i ran into a fortune teller

 who said beware of lightning that might strike

I haven’t known peace and quiet for so long I can’t remember what it’s like (Dylan)

some observations from a full slate of Hockey last night. My preseason prognostications included my highest of hopes for the Coyotes and the Redwings....the two teams that i felt were still a year or two away, but definitely on the rise......

well after last night we may have to put the YOTES on accelerated watchlist.....down at home 4-0 with less than 5 minutes to play in the second period against the League leading Avalanche....the young pups erupted......scored 3 unanswered goals...then pulled their goalie with 2 minutes to play and score the game tying goal....and then won in OT.....this is the type of win the defines seasons.....i love this team....they are young, talented and starting to really believe in themselves.......15,000 to 1 at the start of the season...they now hold one of the wild card spots and are hitting stride.....there's something brewing in the desert. 

As for the Redwings......the eastern conf is no joke.....but this is another young and talented team and they are hanging around for a final wild card.....any thoughts that Patty Kanes is washed up were premature....he signed around Thanksgiving and made his debut in early December....he now has 6 goals and has lit the lamp in 4 straight.......if this scrappy team sneaks into the postseason...watch out.

Blueshirts keep rolling, a 5-1 payback win last night over the Caps and a balanced scoring attack...as much as i love Krieder, i feel this team rises and falls around MIKA.......as Zibanejad goes, so goes the Rangers.....he makes everyone else on the ice better, he is a "playmaker" and when he is on, watch out.....and Kudos to Drury for the Free agent signing of the Year in Jamie Quick....a 2 time Stanley Cup Champ, he is driving and challenging Igor to be better...he will play a significant role down the stretch and into the playoffs.

I was hoping the Penguins would go for 2 after establishing a 6-0 lead over the fishtix , but they settled for 1 ( 7-0).......

tickets =  Expensive

parking = ridiculous

Beer & Food$    = Extortion

taking the family to a Christmas week blowout loss  =  Priceless

2+3 = BEEER

There’s a lone soldier on the cross, smoke pourin’ out of a boxcar door
You didn’t know it, you didn’t think it could be done, in the final end he won the wars
After losin’ every battle

Election Talking Points

 less than 10 months til the Election.

American serviceman attacked in Iraq on Christmas day. At least1 critically injured.

Pentagon launches unspecified retaliatory attacks on Iranian proxies.

Biden heads to St Croix with the Good doctor for a family vacation.

if that is what you want from your Commander in Chief, then go ahead and vote for Joe in November.

  

we three kings

of orient are,

drinking whiskey in the nude bar (Mojo Nixon)

the most inappropriate Christmas album award goes to Mojo Nixon hands down..... a complete insane rewrite of some classic tunes for the thick skinned.

i saw today that the Jets have a home game against the Redskins and it got me thinking back to a Christmas Eve game i attended in 1989. On an absolutely frigid day the Giants hosted the Raiders at the Meadowlands needing a victory to hold off the Feagles and clinch the NFC East. I didn't have full season tickets back then, but my Uncle Pat would give me tix for a game or two each year....so Donn and i were guests of his brother Mike and his tailgate crew. These guys were professionals....i have never attended a better tailgate before or since......from the roadkill chili-stew from the Chuck Wagon to the coolers of ice-cold beers aplenty. On this day that went one step further. I had to look it up for the official record.....game time kickoff at 1:00 was 14 degrees......when we left Bayridge at 7:30 a.m. it was probably single digits. The parking lot was only half full at that early hour....only the diehards were braving the elements a full 4 hours before game time. In Truth, as we drove around the lot; I hardly saw anyone standing around outside.  We took a spot but there was no sign of the guys......just a few unoccupied cars and a big box U-Haul truck......strangely enough there was an unmanned grill in the empty spot next to the truck........suddenly that back door of the Truck opened up and inside was about 7 or 8 guys with Beach Chairs, Coolers, blasting heat and the pregame show playing on the trucks radio......BRILLIANT !  They rented a truck for the weekend......we climbed aboard, grabbed a beer and joined the indoor tailgate circle. Every 15 minutes the door would open again and someone would check the grill and bring back a platter of Hot Dogs or whatever was cooking ......the ultimate answer to the elements.

As for the Game the Giants won.......Meggett had a punt return for a TD and the Defense shut the Raiders down in the 2nd half.....i remember that it was sooo cold in the stadium , that if you spilled a little beer on the concrete under your feet, it would freeze over in less than a minute.......i refreshed my memory thanks to the internet....the Giants would end up losing 2 weeks later on the Flipper Anderson runway touchdown in the playoffs to the Rams and the 49ers went on to win the Super Bowl.

Mike if you are reading this today, thanks for some Great Tailgate memories over the years....not just this one....but this one was my favorite....I can't remember the names of all the guys from that crew, but they were first class all the way....thanks again

remember.......2+3=BEEER

Merry Christmas to one and All !

Danger Bird, he flies alone

 And he rides the wind back to his home

Although his wings have turned to stone (N. Young)

so i am watching the news and they were doing a story about the Lockerbie bombing that happened 35 years ago today.....and it got me thinking about another horrific air disaster....one that is not remembered or talked about in pop culture....one that occured around Christmas, one that killed 248 US Army Servicemen and women, one that Islamic Jihad took credit for but the US and Canadian Govt dismissed as an aviation accident.

On Dec 12th 1985 Arrow Air stopped in Gander Newfoundland to refuel on its journey from West Germany to Ft Campbell , Kentucky. ( 2 months prior i was on Arrow Air in the opposite direction, my flight went from Norfolk to Bangor Maine before refueling for our flight across that Atlantic Ocean and ultimately Diego Garcia)

Flight 1285 took off and apparently stalled and crashed less than a mile down the road from the airport ...all passenger and crew were killed on impact. The US & Canadian Govts investigated and came to the conclusion that ice on the wings was the culprit.... even though experts testified that there was no way possible that ice could bring down a DC-8....even though an islamic jihad group took credit for a bomb, even though the investigation also raised concerns that the weight of the plane was underestimated, and that extra weight created a drag that the engine could not overcome. 

NOPE...it was ice ......after all these years i guess it doesn't matter......but it always stuck with me. Arrow Air was a commercial airline that basically served the Department of Defense....after the accident ALL Arrow Airplanes were grounded. Eventually they lost their DOD contracts and went out of business. 7 months later i flew home from the indian ocean for the grand Reopening of the Statue of Liberty and all of my flights were on Air Force c-140 cargo hops....we flew with pallets of equipment and were strapped into the jump seats that paratroopers would normally sit....but those are stories for another day.

After all these years i guess it doesn't matter.....unless that was your sibling, your child, your parent that was on their way home 2 weeks before Christmas. They suffered the cruelest of fates and their lives were surely changed if not destroyed. I don't think you get over that...i don't think you ever celebrate Christmas again.

What surely was a jovial and raucous group at takeoff for their final leg of their journey , saw joy turn to death in a flash......after all these years i guess it doesn't matter....but it does to me and i think about those families every year. It is one of the reasons that I always volunteered to take duty and stay on the ship Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.....so the guys with wives and children in the Jacksonville area could stay home for a respite. .....life is short 

And though these wings have turned to stone
I can fly, fly, fly away
Watch me fly above the city
Like a shadow on the sky

Everyday brings change,

 and the world puts on a new face

Sudden things rearrange,

 and this whole world seems like a new place (The Marvelettes)

things are very different today than they were just a few days ago. The metaphorical fog has lifted and suddenly i can see clearly like Johnny Nash, but i hope i am wrong.

Donal Trump is killing dementia Joe in most polls.....yesterdcay the important battleground state of Michigan....a part of sleepy Joe rust belt stronghold (he won by 3 % points in 2020) had poll results with Trump leading by 10 points.

and today they white house is putting on a full court press with the MSM to portray Joe as an empathetic character.....a good Dad that only cares about his sons wellbeing. And Poor Poor Hunter is scared for his future and has told his inner circle that he will have to flee the country for his own safety if Trump wins....

what happens next ? 

I suspect the DEM Machine has already approached Joe and given him the script......

Joe gives a tear jerker speech about God and Family and then pardons Hunter, not because he is guilty of anything; but because Trump is an evil dictator that will use the justice system to execute his political adversaries. (they are masters of accusing the other side of doing whatever it is that they are actually guilty of) Then Joe concludes by saying he is stepping down .

Kamal toe gets to be the first black female POTUS and the Dems get credit for making it happen.

since we are so close to the Election that Dems have a special election between Harris and Newsome to see who the people want as their candidate...and guess who wins.

and if Joe rejects the script ?  Schumer and Pelosi will threaten to stop blocking investigations and they will assist the Republican in hanging the entire biden crime family....right down to little Hailey Boo hoo Biden.,  Joe has no choice to accept. and he, the witch doctor jill , hunter and bags of money and coke will be loaded into the Beverly Hillbillies truck for the short ride to Rehobeth Beach.......but before he leaves Joe will leave a letter for the Kumallah...admitting once and for all that 2+3=BEEER

What's this whole world comin' to
Things just ain't the same
Any time the hunter gets captured by the game

My Brother Esau killed a Hunter

 back in 1969

And before the killing was done,
His inheritance was mine.  (Barlow-Weir)

no, Bob wasn't talking about THAT Hunter....not the commander in chief's son that stood on the steps of the Capitol and defied a subpoena. Poor old Hunter Biden painted a sad self portrait of man that was in the grips of a drug addiction, unable to function and on the brink of death....but his daddy helped him through the addiction. And although he still struggles with it, he is currently clean. he also said that Joe Biden was never financially involved in His business.

so if you are keeping score at home.....the Biden Crime Family lie has narrowed in scope as the facts emerge.

I never asked my son about his business, EVER.

I never invested in my son's companies.

I was never financially involved in his business.

all this why boasting that he witheld aid on behalf of the United States until the Ukraine fired a prosecutor who was investigating Burisma. Hunter sat on the board of Directors for Burisma, but clearly Joe didn't know.

so through the sin of omission we can conclude that Joe did talk to Hunter about Business. He knew that his son was selling access to him and ..he was enriched by the business (10 million for the Big Guy). ...........and if he wasn't selling access to his Father.....why would Burisma hire a hopeless American drug addict with no past experience in the Energy field, to sit on the Board of a Ukranian Energy Firm?

how bout the Presidents of Harvard, Penn and MIT testifying about rampant antisemitic protests on their Campus. The calls for Genocide of the Jews from the River to the Sea. 

3 female elitist who went to Capitol Hill and were going to talk circles around silly politicians. talking about context and being Champions of Free Speech and they were going to leave everyone speechless with their brilliance.....well....it didn't quite go that way.

Elise Stefanik grilled them and exposed THEIR ignorance and prejudice. 

in the aftermath, the white President from Penn was fired......the white President from MIT is facing a backlash from 700 faculty and alumni to step down........the black President from Harvard is having a statue of herself built in the commons. Claudine Gray , who has been investigated for dozens of cases of plagiarism; refuses to step down and the smug Harvard elite seem fine with that.  

With their heads tucked firmly in the sand they just can't fire a black woman...it would ruin their next Diversity and Inclusion celebration........

Diversity and inclusion without merit is nothing more than Affirmative Action on steroids. 

and 2+3=BEEER , no matter what the elitists try to tell you.

Greg Schiano just received a 7 year extension to keep coaching Rutgers Football at $6 million a year....a sports program that continuously loses money at a State School that continuously raises tuition. Just remember it's the Banks Fault that you are drowning in student loan debt, NOT the Education system as a whole.

We shadowdance the silent war within.
The shadowdance, it never ends...
Never ends, never ends.
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse, yet again...
Yet again.
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse,
And wandering the land.

  

If i had a gun

 for every ace I've drawn

I could arm a town the size of Abilene
Don't you push me baby cause I'm moaning low
You know I'm only in it for the gold (Hunter-Garcia)

yep, listening to Jerry this morning singing about a LOSER.....oh well.....the squids hung in there and played their hearts out....Army was the better team.....but first year coach Brian Newbury also seemed to melt under the bright lights......first possession of the game he called for an ill-advised pass while in field goal range and it was picked off....in a tight game you really have to seize points when you can........later in the game he went for a 2 point conversion and failed......thus on the final drive they needed a TD and a 2 point conversion just to tie..........i did think we lost every close call and video review......but obviously i am biased........i did not expect to win the game but the longer we hung around the more my hopes did spike........on the bright side i hit the $200 halftime pool........and with that ridiculous safety on the final play i hit the $200 final.....so i got back everything i laid out on food and beeer....and of course 2+3=BEEER

Everybody's bragging and drinking that wine
I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shine
Come to Daddy on an inside straight
I got no chance of losing this time
No, I got no chance of losing this time

America's Game

Today the men of the Naval Academy in Annapolis and the Military Academy at West Point, will take to the grid iron in battle for a share or complete control of the Commander in Chief trophy. For the Seniors it will be their final day of childhood games, what awaits them on the battlefields of the planet are anyone's guess. Let's hope that both sides play to their potential, a mistake free game and nobody gets hurt. Leave it ALL on the field and may the better team win......assuming it's Navy....and if it's not, let's hope Army fumbles a lot.

2+3=BEEER

a lot of BEEER today 

Let's Go Brandon

Money

 So they say

Is the root of all evil today  (Pink Floyd)

nothing that happens in sports really surprises me anymore....but the recent bowl selections caught me off guard.......we know everything is dictated by money but ironically, they may have missed a chance to earn  a few more sheckles.....every open bowl slot was filled on Sunday afternoon....most likely so the respective bowls could get busy advertising and selling their game....with the helmets of the 2 schools on the logo.....understood.

the problem is to be selected for a Bowl you need 6 wins..........Army and Navy have 5 wins each and were not eligible........Army and Navy play each other saturday.....someone has to win....why not have one of the bowls select  Eastern Michigan or James Madison and say that their opponent will be the WINNER of the Army Navy game.?  

It benefits that Army Navy game by adding additional element of consequence.

It benefits the Bowl game because the announcers will talking about that bowl all day to a national TV audience......something the Myrtle Beach Bowl or the Duke's Mayonnaise Bowl could only wish for. 

but what do i know about marketing .....besides 2+3=BEEER

New car, caviar, four star, daydream
Think I'll buy me a football team