Saturday, November 26, 2011

Black Friday, tasers and Lenny Dykstra

November 26, 2011
BRUCE A. BRENNAN BLOG FROM THE WORLD AND MY MIND
The news as I see it and the views as I want them.
November 26 is … Shopping Reminder Day

Just a reminder; did you go shopping on Black Friday? Apparently many people did but they left their Holiday spirit at home and brought their tasers, pepper spray and guns instead.

The Detroit Lions are 2 and 4 since starting the season 5 and 0. The Buffalo Bills and Washington Redskins are not far behind in the peaking too early category.

Illinois had a tough game on their hands but managed to defeat the Illinois State Redbirds the other night to claim basketball supremacy in Central Illinois.

A former Major League baseball player wants the world to know he is not a criminal, even though he has been in jail and is going to prison. His problems are the fault of something other than him. Of course, he is not a liar and is an intelligent trustworthy drug addict.

Dystra, in his first sit-down interview since his plea in a grand theft auto case earlier this year, told the New York Daily News’ Nancy Dillon that his recent five-month stretch in the Los Angeles County Jail hammered home many much-needed lessons.

Dykstra, 48, spoke to the newspaper at The Hills rehab center in Los Angeles. Among the revelations:

Lenny Dykstra played in the majors from 1985 to 1996.

• Dykstra said his demons were wine, vodka, pain pills, party drugs and the rush he got blowing through his millions: “It’s not a coincidence that I’m here. It happened because I was using drugs and alcohol. It was a reality check.”

• He said he has learned that his destructive addictions and major league ego cost him his fortune, his marriage and his freedom: “The way I lived my life helped me in baseball. But when you’re spending $28,000 for a bottle of wine and liking it? Nothing was ever enough. The punishment gods said, ‘You know what we’re going to do? We’re going to put you in (expletive)ing jail. We’re going to put you in the cooler because you have to pay for some things.’ ”

• He faces up to four years in jail at his January sentencing in the auto theft case, and an April search of his residence turned up drugs and drug paraphernalia. He declined to discuss with the Daily News his ongoing legal saga, but he was adamant that he’s not a bad person. “I’m not a criminal. There will be a good ending. Just like I knew when I was growing up that I was going to be a major-league baseball player. But there’s work I have to do and a price I have to pay.”

• He scoffed at reports that he recently bailed on a celebrity boxing match against fellow former baseball star Jose Canseco, claiming that a Pennsylvania fan who ran the Twitter feed while he was in jail signed the contract without his full consent and then fabricated quotes for a press release. Dykstra said he doesn’t even know the password for the Twitter account bearing his name and is pursuing a restraining order.

• He said he is a voluntary patient on scholarship at The Hills, takes routine drug tests and calls his thinking “clear”: “I’m a partier, (and) it leads to making decisions that probably led to why I’m here right now. And that’s a fact that I have to admit.”

Dykstra, who played 12 years in the majors, including a World Series-winning year with the Mets in 1986, has struggled with legal issues for several years.

The rundown, according to sources: His 2007 purchase of Wayne Gretzky’s $18.5 million mansion landed him in bankruptcy court. He was arrested in April on charges that he embezzled $400,000. The grand theft auto case followed, and he also was accused of exposing himself to women who answered his help-wanted ads on Craigslist.com.

Nice guy, Lenny. Baseball and society could use more nice guys like you and Jerry Sandusky from Penn State.

Just a couple of thoughts I had and you should too or at least think about.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
DEKALB, IL 60115
COPYRIGHT 2011

VISIT ANY OF THE SITES LISTED FOR REVIEW, RESEARCH, ORDERING MY WRITING PRODUCTS OR TO CONTACT ME.
Go to web sites below to buy books by Bruce A. Brennan. It is still a good time to purchase any of my books. The books are interesting and inexpensive reads. My third book should be available later this year, in late 2011. More information will be forthcoming.

www.barnesandnoble.com (do a quick search, Title, my name)
www.smashwords.com Do a Title or author search.

Book Titles:

Holmes the Ripper

A Revengeful Mix of Short Fiction

Public EneMe?


"I believe in an open mind, but not so open that your brains fall out." - Arthur Hays Sulzberger