If I was Romney I Wouldn't Be Smiling, I'd Be Wiping the Sweat Off My Brow and Exhaling !

I'm looking at Romney smiling this morning with his big capped teeth on the front page of the New York Times. Now I guess anyone can be happy for any reason ...But Romney is apparently thrilled with winning his home state Michigan by a nose with an equally unimpressive win in Arizona over Santorum aka "Sanitorium ". Super Tuesday around the corner!
I gotta tell you if I'm Romney and just squeaked out two close wins(If you call them that) over the "Constitution Basher" I would be thanking my lucky stars , but coming to the realization of how vulnerable I am in the primary and then against Obama .
Hey Mitt, just continue to earn, pay nominal taxes and spend on commercials . The money is not really yours, just the spoils of the companies you devoured. Did somebody say Blue Star Airlines ?
But Mitt, don't despair . When you get trounced this November, you can have a money fund up and running in a matter of days !

This has been political analyst Steve "FDR " Goldman reporting.

Dow Jones Industrial Has Now Tasted 13,000, But Can it Stay There?

Several times since last Tuesday, the Dow has risen above 13,000 during the trading day but then dipped back below that magic number. Like right now at 10:47 EST the DOW has climbed to 13,000 on early gains. But can it stabilize and close "a trading day " over 13,000?
It reminds me of the NFL running back who finally reaches 1000 yards in an NFL season, but lo and behold on the next play he's dropped for a three yard loss and is back to 998 rushing yards. He then has to scratch and claw to get over a thousand yards and stay there.
This is now the challenge for the Dow . Ride the positives like you're on board Secretariat , get over 13,000 and stay there !
Who knows, then 13,250 may be in our sights .

This has been Wall Street market analyst Steve Goldman reporting.

Santorum is Just as Scary as Perry and Gingrich !

I got to tell you, the Republican field's true colors come out more and more with each passing day . The more craziness I hear out of Santorum's mouth , the harder I root for an accelerated rebound of the economy to enhance Obama's likelihood of re-election. It's hard to grasp what this country would be like with one of these "Republican losers " in the White House . SCARY!
Well , as far as I'm concerned Santorum's latest idiotic comments cemented the fact that he is totally unfit to be President. Remember that thing called the U.S. Constitution .You know the thing that all Presidents swear to uphold ?
Well Mr. Santorum has stated in no uncertain terms " I don't believe in an absolute separation of Church and State"! Rick, anything else you don't like about the Constitution ? We can edit it for you. Next thing we know you'll abolish Miranda Rights, condone warrantless searches and authorize putting cameras in private citizen's bedrooms. You can form your own little "bizarro-land " and call it "Santorumville ". Why not just pipe religious prayer into all kids homerooms and study halls.
And of course anyone who is "different " from you can be deported without due process. Getting exciting Rick ? Well calm down . In case you haven't noticed your own party is pulling against you knowing you're totally unelectable in a general election.
But Ricky boy, don't despair . When Romney finally gets the Republican nod, you and pasty face Newt can team up and run on the "washed up ticket ".Woops, that is if Ron Paul doesn't fill that slot first .
And please, no more debates....I'm begging you !

This has been political correspondent Steve "Scoop " Goldman reporting.

Manny Ramirez Comeback, He's Almost 40..Has 555 Career Homers, 2 Rings...Why is He Giving it Another Shot?

Manny is going to be 40 in May . He most certainly is one of the greatest sluggers of his era . Has a 312 lifetime batting average, 1800 RBI's...21 career grand slams, 28 post-season homers. Has made a boatload of $$$$. Whether he still has money is another story .
He would have been a sure fire Hall of Famer if not for the "fresh in our minds" test results which resulted in a 100 game suspension . So why is he attempting a comeback, albeit via a minor league contract with the A's ?
Does he want to clear his name ? Is he broke? Does he feel he needs 600 homers to make the "Hall'? Does he really love baseball that much ? Is he "Manny being Manny "? We have seen too many athletes continue competing well after they were washed up for a variety of reasons..Usually money, sometimes ego...Sometimes actually for the thrill of competition. Doesn't usually end up pretty.

Let's hope for our beloved(quirky Manny)Manny he finds some old magic, helps the A's , reaches 600 homers and doesn't get hurt.
I don't know about you....but I'm definitely pulling for him! Let's go Manny!

Floyd Mayweather Jr. , Give Credit Where Credit is Due !

Much has been made of Mayweather's recent comments about Jeremy Lin . Essentially, Floyd said that all the hype, adulation , etc concerning Lin was unwarranted and that he had only received all the attention he has gotten because he is Asian-American . Floyd, give it a rest!
Do you watch basketball , or do you make sh_t up as you go along? Lin has taken a troubled, floundering team and franchise and over the course of 10 plus games has put them on his shoulders and brought back respect, integrity, interest and renewed expectation for this team. While Lin is truly a great guy, he simply has let his play do the talking. Defenses focus on him first ...Quite a show of respect .
Never has the ascension of one player in a team sport been so amazing. Lin has played tremendously, and is getting better and more controlled each outing.
So Floyd, while you're serving your little sentence come June, maybe you can subscribe to MSG Network to pass the time.

Sports beat writer Steve "Lin " Goldman reporting.

At 1:37 Today, Dow Hits 13,000 for First Time in 4 Years!

Ding dong the witch is dead. Yes I said it. After four turbulent panic-filled years, the Dow has clawed it's way back to 13,000 . Wall Street survived Lehman Brothers, AIG, Madoff, "Insider Trading" scandals and convictions, a Credit Crisis, Credit Swaps, Delta Desks, Bailouts, Goldman Sachs, the Mortgage Crisis, Mortgage-Backed Securities, Countrywide , "The Great Recession", Double Digit unemployment, Republicans in Congress and much, much more .
While the Dow almost three years ago was one bad week away from dipping into the 6,000's, somehow , some way it has rebounded reaching 13,000 once again....And in an election year.
Now hopefully a bank failure in Azerbajan won't cause things to come crashing down.


This has been market analyst Steve ($$'s) Goldman reporting.

Gary Carter, The Way He Lived His Life Should Set An Example For All of Us !

Gary Carter , always referred to as "the kid" , lost his brave fight to brain cancer this past week and died at the age of 57. What can you say? Carter was a Hall of Fame catcher and one of the greatest at his position to ever play the game. He did it all !
To me, of greater significance was the way he lived his life. He lost one of his parents at a very young age and vowed to and did live his life in an upbeat , happy , gregarious way .Those who knew him always pondered, " how can he be this happy every day"? His smile was infectious, his personality oversized. He simply acted like a kid.
Gary had it all. Fame, money, good looks and happiness . In one fell swoop he lost it all to a horrible, decimating illness .
I'm sure right now Gary is looking down on us and boldly offering us the advice which helped him to be the man he became ........"Live every minute, every hour and every day to its fullest "! You will never have any regrets .

Believe it or not a smile just crossed my face as I finished this blog.

Is Today the Day? Will Dow Finally Get Back Over 13,000?

As I post this blog, the Dow has climbed to 12,919. Yippee! I wonder if "Lin-Sanity " has contributed to the rise. Probably hasn't hurt it.
In any event , as I predicted this would be a rebound of historic magnitude . Who woulda thunk?


Republicans, what are saying now? Your thoughts .

This has been market analyst Steve ($$) Goldman reporting.

Lin-Sanity...It's Great...But the Bigger Picture is the Knicks Are Playing Like a TEAM!

I'm in love with the whole Jeremy Lin " fairy tale-feel good story"! New York, Chinatown, The NBA , Harvard, Asian-Americans, nationally....Globally. Lin-tastic story. It's Lin-gasmic. Hope it continues . Amare is back, Melo to rejoin the team soon. Believe me, nobody needed 7 straight wins worse than the Knicks(and the NBA) . Is the sky the limit ?
But while Lin has been nothing short of Lin-canny, look how his play has rejuvenated and energized a team of role players. Tyson Chandler a force around the hoop. Fields looking like the Fields of last year...And smiling! Shumpert , not having to play the point is re-energized. Terrific "D", fearless...hitting big shots. Novak(until the last 2 games ) shooting like an all-star. Jared Jeffries doing it "all" !
Don't say anything, but this group actually believes they're a "good team ". And right now , they are . Let's not discuss any negatives now ...Just stay positive.

And let's not take anybody lightly. No time to get overconfident.

MSG and Time Warner...Get your sh_t together!

This has been Steve "Lin " Goldman, Asian-American beat writer reporting.

Angelo Dundee, One of the Greats Passes at Age 90!

Angelo Dundee, one of the greatest boxing trainers, cornermen, motivators and tacticians recently passed away at age 90. Dundee trained Carmen Basilio, Muhammed Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard amongst others . He started and ran the 5th Street Gym in Miami in the late 1950's . His brother was a well-recognized boxing promoter for many years.
Ang knew[or created] every trick in the book and his ability to motivate was unparalleled . We all remember him telling Ali who was dancing too much and not throwing enough punches, "you're blowing it champ "! Several years later , in a similar scenario he yelled at Sugar Ray , "you're blowing it kid" .
His life was the gym and the ring. He worked in the Golden Age of Boxing with the likes of Ferdie Pachecho . He shared a common vocabulary with Yogi Berra.
I still remember Saturday afternoons on ABC's Wide World of Sports seeing Dundee in Ali's corner against Norton, Ellis, Quarry and Bonavena . Howard Cosell doing the blow by blow .
Terrific stuff ! Like it was yesterday.
There will never be another one like Good Ol Angelo ! God Bless .

Don't Look Now, The Dow Just Hit 12,900....

I know it's only one(albeit a huge one) economic indicator, but when I checked the market at 1:44 p.m. today the Dow had climbed to 12,913 . Quite remarkable if you think about it. When the Dow in the wake of the credit crisis dipped to 7300, panic was everywhere. In my opinion , if it had fallen into the 6000's we might have had a replay of 1929!
So with the market climb and the drop in unemployment, there is at least some optimism in the air . The White House must be smiling too. Now let's get us some more jobs...And who knows.

This has been market analyst Steve Goldman reporting .

Jeremy Lin, He's Not Bob Cousy Yet...But Making Things Look Easy!

This is not what James Dolan and Company had in mind when they shelled out a couple hundred million for "superstars ". Three straight wins with a starting lineup of Lin, Landry Fields, Jared Jeffries, Tyson Chandler and Walker. Novak, who has shot brilliantly, coming off the bench with Shumpert . So improbable, almost impossible to believe!
Lin's first game a fluke . His second game, "well he took the Jazz by surprise". Last night, "well it's only the Wizards". So when does the dream end, when does reality set in , when will other teams prepare for him ? What will happen when Melo and Amare come back ? Will he run out of steam? Will Novak stop making 3's?
We shall see Friday night when Kobe comes to town.

Woops gotta go...Going to Modells to buy my Lin jersey !

D.A. Declines to Charge Greg Kelly...But is It Truly Over For Him?

Well, the D.A. made the right call not to pursue charges against New York City Police Commissioner Kelly's son in "Knuckle-HEAD -Gate " . Simply nothing there criminally . So, in a perfect world Greg Kelly learns a good, "HARD" lesson and moves on. But we do not live in a perfect world, do we ?
So what will happen next ? Will the woman sue Kelly? Will Kelly sue her for defamation? Will he get his job back? How will Rosanna Scotto now look at him ? Will he hire a PR firm to repair his damaged rep? Will he do a reality show, " Pickups at the Seaport "?
Somehow I don't think we've heard the end of this. But one thing is for sure , he just saved himself a bundle on legal fees. Hey Greg, how hot was she?

This has been New York beat reporter Steve Goldman reporting.

Jeremy Lin, Is He For Real, Or a Flash in The Pan?

This has not been "the dream year " that die-hard Knick fans had envisioned with Amare, Melo , Chandler and Company. Strike shortened season, an almost non-existent training camp, injuries galore to Melo , shooting woes for "all" and most glaringly Stoudemire looking lost for most of the year with the exception of "the breakout game " against the Bulls last Wednesday . Our condolences and prayers go out to the entire Stoudemire family for their recent devastating loss.
So I think it would be fair to say that there has not been a lot to cheer about . Two very tough losses in a row against the Bulls and Celtics . Things were not looking good . Too early in the year to throw in the towel , but lets face it...Jared Jeffries is not taking us "to the promised land"!
So Saturday night, when most New Yorkers were chomping at the bit for Sunday night and the Super Bowl to start already, out of a magical fairy tale script comes little Jeremy Lin...Yes, Harvard economics grad with a 3.1 GPA(Higher than his NBA career scoring average ) . I have to confess(no bullshit) , that earlier in the year when I watched him during "garbage time " in a few blowouts I did say to myself that this kid is the closest thing we have to a bona fide distributing-type point guard .
But never, ever, ever did I or anyone ever imagine he would come out of nowhere Saturday night and score 25 and lead us to a win that was so desperately needed against the Nets . Can you top that ? Yes indeed! Last night against a good Jazz team he does it again...28 points , 8 assists , spectacular play after spectacular play. Correct decision after correct decision. Drives, left hand, right hand , finding the open man, jumpers and the biggest shot of the night a three pointer with the shot clock expiring to seal things ! Who cares about the 8 turnovers.
The Garden, the team, New York, the Chinese-American community, the NBA...Everybody going nuts . Lin jerseys being printed by the thousands ...Wowee!
Will it last ? Will other teams adjust ? Is the surprise factor gone ? Is he strong enough to play every day? What will happen when Baron Davis is ready to play ?
Anyway, lets wait and see and enjoy the moment . For now , can we pull off three straight with Lin at the helm?

Your thoughts?

Go figure.

Giants Football ; Best Super Bowl I Ever Saw !

I've watched a lot of football in my life . Honestly I even remember as a 6 or 7 year old kid with my dad watching the "Ice Bowl ", Dallas Green Bay in what was it, 1966 or 1967 . Remember Namath in Super Bowl 3 . Hype and impact amazing , game though I recall was not the most exciting Super Bowl ever .
We've seen many great teams and great players . Green Bay, Steelers, Cowboys, Oakland, Washington, 49ers, Giants, Denver, Bears , New England, Ravens . The list goes on and on ! And despite most fans' gripe "that the the Super Bowl never lives up to it's hype " we've seen some really exciting games in the past 10 years !
For me though, there was something special about this game. The rematch . Eli and Coughlin going for their second. Brady and Belichick going for their 4th. Brady trying to join Bradshaw and Montana. Eli trying to pass Peyton. The Giants improbable end of the year run. New York vs. Boston. Coughlin-Belichick history . So much buildup.
So when I ate my pre-game meal of nachos, wings and ribs , I got so sleepy I had to drink a Five Hour Energy Drink instead of a cold one to get revived . The game was awesome . Two evenly matched teams. When the Giants got down 17-9 , that's when the nerves and sweating started. We've come so far, are they actually better than us?
I even used that famous nervous husband sports -fan line on my wife(kids were sleeping )..."No talking "! So when Eli burned those 2 timeouts , we all thought they would come back and haunt us. As it turned out, Belichick's failed challenge actually cost them.
So Bradshaw scores the TD . I think it was the right move ...God forbid a field goal is blocked or shanked . But not one of the 100 million people watching the game thought with Brady, that it was actually over . And in reality if Welker and Hernandez don't drop those passes late in the game we may not be having this discussion .
And as if NBC wrote the script, the game goes down to a final play, a Hail Mary from Brady which is tipped several times in the end zone before it landed incomplete. The pressure, stress, prayers, nerves , sweat, emotions....Unmatched for me in Super Bowl history!

Does It Pay To Be a Graffiti Artist ?...For David Choe it Does to the Tune of $200 million !

Have you ever taken part in a barter deal ? You know, you paint someone's house and they agree to do your tax return. Or you do work for for a new, start-up company and they give you some stock , for which it's value is completely unknown[Not to mention the Company's future uncertain ]. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't!
Well for David Choe , who painted the office walls of Facebook with graffiti several years ago he did in fact opt for stock instead of a payment in the " thousands of dollars ". He said at the time he thought Facebook's business seemed ridiculous . Well I know one thing which is fu__in ridiculous! The value of Choe's Facebook stock today . By the latest accounts his stock is worth around $200 million leading up to their Initial Public Offering .
Not bad for getting high and painting faces, bodies and other weird shit on the walls .
I wonder how much their freakin plumber is worth today for plunging a few toilets?

Your thoughts?

This has been Silicon Valley analyst Steve Goldman reporting.

Only in America!