The Boss? But nobody can see the Boss! Nobody’s ever seen the Boss! Even I’ve never seen him!
But the depth of how rapidly Steinbrenner is deteriorating was dramatically on display following Game 2 of the World Series in Yankee Stadium. You just couldn’t physically see it.
That’s because the Blue Curtain dropped quickly and sharply following Game 2, with the Yankees—or, to be more precise, a coterie of New York policemen and security guards working at their behest—essentially placed on lockdown a main tunnel running outside of the clubhouses as the club moved Steinbrenner out of Yankee Stadium.
Not only do the Yankees not want anybody to speak with Steinbrenner, they’re protecting his privacy so fiercely that they won’t allow most people to even get a glimpse of him anymore.
Mechanized gates dropped suddenly from the ceiling to confine some officials to certain areas of the corridor—including some surprised major league baseball officials who were not told beforehand and were suddenly trapped—and keep them away from the vehicles transporting Steinbrenner. Temporary curtains were quickly set up as well to block views.
...Security guards not only shut down the press elevator carrying media members downstairs to the interview areas until after Steinbrenner had departed, they also locked the doors downstairs, trapping several dozen media members in the stairwell.
One security guard shooing people out of the area, according to one official who was there at the time, said that they were “cleansing the hallway.”
The Yankees also have gone so far as to tell major league baseball officials that they do not want Steinbrenner shown on television, according to one industry source.
Repoz
Posted: October 31, 2009 at 03:01 AM |
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1. Avoid running at all times.-S. Paige Posted: October 31, 2009 at 03:18 AM (#3372207)That has definitely crossed my mind as well.
The end of the line is often very unpleasant. Old age ain't for sissies.
Tell me about it. For the first time in my life I am actually glad I'll be dead by 55. I told the story before but there was a WWII reunion a couple of weeks back and those people looked horrible. Parts of their bodies were barely hanging on and one guy stood up in the middle of the dining room and puked out his breakfast and then calmly paid the bill and left.
My own mother, who is 87, has Alzheimer's. It's frightening (yet kind of interesting) in the way it just gets a little worse every day or two. So for someone who hasn't seen her for a few months is often unaware how far her cognitive level has dropped. A few years ago she was still able to drive. (I think, looking back on it, she had minor symptoms going back 10 years ago.) Now she can't figure out how to run appliances like a washing machine or microwave. Also, people with Alzheimer's lose their vocabulary. So just communicating their limited thoughts is a struggle. And that gets worse.
Alzheimer's is also supposed to be physically deteriorating. However, I've met very few 87 year olds in nearly as good a physical condition as my mom. And that makes me wonder how long she will live with this. She comes from long-lived people, but no one in her direct line, AFAIK, ever had any kind of dementia, let alone Alzheimer's. (My mom had an aunt who was nutty in her last years. I don't know what her diagnosis was.) My guess is she will go on physically for at least another 10 years. I don't remember her ever having a cold, let alone any serious illnesses. But mentally, at the rate she is going, she will be "gone" in a few more years.
...that part actually sounds kind of cool.
Shouldn't it have been on the house? Besides the floor I mean.
The end of the line is often very unpleasant. Old age ain't for sissies.
Indeed. My dad went to his 55th high school reunion a few weeks ago -- he said most of the Class of '54 were in wheelchairs.
Except the key plot point of Weekend at Bernie's is that they wanted people to see Bernie so they'd think he was still alive, and in this case they're going out of they way to prevent people from seeing Steinbrenner. But other than that: The same!
Yeah, Steinbrenner should probably pass up what may be his last chance to see the team he spent his life building win a World Series because the logistics involved in him doing so without a bunch of people gawking at him seem ridiculous to ... some random guy who doesn't have anything to do with anything. Makes sense to me.
Or, maybe -- just maybe -- we should try to avoid telling other people how to spend their final days.
Or, maybe -- just maybe -- we should try to avoid telling other people how to spend their final days.
Sure, if Steinbrenner had a ####### clue what is going on.
1. Are you taking me to 51 W. 63rd St?
2. Is that Ebbets Field?
3. Do we have to take the Expressway?
The correct answers are:
1. We don't have a 63rd St.
2. That's not Ebbets Field. That's the Citrus Bowl.
3. It's not the Expressway, it's I-4.
My answers are:
1. Yes, Ma'am.
2. Yes, Ma'am.
3. Yes, Ma'am.
It's surprising what the patient's remember and don't remember. One of my passangers can't remember where he lives, and when you get him to his apartment building, he can't remember which floor he lives on (his wife meets him in the lobby). However, if he ever offers to play you dominoes for money, just hand him your wallet and walk away; it's less humilating.
But what if someone wants to spend their final days telling other people how to spend their final days? WHAT THEN?!?
It's his team, he's entitled to attend even if that disrupts the private press elevator for a few minutes.
Steinbrenner has always told elevators what to do. And if they disobey, he punches the shit out of them.
My experiences indicate that long-term memory is the last to go; if he learned dominoes as a child or young man, then he'd retain that longer than his current address.
After my relatives hit 90, they would forget most of the family except for their brothers, sisters and parents. I would happily answer to "pop" or a brother's name if they wanted to talk. If it kept them happy, why correct them?
I do believe he has Alzheimer's, as well. My grandmother had it near the end, truly horrible way to spend your last years. She had to be reminded about which grandchild came from which of her children (although she did remember our names, with the exception of the two youngest, who she mixed up), couldn't remember how old anybody was, how to make change... and those were the more benign things that happened. She also became extremely vulnerable to scams and calls for money that she didn't have anymore. Truly a tragic way to go.
I think the bigger threat would be photography. If the team has said they don't want him shown on tv, I think it's safe to assume he's a drooling mess. And the NY papers would definitely run those pictures.
Steinbrenner spit the bit.
In that regard (& others, now that I have co-workers who are having to deal with aged parents in sharp physical decline), I count myself incredibly fortunate.
(& I'm pissed as hell that I didn't think of that line)
Which I suppose makes him, on the off chance he lives that long, the frontrunner for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, assuming Reagan & the most recent Bush are any indication of those dangerous lunatics' (not to mention the imbecile electorate's/outlaw Supreme Court's) tastes.
I'll throw a challenger out there:
MDA Senior Management Rap
An interesting question with an Alzheimer's patient are the end-of-life issues. My mom has a living will, made out maybe 20 years ago, which directs no feeding tubes, no artificial respiration, etc., to keep her alive. But what happens when she can no longer feed herself, clean herself and has no idea of anything which is going on? The answer, I suppose, is round-the-clock convalescent care until she dies. But would anyone in his right mind prefer that course?
A personality trait of my mom's which I inherited is personal frugality -- the abhorence of wasting money or resources. She's always been a generous person. But she never had fancy tastes of any kind and would never throw away anything which someone might value, even if it was no longer of use to her. I would guess that she would not want to live in a convalescent hospital in a mentally vegetative state, in part because she wouldn't want the money it will cost wasted on her. But we never really talked about that. (My brother and sister and I have and agree that would probably be her attitude.) Regardless of her feelings or the family's feelings, I don't see that we have any choice (and maybe, ethically, we should not have any choice). Once a person needs to have round-the-clock convalescent care, you just have to put them in a hospital of that sort. I would imagine if you didn't, and your relative died due to your negligence, you would be held accountable. And surely, unless you have the time, patience, money and skills to take care of someone 24 hours a day like that, the patient would die from your negligence. So in cases like this, you hope it is a quick demise at the end. But there are stories of Alzheimer's patients -- especially those who get the disease quite young -- living 20 years in a convalescent hospital with no cognitive function. And unlike say someone dying from pancreatic cancer who can tell his doctor he wants to OD on barbiturates and a willing doctor will (secretly) help him, there is no way an Alzheimer's patient can make that kind of a call.
From a public policy perspective, I wonder if the amount of money it takes (or, if you will, wastes) to care for Alzheimer's patients will ever become a serious concern, as people live longer and longer, and those who might have died from cancer or heart disease in their early 70s or before survive those diseases, but go on to get dementia at 85 or 90.
You, Sir, are a saint. I hope that some day she will see Ebbets Field again.
I find myself irritated when my 80 year old father complains to me twice in the same day about my 74 year old mother asking him the same question twice. These Alzheimer stories scare the hell out of me more than any horror movie ever could.
The first is probably true, since he was at the first game in April.
As for the second..would they? The NY tabloids danced around Steinbrenner's Alzheimer's for a long, long time. The rumors started in 2004; it's only now that a newspaper has said publicly he has it.
...
2. That's not Ebbets Field. That's the Citrus Bowl.
Is your client Bobby Bowden?
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/steinbrenner_we_ll_win_it_for_the_XNewIC4s5PFYPNHVVJ4LtN
No shame there. I can deal with them pretty effectively because I only get them for short stretches, maybe an hour tops on longer trips. People who work at Alzheimer's facilities for full shifts are perhaps the most patient people on earth, with the possible exception of Pirate fans.
Considering Vlad is a Pirates' fan, I guess there's no doubt about whom is more patient.
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