Rant #815: So Much Happening, So Little Time

Wow!

There is so much happening right now that I am ready to burst.

Well, not really, but there's lots going on to talk about.

You have the Presidential debates coming right up.

Personally, I am not in love with either candidate. I ask myself, "Is this the best the Democrats and Republicans can offer?"

I shake my head.

This is the hand that we've been dealt, and we, as a country, had better make the right choice.

Then we have some other things ...

Today is Chubby Checker's 71st birthday.

Hard to believe, but Ernest Evans, his real name, has been in our lives forever, or so it seems.

More than 50 years ago, he took an obscure song, "The Twist," and made it into a phenomenon that still resonates today.

Sure, he had many, many other hit records, but "The Twist" is one of the signature tunes of the rock generation.

And the guy is still going strong.

My question: "When will he be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?"

This is also the 61st anniversary of something else that continues to resonate today, "The Shot Heard 'Round the World."

The New York Giants played the Brooklyn Dodgers in a game to determine who would be the National League champions, going on to face the hated New York Yankees in the World Series.

Back then, if you did not win your league title, you didn't go to the postseason.

Well, Bobby Thompson of the Giants took care of that, hitting a home run to give the Giants the pennant.

And broadcaster Russ Hodges' call of "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" is one of the greatest, and most famous, broadcasting calls of all time.

And then we take you to the present time, where Major League Baseball finishes up its regular season today.

Or does it?

The Yankees won a thriller last night against the Boston Red Sox, a 12-inning, 4-3 win where Raul Ibanez was the hero, stroking a tying home run in the eighth inning and then the winning hit in the 12th.

The Yankees had to win to stay ahead of the Baltimore Orioles, who beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 in a thriller of its own.

The Yankees win kept them one game ahead of the Orioles with one game to play.

If the Yankees win, they win the Eastern Division championship and take that into the playoffs. If they lose and the Orioles win, the two teams will be tied, and a one game playoff in Baltimore will be played to determine who wins the division and who goes in as the wild card team.

As you know, I am a big Yankees fan, and will root for the team from the Bronx to finish it up tonight, and it will be especially gratifying to see it be done against the hated Red Sox, who absolutely are the pits this season.

But you have to give the Orioles a lot of credit. They came out of nowhere to be in this thing, and one way or the other, they are going to the playoffs for the first time in a generation.

Wow! I am out of breath.

Just let me say that I have to continue physical therapy for the next two months, and I hope I survive it.

There's just too much going on not to ...