October 15, 2003

Hey

    My sister Katie was fortunate enough to get an internship with MSG Network. One of her jobs is to
help out in the production trucks for the teams that MSG covers. Unfortunately, one of those teams is
the New York/New Jersey Metro-Stars. They play out in the Meadowlands, so it was my job to go out
there and pick her up after work. My dad and I usually split that job, and it was my turn. We usually end
up going to the game.
    Problem is soccer may be the most boring team sport in creation. a 2-1 final score is considered a
scoring fest. As my Uncle Eammon and Mr. McGarvey like to point out, most of the really good players
are in Europe. And the MetroStars don't draw. They play in 76,000 seat Giants Stadium. They could play
in St. Mary's Schoolyard and not sell out.
    So I brought my radio to listen to Saturday Night 80's and the Cubs-Marlins game. I sat amongst the
9,000 or so fans and pretended like I cared. The game had its moments. There were three penalty kicks,
two for the MertoStars and one for their opponent, the Dallas Burn. All three were missed, which is kind
of amazing, being that you can fit the North Korean Red Army in one of those nets. Most of the game
was played in the middle of the field, which left me plenty of time to go get hot dogs and soda and
stuff.
The final score was 0-0. Very exciting.  

    Sunday, my former coworker Kim Kerber tied the knot out at Westbury Manor. Nice ceremony and
plenty of good food, plus I got to hang out with Kevin. I capped off the night at KC Moore's with Krissy
and Steve.


From Last Week:
And hey, we don't live in California, so who cares who they elect?

    Well, I received a few responses about that very question. It seems according to a few people that we
all should be very concerned about what goes on in California. The fear is that what goes down out there
sets a precedent for the rest of the country. I don't know about that, but if it's true, its both good and
bad.
    For starters, did anybody happen to see what the voter turnout for the recall was? It set all sorts of
state records for a gubernatorial election. Now maybe that was because of the intrigue of a recall
election and the fact that a movie star was running, but still anytime voter turnout is high, it's a good
thing.
    Also, it sends a message that the people are tired of the same old people telling us the same old lies.
Having never been to California, I can't say that I'm all that familiar with Gray Davis, but he came off as a
stuffed shirt out of touch with his constituents. The people said enough of that sh-t, and got him out of
there.
    Of course they replaced him with a "$20 Million a movie" actor with no political experience. Was this
the right thing to do? And as I had pointed out to me, if Gray Davis was such a loser, why did California
just reelect him last November? What the hell changed in 11 months that they didn't know back then?
    And what if this really does start a recall revolution? Although part of the Constitution says that we
have the right to have in office who we want, the elected officials should have a chance to do their jobs.
Already, California Democrats are planning a drive to recall Arnold Scwartzenegger. When does that
insanity end?
    Bottom line- The recall can be an effective tool, but it needs some modifications. Any election where
Gary Coleman gets 13,000 votes needs some work.

http://vote2003.ss.ca.gov/Returns/gov/00.htm  Complete List of California candidates in order of finish.

BASEBALL 2003

    " First of all, is Piazza the only guy who ever got hit in the head with a baseball? .. What's Clemens
supposed to do throw the ball over the plate so that Piazza keeps hitting home runs off of him?"

    I got this quote from page 273 of Zim, A Baseball Life, by Don Zimmer, the same guy who was so
aggravated by Pedro Martinez throwing at Karim Gracia, that he took a swing at Pedro and got tossed to
the ground. He later said that having been hit in the head by a pitch twice, he feels a certain contempt for
pitchers who headhunt.
Apparently only if they headhunt Yankees.
F-cking hypocrite.

    That said, I felt bad for old Zim when he got knocked down by Martinez. I understand that Pedro had
to defend himself but he could have done something different. Pedro is just as big a dirtbag as Clemens
is. I was rooting for the Red Sox going in, now I'm up in the air. Besides Mary Keaveney's friends and a
few others, people from Boston are a-holes.

Welcome home Mary. And have a great trip Patti-Ann.

Have a Great rest of the week
Bill