Father Time - 1 Tom Brady - 0 & the Rams win

Tom Brady is going home - I can’t say I’m sorry. I’ve never like him, especially during his time with the Patriots. I think there was cheating that went on, no one ever called out.  

Tom is 44 years old and although Tampa Bay made it a close game towards the end, he’s still battling Father Time, like we all are.  Brady has trouble getting out of the pocket, hence the sacks in today’s game.  Football, like all sports, is a young man’s game. 

I think what was constantly lost in the play-by-play by Al Michaels and Chris Collingsworth was the Rams played an amazing game. Matthew Stafford spent years on a shitty team and is now showing what he is capable of. Even with the amazing ending (by the guy who got cut by Tampa Bay) to the game, all Michaels and Collingsworth talked about what BRADY’s amazing comeback. Wait? What? The Rams just pulled off an incredible win. Can we please stop kneeling at the Alter of Brady? 

I have no doubt Brady will be back next year. He’s going to play until all the wheels fall off and that is what the majority of sports fans (except Brady fans) will remember.  

Father Time, just like the house, always wins. 

How COVID hurts more than those that get it

It’s still crazy for me to say it, but I recently had open heart surgery. 

On December 14th I went to the hospital with 102 degree temperature. Turns out I had sepsis that went to my knee and into my heart valve. Eventually, I had to have my heart valve replaced and am finally out of the hospital, at home and recuperating. 

But this blog isn’t about that - it’s about how people with COVID who are hospitalized ultimately effect those without COVID, also hospitalized. 

The nurses shortage is real. I spent more time in bed than I was supposed to because there wasn’t a nurse to get me up and walking.  In talking to the nurses, some nurses are out because they have contracted COVID and some because they refuse to be vaccinated.  I can tell you for sure, this angers the nurses that are working 12 hour shifts.  

The worst part, was the fact no one could come and sit with me. I kept my parents away because I didn’t want them exposed to COVID.  The flurry of doctors that would come in and give me updates, tell what procedures needed to be done next. All very scary and all by myself. There were countless phone calls. To my parents - sometimes at 6 am or to my cousin, Coleen - sometimes at 10 pm.  To my friend Jen who I needed to talk about anything but what was going on with me (we talked baseball). Thankfully I had caring nurses and techs to occasionally hold my had and tell me it was going to be ok.  But that’s not the same as someone who cares and loves you. 

The section of the hospital that I was in before my release, was literally put together in a matter of one day. Nurses getting beds, monitors, supplies within a matter of hours. This is because the section I was supposed to be in, was being used for COVID patients.  

My surgeon who did my valve replacement sent me home within 5 days - instead of the 7-10 days they normally give patients who have this surgery, because “I don’t want you exposed to COVID in the hospital. We have patients who didn’t come in with COVID, now have it” my surgeon told me.   

Patients being treated in hallways, over stressed doctors and nurses with anger, frustration is all real. I saw it all first hand. 

99% of the patients being hospitalized are not vaccinated.  They are on ventilators, they are dying.   

I realize those that refuse to get vaccinated, probably won’t change their minds, no matter what they are told. But it’s important to me that after everything I have been through since mid December, that choices people make do not just effect their loved ones - they are hurting people they will never know. 

What is a Legacy?

“What is a legacy? A legacy is planting seeds in a garden you never get to see” - “The World was Wide Enough” Alexander Hamilton, the musical.

The legacy people leave is honestly based on perspective. One person can remember someone one way, others another. At times people rewrite history to fit a certain narrative. Bottom line - most people do their best to leave behind a legacy of love and memories to those they leave behind. 

For most people, the legacy they leave behind is the scale we all have of good and bad inside us; hoping the good outweighed the bad.  A true lasting legacy is the love and kindness you show those in your life. 

RIP #24

I am an unapologetic sports fan. Baseball has always been my favorite - but basketball ranks a close second. Ask basketball fans who was the best to play the game and you will get a variety of answers, because it’s subjective - for me it was Michael Jordan. He was the reason I fell in love with the game.

Laker fans, if asked that same question, would probably all give the same answer -  #24, Kobe Bryant. Until this past Saturday, he was the 3rd NBA all time Points Leader. He played his entire career in LA, was a 5 time NBA champion, 2 time Olympic gold medal winner, the list goes on and on. He was the face of the franchise, he was - A competitor, he was a winner. 

But he wasn’t just an amazing player, he was a husband and father. He was an Oscar winner (“Dear Basketball”), a children’s book author. He spoke Italian fluently and was a mentor to those that came after him in a sport he loved. 

He admitted that once he retired, he didn’t watch basketball games - until his second oldest daughter, Gianna, started playing. He was recently seen at a Brooklyn Nets game with the 13 year old, clearly sharing his 20 years of basketball wisdom with her. When asked about it later he said that she loved the game, as he did growing up and she hoped to one day play pro basketball just like her dad. He recounted that someone came up to him not long ago and said “You need to have a son, to carry on the legacy.”. When hearing this, Gianna said “Nah, I got this”. She clearly inherited her father’s confidence. 

Sadly, as most of the world is now aware, Kobe and Gianna Bryant were killed on Sunday, January 26th, in a helicopter crash on the way to her basketball game. Gianni was part of a travel team, which Kobe coached. The depth of this tragedy is unimaginable. Gianna was one of three young ladies on the helicopter. In total all nine lives aboard were cut down too soon. 

For the NBA, this is a tough blow, one that will be felt for years to come. There are few players that ascend to the level Kobe did. He was beloved around the league, the country and the world; and those that knew who he was, went well beyond basketball and sports fans. At 41, he had so much more to offer the world, especially the world of basketball. All we are left with is what could have been.  

Rest in Peace #24. You will live on in the hearts of those who loved you, those who admired you and those who loved to watched you play. Your legacy will never be forgotten. 

A tip of the cap to CC

Tonight may have been CC Sabathia’s final time as a Yankee starter. Chances are he will be on the post season roster as a relief pitcher, watching the game from the bullpen, waiting for  a chance to be a part of the Yankees post season run. He is fine with that role. 

Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. came to the Yankees in 2009 as a free agent having previously pitched for the Indians & Brewers. The story goes at the end of Milwaukee’s 2008 season, with a chance to make the playoff for the first time in 26 years, CC volunteered to pitch the final game of the regular season on three days rest. When his agent caught wind of this, he told the manager not to let him pitch. CC in turn told his manager he would start as planned and his agent “you worry about the contacts, I’ll worry about the pitching”. He started and won that game for the Brewers. CC has always been “Team First” player. He clearly still is. 

In 2009 CC signed along AJ Burnett and Mark Teixeira, opened the new Yankee Stadium and with the core four, gave NY Yankee fans the team’s 27 Championship. In the 10 years since, CC had had his ups and downs, professionally and personally. There were the constant stories around his weight (too fat, too skinny), knee problems and a stint in rehab for addiction to alcohol. But his ability to reach down and get an out when he looked like he had nothing left, his pure joy for a teammates accomplishments, his fiery attitude during a game on the mound or in the dugout, negate any rough patches CC had had. He truly is the workhorse he had been labeled. For that, Yankee fans will always be grateful. 

I want nothing more than for CC to finish his time in New York with another World Series win. But today we tip our cap to Carsten Charles Sabathia, Jr. and know we’ll see you in Cooperstown. For now, we’ll see you in October.

 

Yes, Yankee fans are spoiled

Yankee fans are spoiled and we own that. It’s been 10 years since our last World Series title and we’re itching for another. I get it - if you’re a Mets fan, you’re rolling your eyes and you have every right to. But, it doesn’t change how impatient Yankee fans are getting, this season more than ever.

The 2009 Yankees team looked much different than this 2019 team. The 2009 team was loaded with veterans, most notably the “Core Four”, now all retired. Our current team is a much younger team who want to experience that feeling of being World Champions . They hear the stories, see the pictures, watch the vidoes of the celebrations, the deafening cheers from Yankee fans, the parade down the Cannon Of Heroes. They know this season they have the chance to experience that. 

In some ways it feels like yesterday when the Yankees won that last championship. It did make me think of all the changes we’ve seen over these last 10 years. The guys we’ve lost - Yogi, Don Zimmer and Mel Stottlemyre. Jeter is now a married father of two, Mariano is in the HOF and the aforementioned “Core Four” are now Old Timers. Time has a way of zipping past faster than a Chapman fastball. 

I think for me, the only thing that will feel weird is seeing someone other than Mariano Rivera, on the mound, calmly and precisiously getting those last three outs at home, followed by the Yankees celebrating their Fall Classic win. But - I’m a tree, I can bend. 

All that said, I’m looking forward to the regular season wrapping up and the start of the playoffs, ending in the Yankees grabbing Number 28 (pause for a Mets fans 🙄)

As always (and forever) Go Yankees! 

The Fowler, Mariano connection

Having something, anything in common with Mariano Rivera would be great; except a devastating injury. Last night Dustin Fowler went full speed into a short wall in Chicago during the bottom of the  first inning as the Yankees played the White Sox. In a freak accident Fowler hit an electrical box which cut his patella tendon (knee). As he was carted off the field with his teammates around him I was immediately reminded of Mariano Rivera's 2012 season ending ACL/MCL tear while shagging fly balls prior to a game against the Royals in Kansas City. Enter Sandman. It was something Mo did all the time. Like, Dustin, Mo went down without warning, unable to stand on his own and required surgery that would derail the remainder of his season. That is not where the similarities end. Like Mo vowing to return the next season ready to pitch; Dustin has already made that same vow.

From his hospital room, post surgery Dustin told the media, his team and his manager he would work hard (as he has always done) and do everything required to get back on the field. He added that fighting for his chance to play the game he has loved his entire life, will make that first at bat "that much sweeter".

If I could say anything to Dustin Fowler it would be to remind him Mariano Rivera showed Yankees and baseball fans alike nothing is impossible. That no matter how bad the injury or how hard the rehabilitation is, it can be done. The other thing I would tell Fowler is that Mariano was 20 years older than he is when Mo went through this. Youth is a definite healing advantage. As you both said "I'll be back, count on it". We will Dustin, we will.

So, take heart young warrior, as I wrote just a little over 5 years ago:

Isaiah 41:10 "fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

As always, GO YANKEES!