Conquistador, there is no time

 I must pay my respects

And though I came to jeer at you, I leave now with regrets
And as the gloom begins to fall
I see there is no, only all
I know you came with sword held high
You did not conquer, only die ( Procul Haram)

pay no attention to the calendar or the standings......after 5 months of jockeying for position, the quest for Lord Stanley's Cup begins today. With the trade deadline in the background, skaters are looking around the dressing room and saying this is who we are going to war with.....no more hired guns are coming to save the day......

I am satisfied with Chris Drury's transactions........there was no reason to ransom the future for an aging star to save the day....so it seems he decided to bolster the defense and hope to ride a hot goaltender....start winning 2-1, 3-2..........and that is a playoff hockey mentality...........the younger guys have been keeping us relevant all season.....Will Cuylle is the best player on the team in my opinion ......let's get in first and then hope for the best from Igor.....if we advance, maybe we sign Gabe Perrault when BC is finished winning the Frozen Four.......but it starts today against Ottawa.

One prediction........I think Connor Hellebuyck has always been an Elite goalie....but after going toe to toe with his American mates against Team Canada, i think his confidence level is sky high.....I think he Carries Winnipeg to the Cup Finals on his back...  

anywhoo.......i was on the sidelines for a few weeks with work and a mini vacation.....BUT i am back.........buckle up for the playoffs.....GO TRUMP.........2+3=BEEEER

Though I hoped for, something to find
I could see no maze to unwind

Johnny, Roisin up your bow

and play your fiddle hard
'Cause Hell's broke loose in Georgia and the Devil deals the cards
And if you win, you get this shiny fiddle made of gold

But if you lose, the Devil gets your soul (Charlie Daniels)

Donald J Trump just played the Demonrats like a Stradivarius.....in yet another major issue facing Americans; the Republicans have seized the High ground and stand with the masses....the working class men and women , the ones whose only crime is driving to work, the cops, firemen and nurses that work overnight shifts and keep this city functioning , the ones that just want to live to see the sunrise and chose to drive into the cesspool of Manhattan instead of risking lives and limbs on the lawless mass transit system.......the Republicans STAND with You.

Kathy Horseface hochul wants to turn Manhattan into an elitist playground, where only the 1% can afford to visit ......Utopia on the Hudson....no cars.....no peasants parking in front of the doorman apartment buildings.....why stop there Kathy ? why not ban those noisy garbage trucks that wake us up everyday.....and those large tractor trailers that deliver Food....and the UPS gas guzzlers that delivers trinkets from china on an hourly basis........can't get enough of a good idea. 

Yesterday was the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Iwo Jima.....a bloody siege that would change the course of the War in the Pacific and the direction of mans time on the planet....it took 4 days for the US forces to take control of mt Suribachi and Raise the Flag over the island on Feb 23rd......the fighting would continue for 6 weeks and see 7,000 Americans lose their lives.....there aren't enough words to describe the heroism and importance of this battle and i know my readers are well versed on the subject.....but i can still implore you to give it some thought today, say a quick prayer and raise a glass in their memory.

Tonight the Red , White and Blue take to the ice to face our future 51st state in the 4 Nations Final.......truth be told i am nervous....very, very nervous......but it would be a great way to Kickoff Sweater Nite 27 weekend........here is an updated lineup of events

tonight:    The Globe in Redbank

Friday:    Happy Hour - Salty Dog

Saturday   12:00 Pregame skate Kelly's (4th or 5th ave...your choice)

                      2:00  the main event PC's

Sunday    wrap up morning beers and brunch @ the Gregory

2+3=BEEER

Well, that ol' Devil bowed his head because he knew that he'd been beat
And he laid that golden fiddle down on the ground at Johnny's feet
Johnny said, "Devil, come on back if you ever wanna try again
I done told you once, you son of a bitch, I'm the best there's ever been"
And he played........

Some Rise

 Some fall

Some climb
To get to terrapin (Hunter-Garcia)

Athletes are all different....that is what makes sports so compelling.....this isn't the Punt, Pass and Kick competition ....we don't measure athletic ability as an individual statistical performance and declare a winner...we play team games....chemistry is as important as ability.....coaches make difficult decisions on personnel and try to match their players strength with the opponents weakness ......and then drive, determination and emotion are usually the deciding factors.

Last night was one of the more epic clashes we have seen in a while....if the tension wasn't tight enough with the USA and CANADA playing at the professional level for the first time in what feels like forever....(it was actually 9 years ago) throw in the political animosity of the last month with President Trump calling for Canada to join America as our 51st state and referring to that sissy trudeau as the Governor. ( I tried hard to have a team Canada jersey made for Sweater Nite with the # 51 and STATE on the back....but they could not guarantee delivery in time for the Gala)

As expected, the frogs of montreaux boooed our beloved Anthem.

What happened next was not expeted.....at the dropping of the puck, Matthew Tkachuk dropped his gloves and immediately fought Braden Hagel.......while those 2 were throwing down....younger brother Brady Tkachuk was calling on Canadian tough guy Sam Bennet from one bench to the other to get on the ice ..........after the ice cleared and the puck dropped again.....Brady and Sam dropped the gloves and we had round 2.......play eventually resumed after another face off and the puck was shot into the zone there was a scramble in front of the net....after that quick whistle JT Miller dropped the gloves against Colton Parayko.......3 separate fights in the first 9 seconds of play..........after that we had a few hours of clean, hard hitting intense hockey....where bitter regular season rivals become your Hero's.....Jake Guentzel killed the Rangers for years as a Penguin......today I am proud he's on my team....Dylan Larkin plays for hated Detroit Redwings....today i would proudly wear his jerseys....and the Tkachuks ?  doesn't matter who they play for....you HAVE to love these guys..I loved their Dad Keith (Captain Coyote) and love his kids too........the Americans battled to a hard scrabble 3-1 win.......nerve wracking, nail biting through and through .

And THAT is why next Saturday we will gather........not wearing tank tops.......or Football jerseys......or even softball/baseball uni's.........BUT rather in Hockey Sweaters.......each one blood , Beeer and sweat stained and screaming out a story.....a story of victory and triumph or honorable defeat.....we will proudly display our colors and marvel and admire those of our linemates....we will drink Beeer as if the end of time itself was coming at midnight and we will wax poetically about last nights game and many others.....we will honor and miss those that have left us and cherish those that are still here.....Slainte

for  a brief moment last night i was regretting not holding Sweater Nite yesterday for the big game.......but then reality set in when i admitted to myself that by 8:30 PM , i would have been back in the Gregory Hotel  snoring away.

SIDE NOTE.........next year....the Winter Olympics will be held in Milan Italy.....the Hockey semifinals will be held on Friday Feb 20th......with the time difference the games will be at 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 PM......and the Gold Medal game will be Sunday Feb 22nd at 7:00 a.m. NY time......i suspect I will be somewhere in the Palmetto state,..maybe Captain Archies...tallying up my scorecard and enjoying an IPA.........be sure to send me a photo from SN 28.....

2+3= 4 Nations

Inspiration, move me brightly
Light the song with sense and color
Hold away despair
More than this I will not ask
Faced with mysteries dark and vast
Statements just seem vain at last

One day, i was on the ground

 When I needed a hand

Then it couldn't be found
I was so far down that I couldn't get up

You know and one day I was one of life's losers
Even my friends were my accusers
And in my head, I lost before I begun (Santanna)

So the Unions went to the courts to block the voluntary retirement packages being offered to their members. I have never been a member of a union, but i thought their mission was to protect their members and to operate in their members best interest......this smells like either the unions saying their members are too stupid to decide their own future and how and when to retire or move on......OR.....this is a desperate grab to hold onto to power and keep membership high and dues flowing in......or a little of both.

The funny thing about the liberals today....they love to get on their elitists' soapbox and preach down to the less educated masses, they feel that themselves, obama, the times and a handful of harvard grads are the only ones smart enough to get it....but the odd thing is they refuse to state their opinions....kamala and joe hid from the press....refused to take questions...refused to do sit down interviews, refused to share their brilliance....in fact....they go to great lengths to cover their tracks, muddy the waters and hide their true intentions.....but why ?   if you are bigger, better, smarter than me...if you have invented a better mouse trap.....why not explain it ? 

On the flip side stands DJT......more than happy to share his intentions....no matter how unpopular his plans were with half the country.....he shouted his plans to anyone and everyone that would listen ....and now he is fulfilling those campaign promises.....no hidden card tricks.....no bait and switch.....everything he has done in 3 short weeks was foretold on the campaign trail.

Side note....it's funny how now the demonrats want everything to go through congress.......but that is because congress is where good decent plans go to die....the desert of inaction....they couldn't even codify Roe v Wade over 50 years...despite having the numbers to do so......as spoonjiah obama said in 2014......"if congress is too slow to act, then i will get it done through executive action, if you don't like it ?....sue me"...............sucks when your own Kings words come back to bite you.

The anger at D.O.G.E can be summed up easily......only those with something to hide are trying to block the exposing of fraud and corruption......there can be no other reason......and even the uneducated masses that never went to harvard can see that. 

I read something interesting the other day that i did not know....in the period between WWI and the depression one of the biggest advocates for the creation of the Department of Education was none other than the Ku Klux Klan.......it seems the klansmen were worried about the Catholic Church gaining too much influence by opening so many schools....and so they wanted to crush the Church and control on a national level what was taught.....and more importantly, what was not taught.........sound familiar ?

i must say the world has become so very interesting the past 3 weeks.........i'm encouraged , optimistic and eager to read the NY Post everyday.....i just hope when Education oversight is given back to the states that they all.....even our newest state Canada....teach the gospel that 2+3=BEEER

When I played my hand
I looked like a joker
Turn around, fate must have woke her
'Cause lady luck she was waiting outside the door

I'm winning
I'm winning
I'm winning
I'm winning
I'm winning
And I don't intend on losing again

What time is It ?

 said the judge to Joey when they met

“Five to ten,” said Joey. The judge says,

 “That’s exactly what you get” (Dylan)

The single greatest threat to democracy that this nation faces may very well be the broken judicial system. Corrupt judges that are imposing their desire and will over the constitution and Law.

U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York Paul Engelmayer, an appointee of former President Barack Spoonjiah Obama, issued a temporary restraining order Saturday that sided with 19 Democratic state attorneys general who claimed that giving DOGE "full access" to the Treasury’s payment systems violates the law. The lawsuit was spearheaded by New York Attorney General Letitia James, the order also extended to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

He is just of the many demonrat judges that  are using their positions on the bench to delay, derail and obstruct the agenda of our newly elected President and his administration. Cleaning House at the DOJ has to be on the agenda and near the top of things to do. The amount of corruption and waste exposed in 3 short weeks should disgust Americans, but also offer a Beacon of light . Think about an America that stops wasting and or giving away taxpayer dollars to bribe enemies, line their own pockets and further expand a deviant lifestyle around the globe. 

Elon recently exposed a possible Billion dollars of Social Security benefits paid out by the Treasury to people without social security numbers....Heck , if we give him enough time he may recoup enough money to lower or eliminate income tax completely , and he is already talking about ending Tax on Social Security.......but to do it he will have to break the established machine.....and the main obstacle will be christ killa judges from jew york like engelmayer.......

as for Joey Gallo , he was eventually freed from prison only to be gunned down inside Umberto's clam Bar on Mulberry street...ironically Joeys Dads name was also named  Umberto....thankfully Joeys dinner guest that night.....the Great Don Rickles.....had not shown up at the clam bar and his live was spared to the great delight of generations of fans....."hey Irish guy....you want some whiskey "?  they don't write em like that anymore.

The sun turned cold over President Street and the town of Brooklyn mourned
They said a mass in the old church near the house where he was born
And someday if God’s in heaven overlookin’ His preserve
I know the men that shot him down will get what they deserve

There's guns across the river

 aimin’ at ya

Lawman on your trail, he’d like to catch ya
Bounty hunters, too, they’d like to get ya
Billy, they don’t like you to be so free  (Dylan)

that sounds like the rallying cry of the left......they really really really don't like us to be so Free.

Our Commander in Chief has done more to restore the health and reputation of this nation in 3 weeks than any other President accomplished in two terms........he belongs on Rushmore.....let's take a stroll down memory lane.

The exposing of the insanity behind USAID and the eventual shuttering of the agency is top of the charts.......the obscene amount of money we were giving away to foreign countries to promote nonsense social issues is astounding.......and it stops now.

The bold fresh ideas on how to handle Gaza have caught the worlds attention and will eventually force Arab states in the region step up and help solve the Arab problem....and that was the plan all along.

The Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China have made clear to the world that he is not bluffing and it forced our neighbors to immediately act like ....well....neighbors.........and we buy every pile of shit that china wants to sell us ...and yet...our companies are not free to operate in or sell to China without obeying XiXi Ping Pongs rules....there is a great inbalance.......if they refuse to address then the tariffs will increase......and despite what leftists economists say, Tariffs are not a tax on Americans.....unless you insist on continuing to buy imported items..........don't want to pay a tariff ? stop buying Corona.

The voluntary Buyout of Federal employees that do not want to come back to work will save the country billions, and sweep out some dead wood......Wall Street does it all the time.....it is a way to maintain a younger, hungrier and more motivated workforce......and for now.....it's voluntary.......i hope the richest lady in Massachusetts is listening........not kemosabe warren.

Carried out some air strikes against ISIS in Somalia....just to remind everyone that we know Who your are , and Where you are , and we can and will reach you when needed.

Called on the Ukraine to repay us with rare earth materials in exchange for our continued support in their never ending war with Russia........a double win........we help them keep our true enemy bogged down in a futile war AND we get boatloads of Lithium, Uranium and Titanium.

Ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to allow/force water from Northern California reservoirs to flow down to the fires in Los Angeles.

Banned Biological males from womans sports.

Banned fruit loop flags and BLM banners from being flown in Govt embassy's and offices.

Removed the US from nonsensical UN committees and climate agreements

Removed senile and compromised Joe Bidens security clearance....he does not need to receive security briefs...he could sell or give away classified information.

and my favorite.......he reversed the ban on Plastic Straws.......Paper Straws don't work he said.......common sense.

and tomorrow he capps off his 3rd week at the Chelsea by becoming the first sitting President to attend the Super Bowl..........MAGA

2+3=Winning

no prediction on the game....but my gut is telling me that my beloved Chiefs will fall short.....they have been playing with Fire and more importantly.......although i hate to say it....Philly is a very good, well rounded team.....if they play mistake free...i am afraid the feagles will win.

Hang on to your woman if you got one
Remember in El Paso, once, you shot one
She may have been a whore, but she was a hot one
Billy, you been runnin’ for so long

It's easy to see

 without looking too far

That not much is really sacred (Dylan)

it was too rich for my blood to see Schmucky Schumer holding up avacados, limes and a Can of Corona and acting as the town crier to warn of the dangers of Tariffs causing inflation......old nero with the big nose was asleep at the switch the last 4 years and barely made a peep during the soaring prices of 2021-2023....but yesterday he was on high alert, wagging a finger and using his props for the simpletons.

The sweet irony was the before Chuck could even pop the top of that Corona Beer the President of Mexico blinked and ordered 10,000 troops to the border to assist with the slowing of drugs and illegals.....and her limp wristed counterpart to the north was also slinking back to the negotiation table to buy some time before Canadian tariffs kick in.................and the winning streak continues.

2+3= BEEEER

  

An’ though the rules of the road have been lodged
It’s  people’s games that you got to dodge
And it’s alright, Ma, I can make it