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Showing posts from 2024

Supreme Court Debacle

It was hard to believe that the Supreme Court was going to take up the case regarding whether or not a president is above the law. It’s a ridiculous notion that a man could, oh, I don’t know, initiate a coup that would threaten the very democracy and that he wouldn’t have to answer for it. But they took up the case. Well, the argument is so ridiculous at its base that I didn’t worry about it too much, after all, of a president could do whatever he wanted without fear of prosecution than the current president could simply eliminate his opponent and continue to serve as long as he wants. Of course, the current president wouldn’t do such a thing because we are supposed to be a nation of laws, and we have always held our leaders accountable. Now I’m worried. Because this court appears to be absolutely corrupt and it appears that they’re fully owned by the Christian right wing nut jobs and big business. They could actually rule in favor of complete immunity for a man who has 91 freaking fel

“You Suck, Blue!”

I was flipping around on the MLB app and saw that the Angels-Orioles game was a one-run affair in the bottom of the 9th. I clicked over to it just in time to see an Angels play try to steal second to get into scoring position.  He looked safe, but was called out. There was a replay review and they put the play on the Jumbotron at the stadium and the home team roared because it truly showed the runner to be safe. They didn’t - for some reason - despite clear proof - overturn the call and the game ended. “Horrible!” I called out. Yesterday, Aaron Boone was thrown out of a game because a fan was yelling at the ump. “I didn’t say anything!” Boone argued. “I don’t care who said it;” the ump said. After the game, despite video evidence that Boone didn’t say a word, the ump stuck to his story. After the Lakers lost the other night, resident crybaby Flopster James, went on a rampage against the refs for missing a foul call. It didn’t matter that the Lakers had blown a 20-point lead, or that Ja

So Grey

This last month has seemed like one long day. Grey, greyer and greyest. The golf balls sitting, untouched in my car. I can’t even tell them when they might get hit. 45 degrees flashing at me. How do you turn off the outside temperature gauge, and of course, the busted mower kept me from cutting the grass and now my neighbors are watching a field pop up around my house. They’re probably wondering if we abandoned the joint. I on ow it’s going to break here soon, but what if it doesn’t? We watched the True Detective with Jodi Foster and they were in the darkness for weeks… …maybe they should’ve just filmed it in WNY in April. Let’s go!!!! Had enough.

The Spring Mess

I tried to mow the lawn. The mower stopped working after I made two healthy swipes across my front yard. I know one thing about fixing a mower: I checked the gas. There was plenty. Not to fear!  I have a second mower. That one didn’t start either, and it too had gas. “We need a new mower,” Kathy said. Which was painfully evident, but I wasn’t about to go buy one that very minute… …so I went to the weed whacker, but that wasn’t going to get done either as my sons had unplugged the charger so that they could charge their phones. My next door neighbor, meanwhile, mowed her lawn, so now my uncut yard looks even worse… …couple that with Ollie Stadium being an absolute disaster as he: 1). Collects sticks and makes a pile of them 2). He’s worn out the grass making a virtual infield 3). He takes a lot of dumps 4). There are leaves and balls scattered about. What a mess! I went to the garage. It’s filled with junk… …a hot tub that needs to be destroyed and hauled off… …the old refrigerator… …fu

I Don’t Remember

We watched a movie on Saturday night about a man, about my age, who was suffering with Alzheimer’s. Early on, he is speaking with a woman and he asks her if he can take a break for a moment so he can write down what she said so he can remember. Made my heart hurt because Kathy’s Mom lost her ability to remember the days of her life, and my Mom has certainly been battling it. My Grandfather, Clifford, died young, by today’s standards, and he certainly didn’t recall much about what was happening on any given day, although he would tell me stories about growing up. It’s an amazing, confounding, sad, horrific affliction, and I say, ‘amazing’ because while it removes all the good memories, it also takes away the earth-shattering memories of heartbreak and despair. I’ve been blessed with a pretty good memory. I have recall of conversations that I had about 50 years ago. I remember all the shots of the last round of golf that I played, and I last played at the beginning of March! When someone

Making Sausage

I had fresh Italian sausage for dinner last night… Me, my brother and a couple of buddies (Scott & Daryl) cut up, ground, mixed and stuffed 120 pounds of sausage. I appreciate being there every time because it’s one tradition that has endured for decades. The recipe was Grandpa Fuzzy’s. He passed it to Dad and then on to Jim. It always starts the same way: “How’s your supply?” Jim will ask. “Been out for a while.” This time, Scott did a lot of the leg work, picking up what we needed and getting it all to Jim’s where the equipment is there waiting. “7:30 start,” Jim texted, “Saturday morning.” I was late, and got the text as I made my way. “Let’s go!” And we all know our jobs. I pack and label the bags and clean the dishes. Jim and Scott stuff and Daryl helped me with the packaging and working with the casings. We all do a hit from the bottle of Anisette before we get started and that’s in honor of Dad… …he definitely started that tradition. Not only is the sausage perfect every tim

Asleep & Gassy

They really should be televising the court case. For the 3rd time in 4 days the defendant fell asleep during the trial. There are reports going around that the courtroom was cleared by the defendant farting in his sleep. Your GOP presidential candidate, ladies and gentlemen! The sad part about the news of the day is that you really can’t be sure what is true and what might be exaggerated. Yet, this particular story? Most certainly sounds true. There was a clip of a meeting in the White House where poor Diane Feinstein was seated next to Donny Dumps in his Depends and the microphone picked up the sound. A split-second later, Feinstein, who wasn’t really all there at that point in her career, turns and flashes a look of pure disgust. As the courtroom drama of the day ended, the defendant stepped in front of the microphone and made the case for lifting the gag order so that he could attack the jurors, I guess. Those poor jurors are in some serious trouble. Their names haven’t been release

Springsteen Shows

The anticipation builds for weeks as the date of the show gets closer. Then there’s the buzz as the arena begins to fill.  Everyone is sort of eerily quiet as people talk about the number of times they’ve seen the band and where.  When we find someone in the gathering who’s never been, we gang up and say, ‘Just wait and see!’ There’s never an opening act. No need for one. We all know what’s coming. The lights dim, and the quiet is gone as people start cheering and chanting, “Bruuuuuucccceeee!” Then the band comes up the stairs. Nils and Garry. Sister Suzie and Max and Jake, then Patti and Steven (who gets a cheer). In the old days, Clarence’s appearance would bring a roar. Then the buzz begins again… …Bruce comes up the stairs and there’s a huge roar. “Good evening, Buffalo, or Rochester or Albany or Syracuse!” Then just a “One, two, three, four!” And we’re off. One song into the next, Bruce pouring every ounce of energy into every word. The band just warming up, never missing a note.

Right on Time

I don’t like listening to baseball talk after a Yankees loss - they had lost a couple in a row - I had no intention of listening to the doomsday talk… …so I went to music and shuffled my 2,000 songs, not looking at what was coming up. I heard the first note of Mellencamp’s ‘Minutes to Memories’ and checked to make sure I was on cruise control because I got two speeding tickets to my name listening to that particular song. I then turned it up to the max. “Days turn to minutes and minutes to memories, life sweeps away the dreams that we had planned, you are young and you are the future, so suck it up, and tough it out, and be the best you can.” If that’s not enough he screams the closing verse: “Another hot one out on highway 11, this is my life and what I’ve chosen to do. There’s no free rides, no one said it’d be easy, and my old man told me this, my son, I’m telling it to you… …days turn to minutes and minutes to memories. Life sweeps away the dreams that we had planned. You are young

Never Fight Uphill Me Boys!

Just amazing that there is anyone, anyone at all thinking about voting for Don Snoreleone. Not only has he fallen asleep at his criminal trial for using campaign funds to try and silence the porn star that he had a fling with when his wife was home with their newborn… …but he showed up in Pennsylvania this past weekend and did a talk about the Battle of Gettysburg. It’s an incredible clip as he says that it was amazing, horrible, bloody, intense, beautiful and great. He then breaks into an imitation of Robert E. Lee telling people that they shouldn’t ’Fight uphill me,’ sounding a little like the Lucky Charms leprechaun. It’s astounding. It reminded me of a 8th grade Social Studies class where you had to get up there and tell your classmates about the battle. He has absolutely zero clue as to what happened and I believe that he only told the story so he could defend Robert E. Lee who, ‘have you noticed has fallen out of favor a little bit.’ Yeah… …cause of that racism bullshit that Donn

John Sterling Retires

As a Yankees fan I was sad to hear that legendary broadcaster John Sterling is immediately retiring. “Theeeeee Yankeeeeeeesssss Wiiiiiiiinnnnn!” Is the best call ever. I use that all the time.  He also had some absolutely great home run calls  “An A-bomb from A-Rod!” “Bernie goes boom!” There are hundreds more, and I even enjoyed his banter with Suzyan Waldman during the slow moments. Sterling was born on the 4th of July - same as Uncle George. He, of course, was a true homer and he was even worth a laugh now and again when he would start his home run call while the outfielder was standing under the ball making the catch. Sterling is 85-years old. Father Time is undefeated, but man, he could call a Yankees win, and he certainly knew the game. It’s funny, but I grew up listening to Scooter and Frank White and they were the best. It has transitioned to Michael Kay and Paul O’Neill and I enjoy them too… …but John Sterling will be missed. “Theeeeeee Yankeeeeeeesssssss Wiiiiinnnnn!

The Masters

Every once in a while I’ll have golf on television and my wife will say: “Are you kidding me? We’re watching this?” Actually playing golf feels like it’s about 3 more months away - the high for next weekend is like 49 degrees. So watching a little of the Masters was fun for a minute. And I’m going to miss Verne Lundquist who was a great announcer - he did his last Masters. We’re losing our beloved announcers as they age out. Al Michaels is probably the next to go. The fun of watching professionals golf is in trying to imagine what clubs I’d have to use when they’re hitting a 9-iron 190 yards. “That would be my 3 hybrid,” I mentioned. The putts? That’s a whole ‘nother atory. They line up and sink uphill, downhill and wide-breaking putts that turn one last time to fall into the hole. If I were taking some of those 25-footers I’d leave them about 30’ away. They’re freaks. They chip it to within 6’ from 220 yards out, and then act disgusted that they didn’t get it closer. I hit the green f

Mom & Ollie

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 Ollie Stadium is a mess. The heavy rains rendered the backyard a mud pit and even though we threw in the side yard, the Big O was looking for more, and we were both covered in mud. I had to take some steam out of him somehow so I suggested we go visit Grandma. Ollie hates the car, but he laid quietly as we made the trip. We even brought the football because there is plenty of room to play at Grandma’s. Mom opened the door and started laughing. I thought about the love she had for every single dog we ever had. Oliver was quick to give my Mom a kiss, and then he stood beside her. The love between Mom and Dogs is a mutual bond. Through the years, Mom would make breakfast for the dogs.  Fried eggs, toast, bacon… She would wrap Christmas gifts for them. “To Jeter, Love Santa,” she would write on the cards. They played with the big chicken that made a lot of noise. Mom tossed the football and Ollie brought it back to her. As the visit drew to a close I headed for the door.  “C’mon, Oliver,”

Too Ridiculous

A couple of times this week I thought of a Mellencamp line: “Sometimes life is too ridiculous to live.” JCM spits the line in his great song “Between A Laugh & A Tear.” We started the week with horrendous health news about a treasured family friend - just one of the out of the blue, ‘are you freaking kidding me?’ Sort of stories. Thankfully, the docs are on it and time will help it all work out, but when there is a sudden attack… …just ridiculous. The weather has been horrendous. Trying telling a dog that he can’t get his reps in because of the mud. Work has also been a battle as there are people who go out of their way to puff themselves up when they get desperate. “You were yelling at him!” Kathy said, as I finished a call. “Dad told me that 95% of people are self-serving asses who will sell you out to save themselves. I think he was a little short in his estimate.” And when you consider all of it, and making sudden changes it all seems somehow pointless and… …ridiculous. Yet, w

Juice

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I have a lot of good buddies from the early days of my life. I know what they were all thinking about when they heard the news that O.J. died. “Man, he was my favorite as a kid.” How could he not be? He was a true superstar - the greatest running back in the early 1970’s. We all knew where we were when he went for 2,000 yards in a season. A couple of years later, he held out for more money. I recall agonizing over it. Just pay him! He’s the best and he’s a great guy! I was just a kid. I was wrong. But, O.J. was cultivated. He was arrested for beating up his first wife. Three weeks later he landed a huge national contract. They put him in movies, and on the football pre-game shows. All the while his new wife was calling the police screaming: “He’s going to kill me!” His murder trial was embarrassing. It also captivated the country and turned the news into ‘breaking news’ moneymaking broadcasts. In recent years, O.J. returned to social media to comment on football and other sports. Those

The Law of the Land

The abortion issue is once again front and center as the 2024 election shapes up between the incumbent and the defendant. What’s sort of fascinating to watch is that the GOP is backpedaling on Roe V Wade because the recent elections have shown that they’re getting demolished on the issue. Women, even in middle America seem to be rejecting the idea that men should have a say over their healthcare choices. The rotund orange dude is the biggest backtracker of them all, but that’s of little surprise. There are plenty of tapes of him speaking on the issue. He was pro-choice until he saw that it was an issue that could make him money. Then suddenly, the least religious man of all-time, found a deep faith and he became the chosen one to his cult of whack jobs. Now he’s saying that there shouldn’t be a national abortion law because…. …well, it’s not polling well. The straight up hypocrisy of the issue is what galls me. When it was about getting a vaccination the people who are trying to regula

That Was A Bust!

Life is weird and people are pretty predictable. I knew that there was going to be a whole lot of bitching because it was very cloudy here on eclipse day, and while it was disappointing I talked myself into enjoying it. I started the football toss with Ollie in complete light, and he made a pretty good catch in total darkness. And then I went on social media to hear all about the event ‘sucking’. Everyone is looking for something to blame and there’s just a blatant, consistent need to whine about everything. Yeah. The sun and moon were blocked by the clouds, but it was still a monumental event… …and when it went from light to dark and then back to light, I threw that pass and shared the moment with two of the boys. “That was cool,” Sam remarked. I congratulated Ollie for being the first dog to catch a pass in a total eclipse in more than 100 years… …and he had pressure on him to not dub it… …he’s the GOAT. So, there you have it: Eclipse fun. Not everything sucks.

Fifty Years Ago

April 8th is a day on the calendar where I have a single thought when I see the date. Hammerin’ Hank. On April 8, 1974, I was a very excited 9-year old boy. We were living in Largo, Florida at the time and I was about 4 inches from the television screen when Aaron came up and hammered a pitch from Al Downing of the Dodgers that cleared the left-centerfield wall and ended up being retrieved by Braves pitcher, Tom House. It was the 715th homer of Aaron’s great career, eclipsing (you see what I did there) Babe Ruth’s all-time record. I still consider Aaron to be the king, and it galls me to no end when people talk about letting the cheaters into the Hall of Fame. Aaron went through hell in breaking that record because he was black. It’s amazing to me how the mind works. I have an image of that living room in my head whenever I consider that night. I know where Dad was seated, and my brother, John, was just as excited as me. A great memory. Cherished one. April 8th won’t be remembered as t

Eclipse Day 2024!!!

The forecast isn’t perfect.  The poor weather dudes, who seem to get blamed for bad weather, sound almost suicidal as they let us know that the look we get won’t be perfect because of partial cloudiness. Sucks for those who are paying a grand a night for their Motel 6 hotel room. And because I’m a mental midget who can’t deal with change to my daily routine, I won’t know quite how to go about things. Most businesses are shutting things down, and the job sites will be quiet. So, I will make my way home. I’m half tempted to play ball with Ollie as we go from light to dark and back to light. He can catch the ball no matter how far or when I throw it… …so we will watch him try. I talked about it with my Mom. “I don’t get why it’s happening,” she said.  I don’t know all the ins and outs of it, but did my level best to explain. “The universe is amazing,” she said. Thought about that simple line for a while and then I saw a Tic-Toc post that mentioned that in 2124 there wouldn’t be any mentio

The Rich Want Their Fair Share

I saw news about a fundraiser for legal fees for a politician. Those types of stories always catch my attention because it’s an invite to a $200,000 a plate dinner. What can they serve? Everyone gets 200 pounds of lobster and a half a cow? And there was a follow-up story where the same candidate expressed despair, saying that the rich aren’t happy and want change. Are there going to be people who fall for the idea that the ultra-wealthy need a break so that they can create jobs that will allow for a trickle down? That was the plan back in the 1980’s and the stock buyback idea is what turned the world upside down. What always makes me insane, as well, is the question: “How much do they need?” Some day look up how much money someone like Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos makes a minute… …more money in three days than most Americans will see in years. But just to finish the con… …the ultra-rich has somehow convinced a lot of the middle class and the lower middle class to blame… …get this… …the peo

Shooting From the Logo

Prior to the start of basketball practice - way back more than 40 years ago - we would take shots from half court. Well, I would because I was Steph Curry before he was. It was fun to try to hit those long shots and every once in a blue moon they’d go in. In my junior year we had a good team and it was a lot of fun - I came off the bench and mostly when the home fans chanted “We want Fuzzy.” “Get in there and take your shot and get out. Don’t try to dribble,” Coach Loretto would tell me. I had great teammates too and usually I’d get the ball first time down and I’d shoot a bomb, make it, and then return to the bench. I also hit one as time expired at the end of a quarter and it was way out there. I got to try and do it again a whole bunch of times - never made another one. I take this stroll down memory lane because I watched a clip of Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark practicing long shots. Perhaps she modeled her game after Curry (or maybe she saw old footage of North Collins games

Rent A Room?

As I noted earlier in the week, I have zero idea why the eclipse is such a huge deal, but the ramifications are being felt. Hotel rooms are being rented at astronomical rates. I’ve stayed in a Motel 6 and didn’t have any complaints - I like the rooms where your car is just on the other side of the curtain. But $500 a night? And that’s the best deal in town! Most sites are being shut down and the best course of action may be to stay off the roads… …a million people additional roaming the streets of our fair city? More people means more trouble as well as everyone will need to drink and fight and shoot guns, or whatever people like to do to blow off steam. I’m of the mindset to stay home and watch it all happen from the backyard with a pair of glasses, of course. Yet, isn’t it amazing how the price gouging works? Some of the hotel rooms are going for a couple of grand, and people are paying that! Others saw the eclipse coming and booked the rooms a couple of years out at normal room rate

Big Sandwiches

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That’s a Schwarburger that is being served at Phillies games this year. I also saw a photo of a sandwich being served in Pittsburgh - it’s a pot roast sandwich that is loaded with at least a half a dozen pierogis. The best sandwich that I ever had at a baseball game was the prime rib sandwich that set me back $22 at Yankee Stadium. My brothers were with me. We had to get them. Yet, there is also a sandwich at Kaufman Stadium in Kansas City that is an absolute monster of a sandwich and that comes with a great story. I was going to KC and then onto Boston. I told my traveling secretary - my son, Sam, to get me tickets to games in each city. He printed them off and slipped them into my bag. I got to KC and saw the sandwich. A brisket sandwich that includes an Italian sausage, about a pound of cheese, onion rings and Mac and Cheese. It was my dinner. I handed my ticket to the security guard as I balanced the sandwich and he pointed me to the very front row - directly behind first base. I g

Animals

There is a candidate for president who is using rage and hate as a campaign platform and every rally is another stage for him to spew absolute venom against human beings who aren’t white. It bothers me greatly when he speaks of immigrants as animals. I have a group of men that I’ve gotten to know. They’re from Guatemala. They frame houses, and they all whistle when they see me coming to alert each other that the safety guy has arrived. They got in trouble a few years back, and I helped them with the fine, and I trained them in the proper procedures. The supervisor bought me a bottle of booze. “This is the best!” He said. “Most popular booze in my homeland.” It was horrendous.  I brought it along on a golf trip and I have been teased endlessly by the guys who tried some. (We still drank it). Yet, our friendship has grown, and despite the men are here only on work visas - they aren’t illegals.  They aren’t animals, either. They love their family. They have friends. They work hard, and th

Solar Eclipse Prep

Buffalo, New York will be a hot-spot for the coming solar eclipse on Monday. There are reports that about a million people will crowd our streets. We can’t handle a million people. And, I’m about as non-science as one can get so I’m trying to figure out what the big deal is. It gets progressively dark every day, doesn’t it? It’s only gonna’ be dark for 3 minutes. “We have to get glasses,” Kathy said. “I’m not even going to look up,” I said. The mayor was on the news yesterday trying to let everyone know that the garbage won’t be picked up and that cars can’t be parked on the streets. He then explained that looking up without those glasses could cause blindness. The city offices will be closed. If you have court scheduled for that day… …reschedule it. “I wonder what a hotel room costs for Sunday night,” I said. Went to the Google machine and noted: “$500 a night for the Motel 6.” Absolutely insane… …because it’s going to get dark for three minutes. Well, I probably will put on the glass

A Fast Start

For the last five years I’ve noticed that someone in the A.L. East catches the benefit of a fast start because the schedule-makers give them an advantage. Last year, Tampa opened 13-0 because they played 4 straight teams who finished last. The Yankees drew a tough assignment last year and again this season. They opened in Houston - 4 games - I didn’t have a lot of hope that they’d do anything more than split the opening series. And yet, here they sit at 4-0 and each game was a good one. Their new superstar, Juan Soto, was dominant. There’s only one thing to do in such a situation: Gloat!!! Now, of course, that opens me up to a whole lot of aggravation when they do lose a game… …and they will lose at least 50 of them. The greatest Yankees team I’ve ever seen won 125 games… …even they lost more than 50 times. It’s a long season and the thrill of baseball, for me, is that it’s a numbers game. I look at every box score - I used to study them when I was a kid. I know the starting rotation f
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I don’t know how to turn the photo around! Yet, it’s a great photo - my Mom’s and Dad’s wedding photo. They were so young! And man, I can see my siblings and my nieces and nephews in their faces. And it’s amazing to see Grandma and Grandpa and my cousins as children. And today is Easter and of course there are thoughts of family and God and love and, well, you know… …Happiness. I showed Mom the photo and she loved it, of course. “Life goes by so fast,” she said. Indeed. The photo is 64 years old. So much happened because of the union between those two pretty amazing people. The story of a life. And so much comes back to you when you see such a photo. I thought of being a child and running around the neighborhood. I recalled moments when me and Dad were alone on the road for work. The dinners. The talks. The laughs. I’m hoping that my boys can look back… …years and years from now… …and smile as I did today when I saw the photo. Happy Easter! Make those memories.

What’s the Score?

Man, it’s been wild. The NCAA games have played non-stop here at Camp Clifford and believe it or not, I’m still in the running with a bracket. That may change tonight as I need Illinois to beat UConn. Yet, we were switching from one channel to the other. Kathy and Sam enjoy making 8-leg parlays and betting $3. “If it hits I win $600.” “Problem being you have to get 8 things right and 6 of them have no chance.” That doesn’t stop them from reading their bets to me. “Sabres are winning,” Jake texted me. Meanwhile, I was watching the Yankees game closely on my phone. “Stanton just demolished a ball,” I answered. Camp Clifford was buzzing! “It’s midnight,” Kathy said, as the Duke game wound down. “You’re going to pay for your partying.” And I did… …because Miller the cat had slept through all the excitement and was wondering.. …at six this morning…. …why the hell I wasn’t awake. “Get out!” I yelled. “There were games on!”

The USA Bible

“Is this the bottom?” I texted a few friends, after hearing that Greenwood-Trump have formed a partnership to sell the God Bless the USA Bible for $60 a pop. Then I watched the ad - the orange dude in a wig saying: “It’s my favorite book!” And despite  buddy saying that there is no bottom… …I laughed. He owes more than a half a billion dollars for fraud and sexual assault. Three wives. A porn star hush money settlement. Seven bankruptcies. An insurrection. All that on his resume and he thinks: “I know! I can sell the Bible!” And of course, he will sell some… …to people who swear that God sent him to save us… …so he got his signature ready! Signed right there near the publisher’s info!!! Now, I’ve signed a lot of books that I’ve written… …truth be told, I always felt a little uncomfortable. I don’t know if I should sign my name or add a note. Takes a little bit of ego to think someone wants your signature. I’m thinking he’s okay with it. “Grab ‘em by the….” “Love, Donald.” Ridiculous. A

Opening Day! Baseball ⚾️ Preview

If you go back through my blogs I’ve chosen the Yankees to win #28 each and every year since they won #27. Juan Soto! They now have 2 of the best 4 hitters in the game. Stanton looks healthy and strong. Rizzo is down being dizzy. Gleyber is steady. But let’s see how it breaks down: In the National League the division winners will be: Braves Dodgers Cubs The wild card teams will be: Phillies, Diamondbacks and Padres. The NL pennant winner will be: Philadelphia! Ohtani is in some trouble. The Phillies are stacked. The Braves always lose in the playoffs. In the American League the division winners will be: New York Minnesota Seattle The wild cards will be: Houston, Texas and Baltimore. The AL champs? Take a wild guess! Who is writing the blog??? I have Yankees over the hapless Phillies in 6 in the World Series. Just like last time when they put up #27.

Francis Scott Key Bridge

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So sad. Obviously for the poor people who lost their lives when a ship hit the bridge support. Also, for the fine people of Baltimore as that bridge was a thing of beauty. I lived in Baltimore for about a year back in the early 90’s, and I came very close to staying there. I loved everything about that summer… …I lived in an apartment complex with about 50 other 20-something friends. I went to about 40 Orioles games (last year at Memorial Stadium), and I played so much tennis that I couldn’t lift my arm for about three months. I also visited with my cousins, and spent a lot of time with Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Lenny. Glorious. It was also the summer when I went on two boat rides in that very same body of water where the bridge collapsed. I was on a boat with Gilligan, the Professor and Mary Ann - we anchored under the Francis Scott Key Bridge for the autograph session. (That’s a whole ‘nother story that will be in the next book). I also was in a small boat, not far from the bridge when

Easter Week

Sometimes Easter kinda’ sneaks up on me. “When is Easter?” I asked Kathy. “I don’t know.” And that’s kind of sad to me because all of early life was centered around church and prayer and stations of the cross. We took the boys to church through the years, of course, and we remain committed to faith, but the physical act of going into the building for a weekly mass is sporadic at best. Which is amazing because for decades I was an absolute mess if I didn’t make it to church. Where did it all fall apart? It was a movie that did me in - the Catholic Church’s lies and deceit was exposed in the movie with Michael Keaton and the Boston Globe. I was pretty ill when we finished up that movie and it stuck with me… …and not in a good way. I can remember saying: “They will never get another dime from me.” And I truly miss it. I enjoyed the community aspect of attending Mass each week. I knew where all my buddies sat with their family. I would jump up and serve Mass as a teenager. Yet there weren’

A Scar

As we lead up to the November election - an election that is preposterous because one of the candidates may be in prison - we hear all about one issue more than another. The border. Back a couple of months ago there was a proposal on the table that would certainly not fix it - but would be an attempt at helping.  A start. The bill was dead on arrival because the House didn’t want to give the candidate who doesn’t belong in prison, a win. The border fight is a confusing, complicated issue. It’s a scar that continues to grow. Like the mass shooting problem. Therefore, I don’t think about it much because it’s an issue that there is zero effort to truly fix it.  It’s a political football, as are guns. Reasonable people know that there are things that can be done…to repair both issues. Unreasonable people want to ignore all possible solutions so that they can use it for fear to sell their agenda. Democrats don’t want open borders. Republicans don’t want to keep them all out - the people com

It’s No One’s Business

Kate Middleton has cancer. I know that because she was hounded by the press because as a member of the royal family she owes the world an explanation, I guess. I’m not a Royal family fanatic - I think it’s a weird costume party type of existence, but society over there hasn’t learned much. Princess Di was killed when the car she was in was chased by paparazzi. Kate Middleton was out of the spotlight and people went crazy speculating about what was going on, so they put out a photo of her with her kids. The photo was a doctored picture. That made it all so much worse, so Kate appeared on television and explained that she was diagnosed with cancer and has undergone treatment. Know what everyone focused on? That her husband wasn’t beside her when she made the video. Good Lord! Leave them alone! The poor woman has cancer and is scared. She has a young family, and I’m sure that how she looks or sounds in the media is the furthest thing from her mind. Yet, if someone were to ask me what went

Sports Betting

Well, it appears that something weird is going on with the $700 million man. Shohei Ohtani made a little news this off-season when he signed a contract with the Dodgers. It was a love fest that continued through the opening series when Ohtani got a couple of hits to open the season. And then a huge story. Ohtani’s translator was fired by the Dodgers and the story was framed that he stole $4 million from his good friend to pay off gambling debts. But hold on… …more news followed stating that Ohtani paid off the debt. ‘Cause he loved the guy? Or because he was making the bets? This is going to be a huge story. Will MLB dig deep and possibly discipline the face of baseball? Can the Dodgers void that contract? No matter what, it’s a sad story and sort of a reflection of what sports has turned into. There are bets on every damn thing now. You can bet on the favorite if they fall behind. You can pull the bet at anytime. It’s all just a click away… …and when you have $700 million losing $4 mi

Kentucky Bites It

I usually fill out three brackets for the tourney - been entering the same company competition for about 30 years now. Kentucky was my winner in the first bracket I filled out. They didn’t make it past the first game… …which brought me a few ball-busting texts and some snide comments. “That’s why I fill out 3 of them.” And I have no illusions - all three will probably be cooked by Monday. Yet, it was great fun. Sam definitely took advantage of his day off and a floor of the house where he could entertain his buddies as they watched 3 televisions. “Yo, I found a bag of Chinese food in your room,” I mentioned. “We ate most of it,” he said. I handed him the bag, and we spent a couple of minutes clearing his beer cans. “How’d Kentucky do for you?” He asked. And it brought me back in time through all the years of March Madness. I won the bracket challenge twice and watching the championship games those years goes down as two of the most stressful evenings of my life. We used to pick all the

Big Days @ Camp Clifford

By Wednesday night there were three television sets in the basement area so Sam and his buddy could watch 3 different games… …and we are only at the play-in stage. Tomorrow the college basketball games start at noon and will run until midnight. “You going to be here at noon?” Sam asked. “I have to work,” I said. “Lame!” Sam normally has Tuesday and Wednesday off each week - he made a few trades with his shifts so that he will be around for as many games as possible. He couldn’t be any more fired up. “Is this your favorite week of the year?” I asked. “It’s not even close,” he said. “Every other week of the year is FOR this week.” And the brackets are flying around. He printed 50 copies and has been filling them out for fun. “There’s something wrong with you,” I mentioned. Yet, I have lived with this sort of excitement every March for decades as Sam’s craziness is much the same as my brother Jeff’s was. Jeff also filled out brackets just for fun. So, Camp Clifford will be hopping this we

Another Chance

Trevor Bauer is a former major league pitcher who doesn’t have a contract to pitch anywhere. In fact, his last contract - which was humongous - was voided by the Dodgers because of some truly ugly, awful, horrific accusations by a woman who claimed he beat her. More accusations surfaced by more women. MLB investigated.  The court cases dragged out and eventually there were resolutions of sorts. Bauer was suspended from the sport - longest suspension ever - for such a charge. His contract was terminated and last year he pitched overseas. A whole bunch of people are now taking up the cause to get him back to the league. Bauer let all 30 teams know that he’d pitch for the league minimum. So far, despite the fact that no team has enough pitching, there haven’t been any takers. I have no stomach for the people who are campaigning for Bauer. The Yankees could certainly use a starter and Bauer was definitely a better than good one… …but I don’t want to root for him to do well. Now, some might

A Shuffle to the Mound

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It was a little hard to get all baseball excited on Monday. The skies over Buffalo were grey and the temperature was in the 30’s all day. Meanwhile opening day is 10 days away, and like every other spring day I check in on the Yankees to make sure no one is being carted off. And there was Joe Torre… …the Yankees manager from back in the mid-90’s thru 2005.  Joe is now 83 years old. Still, his shuffle to the mound is still intact, and it made me smile. ‘Mr. T’ as Jeter called him was the perfect manager for that group of talented players, and my Dad absolutely loved him because he is an Italian man. And man, those were the days… …the Yankees appeared in 6 World Series, winning 4 of them in 7 years. I remember going into a convenient store in 2000 and the clerk asked me why I was smiling. “The Yankees won the World Series last night,” I said. “Doesn’t that happen every year?” She asked. No, sadly, it doesn’t. There’s been a long wait for twenty-eight, but I’m not here to complain… …they’

Saturday Afternoons

“Monday when the foreman calls time, I already got Friday on my mind.” I think of that Bruce quote every now and again and some work weeks are harder than others. I particularly enjoy the peacefulness of Saturday afternoons after some of the household chores are done. How do you spend your free time? 1). Catch with Ollie with the first coffee in my hands. 2). Headed to the grocery store and grabbed what we needed and planned out dinner. 3). Wrote a few pages. 4). Ollie - second round. 5). The house was being cleaned by our very competent cleaning lady. 6). Got dinner prep work done and put away the groceries and then checked in on the Sabres (lost) and the Yankees spring training (a win). 7). The boys gathered for the St. Bonaventure basketball game. We laughed a lot as we watched, 8). Ollie for. 3rd time at the half. 9). Laundry in. 10). Cooked and ate dinner. Relaxing. Fairly restful.  All I need… …and then I went to social media… “If I don’t win the election there’s going to be a bl

Another Birthday

Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife - the last of her birthdays in the 50’s. Which is pretty insane! We were talking about Jake and a new job and I mentioned being in Baltimore for a project when I was about Jake’s age. I mentioned my boss back then and Kathy said: “Yeah. I knew him.” So, we’re talking about a lot of time having passed and the craziest part is that we knew each other before our 20’s ended! So, just another birthday, right? Of course not! We’ve battled through a whole bunch of things that life threw at us, and we’re still hanging tough. It’s funny but we were watching a movie the other day and the wife told the husband, “If you can find someone who might want you, go for it.” I laughed. “That’s your line,” I said. “Not anymore,” she said. “You’re stuck with me.” That’s fine with me.  We’ve certainly had to adapt and change and put up with hearing the same old stories… …anywhoha…. …Happy Birthday! At least March Madness didn’t start yet… …we may even look in your directi

Free Albert the Alligator 🐊

The big local news is that an 11-feet alligator was removed from a Hamburg home. Albert the alligator is over thirty years old, and he lives in a swimming pool. The people of the neighborhood are in a bit of an uproar because Albert was removed by the D.E.C. My initial reaction was: “Let the man keep the gator - the animal has not known any other life.” But I read a little bit more on the subject, including the reasoning of one of the D.E.C. officials who was in on the repossession. According to the report: Albert was obese as well as malnourished. Albert was not getting nearly enough sun and was living in an area that wasn’t up to code. Also, Albert was swimming with elderly people and children. It’s a reptile! What would happen to Albert if he suddenly went reptilian and devoured a child? Albert’s owner isn’t a trained caretaker, to the extent of where he should allow others to swim along side, Albert, right? To be fair, I also read the response from the owner. He was ranting a bit a

Out of Nowhere

Since my son, Sam, was just 4-years old, he’s been obsessed with the Villanova Wildcats college basketball team. When Villanova is playing, we ALL know it, and two of the best days were when they won the title. They played on Wednesday night at 9:00, and it was supposed to be an easy game. I wasn’t watching. At around 10:00 though I heard Sam say, “Down by 8 with 12 minutes left.” Uh-oh. Still, I drifted off to sleep and was in that weird spot of being half-asleep and half-awake… …and I had a very vivid dream. My buddy Pops was seated at the kitchen table at my parent’s house. He had sausage, potatoes and eggs on his plate. My Dad called out to me: “What’re you eating?” “Same as Pops,” I said. And there was my Dad. I saw him clearly! Standing at the griddle, spatula in his hand, cigarette hanging from his mouth. Dark skin.  He looked so alive… …and Sam’s voice cut through the dream and stirred me back to the world. “Down 2 with 17 seconds,” he said. I was downhearted! ‘Nova pulled out

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Zoom calls are sort of like group texts to me. There are just way too many people involved and I’m not sure if anyone gets anything out of them. I know I don’t. I listened to a long regional meeting on zoom the other day. One of the first speakers spoke about how important it is to work together and he said: “Teamwork makes the dream work.” I almost hung up! Nothing drives me crazier than nothing-speak and I heard a few more: “Think outside the box.” “Run it up the flag pole.” Then there is the long-winded appreciation for the person who worked so hard to set up the call… …and a few corny self-deprecating jokes that aren’t even memorable. Of course there’s the ability to mute and usually those calls are set up so that you’re automatically muted so that the speaker isn’t interrupted. Back in Covid days, there were a whole bunch of company zooms. I put one on my phone and headed to my computer to check my emails. I yelled: “The f***ing internet isn’t working!” In an attempt to get Kathy’

Four Years Ago

Saw a news notice from 4 years ago. “Tom Hanks & Rita Wilson have Covid.” Boy it took me back! “Were you better off four years ago than you are now?” That’s hardly a question now, is it? Man, the world was upside down 4 years ago. We were all at home - for the most part - I still went to work every day, but jobs were slow. We were all looking for fashionable masks… …we all were hearing stories about guys who got Covid and ended up on ventilators. Unfortunately, we all heard of people who died of it. I know of at least 5 people who were here 4 years ago, got Covid, and died early. We were all watching the news and the daily press conferences. Some people took horse pills. A scant few drank bleach. All in all, it wasn’t much fun, but seeing that news report on Tom and Rita - who survived their Covid battle - truly rocked me a little. Four years simply flies on by! And Covid talk now is a non-existent. I saw that the CDC said that coming down with Covid is no longer a reason to stay h

Rooting for Laundry

Jerry Seinfeld did a routine - a long time ago - about how weird sports fanatics are. I thought about it yesterday as NFL free agency hit and players moved to new locations. The Bills lost Gabe Davis and Leonard Floyd to new teams. They were players that my boys rooted for week in and week out. “Lost Gabe, huh?” I asked Jake. “You going to root for him next year now that he’s in Jacksonville?” “Of course not,” Jake said, looking at me as if I spouted a 3rd eye. And of course, I’ve had some trouble with this in the past as former Red Sux players that I couldn’t stand signed with the Yankees. Who would’ve ever imagined that I’d like Johnny Damon or Wade Boggs?  (I never warmed to A-Rod or Clemens - even though I clapped if they did something good). I also didn’t want to see guys who left - Robby Cano - do well if they decided to leave. So, yeah, we’re rooting for laundry. And for all the NFL guys who say: “Baseball doesn’t have a salary cap!” I have news for you: Neither does football! T

Zero Shame

There was a rebuttal of the State of the Union by a Alabama member of Congress - Katie Britt… …no one had any clue as to who she was. She probably should’ve kept it that way, but instead, she spent her time in a kitchen, telling us that Mom’s and Women everywhere across the land are scared out of their minds because the migrants are coming. She told a horrific story of violence and did her best to imply that the current administration is putting all of us in grave danger. She misrepresented the story of the violence. 1). The attack did not take place in America. 2). The story she told happened more than 15 years ago. 3). Joe Biden wasn’t responsible for it. Now we are being told, every single day that the border is being overrun and that we are all in grave danger as the blood of the nation is being poisoned. Meanwhile, the most extensive border bill was shit-canned by the people selling the fear. It certainly didn’t take long to expose the poor, scared housewife. Yet, instead of admit

So, Where Are We?

The news is so damn depressing. I try not to check it. I’ve been listening to spring training talk. I know all about where the experts see the Yankees finishing this year: Between 92 & 98 wins and in a good spot come playoff time.  I agree. And the Red Sux are going to finish last for the 3rd straight year…so all good. Yet, I checked the news…much to my dismay. The ‘billionaire’ who was convicted of sexual assault can’t pay the fine. The media is still pretending that this is a choice between two different ideologies. I can’t figure what the GOP stands for. Can you? Rage? And aren’t there more court cases? I know there was a fraud case that resulted in $450 million in fines, but it stands to reason that if you can’t afford the $83 million you probably haven’t set aside almost a half billion either. Then we have the stealing of classified documents case. Or the insurrection charges. Not to be upended by the Stormy Daniels problem (she was the porn star he paid off with election fund

Italian Barbershop 💈

On Friday I had another speaking engagement in Waterloo, NY. (Getting tired of hearing myself talk). Yet, it came with a 90-minute break around lunchtime. I went for a walk when the other speaker was up. Spotted a 💈 sign. I normally get my hair trimmed at Super Cuts - it doesn’t take long! The bell chimed as I opened the door and I locked eyes with an older, definitely Italian man. “You’re next,” he said. My mind took me back about 50 years…. …to Saturday mornings at the barbershop in North Collins. Louie would take HOURS cutting our hair - talking to Dad the whole way as we squirmed in the chairs. Those Saturday morning haircuts were torture, but I watched Leo of Waterloo cut the man’s hair as I waited. I couldn’t wait to get into the chair. “Just a trim?” Leo asked as I sat down. “Not sure what else you can do with it,” I said. Leo laughed. “You Italian?” He asked. “Yeah!” We had a connection. I told him about Louie and my haircuts as a kid.  He shaved my neck with a straight razor.

Eyes On the Horizon

Today is my sister Carrie’s birthday and she is embarking on a truly amazing, exciting endeavor. Her first book is on the horizon! It’s going to be called “Eyes on the Horizon” and it’s a story idea that she’s worked on for a long time. I have read plenty of her fiction through the years, and I have only one thing to say: It’s about damn time!!! And, I have implored her to enjoy every second of the process. (Here’s a little insight for you - it’s not all that FUN to put a book out - it’s hard!) Yet, there are great moments: Like seeing the cover, or holding the first copy, or getting that first message from someone who was touched by the story, or in handing Mom her copy. All great stuff! Happy Birthday to my beautiful, brilliant sister… …relax and enjoy it! It’s going to be incredible, and no one can ever take it from you! We love you, enjoy your day!

The Stallone Family

We watched the reality show for the Stallone family. Sly has a wife and three lovely, goofy daughters and of course, his brother Frank hangs around. It’s laid-back and an easy watch but they truly have to go out of their way to try and work up a problem. They have houses everywhere. When they vacation it’s not a ‘let’s use our miles’ type of situation. Yet, there was certainly one major problem. When they do venture out in public, Rocky is absolutely surrounded. Within a couple of hours - even at an ice cream shop in Italy - hundreds…thousands show up to catch a glimpse. “That’s gotta’ be horrible,” I said. And Stallone seems like a gracious, decent guy. He certainly doesn’t complain about his fame, but man, it looks like an absolute nightmare. “Would you bother him if you saw him in public?” Kathy asked. “I’d feel like I would have to tell him how much those films meant to my Dad and my brothers and sisters,” I said. “But how many times a day does he hear that?” “Right?” And celebrity

The New Stadium

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I dreaded the site visit to the Bills Stadium job. It’s just a massive endeavor and the politics and oversight is mind-numbing. I realize that it has to be because an incident on a job of that size would be a huge story. There are a whole lot of safeguards in place, and they need to have a meeting to figure out why they are having so many meetings. I was invited to a meeting.  It should’ve lasted about 3 minutes, but I was still sitting there about 35 minutes in as we read a form, line-by-line. Then I went down into the ‘hole’, as they call it. You can clearly see the outline of the place. I considered the people who might be excited by the prospect of looking around the joint, but I could only see guys I know… …working really hard every day. It always is stunning to me that the same guys I chat with, make fun of, and trade barbs with, are the people who can put together such a place. Years ago I was at the Salamanca Casino looking up at the hotel from the outdoor hot tub. “What’re you

Horribleness

On Monday morning I had to make a long drive East. Normally when I have an early training start a 120 miles away I’ll go in the night before, but I didn’t want to leave on Sunday, and the weather forecast for Monday was terrific. Would be a great day to drive. And it was, but the rising sun in your face as you head East is a tad irritating if you see the sun every day. We don’t, so I didn’t mind. I had the baseball pre-season talk on, a big coffee and plenty of time. I could see for miles and miles. I noticed the stopped traffic just 45 miles into my trip. “Oh boy.” We weren’t stalled for construction work. This was something more. Heard sirens and had to move out of the way for a fire truck. Two helicopters arrived - ‘Mercy Flight’ on the sides. I called ahead and mentioned I wasn’t going to arrive on time. “Do something,” the guy said. “I have 100 guys sitting here. You’re the speaker.” “I tried called the Great Gazoo but he didn’t answer,” I said, referencing the ‘Flintstones.’ “Wha

Golf in March

I’ve never played golf in Western New York in March. Until yesterday. On the way to the course I played a few songs that me and my brother Jeff loved.  This is a tough time of the year. I know one thing for sure - Jeff would be enraged if I gave away a day for grief. So, I mentioned golf, knowing he’d be along for the ride. We had all the guys who are the regulars in our 4-some, and there were smiles all around - I basically hadn’t seen any of them since October. Yet, I was worried. My body hasn’t felt great lately. I didn’t think it would be much of a round, but just swinging would be enough. Stepped to the tee, announced that we were off in 2024, and that hit it straight down the middle. There was a lot of standing water and plenty of mud. There wasn’t a lot of bouncing onto the green, but the greens held the chips that Pops - who has dropped a whole bunch of pounds! - kept hitting close. We all hit good to great shots on a day when the colder temperatures kept the distances down. Bu

Alternate Reality

A college football player, when being interviewed at his combine, explained that he doesn’t believe in outer space, or planets or any of that stuff. Seriously. We’ve long heard about the group of people who don’t believe that the earth is round, and there are some who never believed that there were dinosaurs. The other day I watched a Shitler supporter explaining that Biden isn’t President and never was because… …get this… …he’s dead. “So who is the president?” The interviewer asked. “No one. The military is in charge until Trump is ready to take charge again.” I looked at the man. He seemed to be just a normal dude. He also spent a lot of time citing sources and ‘facts’ that prove it all. Dude believes it. And it’s long been insane to me that social media has made everyone believe that they’re equal. Their idiotic opinion means the same as what a nuclear scientist might say about, oh I don’t know, nuclear power! The name-calling has been something being used as a tool to justify some

Jack & Jill

We got the invitation about two months ago. A Jack & Jill party for Matt and his bride to be, Alicia. “What the hell is this?” I asked. “That’s what they do now,” Kathy said. “Kind of a shower and a bachelor party at the same time.” “Are there strippers?” I asked. Then I forgot about it until about three hours before it started. “Ahh, shit,” I thought. Well, we went and had a great time! Basket raffles, a chance to see all the boys that all my boys hung out with when they were kids, and one by one they all came by and talked about how much fun they had at the house all those years. I shook hands with my husband-in-law and spent some time speaking with his parents - they are good, solid people and they were good to my boys - driving them home, and treating them as if they were their own grandkids. We compared grey hairs, and spoke about the coming wedding and it’s always strange to see the kids doing the same weird things we did at that age. Time truly flies on by. I played the bask

Hitching A Ride

We were watching a documentary about a pretty nasty guy - “The Truth About Jim” - and it talked a lot about Santa Rosa girls who were murdered back in the ‘70’s. They were all hitchhikers who got in the wrong car. When I was growing up there were a lot more hitchhikers on the roads. It seemed like you’d see at least a couple a day. “Don’t EVER hitchhike! Don’t EVER pick up a hitchhiker!” Mom’s words were the final words on the subject.  I can honestly say that I never once stuck my thumb out hoping for a ride. Yet, I DID pick up a hitchhiker once. I was driving back to school and it was raining hard. The poor guy was soaked, and when I saw him out there, I felt bad. Man, I was a nervous wreck the entire way! And he was also a weird dude, which made it even worse. He didn’t say a whole lot the entire time he was in the car, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how they were going to find my body in the woods, and he was going to race down Route 5 in my car. It didn’t happen that way, of c

Funny Man

I always enjoyed Richard Lewis as a comedian - particularly when he was trading barbs with Larry David on ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm.’ The two men were lifelong friends and that’s exactly what they played on the show.  The show isn’t tightly scripted so a lot of their banter was off the cuff and was hilarious because they were definitely trying to make one another laugh. Lewis’ health was certainly slipping in recent years and there were plenty of episodes where he didn’t look good… …but I was still a little surprised when news broke that he passed and of course, the tributes poured in. All saying the same sort of thing: A nice man who also happened to be funny. And I immediately thought of a scene between Lewis and David where Larry criticizing his always black attire. “You’re depressing,” Larry said. “When are you going to die?” Larry David laughs as he delivers the line and it also appears that Lewis is about to break up. The scene seems weird now… …Lewis also told David, on the show, th

What Coat Do I Bring?

I checked the temperature when I got to my car yesterday morning. 39 degrees. I was wearing a hoodie and had my high-visibility coat in the back seat. By the time I got to the first job I glanced at the temp again. 54 degrees. I slipped on the coat and headed out. Halfway through the inspection I knew that the hoodie had to go. By 10:30 in the morning I noticed that the outside temperature was up to 62 degrees. In Buffalo. In February!! By 2:00, I heard the news that 68 degrees set the all-time record, but there were dark clouds rolling in. By the time I made it home there were loud thunderstorms in the area and Ollie’s game was called on account of rain. They’re saying that Wednesday will bring 60 mph winds, a drop in temperature of about 30 degrees in an hour’s time, and the possibility of heavy snow - south of the city. And we have a tee time scheduled for Sunday! It’s supposed to be 64 degrees when we tee off. I always travel with extra clothes in my vehicle because I never know wh

Filth

A North Carolina pastor made the news this weekend for his stance on women and rape. I don’t even know the guy’s name and I’m not about to look it up, but he said that if a woman were in shorts and had the misfortune of being raped that he’d have a tough time convicting the rapist because of the shorts! ‘Men will be men,’ was his point. Are you freaking kidding me??? Women can’t wear shorts because men can’t control their animal impulses? The guy was rightfully shamed and he issued an apology, telling us how sad he is about his poor choice of words. That guy may not even win the worst comment of the week. Oklahoma Senator Tom Woods weighed in on the beating death of a 16-year-old transgender human being in a bullying incident. Woods explained that they didn’t want transgender filth in their Christian state. A child died. This dude, as a so-called representative of Christ, decides that the victim was ‘filth.’ The language of these men is reprehensible and what really gets to me is that