Madison Square Garden

Tonight the Phila. Flyers face off against the New York Rangers in a deciding game seven at Madison Square Garden right on the heels of a game six last night. We will see if home ice offers its usual advantages. Some years ago at the old Garden uptown (49th/51st) there was a boxing ring announcer - Harry Balogh - who wearing a rumpled tuxedo would introduce the fighters in his New Yorkese  ending with the memorable phrase "And may the more worthy participant emerge victorious!"
tjs

Wrigley Field

Wrigley Field, the leafy home of the Chicago Cubs is 100 years old this year. It takes a lot of patience and forbearance to be a Cubs fan. They haven't won a World Series in 105 years. But many baseball stars crossed those foul lines. The 1932 team had Gabby Hartnett and Jolly Cholly Grimm and this was before we had those bubble gum cards. That was the year that Babe Ruth called his famous shot after needling the Cubs bench. About that time Al Capone had front row seats. As a youth I followed the 1945 team who lost the World Series to Detroit. The Tigers had Hank Greenberg back from the war. Later the Cubs had a double play combination of Baker-Banks and Bilko, anchored by the great Ernie Banks at shortstop. Steve Bilko was a huge fellow - very adroit around the first base bag but not too swift above the neck. It was a time when the teams mostly traveled by train and on a trip back from Montreal, they had to clear U.S. Customs. When they asked Bilko for his place of birth he replied "Car 12 Lower". After all, you wouldn't ask this large fellow to take the Upper Berth.
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/21/sports/baseball/oh-the-stories-wrigley-field-could-tell.html?_r=0

Is nothing Sacred?

The golfing fathers are worried about the lack of interest in the game by the younger set. Some say the game takes too long, the rules are complicated and the attempts to master it are frustrating. The average age of the country club member is 55. So in their panic they are suggesting some "modifications" one of which is extending the width of the cup/hole to fifteen inches - but not changing the size of the ball. They also mention allowing "mulligans" or do-overs and even a few "hand mashies" - Wow! I haven't heard that term in years. There goes par! The Scots will never agree and neither will the purists who have already outlawed the "belly putter". This all sounds like a lot of tongues in cheeks but the below article is worth a read.
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/19/sports/golf/in-a-hole-golf-considers-digging-a-wider-one.html?hp

Easter Duty

Patty lived on an island off Cape Cod and once a year he took the ferry to the mainland to make his Easter Duty. Then one day the ferry service was discontinued and Patty was among the missing at church. Eventually a priest friend ran into him and noted his prolonged absence.
Patty begged off claiming a lack of transportation. The padre suggested there was air service to the mainland which elicited the following reply - "Well I'll tell you father, for venial sins it's too expensive - and for mortal sins it's too dangerous!"
tjs

Good Friday

The above represents the true meaning of Easter - the most important feast in the Catholic Church. As the Lenten season comes to a close may I wish you and yours a Happy and Holy Easter.
tjs

Easter Season

Though Easter is a movable feast, I am inclined to repeat the following as I do each year. These three chaps arrived at the pearly gates together and St. Peter told them they would have to take a test to gain admittance.
He asked #1 "What do you know about Easter?"
#1 - Easter is when a man in a red suit comes down the chimney with gifts for the children.
St. P.- Sorry, pal, you flunked. He then asked #2 the same question.
#2 - Easter is when there are parades and fireworks in the sky.
St. P - You also failed and it's down below for you. How about you #3?
#3 - Easter is when they crucified Christ, took him down from the cross, buried him in a tomb and three days later he came out of the tomb, saw his shadow and went back in and we had six more weeks of winter.
tjs

Feathered Friends

This is migratory season for many birds moving south to north. I was shocked to read in the NY Times Sunday that "it is estimated that some 90,000 die annually in New York City because of collision with buildings." So the clock tower of the Con Edison building in Union Square will go dark during April and May to avoid confusing the birds with artificial light. They will repeat this in the Fall. More than fifty participants will darken or go dim including Chrysler, Rockefeller, Barclays and The New York Times. In a related matter, farmers in California are being paid $45. per acre to keep their fields flooded during a two week period to maintain several inches of water for grazing - despite water shortages in that area. Kudos to the corporations for their sensitivity - The Audubon Society should be pleased.
tjs
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/nyregion/answers-to-questions-about-the-con-edison-clock-towers-lights-and-bingo.html?ref=michaelpollak

Amish Country

Some years ago my sales beat included Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the home of the Amish folks who lived a simple life. They did not drive automobiles and I will never forget the first time I came up over a hill and found a black buggy with its orange triangle staring me in the face. It makes you slow down and give the horse the right of way. For a city boy it was a new experience to smell the aroma of fresh manure wafting in the air. Their communities were close together with colorful names - Bird in Hand was just down the road from Blue Ball. Their language was quaint and similar to the Quakers. There is a story of a Quaker lady riding a big city crowded subway and forced to be a strap hanger standing over two young men busy with their hand held devices. She looked down at them and said "Thee forgets thyself." Amen.
tjs

America's Pastime

I am worried about the future of the "game" of baseball - aka the business of MLB. Last week opening games were met with many half empty stadiums - huge amounts of empty seats in Cleveland, Miami, Kansas City - and even in Philly where sellouts had been the norm. They seemed to have the steroid problem behind them but the expansion from sixteen teams of my youth to current thirty count has created mediocrity where an even playing field had been desired. Despite training regimens and weight rooms the number of injuries is astounding. Their lengthy season prolonged by playoffs has to vie with other sport venues. All the characters are gone i.e. Casey Stengel, Leo Durocher, Yogi Berra et al - now they are all flavored vanilla but listening to the cash register ring.
I am scratching my head about the two games played in Australia. I wonder what Andy Rooney would say. Is America's Pastime past its time?
tjs

Words of Wisdom II

The longer you live - the smarter you get. (Eva Marie Saint -Age 80+)

At a public urinal incoming traffic has the right of way.

BEFORE they made S.J. Perelman, they broke the mold. (S.J.P.)

The meek shall inherit the earth but they won't get many rebounds.

One good turn gets all the blanket.

I really must be going...........(Groucho Marx)

tjs

Stiff Upper Lip

The local TV channel 21 shows many British movies  - black & white - many featuring WWII and the London blitz - this would have been circa 1940/1941. A few years later the Yanks arrived and the Brits encouraged fraternization with the locals. As more Yanks arrived preparing for the Normandy invasion, many local citizens were asked to relocate and offer their homes to our soldiers. Around this time our USLines operating manager, one Ted Cook, was already in the military running a port battalion supporting General Bernard Montgomery in North Africa and Suez. As London port was still open they reassigned him there until the war was won. By 1946 we were involved with the British War Brides who must have numbered in the thousands and they had to set up reception and lodging for the women and their offspring. Ted formed a special "squad" to assist and several vessels were designated to move all these passengers to the U.S.A., mostly from Southampton. So one can assume that the fraternization bore fruit - or somethin'.  If any of your ancestors came from Britain they might have been in that contingent.
tjs
(Above excerpted from Eagle Blue No. 29 - May 1, 2006)

A Game of Honor

Golf is known as a game of honor where you call penalties on yourself - so they say. With the Masters Tournament beginning this week I thought I would share with you the most recent golf story heard - although I must warn you it was told in the locker room. (I have sanitized the punchline) It concerns two friends - Frank and Ernest - playing a competitive round as a twosome with the usual bets on the line. They came to the 18th tee all tied  - Frank hit his drive down the middle - Ernie sliced his and landed in the woods. They both went to try to find Ernie's ball. After several futile minutes Ernie suggested that his friend play his second shot and if he (Ernie) couldn't locate his ball he would return to the tee and re-hit. Frank's approach landed on the green fifteen feet from the pin. Just then a ball came flying out of the woods and landed on the green five feet from the pin. Now Frank had a dilemma  - should he take the cheater's ball out of his pocket???
tjs

Ides of April

Next week, on April 15th,  is the traditional day for filing your income tax return - and if lucky receive a refund of monies Uncle Sam has been using. But it is also the time of a full moon eclipse - called a "blood moon" for its redness. We should see such a remarkable sight again in six months. The science people say the full coverage will occur in the eastern United States around 3AM on Tuesday April 15th - if you can stay awake that long.
tjs

April Madness

The Final Four semi-final games on Saturday night were well played and exciting. One was an upset confounding the talking head pundits and the other went down to the wire. So tonight we have a 7 and 8 seed playing for the championship which is quite unprecedented. Anyway i look forward to a good contest tonight. Your seat at the sports bar will be a better venue than being at the huge stadium. Don't miss it.
tjs

The Road to Nowhere

Have you seen the TV ad where the speedy driver in the sleek sedan arrives at checkpoints and destination seconds before the GPS lady's instruction? It's supposed to be an ad for automobiles. My only experience with GPS (Global Positioning System) was renting a car at the Philadelphia airport that was equipped with this marvel. The female voice was calm and deliberate until I deviated from her instructions and I could then detect a quicker pace to her voice as she tried vainly to get me back on her route. In this connection I read recently about the town of Agloe, New York purportedly to be in the Catskills at the intersection of Route 206 and Morton Hill Road just north of the town of Roscoe. However, Agloe is a fictitious community created by two map makers in the 1930s using an anagram of their initials. They placed it at the above location as a copyright trap. Sure enough ESSO included it in their road maps and later so did Rand McNally (since deleted in the 1990s) I can just hear the GPS lady demanding I declare an alternate destination.
tjs

Arrivederci Roma

A Pennsylvania delegation just returned from a visit to the Vatican where they invited Pope Francis to visit Philadelphia in September 2015.  This reminded me of another visitor to the Eternal City. This fellow visited his barber and excitedly told him of his forthcoming trip to Rome. The following exchange ensued:
B - Where are you staying?
F - The Excelsior Hotel.
B - It's overpriced and a ripoff - you won't like it. What else are you doing?
F - We are planning to dine at Alfredo's famous restaurant.
B - It's a tourist trap - you won't like it.
F - And we expect to have a private audience with the Pope.
B - You'll be behind the ropes - you won't get near him.
Fast forward a month and our fellow is back in the barber's chair.
B - Well, how was your trip?
F - Great - the Excelsior was first class with flowers in the room. And Alfredo himself tossed the pasta -AND we did get that private audience
 with the Pope.
B - I'm impressed - what did the Pope say to you?
F - He asked me where I got the lousy haircut.
tjs

Stranger Than Fiction

My friend, the late Leonard P. was a British naval officer in WWII and later was a deck officer with the Furness Bermuda Lines. After coming ashore he did some survey work but was essentially "on the beach" living in Connecticut near L.I. Sound awaiting his next move. One Sunday he was walking near the water and a small sailboat regatta was in progress - with single sailor at the helm. A squall came up and one unfortunate yatchman landed on the rocky shore. Leonard came to his assistance, took him home for a change of clothing and a dram of whisky. The subject of employment came up and the yatchman pulled from his damp wallet a business card reading WILLIAM B. RAND - PRESIDENT - UNITED STATES LINES (Who was then married to the daughter of the Chairman of the company) And that is how I came to know Leonard as a colleague. The moral here would seem to be "If you can't marry the chairman's daughter then try to save the CEO from drowning."
tjs
(Above excerpted from Eagle Blue No. 24 - April 6, 2006)

Make My Day

A conservative friend sent me an unsolicited message alleged to purport the musings of Clint Eastwood on the subject of death. It starts out - "As I enjoy my twilight years"........The guy is 83 years old - someone should tell him the twilight is dimming.  ......."the party must end"......"no more phone calls just to chat".......But he could always "chat" with that empty chair he dragged out at that political convention. Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed his work on the silver screen and admired his work as Mayor of Carmel and part owner of Pebble Beach - but his caustic political comments have caused such admiration to dim with the "twilight."
tjs