After an easy ESPN “almost automatic” Cubs’ Monday night home win vs the Mets last night, the series resumes with another ESPN tilt tonight.
This one starts at 6 p.m. local time in Chicago.
Long ago television began to dictate starting times for games with little, if any regard for the fans.
The monster of greed that ESPN is does so with virtually meaningless regular games.
Someone start the process of tuning out this monolith before it swallows all of us.
Even if as a billion to one underdog, I succeed in exposing ESPN as a monster and people begin to tune it out, their alarmingly good commercial department will dig up not only Godzilla but Raymond Burr as well and spin it their way. Whoops I gave them an idea they will not need.
Yet try to watch less ESPN. You can do it. There is more in this life, trust me.
Yesterday, I saw the last half of a “Leave It To Beaver” episode in which Theodore “Beaver” Cleaver’s bicycle was stolen.
Seemingly never wrong wrong, “Ward Cleaver,” played by Hugh Beaumont, who also directed the episode, was a bit humbled as having forgotten to register and insure the bicycle.
Wife June, played by Barbara Billingsley, who famously talked “jive,” in one of many hilarious scenes in the 1980 movie “Airplane,” had to comfort him.
Tangental department: The great Muhammad Ali, whom we lost 6 weeks ago and in a large sense 3 decades ago from boxing’s brutality, started boxing after his bicycle was stolen from him.
A policeman named Joe Martin began the process. I do not care about, nor usually note a person’s skin color, but in this case a white officer (Martin) helped a young black male (Ali, bless his soul would joke “who are you calling boy?!” if I inserted that word instead of male) and that turned out well (maybe boxing and I detest it, largely due to what happened to Ali and others, caused heartbreak but it did “key” Ali’s road to being a world figure).
If only police and black males, for that matter, all people could start helping each other again! Minimum, stop hurting, and tragically in far too many cases, killing each other.
My green Raleigh bicycle was not as fancy as the one above, but would not it be great to be riding it again? “Look Ma, no hands!”
This month’s guest programmer on TCM is the superb actor, Louis Gossett Jr.
His first movie choice is the acclaimed “Blackboard Jungle.”
There will be comments from Mr. Gossett all night before and after his four movie selections.
I am going to watch until I fall asleep later. Keep cool and do the same.
At what point. if any will the Chicago Cubs win a game vs the new york Mets?
Last year, the Mets swept the Cubs in the NLCS and so far this season won all four games, albeit games played at the Mets’ home, Citi Field.
Tonight the Cubs host the Mets in the first game of a three game series at (as Lindsey Nelson might say,) Wrigley Field in Chicago.
The Mets will not sweep the Cubs in this series but will not get swept either.
Yesterday the Atlanta Dream coached by Michael Cooper, a great member of 5 Los Angeles Lakers’ title teams and the coach for both L.A. Sparks WNBA title teams, handed the Sparks just their second loss of the WNBA season.
Los Angeles still has a splendid (20-2) record, a start which ties the Houston Comets, the franchise that won the first four WNBA crowns for the best start in league history.
The Comets won the first four WNBA crowns (1997-2000) while the Sparks won the next two under coach Michael Cooper.
I recently met with some people who worked or still work in libraries, some of it on a volunteer bsasis.
They have inspired me with all there is to read, listen and learn as well as perhaps helping with a reading program.
Get a library card and there are movies and compact discs ready to be checked out for weeks at a time. After all, the libraries of today were once called “lending libraries.”
Years back the slogan was “a book for you, a book for me at the library.”
The library above, now the Grinton I. Will Yonkers Public Library was prominently displayed in the aforementioned library promotion. Good memory!
The city of Cleveland ended a nearly 52 year major North American sports league title drought when the NBA Cavaliers won the title 4 weeks ago today.
Meanwhile the Cleveland Indians, sans a title since 1948 figure to be at least one of the teams in the baseball tournament.
That 1948 team as was the case with the last Cubs’ title team in 1908, had a player manager, in the Indians’ case Lou Boudreau.
Cleveland was victorious in the 1948 World Series vs the Boston Braves winning The Fall Classic in six games.
The Chicago Cubs have not won a National League Pennant since 1945.
They have not won the World Series since 1908.
Frank Chance was the player manager when they won it all in 1908. That year the Cubs handed the Detroit Tigers with Ty Cobb the second of three straight World Series defeats.
Harry Steinfeldt is the answer to the trivia question as to whom was the third baseman along with the legendary double play trio of (Joe) Tinker to (Johnny) Evers to (Frank) Chance.
Jack Quinlan, a great Cubs’ broadcaster and Ernie Banks, “Mr. Cub”
Now back to the younger man named Crute.
Remember this is on a hot day in a busy office.
I see the name and I have to ask.
“Excuse me, ” I see the name Crute are you perhaps related to Morris Crute?
Indeed he was and I recall Morris Crute’s tremendous playing days and of course the famous shot made at The Westchester County Center for Yonkers High School vs Roosevelt High School, whose team included Mike Linden, a starter on a final 8, Cal Fullerton team in 1978.
Does Morris talk about his playing days and the shot I asked?
Each of us laughed loud enough to stir others, on the hectic day, when the younger Mr. Crute answered “all the time, all the time!!”
The name on the man’s badge was familiar and somewhat unusual.
It was Crute and I asked the man if he was related to Morris Crute.
Morris Crute led Yonkers High School to a basketball crown in 1973.
Mr. Crute also hit a “Jerry West” type, long, desperation shot to tie a post-season game.
In West’s case it was in the third game of the 1970 NBA Finals but his team lost both the game and the series.
Crute’s shot was in a must win game for Yonkers High and they went on to stop a great high school player, college title winner with Marquette and NBA finalist, Bernard Toone, in their title win.
Andy B Sports 