NFL Football Quiz: Who holds the record for most rushing yards
in a season? Answer below.
Mario Cuomo / 1984
I am often accused of being a little too conservative, particularly
in my Week in Review commentary. So, in the interests of fair
play, I present the following.
On July 16, 1984, then New York Governor Mario Cuomo
delivered a powerful Keynote Address at the Democratic
Convention. With the upcoming lovefest in Los Angeles, I
thought it would be appropriate to look at a few passages. If
you”re a politics junkie, expect to hear some similar themes next
week.
—
“Please allow me to skip the stories and the poetry and the
temptation to deal in nice but vague rhetoric. Let me instead use
this valuable opportunity to deal immediately with the questions
that should determine this election and that we all know are vital
to the American people.
“Ten days ago, President Reagan admitted that although some
people in this country seem to be doing well nowadays, others
were unhappy, even worried, about themselves, their families
and their futures. The President said that he didn”t understand
that fear. He said, ”Why, this country is a shining city on a hill.”
And the President is right. In many ways we are ”a shining city
on a hill.” But the hard truth is that not everyone is sharing in
this city”s splendor and glory. A shining city is perhaps all the
President sees from the portico of the White House and the
verandah of his ranch, where everyone seems to be doing well.
“But there”s another city, there”s another part to the shining
city.Because, the truth is, ladies and gentlemen, that this is how
we were warned it would be. President Reagan told us from the
very beginning that he believed in a kind of social Darwinism –
survival of the fittest. ”Government can”t do everything,” we
were told. ”So it should settle for taking care of the strong and
hope that economic ambition and charity will do the rest. Make
the rich richer and what falls from the table will be enough for
the middle class and those who are trying desperately to work
their way into middle class.”
“…It”s an old story. It”s as old as our history. The difference
between Democrats and Republicans has always been measured
in courage and confidence. The Republicans believe that the
wagon train will not make it to the frontier unless some of the
old, some of the young, some of the weak are left behind by the
side of the trail. The strong they tell us will inherit the land! We
Democrats believe in something else. We Democrats believe
that we can make it all the way with the whole family intact.
And we have, more than once, ever since Franklin Roosevelt
lifted himself from his wheelchair to lift this nation from its
knees. Wagon train after wagon train, to new frontiers of
education, housing, peace; the whole family aboard; constantly
reaching out to extend and enlarge that family; lifting them up
into the wagon on the way; Blacks and Hispanics and people of
every ethnic group, and Native Americans – all those struggling
to build their families and claim some small share of America.
For nearly fifty years we carried them all to new levels of
comfort and security and dignity, even affluence; and remember
this, some of us in this room today are here only because this
nation had that kind of confidence. And it would be wrong to
forget that.
“…We Democrats still have a dream. We still believe in this
nation”s future.We believe in only the government we need.
But we insist on all the government we need. We believe in a
government that is characterized by fairness and reasonableness,
a reasonableness that goes beyond labels. That doesn”t distort or
promise to do things that we know we can”t do. We believe in a
government strong enough to use words like ”love” and
”compassion” and smart enough to convert our noblest
aspirations into practical realities.”
[Source: “The World”s Great Speeches,” edited by Lewis
Copeland, Lawrence Lamm and Stephen McKenna]
Manhattan Real Estate
Two separate pieces, on consecutive days, caught my attention.
If you”re not from the New York area you may get a kick out of
some of these prices.
Vera Haller in USA Today reported that the average price for
Manhattan co-ops and condos rose to $854,000 in the first
quarter of this year, up 42% from last year”s Q1 average of
$601,000. In one example of how hot the market is, a 2 BR
apartment on the Upper West Side went on the market for
$750,000. When the bidding hit $800,000, it went to sealed bid.
One bid for $900,000 finished third. [While it wasn”t noted, I”m
assuming the winning bid was $950,000 or higher. And all this
for a 2 BR apartment!]
But the day after the USA Today piece, I saw an article by The
New York Times Tracie Rozhon (sorry, Tracie, from my notes
I”m not sure I spelled your last name correctly). Prices have
finally begun to slip after the first quarter”s spike, thanks, some
would say, to the Nasdaq crash (just calling it what it was). For
instance, a 5-room Penthouse on Fifth Avenue was priced in
April for $7.9 million…and is now listed at $5.8 million. [Don”t
tell anyone, but I bet it”s yours for $5.68 mm.]
The Estate Tax
Now I present the following story just from a real world
standpoint, not to elicit sympathy for some rich folks.
The Mara family has owned the New York Giants football team
since its inception in 1925. At the time the purchase price was
$500 (you read that right). But today, the Maras are worried
about whether or not they can keep the team within the family.
Under current estate tax law, if co-owner Wellington Mara
leaves his share of the Giants to his 11 children upon his death,
they would have to pay a 55% tax on the value of his half of the
team.
Recent NFL team sales indicate that the Giants would fetch
around $700 million. So the tax on Wellington”s $350 million
would be $192 million. The family would have to cover that to
retain control of the team.
The above points out the problem that the value of these
franchises has escalated so quickly, it has been difficult to keep
up with the necessary estate planning.
So even if the current movement to eliminate the tax is signed,
the full impact wouldn”t take hold for at least 10 years and
Wellington Mara is 84 next week.
In 1994, the family of the late Joe Robbie had to sell the
Dolphins ostensibly because of the estate tax.
[Source: Paul Needell / Star-Ledger]
The Great White North
My source for all things Canadian, Harry K, was heading on
vacation this week to the Great White North. I thought you all
would like his trip tips.
“Making my semi-annual pilgrimage to the GWN, and no, I
don”t mean Muskola. Muskola is for Torontonians and other
cheechakos. The real GWN doesn”t even start until you get to
North Bay. I”m off to Cobalt, where all the silver comes from,
and you live a life and then some! And even Cobalt is south of
the 49th parallel, although it is quite close to the Arctic
watershed, from whence all rivers run North. Ah, the Boreal
Forest: where tires freeze square in winter, and you”d better plug
your car in if you want it to start; where mosquitoes are big
enough to have tail gunners, and blackflies have been known to
carry off untended children; where the economy is based on the
twin pillars of pogey and welfare.
“If you”re heading to the real north, look out for moose. There
have been over a hundred moose/car collisions in the last two
weeks on the highway between Sault Ste. Marie and Wawa, a
120-mile stretch of road.”
And I”m worried about bears and garbage cans!
No Laughing Matter
But if you think my bear stories are bad, check this out. It has
just been reported that, back on July 19, an 11-year-old
Baltimore boy who was on safari in Botswana with his family,
was killed by a hyena. The animal dragged the youth out of his
tent. Kind of makes you wonder now about the neighbor”s
hyena, doesn”t it?
Sports Bits
–Former Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin once again was
in the wrong place at the wrong time when FBI agents raided an
apartment looking for a woman wanted in connection with a
federal heroin investigation. That woman wasn”t at the
apartment but her 21-year-old sister and Irvin were. Some
marijuana was found and Irvin was arrested. He, of course, says
he”s innocent. [Whatever happened to his wife?]
Irvin was slated to work NFL broadcasts for Fox Sports Net. We
now wait to see how they will handle it.
–Tiger Woods is playing in the Buick Open this weekend,
breaking his normal routine of taking the week off before a
major. [The PGA is next week.] What a break for tournament
sponsors, eh? At the PGA, Woods will be attempting to become
the first to win 3 majors in a season since Ben Hogan
accomplished the feat in 1953.
–Bonds vs. Griffey, update.through Thursday.
Bonds: 34 HR 70 RBI .299 BA, .432 OBA, 88 runs scored.
Griffey: 33 HR 96 RBI .251 BA, .379 OBA, 81 runs scored.
Bonds has played far fewer games.
–Winston Cup Standings: #1 Bobby Labonte #2 Dale Jarrett
#3 Dale Earnhardt #4 Jeff Burton #5 Rusty Wallace.
#8 Jeff Gordon.
Top 3 songs for the week of 8/8/70: #1 “(They Long To Be)
Close To You” (Carpenters) #2 “Make It With You” (Bread)
#3 “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I”m Yours” (Stevie Wonder).
Football Quiz Answer: Eric Dickerson, L.A. Rams, 1984.2105
yards.
Next Bar Chat, Monday.the election of 1960 and the story
behind the Catholic candidate”s success.
