July 11,2006

YO!

        Friday night, for old times sake, I met up with Karl and Ray for drinks downtown. It was a
little like Old Timer's Day at Yankee Stadium. You get some of the all time greats together and
they play a few innings, then they call it day.
       Well, we went down there and hit 6 bars and call it a night. Any more and we would have
been rendered useless for days. Its a shame, because back in the day, we could really bring it
when it came to bar hopping.
        The three of us once did 14 bars in the Village (well 13 and Good Sports in LIC) but the all
time greatest performance was in 1998, when Karl and I did 18 bars in one night. 18 bars, a golf
course of bars. We started at Charlie's Sports Pub on 60th Street and Queens Blvd and ended up
at the Brefni on 40th and Queens Blvd in Sunnyside. Somehow, all I needed was a day of doing
nothing on Sunday to be ready for the week.
       But the other night we started at Annie Moore's and from there we hit Telephone Bar,
Phoebe's, Swifts, Peculiar Pub and the Back Fence. Phoebe's changed alot. The bathrooms are
clean, the floors and walls are new, and the beer is now consistent with Manhattan prices. back in
the day, it was a dump, but it was OUR dump, and the beer was cheap. They had the greasiest,
most delicious burgers and fries you could get. No it so sanitized, it may as well be a Starbucks.
      At Swift's, Ray and I had an Arrogant Bastard Ale, which the bottle said we probably
wouldn't like. And they were right. It came in a huge bottle and I'm sure guys who like really
strong beers will like this one, but I'm a sissy when it comes to beer. I need my Bud or Coors.
       But the night was an overall smash. We had a great time catching up. And for once, we kept
the discussion clear of all things politic.

        Last week, former Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik pleaded guilty to charges of taking
gifts from construction firm that was looking to do business with the city. He agreed to pay a
fine and will serve no jail time. In addition, the Bernard B. Kerik Complex (AKA The Tombs)
will revert back to its old name the Manhattan Detention Complex. After all, you can't have a jail
named after a criminal right?
            Although Kerik has obviously made some bad choices, and one can argue that his
sentence was lighter than most others would have gotten for similar transgressions, I'm hoping
that what has happened to Kerik over the past 18 months doesn't overshadow the good that he
did for the city.
            I was as big a critic of Rudy Guiliani as anyone, and I still believe that he considered
parking tickets real crime, but Kerik was a man who knew the city streets better than most, and
that he never sent a cop into a situation that he himself hadn't gone into. He faced down the true
criminals, the drug pushers, the rapists, the murderers.
           Then on September 11th and its aftermath, Kerik, along with Guiliani led this city out of
the darkness. You just had this feeling that Kerik had the strength to pull the police department
together and keep the city together. With all the trash he had gone up against, Al-Qaeda was just
another band of thugs who would not break the spirit of our city.
          Kerik rallied the cops, comforted grieving families, answered questions to the best of his
knowledge, and generally gave the city the feeling that a true leader was in charge, he may have
taken his cue from Rudy, who was equally as brilliant those days, but Kerik had the street cred to
back him up. I seriously wonder what would have happened had there been someone else in
charge of the cops that day.
          I'm not condoning what Kerik did in this case, or do I agree with everything he did when
he was commissioner. But no matter what happens to him now, let him be remembered for his
heroism on 9/11, as much if not more, than for his ethical blunders.

Congratulations to Italy and all the Italian fans for winning the World Cup. And my condolences
to the few people I know who were rooting for France. But was I the only was surprised about
how dinky the World Cup Trophy actually is? I mean I am now thoroughly convinced that this
World Cup Tournament is by far the biggest sporting event in the world, yet they play for a
trophy you can buy at Home Depot for $1.99!  The trophy I got for being on the winning team in
the St Camillus Summer Softball league was bigger than that.

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 One of the most satisfying feelings I get when I write this e-mail is when someone comes up to
me (or writes back to me) and says, "You wrote exactly what I was thinking." (I also enjoy
watching people explode when I write something they don't agree with, but that's for another
day.) The fact of the matter is that there is something really cool about making a connection,
either when you write something, or when you read something that someone wrote.
        Last week, I read an article that silly as it sounds, really hit home. Not on any real meaning
of life level, just something where I found myself going, "YEAS EXACTLY." It was ESPN's
page 2 columnist Bill Simmons article about You Tube.
        I started reading Simmons stuff a couple years ago.  My buddy at work Justin Terranova,
would be sitting at the computer laughing his ass off, then he'd show me what he was reading. It
was usually Simmons Sports Guy's  World Column. Simmons is a Boston sportswriter, and my
first thought was if there is something this world does not need, its another whiny Boston
Sportswriter.
        But Simmons is a few years older than me, and his experience with sports is similar to mine.
And when he strolls down memory lane, I find myself saying Yeah, I remember that too.
        Last week, Simmons wrote about how he first heard about the concept of e-mail (On a
drunken night out with friends in 1996) how he started writing e-mails and eventually became a
writer.  Well, I first heard about e-mail on a drunken night out with the Ace in 1996, and well
you know the rest.
        But Simmons put together a list of the 33 greatest things you can watch on You Tube, a site
where you can call up numerous videos. I found myself watching all these videos and cracking
up. These would almost be EXACTLY the same kind of videos I'd be watching Here is the
article. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/060626
       
 I put together my own list of videos from YouTube. You can see them at
www.weeklymail.blogspot.com.  Enjoy, and if you want to comment, write me back at the AOL
e-mail. I had it pointed out by Ray that responses to the blog require registration, and I can
understand if you don't want to do that.

Happy Birthday to Melissa and Ellen. And a belated Happy Birthday to my grandmother, who
unbelievably turned 93 on Saturday.

Everyone Else Have a Great Week.
Wild Bill      

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