January 26, 2004

Hey

Sorry for the delay. Due to technical difficulties with my computer, I wasn't able to send this out last
night.

Anyway, Friday night I went to the movies with Patti-Ann
       
        MOVIE REVIEW     MOVIE REVIEW     MOVIE REVIEW     MOVIE REVIEW    

Movie: Along Came Polly
Starring: Ben Stiller, Debra Messing, Jennifer Aniston, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Alec Bladwin, Hank
Azaria
Saw it at: Greenburgh Movie Complex
Saw it with Patti-Ann

    Stiller plays insurance analyst Ruben Feffer, who marries his longtime girlfriend Lisa Kramer, (
Messing) only to see her getting nailed on their honeymoon by scuba diving instructor Claude (Azaria)
Upon his return to New York he and his best friend, former child actor Sandy Lyle (Hoffman) attend an
art exhibit where Ruben meets waitress Polly Price (Aniston) who he went to grammar school with. And
the movie goes from there.
    I liked it more than I thought I would. It was every bit as predictable as I thought it was going to be, but
the laughs themselves were real good. Baldwin plays Ruben's boss and he was hysterical. It's only 90
minutes so it's perfect on those nights where you want to catch a quick flick before you get your freak
on at the bar.

4 Aces.

    Saturday was the Super Bowl dance at St. Sebastian's, which I missed because I had to work.
However, I got to hang out at the afterparty, with Frankie, McGrath, Bernadette, Ed, and Gary and Anne-
Marie. Hockey and politics were the main topics.

HOCKEY: The Rangers trading for Jaromir Jagr is a bit like getting an air freshener for a car with 150,000
miles on it. This team needs defense and goaltending. Actually what it needs is a coach and a GM who
doesn't think it's 1984 in Edmonton.
    When the Rangers hired Glen Sather back in 2000, I thought his biggest strength would be evaluating
young talent. Towards the end of the Neil Smith era, the Rangers plan was similar to the Yankees plan of
recent off seasons: Throw the most money at the biggest free agents, regardless of chemistry. I figured
Sather, who operated in Edmonton with a shoestring budget, would show some fiscal restraint and build
through the draft.
    Instead, he kept spending the big mamoo, and now instead of three years out of the money, we're
going on 7 years. I don't know what the answer is, but Sather's not it.
That's for sure.

News Item: The Brooklyn Nets ?

     I have to admit there is something very alluring about having a new sports arena/stadium here in the
city. I feel like I've been going to the same old places my entire life. While some of my fondest
memories occurred at Madison Square Garden, Shea Stadium, the Meadowlands and yes even Yankee
Stadium, all those places were around a long time before I ever set foot in any of them. The outlines for
the arena in Brooklyn look beautiful and if it's built as planned, it could be a great place to see a game.
    However, almost all economic studies show that no huge growth comes from building new stadiums.
The neighborhoods where these places are built are usually dumps to begin with and they'll stay that
way. (Ever hung around Shea Stadium after a game? And I practically LIVE in that neighborhood)
    The worst of it is that close to 1000 people will be forced to move out of their homes so that the arena
can be built. The developers will use invoke the policy of Eminent Domain to force these poor people to
move. Forcing people to leave their homes so that the government can have a new plaything. Doesn't
that sound like something Saddam Hussein would do?
     And I'm not going to lie to you people. I'm not a big fan of Brooklyn to begin with. I know, I know,
some of you are from Brooklyn and some of you live in Brooklyn and all of us have friends and family in
Brooklyn. But my experience with Brooklyn people is that they feel like Brooklyn is the Mecca of the
universe, while Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island are worse than lowest tier of hell. (They don't mind
Manhattan so much) Auggie and Mary's friend Johnny Izzo told them that when he went to their wedding,
it was only the second or third time he had ever been to Queens. And all the Russians I worked with
hated Queens too.  According to them, everything is better in Brooklyn. Please, it's safer driving in
Baghdad.
    But Brooklyn is a part of New York City, and playing in Brooklyn has got to be better than playing in
the swamps of New Jersey.
     
                                             PRESIDENTIAL VOTE 2004
   
    As much as Howard Dean annoys me with his loud bombastic rhetoric, I can't really understand all the
commotion over his "I Have a Scream" speech, delivered last Monday after he got his ass handed to him
at the Iowa Caucus. He stood up and vowed to take each state, screaming each state by name, each one
louder than the other, then finishing his rant by screaming Yeeeeaaaaaaaah! He sounded like Hulk
Hogan.
     What I don't get is why this speech has put him in such a bad light. This schmuck has been angry and
yelling and screaming ever since the war in Iraq started. His supporters love him for it. He's tapped into
that left wing "I hate Bush" vein and has ridden that to the lead in many polls. What is he supposed to
do, turn into Mr. Rogers all of the sudden now that he's losing?
   Tuesday night is the New Hampshire Primary, where John Kerry is leading Dean and The General
Wesley Clark. The General has focused on New Hampshire rather than trying to win Iowa. We'll see how
much the strategy pays off Tuesday.

As for the Super Bowl, I hope that Jake Dellhoume does to Tom Brady what Tom Brady did to Kurt
Warner two years ago, but I'm not optimistic. I'm just glad this forgettable football season is over after
next Sunday.

Happy Birthday this week to Maggie.
Have a Great Week Everyone!
Bill