Grabner Signs for Five!

This has been a very busy week for Islander fans. Hope again springs eternal in Islander Country. We are all extremely excited that Michael Grabner and the NYI's have come to a five year contract agreement. The Calder  finalist, with 34 goals (6 shorties) in his rookie year, is by far a fan favorite, and all are very excited. Grabs is excited too, not only for his new contract, but the whirlwind year he has had. He is a new dad, now has a lengthy deal and is looking foward to playing in a new arena on LI. I hope the latter is not a disappointment.

Politics in Nassau county is a very tricky business, as I mentioned in my last post. This is a GOP initiative, and as a DEM I do support it. We do not need a black hole of hopelessness in the middle of our county. Neither Dems or NIFA were included in this process, which has made a lot of folks angry. I do think that this referendum can pass on August 1st, but I think it will require more than I have seen thus far from Mr. Mangano and the Islander organization.

Primarily, I think that this announcement on wednesday was premature, given the facts. To me it was a glorified pep rally, with not much to back it up. As a lifelong Nassau county resident, I expected that there would be answers to questions asked. That was not the case. Mr. Mangano had no numbers to speak of, no answers to the what if's, really no specifics at all on how this would happen without costing taxpayers more dollars in Nassau. He did, however state several times that it is not their "intention" to cost taxpayers a dime. WAY TOO VAGUE.

In the meantime, I would have liked to see a huge PR campaign by Mr. Wang and the Islanders, immediately following the presser. Signing Grabner is great, but you need the whole county behind you. My neighbor, has no idea who Grabner is, but does understand that you always vote NO in Nassau. Many residents here are so sick of politics and do not wish to invest in anything except their next meal.

All of this being said, I support this referendum. I pray that Mr. Mangano is truthful when he says his intentions are not to cost Nassau taxpayers more dollars. In my thoughts; this is a leap of faith. A faith in the county I have always lived in, and a faith in a team I have always believed in.