows. Our children got sick, we are constantly going to the hospital.”
Authorities had set fire to the drugs, worth an estimated 10 billion Turkish Lira (or about €230m, or about $258m) that had been gathered from around the province in 2023 and 2024.
First of all, not sure I'd want to live in a town called Lice. The cost of shampoo and conditioner around there must be astronomical, but I digress.
The cops, perhaps maybe having enjoyed a toke or two of grass themselves, decided to make this even more interesting...
(the) cops then arranged bags of cannabis into letters spelling out the town’s name before setting them ablaze, a display that Yahya Öğer, Chairman of the Yeşil Yıldız Association, said was "unacceptable" and "lacking professionalism."
“This was perhaps done as a preventive measure to deter, but the fact that it was destroyed in the city centre could cause serious discomfort to people due to the smoke of burned hemp,” Öğer said.
Yeah, I'm not a prude or anything, but that goes into the book of bad ideas.
There are small children and probably elderly folks in that town, just like any other in the world, who could be harmed by something like this. I'm also quite certain there were some folks there who thought they'd died and went to heaven. There are some guys I went to high school with who are probably reading this and calling up their travel agents as we speak.
I suggest the town hires Matt Nathanson to be their new spokesperson. He had this soft rock hit back in 2008.
Come on Get Higher, here in Lice, Turkey. Bring plenty of shampoo and potato chips.
***********************************************************************************
I'm going to hold off on writing about the Knicks. Believe me, I was surprised as anyone that they beat the Celtics up in Boston both on Monday and Wednesday. The series looked more like we all thought it would on Saturday at the Garden. I thought there was as much chance the Knicks were going to win two games in Boston as there was that the Pope was going to come from the same place as Bad Bad Leroy Brown.
Ya never know.
Again, a very Happy Mother's Day to everyone
Stay Safe,
and Have a Great Week
*I was not one of those people. (At least you can’t prove that I was)
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