November 8, 2004

Hey Everyone

     Sorry for the delay. Friday night, I went out to O'Lummey's on 46 Street
with Tom and Brian, two guys who just started working at the Post. My one year
anniversary was Saturday. It's been an unbelievable, fast, crazy, at times
frustrating at time exhilarating year. Here's hoping year 2 is more exciting
and satisfying.

ELECTION WRAP UP
Well its now obvious that once again I backed the wrong horse. I'm still
getting used to the idea of another 4 years of George W. Bush as President,
and hoping upon hope that somehow these next 4 years are better than the last
four.
   Bush talked about uniting the country. It won't happen, and you know what?
It wouldn't of happened under Kerry either. We had our chance to be united
after 9/11, and we blew it. I can't really see it happening again.
   Alot of you have written to me, saying you can't believe that Ohio would
vote for Bush despite the hits they took economically, and that they now get
what they deserve. I agree with that--------somewhat.
   Ohioians said that values wwas the number one issue concerning them as they
went to the polls. Even more than terrorism or the economy. Now, on the
surface you may ask "why would values be more important than putting food on
the table?
It's not.
   But what I believe happened in Ohio is what happened nationally and what I
felt happened to me. People were bombarded by liberal hype and voted against
it. Even at their own expense.
    You all read my letter to the President last week. Take all the issues:
economics (the only President to lose jobs since the Great Depression)
terrorism (no sign of Osama Bin Laden except on videotapes) war (a quagmire in
Iraq) and I should have decided on change a long time ago.
   But I just felt like I was being bombarded by a machine that insulted me
every time I suggested there was something, anything where I agreed with Bush
on. Just the mere suggestion that I may be undecided brought a slew of "Whats
the matter with yous" and worse. Hey, nobody likes to be bullied into a
decision. And when you have all these Hollywood people on TV slamming the
President night in and night out, making people feel like voting for Bush
would be criminal, how can you not feel bullied?
    John Kerry's big mistake I believe was embracing the radical left. If I
were him, I would have begged Michael Moore to stay as far away from Boston as
possible during the DNC. Instead, he was right up there with Ben Affleck, the
Clinton's and Kerry himself as one of the most visible people there. The far
left, with their crazy ass theories, looked foolish.
    Colin Quinn, host of Comedy Central's Tough Crowd, told this to Stuff
Magazine:

     "I spent my life as a registered Democrat, but I will vote Republican.
Why? I don't like fundamentalism, intolerance and censorship. It used to be
the right-wing Christians who had the patent on which hunting and demonizing
the opposition. Now it is the liberals who have become self-righteous and
hateful. If you disagree with them, they throw out charges of racism,
homophopia and Fox News watching."
(Stuff magazine Nov issue pg 142)

    He's right. That said, I can't believe how bummed out I am over Kerry's
loss. I don't know if it's because I backed him of all the Democrats back in
January, or having gone to the DNC, or some combination of that and the fact
that I thought change was necessary, I really felt bad about it. Some poor
schmuck from Georgia was so distraught, he flew up here, went to Ground Zero,
and blew his brains out over it. I didn't even do that when the Mets lost to
the Yankees in the World Series! Talk about extreme disappointment!

Mets hire Randolph

    The fact that Willie Randolph is considered a Yankee doesn't really bother
me. When Randolph played for the Yankees, the rivalry wasn't nearly as heated,
there were no in season interleauge games and it was pretty hard to hate him
even if you hated the Yankees. He was kind of like Bernie Williams, quiet,
professional and solid.
    (When the Rangers hired Bryan Trottier a few years ago, now that was bad.
Trotts was one of the worst instigators on those Islander championship teams,
that played the Rangers 7 times in an 80 game regular season, were division
rivals, and played in each other in the playoffs almost every year in the
early to mid eighties)
     I also have no real problem with Randolph having no previous managerial
expierence, though someone who ran a major leauge bench would have been nice.
He's been either a player or a coach for over 30 years, I think he knows his
stuff.
     My concern over this hiring is that he may be a bit too laid back for a
team that obviously needs a boot in the a$$. Art Howe couldn't motivate this
team mainly because he was too passive.
   Some people think that having a prick for a coach/manager (ala Bill
Parcells or Tom Coughlin) is always a good thing. It's not. Someone like that
wouldn't help the Yankees, because the Yankees have Steinbrenner, but the Mets
number one star, Mike Piazza, is not the leadership type. So they could have
used someone with a little more fire in his belly.
    That said, it would be great if Willie Randolph led the Mets back to the
playoffs. As I said before, he's hard to root against, and he's a Brooklyn-
bred baseball junkie. You have to pull for him to succeed.

Elizabeth Edwards

  One of the most disappointing things about John Kerry's loss was that John
Edwards career in politics is probably over. Kerry's campaign didn't utilize
Edwards as well as it should have, and Edwards did nothing for Kerry, failing
to help him win any southern states, including his own home state of North
Carolina.
    However, I come here to praise John Edwards, not bury him. I know there
were times I was harsh on him, but there were things about him I greatly
admired.
    Like his decision to enter public service after the death of his son Wade,
in a car accident in 1996, and his wife Eilzabeth's decsion to have two more
children after Wade died, even though she was pushing 50 years old.
    I also liked how he kept his messages positive, talking about making
America better without making it seem bad. Although I thought that smile of
his was sometimes laid on a bit thick, I do believe that he was a man filled
with faith and hope and positive energy. And after dealing with such a tragic
loss in his life, how can you root against someone like that?
   Which is why the news of Elizabeth Edwards breast cancer was so
devastating, yet so hopeful that its something she can recover from. People
who have had breast cancer say that part of the healing is staying positive.
   The Edwards have been down this road before, facing a seemingly
unconqerable tragedy. They came out of it with two beautiful kids and 18
electoral votes shy of being Vice-President of the United States. I wouldn't
bet against her getting a clean bill of health this time either.


NFL 2004

   I'm happy that the Jets are 6-2, but I feel their record is very
misleading. They have played one great game (last week against Miami) a couple
of decent games, and a couple of stinkers. This game against the Bills was
awful, and if they don't start playing better, they won't make the playoffs.
     The Steelers on the other hand, are looking like the team to beat in the
AFC. They slayed the scumbags Pats last week and the trqash talking Eagles on
Sunday. This QB they got Rothlesberger looks like he may be a star for the
next decade.
     The Giants meantime look like world beaters in any other stadium besides
their own. They beat the Vikings last week in Minnesota, but lost to the lowly
Bears at home yesterday. can't figure this team out at all. A couple more
losses and it may be time for Eli Manning to make his pro-debut.

Happy Belated Birthday  Frankie
Have a Great Week Everybody!
Wild Bill