The last time I posted to this blog was June 30, 2010.
At that time...
The Mets were still alive in the 2010 pennant race.
Obama and the Democrats still controlled Congress.
I'd not yet seen the first episode of my favorite new TV shows, "Blue Bloods."
I had a different boss at work than I do now.
We hadn't installed a gas fireplace in our living room
I had not read the latest John Grisham novel "The Confession"
I had never had an MRI.
Mary's Mom was still with us and our nephew Chip had not yet gotten married.
My son Dan had never been bitten by a dog.
My other son Dave thought the Eagles were going to start Kevin Kolb at quarterback. As a matter of fact so did Eagles' Coach Andy Reid.
The Jets hadn't appeared on "Hard Knocks," and we'd never seen a video of Jets coach Rex Ryan's wife's feet.
I had a Twitter account.
I had never been to the new Meadowlands Stadium.
I had never seen Aretha Franklin or Harry Connick Jr. perform in person.
And I really thought I'd be posting to this blog every so often.
In many ways, it was a six-month period like so many others.
So good things happened, others not so good...some happy, some sad, some expected, some unexpected.
I plan to be better this year in keeping written track of such things and more.
But we've been down that promise road before.
We'll see. For now, a belated Happy New Year!
What I know so far in 2011 is that both the Jets and the Mets are unbeaten.
That will very likely change in the not too distant future.
Later.
6.30.2010
A time to share?
Frequently in past years, I've gotten emails and phone calls from sales people offering all manner of come-ons if I would sit down for a couple of hours and listen to a pitch about buying a time share.
I had always previously ignored them.
But last January, someone from Hilton called and made a really good offer. Two nights in a midtown NYC hotel, including parking for a ridiculous rate, as well as $200 toward a future Hilton property stay. Born and raised there, I still love NYC, and so I said yes, Mary and I would give them two hours of our time in exchange for that.
I set the date to coincide with our 29th wedding anniversary. I made plans with good friends who live in town and our son Dave who lives just outside it in Hoboken. And I picked up two tickets to see "Promises, Promises" on Broadway.
Then I did some homework and read about all the horror stories people had to share about these pitches. They were pressured. They were made to feel like garbage if they didn't go for it. Or worse, they went for it and were then quickly struck by buyer's remorse.
But they didn't have what I had as my secret weapon. They didn't have Mary, who never met a financial offer she couldn't refuse.
Our time came at 11 a.m. Saturday. A young Asian man named Leonard introduced himself as Lenny and started off with all sorts of friendly chatter about nothing that mattered -- aside from revealing that he is a Mets fan, which always matters.
We went nowhere on the pitch -- scheduled to last two hours -- for the first 20 minutes or so. I was thinking the longer I let him ramble on about nothing, the less of the pitch I'd have to hear. Mary, she later told me, was bored.
Eventually he got to the pitch, but of course no hard numbers. We heard all about the "benefits" of time share ownership, and he tried mightily to pin down our regular travel habits. Turns out we have none.
We'd let him know from the start that he had very little chance of making this sale -- and then proceeded to show him why. Finally, sales person No. 2 entered the conversation -- about an hour and 20 minutes into it. He was the first to give us numbers, which of course were ridiculously high for something we'd never really "own." But I could tell his heart wasn't in it. Lenny had apparently already given him the lowdown on us.
Finally, they brought in the closer, a guy who I think really believed he was making an offer we could not refuse -- another stay at another location, this time in Florida for seven days, and another sales pitch all for another ridiculously low price.
We somehow managed to resist, and in the end walked out with our free night certificates, a $100 gift card to pay for the parking, and our pride and pocketbooks in continued good stead.
They never had a prayer. We had a great weekend and Mary and I, marking 29 years together, had once again proven we are an unbeatable team.
Later.
I had always previously ignored them.
But last January, someone from Hilton called and made a really good offer. Two nights in a midtown NYC hotel, including parking for a ridiculous rate, as well as $200 toward a future Hilton property stay. Born and raised there, I still love NYC, and so I said yes, Mary and I would give them two hours of our time in exchange for that.
I set the date to coincide with our 29th wedding anniversary. I made plans with good friends who live in town and our son Dave who lives just outside it in Hoboken. And I picked up two tickets to see "Promises, Promises" on Broadway.
Then I did some homework and read about all the horror stories people had to share about these pitches. They were pressured. They were made to feel like garbage if they didn't go for it. Or worse, they went for it and were then quickly struck by buyer's remorse.
But they didn't have what I had as my secret weapon. They didn't have Mary, who never met a financial offer she couldn't refuse.
Our time came at 11 a.m. Saturday. A young Asian man named Leonard introduced himself as Lenny and started off with all sorts of friendly chatter about nothing that mattered -- aside from revealing that he is a Mets fan, which always matters.
We went nowhere on the pitch -- scheduled to last two hours -- for the first 20 minutes or so. I was thinking the longer I let him ramble on about nothing, the less of the pitch I'd have to hear. Mary, she later told me, was bored.
Eventually he got to the pitch, but of course no hard numbers. We heard all about the "benefits" of time share ownership, and he tried mightily to pin down our regular travel habits. Turns out we have none.
We'd let him know from the start that he had very little chance of making this sale -- and then proceeded to show him why. Finally, sales person No. 2 entered the conversation -- about an hour and 20 minutes into it. He was the first to give us numbers, which of course were ridiculously high for something we'd never really "own." But I could tell his heart wasn't in it. Lenny had apparently already given him the lowdown on us.
Finally, they brought in the closer, a guy who I think really believed he was making an offer we could not refuse -- another stay at another location, this time in Florida for seven days, and another sales pitch all for another ridiculously low price.
We somehow managed to resist, and in the end walked out with our free night certificates, a $100 gift card to pay for the parking, and our pride and pocketbooks in continued good stead.
They never had a prayer. We had a great weekend and Mary and I, marking 29 years together, had once again proven we are an unbeatable team.
Later.
6.11.2010
Time flies
The Mets are in Baltimore this weekend, and it looks like, weather permitting, some of the family may go to one or more of the games.
Oldest son Dave and I started text messaging about this Thursday night. He said he was pumped to go and that Camden Yards, located near Baltimore's harbor, was a beautiful park.
My text message response: "It was 8 years or so ago the last time we were there."
I originally was going to say 10 years, but I thought that may have been too many.
Turns out I was wrong.
The last time my family went to a game at Camden Yards -- also with the Mets in town -- was 1999.
Geez.
Clinton was president.
There were no blogs or tweets.
John Franco was still the Mets' closer -- I know this because younger son Dan remembers Franco giving him not one but two baseballs over the course of the two games we attended. Dan would have been 10 at the time. Dave would have been 16.
Dan also remembers Dave losing one of those Franco balls when he was trying to ctach a Mike Piazza batting practice home run ball.
Some wounds take longer to heal than others.
It stunned both Dave and me that it could have been that long. Even years. Amazin.!
Camden Yards is, as he said, a beautiful ballpark and we all really liked it and the harbor the times we were there.
The past three years, with the family homestead being in Northern Virginia, we've lived all of an hour and 10 minutes from that ballpark. That's about what it used to take to get from Mount Olive, N.J. to Shea Stadium back in the day.
But no, we haven't been back since 1999.
I'd say we're due.
Later.
Oldest son Dave and I started text messaging about this Thursday night. He said he was pumped to go and that Camden Yards, located near Baltimore's harbor, was a beautiful park.
My text message response: "It was 8 years or so ago the last time we were there."
I originally was going to say 10 years, but I thought that may have been too many.
Turns out I was wrong.
The last time my family went to a game at Camden Yards -- also with the Mets in town -- was 1999.
Geez.
Clinton was president.
There were no blogs or tweets.
John Franco was still the Mets' closer -- I know this because younger son Dan remembers Franco giving him not one but two baseballs over the course of the two games we attended. Dan would have been 10 at the time. Dave would have been 16.
Dan also remembers Dave losing one of those Franco balls when he was trying to ctach a Mike Piazza batting practice home run ball.
Some wounds take longer to heal than others.
It stunned both Dave and me that it could have been that long. Even years. Amazin.!
Camden Yards is, as he said, a beautiful ballpark and we all really liked it and the harbor the times we were there.
The past three years, with the family homestead being in Northern Virginia, we've lived all of an hour and 10 minutes from that ballpark. That's about what it used to take to get from Mount Olive, N.J. to Shea Stadium back in the day.
But no, we haven't been back since 1999.
I'd say we're due.
Later.
6.04.2010
Careful what you ask for
Now that the furor has quited a bit over umpire Jim Joyce's awful call that cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game Wednesday night, the calls for quick action on establishing expanded instant replay are growing.
Any reasonable fan who has seen the replay of the blown call can't help but think this whole issue could have been avoided if there was a system in place to allow for review of close plays.
Of course, had there been we would have all missed the greatest exhibition of class we've seen in sports for a long time. I don't know about you, but I will remember the way Galarraga and Joyce conducted themselves immediately after the call and in the hours that followed, much longer than I would have ever remembered a perfect game.
But back to the replay thing.
There really is no need to discuss whether baseball should use replay. It already does on matters of questionable home runs and on fair/foul calls. The latter is especially needed at the Mets new home, Citi Field, which for some reason has ridiculously short foul(fair?) poles.
But how far should it expand?
Many people already complain about the slow pace of baseball games. Adding replay without strict limitations will only add to that problem.
I think I'd go with a variation of the National Football League's rules. First, give managers a very limited amount of challenges to umpires' calls -- one or at maximum two per game.
In football, a coach has incentive to tread carefully, because if a call is not overturned, he loses a time out. There are no time out limitations in baseball, so perhaps if a manager loses on a first appeal, he could automatically forfeit his second one.
Of course, if a manager uses his challenges early, than he might not be able to challenge the bad call on the 27th out of a perfect game.
So perhaps there could be a provision for booth review in the ninth inning, regardless of previous challenges.
You can't let replay overcome the game. I'd limit expanded review to plays at bases and catches or traps. Managers are automatically ejected now if they argue balls and strikes, so there can be no place for review on those calls. And check swings should also be unreviewable.
Just a few thoughts from a baseball fan, who, by the way, is very happy Commissioner Bud Selig did not overturn Joyce's incorrect decision.
That, unlike Joyce's, was the right call.
Any reasonable fan who has seen the replay of the blown call can't help but think this whole issue could have been avoided if there was a system in place to allow for review of close plays.
Of course, had there been we would have all missed the greatest exhibition of class we've seen in sports for a long time. I don't know about you, but I will remember the way Galarraga and Joyce conducted themselves immediately after the call and in the hours that followed, much longer than I would have ever remembered a perfect game.
But back to the replay thing.
There really is no need to discuss whether baseball should use replay. It already does on matters of questionable home runs and on fair/foul calls. The latter is especially needed at the Mets new home, Citi Field, which for some reason has ridiculously short foul(fair?) poles.
But how far should it expand?
Many people already complain about the slow pace of baseball games. Adding replay without strict limitations will only add to that problem.
I think I'd go with a variation of the National Football League's rules. First, give managers a very limited amount of challenges to umpires' calls -- one or at maximum two per game.
In football, a coach has incentive to tread carefully, because if a call is not overturned, he loses a time out. There are no time out limitations in baseball, so perhaps if a manager loses on a first appeal, he could automatically forfeit his second one.
Of course, if a manager uses his challenges early, than he might not be able to challenge the bad call on the 27th out of a perfect game.
So perhaps there could be a provision for booth review in the ninth inning, regardless of previous challenges.
You can't let replay overcome the game. I'd limit expanded review to plays at bases and catches or traps. Managers are automatically ejected now if they argue balls and strikes, so there can be no place for review on those calls. And check swings should also be unreviewable.
Just a few thoughts from a baseball fan, who, by the way, is very happy Commissioner Bud Selig did not overturn Joyce's incorrect decision.
That, unlike Joyce's, was the right call.
5.26.2010
This and that about that and this
Sorry to report the George Mason baseball team didn't make the post-season tournament after all. The Patriots needed to sweep Towson last weekend to get there and didn't. Still, it was a fun season. Dan got to play a good bit down the stretch and we made some new friends among the parents.
So now it's off to summer baseball, as Dan will be playing for the Loudoun County, Va.-based TC Twins in the National Adult Baseball Association D.C. Wood Bat League. First game is tonight and for once no travel is involved. The game is at Potomac Falls High, a half mile from our front door, under the lights at 7:45.
****
Great weekend just passed. Went to Long Island and Mary, Megan and I hooked up with Katie and Nick and Dave to celebrate the 60th anniversary of our favorite aunt and uncle -- George and Bernice Muller. We also went to a party celebrating the second birthday of grand-niece Angie and then went to a hotel in Plainview to celebrate Mary's birthday. Great to be together and have some quality family time.
Only bad part was way too much driving -- about 12 hours round trip. Ouch.
****
Sadly, the next bit of family time was in Richmond Monday at the funeral of cousin Kathy Kirk, who died way too young of a brain tumor at the age of 59. Mary, Megan and I attended. As sad as the occasion was, a nice job was done celebrating Kathy's life, and we did get to see some family members we haven't seen in some time.
RIP, Kathy. You'll be missed.
****
Personal notes aside, I am pumped that the 2014 Super Bowl will be played at the new Meadowlands Stadium. It's worth a role of the dice on possible bad weather. Most years in the past five, it'd been just fine, with temps in the 40s and even 50s.
Now all I need is for the Jets to be playing in it -- and OK, maybe the Giants too.
Later.
So now it's off to summer baseball, as Dan will be playing for the Loudoun County, Va.-based TC Twins in the National Adult Baseball Association D.C. Wood Bat League. First game is tonight and for once no travel is involved. The game is at Potomac Falls High, a half mile from our front door, under the lights at 7:45.
****
Great weekend just passed. Went to Long Island and Mary, Megan and I hooked up with Katie and Nick and Dave to celebrate the 60th anniversary of our favorite aunt and uncle -- George and Bernice Muller. We also went to a party celebrating the second birthday of grand-niece Angie and then went to a hotel in Plainview to celebrate Mary's birthday. Great to be together and have some quality family time.
Only bad part was way too much driving -- about 12 hours round trip. Ouch.
****
Sadly, the next bit of family time was in Richmond Monday at the funeral of cousin Kathy Kirk, who died way too young of a brain tumor at the age of 59. Mary, Megan and I attended. As sad as the occasion was, a nice job was done celebrating Kathy's life, and we did get to see some family members we haven't seen in some time.
RIP, Kathy. You'll be missed.
****
Personal notes aside, I am pumped that the 2014 Super Bowl will be played at the new Meadowlands Stadium. It's worth a role of the dice on possible bad weather. Most years in the past five, it'd been just fine, with temps in the 40s and even 50s.
Now all I need is for the Jets to be playing in it -- and OK, maybe the Giants too.
Later.
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