Sacco’s Snippets: December 2019

December 2019 Edition: Sacco’s Snippets

All I want for the Holidays is a day without a care in the world.

To have the peace and understanding that for at least a couple of hours so I can just relax, watch some television and keep my phone off and enjoy the smell of what’s for dinner and the laughter and joy of our family.

This, to me, has always been a magical time of the year, and all that is good with being a human being.

Well, this was not always my dream and the dreams of my youth, which by the way has changed during the years, but remain while sitting and watching the look of joy when everyone forgets their problems.

This is what it is truly about and has demonstrably changed through more modern times.

I recall watching my children opening up their presents and having more fun with the wrapping paper and boxes than the actual presents they held. It was all about giving and sharing with those whom you loved and cared for and still remains, with the traditions that my parents started with me and my siblings continues to today with such a huge place in our hearts that it finds its way in everything we do during this time.

I know I have echoed this very sentiment before, but we are very fortunate in many ways even if we do not see it in plain sight, and those Grinch’s and scrooges decide to try to make us as miserable as they may be.

Not only am I pleasant to these grouches during the holidays but extending the sentiment during the entire year because quite frankly, maybe their lives aren’t as pleasant to them as ours are to us.

This year we will celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas at the same time.

I call this ‘ChrismHannukah’ and get to celebrate an extended holiday with our large blood and extended family.

Yes, I’m a bit greedy, but hey, it’s not Ebenezer Scrooge talking here.

This year, like years past, I have had the pleasure of beginner Hockey players give me little tokens of appreciation and love.

Candies, cards, cups of coffee, and smiles that make you appreciate being a coach and remind us that what we do is essential in shaping the players of the future.

This is where the coaches smile and really enjoy teaching the game.

Yes, this is the best time of the year, beside playoffs and championships, but what better way to start the winter off as well as the second half of the season.

I find that the stress level may go up when people see me because they don’t know just exactly ‘what to get the coach that has everything’ and this causes some unneeded angst.

What you can give me is what everyone can surely use, like a smile or a kind word.

As they said in Bill and Ted’s excellent adventure, “Be excellent to each other.”

What is so special about this time of year besides the holidays and all they bring?

So how about a few minutes of reflection on what exactly we have in our lives that is truly special and closest to our hearts and forgets all the bad that happens.

Remember that someone somewhere in the world is standing a post or sitting in their barracks wishing they were home.

Someone somewhere is in the firehouse or Police car, keeping us safe. Medics, nurses, and doctors are keeping a vigil to keep someone alive and well.

We have so much to be thankful for that sometimes we plain forget.

So be excellent to each other this holiday season and remember that the best gift you can give is the one that doesn’t cost anything and can mean so much more than all the money in the world.

Here are some interesting facts and birthdays in December;

– The first day of winter is December 21

– The Zodiac signs are Sagittarius (up to 12/21) and Capricorn (12/22 on)

– The birth flower is Narcissus

– Birthstones are Zircon, Turquoise, and Tanzanite

– Kwanzaa is on 12/27

– The numerous meteor showers all month. Check local areas for viewing

– December is the 12^th and final month in the Gregorian and Julian calendars

– December from the Latin word Decem meaning ten

12/1 – 1835 Hans Christian Anderson publishes the first book of Fairy Tales

2004 Tom Brokaw anchors his last Nightly News

Birthday – 1933 Lou Rawls

1935 Woody Allen

12/2 – 1982 First artificial heart permanent transplant

2005 Microsoft launches Xbox 360 in Europe

Birthday – 1863 Charles Ringling

1983 Aaron Rogers

12/3 – 1775 the U.S.Navy ship Alfred the first to raise the Stars and Stripes

1818 Illinois becomes the 21^st state

Birthday – 1948 Ozzy Osborne

1968 Brendan Fraser

12/4 – 1619 the first Thanksgiving in America

1783 George Washington’s farewell to the troops

Birthday – 1949 Jeff Bridges

1964 Marisa Tomei

12/5 – 1932 Albert Einstein granted a U.S. Visa

1955 Martin Luther King jr leads Montgomery bus boycott

Birthday – 1839 George Custer

1901 Walt Disney

12/6 – 1968 the 13^th Amendment ratified

1884 the Washington monument completed

Birthday – 1642 Johann S. Bach

1962 Janine Turner

12/7 – 1941 Pearl Harbor Hawaii attacked by the Japanese Empire

1995 Galileo arrives at Jupiter

Birthday – 1887 Vito Corleone

1935 Peter A. Sebastian

12/8 – 1941 the U.S. declares war on Japan

1980 John Lennon killed in NYC

Birthday – 1542 Mary Queen of Scots

1943 Jim Morrison

12/9 – 1718 France declares war on Spain

1965 A Charlie Brown Christmas debuts

Birthday – 1934 Judy Dench

1942 Dick Butkus

12/10 – 1817 Mississippi becomes the 20^th state

1901 the first Nobel prizes awarded

Birthday – 1852 Susan Dey

1957 Michael Clark Duncan

12/11 – 1816 Indiana becomes the 19^th state

1941 Germany and Italy declare war on America

Birthday – 1725 George Mason

1931 Rita Moreno

12/12 – 1915 Yuan Shikai declares himself Emperor of China

1963 Kenya gains independence from the U.K.

Birthday – 1745 John Jay

1915 Frank Sinatra

12/13 – 1769 Dartmouth College founded

1978 first Susan B. Anthony coins circulated

Birthday – 1818 Mary Todd Lincoln

1948 Ted Nugent

12/14 – 1819 Alabama becomes the 22^nd state

1959 Berry Gordy founds Motown Records

Birthday – 1503 Nostradamus

1946 Patty Duke

12/15 – 1290 BC Ramses II becomes Pharaoh of Egypt

1991 THE U.S. Bill of Rights becomes law

Birthday – 1832 Gustave Eiffel

1933 Tim Conway

12/16 – 1773 the Boston Tea Party

1915 Einstein publishes the Theory of Relativity

Birthday – 1770 Ludwig van Beethoven

1962 Tyler ‘the Fridge’ Perry

12/17 – 1843 ‘A Christmas Carol’ published by Charles Dickens

1989 ‘The Simpsons’ airs for the first time

Birthday – 1946 Eugene Levy

1978 Manny Pacquiao

12/18 – 1932 the first NFL game

1961 Wilt Chamberlain scores 78 points in one game

Birthday – 1943 Keith Richards

1964 ‘Stone cold’ Steve Austin

12/19 – 1732 Benjamin Franklin publishes ‘Poor Richards Almanac’

1984 Way Gretzky becomes youngest player to score 1000 points

Birthday – 1906 Leonid Brezhnev

12/20 – 1958 Elvis gets drafted

1803 the Louisiana purchase

Birthday – 1868 Harvey Firestone

1976 Aubrey Huff

12/21 – 1620 Pilgrims land on ‘Pilgrim Rock’

1913 the first Crossword puzzle published

Birthday – 1954 Chris Evert

1957 Ray Romano

12/22 – 1937 the Lincoln Tunnel opens

1990 Lech Walesa elected president of Poland

Birthday – 1858 Giacomo Puccini

1917 Gene Rayburn

12/23 – 1947 the Transistor is displayed by Bell Laboratories

1954 the first successful kidney transplant

Birthdays – 1805 Joseph Smith

1946 Susan Lucci

12/24 – 1818 Silent Night composed by Franz Xavier Gruber

1893 the Ford Motor Company completes the first production gas motor

Birthday – 1905 Howard Hughes

1922 Ava Gardiner

12/25 – 1776 General Washington crosses Delaware

1939 Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer introduced

Birthday – 5 BC Jesus Christ

1878 Louis Chevrolet

12/26 – 1776 the British defeated in Trenton

1933 the FM radio is patented

Birthday – 1921 Steve Allen

1951 Ozzie Smith

12/27 – 1904 the play Peter Pan debuts

1932 Radio City Music Hall opens

Birthday – 1502 Johannes Kessler

1939 John Amos

12/28 – 1065 Westminster Abby consecrated

1945 the US Congress recognizes the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’

Birthday – 1954 Denzel Washington

12/29 – 1824 Texas becomes 28^th state

1891 Edison patents the Radio

Birthday – 1808 Andrew Johnson

1938 John Voight

12/30 – 1953 the first color Television goes on sale

1981 Wayne Gretzky scores 50^th goal in 39^th game

Birthday – 1865 Rudyard Kipling

1935 Sandy Koufax

12/31 – 1904 first New Years Eve in Time Square

1991 the Soviet Union is dissolved

Birthday – 1937 Anthony Hopkins

1947 Tim Matheson

So now you are wondering what to do with yourself and your family during the extended holiday break.

Well, there’s Ice Bumper cars, Public Ice sessions, Sticks and Pucks, Adult open Hockey for the ice in your veins Player.

Brunch with Santa for the kids, the Arcade, the Sky jump for the adventurer. Art and acting classes for the creative person inside of you.

Open Basketball, Indoor Soccer, and the sports lounge in the mezzanine to eat have an adult beverage and watch the games that are on that day. www.aviatorsports.com for the dozen or so happenings that I am missing here.

Walk in the door and make the magic happen to give you and yours a memorable holiday.

“There is something for everyone and everyone for something.”

Aviator Sports and Events Center

3159 Flatbush Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11234

(718) 754-7500

John Sacco

AC NY Aviators

Premiere/Elite

USPHL