Genetics

As I'd mentioned in a previous email, I am a quarter Jewish.

What? How can one be 1/4 of a religion?

The answer is you cannot be. But "Jewish" is not just a religion, it is an ethnic population. It is impossible to neglect this fact. The descendants of the twelve tribes of Israel form an ethnic population.

Much of this can be traced through genographic information. For example, I recently participated in the National Geographic Genographic Project. I gave them samples of my DNA and discovered my Y-DNA information. I am in haplogroup E3b and my Y-chromosome is M35.

So what?

A little research shows that there are two haplogroups that are found in higher frequencies among Jewish populations than in others. They are the J-group and the E-group. In addition, the E3b strain is apparently strong in eastern Europe. My father's family came to the U.S. from Russia.

I'm truly Jewish.

The Proudest of Moments

This may sound like one of those typically obnoxious, overly proud comments from a father, but...

I am the father of a CHAMPION!!!

Yes, that is right. My son went to the Massachusetts Open Tae Kwon Do Championship yesterday. He brought home three medals. He earned a bronze in poomsae (forms). That was his first event.

Then came breaking technique.

Now, Jonathan had already taken first place once before at a tournament in breaking. He has what I call a signature move -- his jumping front kick. He gets his leg up high and he kicks it hard. When his name was called, his masters held the boards for him. He easily broke the first board with a knife hand strike. Next he shattered a board with a roundhouse kick. Lastly, he ran and jumped and did a perfect jumping front kick and broke his third board. He was the only competitor in his rank and age group to break all three boards on his first try.

He was awarded a gold medal, making him state champ for his age and rank.

The best part of the championship, however, came after lunch. Jonathan was dressed for sparring, but he was the only one in his group. The officials were about to award him a second gold when Jonathan's masters stopped them. They requested he instead be moved up in class. Fortunately, there was a bigger, older kid in the same predicament as Jonathan, so little JD had to jump up in class.

They fought two rounds. Right from the beginning it was obvious that the other kid was stronger, bigger and more experienced than Jonathan. However, my son was not fazed. He stayed in there. Rather than running away or quitting, he fought this bigger kid, toe-to-toe. He kicked and punched. The last thirty seconds of the match was actually quite impressive. A man standing next to me remarked, "that's one tough kid you got there."

Jonathan may have lost the match, but he won far more. He proved to himself that he can stand in there, that he really is good enough. The silver medal they put on his neck after the match was, as I mentioned, the proudest of moments.

Friday Morning Thoughts

It's been a long week. Nay, it's been a long three weeks. I need this weekend. Heck, I need a vacation. One is on the horizon (a wonderful family vacation to Clearwater Beach, FL). But for now, I'll simply enjoy this weekend.

Is it me or did this country get really religious in the last couple of years?

Will the four people not related to Barry Bonds or affiliated with him or the San Francisco Giants and still believe he's clean please write me and explain your logic?

Will the five people who still think George W. Bush is good for our country do the same?

Perhaps, it's the same four people plus Archie Bunker.

Is American Idol fixed?

The egg came first.

That writer asked if men are necessary. Does it matter? We're here.

Women, on the other hand, are necessary.

Did you ever notice that the three religions that are so adamant about everyone else going to hell are all branches of the same religion? Judaism, Christianity and Islam all stem from the same source. Coincidence?

If something awful happens this weekend, do not blame me. I'm going to see if I can hang with that writer and go hunting Dick.

I mean duck.

The Real World Champions

Sit down, White Sox. The real champions of the world are here.

And it is the team from Japan.

In the first true tournament of professional baseball players (at least since I can remember), the two best teams played a one game championship. Japan defeated Cuba 10-6. Through the WBC, I've learned quite a bit about my beloved sport.

The Japanese do it better than we do. First, they play ball the right way. We think of last year's champs as fundamental baseball at its best. Not even close. Japanese baseball is about bunts and steals and timely hitting and upsetting the batter's rhythm. It's wonderful to watch them play. Japan lost three games in this tournament. Well, two, really, as that umpire call against the U.S. was about as questionable as a Belorussian election. Yet, they found a way to win when it mattered. That's clutch.

The Cubans do it better than we do. Then again, the Cubans have been playing baseball better since before I was born. In fact, in every international tournament since 1951, Cuba has come in first or second. That makes the Yankee and Brave streaks seem kind of boring, doesn't it? Cuba plays with passion, with a love of the sport that we simply do not have. We're too busy loading up on fried food and watching overly juiced monsters in helmets show boat when they make a tackle or catch a pass.

The Koreans do it better than we do. This one is the best surprise of all. Korea came into this tournament as an afterthought. Most people picked them to make it to the second round, but wouldn't factor much. Instead, they ran up the longest winning streak of the tournament, left with the best overall record, and can proudly call themselves winners. They can pitch. They can hit. They can run. They can field. And they whooped the American prima donnas pretty darn good in the process.

The Dominicans do it better than we do. Perhaps the Dominican team ended up being an even bigger disappointment than the American team. After all, they were the big favorites heading into the tournament. Losing wasn't supposed to happen. They lost twice, once against a team of players none of us had heard of before. Still, to see that passion, that pure love of the game of baseball, that the Dominican players all had was enough to convince me they were better than the Americans. As if being in the semis weren't enough.

Baseball is called America's national pastime. That is simply not true. It was, at one time. In the fifties and early sixties, when baseball ruled American, yes, it was the national pastime. But today, that title belongs to the far less romantic sports of football and NASCAR.

We're a much more impatient society today. We can't wait for the tensions of baseball. We want action (even though football actually has about the same amount of actual play action per game as baseball, the time clock gives it a false sense of being an action sport). We do not have attention spans for baseball anymore. We also don't have that love for the game that we used to. Sure, they are crazy about the Red Sox up in Boston, and St. Louis was, is and always will be the Cardinals' town. But even those places cannot compete with the passion that Tokyo or Havana now has for the game.

The romance is gone from American baseball. So, it seems, has the game itself.

Mind Your 'N's and 'Q's

We threatened Iran.

The president has stated that Iran is the primary threat to America. He also said he will use diplomacy to combat the Iran issue and only use force if necessary.

Hmm.

But, I thought...

So, let me get this straight. We refuse to negotiate or use diplomacy against the non-fundamentalist Iraqi regime who posed no threat to us, yet we are willing to do so with a fundamentalist Iranian regime whose ties to those who hurt us are far more visible.

I thought we didn't negotiate with terrorists.

OK, let me clarify here. I am not in favor of invading Iran. Good or bad (and they are very, very bad -- far more dangerous than Hussein was), it is yet another gust of wind that blows us off course. We do not need to invade Iran. We do not need a pre-emptive strike here. What we need is diplomacy.

What we need is to continue to search and destroy all al Quaida operations. We also need to get out of Iraq as quickly as possible. That means we need to get the Iraqi army strong enough that the Iranians and Syrians cannot invade (what a mess G.W. put us in). We need Iraq to be able to secure its borders quickly. Then we need to pull out.

Many people believe, as they have told me, that diplomacy is weak. Not true. There are ways to be diplomatic that are not weak. Vito Corleone, for example, was quite diplomatic in getting his nephew out of the band leader's contract. Or in getting Mrs. Colombo to stay in her apartment and keep her dog.

There can be truth in fiction.

We don't need to invade to be effective.

If only someone in this administration understood that.

* * * * *

And on a lighter note...

I think I've found a new respect for Jessica Simpson. Read the news to find out why.

And GO KOREA!!!!!! 6-0 including two victories over their nemesis Japan.

The Sab Four are in the Hall. Finally.

Edgar and Tony dying in back-to-back episodes really hurt. Let's try and keep everyone else alive, shall we?

Thank Goodness For Spring

We had it relatively easy this winter. We had maybe one or two bad storms after New Year's Day. And even the snowfall of December was fine (snowfall in December is always fine). But, as it happens every year when the little month ends and the bipolar month begins, I start to get the itch for warmth, for green, for Spring.

I call March the bipolar month for two reasons (no pun intended). First, the cliche about March -- in like a lion, out like a lamb -- has a connotation of two extremes. Second, and more personally, it is the month that historically I'd always awakened from winter gloom to spring mania.

I get spring fever. It penetrates deep inside my soul, reawakens dormant dreams and ideas, and fills me with excitement. I wake up now and drive to the train station in sunlight. I walk to Grand Central after work and still it's shining.

Heavy coats are replaced by jackets. Heavy sauces and foods are replaced by fresh artichokes and asparagus. The worst sports month is replaced by spring training and, this year, the WBC (How 'bout that Korean team, huh?).

Summer has always been my favorite season, and Autumn is the best food and most scenic season. But Spring to me is as wonderful as any time of year. I feel like biking, or kayaking, or fishing, or playing catch. Anything outside, where I can breathe the fresh air and shed the last of the winter stagnation from my body.

Yes. I've caught the fever.

Thank goodness.

How Bad Is He Really?

A friend of mine asked me to write a piece arguing whether or not I believed George W. Bush is the worst president of our lifetime.

As I've written earlier, I am a member of Generation X. Our generation began in the Lyndon B. Johnson presidency, though I wasn't born until Richard Nixon. No matter. Let's take a look at the presidents we've had in the GenX years:

Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Jimmy Carter
Ronald Reagan
George Bush
Bill Clinton
George W. Bush

No wonder GenX is so disillusioned with politics. This is a pretty sorry bunch. Even Reagan, who is by far the best president in the list, falls far short of what I'd consider a great president. And the drop off between Reagan and Clinton, the second best on the list, is considerable. Let's see if we can look briefly at each one.

Johnson: He is responsible for enormous good and enormous bad. One word: Vietnam. His presidency came at a time when America was ripping itself apart over a bad war, civil rights and angry youth. Despite the horrors of the Sixties, however, Johnson did more for civil rights than any president not named Abraham Lincoln.

Nixon: I get a big kick out of Republicans who try to defend him. Richard Nixon was a terrible man before his presidency and he wasn't any better during it. He was a McCarthyist Republican whose paranoia did him in. He's the only president to fail to complete his term without being assassinated.

Ford: In the two short years of his presidency, there were two attempts on his life. He also pardoned Nixon. That said, I believe Ford's worst offense was giving political power and experience to Cheney and Rumsfeld. Still, the last soldiers left Vietnam under his watch.

Carter: This man gets hammered for ineffectiveness on many levels. He was elected because he was a non-political man. He was a man of ideals and beliefs. Of all the men on this list, he is by far the most admirable and decent. Unfortunately, these are not qualities that succeed in Washington (unless you are a force of nature, like Theodore Roosevelt).

Reagan: He changed interest rates forever, thank goodness. Also, he gave Americans a reason to be proud again. We'd had a long run of bad times and it was hard to find a reason to feel good about being a citizen. He changed that. However, he gets far too much credit for the fall of the Soviet Union and far too little blame for the problems of the late eighties and early nineties. Let me remind you, his presidency led to a terrible recession and the worst period of crime the country had seen since the days of the old west. Homelessness, drugs, AIDS, these are Reagan's children. And, yes, he was still the best of this lot.

Bush: Bush might have been the best of this bunch if he was able to put a stop to even one of the post-Reagan problems. Instead, he was ineffective. He also proved out-of-touch.

Clinton: Talk about a disappointment. When Clinton became president, there was this massive "Hallelujah!!" throughout the country. He got hammered right away by his enemies for things beyond his presidency (like infidelity) which was his ultimate ruin. He also got hammered by many of his own supporters for not doing enough. Looking back, though, the horrible internal strife caused by the Reagan administration seemed to all but disappear in Clinton's eight years. Drug use became less prevalent, as did teenage pregnancy. Crime hit lows unseen since the 1950's. The economy boomed. If we credit Reagan with the Soviet downfall (even partial credit), we need to do the same for Clinton.

That leaves us with George W. Bush.

He inherited a solid, if not ideal, economy. He inherited few real problems, when you think about it. We felt pretty secure. In fact, after the election and we realized he was our president, life just seemed to go on. He would have been a one term president who accomplished little or nothing in his four years, good or bad.

Everything changed on 9/11.

There are moments in history that define leaders. The Civil War defined Lincoln's presidency. The Depression defined Hoover's. World War II defined FDR's. 9/11 defined George W. Bush.

And how did he respond? At first, wonderfully. He rallied the country behind him. In fact, he rallied most of the world. Even pacifists were behind him. It seemed he was destined for an unlikely greatness.

It wasn't long, though, that he began to stray. Iraq, that country his father had defeated a decade earlier and was basically a shell of a threat, was his next target. We can only assume why, but the facts have proven that Iraq was never a threat. And in conquering Iraq, he managed to create for himself and American troops a new Vietnam.

Meanwhile, al Quaida is free to wreak havoc. And Iran's power grows.

When tragedy hit home, as it did to New Orleans, he did nothing. Thousands died unnecessarily. Thousands more were displaced. Bush blamed others.

Since the fall of Joe McCarthy, Americans have been enjoying a growing sense of freedoms. Little by little, the words of the Constitution and Bill of Rights were being applied to more people and in more areas. Until Bush.

Americans pride themselves in being above terrorists. Yet torture has played a role in theis administration. Torture is a form of terrorism.

The ties that previous presidents, most notably Carter, Reagan and Clinton, had worked so hard to achieve throughout the world, have been weakened. We are no longer trusted.

Deals have been made where his friends have profited from the costs of this war. Meanwhile America's deficit has never been higher.

I could go on. I won't.

I was too young to really grasp Watergate, and I certainly wasn't around in the 1960's. Still, I'd be hard pressed to think anyone was worse a president than George W. Bush.

A Cautious Step in the Right Direction

This just in...

Perhaps a major battle has been avoided, as DP World has just announced that it will hand over the North American ports business end of their recent deal to an American-based company.

On the surface, this seems like a major victory. However, the deal has not yet been finalized and we are missing many details.

More to follow, I'm sure.

Dear Major League Pitchers,

It's the first inning. You're already past the first two batters of the game and you are about to face your first real dilemma. I'm not talking about a normal pitching dilemma, like runners on second and third with no out. You could have struck out the first two batters. It wouldn't matter. You are facing the San Francisco Giants. The number three hitter is Barry Bonds.

The ball is in your hand. Sixty feet, six inches away from you is the worst of baseball. He is the biggest stain in baseball history -- bigger than Pete Rose, bigger than Ty Cobb, bigger than the 1919 Black Sox. He is marching toward history now. Seven good swings from passing Babe Ruth and forty-eight from passing Hank Aaron.

I want you to remember when you first fell in love with baseball. You were probably somewhere between six and eight years old. The men on that field were gods to you. You may have been looking at Mike Schmidt or Reggie Jackson and thinking no one could hit the ball like them. Then your father told you about Babe Ruth, the greatest ball player anyone had ever seen. Babe Ruth, the man who made the home run what it is. Babe Ruth, the first player to 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 and 700 career home runs.

Think also about Henry Aaron, his quiet class, his courage in the face of racism and how he managed to pass Babe Ruth. Henry Aaron, the perfect man to sit on top of that throne, wearing the crown that reads "All Time Home Run King."

Take one last moment to reflect on the torment that Roger Maris had faced, how everyone, including major league baseball, seemed against him. Yet he managed to pass Babe Ruth's single season mark. In doing so, he had to endure a lifetime of pain. It wasn't until recently that we've come to appreciate his greatness.

Think of these three men. Barry Bonds is sixty feet, six inches from you. He is spitting on these men, these gods of baseball. He's spitting on the game itself, the game you love. He's spitting on you. Babe Ruth, Roger Maris and Henry Aaron shared one thing in common. They played naturally (well, Babe Ruth played drunk sometimes, but that was the era in which he played -- and booze does not enhance your performance). They didn't stick needles in their arms. They didn't swallow dozens of pills.

Look out again toward home plate. Sixty feet, six inches. Barry Bonds. Does he deserve history? It is you, now, that can affect that history. If you throw a strike, you give him a chance. You can walk him. You can hit him. Or you can give him what he doesn't deserve -- a shot at that crown.

It's up to you now. Baseball's greatest record is in your hands. Just sixty feet, six inches away.

Kayak For A Cause

On July 29th at approximately 7am I will begin a journey across Long Isalnd Sound on kayak.I will be participating in the Sixth Annual Kayak For A Cause. This event will allow crazy people like me to get out their adventure urges and do some good in the process. This year, KFAC will be raising money for the following charities:

Hole in the Wall Gang
Cardinal Shehan Center
Cancer Care
Courage to Speak
Save the Sound

Each participant is required to raise a minimum of $500 for the KFAC event, I hope to raise more. Please check out my page on the KFAC site and, if you are feeling generous, kindly donate.

I look forward to this event and I hope some of my readers help to make my participation a success.

American League East

I saved my favorite division for last. The AL East has not only the fiercest rivalry in baseball, but some other interesting rivalries as well. Let's not forget that the Orioles were a great team for man, many years. Even the Blue Jays had their successes in the eighties and early nineties. Oh, and there is that team from the Bronx, too.

How is this for baseball domination? Since I graduated college in 1992, the AL East teams have been in nine of thirteen world series, winning seven of them. My gut tells me it will be the eighth time this year.

New York Yankees Yeah, I know they are my favorite team and I'm probably a little biased. But here are my three reasons they will win it all in 2006: 1) Jason Giambi is back in full force. New York fans have a love affair with guys who can come back (Dwight Gooden, Darryl Strawberry, etc..). He's going to have a monster year. 2) The pitching staff, though older, is better this year. Randy Johnson got his bad year under his belt and will be dominant. Although Mussina is on his way down, he is still a gutsy competitor and has enough left. And Rivera is amazing. 3) Johnny Damon. I know he can't throw all that well and he's not the best CF in baseball. I also know the same people who love to say that are the ones who consistently said Nomar and Tejada were better than Jeter. Damon, like Jeter, has that extra special winning thing. He will help get them over the top.

Boston Red Sox I'm only picking them second because I believe the Blue Jays are still one more season away from being a playoff contender. Boston has been one of the three best teams in the AL for the last three years. They will come down to size this year. They still have David Ortiz (God I wish he was on any other team -- I love him) and Manny, but the pitching is suspect. Schilling, as great as he can be for a single game, is too old and out of practice (very little playing time in '05) and Beckett is not a proven ace -- or even a number two. A lot has been made about Theo Epstein and his love of stats, but the reason they won was because they were the Idiots -- a team that was special, like the '34 Cardinals, '55 Dodgers and '69 Mets. Without Damon, Millar and Pedro, they just aren't the same.

Toronto Blue Jays You can almost see the Yankees and Red Sox looking over their shoulder. It started last year. The Blue Jays have begun tehir rebuilding process the right way -- with pitching. They have the best staff by far in the division and they're young enough to last several years. Like the Mets with the Braves in the NL East, the Blue Jays will be the team to end the Yankee and Red Sox stronghold in this division. But that will begin in '07. They will be right up with Boston until about the last week of the season before falling just short.

Tampa Bay Devil Rays Yes, I am picking them to not finish last. The Rays are a team that have never been given the chance to get their feet on the ground. They have new ownership now, plus now management. They also have one of baseball's most exciting -- and definitely the least noticed -- young stars in Carl Crawford. Watch this guy. He's got all the tools, especially speed. If Rocco Baldelli makes a successful comeback (he's young enough that I don't see any reason why he won't), they aren't going to be all that bad.

Baltimore Orioles They are the Reds of the AL. They are a poorly run organization top to bottom. It's a damn shame too, because they are one of those classic franchises (even though they are young by baseball standards). They have a long history of success. Someday that success will return and Oriole teams will be compared with the teams of Palmer and Robinson, Murray and Ripken. Just not in this decade.

A Damn Shame

Next time you have a weekend to spare and you want to go away, perhaps enjoy some of the wonderful history of our national pastime, forget it. Go to the ball park, be it major or minor leagues. Grab yourself a hot dog and a beer and enjoy the game. That's what it's about.

It certainly isn't about that museum in Cooperstown.

It's bad enough that a man who has more hits than anyone in history has been shunned because of something he did AFTER he played. I mean, come on, Pete Rose belongs. It's even worse that the cornerstone of two of the most loveable teams in history (1955 Brooklyn Dodgers and 1969 New York Mets) has also been shunned. Gil Hodges belongs.

They have just decided that Buck O'Neil was not hall-worthy. If you have seen Ken Burns' documentary (and if you're a baseball fanatic, you have) then you know who Buck O'Neil is. If you're the historical type and love information about the negro leagues, you know who Buck O'Neil is. If you no anything about racial barriers and who was the first Afircan-American coach in the big leagues, you know who Buck O'Neil is.

If you've ever read his book or heard him talk, you know what a hall of famer is.

The man is simply one of the greatest ambassadors the game has ever known. He has done more for the game of baseball than dozens who are in the hall today. Kirby Puckett, Don Sutton, Tony Perez, Robin Yount, Paul Molitor and others are in the hall of fame and simply have not done for baseball what this man has.

Let's take a look, shall we?

30 years in the negro leagues as a player or manager
2 time batting champion
3 time All Star
Managed team to 4 league championships
Played in 2 others
As scout for the Chicago Cubs, scouted talent such as Lou Brock and Ernie Banks
Became first black major league coach in 1962 for the Cubs
Named midwest Scout of the Year in 1998 as scout for Kansas City Royals
Board Chairman of Negro Leagues Museum in Kansas City, MO
Member of the 19-man Baseball Hall of Fame Veterans Committee and was key in getting several negro league stars into Cooperstown
Subject of countless interviews

Who needs Cooperstown. Buck O'Neil is the Hall of Fame.

American League Central

The Chicago White Sox did everything right last year and won the World Series -- exorcising the demons of years past in the process. Somewhere in the great big ball field in the sky, Shoeless Joe cracked a smile.

They may have improved in 2006, adding Jim Thome. But the Indians were in the hunt until the end last year and the Twins are only a season from their short dominance of the division.

Chicago White Sox Ozzie and co. are going to win the division again. I wouldn't be surprised if they repeat as world champions. Unlike the Red Sox in 2004, this curse-breaker did it by playing like the perfect ball club. They reminded me of the 1996-2001 New York Yankees, getting contributions from everyone at just the right moments. They played hard every minute of every game. They are a well put-together organization right now and I can see them being in contention for the next few years at least.

Cleveland Indians Don't be surprised to see the Indians giving the Red Sox a run for the wild card (oops, I let slip a prediction for the AL East!). They played solid down the stretch and were only one weekend from overtaking the awesome White Sox. They are young and fun and may be next in line to break their championship drought, as the Cubbies aren't going to do it. If they make the playoffs, they will be dangerous.

Minnesota Twins Any team with Johan Santana as their ace has a chance. This guy can flat out pitch. I love to watch him. And Joe Mauer is going to be one great catcher. I like this team's chances, though I don't know if they have enough to topple the Sox and Tribe.

Detroit Tigers There is a line in Star Wars where C-3PO says "we were made to suffer." Thus the life of the Tiger fan. Part of me is admittedly not unhappy about the Tigers' woes. The gods of baseball should be frowning on them for getting rid of that awesome stadium for an awful (albeit new) stadium with the dangerous ferris wheel. I think of two players when I think of the Tigers: Dmitri Young and Ivan Rodriguez. Dmitri slammed Ken Griffey Jr. as he exited the Reds. He's a good player, but to me slamming Junior is dumb. And Ivan Rodriguez was once the greatest catcher in baseball. Then that book came out and he suddenly showed up for spring training a whole lot lighter. Makes me wonder.

Kansas City Royals Is it me or with each passing year you realize more and more how great George Brett really was? Man, this team stinks without him. And the fact that he hasn't played a game since 1993 speaks volumes. They've lost 100 or more games three of the last four seasons. Wanna bet it's four of five?