Hot Dogs! Cracker Jacks! Tickets!

October is the ultimate month for a sports fan.

So if you know one don't expect to find him or her too far away from a couch or stadium this time of year.

Football season is well underway.

The NHL just started its season.Yah! The Rangers won their opening game this past Thursday. But Boo! The parent team of the Soundtigers, The Islanders,lost to the Coyotes.

On the very same day, The NBA began its 2006 Preseason schedule.

But most exciting, at least for now, is that both New York teams are competing in the Divison Series.
As soon as the Mets take out the Dodgers, they are headed to the final four! Let me quote a devoted Mets fan from Stamford whom I spoke with when I was covering opening day at Shea.  She said to me: " This October, I smell myself at Shea!" She knew this was her team's year.

If you are tired of sitting on your couch, you know you can get tickets to see the Mets play. They're not cheap, but come on, you've been saving for this for 18 years! Yesterday I spoke with the people who run ExtraTix.com, and they say they have "sold out" tickets to any sporting or Broadway event you want. Even if the tickets are day of, just call them. 1-866-XTRA-TIX.

You can even get Yankees playoff tickets. Just as long as they stay in there. However, the only Red Sox tickets you can buy are for 2007. (Sorry, that was a little jab at you Boston fans.)

Even if you aren't a sports fan, you can enjoy October. The leaves are starting to change, we're in apple picking season. All the Halloween candy is in the stores. With so much going on this month, no wonder they call it "Octoberfest" in some countries.

Alzheimers Memory Walk '06

    The rain held out until just as we were about to start the Memory walk this past Sunday at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk.

Check out these troopers!

Thanks to Cliff Juleson for sending me these pictures he took.

However, the weather was great during registration which gave us time to have coffee and bagels and meet some of the walkers and teams. Here I am with Norwalk Mayor Dick Moccia and Tina Birkic from the Alzheimer's Association.

Kendra Farn of WNBC and I served as hosts for the event. However, since it started raining just as were supposed to talk about Alzheimer's, we cut it short.

However, I'd like to pass along some information from the Alzheimer's Assocation on this disease that is considered a major killer. While Heart Disease is down three-percent and cancer is down one-percent, Alzheimer's is up 5.8 % in Connecticut with deaths up over 20% since 1999.

One in 10 people over 65 has Alzheimer’s disease.  Nearly half of people over 85 have Alzheimer’s disease. People can get Alzheimer's as early as thier 30s and 40s.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive, degenerative disease of the brain and the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer’s results in impaired memory, thinking and behavior. Alzheimer’s disease usually begins gradually, causing a person to forget recent events and to have difficulty performing familiar tasks.

There isn't a cure, so that's what the Alzheimer's Association is raising money to find. Speaking of money, medicare costs for people with Alzheimer's are three times higher than for other elderly beneficiaries. The reason is because 95-percent of Medicare beneficiaries with dementia have other chronic conditions common in the elderly such as coronary heart disease and diabetes.

A big thanks to all the individuals and teams that raised money for Memory Walk '06.