From Zap2it.com:
Joe Mauer engaged to Madeline Bisanz - Pop2it - Zap2it
My (almost) sincere congratulations to the happy couple. Don't tell my real boyfriend (although he IS aware Joe Mauer is my Secret Celebrity Boyfriend) but my stone cold New York heart is just the tiniest bit crushed...
Let's hope this is a sweet beginning to what will be a more awesome baseball season for Mauer next year than this past year...
Monday, December 12, 2011
Talk about a nailbiter - New York Giants v. Dallas Cowboys
First, can I just say how much I am enjoying watching the Green Bay Packers play this season? I am by no means a Packers fan; I will never wear a wedge of cheese on my head. But I have definitely become an Aaron Rodgers fan, and to watch this team play this season has been so much fun. They're better than a well oiled machine. Watching them play is like listening to a beautiful symphony.
Poetic enough for ya?
Okay, so last week the Giants played the Packers. And after phoning it in for three weeks straight, they finally brought it. They finally looked like they wanted to be on that field. And they still lost. But they made the Packers really work for that win. Still, 4 losses in a row can be totally demoralizing, especially after really giving it your all. Finally. So I was beyond worried about last night's game. I was pumped after a Jets pounding of the Chiefs - that game was so lopsided it actually became boring by the second half. But last night's showdown with the hated Cowboys for first place in the division was pretty much do-or-die for the Giants - if they lost, not only would that be 5 losses in a row, but it would be a loss to Dallas.
I hate Sunday night games, only because they go on too late and I have to work in the morning. But for the first three quarters it looked like I might be able to go to bed early. The Giants looked completely lackluster again - wtf? As my mom always used to say, the team that wants it the most will usually win it and the Cowboys definitely looked like they wanted this win more. The Giants were down by 12 with 5 minutes to go. But, faithful readers, how does the football mantra go? :)
The Giants finally showed up. Again. They pulled out an incredible win that made the Cowboys look beyond foolish. They beat Dallas the SAME EXACT way the Cardinals did last week, with a last minute time-out and a field goal do-over. Tom Coughlin must have been sacrificing virgins on the sidelines to the football gods that this tactic would work two weeks in a row.
And it did.
So we're still in the game. The Giants have to step it up though. The Jets look good. They have momentum. They can feel the playoffs coming. The Giants are gonna have to start looking like they want to be here if they want to not only get to the playoffs but get beyond the first round.
Poetic enough for ya?
Okay, so last week the Giants played the Packers. And after phoning it in for three weeks straight, they finally brought it. They finally looked like they wanted to be on that field. And they still lost. But they made the Packers really work for that win. Still, 4 losses in a row can be totally demoralizing, especially after really giving it your all. Finally. So I was beyond worried about last night's game. I was pumped after a Jets pounding of the Chiefs - that game was so lopsided it actually became boring by the second half. But last night's showdown with the hated Cowboys for first place in the division was pretty much do-or-die for the Giants - if they lost, not only would that be 5 losses in a row, but it would be a loss to Dallas.
I hate Sunday night games, only because they go on too late and I have to work in the morning. But for the first three quarters it looked like I might be able to go to bed early. The Giants looked completely lackluster again - wtf? As my mom always used to say, the team that wants it the most will usually win it and the Cowboys definitely looked like they wanted this win more. The Giants were down by 12 with 5 minutes to go. But, faithful readers, how does the football mantra go? :)
The Giants finally showed up. Again. They pulled out an incredible win that made the Cowboys look beyond foolish. They beat Dallas the SAME EXACT way the Cardinals did last week, with a last minute time-out and a field goal do-over. Tom Coughlin must have been sacrificing virgins on the sidelines to the football gods that this tactic would work two weeks in a row.
And it did.
So we're still in the game. The Giants have to step it up though. The Jets look good. They have momentum. They can feel the playoffs coming. The Giants are gonna have to start looking like they want to be here if they want to not only get to the playoffs but get beyond the first round.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Believing in the football mantra: New York Giants v. New England Patriots
Wow. Several thoughts.
First, thank god for the DVR or I would have missed the end of that game.
Second, I said to my sister at the end of the first half that, with a score of 0-0, this game was too boring to watch. Someone in football heaven must have heard my complaint because the second half really stepped it up.
Third, the reason I needed my DVR to watch the end of this nailbiter was because I failed to heed my own Football Mantra that I give to all my girlfriends - there's still plenty of time on the clock. Last time I said that in a high pressure situation, it was actually also a Giants-Pats game, Super Bowl XLII to be exact. The Patriots took the lead with a little over 2 minutes left in the game and one of my girlfriends lamented, "Well, that's it. The game is over." I think most people know how that story actually ended.
Anyway, on an almost weekly basis, I still have to repeat my mantra to my best friend when her team, the Jets, are down. If there's two minutes left, there's still plenty of time on the clock. Even if there's less than a minute on the clock, there's still plenty of time to get something done.
And yet, for some reason, tonight, with 1:44 to go, with the Giants down and 10 yards to go on the third down, I got up, turned the tv off, and said, "Well, that's it. The game is over." But since I was the one saying it, there was no one around to tell me there was still plenty of time on the clock. Football games can literally come down to the last second. If there is 1 second on the clock and you get a play off, you can still win the game. That's the way the NFL rolls. A team has literally not won or lost a game until that game play clock reads 0:00.
That's the only time I'll let you say "Well, that's it. The game is over." And now I can add myself to the list of women I have to remind.
First, thank god for the DVR or I would have missed the end of that game.
Second, I said to my sister at the end of the first half that, with a score of 0-0, this game was too boring to watch. Someone in football heaven must have heard my complaint because the second half really stepped it up.
Third, the reason I needed my DVR to watch the end of this nailbiter was because I failed to heed my own Football Mantra that I give to all my girlfriends - there's still plenty of time on the clock. Last time I said that in a high pressure situation, it was actually also a Giants-Pats game, Super Bowl XLII to be exact. The Patriots took the lead with a little over 2 minutes left in the game and one of my girlfriends lamented, "Well, that's it. The game is over." I think most people know how that story actually ended.
Anyway, on an almost weekly basis, I still have to repeat my mantra to my best friend when her team, the Jets, are down. If there's two minutes left, there's still plenty of time on the clock. Even if there's less than a minute on the clock, there's still plenty of time to get something done.
And yet, for some reason, tonight, with 1:44 to go, with the Giants down and 10 yards to go on the third down, I got up, turned the tv off, and said, "Well, that's it. The game is over." But since I was the one saying it, there was no one around to tell me there was still plenty of time on the clock. Football games can literally come down to the last second. If there is 1 second on the clock and you get a play off, you can still win the game. That's the way the NFL rolls. A team has literally not won or lost a game until that game play clock reads 0:00.
That's the only time I'll let you say "Well, that's it. The game is over." And now I can add myself to the list of women I have to remind.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Giving him da bizness: As if sports weren't confusing enough
I don't know about for you, but for me, it's hard enough learning the day-to-day penalties from the and even rare ones when I'm watching football on Sundays. But seriously, how am I ever supposed to keep up when now I have to learn penalties that are so obscure that the commentators think it's made up and just sayin' it outloud makes the ref sound like he stepped right outta da hood?? (And for the record, if MY DAD doesn't know that this is real, how am I ever gonna keep up????)
Monday, October 17, 2011
A sports fan dichotomy
Sometimes, I am just the quintessential sports fan - I was hanging out with the boyfriend and some of his friends over the weekend and we started talking about the baseball playoffs and while his (male) friend watched, the boyfriend and I got into an excited, animated discussion about teams, players, stats, et cetera.
Yesterday, while he and I were cleaning the apartment, we got into an almost philosophical conversation about televised football versus soccer and the role commercial breaks play in not only the game but in our enjoyment of the game.
I can more than hold my own in a sports conversation, is what I'm saying.
But sometimes, I am just the quintessential girl.
When we were watching the New York Giants play the Buffalo Bills yesterday, I had to ask the boyfriend what a "pass interference" penalty meant, and he was good about explaining how a defender can legally or illegally cover the receiver, and even pointed out when it happened again. I also had to ask why some fouls warrant a 10-yard penalty and others put the ball at the site of the foul. I watch this game all the time and I still don't know all those little details. My brain just can't hold onto those tiny facts for some reason. I will probably be asking him to explain it again to me next week.
And the ultimate girl move - we were both hoping there was some way in which the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots could both lose to each other, but whereas his dislike of both teams has more of a rational sports basis, when he asked me why I don't like Tony Romo or Tom Brady, I had to tell him it's basically because I think both guys are douches. Also, Brady looked like a dirty hobo before he cut his hair. I have my sports basis-dislike as well - Romo is (or at least was) overrated and Brady sits on the field and pouts when things don't go his way. I'm a sports fan, definitely, but I'm first and foremost a girl - being a douche is enough of a reason for me to root against you. If some girls root for Brady because he's cute (and he is and they do), then I think it's only fair.
Jets game tonight - after two New York losses last week, hoping for two New York wins this week!
Yesterday, while he and I were cleaning the apartment, we got into an almost philosophical conversation about televised football versus soccer and the role commercial breaks play in not only the game but in our enjoyment of the game.
I can more than hold my own in a sports conversation, is what I'm saying.
But sometimes, I am just the quintessential girl.
When we were watching the New York Giants play the Buffalo Bills yesterday, I had to ask the boyfriend what a "pass interference" penalty meant, and he was good about explaining how a defender can legally or illegally cover the receiver, and even pointed out when it happened again. I also had to ask why some fouls warrant a 10-yard penalty and others put the ball at the site of the foul. I watch this game all the time and I still don't know all those little details. My brain just can't hold onto those tiny facts for some reason. I will probably be asking him to explain it again to me next week.
And the ultimate girl move - we were both hoping there was some way in which the Dallas Cowboys and New England Patriots could both lose to each other, but whereas his dislike of both teams has more of a rational sports basis, when he asked me why I don't like Tony Romo or Tom Brady, I had to tell him it's basically because I think both guys are douches. Also, Brady looked like a dirty hobo before he cut his hair. I have my sports basis-dislike as well - Romo is (or at least was) overrated and Brady sits on the field and pouts when things don't go his way. I'm a sports fan, definitely, but I'm first and foremost a girl - being a douche is enough of a reason for me to root against you. If some girls root for Brady because he's cute (and he is and they do), then I think it's only fair.
Jets game tonight - after two New York losses last week, hoping for two New York wins this week!
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Salvation comes from within...
This is the top terrible idea of all terrible ideas - I was reading a short story by Drew Silva on MSNBC.com here where he notes that David Ortiz of the Boston Red Sox, who is now a free agent, would be open to joining the New York Yankees next year. All I have to say is: no, no, no, no, NO. And not because he's been on the BoSox for years.
The Yankees, over the last 10 years or so, have fallen into the terrible habit of collecting aging, fading former superstars with exhorbitant price tags in an effort to recapture World Series glory. They've traded away young, promising players, stopped nurturing the young guys in their farm system, forgetting that in their 1990s hey day, it was guys like Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada, young guys with the potential to be future superstars, who made it all possible. The Yankees got greedy and decided they needed a championship every year - they couldn't wait to patiently groom young players to take over those important future leadership roles. But I have two words to prove that the system works - Robinson Cano. The Yankees are doing it right with this guy - they waited for him to outgrow his green, lazy, sloppy days, they trained and taught him and pushed him and rewarded him, and now he is a phenomenal player with both talent AND heart, a rarity in the game, especially if you ask my boyfriend, who could be the team's leader in a few years when Jeter and Rivera and Posada are gone. That's the way it should be done. That's what the Yankees should be doing with other players, not just Cano. Ortiz has few good years left, and he's not even as good as he used to be.
Don't be tempted, Brian Cashman - he's not worth the few extra home runs he might get the team. I was watching The Shawshank Redemption last night and there are words of wisdom that apply to this situation perfectly: Salvation comes from within. Fading former superstars, no! Farm system, yes!
The Yankees, over the last 10 years or so, have fallen into the terrible habit of collecting aging, fading former superstars with exhorbitant price tags in an effort to recapture World Series glory. They've traded away young, promising players, stopped nurturing the young guys in their farm system, forgetting that in their 1990s hey day, it was guys like Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada, young guys with the potential to be future superstars, who made it all possible. The Yankees got greedy and decided they needed a championship every year - they couldn't wait to patiently groom young players to take over those important future leadership roles. But I have two words to prove that the system works - Robinson Cano. The Yankees are doing it right with this guy - they waited for him to outgrow his green, lazy, sloppy days, they trained and taught him and pushed him and rewarded him, and now he is a phenomenal player with both talent AND heart, a rarity in the game, especially if you ask my boyfriend, who could be the team's leader in a few years when Jeter and Rivera and Posada are gone. That's the way it should be done. That's what the Yankees should be doing with other players, not just Cano. Ortiz has few good years left, and he's not even as good as he used to be.
Don't be tempted, Brian Cashman - he's not worth the few extra home runs he might get the team. I was watching The Shawshank Redemption last night and there are words of wisdom that apply to this situation perfectly: Salvation comes from within. Fading former superstars, no! Farm system, yes!
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Two snaps to women athletes...
...on a day when all the headlines are about the MLB playoffs and the NBA lockout, the U.S. women's gymnastics team won a world title, taking first place over Russia and China at the world championships in Japan. For most of us, gymnastics is something we only watch and enjoy every four years at the summer Olympics, but these girls and women are training and competing all year round. And as someone who can barely walk across a balance beam without falling off and cracking my skull open and is so claustrophobic I can barely manage a somersault, I'm always amazed at the things these gals can do on the beam and the vault and the parallel and uneven bars and just the flipping and flopping all over the floor. If that's not athleticism, I don't know what is. Congratulations to every one who won and competed, and good luck to Alicia Sacramone in her recovery!
Rant of the day: The NBA lockout
The latest news from the professional sports world is that the first two weeks of the NBA season have been cancelled due to players and owners being unable to reach an agreement on, what else, money. Luckily for me, I stopped watching basketball years ago after the New York Knicks broke my heart over and over again in the late 1990s. I'm still recovering from that relationship.
The worst part is that whichever side ends up caving or compromising, neither of them really lose. Both the players and owners still end up with money I'll never see in my lifetime. It's everyone else who loses out, everyone else who makes it possible for those players and owners to be as rich as they are in the first place, such as the ushers, security personnel, parking lot attendants, concession workers, and restaurant employees who work in the venues in which these games are played who might end up getting their hours cut or losing their jobs and of course, THE FANS.
To which I say, THANK YOU Knicks of the 1990s for pissing me off so much that I made a clean break from the sport all together - see, there is a silver lining in everything! - and owners and players, get your houses in order. In this economy, with unemployment as high as it is, it is DISGRACEFUL that you can't reach an agreement on the limit to how many millions of dollars y'all can make.
Here endeth the rant.
The worst part is that whichever side ends up caving or compromising, neither of them really lose. Both the players and owners still end up with money I'll never see in my lifetime. It's everyone else who loses out, everyone else who makes it possible for those players and owners to be as rich as they are in the first place, such as the ushers, security personnel, parking lot attendants, concession workers, and restaurant employees who work in the venues in which these games are played who might end up getting their hours cut or losing their jobs and of course, THE FANS.
To which I say, THANK YOU Knicks of the 1990s for pissing me off so much that I made a clean break from the sport all together - see, there is a silver lining in everything! - and owners and players, get your houses in order. In this economy, with unemployment as high as it is, it is DISGRACEFUL that you can't reach an agreement on the limit to how many millions of dollars y'all can make.
Here endeth the rant.
Friday, October 7, 2011
Looking for the silver lining...
I listened to the demise of the New York Yankees' season as I was on the phone with my boyfriend, the ultimate fairweather Yankee fan, spoiled by the excess riches of the late 1990s. Openly he talks about the bad trades, the bloated (in salary AND body weight) superstars, the lack of a farm system, the lack of hunger or drive in aging players who have already won it all, but secretly, inside, he's still the 12-year-old boy who is just star-struck by his favorite players and really wants them to win, really really REALLY.
Well, not tonight. Tonight the Yankees couldn't even buy a run - they had to depend on the Tigers to just hand them out - and the boyfriend commented on Robinson Cano being so obviously upset by the loss - Cano IS the future of the Yankees, young and hungry and farm-grown, but unlike Posada and Rivera and Pettitte and Jeter who all came up together in the '90s, Cano is alone in his desire to win it all. At least until the old guard is gone and a new guard, hopefully young guard, comes up.
But both the boyfriend and my father, in expressing their frustration and condolences, respectively, to the Yanks' loss tonight, made me look for the silver lining in this. If the Yankees had won, if they had gotten past the FIRST FRICKING ROUND (sorry - still a little frustrated!) my whole October could've been tied up in the baseball schedule. Depending on how far they got, I would've tried to schedule work assignments and hanging out with friends and alone tv time and going to the bar tv time around when the Yankees were playing. Now, I'm not a slave to the postseason. Now, I can do what I want, when I want, with whomever I want. Now, I am only a slave to the football season schedule. (Don't ask me to do anything or see anybody on a Sunday unless it's FOOTBALL related!)
Ha ha.
On a related football note, my father was asking me today if I had a New York Jets jersey and I said I didn't, and that led into a discussion about which player to get - Ferguson or Revis or Sanchez or whoever. My dad was like, "It doesn't really matter, does it, as long as it's pink?" To which I replied, "It doesn't have to be pink, as long as it has sparkles."
I may love sports, but I'm still a girl, yo.
Yankees RIP
Well, not tonight. Tonight the Yankees couldn't even buy a run - they had to depend on the Tigers to just hand them out - and the boyfriend commented on Robinson Cano being so obviously upset by the loss - Cano IS the future of the Yankees, young and hungry and farm-grown, but unlike Posada and Rivera and Pettitte and Jeter who all came up together in the '90s, Cano is alone in his desire to win it all. At least until the old guard is gone and a new guard, hopefully young guard, comes up.
But both the boyfriend and my father, in expressing their frustration and condolences, respectively, to the Yanks' loss tonight, made me look for the silver lining in this. If the Yankees had won, if they had gotten past the FIRST FRICKING ROUND (sorry - still a little frustrated!) my whole October could've been tied up in the baseball schedule. Depending on how far they got, I would've tried to schedule work assignments and hanging out with friends and alone tv time and going to the bar tv time around when the Yankees were playing. Now, I'm not a slave to the postseason. Now, I can do what I want, when I want, with whomever I want. Now, I am only a slave to the football season schedule. (Don't ask me to do anything or see anybody on a Sunday unless it's FOOTBALL related!)
Ha ha.
On a related football note, my father was asking me today if I had a New York Jets jersey and I said I didn't, and that led into a discussion about which player to get - Ferguson or Revis or Sanchez or whoever. My dad was like, "It doesn't really matter, does it, as long as it's pink?" To which I replied, "It doesn't have to be pink, as long as it has sparkles."
I may love sports, but I'm still a girl, yo.
Yankees RIP
Thursday, October 6, 2011
This is how much I love baseball...
Tonight is a Thursday in October. October means there are new episodes of my television shows airing. Thursday means there are a bajillion shows that I love and watch coming on tonight.
So how much do I love baseball in general and the New York Yankees in particular? Tonight, right now, they are playing Game 5 of a best-of-5 series against the Detroit Tigers. My DVR is working its ass off recording said bajillion shows, none of which I am watching. Because I'm recording so many shows at once, there is no channel free on my TV to watch. So I am sitting here, in my room, in my Yanks sweats, listening to the game on the radio and watching the play-by-play on my computer.
My heart hurts. I can't take this excitement/stress.
But man, do I love it!
C'mon Cano! Go Yanks! :)
So how much do I love baseball in general and the New York Yankees in particular? Tonight, right now, they are playing Game 5 of a best-of-5 series against the Detroit Tigers. My DVR is working its ass off recording said bajillion shows, none of which I am watching. Because I'm recording so many shows at once, there is no channel free on my TV to watch. So I am sitting here, in my room, in my Yanks sweats, listening to the game on the radio and watching the play-by-play on my computer.
My heart hurts. I can't take this excitement/stress.
But man, do I love it!
C'mon Cano! Go Yanks! :)
Yanks vs. Tigers: coming around again...
...the adrenaline and stomach butterflies and excitement and dread, that is. As it turns out, the bell tolled only for the Tampa Bay Rays Tuesday night - every other team that was in a do-or-die situation came through, except all that did was postpone the whole white-knuckle, nail-biting scenario of your team either going home for the winter or making it to the next round.
I read somewhere online that nowadays the do-or-die, winner-takes-all scenario of actually playing every game in a series has become a rarity in the MLB postseason - I can see that, as it seems teams will usually sweep, or only give up one game. But here we are, with three out of four of the division series going to a fifth game. Talk about exciting!
So tonight I will be watching the New York Yankees play the Detroit Tigers one last time this year. On Wednesday I had on my Yankees sweatpants for good luck and I practically forced my boyfriend to give me control of the remote (yes, that happened, and it was not easy and will probably never happen again) so that I could be sure he didn't keep flipping around to see what else was on during the game. And tonight I'll do it all over again. Except I have to work rihgt up until 8, which is when the game starts, so I will be running home to my sweats. And the boyfriend gets off from baseball duty tonight with me. Sometimes I feel bad for him. But now he knows what it's like to be the girlfriend of a sports-obsessed guy. That sounded weird. But then again, I'm cool enough that I let him take me to Hooters. I don't feel that bad for him.
If the Yankees play tonight the way they did Tuesday, like they really want it, like they're hungry for it, like they're willing to play hard, if every player is willing to fall flat on their faces and skin their knees to catch a ball the way Curtis Granderson did, TWICE, then they can win. Let's just hope the Tigers don't want it more! :)
I read somewhere online that nowadays the do-or-die, winner-takes-all scenario of actually playing every game in a series has become a rarity in the MLB postseason - I can see that, as it seems teams will usually sweep, or only give up one game. But here we are, with three out of four of the division series going to a fifth game. Talk about exciting!
So tonight I will be watching the New York Yankees play the Detroit Tigers one last time this year. On Wednesday I had on my Yankees sweatpants for good luck and I practically forced my boyfriend to give me control of the remote (yes, that happened, and it was not easy and will probably never happen again) so that I could be sure he didn't keep flipping around to see what else was on during the game. And tonight I'll do it all over again. Except I have to work rihgt up until 8, which is when the game starts, so I will be running home to my sweats. And the boyfriend gets off from baseball duty tonight with me. Sometimes I feel bad for him. But now he knows what it's like to be the girlfriend of a sports-obsessed guy. That sounded weird. But then again, I'm cool enough that I let him take me to Hooters. I don't feel that bad for him.
If the Yankees play tonight the way they did Tuesday, like they really want it, like they're hungry for it, like they're willing to play hard, if every player is willing to fall flat on their faces and skin their knees to catch a ball the way Curtis Granderson did, TWICE, then they can win. Let's just hope the Tigers don't want it more! :)
"The League" takes a long, hard, serious look at fantasy football
Yeah right.
If you've ever dated or been married to a guy who participates in a fantasy football league, you should watch this show.
If YOU'VE ever want to or have actually participated in a fantasy football league, you should watch this show.
If you have ever met a man and been driven nuts by a man and wish there was something on television that reflected their misplaced passion and focus, their obsessions, their childish behavior and pranks, their some-time stupidity, and their complete arrested development and extended adolescence, you should watch this show.
If you think all that stuff I just listed is only somewhat annoying and actually a little funny, you should watch this show.
If you want to learn about football player names and football teams and football terminology, watch this show. I promise, even as a girl, you will love this show. It's that hilarious AND wise.
Just don't watch it tonight. Watch the Yankee game instead. DVR "The League" and watch it after the game or when there's nothing on TV tomorrow! :)
The third season of "The League" premieres tonight at 10:30 p.m. on FX.
If you've ever dated or been married to a guy who participates in a fantasy football league, you should watch this show.
If YOU'VE ever want to or have actually participated in a fantasy football league, you should watch this show.
If you have ever met a man and been driven nuts by a man and wish there was something on television that reflected their misplaced passion and focus, their obsessions, their childish behavior and pranks, their some-time stupidity, and their complete arrested development and extended adolescence, you should watch this show.
If you think all that stuff I just listed is only somewhat annoying and actually a little funny, you should watch this show.
If you want to learn about football player names and football teams and football terminology, watch this show. I promise, even as a girl, you will love this show. It's that hilarious AND wise.
Just don't watch it tonight. Watch the Yankee game instead. DVR "The League" and watch it after the game or when there's nothing on TV tomorrow! :)
The third season of "The League" premieres tonight at 10:30 p.m. on FX.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
...send not to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee..."
John Donne probably wasn't talking about baseball when he wrote those words, but they are very apropros in regards to today's MLB playoff games. Three teams are on the brink of elimination, including my beloved New York Yankees - the Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks are also in must-win situations. The problem with the 5-game series is the same as what makes it great. You need fewer wins to move on then in the next two rounds, which feature best-of-seven series, but you need fewer losses to get axed. And unfortunately for the Yanks, they have A.J. Burnett pitching tonight. Burnett is a great pitcher. When he's great, that is. You never know which A.J. is going to show up. And double unfortunately, whenever Burnett is on the mound, the Yankee bats seem to always, without fail, fall silent. It's like they forget how to give their pitcher run support. So Burnett could pitch a brilliant game and only give up one or two runs, but the Yankees will still lose because all the Yankee batters forgot how to score or drive in runs. So, tonight is do-or-die. Tonight we find out if our teams want to win as badly as we, just their humble, anonymous fans whose love and devotion (and ticket purchases) allow them to live their lives of fame and fortune, want them to.
Go Yanks!
Go Yanks!
Sometimes, girls really CAN do everything...
In the professional world, most of the sports glory goes to men. Diana Nyad has been getting a lot of press lately for her daring and daunting swimming attempts from Cuba to Florida, and rightly so, but most of the sports headlines are dominated by football or baseball or basketball - men's, not women's of course, even though the WBNA is in the middle of their playoffs right now.
Even high school sports are dominated by news about what the men are accomplishing on the football field, the baseball diamond, or the basketball court. So this was a nice little story by Micheline Maynard for The New York Times, picked up by MSNBC.com here about a young woman, Brianna Amat, who has a 4.0 GPA, is involved in her student government, is the kicker on her high school's football team - that's right ladies, you can play whatever sport you want - AND just won homecoming queen.
I hope for the rest of her life that Amat believes she can do or be anything!
Go girls! :)
Even high school sports are dominated by news about what the men are accomplishing on the football field, the baseball diamond, or the basketball court. So this was a nice little story by Micheline Maynard for The New York Times, picked up by MSNBC.com here about a young woman, Brianna Amat, who has a 4.0 GPA, is involved in her student government, is the kicker on her high school's football team - that's right ladies, you can play whatever sport you want - AND just won homecoming queen.
I hope for the rest of her life that Amat believes she can do or be anything!
Go girls! :)
Friday, September 30, 2011
The ALDS begins tonight but the real dilemma...what to wear while I watch?
Yes, that's right. In the baseball world today, Terry Francona is supposedly parting ways with the Boston Red Sox, the Yankees have to get out of cruisin' mode and return to fightin' mode against the Detroit Tigers, but my number one concern is that I don't have any cute New York Yankees shirts to wear to support my team tonight.
Welcome to the trials and tribulations of being a female fan.
This is the same dilemma I faced in August when I went to Yankee Stadium to watch the Yanks play the Angels, but the solution to that problem came in the form of a summer shirt, which does me no good in this beautiful fall weather. But last night when I suggested to the boyfriend that we go to a bar to watch the game tonight (yes, it was my suggestion - he had forgotten the playoffs start tonight. I've been known to date some very weird men...), I realized that I have nothing to wear to show off my Yankee pride. The cutest baseball shirt I own is a Joe Mauer one. I hardly think that would go over well with Yankee fans. Or any Tigers fans, either, I suppose. My favorite Yankee t-shirt is one I bought to wear to the 2009 World Series championship parade, but a) I can't find it and b) I don't want to jinx the Yanks by wearing a championship shirt from another year. I'm a sports fan AND Irish - you better believe I'm superstitious like that.
Unfortunately, I'd say the only solution to this most serious problem is to go shopping for something new to wear...life can be so hard sometimes! ::evil smile::
On a serious note, though, tonight is a whole new ballgame, pun intended. The Tigers are no joke, and they can, and have, beat the Yankees, so I hope the team is as ready as I am to get our game on...
Game on!!
Welcome to the trials and tribulations of being a female fan.
This is the same dilemma I faced in August when I went to Yankee Stadium to watch the Yanks play the Angels, but the solution to that problem came in the form of a summer shirt, which does me no good in this beautiful fall weather. But last night when I suggested to the boyfriend that we go to a bar to watch the game tonight (yes, it was my suggestion - he had forgotten the playoffs start tonight. I've been known to date some very weird men...), I realized that I have nothing to wear to show off my Yankee pride. The cutest baseball shirt I own is a Joe Mauer one. I hardly think that would go over well with Yankee fans. Or any Tigers fans, either, I suppose. My favorite Yankee t-shirt is one I bought to wear to the 2009 World Series championship parade, but a) I can't find it and b) I don't want to jinx the Yanks by wearing a championship shirt from another year. I'm a sports fan AND Irish - you better believe I'm superstitious like that.
Unfortunately, I'd say the only solution to this most serious problem is to go shopping for something new to wear...life can be so hard sometimes! ::evil smile::
On a serious note, though, tonight is a whole new ballgame, pun intended. The Tigers are no joke, and they can, and have, beat the Yankees, so I hope the team is as ready as I am to get our game on...
Game on!!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Wow! It really ain't over til it's over!!
As late as 11 pm last night, this is not how I thought the Boston Red Sox-Baltimore Oriole game and Tampa Bay Rays-New York Yankees games would go. Boston had led Baltimore 3-2 for the entire freakin' game. The Yanks were crushing the Rays, 7-0. If I had gone to bed, as my tired, weary soul wanted to, I would have been shocked by what I was reading in the sports section this morning.
But I'm a baseball fan. I know better. There are some games that are just over before the seventh inning stretch, one team is so dominant over the other. But both these games were won at the very last, possible moment. Talk about melo-drama! And because of that, today the Red Sox go home and the Rays get to start preparing for the playoffs. My mom always said she couldn't watch baseball because the games were so boring, and half the time, I'll give her that. But not last night. She would have gone to bed while the Yankees were still up by 7. She would have been missing out...
On a completely unrelated note, I went to Dick's Sporting Goods yesterday to look at Jets jerseys, to see if the actual store, unlike the internet, had more options than just Sanchez, Revis, or Burress. They didn't. And to be honest, I'd be perfectly happy with one of those. I just wish my man D'Brickashaw could get some love!
Congrats to the Rays - and look out Detroit. We're comin' for ya!! :)
But I'm a baseball fan. I know better. There are some games that are just over before the seventh inning stretch, one team is so dominant over the other. But both these games were won at the very last, possible moment. Talk about melo-drama! And because of that, today the Red Sox go home and the Rays get to start preparing for the playoffs. My mom always said she couldn't watch baseball because the games were so boring, and half the time, I'll give her that. But not last night. She would have gone to bed while the Yankees were still up by 7. She would have been missing out...
On a completely unrelated note, I went to Dick's Sporting Goods yesterday to look at Jets jerseys, to see if the actual store, unlike the internet, had more options than just Sanchez, Revis, or Burress. They didn't. And to be honest, I'd be perfectly happy with one of those. I just wish my man D'Brickashaw could get some love!
Congrats to the Rays - and look out Detroit. We're comin' for ya!! :)
Ultra rewind...New York Yankees win 1996 World Series
Nowadays as Yankee fans, we're used to seeing them in the playoffs every year and even winning a World Series every now and again. In 1996, they hadn't won a World Series since 1978. Joe Torre had just become their manager. And the team's current manager, Joe Girardi, was the Yankees' catcher. I wasn't even watching baseball in 1996, so they must have made some sort of impression on me that I saved this newspaper issue...
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| From the Oct. 29, 1996 issue of Newsday |
Second verse, same as the first...Yankees do it again in 1999
From the Oct. 4, 1999 issue of Newsday...the Yankees are on the road to their 25th World Series championship...
And two and half weeks later, they've clinched it. In this Oct. 24, 1999 issue of the New York Post, we see a young Mariano Rivera, who was named MVP of the World Series. Twelve years later, he's LITERALLY the best closer in baseball, EVER...
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
If you want to support your team but you'd rather do it in pink, October is the month to do it...
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, something every woman (and every man who knows and/or loves a woman) should know. Breast cancer awareness is all about the pink ribbon, so at this time of year, you see a lot of pink everywhere. Including sports gear and team apparel.
It's like my own personal, pink heaven.
Anyway, you're a girl, and you want to support your team by wearing a Mets shirt or a Jets jersey, but you just don't look good in blue or orange or green...well I say, get it in pink. Not only do you should team spirit and pride, but you look cute doing it AND you're probably supporting either the Susan G. Komen foundation or National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Just as a specific shout-out, I went to the Dick's Sporting Goods website just now to try to find a New York Jets jersey to buy (Mark Sanchez? Darrelle Revis? Sporting green? Girly sparkles? Too many choices! And where can I find a D'Brickashaw Ferguson jersey so I can show some hometown pride!) and they're doing a whole "the power of pink" promotion during October. You can find more info here.
And it's not just team apparel - if you play a sport, or you run or bike, or whatever, you can find equipment or accessories or whatnot in pink, too. As I mentioned in another one of my posts, the boyfriend bought me a set of pink (breast cancer awareness) golf clubs for my birthday, which just made me love him all the more.
Obviously, you don't have to wear pink if you're a girl who's into sports - personally, I'm totally into the color, but more importantly, breast cancer awareness is very personal to me and a cause close to my heart. So do you - wear your greens and blues and oranges and reds loud and proud! But if you'd rather do it in pink, this is the month!
It's like my own personal, pink heaven.
Anyway, you're a girl, and you want to support your team by wearing a Mets shirt or a Jets jersey, but you just don't look good in blue or orange or green...well I say, get it in pink. Not only do you should team spirit and pride, but you look cute doing it AND you're probably supporting either the Susan G. Komen foundation or National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Just as a specific shout-out, I went to the Dick's Sporting Goods website just now to try to find a New York Jets jersey to buy (Mark Sanchez? Darrelle Revis? Sporting green? Girly sparkles? Too many choices! And where can I find a D'Brickashaw Ferguson jersey so I can show some hometown pride!) and they're doing a whole "the power of pink" promotion during October. You can find more info here.
And it's not just team apparel - if you play a sport, or you run or bike, or whatever, you can find equipment or accessories or whatnot in pink, too. As I mentioned in another one of my posts, the boyfriend bought me a set of pink (breast cancer awareness) golf clubs for my birthday, which just made me love him all the more.
Obviously, you don't have to wear pink if you're a girl who's into sports - personally, I'm totally into the color, but more importantly, breast cancer awareness is very personal to me and a cause close to my heart. So do you - wear your greens and blues and oranges and reds loud and proud! But if you'd rather do it in pink, this is the month!
If you never watch baseball, today is the day to give in...
Excitement abounds with wild card ties in both the American League AND the National League. We have four games featuring four teams vying for two final spots in the postseason - in the AL, the Boston Red Sox will battle the Baltimore Orioles to hold on to the wild card lead they let slip through their fingers this entire month, while the Tampa Bay Rays will try to beat the New York Yankees again to snatch the wild card away from Boston, while in the NL, the Atlanta Braves will have to face the Philadelphia Phillies, an NL East powerhouse, while the St. Louis Cardinals will be playing the Houston Astros, a team you'd think would be much easier to beat than the Phillies, but in baseball, you just never know. Sometimes, the Kansas City Royals will slaughter the Yanks. It's just that kind of game.
Now, if by the end of today either of these races is still a tie, I believe what happens is a one-game playoff. That's what happened in 2009 when the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins ended up in a tie at the end of the regular season, although that was for the AL Central, not the wild card - the Twins ended up winning. It also happened the year before, again with the Twins but against the Chicago White Sox, with Chicago coming out on top that year.
Speaking of the Twins, I've missed Joe Mauer this year; it's too bad they sucked so hard and he had so many health issues. But I'm happy to see that Head & Shoulders shampoo has used Mauer in at least one other commercial besides the one with Troy Polamalu. Mauer is just so adorable. I just want to eat him up with a spoon. Or stick him in my pocket and carry him around with me. I've said it before but I'll say it again - ladies, if you need a reason to watch baseball, Joe Mauer is it.
Now, if by the end of today either of these races is still a tie, I believe what happens is a one-game playoff. That's what happened in 2009 when the Detroit Tigers and Minnesota Twins ended up in a tie at the end of the regular season, although that was for the AL Central, not the wild card - the Twins ended up winning. It also happened the year before, again with the Twins but against the Chicago White Sox, with Chicago coming out on top that year.
Speaking of the Twins, I've missed Joe Mauer this year; it's too bad they sucked so hard and he had so many health issues. But I'm happy to see that Head & Shoulders shampoo has used Mauer in at least one other commercial besides the one with Troy Polamalu. Mauer is just so adorable. I just want to eat him up with a spoon. Or stick him in my pocket and carry him around with me. I've said it before but I'll say it again - ladies, if you need a reason to watch baseball, Joe Mauer is it.
Since it's almost October, we'll do yet another post about the 1998 Yankees - championship parade edition :)
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| From the Oct. 24, 1998 issue of Newsday. Yankees pictured are David Cone, Joe Girardi, David Wells, Hideki Irabu, and Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez. |
And just because Derek Jeter is so young and cute and excitable in this picture, from USA Today's Baseball Weekly, the week of Oct. 21-27, 1998. Do you think he gets this excited about baseball anymore? I hope so...
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Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Fighting for their lives...AL wild card race continues
I'm not watching either game, but I have MLB.com up on my computer so I can keep checking the scores, and both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox are really fighting for their lives. Boston is in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles, up 2-1. The Rays are also in the third inning against my New York Yankees, also up 2-1. This has got to be hell on the players and definitely on their fans, but as a sports aficionado, it's awesome to see two teams who really want that spot that badly. Nothing is more irritating than when the fans want the win more than the team does.
Speaking of giving it your all, I read a headline on, I think CNN.com, today and the author posited that maybe the Yankees wouldn't try in order to allow the Rays to win and to stick it to the Sox. To be honest, I don't see them doing it. I see them maybe not doing as well because they're giving the guys who have just been called up from the minors a chance to show their stuff, but competitors are by nature competitive. And it really doesn't matter who ends up making it to the postseason with the Yankees - whoever it is is still one more team in the way to winning the World Series (see how positive I can be? I just hope I didn't just jinx it...oy!)
Anyway, to all you Boston and Tampa Bay fans out there...I know this is a real nailbiter but if your team fights hard, even if they lose, you can be proud. Good luck to you both! (Yes, even Boston fans...I'm feeling magnanimous tonight!) :)
Speaking of giving it your all, I read a headline on, I think CNN.com, today and the author posited that maybe the Yankees wouldn't try in order to allow the Rays to win and to stick it to the Sox. To be honest, I don't see them doing it. I see them maybe not doing as well because they're giving the guys who have just been called up from the minors a chance to show their stuff, but competitors are by nature competitive. And it really doesn't matter who ends up making it to the postseason with the Yankees - whoever it is is still one more team in the way to winning the World Series (see how positive I can be? I just hope I didn't just jinx it...oy!)
Anyway, to all you Boston and Tampa Bay fans out there...I know this is a real nailbiter but if your team fights hard, even if they lose, you can be proud. Good luck to you both! (Yes, even Boston fans...I'm feeling magnanimous tonight!) :)
And...there it is: Super Bowl 2014 host committee logo ACTUALLY revealed
Just to clarify, though, as I wrote in the headline, this is only the host committee logo, whatever that means. No wonder nobody said that in the initial articles that came out today - who cares about a host committee logo? It is pretty though. As an artist, a New Yorker, and a girl, I can appreciate that. The official Super Bowl 2014 logo will be revealed at a later date.
Rant of the Day: Super Bowl 2014 logo unveiled
The logo and ad campaign for Super Bowl 2014 was apparently unveiled today, and while every news story covering it talks about how there is a snowflake involved in the design (since the game will be played in an open-air stadium in the middle of winter) as well as the George Washington Bridge connecting New York and New Jersey...which I will get to in a minute. First...don't tell me what the logo looks like. Show me! Come on!
Second, the logo featuring the GW Bridge is appropriate, since the football stadium in which the NEW YORK Giants and NEW YORK Jets play is, logically, in...NEW JERSEY. Why? How does that make any sense? How come it can take my friend Suzy, who lives in Jersey, five minutes to get to the Meadowlands but it takes me, a New Yorker, at least an hour? And sometimes more, depending on traffic. And there's always traffic. I get that maybe there's not enough room in Manhattan for a stadium. Or even in Brooklyn or Queens. But how about Westchester? For us downstaters that's borderline upstate and also kind of far and close to also not being a part of (metro) New York (I know, we're weird), but at least it would be in-state. This has always driven me nuts. And thank you, 2014 Super Bowl logo that I have not even yet seen, for bringing up the crazy once again this fine Tuesday morning!
Second, the logo featuring the GW Bridge is appropriate, since the football stadium in which the NEW YORK Giants and NEW YORK Jets play is, logically, in...NEW JERSEY. Why? How does that make any sense? How come it can take my friend Suzy, who lives in Jersey, five minutes to get to the Meadowlands but it takes me, a New Yorker, at least an hour? And sometimes more, depending on traffic. And there's always traffic. I get that maybe there's not enough room in Manhattan for a stadium. Or even in Brooklyn or Queens. But how about Westchester? For us downstaters that's borderline upstate and also kind of far and close to also not being a part of (metro) New York (I know, we're weird), but at least it would be in-state. This has always driven me nuts. And thank you, 2014 Super Bowl logo that I have not even yet seen, for bringing up the crazy once again this fine Tuesday morning!
Yankees want to keep Brian Cashman as GM
A fan of the New York Yankees since 1998, players I have grown up with since those days, such as Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera ARE the Yankees to me...but I also lump Brian Cashman, general manager of the Yanks since that very same year, into that group, just the behind-the-scenes version of that iconic group. Have I always agreed with his player trades and decisions? Heck no. Sometimes I wanted to throttle him. But I always got the impression that he wasn't afraid to stand up to George Steinbrenner, which I totally respect, and you have to give him some credit for continuing to put together the pieces of a team that made it to the post season 12 of the 13 years he's been here. Anyway, his contract expires this year, and according to an article in Newsday here, the Yankees want him back. Sounds good to me. And as a behind-the-scenes player, his baseball career has the potential to be much longer than Posada's or Jeter's or even Rivera's...
On a side note, I'm glad for Cashman's success with the Yankees as he is a fellow alum of my college, The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. ... although he graduated 12 years before I did. But I was going to school at CUA when I fell in love with the Yankees...the same year Cashman became their GM! Coincidence? Probably. But I used to look up famous Catholic alum yearbook photos when I was working on the school newspaper, and Cashman was one of them. Now I'm getting ready to attend my 10-year college reunion in a few weeks, and Cashman is still there. I'm a fan of continuity. I might not always agree with his moves, but I hope he sticks around.
On a side note, I'm glad for Cashman's success with the Yankees as he is a fellow alum of my college, The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. ... although he graduated 12 years before I did. But I was going to school at CUA when I fell in love with the Yankees...the same year Cashman became their GM! Coincidence? Probably. But I used to look up famous Catholic alum yearbook photos when I was working on the school newspaper, and Cashman was one of them. Now I'm getting ready to attend my 10-year college reunion in a few weeks, and Cashman is still there. I'm a fan of continuity. I might not always agree with his moves, but I hope he sticks around.
The road to victory, World Series 1998 from another perspective
Since I was living in Washington, DC at the time, it was fun to see how that city covered the Yankees' World Series win that year (I always like to look at wins and losses from other cities' perspectives - I usually find their local newspapers online). Anyway, not as much coverage, but it was still a big deal...
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| From the Oct. 22, 1998 issue of The Washington Post |
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| From the Oct. 22, 1998 issue of The Washington Times |
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| Again, the Oct. 22, 1998 Washington Post |
Monday, September 26, 2011
Cowboys vs. Indians...er, Redskins: Monday Night Football y'all!
It's like we're in the Wild West tonight, folks!
As a fan of all teams New York, I can not in good conscious ever root for the Dallas Cowboys. I think it could quite possibly lead to the revocation of my New Yorker card. And I used to live in Washington, DC for awhile, so since I feel an affinity for any team I can find a connection to, as tenuous as that connection might be, I'm rooting for the Redskins to hold on and pull through tonight, even though I couldn't tell you a single player on Washington's team...except for Rex Grossman. And I only know that cuz I looked the game up on NFL.com.
That's right. I don't know everything. (Don't tell my boyfriend - he calls me Mary Google). But when I don't know something, I look it up. Using the actual Google. Cuz that's how you learn. And impress your boyfriend the next time you have a conversation about football, making him think you know everything, at least about sports, and sometimes to some guys, that's as good as actually knowing about everything... :)
As a fan of all teams New York, I can not in good conscious ever root for the Dallas Cowboys. I think it could quite possibly lead to the revocation of my New Yorker card. And I used to live in Washington, DC for awhile, so since I feel an affinity for any team I can find a connection to, as tenuous as that connection might be, I'm rooting for the Redskins to hold on and pull through tonight, even though I couldn't tell you a single player on Washington's team...except for Rex Grossman. And I only know that cuz I looked the game up on NFL.com.
That's right. I don't know everything. (Don't tell my boyfriend - he calls me Mary Google). But when I don't know something, I look it up. Using the actual Google. Cuz that's how you learn. And impress your boyfriend the next time you have a conversation about football, making him think you know everything, at least about sports, and sometimes to some guys, that's as good as actually knowing about everything... :)
Dra-ma! The AL wild card race comes down to the wire...
When I checked the scores earlier this evening, Boston was leading the Baltimore Orioles and the Yankees were on top of the Tampa Bay Rays. Second verse, switch and reverse...just checked the games' final scores and guess what, folks? We have a tie in the wild card race with two games to go.
The Red Sox can't even buy a win at this point. I can't remember the last time I saw a team in such a stomach-turning freefall...the thing is, I can't root for the Rays at this point, either. Because the Rays between the Yankees today, which means if they make it to the post season, they can beat them then, too (although the Rays may have been playing the Yankee second string today...)
In any case, that's the thing about sports in general, and baseball in particular, with so many games in a season - it ain't over till it's over. There are always surprises, twists and turns, right up until the very end...
it's just like a night time soap. It's like "Desperate Housewives" except with bats and rivalries...which, to be fair, might be EXACTLY like "Desperate Housewives"....
The Red Sox can't even buy a win at this point. I can't remember the last time I saw a team in such a stomach-turning freefall...the thing is, I can't root for the Rays at this point, either. Because the Rays between the Yankees today, which means if they make it to the post season, they can beat them then, too (although the Rays may have been playing the Yankee second string today...)
In any case, that's the thing about sports in general, and baseball in particular, with so many games in a season - it ain't over till it's over. There are always surprises, twists and turns, right up until the very end...
it's just like a night time soap. It's like "Desperate Housewives" except with bats and rivalries...which, to be fair, might be EXACTLY like "Desperate Housewives"....
Blast from the past - The road to victory, World Series 1998
As this 2011 regular season winds down and the Yankees are once again in the playoffs, I decided to go through some of the old newspaper articles I'd saved from Yankee postseason victories past. When I went away to college in 1997, I was excited about being away from home but I guess I was a little homesick, too, but it was around that time that the Yankees began making it to the postseason every year, which meant that even in Washington, DC, if it was October, I got to watch a team from home. That was when the love affair began, and 14 years later, it is my longest relationship to date. Here is a look back at some of the coverage from the 1998 World Series against the San Diego Padres:
I should mention here that winning 125 games in an MLB season is pretty much unheard of. Very few teams will hit 100 wins in a season. At this moment, with only about 2-3 games to go in this season, the Yankees are only at 97 wins - the Philadelphia Phillies have the most, with 99. So that 1998 season was pretty amazing. (And for the record, that 125 game record includes the postseason - the team won 114 games during the regular season that year - still, nothing to turn your nose up at. The record for most wins during the regular season is held by both the 1906 Chicago Cubs and the 2001 Seattle Mariners at 116 apiece, but neither team went on to win the World Series in their respective years...
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| From the Sept. 7, 1998 issue of Newsday - I had this hanging on my dorm room wall at college :) |
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| From the Oct. 18, 1998 issue of Newsday |
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| From the Oct. 22, 1998 issue of Newsday |
I should mention here that winning 125 games in an MLB season is pretty much unheard of. Very few teams will hit 100 wins in a season. At this moment, with only about 2-3 games to go in this season, the Yankees are only at 97 wins - the Philadelphia Phillies have the most, with 99. So that 1998 season was pretty amazing. (And for the record, that 125 game record includes the postseason - the team won 114 games during the regular season that year - still, nothing to turn your nose up at. The record for most wins during the regular season is held by both the 1906 Chicago Cubs and the 2001 Seattle Mariners at 116 apiece, but neither team went on to win the World Series in their respective years...
Friday, September 23, 2011
In honor of the upcoming MLB play-offs, a continuation of MLB videos featuring Guys We Love
So, it's sad that there are no more New Era commercials featuring the comedy duo of Krasinski & Baldwin. ::tear::
However, I was watching a show on TBS this past week and while I don't normally watch commercials, this one caught my eye. I didn't even realize it was an MLB playoffs commercial at first but seriously? I will stop fast-forwarding Every. Single. Time. for Jason Bateman. Kudos to whoever at Major League Baseball or TBS came up with this campaign...kudos.
MLB on TBS Postseason Image Campaign feat. Jason Bateman "Tight Spaces" from Turner Sports on Vimeo.
However, I was watching a show on TBS this past week and while I don't normally watch commercials, this one caught my eye. I didn't even realize it was an MLB playoffs commercial at first but seriously? I will stop fast-forwarding Every. Single. Time. for Jason Bateman. Kudos to whoever at Major League Baseball or TBS came up with this campaign...kudos.
MLB on TBS Postseason Image Campaign feat. Jason Bateman "Tight Spaces" from Turner Sports on Vimeo.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Not as funny as the rest, but I still love me some Krasinski & Baldwin
Gosh, I really wish they were a comedy duo that went by that name. I would watch everything they did...
Anywho, here's the final installment of John Krasinski and Alec Baldwin's Red Sox-Yankees rivalry commercials for New Era. I didn't heart it as much as the others, but I'll take it nonetheless...
Anywho, here's the final installment of John Krasinski and Alec Baldwin's Red Sox-Yankees rivalry commercials for New Era. I didn't heart it as much as the others, but I'll take it nonetheless...
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Aaand the Yankees are in the playoffs...but there's still drama a'plenty
No drama for the Yanks, though - the Bronx Bombers clinched a playoff spot this afternoon with a come-from-behind win (insert inappropriate but funny gay joke here) to beat the Tampa Bay Rays.
There is still a little over a week to play in the regular season, though, and the drama is whether the Boston Red Sox can hold on to their 2-game lead over the Rays to eke their way into the postseason as the wild card. The boyfriend made an interesting point the other night - that given the New York-Boston rivalry, couldn't Joe Girardi give the Rays a leg up by letting them win a game or two during this series in order to catch up to, and possibly eventually pass, Boston? Boy, I would love to see the BoSox completely collapse. But the boyfriend also had yet another good point, that Yanks-Red Sox rivalry aside, the Rays are a pretty good team (and if you're looking for young, hot, and pretty decent on the field baseball players, look no further than Evan Longoria) and it would suck if the Yanks helped them crush the Red Sox in the regular season only to be crushed by the Rays in the postseason.
So...the drama remains, which is kind of cool because at this point in the season, pretty much every postseason berth is basically decided, which renders most of these games completely meaningless. A team that's out can only hope to help or spoil the chances of another team, if that team has any other team nipping on its heels. Like Boston and the Rays. So if you're watching baseball at all this week, check out a game being played by either of those teams, because those are the games that still have something on the line...but me, I'll just be sitting back enjoying yet another Yankees September! :)
PS Congrats to Mo Rivera for finally getting the numbers to back up what everyone in the whole universe already knows - that he's the best closer in baseball, EVER. He got save 602 earlier this week, but since I spent three straight days sleeping off a fever, I didn't get to comment until now. Better late than never!
There is still a little over a week to play in the regular season, though, and the drama is whether the Boston Red Sox can hold on to their 2-game lead over the Rays to eke their way into the postseason as the wild card. The boyfriend made an interesting point the other night - that given the New York-Boston rivalry, couldn't Joe Girardi give the Rays a leg up by letting them win a game or two during this series in order to catch up to, and possibly eventually pass, Boston? Boy, I would love to see the BoSox completely collapse. But the boyfriend also had yet another good point, that Yanks-Red Sox rivalry aside, the Rays are a pretty good team (and if you're looking for young, hot, and pretty decent on the field baseball players, look no further than Evan Longoria) and it would suck if the Yanks helped them crush the Red Sox in the regular season only to be crushed by the Rays in the postseason.
So...the drama remains, which is kind of cool because at this point in the season, pretty much every postseason berth is basically decided, which renders most of these games completely meaningless. A team that's out can only hope to help or spoil the chances of another team, if that team has any other team nipping on its heels. Like Boston and the Rays. So if you're watching baseball at all this week, check out a game being played by either of those teams, because those are the games that still have something on the line...but me, I'll just be sitting back enjoying yet another Yankees September! :)
PS Congrats to Mo Rivera for finally getting the numbers to back up what everyone in the whole universe already knows - that he's the best closer in baseball, EVER. He got save 602 earlier this week, but since I spent three straight days sleeping off a fever, I didn't get to comment until now. Better late than never!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Rant of the day: Why is this considered sports news???
Today on MSNBC.com, one of their top 8 sports section headlines is "Cameron Diaz, Alex Rodriguez split."
Really? *That's* one of the top sports stories of the day??
Maybe it's because I'm just not girly in the way of caring which celebrity or athlete is dating which other celebrity or athlete in any which way or form. (I know, I know, it's almost sacrilegious, but if people don't care enough about my relationship with my boyfriend for it to make headlines, I don't really see why I should care about anyone else's! :) ...)
Or maybe it's just cuz I'm not a huge fan of either Cameron Diaz (except for when she was in There's Something About Mary) or A-Rod (except for when he doesn't choke in a high pressure situation on the field). See, because I was actually kind of excited when Nick Swisher and JoAnna Garcia got together and got married - they both just seem so nice and sweet and adorable! (I am determined to make my fairweather Yankee fan boyfriend Swisher's new Number One Fan, but that's a post for another day).
The point is, put A-Rod's personal life in the entertainment section, unless the news is that he and Cameron Diaz broke up while he got an RBI on a base hit with two strikes and two outs, because *that* would be sports-newsworthy!
:)
Really? *That's* one of the top sports stories of the day??
Maybe it's because I'm just not girly in the way of caring which celebrity or athlete is dating which other celebrity or athlete in any which way or form. (I know, I know, it's almost sacrilegious, but if people don't care enough about my relationship with my boyfriend for it to make headlines, I don't really see why I should care about anyone else's! :) ...)
Or maybe it's just cuz I'm not a huge fan of either Cameron Diaz (except for when she was in There's Something About Mary) or A-Rod (except for when he doesn't choke in a high pressure situation on the field). See, because I was actually kind of excited when Nick Swisher and JoAnna Garcia got together and got married - they both just seem so nice and sweet and adorable! (I am determined to make my fairweather Yankee fan boyfriend Swisher's new Number One Fan, but that's a post for another day).
The point is, put A-Rod's personal life in the entertainment section, unless the news is that he and Cameron Diaz broke up while he got an RBI on a base hit with two strikes and two outs, because *that* would be sports-newsworthy!
:)
Monday, September 12, 2011
You win some, you lose some: NFL Week 1
Although the NFL season officially started on Thursday with the high-scoring Saints v. Packers game (looovve Aaron Rodgers!), yesterday was when most of the Week One games happened, and I had an appropriately football-centric Sunday, albeit without wearing one of my Manning jerseys... :(
Oh well. I bill myself a New York Giants fan, but with a father and brother who are HUGE Jets fans and my hometown represented on Gang Green by D'Brickashaw Ferguson, my team loyalty is much more fluid for football than it is for baseball. I'm going to buy a Jets jersey. I just have to decide which player to get.
Anyway, yesterday the boyfriend and I watched both games - Sundays in the fall can get completely sucked up if you really invest in watching more than one game, but the key to not having it be a total waste of a weekend day is to watch it in a social setting - hang out with your friends, go to a bar, spend that time with other people. It's so much more fun! Like I said, I bill myself a Giants fan, but this girl thoroughly enjoyed the Jets' season opener so much more. Much of that had to do with the fact that the Giants lost. To the Redskins. Bleh. And the way they were playing, they deserved to lose. (I sound like my mother when I say things like that, but it's true.) Part of it probably had to do with the fact that we missed at least half the game since we watched it at a friend's house with three shrieking, high energy girls under the age of three and a licking-crazy dog running around. They all loved me, of course, and they were super adorable, but nonetheless distracting.
So there was that. For the Jets game, though, the boyfriend and I transitioned to Hooters. (Yes, unfortunately, every now and then I go to Hooters.) They had great tvs in every corner, and a really amped up crowd of both Jets and Cowboys fans. That game also seemed like it was going to be a wash, and while we hate losing, New York football fans REALLY hate to lose to Dallas. The nailbiting fourth quarter definitely made up for the first three that almost had me lamenting two New York losses in one week. (Plaxico Burress was totally kicking ass as a Jet, BTW!) And especially on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, it was nice to have a New York team win at home.
Of course, one game doesn't mean anything. A first game loss doesn't herald a terrible or lost season. But it sets the tone of a season, definitely, and its your first glimpse of whether a player has improved or gotten worse in the off season, how new teammates and coaches are meshing, and who's got the thirst for a championship. I'd been leaning toward getting a Mark Sanchez Jets jersey, but after his performance in yesterday's game reminded me of just how awesome he is (interception!), I'm totally back on board the Darrelle Revis jersey train...
It's going to be a fun season!
Tonight's Monday Night Football: New England v. Miami at 7 pm, Oakland v. Denver at 10:15 pm
Oh well. I bill myself a New York Giants fan, but with a father and brother who are HUGE Jets fans and my hometown represented on Gang Green by D'Brickashaw Ferguson, my team loyalty is much more fluid for football than it is for baseball. I'm going to buy a Jets jersey. I just have to decide which player to get.
Anyway, yesterday the boyfriend and I watched both games - Sundays in the fall can get completely sucked up if you really invest in watching more than one game, but the key to not having it be a total waste of a weekend day is to watch it in a social setting - hang out with your friends, go to a bar, spend that time with other people. It's so much more fun! Like I said, I bill myself a Giants fan, but this girl thoroughly enjoyed the Jets' season opener so much more. Much of that had to do with the fact that the Giants lost. To the Redskins. Bleh. And the way they were playing, they deserved to lose. (I sound like my mother when I say things like that, but it's true.) Part of it probably had to do with the fact that we missed at least half the game since we watched it at a friend's house with three shrieking, high energy girls under the age of three and a licking-crazy dog running around. They all loved me, of course, and they were super adorable, but nonetheless distracting.
So there was that. For the Jets game, though, the boyfriend and I transitioned to Hooters. (Yes, unfortunately, every now and then I go to Hooters.) They had great tvs in every corner, and a really amped up crowd of both Jets and Cowboys fans. That game also seemed like it was going to be a wash, and while we hate losing, New York football fans REALLY hate to lose to Dallas. The nailbiting fourth quarter definitely made up for the first three that almost had me lamenting two New York losses in one week. (Plaxico Burress was totally kicking ass as a Jet, BTW!) And especially on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, it was nice to have a New York team win at home.
Of course, one game doesn't mean anything. A first game loss doesn't herald a terrible or lost season. But it sets the tone of a season, definitely, and its your first glimpse of whether a player has improved or gotten worse in the off season, how new teammates and coaches are meshing, and who's got the thirst for a championship. I'd been leaning toward getting a Mark Sanchez Jets jersey, but after his performance in yesterday's game reminded me of just how awesome he is (interception!), I'm totally back on board the Darrelle Revis jersey train...
It's going to be a fun season!
Tonight's Monday Night Football: New England v. Miami at 7 pm, Oakland v. Denver at 10:15 pm
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Peyton Manning's 208-game starting streak to end
I'm disappointed for him...I love Peyton Manning. I am a diehard New York fan but while two of my three Manning jerseys are Eli, the third one is Peyton...
From NBC Sports online:
Peyton Manning will not play Week 1 vs. Texans
Posted by Michael David Smith on September 7, 2011, 12:30 PM EDT
Getty ImagesFor the first time since Jim Harbaugh was the starter at the end of the 1997 season, the Indianapolis Colts will have a quarterback other than Peyton Manning at the helm when they open the season against the Houston Texans on Sunday.
Manning has been ruled out for Week 1, Colts Vice Chairman Bill Polian said on ESPN Radio 1050 in New York today.
Sunday will mark the end of Manning’s streak of 208 consecutive starts, the second-longest such streak in NFL history. Peyton’s brother Eli Manning now has the longest active streak, with 103 consecutive starts, and Brett Favre’s all-time record of 297 is safe for many years to come.
The Colts will be a completely different team without Manning, and after nine straight years in the playoffs with Manning at the helm, it’s hard to see them even being competitive without him. Kerry Collins was signed in August when the Colts realized how serious Manning’s condition was, but Collins can’t have the whole offense down pat yet, and even if he did, Collins is no Manning.
There’s no word yet on when Manning might be ready to return, but it’s clear that it’s taking him a lot longer than expected to recover from offseason neck surgery.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/07/peyton-manning-will-not-play-week-1-vs-texans/
From NBC Sports online:
Peyton Manning will not play Week 1 vs. Texans
Posted by Michael David Smith on September 7, 2011, 12:30 PM EDT
Getty ImagesFor the first time since Jim Harbaugh was the starter at the end of the 1997 season, the Indianapolis Colts will have a quarterback other than Peyton Manning at the helm when they open the season against the Houston Texans on Sunday.
Manning has been ruled out for Week 1, Colts Vice Chairman Bill Polian said on ESPN Radio 1050 in New York today.
Sunday will mark the end of Manning’s streak of 208 consecutive starts, the second-longest such streak in NFL history. Peyton’s brother Eli Manning now has the longest active streak, with 103 consecutive starts, and Brett Favre’s all-time record of 297 is safe for many years to come.
The Colts will be a completely different team without Manning, and after nine straight years in the playoffs with Manning at the helm, it’s hard to see them even being competitive without him. Kerry Collins was signed in August when the Colts realized how serious Manning’s condition was, but Collins can’t have the whole offense down pat yet, and even if he did, Collins is no Manning.
There’s no word yet on when Manning might be ready to return, but it’s clear that it’s taking him a lot longer than expected to recover from offseason neck surgery.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/09/07/peyton-manning-will-not-play-week-1-vs-texans/
Friday, September 2, 2011
More Yanks vs. Red Sox, as enacted by Misters Alec Baldwin and John Krasinski
(John, I still love you even though you root for Boston...)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
A note from a concerned NHL non-fan
I don't watch hockey, so I don't know any of these players, but what is up with all these young NHL players just up and dying? You know it's weird when it grabs the attention of an NHL non-fan...third one this summer! :(
Former NHL Enforcer Belak Found Dead in Toronto
Former NHL Enforcer Belak Found Dead in Toronto
Speaking of sports fanatic videos I love...
...was I? Well, I am now. And now, I'll just show you, since appropriately enough, we're in the midst of a Yanks-Red Sox series. Because I might fast forward through commercials like it will literally kill me if I stop, I will watch these every. Single. Time. It reaffirms my love for Alec Baldwin, John Krasinski, great writing, and above all, being a Yankee fan...
:)
:)
Just call me Miss Tiger Woods - embarking on a golf adventure
You're looking for the word "mini" up there in the post title, aren't you? Yes, it has been said that I'm fairly good on the miniature golf course. I can putt wearing only one contact in my eye and still make a hole in one. Windmills and waterfalls ain't got nothin' on me.
But now it's time for the big leagues.
Golf, as a spectator sport, has never seemed anything but dull, dull, dull. When my grandfather would have it on the television in his house, my cousins and I would all run away...until he left the room, and then we'd put on The Simpsons.
But golf as a hobby, golf as a sport, has recently begun to intrigue me. There is no running around from one end of a court or field to the other. There is no tackling or sliding or any other kind of physical contact with others. Golf is physical, yes, what with the walking and the swinging and whatnot, but it is a gentlemen's sport, a ladies' sport.
It's a sport in which I can wear a really cute outfit. Something with argyle. And probably pink.
And so it was with those thoughts in my head that I oohed and aahed over golf clubs - pink, of course - in a Dick's Sporting Goods store recently and the boyfriend took note and bought them for me last week for my birthday.
I love him so much.
I haven't used them yet, but being the good boyfriend that he is, he's going to take me to a driving range one of these days so I can give those bad boys a whirl. I think I'll be good at the whole driving thing. I have a lot of pent up frustration and anger. This could be good, clean, therapeutic fun.
Now all I need are some pink argyle knee socks and a hat with a pom pom and I'm good to go.
:)
But now it's time for the big leagues.
Golf, as a spectator sport, has never seemed anything but dull, dull, dull. When my grandfather would have it on the television in his house, my cousins and I would all run away...until he left the room, and then we'd put on The Simpsons.
But golf as a hobby, golf as a sport, has recently begun to intrigue me. There is no running around from one end of a court or field to the other. There is no tackling or sliding or any other kind of physical contact with others. Golf is physical, yes, what with the walking and the swinging and whatnot, but it is a gentlemen's sport, a ladies' sport.
It's a sport in which I can wear a really cute outfit. Something with argyle. And probably pink.
And so it was with those thoughts in my head that I oohed and aahed over golf clubs - pink, of course - in a Dick's Sporting Goods store recently and the boyfriend took note and bought them for me last week for my birthday.
I love him so much.
I haven't used them yet, but being the good boyfriend that he is, he's going to take me to a driving range one of these days so I can give those bad boys a whirl. I think I'll be good at the whole driving thing. I have a lot of pent up frustration and anger. This could be good, clean, therapeutic fun.
Now all I need are some pink argyle knee socks and a hat with a pom pom and I'm good to go.
:)
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Getting my Joe Mauer fix of the day
OMG. Since we got our DVR, I don't watch commercials anymore, unless it's for a show I watch or it's something really, really, REALLY entertaining, but I was watching the Royal Pains summer finale tonight and I had to stop and rewind during one of the commercial breaks. It's not new - it's been around for awhile - but I just love, love, love this commercial. I'll give you three guesses why, and the first two are wrong. ;)
Confessions of a lazy Yankee fan
The Yankees are playing Boston this week. Yesterday CC Sabathia won his first game against the Red Sox this whole season. New York is showing Fenway, once again, how it's done.
And I'm not watching it.
I've been a terrible baseball fan this year. I've been caught up in other things - work, hobbies, friends, boyfriend - and I've barely watched a game or listened to a game all season. Sometimes I catch an inning or two on the car radio when the boyfriend picks me up when we hang out. And I'm always making fun of him for being a fairweather fan. But he's right when he says I'm a worst Yankee fan than he is. At least this year anyway. Although I did make it to a game at Yankee Stadium a few weeks ago when New York played the Angels. And they even won, so that was fun. But tomorrow September will be here and I don't have a clue who is even in the running for playoff spots. All I know is that New York and Boston are, and the Twins are not.
When I haven't even been following Joe Mauer, you know it's bad.
So this is my apology to major league baseball, and all the Yankee players who don't have a clue who I am and have no idea whether I follow them or not, and I resolve, now that fall is here, to be a much more attentive, active, and engaged fan...of football.
:)
And I'm not watching it.
I've been a terrible baseball fan this year. I've been caught up in other things - work, hobbies, friends, boyfriend - and I've barely watched a game or listened to a game all season. Sometimes I catch an inning or two on the car radio when the boyfriend picks me up when we hang out. And I'm always making fun of him for being a fairweather fan. But he's right when he says I'm a worst Yankee fan than he is. At least this year anyway. Although I did make it to a game at Yankee Stadium a few weeks ago when New York played the Angels. And they even won, so that was fun. But tomorrow September will be here and I don't have a clue who is even in the running for playoff spots. All I know is that New York and Boston are, and the Twins are not.
When I haven't even been following Joe Mauer, you know it's bad.
So this is my apology to major league baseball, and all the Yankee players who don't have a clue who I am and have no idea whether I follow them or not, and I resolve, now that fall is here, to be a much more attentive, active, and engaged fan...of football.
:)
Saturday, February 5, 2011
From Newsday.com: Pettitte: "Heart not where it needs to be"
I am so disappointed by Andy Pettitte's retirement. In case you didn't know, Pettitte has always been one of my favorite Yankees, so much so that I followed him even when he went to the Astros for a few years. He was one of the original players who got me watching baseball back in 1997 - I came because I thought he was cute and I stayed because I loved watching him play.
It's the beginning of the end of an era - he, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada are the Core Four, the four players who have been around since the awesome Yankee run of championships in the late '90s, all still around to win another championship in 2009. I can't fault him. He's 38, which is practically ancient in the sports world. He's still a reliable pitcher for the most part but he's not as good as he used to be, and how sad is it to watch a once-great player stay around too long, only to fade and disappear with a whimper? (::cough:: Brett Favre ::cough::) But it just hits home that all the Core Four are in their late 30s now. I don't know a Yankee team without Mo or Derek Jeter. I don't know what I'm going to do when they retire. I mean, I have my rising stars and new, younger good players that I love - Mark Texeira, Brett Gardner, Robinson Cano - but I think when the others leave, especially Jeter, I'm going to be a little lost.
My only consolation is that at least, on tv and in person at the stadium, I got to watch them play.
By ANTHONY RIEBER
Andy Pettitte answered the big question early at his retirement press conference at Yankee Stadium on Friday: Why did he decide to quit at age 38?
Simple: He just didn't feel like he had the desire to continue playing even though two weeks ago he had told his wife Laura he was going to come back.
"Two weeks ago, I told her I was playing," Pettitte said. "I said, 'I'm just going to play.' I mean, I can torture myself, I'll get through it, have an opportunity to win another championship maybe. Obviously, have an opportunity to make a lot of money, obviously anybody who has followed me knows that's not anything that drives me."
But, Pettitte said, he just felt like he didn't have the desire to play and to leave his family for spring training. So the lefthander decided to hang up his spikes after a 240-win career, most of it with the Yankees.
"The drive that I felt like I had, the desire to compete like I feel like I want to compete [I didn't have]," he said. "And then also when I thought about packing my bags and leaving, just didn't feel right in my stomach. That's just what it was."
Pettitte said he told Yankees general manager Brian Cashman on Jan. 9, " 'I'll seriously start considering this.' That was the point. I started working about right around Christmas.
"Laura actually around that time when I talked to Cash said, 'Why don't you see and make sure that you're done and you don't want to do this no more?' And so when she tells me that, I have to seriously start considering it. I started training extremely hard then to see if I could get my body in shape. I can put myself here - even though I'm still in Texas - I know exactly what it feels like to be here and it just didn't feel right for me anymore. I didn't have the hunger, the drive that I felt like I needed. I don't know how to explain it, but I just knew that it was different."
Pettitte said his arm feels great. But the groin injury that cost him two months last season and hampered him in the playoffs took a long time to heal. And, more importantly, he did not rehab the injury after the season like he would have if he were planning to play.
Pettitte leaves the Yankees with a gaping hole in their rotation. But he told them not to count on him. Now they know why.
"This was not an easy decision for me," Pettitte said. "I feel like it kind of was an easy decision, but it wasn't an easy decision ... When I left Arlington stadium at the end of last season, I felt like I was done. Some of the teammates I spoke with towards the end of the season knew that I was probably heading in that direction. Over the course of this offseason, just felt like I should maybe make sure that I'm done and try to get ready. I'm ready. I'm ready to go pitch in spring training right now if I had to. My arm feels great. My body feels great. I've been working out extremely hard for about the last three and a half weeks. I know that my body would get where it needs to be, but my heart's not where it needs to be."
Laura Pettitte, who sat next to her husband on the podium, said, "Gosh, he had a really hard time making this decision final."
Pettitte also touched on some other topics during the lengthy press conference:
-- On whether he might change his mind: "I've been thinking about that too. I believe I'm done. I can promise you I would not be doing what I'm doing right now if I didn't think I was done. And I don't know what I'm going to feel like two months from now, three months from now. I can tell you one thing: I am not going to play this season. I can tell you that 100 percent. But I guess you can never say never. I don't think I would literally be scared if I went through this whole season and I just had a hurt in my stomach saying I just wanted to pitch that maybe I wouldn't try it again, but I will not pitch this season. I can assure you of that. And I do not plan on pitching again. I think me pitching every fifth day is over and I am looking forward to this next chapter in my life and figuring out what that is."
-- On whether the Roger Clemens trial and the likelihood he will have to testify in it during the season had any impact on his decision: "That has not any effect on my decision - zero."
-- On the Hall of Fame: "I've never considered myself a Hall of Famer. I feel honored that people are talking about it. Never dreamed that I would be talked about as far as the Hall of Fame."
-- On whether the Yankees getting or not getting Cliff Lee affected him: "I don't think it would have mattered ... There's no doubt when they didn't get him, I felt a huge obligation. That was why I started working out ... I felt a tremendous amount of pressure to come back after they didn't get him."
-- On the other members of the "Core Four" (Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera): "I called them and told them before it was announced. I wanted them to hear it from me. I don't think they were shocked."
-- On Yankees fans: "There's nothing better than just being embraced. They've embraced me. It's just been special."
Pettitte finishes his career 240-138 with a 3.88 ERA in 16 seasons - 13 with the Yankees - and likely will be remembered for his performances when the pressure was most intense. He went 19-10 in the postseason, winning all three series-clinching games in the Yankees' run to the 2009 World Series title. His 19 postseason wins in a major-league record.
It's the beginning of the end of an era - he, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter, and Jorge Posada are the Core Four, the four players who have been around since the awesome Yankee run of championships in the late '90s, all still around to win another championship in 2009. I can't fault him. He's 38, which is practically ancient in the sports world. He's still a reliable pitcher for the most part but he's not as good as he used to be, and how sad is it to watch a once-great player stay around too long, only to fade and disappear with a whimper? (::cough:: Brett Favre ::cough::) But it just hits home that all the Core Four are in their late 30s now. I don't know a Yankee team without Mo or Derek Jeter. I don't know what I'm going to do when they retire. I mean, I have my rising stars and new, younger good players that I love - Mark Texeira, Brett Gardner, Robinson Cano - but I think when the others leave, especially Jeter, I'm going to be a little lost.
My only consolation is that at least, on tv and in person at the stadium, I got to watch them play.
By ANTHONY RIEBER
Andy Pettitte answered the big question early at his retirement press conference at Yankee Stadium on Friday: Why did he decide to quit at age 38?
Simple: He just didn't feel like he had the desire to continue playing even though two weeks ago he had told his wife Laura he was going to come back.
"Two weeks ago, I told her I was playing," Pettitte said. "I said, 'I'm just going to play.' I mean, I can torture myself, I'll get through it, have an opportunity to win another championship maybe. Obviously, have an opportunity to make a lot of money, obviously anybody who has followed me knows that's not anything that drives me."
But, Pettitte said, he just felt like he didn't have the desire to play and to leave his family for spring training. So the lefthander decided to hang up his spikes after a 240-win career, most of it with the Yankees.
"The drive that I felt like I had, the desire to compete like I feel like I want to compete [I didn't have]," he said. "And then also when I thought about packing my bags and leaving, just didn't feel right in my stomach. That's just what it was."
Pettitte said he told Yankees general manager Brian Cashman on Jan. 9, " 'I'll seriously start considering this.' That was the point. I started working about right around Christmas.
"Laura actually around that time when I talked to Cash said, 'Why don't you see and make sure that you're done and you don't want to do this no more?' And so when she tells me that, I have to seriously start considering it. I started training extremely hard then to see if I could get my body in shape. I can put myself here - even though I'm still in Texas - I know exactly what it feels like to be here and it just didn't feel right for me anymore. I didn't have the hunger, the drive that I felt like I needed. I don't know how to explain it, but I just knew that it was different."
Pettitte said his arm feels great. But the groin injury that cost him two months last season and hampered him in the playoffs took a long time to heal. And, more importantly, he did not rehab the injury after the season like he would have if he were planning to play.
Pettitte leaves the Yankees with a gaping hole in their rotation. But he told them not to count on him. Now they know why.
"This was not an easy decision for me," Pettitte said. "I feel like it kind of was an easy decision, but it wasn't an easy decision ... When I left Arlington stadium at the end of last season, I felt like I was done. Some of the teammates I spoke with towards the end of the season knew that I was probably heading in that direction. Over the course of this offseason, just felt like I should maybe make sure that I'm done and try to get ready. I'm ready. I'm ready to go pitch in spring training right now if I had to. My arm feels great. My body feels great. I've been working out extremely hard for about the last three and a half weeks. I know that my body would get where it needs to be, but my heart's not where it needs to be."
Laura Pettitte, who sat next to her husband on the podium, said, "Gosh, he had a really hard time making this decision final."
Pettitte also touched on some other topics during the lengthy press conference:
-- On whether he might change his mind: "I've been thinking about that too. I believe I'm done. I can promise you I would not be doing what I'm doing right now if I didn't think I was done. And I don't know what I'm going to feel like two months from now, three months from now. I can tell you one thing: I am not going to play this season. I can tell you that 100 percent. But I guess you can never say never. I don't think I would literally be scared if I went through this whole season and I just had a hurt in my stomach saying I just wanted to pitch that maybe I wouldn't try it again, but I will not pitch this season. I can assure you of that. And I do not plan on pitching again. I think me pitching every fifth day is over and I am looking forward to this next chapter in my life and figuring out what that is."
-- On whether the Roger Clemens trial and the likelihood he will have to testify in it during the season had any impact on his decision: "That has not any effect on my decision - zero."
-- On the Hall of Fame: "I've never considered myself a Hall of Famer. I feel honored that people are talking about it. Never dreamed that I would be talked about as far as the Hall of Fame."
-- On whether the Yankees getting or not getting Cliff Lee affected him: "I don't think it would have mattered ... There's no doubt when they didn't get him, I felt a huge obligation. That was why I started working out ... I felt a tremendous amount of pressure to come back after they didn't get him."
-- On the other members of the "Core Four" (Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera): "I called them and told them before it was announced. I wanted them to hear it from me. I don't think they were shocked."
-- On Yankees fans: "There's nothing better than just being embraced. They've embraced me. It's just been special."
Pettitte finishes his career 240-138 with a 3.88 ERA in 16 seasons - 13 with the Yankees - and likely will be remembered for his performances when the pressure was most intense. He went 19-10 in the postseason, winning all three series-clinching games in the Yankees' run to the 2009 World Series title. His 19 postseason wins in a major-league record.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Ways you can tell whether you're at a boys' Super Bowl party or a girls' one
1. Heroes, wings, chips, and beer are standard fare at a Super Bowl party thrown by men. Women may have those things too but will try to class it up with wine and maybe a cheese fondue.
2. The theme of a male-organized Super Bowl party will be "football." A woman will change the theme of her party depending on who is in the game - last year, my best friend threw a Mardi Gras-themed Super Bowl party in honor of the Saints. This year, because of the Packers, the theme will be "cheese." See reference to fondue in first point.
3. Many of the invitees to a boy's Super Bowl party will be there to watch the game. Many of the invitees to a girl's Super Bowl party will be there to watch the commercials.
4. A Super Bowl party thrown by a guy will be punctuated by discussion on the merits and missteps of the various plays being made by both teams. A Super Bowl party thrown by a girl will be punctuated by a breakdown and explanation of the various plays being made by both teams.
5. A boy's Super Bowl party will feature commentary on which player has the best skills in the game. A girl's Super Bowl party will feature commentary on which player has the best ass in the game.
Whether you go to a boy's or a girl's Super Bowl party this year, have a great time! Boo Steelers! Go Packers! :)
The Super Bowl will be on Fox this Sunday, Feb. 6, at 6:30 p.m.
2. The theme of a male-organized Super Bowl party will be "football." A woman will change the theme of her party depending on who is in the game - last year, my best friend threw a Mardi Gras-themed Super Bowl party in honor of the Saints. This year, because of the Packers, the theme will be "cheese." See reference to fondue in first point.
3. Many of the invitees to a boy's Super Bowl party will be there to watch the game. Many of the invitees to a girl's Super Bowl party will be there to watch the commercials.
4. A Super Bowl party thrown by a guy will be punctuated by discussion on the merits and missteps of the various plays being made by both teams. A Super Bowl party thrown by a girl will be punctuated by a breakdown and explanation of the various plays being made by both teams.
5. A boy's Super Bowl party will feature commentary on which player has the best skills in the game. A girl's Super Bowl party will feature commentary on which player has the best ass in the game.
Whether you go to a boy's or a girl's Super Bowl party this year, have a great time! Boo Steelers! Go Packers! :)
The Super Bowl will be on Fox this Sunday, Feb. 6, at 6:30 p.m.
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