"They laugh that win." (Othello)

.....We have a couple of good friends in another building here, named Mike and Helen Herbstman. Mike is a talented performer who just recently had open heart surgery. When we produced "My Fair Lady" a couple of years ago Mike played the part of Colonel Pickering, and I don't mind saying he looked the part.

But this story is not so much about Mike as it is about Helen. She is the luckiest person I've ever known. She enters every contest she can find in the newspapers or magazines. She has already won an enormous TV which occupies half her living room. She has also won a motorcycle and a ticket to the Super Bowl and an overnight stay at a posh hotel in Miami. One day when we went to the Isle Casino she won $2000 on a two-cent slot machine. I have no clue to whatever else she has won, but I'm certain there is a list. This past week, however, Macy's had a fund raising program for City of Hope whereby you could buy a $5 gift card and if you deposited it in a box, and your name was picked, you could win $500. It so happens that Rhoda went to Macy's last week and picked up Helen's card. When Rho got to the store she deposited Helen's card in the box. Who won the $500? Well, Helen of course. I think she should go for broke and buy a few Powerball tickets. What Rhoda got from Helen out of this affair was a free lunch.

I don't know if Mike will get anything.

.....I can't recall mentioning that I went to see the surgeon who dug the melanoma out of my leg and after looking at the wound once more he said I needn't come back anymore. We gave the nurses a tin of cookies and I gave the doctor a copy of my book. I hope never to see that man again. Rhoda still has to keep a bandage on it for a while because the new skin is very fragile. She is very skillful at that job.

.....I learned from Rho's daughter in Merrick, Long Island, that Ilana, our granddaughter who plays soccer on the Kennedy H.S. girls' team recently played in a game against North Shore H.S. where I coached for 30 years. North Shore was winning one nil when a player from Kennedy seriously injured her knee. By the time the medics came and tended to her, the game couldn't be continued because of darkness. Hopefully, they will finish it sometime this season, and hopefully North Shore will win. But if Kennedy wins, hopefully it will be Ilana who scores the winning goal. It really felt kind of weird to know that Ilana was playing against my old school; however, it did nothing to relieve whatever angst I have about my age.

.....As long as we are discussing sports and winning, I heard someone say that winning is not so important as playing and enjoying the game. I said, "Poppycock", (whatever that means).Poppycock - (Anglicized form of the Dutch pappekak, which literally means soft dung or diarrhea). Coach Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers once said, "Winning isn't everything, but losing isn't anything." As a coach and sports lover I'll take it one step further and say winning is everything; else why play the game?