ode to the hawk...

i began to notice it Friday morning, walking home after a swim. The leaves, for the most part, had been raked or blown away. The trees were bare of their Spring and Summer clothing, it was only a beginning...

for those who unaware, the phrase, 'the hawk is out,' is a Midwestern vernacular used when the first winds of the winter blow in. The old boy in FLA used to say it when a chill fell over the Cape for three or four days every January...

ladies and gentlemen, the hawk is out...

it was miserable yesterday as the Alberta Clipper started to creep into the once stout jet stream, but there was a beauty to it. The air smells different when the hawk flies in. It makes you want to stay in drink tea or hot coffee, under your favorite blanket and veg out. Yesterday was almost perfect...

i began by watching one of the better college football games i've ever seen in Cincinnati at Pittsburgh. The winner earns the BCS slot given to the Big East Champion. Being an alum of a Big East school that dropped its football program many years ago, i don't have much to root for when it comes to College Football. Sure, i'll root for Notre Dame because my last name is Walsh and i'll throw my allegiance towards the University of Georgia Bulldogs because i was a fan of Herschel Walker, but more often than not the College Football season is a non-issue for me. It could be because College Football is inherently unfair. There is the idea of a Bowl Championship Series that rarely actually names a dyed in the wool champion. There are the scholarships taken from other school programs for the third string punter. There is the fact that a school like Notre Dame rakes in cash hand over fist while a school like TCU barely sniffs a buck as they may very well get screwed out of a big bowl payday because they don't play in a "big-time" conference. There is the fact that college and, for that matter professional football, are responsible for the incredible influx of morons than any other extra curricular activity in the history of educational institutions. But there were the Bearcats and the Panthers playing for something in the snow, on grass, in December. Ladies and gentlemen, that's football...

after Cincy won the game in wonderful fashion, i switched over to what i call the Devil's Advocate Classic. My St. John's Redmen facing my Duke Blue Devils. i traditionally root for Duke i have for 23 years, but when they play St. John's, which they have for more than a decade now, i tend t root for my alma mater because when all is said and done, the St. John's always needs to beat the Blue Devils more than the Devils need to beat the Redmen. Duke looks strong this year. Not just winning the ACC strong, more than that, they look like a team that plans on spending their first Monday in April playing basketball. St. John's has had a rough go of it every since the night the Knicks chose Frederic Weis over the heart soul of the Johnnies, Ron Artest back in the 1999 NBA draft. Mike Jarvis took a giant shit on a long and storied program and Norm Roberts was charged, and maybe overmatched, with fixing it while keeping it clean. Jarvis cost us recruits from the New York City, rivals like UConn, Villanova, Syracuse and Pittsburgh cherry picked the best talent from the 5 boroughs and left St. John's with Fordham and Hofstra like talent. Losing seasons fell like rain. Three years ago Roberts had, what at the time no one thought anything of, his best recruiting season. Players like DJ Kennedy, Sean Evans and Malik Boothe are now juniors, and entering yesterday's game in Cameron Indoor Stadium the Redmen were 5-0 and actually looked like a team that could win some games this year. After an early see-saw and a Duke run that seemed to wrap up the game at the half, the Johnnies fought back, showed their mettle and lost respectably and with a promise. I believe this team, with a softer Big East schedule than past years, the Redmen could very well be in the hunt for the NCAAs this year, with 17 wins a distinct possibility. Playing well in games of this stature, at Duke, one of the most difficult places to play in the country, helps teach a team how to rely on each other, play through the adversity and even play well. This was the toughest game on their schedule, and even thought they lost, they showed an ability to hold their own against a team that is in a class above most of the college basketball landscape. You heard it here, St. John's will beat Duke next year in their yearly meeting, next time at home in Madison Square Garden. Ladies and gentlemen the Redmen are back...

after a trip across the street to pick up a to go order from Nick's Bistro, i watched Alabama destroy the Florida Gators and one trick pony Tim Tebow. i don't know why, i just can't stand the kid. i know, he's a great athlete, and he's a great motivator of his teammates, but he sounds like a bad TV script for the 700 Club. He represents another aspect of football along with other sports where the players actually think their god is heloing them play well or win a game. Tebow didn't thank Jesus for losing yesterday, not for throwing the bone-head interception that iced the game. Jesus must have been busy turning his attention towards the gentrification of Somalians because the come from the wrong tribe. Or maybe Jesus just rolls with the Crimson Tide. Judge Roughneck would believe that, since he's an Auburn fan and states, whole heartedly, that Jesus hates him. So there's that, and there is my passing allegiance to the U, due to my time in Fort Myers with family. The old boy is a fan of the Hurricanes and his daughter, the Doc, is an alum of the U along with being a student of its medical school. So there's that. Ladies and gentlemen, Texas doesn't belong, and the BCS still sucks...

the evening was locked up by the Rangers grabbing a win in Buffalo and a viewing of The Fugitive hence the Facebook status of 'provasic!'...

that film takes place in Chicago. When the old boy was still cutting glass for Japanese tourists up here in New York, his work used to take him to Pennsylvania and Ohio, where he met a gentlemen who once, in the midst of being perched above a marquee on an especially blustery day, had uttered that very to the old boy, 'oo boy, the hawk is out'...

went for a can of coffee early this morning, down the street. It was sunny and clear, i caught sight of my breath and thought indeed, the hawk is out...