Rant #3,961: Crazay!!!!!!!

Saturday, June 13, 2026 will go down as one of the craziest, most satisfying days I have spent in my 69 years on this earth.

As you know, I am just off a major operation, and have not been myself for the past week in particular, but really, I haven't been myself for months as i go through the horrors I have had to withstand to get back to good heath.

For the few days after my latest operation, I really didn't feel that great.

I had no energy, and quite frankly, I was scared to leave the house, so I didn't even go on our terrace to soak in the fresh air from Monday through Friday.

But each day, I felt slightly better, and on Saturday, I decided that my "houseatosis" period was over, and I was going to get out, no matter what.

I was--and still am--not feeling 100 percent, and I did not go to my son't basketball on Friday night nor his bowling on Saturday morning.

But I was determined to make Saturday my day of redemption, so to speak.

My wife took our son to both endeavors, and the day began swimmingly as my son and his bowling team won the championship of his league for the second time in four years.

They stumbled, they fell, but they inched into the championship by 1.5 points!

They will get their trophies next Saturday, and come hell or high water, I will be there.

When my wife and son came home, I told them that I was going to go out and get dinner for us, which I traditionally do on Saturday evening.

And I would take my son back and forth to work, which is another Saturday--and Sunday--ritual that I regularly do.

Now remember, I had not been outside at all--even on our terrace--since Monday, had not driven my car the entire week, and still was not well, but I figured that this would be the way to break the ice.

Before they came home, I actually shaved, after letting my beard grow for nine days, so I felt a bit refreshed.

After this declaration, later in the afternoon, I actually sat on the terrace with my wife for about a half hour--my first excursion outside since the Monday operation--and then I took my son to work.

When I got home from doing that, the Yankees game was on, and I pretty much watched the whole thing, a 3-1 nailbiter that ended up being the "cherry on top" for this exciting day.

I went out to get our food, and later, I picked up my son from work.

And yes, I watched the beginning of the Knicks-Spurs game on my phone in my car.

After getting home and getting settled, I watched the Knicks game at home, and for a guy who wasn't even making 9 p.m. on some days after my surgery, this time I wasn't the least bit tired.

The Knicks started off as sluggish as you can possibly be, but I even told my sister via text that even with this horrendous start, they would be fine.

I still believed that when the Spurs' lead went to double digits, and even into the second, third and much of the fourth quarter, when the Knicks--save Jalen Brunson--looked about as off as I had been for much of the past week.

I don't remember at what point in the game that I did this, but I asked my father for help to bring the Knicks the win.

My father died a few years ago. "Carl the Cabbie," as he was known on New York radio, was an absolutely huge basketball fan. He grew up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and basketball was the true city game for these first generation Americans whose parents had come here to escape persecution and to engage a better life in the New World.

Anyway, my father was a pretty good player, and he brought the love of the game to me, taking me to my first game at Madison Square Garden when I was eight years old--when you couldn't give Knicks tickets away for free.

Well, the Knicks were down by a few points, and out loud, I asked my father to help the Knicks win this game and the NBA championship.

"Dad, please help the Knicks win." I said ...

And I think he heard me.

The Knicks overcame their own horrid play--save Jalen Brunson, who was the Finals MVP--and the Spurs even worse horrid play, and they won the game by four points, 94-90.

And yes, I do believe my father nudged the Knicks a bit to get the trophy.

I don't even know what time it was, but the Knicks came out on top, and I was absolutely energized.

I sat through all the hoopla, and when I saw Jalen Brunson hug his dad, Rick Brunson--a Knicks coach and former Knicks benchwarmer--I kind of felt my dad and I hugging each other.

I stayed up until 1 a.m., when I called it a day and went right to sleep, not waking up until nearly 8 a.m. on Sunday morning.

Some other thoughts, and while I am trying not to be negative ...

Owner Charles Dolan asked Knicks fans--and primarily those attending those idiotic viewing parties across the city--to "stay safe" in their celebrations.

He should have asked his plea more clearly, as "stay safe" should have actually been "stay out of trouble," as there was chaos in the city that night, with numerous sub-humans ruining it all for the good people of the city, destroying things, getting into fights, and actually shooting off guns.

I put the blame for this squarely on the garbage that is in City Hall and in Albany  now, who are light on punishment, light on crime, and foments this type of behavior.

And, God help the NYPD, which is being unnecessarily put through all of this, and will have to go through it again on Thursday, when New York City has a parade through the Canyon of Heroes for the Knicks.

You can almost bet that there will be trouble there, but that is on the heads of the mayor and his lame and lax administration, and on Governor Hochul.

And then, on a lesser level, we have my local Long Island newspaper, Newsday--the same newspaper where a few Fridays back, I had my story published about how the Knicks and my bar mitzvah intertwined.

Look, I know that there are different print versions of the newspaper, and certainly, they held the presses for the version that I had delivered to me on Sunday morning.

This is a special newspaper, certainly a newspaper that I will not trash ...

But as you can see by the photo above, the cover highlighted an X-rated news investigation, with the Knicks championship kind of taking second fiddle to all of this.

So years from now, when I look for this newspaper, what I am going to see first is what I saw first today--

And it is a little dismaying.

Newsday has most recently been accused of milking the Gilgo Beach murderer story beyond belief, and now, when I want a keepsake for the Knicks first NBA championship in 53 years, I have to see this horror most prominently displayed on the cover.

Whoever put this together, what exactly were you thinking?

Anyway, these two things won't ever take the luster off of June 13, 2026 for me.

What a day!

And I have just one more thing to say:

"GO NEW YORK ...

GO NEW YORK —

GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!