October 25, 2004

Hi!

   Saturday night after work I went with Perry and Zach down to the Grassroots Tavern on St. Mark's
Place.  A friend of Zach's was having his birthday down there. When we got there, Perry asked "What
happened to St. Mark's Place?" Indeed, it was unbelievably quiet. There was hardly anything open and
no one selling drugs, or incense or even a hot dog stand. And when we got there, the owner a) checked
our Id's and b) told us that last call was going to be around 3:30. (about a 1/2 hour from when we arrived)
We had a beer then I went up to get another and the bartender said "I closed out the register" What a
disgrace! Downtown just aint what it used to be.

    There's a movie they show on IFC every once in a while, called Bad Lieutenant with Harvey Keitel
playing a drinking, drugging womanizing, crooked cop. (It's rated NC-17 because there's a scene in which
Keitel walks around with his schlong hanging out)  His worst addiction though is gambling. The movie
takes place during the NLCS where the Mets are playing the Dodgers (These are the Darryl Strawberry led
Dodgers vs. the Vince Coleman, Bobby Bonilla Mets circa 1992) When the movie starts, Harvey's up
15K, because the Dodgers have taken a 3-0 lead in the series. The Mets take the next game 9-3 at
Shea, costing Harvey his entire 15 grand. So he bets 30K on game 5, and loses again.  
    Figuring the Dodgers can't lose in LA, Harvey bets huge on game 6. The Mets are up 2 in the bottom
of the ninth, but the Dodgers have 2 men on and Strawberry at the plate. David Cone strikes out Darryl
and its on to game 7. Harvey's connection refuses to take his bet for game 7, instead giving him the
number of the bookie. The bookie tells Harvey either he pays what he owes or he gets killed. Harvey
demands the bookie place his bet. The Mets win game 7. (I won't spoil the end of the movie)

    My real point is that until Wednesday night, that was the closest I had come to seeing a team down 3
game to 0 to come back and win a playoff series. Wednesday night that movie scene became a reality.
Things in sports rarely shock me.
This series? This shocked me.
    The result? No way. The Yankees starting pitching was weak. Not one of their starters was money in
the bank, and the bullpen was overrated. Boston's rotation was far superior, their bullpen was a bit weak,
but the lineups were similar.
    But somehow the Yankees jumped out to a 3-0 lead and when they smell blood in the water, they
usually go for the kill. Forget the Yankees, every team in the history of baseball has been able to close
out a team up 3-0. Hell, they've been able to do it in 5 or 6 games. I wrote on Monday that I thought the
Yanks would close out Boston that night or at the latest Tuesday night. Once it got to game 7, it was
anyone's series. The Sox looked fast and loose, the Yanks looked uptight. Joe Torre sitting in that
dugout when it was 6-0 looked like he had no fight left.
    Only 2 other times in the history of sports has a team come back from 3-0 deficits to win a series. The
1942 Toronto Maple Leafs came back to beat the Detroit Red Wings, and the 1975 New York Islanders
came from 3-0 down to beat the Pittsburgh Penguins. Now the NHL is also the league that had
replacement officials referee a playoff semifinal game, had a Stanley Cup Final game suspended
because of a power outage, and had a league President rig his own election into the Hockey Hall of
Fame. In other words, sh-t like this is to be expected in hockey.
    But baseball? And even more strange,  the Yankees? Against the Red Sox of all teams? Nothing ever
shocks me in sports. That shocked me. I wouldn't have bet that on a dare.
    Boston actually had a very good week. Besides the aforementioned Yankee choke, Boston College
once again beat Notre Dame like they do every year, and the Man upstairs decided not to answer my
prayers as the Patriots winning streak continued against the Jets. What's worse, the Jets pretty much
handed the game to the Pats, with stupid penalties and costly turnovers. I f-ck-ng hate the Patriots.
    The good news is, this streak won't last forever, and Boston will return to being the loser city that it
was before soon enough.
     The inevitable riot that accompanies all sporting victories in cities not named New York took place
Wednesday night, with some poor female college student getting fatally shot in the head by a Boston
cop outside my beloved Clask n' Flagon. Boston Mayor Tom Menino has ordered that no TV crews be
allowed to film in bars anymore, which I really don't see what that has to do with anything. If Menino was
mayor during the 80's, Cheers would never have made it to Must See TV Thursday.

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004- Every week Time and Newsweek have maps of the US with each state
colored towards who the polls say the state is voting for. For a good chunk of the campaign season, the
map was mostly George W. Bush red, with some shades of John Kerry blue and alot of "TossUp"
striped. Now some of those striped states are starting to turn blue as we head into the final week of
campaigning. In 2000, I said that he who won Florida would win the election. I figured this out by taking
an electoral map, giving Bush and Gore all states either locked or leaning towards them, and using
common sense to figure the toss-up states out. I mistakenly gave Tennessee and Arkansas to Gore and
New Mexico to Bush. Florida I couldn't figure. Of course I had no idea how insane that would end up
being.
    This year, I think Ohio is going to be the deciding state. They're saying Ohio, Pennsylvania and
Florida, but Florida will probably end up going for Bush and Kerry is starting to get a lead in PA. Ohio is
still a toss-up. We shall see.

    Newsweek did a whole thing about stem-cell research, breaking it down so that even a math and
science challenged young man like myself could understand it, and I still can't really say that I get it.
Newsweek suggested in some ways its even more of a hot-button topic than Iraq, believe it or not.

NEXT WEEK: As long time readers know, Weekly Mail does not endorse candidates, it disses the ones
we don't vote for. We'll tear apart either President Bush or Senator Kerry next week. We'll also try to
predict the outcome of the election.

While many of us have hit the big 3-0 these past couple of years, we have a reader just hitting the big 3
next Saturday.     Happy Birthday Brendan!!!!!

And to all the rest have a Great Week
Bill