Today, a great footbal player retired. Say what you want about Brett Favre, he was a GREAT football player and a is a great man. A man's man.This phrase "a man's man" got me thinking about who are some other people I would consider being a "man's man". Some are fairly obvious why; others, it's just a matter of my opinion. If you want to add some more to the list, feel free to do so in the comment section. Except for one, all those listed are living, and I did that on purpose. Otherwise, Elvis and The Rat Pack fellas would be on it.My list of "He's a man's man", in no particular order (and Favre is already on it..)

1) Ah-nold: despite what you may think about his politics, anyone who creates the phrase "girly man" is a man's man. He revolutionized bodybuilding as a sport, and violent movies with minimum dialogue and plot as an art form.

2) Tom Selleck- any man who can go to bed clean shaven and wake up with the best moustache in history, has to be a "man's man"

3) Sam Elliott- see #2, and add the baritone voice

4) Neil Armstrong- will forever be the First Man on the Moon, and did it with class and simplicity. He never fully capitalized on this title, as he felt it wasn't something to take for granted or to exploit for personal gain.

5) Meat Loaf- Hell, anyone who calls himself "Meat Loaf" and made millions and millions of dollars while being over 450 lbs. in his prime, has to make the list. Not many can make that claim...

6) Clint Eastwood- As "Dirty Harry", he allowed us all to fantasize about taking care of the bad guys when the law wouldn't (Charles Bronson is here too, but he's gone). His westerns kept the memory of the Ultimate "man's man", John Wayne, alive. Plus, he's a damn good actor and director.

7) My Uncle Jerry- now deceased, he was a man's man in every sense of the word. He was a trucker, fixed engines, and died while saving 12 young students on a runaway school bus. Need I say more?

8) Norman Schwartzkopf/ American G.I.- all encompassing for obvious reasons

9) Shaq O'Neal- I knew Shaq well when he was a Laker. I've seen him in the shower several times; trust me, he's a man's man...more importantly, though, he is extremely charitable and when he's around children, it is a sight to behold.

10) Dick Butkus- if "Man's Man" had a logo, it would be an outline of the Butkus head, flat top and all. This guy never lifted weights- he simply pushed cars filled with six or seven of his buddies around the block- with the emergency brakes on. I played golf with Dick about 20 years ago and couldn't believe the size of his hands. This guy still strikes fear in the hearts of today's football players. Close to 70 now, he could still kick ass!

Those not on the list, but would be if I wanted to include those who have passed: Ronald Reagan, Wilt Chamberlain, Jackie Robinson, Jack Armstrong, Audie Murphy, Chuck Yeager, Elvis Presley, Charlton Heston.

So THAT'S How He Did It!!!

I made an interesting "hook up" on Facebook recently. Someone from the old neighborhood back on Staten Island, where I grew up in the 60's and 70's, contacted me and wanted to re-connect.

What I remember most about this friend (I'll call him "Gary") was that his Dad was a "sanitary engineer", or as we called them, a garbage man. More importantly, he was OUR garbage man, and his route consisted of 20-30 blocks surrounding our neighborhood.

Now, this family did not come from money. In fact, all of us were middle class, and this family was slightly less. We could tell this by the fact that Gary never had new clothes or new toys, they didn't have anywhere close to a new car, and never took a vacation-ever! In any event, though, his Dad worked hard.

I now learn that the family is worth millions of dollars and own several homes across the United States. Gary, who struggled in school and never attended college, is heading up a sports memorabilia company, presumably started by he and his Dad. How did this happen? Did they win the lottery? Were they recipients of a large cash settlement in a lawsuit? How did they go from one end of the social spectrum all the way, and beyond, the other end?

Well, after doing some investigation, and asking the right questions of the right people, I found out.

You see, while Dad was patrolling the streets tossing people's garbage into the huge compacting truck, he was also taking mental note of the kids on his route. He noted which homes had sons as opposed to daughters, and he bided his time. Whenever a boy in the neighborhood grew up and went off to college, Gary's Dad would leave a box on that family's front porch, with a short note saying "FOR OLD BASEBALL CARDS ONLY".

You have to remember, back in the 60's and 70's, us kids would save our allowances and birthday money and buy packs of baseball cards looking for that one superstar we loved- Tom Seaver, Willie Mays, Johnny Bench. We would take a shoebox and fill it to the point of overflow with these cards- won and lost through flipping or trading. We would also attach some cards (the duplicates or the stars of teams we hated) to the spokes of our Schwinns to give us that "cool" engine-revving sound, at least in our over-active imaginations. I would sometimes attach three or four cards at one time- using my mother's wooden clothespins. Eventually, we would grow up and the lucky ones moved away to college or work. These shoeboxes were carefully stored on the upper shelves of our closets, with all of the cards sorted and rubberbanded by teams. I went a couple of steps further- arranging the players in order of their batting averages, and the teams in order of their finish that year- but that's just me.

When our mother's noted this box on the stoop with the note "FOR OLD BASEBALL CARDS ONLY", the mothers knew exactly where these boxes were stored (there was no hiding baseball cards, Playboys or bad report cards from Moms. They have antennaes for those things, didn't you know?). Some mothers asked Gary's Dad why he wanted the cards, and word was that he told them that he knew some younger, poorer kids in the neighborhood and wanted to "pass them on" to them, regardless the condition the cards were in. Everyone thought that was a very thoughtful and considerate gesture and were just too happy to accommodate him on this quest. So, in HIS box, OUR box went.

Needless to say, Gary's Dad eventually had hundreds of thousands of baseball cards from the 60's and 70's. Some kids had fathers and grandfathers who passed THEIR cards down to the son, and these cards were stored in these boxes as well. Cards from the 30', 40's and 50's- Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays rookie card, Bob Feller, Lefty Grove. Some cards still smelled like the pink cardboard-stiff bubblegum each pack came with; some cards still had the gum powder on the face. These cards soon became part of the collectable world, increasing the worth of the cards considerably. My Seaver rookie card was worth $25 when he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Gary and his dad financed a small storefront, borrowing money using a few cards as collateral, and soon thereafter, major collectors like Bruce McNall, Donald Trump and later, Charlie Sheen and a few rock stars battled over buying some of the rarer cards. Collectors came from all over the United States; one to purchase the entire 1979 World Champion Pittsburgh Pirate collection, another to buy a Wayne Garrett or a Nate Colbert. While they sold cards, they also bought other's collections, proving the old adage that "one man's trash in another man's treasure."

So, in the future, when standing around a cocktail party discussing the economy, the latest slide on Wall Street or the recent bank bail-outs, you will reflect on a simpler time back in your youth when your biggest worry for that day was not losing all of your left handed powerhitters in the upcoming flipping challenge in the corner of the schoolyard. Of course, you'll announce to everyone that you'd "be a millionaire today if you had kept the baseball cards" from your childhood.

Suddenly, you stop and wonder to yourself "What DID ever happened to those cards? I'm sure Mom will know; I'll ask her tomorrow."

No need. Now you know...

PS- I also heard this rumor, not yet confirmed. It's been said that the principal of P.S. 22, Mr. Finkenseiper, went in as partners on this business venture. Apparently he also had a very large collection of baseball cards- confiscated from us during those flipping contests in the corner of the schoolyard.

Bastards...

Check out Helen Mirren in "The Queen". Fascinating movie, fantastic performance!

It made me think of some of my all-time favorite performances in movies:

Clint- "Gran Torino" may well be his "Gran" dest of them all...

Denzel- "Crimson Tide" or "Man on Fire"- take your pick!

Michael Clarke Duncan- "The Green Mile"- may be the best Supporting Actor role ever

The Duke- I'll take him in "Big Jake", "Rio Bravo", or "The Shootist" thankyouverymuch...

Russell Crowe- "Gladiator"

Brad Pitt- should have won for "Seven"

Spencer Tracy- "Inherit the Wind", among many others...

Morgan Freeman- everything he does deserves an award!

Hugh Grant- "Love Actually" will be an all-time classic like "It's a Wonderful Life"

Philip Seymour Hoffman- starting with "Twister" and culminating with "The Savages", this guy hits it out of the park every turn at bat!

Now, I love my classic movies as well, but these are what comes to mind as I write. I love my women actors too (see Helen Mirren above), and perhaps I'll note those favorites later.

Please chime in, though. I want to read about YOUR favorites as well!

Random Thoughts- A new President, among other things...

...I can't help but be stunned at the treatment the outgoing President Bush and VP Cheney have been and are receiving. All one has to do is remember seven and a half years ago, how we rallied around his leadership, his comfort and his resolve, and came together as a nation...

While I am one hundred thousand percent behind the idea of electing an African American as President, and perhaps very soon, a woman as President, my problem is that Barack Obama was NOT the most deserving of this honor. When Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball, those involved searched for YEARS for just the right player- a person who not only had baseball talent, but had the wherewithall to stand up to the abuse from fans as well as players and teammates. They made the right choice. While Obama has the personality to be a "superstar" in politics, he hardly has the resume and experience...

Take this to the bank- Harry Reid will be forced out of his leadership due to scandal after scandal. He's as dirty as they come...Maybe it's because I live in Hollywood and I'm more exposed to it than most of y'all, but I am sick of the Hollywood "elite", "A-list" or whatever you want to call them. These phonies (Demi, Ashton, Cameron Diaz, Courtney and David, Will.i.am, and a host of others) did a commercial "pledging" how they will help "America change, and be part of the change" that Obama promised. Keep in mind, these phonies are the ones captured on camera smoking illegal substances, drinking and driving, bouncing from bed to bed and overall just being A-holes, not A-listers. Not to mention none of them have made a movie in 10 years that was worth the price of admission to see. Why not just "pledge" to yourself to make a decent movie, work on your craft, keep your clothes on and your legs together and shut your pie hole? Yeah, I said it...

Joe Biden, VP. Remember, in 1988 he was shamed from continuing his campaign because of plagerizing speeches, then denying it for so long, only to come clean later. Now THERE'S a Vice President of integrity we can all get behind...

Personally, I hope Barack does well- he is charming and quite easy to like. He may not even be as liberal as I fear he is. He is in great shape, has fantastic kids, is a great role model as a Dad, and an unequalled orator. He just has to surround himself with the political dregs of society as they attempt to cash in on his presidency, and this makes me sad...

Lest you think the Vietnam War is a distant memory...

Many of those vets that were fortunate to come and lead a productive life are either approaching retirement or have already retired. They are your airline pilots, your firemen and policemen, your teachers and your doctors. Unfortunately, too, they are a large bulk of our homeless and mentally ill. Compared to the equipment and support our boys are currently receiving in Iraq and Afghanistan, these heroes from the 60's and 70's were practically fighting with rocks and spears (in comparison only). I was too young for Vietnam and too old for this war, but by God I think of these men and women everyday and thank them, along with my Lord, that they do what they do to keep us free. They die on these foreign battlefields to protect the "rights" of the idiots out there burning flags and insulting our President(s).I just had the sudden urge to right this after reading about the pilot of the U.S. Airway "Miracle On The Hudson". We have very few of our WWII heroes left among us, and we will be losing our Vietnam heroes soon as well. We must not forget their sacrifices.

POW/MIA- Never Forget

Geno