I third this.....

I was thinking the same thing! Maybe the strategy is this: eat hog-wild until you are 60, then slowly shrink of starvation (but not die) for 15 or so years.

Off to get the Mint Milanos....

*** ACK! Sorry folks. Deleted comment here.

For the second time today, I confused Mercer Mayer with Maurice Sendak. Having a bad morning. Off the playground

Yes, Cutlass, I agree. As far as I can recall, Mushnick's attacks are pretty "fairly" distributed.

A perceptive comment, Trace, about the dual nature of Jay Z and his influence.

As for "lighter touch" ... I have been thinking a lot about this. I think Mushnick's point is a great one. I am just not sure that the satire (right word?) he employs is fully effective. Perhaps his language needed more finessing, or maybe he needed a longer lead-in where he was going. As it stands, it's too easy for folks to interpret as straight-up racism, which is unfortunate and, I think, incorrect. 

And another update! This one on Rivera. The Daily News's Yankee beat writer, Mark Feinsand, quotes Rivera as saying today:

"I am coming back. Write it down in big letters ... I'm not going out like this."

We'll see. I sure hope he's got some time and power left in that magic arm after his rehab.

Here is Mushnick's response to the controversy, via bobsblitz.com:

Bob - Such obvious, wishful and ignorant mischaracterizations of what I write are common. I don't call black men the N-word; I don't regard young women as bitches and whores; I don't glorify the use of assault weapons and drugs. Jay-Z, on the other hand.....Is he the only NBA owner allowed to call black men N---ers?" 
Jay-Z profits from the worst and most sustaining self-enslaving stereotypes of black-American culture and I'M the racist? Some truths, I guess, are just hard to read, let alone think about. 
(Same column I provide support for Amar'e Stoudemire at a time when everyone in town is ripping him to shreds. That was my LEAD, too, but what does that matter?)

Wow. I'd actually never thought of this, but upon reflection, you are totally right, Trace! I guess I'm blinded by my own personal dislike of Clemens -- he wasn't exactly Mr. Nice Guy to me -- and I am so steamed that he keeps trying to slip past any "official" wrongdoing or humiliation. But you are so right on the money that this is a waste of resources. This is the Hall's problem, although I'm not sure they'd take a stand here. Great comment, Trace. Thanks.

Oh my goodness. I just sent this to my husband with deep (tongue in cheek) apologies for never doing ANYTHING on this list. In fact, I do the complete opposite. I feel a little bad, truthfully, at how I'd fail at being a 50s mum/wife.

But still, this one seemed a little ... extreme: "Don't complain if he's late for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day."

!

Love this post & comments!

Normally, the words "regulatory strategy that permits the recovery of ..." would make my eyes glaze over. But here, it has a nice sort of ring to it! I'm part of the solution! I'm participating in "energy balance" and "stability." Go, me!

Ah, Rob at his best. If only we could all be so funny, clever, and thought-provoking in our responses. I tend to go from hurt to fury to petty. It takes some serious genius to dash this off. Thanks for making my morning, Rob, and reminding us how it should be done.

Yes.

WHAT is this person doing talking to a 5th grade Catholic school girls' class? She was invited to speak to such a class? Am I understanding/hearing this correctly? (Listen at 1:38...)

Glad I gave you a laugh! But actually, the happiest, wisest, most fulfilled -- and whip smartest, I might add -- fellow I know is my 60-something handyman. And, some of my fave people in previous jobs have been the folks who work in the big computer dungeons who only came out to fix my network problems. IT folks -- I love 'em, and the ones I knew sure seemed  happy, fulfilled, and peaceful.

Great point.