What McCain Was Thinking...

President Bush endorsed his one-time rival John McCain as the Republican nominee last week. What do you think McCain was thinking at this point?

6.) "I wonder if he actually believes what he's saying."

5.) "Please don't mention the Iraq War. Please don't mention the Iraq War."

4.) "I didn't know George was balding."

3.) "I can't be a worse president than he was"

2.) Christ. It's like anyone can be president.

1.) "I was a P.O.W. while he fagged out of the Texas National Guard. And he's president? I need a better agent. "

Garden Tickets to Rise if Rangers Make Finals...WTF?

I saw yesterday in Larry Brooks' column in the New York Post that Madison Square Garden informed season-ticket holders in the 400 level Blue Seats that should the NY Rangers make it to the Stanley Cup Finals they can expect to pay $150 per ticket--exactly five times what it cost during the regular season. WTF?

Granted the ticket price increase went up for all seats in the Garden. I'm sure the corporate seast down by the glass increased. But why do I give a shit about MetLife's costs going up?

But the Blue Seats--where the truest, loudest, and rowdiest fans seat--is the best ticket in town. $30. Can't beat it. Because the Garden's sight lines are very good from the Blue Seats, it's the best value in NY. Especially for a sporting event.

Bleacher seats in Yankee Stadium may be cheaper, but good luck enjoying the view point from there. It's only a million miles to homeplate. Plus, you have to enter a separate entrance for the bleachers. You're not even connected to the Stadium!

Now, greed takes over. The Dolan-led Cablevision--which owns the Garden--has to squeeze every dollar from the fan. I've read before that a home playoff game means about $1 million to the Garden. So you know that greed is driving things here. Sad. Because the Knicks--the Garden's other Winter tenant--are in such disarray, the playoffs (and the $1 million per home game) are out of the question. It's like the Ranger fans are paying the freight for the woeful Knicks.

In the end, it may not matter. The Rangers make it to the NHL Finals as often as NBC cranks out compelling TV shows these days.

March Musings...

From time to time, I'd like to roll-out "Musings" a kind of blog for the blog if that makes any sense. Ready?

1. Brett Favre retires--Let's be honest. The guy threw way too many interceptions to be considered the greatest quarterback of all-time. I'd take Brady, Montana, and if you forced me at gunpoint, Phil Simms. He won a Super Bowl, had a great career, and even had a cameo in There's Something About Mary. Now let's move on already. A compiler of stats, he'll likely be remembered as the Rafael Palmeiro of quarterbacks. Too rough? Deal with it.

2. Clinton Wins Ohio and Texas in the Clutch--Like a cockaroach, you can't kill her. She had to win these primaries. And its looking likely that she and Obama will be running mates in the general election against my boy McCain. Interestingly enough, Clinton and Obama, if given the choice, probably would not pick the other as a running mate. The point here is that the Democratic Party elders might not give them the option. It'll be a tension convention at the convention for sure.

3. NY Islanders Stone NY Rangers...again. The most remarkable rivalry in sports. Whenever the two teams meet, it's always close and down to the wire. It's almost as if the Rangers play down to the Islanders. More galling was that the Rangers put on a barrage of shots in the first period only to be outscored by the Islanders and stoned by back-up Wade Dubielewicz in the nets. And Jagr continues his misery on the shootout. Is this a mental thing with this guy? Including last night's loss, the all-time record Rangers vs. Islanders breaks down like this 98-93-19-3...At MSG: 59-35-11-2...At Long Island: 39-58-8-1.

4. Is it me or do all the guys on American Idol suck his year? For that matter, the girls too. As Randy might say, "it's just a-ight for me man." If I'm keeping it real.....yo.

Blogging the Reading Card Show, Part II

As I said, money's an important determiner in the business. A little background. Because for example a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle rookie card commands a price a north of $10 grand in pristine condition, you have scores of men trying to make a quick buck. Real-life events can impact a card's value too. Take Mark McGwire's rookie card, the 1985 Topps Olympic card. Before McGwire was suspected of steroids, this card was easily valued at $100 and more. Now, you practically can't give the McGwire card away. I saw some in reading selling for $10. Like Enron stock, the McGwire rookie card rose and fell with its subject.

To me, baseball cards are living history. At the end of the show, I happened upon a really cool baseball card find. For those unfamiliar, a "find" is when you clean out your grandparents attic and discover crates of unopened baseball cards. It happens less frequently these days. But recently, a man cleaning out his basement happened on such a find. And this sucker hit the jackpot.

Opening a plain brown-paper bag, the man discoved 298 baseball cards from 1915-1916! That's right. We're talking legends: Cy Young, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Honus Wagner and more. In fact, the only wear and tear on the cards occurred in the paper bag. Apparently, the cards were given to the man by his uncle--who delighted in eating Cracker Jacks during the ballgame. The cards were distributed inside the Cracker Jacks boxes. Each card will command roughly $7,500 minimum at auction. That's quite a score.

For me, though, it wasn't about the cash that was about to be generated: It was about how these relics survived in tact from basement floods, fires even overzealous neatnicks wanting to clean out the basement. Remarkable really.

Blogging the Reading Card Show...Part I

I have to admit something: I'm a baseball card fanatic. Always have been.

Why baseball cards? For me, the cards are a link to my childhood. Early 80s. Paying 27 cents a pack for the baseball cards, praying you'd get a good New York Yankee, preferably a Nettles, Righetti, or Gossage. Those were my guys. More often, I got the likes of journeymen pitchers Rudy May or a Tom Underwood. But that only made me want to buy more. "I could get Goose Gossage this time!" The thrill of opening the wax pack.... I used to give the stale gum to my brother. Those were good times--before people gave a shit about the worth of card. Today, it's all about the dollars, less about sentimentality.

Over the weekend, I attended a regional baseball card show in Reading, PA with friends Tommy and Joe. Most of the heavy hitters in the card collecting industry descend on this sleepy town each Spring bringing with them some of the rarest and most expensive baseball cards available anywhere. Mickey Mantle, Ty Cobb, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays. All the greats of the game are represented. Even the Mona Lisa of the card collecting--the T2o6 Honus Wagner-was on display in Reading.

Judging by the attendance on the floor, baseball card collectors are an odd lot. Cultish and quirky, these are the kind of guys calling WFAN at four in the morning. They're more like evolved Trekkies. There's no women in sight--sort of a real-life Glengarry Glen Ross. It's amusing to see grown men scurrying from table-to-table--paper lists in hand---trying to complete baseball card sets from the 50s, 60s, 70s. And there are rows and rows of card tables--each with their own twist on memorabilia.