June 13, 2006

Hello:

       Great weekend. Friday we were in Morris Plains NJ for a wedding. This was the first
wedding that Tara and I went to as a married couple. I intended to eat, drink and dance at this
one because as I found out the hard way, you don't get to do that too much at your own.
    The happy couple were friends of Tara, Peter Heffernan and Priscilla Villareal. Priscilla
worked with Tara when they were both at LIJ Hospital, Peter is a part owner of St. Dymphna's
bar on St. Mark's place.
    Priscilla family is from the Philippines and Peter is from Dublin, so it was a very culturally
mixed wedding, and that made it interesting as well as fun.
     Something kind of weird happened at this wedding. There was a lady there and as soon as I
saw her I said to Tara, I know her from somewhere. A few minutes later she came over and said
"You have a very familiar face. I know you from somewhere." She told me she's a corrections
officer in Toronto, (and despite my best efforts, I managed to stay out of jail during my three
day trip to Toronto in 2000) and rarely comes to NY. But I know I know her from somewhere.
her name is Joy, she's about 40 and she was born and raised in Barbados before she ended up in
Canada.and she's married to a cousin of Peter's. When we said goodbye to her, we still don't
know where we would have met. It still kind of creeps me out.
    Because we really wanted to cut loose at this party, we stayed over at the Hanover Marriott. I
have to say something here. You really can't go wrong at a Mariott, I've never had a bad stay at a
Mariott hotel and this was no exception. This place made the Players Club in Hilton Head look
like Bates Motel. We weren't in the room much, basically to get ready and to sleep, but they had
2 or three good restaurants, and a very nice layout. The rooms were clean and very comfortable. I
kind of hated to check out, but we had to get back to the city, we had somemore partying to do.

Saturday

    Saturday we all gathered at Metro 53 for Craig (Leon) Leahy's 30th birthday. Masterfully put
together by Craig's sister Megan, it blended a mix of cartoon favorites from Woodside and
Rockaway, in the intimate and always enjoyable settings of New York city's hottest bar and
restaurant.
    This party also served as a good luck party, as Craig is starting the fire academy this week. The
FDNY just did themselves a huge favor this week, getting one of the best Woodside has to
offer. A little guy with a huge heart. Weekly Mail salutes you Craig, and we know you'll do us
proud.

Sunday.

When I was finally able to get myself going on Sunday, Tara and I dragged ourselves to a place
in Long Island City called Water Taxi Beach for my good friend (and ace reporter) Tatiana
Deligiannakis' birthday party.
      Water Taxi beach is right next to where the ferry between LIC and Manhattan docks.
Its basically a parking lot dug out and filled in with sand. They have a bar, a snack bar, a DJ and
volleyball. Very cool.
      When we first got there, we didn't see the guest of honor, so we sat at a table and had a
drink. They had pretty much anything you wanted to drink. (After the Craig bash, all I wanted
was soda) Little by little the Post crew started showing up, and then it was a party.
      In addition to my Post friends, some of Tot's friends from the neighborhood were there.
There was Nick and Luis and Hope. Hope was a knockout, literally. In addition to being very
good looking, she's also a boxer. She does Thai boxing, which sounded more like Ultimate
Fighting than anything else. In addition to punching and kicking, you can also elbow and head-
butt your opponent. But according to the website www.thaiboxing.com, "Thai  training as also
quite safe thanks to sophisticated pad training that evolved to keep fighters healthy between fights."
I'll take their word for it. I thought being a reporter was an interesting job, not as interesting as
being a female Thai boxer.
      Water taxi beach is a fun place but there's not of a relief from the sun. There is a tent on the
other side of the beach, but you can't stick an umbrella in the sand and unless you want to be like
Cosmo Kramer and swim in the East River, there's no place to get wet. But its open late, and if
you get there in the late afternoon, I imagine its quite comfortable. It should be a great place to
watch the 4th of July fireworks, I'm sure it will be a zoo.

SPORTS--THE FIFA WORLD CUP.

          Even before their loss to the Czech Republic on Monday, I was sure that the US team
would go quietly in this years World Cup, being played in Germany. For one thing, every other
US National team has bitten the dust this year, why not the US Soccer team. For another, the
team wasn't going to sneak up on anyone this year. Four years ago, when they made it to the
quaterfinals in Japan, they were still considered upstarts. Now they are a legitimate if not bona
fide cup contender. Add to that the fact that as Americans they are practically playing with a
bullseye on their butts, and that they are in a tough grouping, and you have a recipe for a quick
exit from Detuchland.
        Now, I'm not sure if its because of all the Europeans and Australians that I work with, but
I'm starting to get into this World Cup. I'm starting to get an appreciation for how whole nations
grind to a halt when their teams are playing. The World Cup Final is the most watched sporting
event in the world. It makes the Super Bowl look like a spring training game in Florida.

MORE SPORTS  

        It seems to me like the Islanders have been rebuilding since they last won the Stanley Cup
23 years ago. But on the surface of it, they made a couple of good moves last week, hiring
former Ranger GM Neil Smith and former Sabres coach Ted Nolan as GM and coach.
        Smith is the only general manager in the last 65 years to have built a Stanley Cup winner in
Madison Square Garden. When the Rangers hired him, he was known as a draft guru, but it the
trades he was able to pull off that brought the Rangers to the promised land. There was some talk
that he got a raw deal when the Rangers cut him loose, but that's unfair. from 1989 to 1996, he
was probably the best GM in the business. But in his attempt to appease Mark Messier, he traded
some good young talent for washed up players, then after Messier jumped ship, signed more has-
beens to try to make up for it. He ended up getting canned in 2000 after missing the playoffs
three years in a row. That streak would grow until this past season. In any event Smith has to be
better than Mike Milbury, who was horrible but who somehow managed to keep his job.
        Now Ted Nolan is a very interesting case. Nolan coached the Sabres from 1995 to 1997 and
led them to winning records and a couple of playoff series wins. But he was fired after the 1997
season and not heard from again till last week. There were rumors that he was a GM killer and
even some rumors that he an affair with one of his players wives, causing the nearly 10 year
banishment. But nobody doubts his ability to coach hockey, and the Isles have gone through
numerous coaches since Al Arbour led them to those 4 Cups.
         The only red flag that I can see is that the Islanders owner, Charles Wang, is slightly
screwy.He keeps saying that both Smith and Nolan will answer to him. Wang also hired Nolan
the same day he hired Smith, when the usual protocol dictates that the GM hires the
coach. If Nolan and Smith have the same power, who settles the disputes. Remember in 1994,
Mike Keenan wanted to trade Brian Leetch for Chris Chelios, but Smith said no way in hell.
What happens if a similar situation arises here?
If they can work that out, the Islanders may finally get back on track.

TV--The Sopranos

      The series is supposed to wrap up for good in December, and you know what? It's probably
time. By the standards of regular TV, the Sopranos is still one of the better shows on TV. But
compared to seasons past, it has definitely fallen on hard times.
      Part of the problem was that its become somewhat predictable. David Chase seems to have a
formula. One episode of fantasy, one major wacking per season, Meadow wants to be a lawyer or
a doctor, AJ's acting up. Its been the same show for the last three seasons, with very little
suspense. Did anybody think that Vito was going to survive the season?
      So maybe it is time for the Sopranos to go sleep with the fishes. I'll be as tuned in to these
final episodes as I was to all the others, but I'm going in expecting to be let down. Then again as
a Met, Jet, Knick and Ranger fan, I'm kind of used to that.

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Have a Great Week
Wild Bill

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