HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 Hello! Welcome back and Happy New Year to everyone!

Everyone is raving about 22 year old AMANDA GORMAN for her poetry reading at the inauguration and she just signed with a big time modeling agency. methinks she will be the one to loan you a couple of bucks when needed in the very near future. Big things ahead for that girl.

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LADY GAGA, who just a few years ago was considered a major league weirdo, also slam dunked it with her version of the Star Spangled Banner, one of the harder songs to sing. She struck every note perfectly and finished with a flourish.  Now about that dress....... 

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HELLLOOOOOOO WINTER! 6 inches of snow fell the other day and I have to admit it was kind of nice when the snow gave a fresh clean coating to everything and then watching kids playing outside with their home-bound parents. I'm thinking video schooling went by the wayside at least for a day.

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Co-vid vaccination? I get an email that tells me to sign up for the Lake County Fairgrounds drive-thru inoculation center so i do but an hour later i receive another email thanking me for the sign-up but there's no vaccine right now so be patient. Like I have a choice?

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A very sad goodbye to 87 year old LARRY KING, who at one time hosted the #1 talk show in America Monday-Friday at 8:00 on CNN with Larry King Tonight from 1985-2010. King won an Emmy, two Peabody awards, ten Cable Ace Awards and did 50,000 interviews over his career that started in Miami back in the 1950's. King was an avid baseball fan and could often be seen sitting behind home plate at Dodger games. R.I.P. Mr. King.

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This is the 30th anniversary of one of my all time favorite movies, SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, starring ANTHONY HOPKINS & JODIE FOSTER in a spectacular movie that swept the BIG 5 Academy Awards for actor, actress, director, screenplay and of course, best movie along with receiving two other nominations. If you've never seen this movie, I promise you that it will put you on the edge of your seat and make your knuckles turn white while gripping the arm of your chair while waiting for the next scene. If you have seen it, watch it again because it's a beautiful film.

This film is a perfect 10 and runs less than 2 hours so go to the bathroom before it starts because you can't miss a minute. Plus you'll never think of fava beans and chianti wine again without thinking of this movie. "Hello, Clarice......come closer."

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On a tragic note, there was a fatal house fire in Des Plaines today and I'm a little confused. It was 10:15 in the morning and the mom and 4 kids UNDER THE AGE OF 7 died in the fire. How many kids that age do you know are still sleeping at that time? How do 5 people die in a mid-morning fire?  Nobody screamed? Nobody ran out of the house? It just seems odd to me.  we'll see.

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HOORAY to Lake County restaurants and bars who have been dropped down to level 1 and can now legally have 25 people in for dinner.  Truth be told, I was at a restaurant last week when they were level 2 and apparently, the hostess forgot how to count because I'm pretty sure there were a couple dozen people in the place. But now they're legal.

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Ok, I'm still sorting thru a whole bunch of post-it notes so we'll talk later. Stay warm!   

WHAT A WEEKEND!

   Hey, it's great to be back talking sports and we've got a lot to catch up on so let's do this!           

                                WHAT A GREAT DAY OF FOOTBALL!

As you might imagine, I was in heaven on Sunday as the favored Green Bay Packers crashed and burned in their home stadium of Lambeau Field as Tom Brady, THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME, carved up the packer defense like a turkey on Thanksgiving and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers claimed one spot in the upcoming Super Bowl, which is being played on their home field in two weeks.

Packer head coach Matt LaFleur made TWO very questionable decisions, the first when he didn't protect against the long pass at the end of the first half and Tampa scored with .01 on the clock and the second was with 2:10 remaining in the game when he decided to kick a field goal from the Tampa 8 yard line rather than let future hall of famer Aaron Rodgers try to tie the game with a short pass.

Rodgers did not look very happy on the sidelines when the offense was pulled for the field goal team. Cutting the deficit to 5 points, the packers never saw the ball again and Rodgers was more than a little bitchy when being interviewed after the game.

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The second game was also a lot of fun as the defending champs advanced to their second straight Super Bowl in a shootout with Kansas City winning 38-24 which sets up "the kid" against the GOAT in two weeks and Las Vegas says the Chiefs ARE THREE POINTS BETTER THAN Tampa Bay. WHOYAGOT?

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Unfortunately, sad news also grabbed a headline as the calendar year of death for baseball players (as well as other sports) continued over the weekend as HALL OF FAMER HANK AARON passed away at the age of 87. 

Aaron, who broke Babe Ruth's home run record without using steroids, will be remembered for his quiet dignity both on & off the field. HAMMERING HANK had a career .305 batting average with 755 homers, 3771 hits, 2297 runs batted in plus he was a 25 time all-star. 

Aaron holds career major league records for most runs batted in, extra base hits, total bases and all star appearances plus he hit 30 home runs in 15 different seasons.

Hank, you were nothing but class. Godspeed and R.I.P.

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The deaths are certainly sad but I thought we should honor the recently departed and make up an all-star team to play in the pearly gates league. 

MANAGER TOM LASORDA will lead the team but now we need good starting pitching so let's start with five hall of famers in DON SUTTON, WHITEY FORD, BOB GIBSON, TOM SEAVER and PHIL NIEKRO. Of course, we need some good middle relievers so let's use MATT KEOUGH, DON LARSEN, JOHNNY ANTONELLI and BART JOHNSON. And for set-up and closers, how about MIKE McCORMICK, BOB MILLER, RON PERRANOSKI, ED FARMER & LINDY McDANIEL? I think that works pretty well.

The outfield gets a little crowded with HANK AARON, LOU BROCK, AL KALINE, BOB WATSON (scored the one millionth run in MLB history), JIMMY WYNN, JAY JOHNSTONE, CLAUDELL WASHINGTON, JIM BOLGER & CARROLL HARDY (the only man to ever pinch hit for TED WILLIAMS).

The infield starts with DICK ALLEN at first and backed up by JULIO BEQUER and that brings us to a group of infielder to pick from and you can't go wrong. JOE MORGAN starts at second with GLENN BECKERT and TONY TAYLOR behind him.....TONY FERNANDEZ  can easily handle shortstop with CHICO FERNANDEZ (no relation) behind him and PHIL LINZ, EDDIE KASKO, DENIS MENKE rotating at the hot corner.

Catching is no problem with ED FITZGERALD & HAL SMITH behind the plate and DON'T EVER try to knock either one of them over!!

 I know this team can't wait until opening day. Rest in peace, gentlemen.

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FOOTBALL NEWS....Quarterback MATT STAFFORD and the Detroit Lions have decided to part ways. Matt, it's only 281 miles to Chicago and I'll pick you up at the airport. We have better restaurants and much better shopping but I think he ends up in Indianapolis or New Orleans. At 32 years of age, you know he wants to play for a contender after wasting his career in Detroit.

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Speaking of which, is Detroit the worst sports town in America right now?  The Red Wings are the worst team in hockey, the Tigers are equally as bad in baseball, the Pistons are laughable in the NBA and the aforementioned Lions have played one ONE playoff game in 30 years. Simply put, Detroit sucks.

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THE CHICAGO BULLS are playing much better basketball and that's because new coach BILLY DONOVAN is the real deal. He's always been a great teacher and wins every place he goes. It will take a little time until they can compete on a regular basis with the big boys but it'll happen. A perfect example is they take the Lakers down to the wire last week and then get absolutely smoked a few days later against the same team. They'll learn.

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We'll talk about the Cubs & Sox next time.  Stay warm.

A SAD DAY IN AMERICA

 I took some time to digest the attack on the Capitol Building before writing just to make sure i had as many facts as possible so this may take two editions to get it all out so bear with me.

To set the record straight, I have many friends who are Republicans and they are very much aware that I've voted both sides of the fence in numerous presidential elections so we enjoy an energetic exchange of policy ideas on a regular basis because they have no idea what side I'm going to take in a discussion, which led me to my this idea regarding 'Black Wednesday'. I spoke with 11 people who I knew voted for donald trump and asked for their perspective on the attack at the Capitol Building.

Eight people said they were 'disgusted' with trump and he was directly responsible for the riot and he should be removed from office either thru article 25 or impeachment. The other two said the country should just wait until January 20th and let him 'fade away'. ALL TEN said trump apparently suffers from some type of mental illness. ALL TEN. ALL REPUBLICANS.

And now we go to supporter #11........ "All trump did was to tell people to demonstrate but he's not responsible for anything beyond that." Fair enough. I can understand how a fervent supporter would take that position so I presented that view to the original ten and they collectively said (and I've cleaned it up) that "#11 is full of crap and to absolve trump of any responsibility is dangerous in itself." Please remember that comment comes from 10 people who ALWAYS vote republican.

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And now we have to deal with UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMORS about Black Wednesday.

Rumor #1) The police drove three bus loads of the ANTIFA organization to the capitol and they had orders to make the trump supporters look bad. WRONG.

There is absolutely no PROOF of this happening. Just more finger pointing and jaw jacking by people who feed off of conspiracies.

But there are two officers in trouble for:

 A) being stupid by posing for pictures with the rioters and B) acting as a freaking tour guide. Those officers should be disciplined but no one drove a bus.  I do want to bring your attention to a photo from the 1930's when the Indiana State Police posed with John Dillinger, who was in jail for bank robbery and murder. Arms around his shoulders and big smiles on everyone's faces. Cops don't always do the smartest things. 

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Rumor #2) The rioters weren't trump supporters but 'planted' people (ANTIFA usually gets the blame here--it's the 'go-to' for republicans when they screw up--see the paragraph at the end of this missive) to make the trumpty-dumpties look bad. "All of the trump supporters stopped when they got to the outside stairs."  WRONG AGAIN.  

Now I don't care where you get your news but every legitimate network has released personal information or actually interviewed those who have been arrested thus far. Indiana, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, South Carolina, Arizona and on and on. The FBI even snatched up a guy who works 20 miles from my house. Those interviewed on camera after their arrest admitted to being fervent trump supporters and said they will still support him. THE PEOPLE WHO RIOTED ARE TRUMP'S PEOPLE, plain & simple. 

OUTSIDERS CAUSING TROUBLE? I think not. Republicans should be disturbed, disgusted and frightened by what happened. should be.

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It is well known that 30% of trump's base support consist of people with very limited education and they were out in full force on Wednesday which leads us to rumor #3.

"They didn't do any damage or cause any problems at the Capitol. They were just inside protesting." 100% ABSO-FREAKING-LUTELY WRONG!

Let's start with the death of a police officer who was struck in the head when some coward pitched a fire extinguisher into a group of policemen on the stairs. That should be enough to defuse their claim of 'innocent protesting' but let's add to it. Follow that up with an officer who was pushed over a restraining fence and add to that the officer who was trapped against the wall by the surging crowd and screaming for help and of course, let's not forget the officer who was dragged by the legs from the porch to the stairs and then beaten with flag poles.

Trashing congressional offices? Breaking windows? Kicking in doors? Theft? Spraying mace at officers? One trump supporter even walked out with speaker's podium! p.s. He was arrested on Friday in Florida and charged federally with 4 various counts.

Innocent? hardly.  Criminals? definitely. And I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when video evidence is presented in court and facial recognition software matches them up. 

                                   

The fun part of the aftermath is when these domestic terrorists are arrested by the FBI. I've noticed on their mug shots that those smug smiles displayed on Wednesday have disappeared. Think it's because they were informed of the penalties they're facing?

It was all fun & games when their feet were up on the Speaker's desk or sitting in the Vice-President's chair. Can't wait for the federal judges to pronounce sentences on these pricks.

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AND JUST TO REPEAT A POINT, before any of the trumpty-dumpties try to invoke their conspiracy theories to absolve the rioters and the entire republican party, EVERYONE arrested to date has proudly stated they are trump supporters and "would do it again" if given the chance.

And now for the educational finish today with more to come later.

Now read this part closely or if you can't due to your lack of education, have someone read it to you.  ANTIFA is not an organization...... there is no membership, no clubhouse, no leaders, no dues and no leaders. There are no uniforms or regulations.

ANTIFA is a philosophy and a mindset and it means ANTI-FASCISTS and they exist on the far left of the democratic party but they are not aligned with the main stream because violence is built into their philosophy and that is unacceptable. 

They simply believe that the FAR RIGHT are fascists and they will do battle with them at the drop of a hat. 

Now, WHAT IS A FASCIST? Take your pick from neo-nazis, skinheads, proud boys and the grand-daddy of them all, the ku klux klan. They are all fascist organizations who hate Jews and Catholics and liberals.......and they all have leaders and clubhouses and dues paying members and promote new membership and they publicly support donald trump and constantly attend his rallies. SEE THE DIFFERENCE?

                        

That's it for now. Enjoy your day because things will get a lot better next Wednesday. Remember when the countdown was 80 days, then 75........?  Now it's just 8 days !!

Stay Warm.