A Year in Review.

I am ‘on Holiday’ for the next two Holiday weekends.  Here is to remembering and saluting some of the people we lost in 2017:

First and foremost, our Veterans and our Armed Forces personnel.

Don Rickles – he made fun of everyone all the time and everyone laughed.

Gomer Pyle – a.k.a. Jim Nabors

David Cassidy – he made women melt.

Della Reese – talent at its best.

Roy Halladay – one of baseball’s better pitchers – ever.

Fats Domino- if only today’s so-called talent could mimic him.

Robert “Benson” Guillaume – he helped provide a path for African American TV actors

Y.A. Tittle – epitome of competiveness

Tom Petty – his music was a cross-over of everything.

Monty Hall – Everyone watched him host “Let’s Make a Deal”

Hugh Hefner – what is the one word you think of when someone mentions his name?

Jake LaMotta – the boxer portrayed by Robert De Niro in “Raging Bull”

Jerry Lewis – how could someone so goofy be so talented?

Dick Gregory – controversial, spirited and maybe a bit misguided

Glen Campbell – country before country got cool.

Sam Shepard – an incredibly talented playwright and actor

John Heard – the dad in “Home Alone”.

Martin Landau – the intelligent one in the original “Mission Impossible” TV series.

Stephen Furst – remember ‘Flounder’ in “Animal House”?

Adam West – he IS Batman.

Frank Deford – distinguished journalist helped make sports writing an art

Gregg Allman – a pioneer and a legend

Jim Bunning – elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame and a U.S. Congressman

Roger Moore – was he the best ‘James Bond’?

Chris Cornell – one of the many talented musicians/singers we have lost over the years.  His voice made “Soundgarden”.  Gone at 52.

There are many more we lost in 2017.  Live strong everyday and do what you can do while you can do it.

Adios and Have a Funday Sunday, Happy Holidays, and all the best for a great 2018!  I will be back on January 7.

 

 

 

Cryptocurrency. Heisman. Leveraging the Arena. ATL UTD. Scum.

Derivatives.  Grow Up.  Capturing the Fans $$.  Let’s Get the Silverware.  Franken This.

Will someone a bit more intelligent than I (that is all of you) please enlighten me on the what, why, and how the bitcoin is now top of mind?  I read the words ‘cryptocurrency’ and ‘digital money’ and understand that a Chicago-based exchange is opting to trade bitcoin futures.  Wait, what?  This is a currency without the backing of a government or central bank and has risen in value 1,500% since January 1st….85% in the last two weeks! Is it real, a financial flavor of the month, or just an anti-establishment currency tracking the path of the digital world?

To Baker Mayfield: you are more cocky than skillful and you just won the Heisman Trophy.  You have a bit of Johnny Manziel in you and you have an arrest record.  Enjoy your Heisman trophy and try not to follow many Heisman winners who had little to no NFL success:  Tim Tebow, RGIII, Matt Leinart, Danny Wuerffel, Andre Ware..and there are many others.  In short, wake up and grow up.

Downtown Atlanta is about to blow up again.  The Atlanta Hawks and Steve Koonin are developing what is going to be an awesome entertainment complex right next to Philips Arena.  Once the Hawks get through this tough rebuilding year, their team and the Philips Arena area will be a great night out.  The same is happening in Orlando with the Magic, who are developing a mixed use complex next to Amway Center.  These developments will far exceed L.A. Live next to Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles.

As all of you know I am a big supporter of Atlanta United, who in their inaugural season, achieved tremendous success on and off the field.  I hope Toronto F.C.’s performance last night only provides more motivation for Darren Eales, Carlos Bocanegra , and Tata Martino to build a player pool that gets Atlanta a championship.  It looks like it may have started this week with the signing of 22 year-old Franco Escobar from Argentina’s Newell’s Old Boys.  Escobar is young, experienced and great on the ball out of the back.  I am sure there are many more moves coming in the next few weeks especially if a big European club comes up with the big money to buy Miguel Almiron.

To Al Franken:  crawl up in a hole and don’t come out.  Ever. (Did I just stray from my mantra of no politics/no religion?)

Adios and have a Sunday Funday!   

Short Takes for the 1st Sunday in December.

28 Days to 2018.

Really, we are in the last month of 2017.  How fast did this year go?

The Russians and FIFA at it again…..Russia somehow drawn into the weakest group for World Cup 2018.  Yes, the host country is Russia.

Capital punishment can get very political…which I stay away from….but, the guy who killed four people in the Tampa Bay area.  Enough said.

Yesterday’s win against Auburn puts the University of Georgia in the bowl championship’s final four.  While Ohio State supporters are very disappointed, Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Alabama should make for a fun final four.

I have previously ranted about individuals accused of sexual harassment in the workplace.  I am sure someone else will hire him for the shock ratings but how toxic is Matt Lauer?

Gulf of Mexico beaches.  In one word:  awesome.

I still have a hard time understanding how, in 2017, a submarine can disappear off the coast of Argentina and  multi-national search crews have no idea where the submarine sits?  Then again, a passenger plane that went missing years ago has never been found.

Is the shine off for February’s Winter Olympics?  Interest seems to be lacking…maybe due to the time difference U.S.A. viewers will experience with the Games being held in South Korea.

Hopefully you had the chance to see the University of Central Florida’s double overtime win in the AAC championship game.  UCF ends up the regular season undefeated and while their schedule is not as tough as most D1 schools, I doubt there is any football coach who would want their team to take on UCF right now.

I-4 from Orlando to Tampa- another example of the U.S.A.’s unfortunate miss with the world of high speed trains.

Adios and have a Great Week!