NYC has been blessed with spring-like and even summery weather since late August. It has made the the end of Daylight Saving Time less somber. I've made it a point to be outside as much as possible in the waning daylight - walking and reading on park benches often up to dusk.
Yet drought is now becoming a problem around here. Fires have raged this weekend in area parks, probably caused by a toxic combination of heat and dry leaves. Nothing is ever simple in life, is it?
The election results on Nov 5 were not to my liking, in the understatement of the year, but it didn't really surprise me. Kamala Harris turned out to be a better candidate and a more appealing personality than I expected, but hers was a hasty entry into the race after President Biden succumbed to pressure and withdrew from the race after a disastrous June 27 TV debate against Donald Trump.
It happened on my 82nd birthday and I was eating a great Cuban meal at Amor Cubano on 3rd Avenue and 111th Street. I wasn't gonna be bothered with the kind of TV situation that Trump knew how to manipulate. I sensed too that incumbent administrations would always take the blame for what happens on their watch. (I don't think the government of any country where there was some kind of legitimate election since the pandemic has survived.)
The role of television, and now even more perniciously the instant streaming services readily available online, is more insidious than ever. I picked a good movie to watch on TCM the Friday before the election, Hal Ashby's "Being There" (1979).
It really holds up well with Peter Sellers as the illiterate gardener whose emotions are entirely dictated by what he sees on TV. In one particularly memorable scene, Sellers reacts to Shirley MacLaine's amorous advances only when he sees a couple kissing on TV. Sellers delivers a bravura performance with some fine work by Melvyn Douglas as the dying chairman of a big corporation, MacLaine as his wife, and Jack Warden as the befuddled President of the United States.
Speaking of TCM, on Tues Nov 12 there is quite a lineup of sports-themed films beginning early in the morning with:
6A "Crazylegs" (1954) starring football star Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch playing himself. For those of you moaning and groaning about the new freedoms for college football players, I'm glad I learned that the great Wisconsin Badger All-American also played for U of Michigan when he was stationed nearby during WW2
730A "Viva Knievel" (1977) - remember him? the crazy motorcycle rider specializing in stunts
*930A "Speedy" (1928) Harold Lloyd's memorable silent film that includes Babe Ruth suffering thru a cab ride to Yankee Stadium by adoring Lloyd
11A "The Jackie Robinson Story" (1950) with JR playing himself and young Ruby Dee as his wife Rachel
1230P "The Greatest" (1977) a dramatization of Muhammad Ali's fight against his refusal to fight in Vietnam - starring Ernest Borgnine
(*430P "A Hard Day's Night" (1964) Not a sports film but the Beatles' first film under Richard Lester's artful direction of a more hopeful age)
8P "Strangers On A Train" (1951) a Hitchcock classic with some wonderful photography at the Forest Hills tennis center; Part of Ruth Roman Tuesday
nights in November with Farley Granger as the tennis pro trying to avoid Robert Walker's eerie stranger
On the college basketball scene, I am happy to report good news in the early going for Columbia basketball, both women's and men's teams.They are undefeated in the early going. There will be plenty of home action this month, esp. for the men, at the Levien Gym on Broadway just east of SE of 120th Street.
The women, expected to contend for another Ivy League title, routed Stony Brook in the home opener and won an overtime thriller at Providence, their 9th win over a Big East team in the last 10 tries. Next home games are :
M Nov 11 7P against powerhouse Florida Gulf Coast U.
W Nov 20 7P against Pacific of Stockton, CA where Eddie LeBaron played QB and Janet Leigh attended
And mark down Sa Jan 20 2P for Princeton's visit to Levien.
The Columbia Lions men upset Villanova last week on the road. They are an experienced team with no defections for transfer portals and the like.
Tu Nov 12 7P Lehigh
Sa Nov 16 Mercyhurst 12N
W Nov 20 at LIU Brooklyn 7P
Sa Nov 23 7P Stony Brook
M Nov 25 New Hampshire 7P
Down at the NYU gym at Mercer and Bleecker Sts, the defending Division III champion women Violets play:
Fri Nov 15 6P Kean of NJ
Su Nov 24 2P Colby from Maine
The men's home opener won't be until Dec 3.
Wisconsin, my graduate alma mater, is also off to undefeated start against middling competition. They were hit hard by losses in the transfer portal, but
they have enough veterans back and newcomers to perhaps make life interesting this season.
On the other hand, the second season of football coach Luke Fickell has hit major bumps in the road. At 5-4, with Oregon coming up this Sat Nov 16, they
are not assured of even a minor bowl appearance. Tearing down a good but not great program under Wisconsin native coach Paul Chryst doesn't look like
a good decision right now. I'm glad they have kept for the time being at least another local basketball stalwart, longtime coach Greg Gard.
Next time there may be news of baseball free agent signings though it looks like super-agent Scott Boras will string out his clients into the holiday season.
It didn't work out well for many of his players last off-season but we'll see. I don't like the incessant talk of money so won't go into it here.
Instead, I will be relying on the saving grace of humor in the four years ahead - while keeping alive my love of good sports and finding where I can fascinating connections about people.
Eg. Just found out ago moments ago from reading a Guardian.com post, that Susie Wiles, 67, Trump's campaign manager who will be his White House chief of staff, is the daughter of Pat Summerrall, former New York Giant place-kicker in their glory days and later the understated effective sidekick to John Madden on NFL broadcasts.
For now, always remember: Take it easy but take it, and Stay Positive, Test Negative.