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Archive for October, 2009

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An Instant Yankee Classic – ALDS Game 2

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Wow, what a game…

After watching Derek Jeter break Lou Gehrig’s all-time Yankee hits record back on September 11, 2009, I commented on how every time you go to Yankee Stadium, there’s a chance you’ll see something special. Well, October 9, 2009 was certainly no exception. This could be the greatest game I have ever seen, or ever will see, live. And the best part, by far, is that my kids were there to see it too.

The game had everything. Through five innings, it was a classic pitchers’ duel – the Twins had two hits and the Yankees had one. In the sixth, the Twins broke through with a run, but the Yankees immediately countered with a run of their own. In the eighth, both teams now into their bullpens, the Twins put together three hits and a walk and took a 3-1 lead.

The Yankees couldn’t respond immediately in the eight, and after a quiet ninth from Mariano Rivera, they came to bat with their backs against the wall. Mark Teixeira who, up until that point, hadn’t had a hit in either post-season game, singled into right field. Then Alex Rodriguez, who had struggled in the post-season in the recent past, but had driven in a couple of runs in Game 1, hit a monster homerun over the center-field fence to tie the game and send it into extra innings. The crowd went nuts.

In the tenth, the Twins put runners on first and third with two out, but Orlando Cabrera flied out to right to end the threat. The Yankees got a man on with one out, and pinch-ran the speedy Brett Gardner. He stole second base, and then went to third on an errant throw by the Twins’ closer, Joe Nathan. After an intentional walk made it first and third, Johnny Damon hit a screaming line drive to Cabrera, who turned an easy double-play on Gardner after he broke for home on contact. More tension, and still, more baseball.

In the eleventh, Joe Mauer led off the inning with a pop-up down the left field line that Melky Cabrera couldn’t get to. In the stadium, it was a minor disappointment and the game continued. Everywhere else, though, replays showed that the ball was obviously a fair ball, and Mauer should have been on second base. Despite the bad call, Mauer singled. And then the next two Twins did the same. Bases loaded, nobody out – eleventh inning of a playoff game. Sheesh! Then, the Yankees pulled off the impossible. A line drive to Teixeira. A ground ball to Teixeira that he throws home for the force out. And then a lazy fly ball to center-field, and the Twins had, incredibly, failed to score.

Which brought us to the bottom of the eleventh inning, still tied. That is, until Mark Teixeira brought the game to an end with line-drive homerun into the left-field seats. Absolute bedlam in the Bronx. High-fives and hugs all around. The (now traditional) pie in the face from AJ Burnett for Mark Teixeira and three choruses of New York, New York with Frank Sinatra – all before a single one of the 50,006 people left the stadium.


As I said, any trip to Yankee Stadium can lead to something special. This one was truly one for the ages.

[Note: Click on either of the above images to see a full slide-show of our fun time at the game, or click on the thumbnail in the “Featured Photos” section on the left]

Categories: Family Matters, New York, New York, Sports Talk | 2 Comments »

Top Ten Obama Peace Prize Jokes

Friday, October 9th, 2009

This is just from me and my friends. I can only imagine what will happen when the Late Night Comedians get their hands on it.

(Credit where credit is due) – All others are by yours truly…

10. Obama walks Bo, wins Westminster Dog Show (Joe Catania)

9. At least Al Gore had a kick-ass PowerPoint presentation

8. Obama plays backyard stick hockey game with his kids. NHL awards him Stanley Cup

7. Couldn’t they have given this out before the IOC decided who gets the Olympics? (Zach Noyce)

6. Barack Obama winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize is like Stephen Strasburg winning the 2009 Rookie of the Year Award. (Tom Gordon)

5. Bono’s reaction: It’s an honor just to be nominated

4. Electoral College impressed with Obama

Categories: Political Rantings | 1 Comment »

The Incredible Shrinking PIPP

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Great news! The Obama administration has found a way to cut $488 billion from a government program, and reduce the total projected commitment of that program by a whopping $960 billion! I guess we can pay for healthcare now! OK, maybe not…

The program is the Public Private Investment Plan, or PPIP for short. PPIP was designed to achieve what Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson originally said the TARP money would be used for – buying mortgage-related assets from Wall Street firms in order to expand the power of their balance sheets. Of course, when they actually gave him the money, he decided to use it to buy equity in the banks instead.

That was back in September of 2008, when the worst financial crisis of our time demanded immediate, decisive action. Like suspending the two presidential campaigns for a photo-op at the White House.

Having failed to actually buy any of these so-called “toxic assets,” our government tried again in March of 2009, launching the PPIP program, which intended to use “$75 to $100 billion in TARP capital and capital from private investors [to] generate $500 billion in purchasing power to buy legacy assets

Categories: Money Talk, Political Rantings | Comments Off on The Incredible Shrinking PIPP

Oy Vey! Ahmadinejad is Jewish!

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

According to today’s Daily News, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born to practicing, Iranian Jewish parents who changed their name from Sabourjian to Ahmadinejad when they converted to Islam just after his birth.

The Sabourjians traditionally hail from Ahmadinejad’s hometown of Aradan. The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran’s Ministry of the Interior, [the London Daily Telegraph] says.

Experts told the Telegraph his vitriolic attacks against Jews could be an attempt to hide his past.

“This aspect of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s background explains a lot about him,” said Ali Nourizadeh, of the Center for Arab and Iranian Studies. “Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity by condemning their old faith.

“By making anti-Israeli statements, he is trying to shed any suspicions about his Jewish connections.”

A London-based expert on Iranian Jewry said that the “jian” ending to the Sabour name shows that the family had been practicing Jews.

How embarrassing, huh? Although, if he can deny the Holocaust ever happened, it shouldn’t be much of a stretch for him to deny all of this as well. Look for Ahmadinejad to claim that he was born at the age of eighteen any day now…

Categories: Political Rantings, Random Acts of Blogging | 2 Comments »

ISBS Concert Review: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band Live at Giants Stadium – October 3, 2009

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

Good evening, New Jersey!

Last night at Giants Stadium, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band put on a three-hour extravaganza that proved conclusively that adrenaline can power a rock & roll band every bit as much as an electric guitar.

Billed as his farewell to Giants Stadium (a new Giants Stadium is nearing completion in the parking lot next door, and will open for business with next year’s football season), Bruce and the band powered through twenty-eight songs (setlist), providing the required momentum for the near-perpetual motion machine that is his loyal fan base.

Read the rest of this entry »

Categories: ISBS Reviews, Words about Music | 5 Comments »

Five Monkeys in a Cage

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

[This story was related to me at a leadership seminar today. I don’t know if it’s true, but regardless, I found it very insightful]

A group of scientists put five monkeys in a cage. Hanging from the ceiling, in the middle of the cage, was a banana. Just under the banana was a wooden crate that the monkeys could use to climb up to the banana.

The first time the monkeys were put in the cage, they all naturally went for the banana. When they did this, the scientists turned an industrial strength fire hose on them and forced them down off the crate. They repeated this procedure for a period of time, until eventually, the monkeys would sit in the cage without attempting to take the banana.

At that point, the scientists replaced one of the monkeys with a another monkey who had not participated in the experiment up until this point. The first time this group of monkeys was put in the cage, four of them sat idly by, while the fifth monkey (the newcomer) went for the banana. Again, the scientists got out the fire hose, but they did not spray only the monkey who went for the banana, they sprayed all the monkeys in the cage. They repeated this procedure for a period of time as well (each time with four of the original monkeys, and one monkey who was brand new to the cage). Eventually, the fire hose became unnecessary, because when the newcomer went for the banana, the other four monkeys would forcibly prevent it from doing so. A few trials later, the scientists once again had five monkeys who would sit idly in the cage with the banana dangling from the ceiling.

The above process was repeated several more times, until eventually, the scientists had five monkeys who would sit in the cage and not take the banana, but had absolutely no idea why.

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Moral of the story: when someone tells you something has to be done a certain way because “that’s the way we’ve always done it,” challenge their logic. It’s quite possible that the real reason has long since vanished.

Categories: Random Acts of Blogging | 9 Comments »

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