Happy 60th Dano

 oh, we would have raised quite a few glasses celebrating your 60th today , rest easy Dano, you are missed.

Matteau Matteau Matteau

 back by popular demand after a few years respite........

Feel free to add comments as to where you were and what you were doing when Matteau Matteau Matteau struck Gold......

Matteau Matteau Matteau

It was the Friday Night of Memorial day weekend,  the City was electric and pensive,  nerves were on end….. I was scared out of my boots as I walked out of 44 Wall street and  rode the subway up to Mustang Sallys, our traditional pregame watering hole in the spring of 1994…for 5 or 6 weeks we had been coming here before and after the games for burgers and a few beers….but on this night I couldn't even eat…..just stood by the door with Donn and Craig , washing down Budweiser beer like it was going out of style (as if that would ever happen)...Penn Station was abuzz with Commuters getting out of town... happy , smiling travelers with their weekend bags had no idea what kind of sh*t was about to go down, while upstairs in the World’s Most famous Arena the Broadway Blueshirts were about to take the ice for a critical game 7 of the Eastern Conf Finals against the hated, HATED  NJ devils……..I settled into my seat in section 419, row f ,  put two full buckets of said Budweiser Beer under my aisle seat,  rose for Mr Ammorante and the singing of our National Anthem…..and I remember thinking to myself, for the rest of my life, whatever happens tonight, will come flooding back to me every Friday of Memorial Day weekend …pain or glory, we will never forget this game…we will never celebrate this holiday weekend the same way..a small part of me was convinced of pending doom, fearful I would never again enjoy a memorial day bbq, ..we have to win……….first period was a scoreless draw…..more buckets of  Budweiser beer…….getting more nervous as the night wears on, which of course leads to faster drinking…….out to the rotunda between periods…scoreless………staring at the Post office…….please God……House lights come back on, crowd roars, back to our seats…nerves...…..midway through the deuce…….Brian leetch skates in from the circle……broduer defending 7th ave…….Leetchie pulls a spin-o-rama----lets go with a bullet….the light goes on……….the Garden erupts……YES !!!!!................the period ends…….more beer….not celebratory beers, but definitely happy ones….can actually breathe now..back to the rotunda……20 minutes from the finals…..the City knows it…….people are now gathering on the Post Office stairs across the street…….people without tickets are coming to the garden area to share in the celebration, the streets are filling up….I had chills on my neck……I ran into Kenny Coco (the CFO for Waterhouse Securities)…….the last thing he says to me is that when we hold on to win 1-0 , Richter will tie the record for most shutouts in the postseason……..Richter……The Rock of Gibraltar…our MVP....he was going to single-handedly win this thing…….very nervous to start the 3rd period…..it only gets worse….every shift….every dump in…..every whistle…..the crowd is bezerk……watching the clock….praying for an insurance goal…no such luck…gotta sweat it out, ranger style..….10 minutes…get a few more buckets of beer before last call…I will drink these beers during the post game ceremony I tell myself with a silent chuckle, would never say that out loud …for the hockey Gods to hear and strike me down with justifiable lightning…....8 minutes…6 and a half minutes ..5 minutesto play…I start allowing myself to dream…we are soo close……..2 minutes……the place is on its feet……..can't hear the whistle….can't hear yourself think……high fives all around……"THIS IS THE LAST MINUTE TO PLAY IN THE PERIOD"…….BEDLAM…sheer total BEDLAM…the upper tier of MSG is literally shaking…Christmas like  joy on the faces of so many…...goosebumps….chills…..sweating……nervous………30 seconds………broduer to the bench……they dump in…..one last push…….i'm squinting toward the 7th ave net from my 8th avenue seats, glancing at the clock…slowly tick, slower  tock…. tick……tock……..10 seconds……loose puck…mad scramble…..can’t follow the puck……the devils are jumping up and down….why?....the light is on…WTF ?....7 seconds….tie game……..

It was like being kicked in the stomach……..stunned silence……from the summit of Mount Everest to the depths of hell in a single moment..…I left my seat and walked to the rotunda before they had the faceoff……..stood starring at the post office………watching TV Crews with live reporters waiting on 8th ave for the delighted faithful to exit the building…..word spreads that they tied the game….the lights for the cameras start getting turned off…it really just happened.....we are going to OT……..a sad sickness and eerie silence hovers in the building……we are never going to win this damn cup….i said not a word…but I made a promise to myself….if they loose this game, I will never set foot in this building again…..never…for any reason…NEVER.


Me , Donn and Craig barely said a word to each other during intermission……it was like Clavins Funeral home up there……somebody must have died…somebody popular..…we retook our seats…..I could not concentrate…..the first ot was a blur……..I watched the red light behind richter fully expecting to see it go on, kinda wishin it would, so it would end my misery…….everytime they came into our zone I was sure the game would end……….midway through the period , the faithful woke up………”Lets Go Rangers” chants were back……we were exhausted and angry…….but we could not score…….back to the rotunda…..back to the window….this could go on all night..

House lights on...Back to our seats…….double OT …….wornout….feel like I went 10 rounds with Tyson….not sure how much more of this I can take…nerves are shot…..my eyes are tired..…Devils are shooting at 7th ave…….blueshirts are attacking our 8th ave net…..we get a chance, they get a chance…..back and forth and back and forth……3 minutes in.. the puck dances through our crease….it's going in ……..out of nowhere comes leetch……he swats it away…it hits a devil and is heading back towards the empty net….where is Richter?.......I am still not sure what really happened….to this day I think it hit the post….but somehow the light did not go on……somehow the puck did not go in…I can't take this…I really can't…..someone please end this game……..we dump in….they dump out….BUT NO …..we keep in and redirect around the net……not sure who is chasing the puck, watching Tikanen sneak in from the point for a pass……someone is emerging from the boards behind the net with the puck….a devil is hounding him……pass it to TIK I scream inside my head……..NO…..he attempts to stuff it in ……YES !!!!!!!!... YES….YES...

MATTEAU MATTEAU MATTEAU………..STEPHANE MATTEAU…………..and the Rangers have one more hill to climb baby..and it's Mount Vancouver……the Rangers are going to the finals………..the rest is beautiful history……..at 4 minutes and 24 seconds of Double overtime, the Rangers ended the greatest playoff Hockey Series in NY City history……emotionally and physically DRAINED…

As for me……we stayed and watched the trophy presentation without beer…….the Garden was electric again….like New years eve…strangers shaking hands….7th ave outside the garden was a crazy, crazy scene..the busiest streets on the planet were closed to traffic by a Mob of Hockey Fans…Chaos…back to Mustang Sally's….Met half of Bayridge there....a cab back to Brooklyn..…..cars honking horns on the Brooklyn Bridge…….went to PJ's Pub……was still there at 4:00 a.m. …bought beers in the bagel store for the walk home…….people walking up and down 5th ave with beers, stopping traffic..chanting lets go rangers…we want the cup...…..it was crazy…I walked all the way to my apartment on 95th & Shore rd……took a long time….seemed like the whole neighborhood came out to celebrate.

NOPE…..I will never ever allow the Friday of memorial day weekend to pass without reflection on that night….

round and round and round we spin

 To weave a wall to hem us in

It won't be long, it won't be long
How slow and slow and slow it goes
To mend the tear that always shows
It won't be long, it won't be long (N. Young)

I continue to be amazed by the amount of talking heads on TV that continue to question Mandani's intelligence.........the guy is NOT stupid......he does NOT believe that Socialism is the answer, he does NOT care about the future of NYC.....he is the first wave of the demolition team, his goal is to disrupt the Big Apple Cart.....to bankrupt the city and to make day to day life unbearable for the decent hard working people.......he wants to drive out the rich and the blue collar folks alike......he wants to turn NYC into a Sharia Law Paradise......and horse face hochul is along for the ride.

Last week he announced that they balanced the NYC budget........a closer look reveals that is NOT entirely true.........the 2 biggest issues.......they recd an 8 Billion dollar grant/subsidy from Hochul and the State.....AND......they deferred their contributions to the NYC pension funds till 2037....this will cost NYC approx $10 Billion more for the deferral.........the state gave them 8 Billion because Hochul is up for election.....she needs mandani to stay quiet and not drastically raise taxes......until after her election in november......remember this is the same horse face that "paused" congestion pricing......until 2 weeks after her last election.........i'm sure next year the state will not be so eager to cough up another $8 billion..........so just like in the 60's-70's when Lindsey deferred the cities obligations , so that he could fund his social agenda; and the city went bankrupt under Mayor Beam......mandani is kicking the can down the road for the next sucker.........so he can

Open another subsidized grocery store...... again....he is not naive enough to believe that opening grocery stores ( at the cost of 30 million a pop) and then using taxpayer dollars to cover part of the costs for the groceries is going to be a financial success......but again.....it's not supposed to be.......it is nothing more than an illegal tax of 99.5% of the population to provide cheap groceries and buy the votes of the handful of neighborhoods that get a grocery store.

but hey...the Knicks are looking good....so who cares....who's keeping score ?  not me.

2+3=BEEER

It's hard enough losing the paper illusion
You've hidden inside
Without the confusion of finding you're using
The crutch of the lie

Went to the fortune teller

 Had my fortune read

I didn't know what to tell her
I had a dizzy feeling in my head (Rolling Stones)

how this for a prediction market ?

Trump to Xi Xi Ping Pong :  " Stop Buying Iranian Oil.....buy from America and i'll give you a discount"

Ping Pong to the Donn :   "ok.....but we're taking Taiwan next month, stay out of it "

Rubio to Everyone :  "Deal, but then we're taking Cuba at the same time"

Fang Fang :   DEAL

Brendan Murphy:  Did someone say Deal ? ? ? 

and that friends will be the End of Iran and send the DOW to 60 or even 75K.......peace on earth, goodwill towards man, who cares if it only lasts a few years.....get in the deep end with the Blue chips and get out before they blow.

Dum Spiro Spero........while i breathe, I hope

2+3=BEEER

Now I'm a happy fellow
Well, I am married to the fortune teller
Well happy as me can be
Now I get my fortune told for free

while the firelights aglow

Strange shadows from the flames will grow
Till things we've never seen

Will seem familiar ( Hunter-Garcia)

shortly before his passing, Bobby Ace Weir did an interview and was asked about the legacy of the Grateful Dead music......and he seemed to be greasing the treads when he spoke of the where the locomotive was headed after "HE" passed........he was obviously comfortable and even encouraged at the thought of John Mayer driving the ship........he marveled at how the GD music was indeed built to last for at least 300 years.......not hubris......just honest observations....unlike their peers, the GD felt that after the sounds left their instruments they belonged to the universe.......and if you came to one of their shows you were welcome to "tape" it and bring the music home with you......provided you were willing to share it with others........Bob talked about how the original band members always collaborated with their fellow bands and played every benefit or festival that they were invited to..and after the passing of Jerry Garcia, Bob said he felt the responsibility to play with the next generation and find someone to shepherd the music after he was gone...

anyone raised in the 20th century can attest to how quickly music evolves and changes.......parents and their children rarely have similar tastes.........kids tend to reject their parents music as too old or old fashioned to be enjoyed or taken seriously...it's normal.

Last Sunday i was at the Grand Strand Brewery......the Owners/Brewmasters are also amateur musicians ....they have formed a GD cover band.....and on the first Sunday of each month they perform a free show on the plaza-public park outside the Brewery......as i was enjoying a Beach Haze Wheat Beer, half a block from the mighty Atlantic, a warm May breeze waffling across the plaza and the sounds of Samson & Delilah in the air.........i did a 360 and took it all in........and i took particular notice of those enjoying the music........seriously a range of toddlers to Senior Citizens......it's fun music.....incredibly American .....easy to sway to the beat,  or allow it to warm your soul........and i think and pray that Bobby is right.........We will survive, We will get by.

 

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
Some rise, some fall
Some climb to get to Terrapin

derby Rant 2026

 i am SO HAPPY to be back here talking about the Derby.....a few years back i was a little INTREPIDO about posting such a silly ALBUS of jibberish, as some of my critics called it.... buy one little sip of CORONA DE ORO and i am back like a PAVLOVIAN dog  with a ROBUSTA prognostication....it's funny how these run on analysis seem to revolve around Booze....it's no WONDER DEAN sticks to his DANON BOURBON , a very POTENTE and somewhat INCREDIBOLT cocktail for certain......but gals like the PUMA  are all about their RIGHT TO PARTY and consider it a LITMUS TEST to drink at SIX SPEED and somehow stay ahead of the EMERGING MARKET, so she prefers a shot of GOLDEN TEMPO and a vintage bottle from the GREAT WHITE winery. OCELLI the troublemaker interrupted the party and shouted, give us your picks without FURTHER ADO in the direction of the honorable CHIEF WALLABE....but know one paid heed , all could see he lacked authority to give such orders, he was just a RENEGADE barking a false COMMANDMENT.

and that's how i see it......6-1-12    Commandment then Renegade followed by Chief Wallabee.........alas, i have been very , very wrong the past 4 or 5 years.....

for those keeping score at home, the Derby Rant is celebrating it's 16th iteration ........i can't wait till the martians read this in 250 years and try to figure it out........

2+3= BEEER