The Blackest Monday of All Time?
Non-NFL fans will know about Black Monday. Not Black Friday, which is hopefully positive for retailers, Black Monday is the day that the ax falls on most football coaches. Usually there are 5-10 jobs open by the time that year’s Super Bowl kicks off. It’s usually easy to predict who will be out of a job: teams at the bottom of the standings, or who see the current hot candidate and fire the old coach. Some coaches don’t even make it to Black Monday. This season, Carolina fired Frank Reich during the season; as did the Las Vegas Raiders, who fired Josh McDaniels; Brandon Staley headed the most bad luck team in the league, the L.A. Chargers.
When the season ended last weekend, the hatchet started coming down. Arthur Smith didn’t keep his job until Monday, the Falcons fired him as soon as their game ended. Then Ron Rivera was fired in Washington, which was expected. People who thought that Matt Eberflus’ job was gone with Chicago, but a late surge of wins and a much improved defense saved his job (although Offensive Coordinator Luke Getsy and most of the offensive assistants were let go). Then the world turned sideways: first, Tennessee fired Mike Vrabel after two losing seasons. Vrabel posted a 54-45 record, with two playoff wins, but the winds of change blow there – Will Levis replaced Ryan Tannehill at QB and Derek Henry had the worst year of his career and is a free agent. Most people thought that Vrabel wasn’t given sufficient talent to be a serious contender.
Then the world started spinning backwards. First, Seattle relieved Pete Carroll of his head coaching job. The Seahawks went 137-89 under Carroll with one Super Bowl win and one appearance which was lost on a horrible play call at the Patriots’ 2-yardline. The team announced that Carroll will be moving into an advisor role, which bodes well for the team since Carroll has provided valuable draft input for his 14 years with the team. The spinning started in earnest when the rumors turned out to be true – Bob Kraft and the Patriots were going separate ways with future Hall of Fame head coach Bill Belichick. In his 24 years with the team, the Pats won 6 Super Bowls. Of course, the question was whether the team won mostly because of the greatness of Tom Brady who helmed all of those teams then went and won one with Tampa Bay. Belichick was always the Mad Scientist, drafting players who others didn’t value as highly, and perhaps the unpleasant atmosphere mentioned by many ex-players contributed.
Then the world nearly exploded when it was announced that Nick Saban, the Dean of College Football Coaches would be retiring. After 17 years at the helm of the most successful programs in modern day college football, Saban is retiring. Since arriving in Tuscaloosa, Alabama won six National Titles (Saban has a total of 7, one with LSU). Saban’s teams posted a 292-71-1 record. Alabama won 9 SEC titles at Alabama (and 2 at LSU) and came very close to winning another National Championship just a couple of weeks ago when Alabama lost to Michigan in the College Football Playoff semi-final. Four players won Heisman Trophies during his tenure, and the amazing statistic is that every player who played four years for Saban won a national championship.
The football world is changing and many fans, myself included, are having difficulty keeping up with the changes. The NFL’s Pro Bowl will be a non-contact event with flag football and skills competitions, as efforts are still ongoing to make the game more safe for the players. College football is in the throes of devastating changes. Already the transfer portal and Name, Image, Likeness deals for college athletes has already changed the landscape of the sport. Add to it the many teams changing conferences will alter the alignment of so many teams, old rivalries will be ending. Next season, for the first time, there won’t be arguments about the College Football Playoff since the finalists will meat in a 12-team playoff.
We really won’t know the players without a scorecard.

Aaron Rodgers is one of the most talented quarterbacks in football history. He has played 19 seasons, thrown for 59,055 yards, selected for 10 Pro Bowls, 1 Super Bowl title and Super Bowl MVP. Using the ratio of touchdowns to interceptions, Rodgers has the best ratio in NFL History – 1.4%, better than all of the current QBs (who make up the majority of the top 25, due, I think to the way the game is played today). This is better than Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady (both at 1.8%), Ben Rothlesberger (2.5%), Joe Montana and Steve Young (both at 2.6%) and Peyton Manning (2.7%). It can be said that he should have more Super Bowls, but NFL football is definitely a team sport – offense, defense and special teams. Two of the best QBs of all time have either never won a championship or appeared in a Super Bowl: Dan Marino and Dan Fouts among many others.
It has always been accepted that Rodgers is a bit flaky. He is a serial dater of famous women including Danika Patrick, Shaleen Woodley and Olivia Munn. There’s nothing strange about this, they are beautiful women, but the relationships all ended, including the engagement with Miss Woodley. That’s Hollywood, but his belief in conspiracy theories including lying that he had been vaccinated against COVID-19 when he hadn’t were the incidents in which the world sat up and took notice. He hasn’t had a relationship with his parents for decades. One would think that a family rift is something that the parents did, but considering Rodgers’ track record, maybe not?
Then there was Rodgers’ being upset when the Packers drafted Jordan Love in the first round four years ago, much like they had done when Brett Favre was under center and drafted Rodgers. This led to threats and walkouts and huge contracts signed, but over the past three seasons or so, Rodgers’ almost exclusive access to this unheard of radio host named Pat McAfee. To me, McAfee is the sports version of Joe Rogan, nuts, not very talented, a legend in his own mind. Rodgers was on McAfee’s show nearly every day, spouting conspiracy theories, negotiating points, Rodgers’ opinions on everything. ESPN having fired a sizeable percentage of the long term talent needed programming and some “genius”: decided that a televised version of McAfee was a good use of Disney’s money.
Despite Rodgers’ injury in the Jets’ first game of the season, Rodgers was a fixture on McAfee’s show. Until now at least. Last week, Rodgers decided to exact revenge on ABC late night host Jimmy Kimmel for a comment Kimmel made last February about UFO announcements were released to take attention away from the release of Jeffrey Epstein’s friends, guests, who may be involved in the sex crimes. Kimmel quipped that being able to throw a football did not give Rodgers genius like intelligence since Rodgers went to community college, transferred to Cal, then left school early for the NFL. This week, the time had come, the seals were being lifted and the names were coming out. Rodgers commented on McAfee’s show that Kimmel was nervous about the names coming out and that if Jimmy Kimmel’s name was on the list Rodgers would pop open, presumably, an adult beverage to celebrate. Kimmel commented on Twitter X that he was not on any list and that perhaps Rodgers would like to take this up in court. The TV host had every right to be angry because of all the MAGA nuts who would be happy to take the law into their own hands, endangering Kimmel and his entire family including two young kids. Even Kimmel stated that all Rodgers had to do was apologize and they could all move on, but Aaron Rodgers didn’t apologize, just saying that he was glad that Kimmel’s name wasn’t on the list.
This situation put Disney in a difficult position. Kimmel’s show is on ABC, which is owned by Disney; ESPN is owned by Disney, which means that both men are being paid by Disney and Kimmel is a much more lucrative commodity than Pat McAfee. McAfee is much less important that Jimmy Kimmel. It has always seemed that Rodgers appeared on McAfee’s show occasionally, paid per appearance, but it turns out that Rodgers actually has a contract to appear on McAfee’s show, meaning that Pat McAfee is in great part only on ESPN because of Aaron Rodgers. What would McAfee do? He only had the gig due to his access to Rodgers.
Today, ESPN made the decision for him – Rodgers is banned from the McAfee show. I assume that McAfee will still have to pay Rodgers, but more troubling to McAfee is that he will have to replace Rodgers with someone/some topic that will get people to tune in. Without a hot bed of controversy like Rodgers who’s utterances are important to Green Bay Packers fans (if just to gloat), New York Jet fans, and the red hat MAGA gang everywhere.
Aaron Rodgers will feel this one. There seems to be nothing he likes more than being in the spotlight. Without his mouthpiece, he’s going to get a lot less attention. No other talk show on ESPN will want him on, other networks will be scared to put him on. Then there’s his legacy; other famous but wacky athletes have had their memories tainted. I think of Steve Carlton, one of the best left-handed pitchers in MLB history. Intelligently, Carlton refused to be interviewed when he played; when he reached the Hall of Fame, Carlton spoke some fairly crazy stuff. You don’t hear of him anymore. More recently, Curt Schilling has been unable to get voted into the Hall of Fame. Crazed, borderline racist comments along with being accused of defrauding the State of Rhode Island out of small business capital for a failed computer game company.
I am going to go out on a limb here; I think Rodgers will be a first ballot Hall of Famer, but his ambition to be a media star after playing, hosting Jeopardy!, having a place on the pre-game NFL shows or NFL Network, that’s gone. Karma does exist.

I haven’t written one of these year end lists in a few years. The pandemic curtailing the Toronto International Film Festival and the closed movie theaters reduced my film watching to near zero. Even after the theaters reopened, a lot of films got postponed and TIFF only reopened fully this year. Of course, it was a strange festival since the Directors’ Guild and Actors’ strikes prohibited celebrities to attend the festival (the exception being actors who had directed features). I’m back in action, so let’s get to it…:
Numbers 11-20:
20. Knox Goes Away – only listed this low because it has not been released widely yet, this film is about a hit man who is suffering from an advanced form of dementia, but has to settle some scores first. Like Heat meets Memento. Directed and starring the great Michael Keaton. No date yet, but when it comes out, find it!
19. Blue Beetle – a D-level DC Superhero movie is redeemed by the hero’s family, who bring a humanity to the whole affair.
18. The Lost King – the real life story of the search for the remains of Richard III. Part of the “Philomena” filmmakers – director Stephen Frears and writer/actor Steve Coogan support Sally Hawkins (“The Shape of Water”) in the story of the woman who found the monarch.
17. Sorry/Not Sorry – a documentary I saw at TIFF about the Louis C.K. behavior and controversy. The silence of many famous comics was scary. Directed by Cara Mones and Carolina Suh; it is the first film I can remember that is produced by a media company – produced by The New York Times. There’s no evidence when or how this film will be distributed.
16. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3– the second best superhero movie of the year. A fitting end to the series and farewell to writer/director James Gunn who left to take over the DC Universe.
15. John Wick: Chapter 4 – the final(?) film in the hyper-action revenge series. Reminded us that Keanu Reeves can carry a series in movies with few lines of dialogue. Flashy, stylish thriller,
14. Mission Impossible: Past Reckoning Part 1 – a film that at times looked very much like John Wick 4, but felt like higher stakes. Add the amazing stunts and the charisma of Tom Cruise makes it just a little better.
13. Chevalier – a film I saw at TIFF 2022, the story of the illegitimate son of an enslaved African woman and a French plantation owner. Joseph Bologne who becames Chevalier de Saint-George (the phenominal Kevin Harison, Jr.) rises to high stature in pre-revolution France that includes an ill-fated love affair and a combustible relationship with Queen Marie Antoinette. (On Hulu and to buy or rent on Amazon Prime.)
12. Air – actor/director Ben Affleck and his old buddy Matt Damon tell the story of how then-also ran shoe company Nike climbed to the top after successfully attracting this just drafted kid named Michael Jordan.
11. Silver Dollar Road – another film I saw at TIFF, I was attracted by director Raoul Peck who won an Oscar for Best Documentary for “I Am Not Your Negro.” This is the story of a Black family in North Carolina who have been fighting developers over their traditional land. This is on Amazon Prime.
Now, the Top 10:
10. Past Lives – the story of two Korean kids who were in a relationship as kids and their meeting up 20+ years later in Canada. A touching human interest story.
9. The Holdovers – the return of director Alexander Payne and actor Paul Giamotti is the story of a misanthropic teacher at an elite high school in 1969 who has to stay with the students who have no place to go for the holidays. Only one student is there, is troubled, and the third person is the cook, a Black woman whose son was able to go to the prep school, but unlike his classmates, he got sent to Vietnam and killed. A touching story.
8. The Boy and the Heron – I was extremely disappointed when I was unable to get a ticket to the return film of Hayao Miyazaki at TIFF, so I had to wait until last week to see it. Visually amazing as all of the Studio Ghibli films are, the story is not as incredible as earlier films like Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke. Still a wonder and worth seeing for anyone who loves animated film.
7. Godzilla Minus One – I know, you have to think that I have lost my mind. Movie snob, over 20 year TIFF attendee, love all type of films, but Godzilla Minus One??? I love Godzilla movies all the way back to the 1954 original, but this film had plenty of Godzilla destruction, but there is a human story here – a man who was a kamakazi pilot at the end of World War II who refuses to kill himself in a senseless act with the cause already lost. Amid the port war destruction, the pilot takes in a young woman and a child – three orphans trying to survive. Then come the big G. The action was terrific, effects very excellent, and this was perhaps the first Godzilla film where I actually cared whether the humans didn’t get stomped.
6. The Pigeon Tunnel – twenty years after seeing Errol Morris’ soon-to-be Oscar winning documentary “The Fog of War,” I was watching the new film from Mr. Morris. This was the final interview with David Cromwell, better known as John Le Carre’. The title is the working title of every one of his spy novels (I’ll let you watch the film to explain what it means). An excellent discussion of the writer’s art from the master.
5. Barbie – I wasn’t going to see this unless my daughters wanted to see it. They went without me, and being nosy and unemployed, I decided to go. I’m glad I did. Greta Gerwig’s statement of girl power and the state of the male world. I have always appreciated Margot Robbie as an actress with range as Tonya Harding, and Harley Quinn. Ryan Gosling is best when he plays characters that have little to say or are moderately dumb. His Ken was perfect. A worthy blockbuster.
4. Stamped From The Beginning – another documentary I saw at TIFF, this is a brisk 90 minute overview of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s book “Stamped From The Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas.” Using interviews, animation and clips from films and video, it is an excellent primer on the history of racism, some of which I didn’t know. It is on Netflix.
3. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse – one of the few sequels that were as goodor better than the original. This extends the story of Miles Morales, the multiverse and a team of Spider-People from the various universes. Colorful, masterful storytelling. I can’t wait for the second part next year.
2. Oppenheimer – I am a long-term fan of filmmaker Christopher Nolan: the previously mentioned Memento, The Batman Trilogy, Dunkirk, Interstellar. The story of the mind behind the atomic bomb and the politics of the Cold War. Cillian Murphy held this huge story together with many guest stars. It was also great to see Robert Downey, Jr. reminding the world how great an actor he is.
1. Killer of the Flower Moon – Martin Scorsese is one of my favorite directors. I have said that I would watch a film of his grocery list. By now, everyone knows that this is the story of the Osage Indiana who were swindled and murdered for Oklahoma oil money. I have never been much of a Leonardo DiCaprio fan, but he does a very good job as a troubled man, torn between the love of his wife, an Osage woman, and the evil of his uncle, played by Robert DeNiro. DeNiro is back at the top of his form; look for another Oscar nomination. Lily Gladstone who plays DiCaprio’s wife is the moral center of the film, and I believe that the Academy can save time now and just award her the Best Supporting Actress. Like Oppenheimer, the film is over 3 hours long – they never drag and are masterpieces.
Wishes: I was unable to see American Fiction or The Zone of Interest at TIFF and haven’t been able to catch them in time. They are the next films on my list. I hope you enjoyed my list and I’ll see you at the movies.

I am not an NBA fan, and haven’t been in a long time. However, when I was last a rabid follower, the style of play included the old Detroit Pistons, whose “Bad Boys” dominated the league for several years until the Michael Jordan Bulls found a way to out-tough them. However, the league is much less physical than it was in the past. Unfortunately, there is still one player who is a throwback to the Bill Laimbeers, and Dennis Rodmans and Rick Mahorns and Isiah Thomases.
The only player like this in today’s NBA is the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green. Since 2016, he has been the bad boy of the NBA. In 2016, Green was assessed a Flagrant 1 foul for kicking Thunder center Steven Adams in the groin. He was not suspended for the following game, but he was fined $25,000. The most glaring from that year was by being suspended for Game 5 of the NBA Finals for an altercation with LeBron James, a suspension many feel cost the Warriors a championship. In Game 4, Green and LeBron James got tangled up at halfcourt and as James tried to step over Green, Green extended his arm and made contact with James’ groin area. The original call on the floor was a double foul but the NBA reviewed the play after the game and decided Green’s actions warranted a Flagrant 1 foul. Because Green already had three flagrant foul points during the 2016 NBA Playoffs, his fourth point resulted in his suspension for Game 5. You may remember LeBron James led the Cavaliers from down 3-1 to win the championship, knocking off Golden State on its home court in a historic Game 7.
In 2018, the Warriors suspended Green for one game without pay for “conduct detrimental to the team” following an altercation with his teammate, Kevin Durant. In the final seconds of a regular season game against the Clippers, Green grabbed a rebound and, although Durant was calling for the ball, elected to go coast-to-coast, driving into traffic before turning it over. The Warriors didn’t get a shot off and eventually lost in overtime, but not before Green and Durant had a heated exchange on the sidelines in between periods. The argument carried into the locker room after the game and has even been acknowledged by both Green and Durant as a turning point in Durant’s eventual departure from Golden State.
During the 2022-23 season, Green was fined for punching teammate Jordan Poole. During the 2022-23 preseason, footage from a Warriors practice leaked that showed Green punching his teammate, Poole, in the face. The footage was ugly and many believed a team-issued suspension would be coming — similar to the Durant situation — but Golden State elected to fine Green and have him step away from the team for a few days. Green ended up playing in the Warriors’ final preseason game and was available to suit up for the first game of the 2022-23 season. This instance resulted in a fine, not a suspension, but it has still become an infamous moment for Green.
The hits just keep on coming (no pun intended). Late into the 2022-23 season, Green was forced to serve a one-game suspension without pay for collecting his 16th technical foul of the year. Under league rules, a player (or coach) is automatically suspended without pay for one game once he receives his 16th technical foul during the regular season. For every two additional technical fouls received during the regular season, the player (or coach) would be suspended for an additional game without pay. Green picked up his 16th technical foul in the Warriors’ loss to the Clippers on March 15. He served his one-game suspension on March 17 against the Hawks, a game Golden State lost by eight.
The penultimate recent event came just a few weeks ago. Green was suspended five games for putting Rudy Gobert in a headlock. On Tuesday, Nov. 14, Green asserted himself into an altercation between Klay Thompson and Jaden McDaniels during the Warriors-Timberwolves In-Season Tournament game. Less than two minutes into the contest, with a 0-0 score, Green charged at Timberwolves star center Gobert and put him in a headlock amidst the scrap. Green was ejected for his actions, as were Thompson and McDaniels for starting the fight.
Then Tuesday night, Green says that Suns Center Jusuf Nurkic was grabbing and pulling his hip during a Warriors’ loss in Phoenix and hit him. Of course, it looked more like a punch. “I’m not one to apologize for things I meant to do,” Green told reporters in Phoenix. “But I do apologize to Jusuf. Even though I didn’t intend to hit him, I sell calls with my arms. I don’t fall to sell a call. I’m not a flopper. I was just selling the call because he was grabbing and pulling my hip. So, I spun away. And, unfortunately, I hit him. So, I apologize to Jusuf because I didn’t intend to hit him.”
That is going to make no difference this time to the NBA. In addition to his three suspensions, Green has tallied 163 total technical fouls and had to pay $1,260,100 in fines in his NBA career. Well, the league has come down on Green now and they should have done this a long time ago. The NBA has suspended Green indefinitely.
A small center who plays much bigger than his size, it is questionable that the Warriors could have won their four NBA Titles without Green getting rebounds and clogging up the middle, but could they have won at least one more title if Green could have controlled his on-court behavior? It is said that the league and the team are going to discuss what Green will have to do to be reinstated and how long it will be at minimum. I have only followed this Green’s antics from afar, but he has a real problem. Pundits are saying that perhaps the reign of the Warriors at the top of the league is over. They may be right, but maybe, it is time to tell Draymond Green that his violence is not welcome in the league anymore. Hey, even the NHL has reduced fighting.

There is little question that Shohei Ohtani has already become one of the most amazing athletes in baseball history, perhaps of all sports. Since coming into the Major Leagues, he has won 34 games as a pitcher with ERAs of 2.33 and 3.14 in 2022 and 2023. If that wasn’t enough; he has hit 134 home runs over the past three seasons with 290 RBIs over that time. He has won two consecutive American League MVP Awards playing for the lowly Anaheim Angels, a team despite having arguably two of the best players of all time – Ohtani and Mike Trout, can’t make the playoffs, much less the World Series.
The overwhelming story of the past year has been where would Ohtani sign with his contract up at the end of this past season. The going rate was going to be over $500 million, but would it be $700 million? 800 Million? A billion? All during the speculation, it was assumed that the Dodgers would sign Ohtani. Then, he was forced to have Tommy John surgery near the end of the season which brought his pitching season to an end, although he played on as DH. With pitching out of the question for 2024, would teams still want to pay top dollar for a hitter only? Several teams didn’t care, they pitched Ohtani all while the Winter Meetings went on. Besides the Dodgers, the Blue Jays, and even the Cubs were reportedly in the mix. In the end, the Dodgers walked away, with $700 million for 10 years.
Then the details about the contract came out. The Japanese sensation is allowing the Dodgers to defer $680 million of the contract without interest to be paid at the end of the contract. I have to tip my hat to Ohtani, his people, and the Dodgers. At only $2 million per season, the Dodgers will be able to remain competitive, don’t have to pay as large a luxury tax. Besides, the money is guaranteed, and Ohtani is earning reportedly $50 million per year in endorsements, much like Rich Gronkowski, who banked his football money and lived off endorsements. Very smart.
Also, Ohtani puts fannies in seats. In L.A. with its large Asian population, the Dodgers, already a hot ticket, becomes even hotter. (I was working at Wrigley Field at the height of Fernando Valenzuela Mania. Hispanic people would buy whatever tickets they could afford, then just stood in the aisles and wouldn’t move. They were a pain in the ass, and it wasn’t until fans started getting arrested that they finally went back to their Let’s not forget that the Dodgers will be a huge draw on the road. The Dodgers should remain good, Ohtani remains in the area he’s played in but with a much better, smarter team. Ohtani, his people and the Dodgers are smart, very smart. One has to think that they learned from Bobby Bonilla’s people. The only thing that will be interesting to watch is what the biggest chip available being off the board will do for the other free agents and teams will do.

It’s that time again – time for my less-than-humble list of the best records on the year. I admit that I am 63 years old, so there is little in the way of music by young people (30 or younger). No Lizzo; No Swift; no Kelsey. It’s not that I hate their music, not at all. Some songs I think are very good, I just can’t get into it like younger people do. I like to listen to musicians who I’ve loved for a very long time – the survivors. Our parents didn’t like a lot of our music – it’s the musical circle of life. Music has been and will always be one of the most important things in my life and 2023 has been a fairly good year for new music.
Here we go:
10. Joe Jackson: Mr. Joe Jackson Presents Max Chapman in “What A Racket!” – The first of a completely late releases in the year. JJ has long been one of my favorite musicians and composers, and, like one of my other favorites Elvis Costello, take musical detours into different styles. Jackson has recorded 11 songs by the fictional Max Champion. It is music hall music, sounds totally authentic, but also contemporary and very witty. My criteria has always been that this list is determined by the music that I play the most. In a very short time, this record made the cut.
9. Mike Gent: Career Moves – I have gotten to meet Mike when he was supporting Graham Parker alone or with his band The Figgs. This is a fine selection of songs that I enjoyed immensely.
8. Smashing Pumpkins: ATUM – I admit that I have always loved Billy Corgan at his most musically bombastic. My favorite SP record remains Mellon Collie, and this record is another two disc “statement” that I found nearly irresistible.
7. Foo Fighters: But Here We Are – Very seldom would you find Dave Grohl’s band on my year end list, but perhaps I have gained an appreciation for the melodic rock and hooks that Grohl writes. The untimely death of drummer Taylor Hawkins may have tightened up the music a bit. It is sad that sadness has improved the music, but it certainly isn’t the first time that has happened.
6. Metallica: 72 Seasons – After the “Black Album,” which I loved, I became a closet Metallica fan, enjoying earlier music and purchasing the new records as they were released. Unfortunately, the later original music releases (St. Anger, Death Magnetic and Hardwired.. to Self Destruct) had none of the melodies of the Black album, like they went extra heavy just to apologize for the pop sensibility of the group’s biggest hit. The new record, while not the Black Album, has some melody creeping back into the band’s sound and is my favorite after the Black Album.
5. Wilco: Cousin – What year-end list can come without a Wilco record? Jeff Tweedy’s group alternates between more traditional straight-ahead country and soft rock pop and more adventurous flights of fancy breaking out of the traditional songs. This record is more adventurous than other recent Wilco releases, and since the exploratory Yankee Hotel Foxtrot is my favorite Wilco record (along with being an all-time favorite by anyone), I liked this record better than other recent releases. Only the strong records rated higher keeps it from being further up the list.
4. The Rolling Stones: Hackney Diamonds – at this point in their history, one hears of a new Stones album with a air of resignation. Another set of recycled riffs designed to generate funds for Mick Jagger’s latest baby/baby momma; maybe one song that doesn’t suck. Like the music lemming I am, I bought the record and put it on. I had already heard the first single “Angry” and it had a nice riff – a decent Stones song, but as I listened more, there was an energy, a clarity, songs that were actually good, not just tossed off. Shocked, I have listened to this record in its entirety more than any Stones record since Some Girls. I have seen the Stones four times before, I’ll pass on seeing them with 80,000 of my closest friends at Soldier Field this summer, but the record is a very pleasant surprise.
3. Graham Parker and the Goldtops: Last Chance To Learn The Twist – again, a warning – GP is a dear friend of mine, but having said that, this is another fine set of songs with some humor, poignancy, solid melodies and great lyrics. Any other year, this would have been the number one record of the year.
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Cool It Down – the astute music fan is probably asking: isn’t this a 2022 record Tony? It was released in September of 2022 and it didn’t make your list of the best of 2022, so what’s up?? As I wrote above, my criteria is what gets played the most over the year, and some time early in 2023, I “discovered” this record and played it a great deal. I played it so much that for much of the last half of the year, I thought that it would be the number 1 disc of 2023, but a surprise record was released on December 1, 2023 and took the best record award.
1. Peter Gabriel: i/o – PG released a new song once per month, and I only listened occasionally and often didn’t like what I heard. I was often distracted, didn’t give the song a listen at my full attention and so, I wasn’t impressed. What changed things? I went to see him in concert in September and he played most of the new record and focused on them. There were a few “hits” intersperced in the set list, but the show was like a museum performance piece. The order of the songs; the backgrounds; there was more talk between songs and the audience was very well behaved – listening intently. Once I heard the songs in that context, I couldn’t wait to hear it. The CD came out December 1, and as I type this, it is only December 5th. In that short time, the record (both mixes) has not been off my iPod since it was delivered. Out of right field, comes the best record of 2023.
That’s my list for the year. A pretty good year for music.

The Chicago Blackhawks’ 2023-2024 season has been full of hope and frustration. The hope has been on the back of overall number 1 pick Connor Bedard. Teams were openly tanking for the rights to Bedard and despite late season wins, the Hawks still won the draft lottery. The evening they won the lottery, approximately $5 million in season ticket plans were purchased (including renewing my own plan).
There are a number of young players that the team had drafted and developed in previous drafts that will be the foundation to build upon for the future. To provide leadership, the Hawks picked up veterans Taylor Hall, Nick Foligno, and the formerly hated Corey Perry. The team has still struggled especially with Hall injuring his knee and will be out for the season; Foligno has provided leadership, and Perry was among the team’s leading scorers, knocking in rebounds in the crease. I never warmed up to Perry, he was such a thug when we played his former team the Ducks in the playoffs in the 2010-2015 Stanley Cup years.
Then last week, Perry became a ghost. He was a healthy scratch last week and did not play or practice. The team gave no reason other than it was an organizational decision. Today, the team placed him on waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. The team said that Perry engaged in unacceptable conduct. The Blackhawks said that the team conducted an internal investigation that showed Perry acted in violation of his NHL Standard Player Contract and their club policies “intended to promote professional and safe work environments.” Chicago put Perry on unconditional waivers and said his deal will be terminated as long as he clears Wednesday.
Often, rumors swirl in such circumstances and there is discussion that perhaps Perry had a romantic liaison with Bedard’s mother. Both of the Bedard women, the mother and the younger daughter are quite attractive. One team beat reporter – Charlie Roumeliotis reported has already posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the rumor is absolutely untrue. This isn’t the first sports tryst to hit the rumor mill: it was believed that former Bulls Coach Doug Collins was involved with players’ wives, and Michael Jordan’s son is reportedly engaged to Scottie Pippen’s ex-wife.
I hope that the story is untrue. Bedard is only 18 and has enough on his plate to worry about. I have tickets to tonight’s Blackhawks-Seattle Kraken game, and the atmosphere may be a little weird. Perry is a husband and father, if he’s out dallying with someone, especially a teammate’s wife or mother I was right about him being a scumbag.