New York, New York
O, Christmas Tree…
Friday, December 4th, 2009
Click the picture above (or the “Featured Photos” link in the upper left) for more pictures from the famous Tree Lighting event…
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Thanksgiving in New York
Friday, November 27th, 2009Before filling up on turkey and stuffing, it’s nice to check in with a mouse, a frog, an ogre, and all of their friends.
Click the picture above (or click here) for a full slideshow of the festivities.
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Field of Dreams
Monday, November 16th, 2009This past Sunday, my friend Mike gave me a birthday present to remember. He enrolled me in the 2009 Damon Runyon 5K Walk/Run for Cancer Research, which took place inside Yankee Stadium. Part of the 5K course, which included stairs, ramps, and several laps around the stadium, was two laps around the warning track that circles the field of play. We took full advantage of this unique opportunity, and brought our kids along to share in the experience as well. Here’s a quick (less than two minute) video montage:
Photos are also available here, or in the Featured Photos link on the left navigation bar of this site.
Thanks, Mike, for an awesome birthday present and (one more time…) Go Yankees!!
UPDATE: I just received an e-mail from the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, asking me to add a link to their foundation to this blog post. Done! Anything for a good cause…
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One Last Thing: The Parade…
Saturday, November 7th, 2009
OK, one last post about the Yankees winning the World Series and then I’ll stop. I promise. But today was the famous “Parade Down the Canyon of Heroes” in New York, and thanks to the annual New Jersey Teacher’s Convention, my kids did not have school today. So as it turned out, I was the one who played hooky, and we all went and saw a parade. An extra special, heartfelt thanks to the very generous people on the corner of Broadway & John Street who, right before the parade started, decided to allow my kids (and my wife and I) to move right up to the front of the crowd – allowing them (and my camera) fantastic views of the proceedings.
The picture slideshow is here, or in the “Featured Photos” section at the top of my left navigation menu.
Enjoy the pics and, once again, congratulations to the 2009 World Champion New York Yankees!!!
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The Phanatic Gives In
Friday, November 6th, 2009After all, even a Phanatic can only take so much…
A little Photoshop inspiration for my Yankee fan friends!
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The 2009 World Champion New York Yankees
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
GAME OVER.
WORLD SERIES OVER.
YANKEES WIN.
THE-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E YANKEES WIN!!!!!!!!!
Thanks for an unbelievable, unforgettable season, fellas! Congrats to the champs!
NOW – ONTO THE PARADE!!!!!
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The City That Never Sleeps…
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009If I don’t miss my guess, Philadelphia has prepared for the World Series by placing a small, plastic statue of William Penn on top of the Comcast building. Here’s what New York did:
LET’S GO YANKEES!!
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Gaah! October Snow!
Thursday, October 15th, 2009How depressing is this:
It’s like Minneapolis out here…
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An Instant Yankee Classic – ALDS Game 2
Saturday, October 10th, 2009Wow, 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]
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New York City Sights – 9/11/09
Friday, September 11th, 2009It’s time for a very special edition of New York City Sights which, of course, coincides with my annual tradition of posting some thoughts about the anniversary of September 11, 2001 (others can be found here: 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
We start with a sight that few people see on television. It’s one of the last beams that was removed from the World Trade Center site (“Ground Zero”) when the massive clean-up effort ended in early November, 2001. These two beams, which the attacks left in the shape of a cross, were ceremoniously removed from the pit by the rescue workers and mounted outside the city courthouse a few blocks away.
Next, a view of downtown Manhattan, as it looks today:
Now that they’ve been gone for eight years, I think we forget just how massive and skyline-defining those towers were. Here’s a feeble attempt to draw them into the above picture (this isn’t accurate in any real sense, although I did look at about a dozen pictures taken from the Hudson river to approximate size and position, so it’s pretty close):
And now, if you’ll permit me, a few thoughts:
This is the first anniversary of the 9/11 attacks under a new President. Barack Obama is nothing if not eloquent, and I’m sure his words will be heartfelt and bring comfort to those who need it. Still, it is just now occurring to me for the first time that the President of the United States addressed a joint session of Congress on September 9, 2009 and didn’t as much as mention the upcoming anniversary. I’m not saying that it’s a good thing or a bad thing, mind you, just noting how different it is. It’s inconceivable that George W. Bush would give a speech in that chamber on September 9th of any year without at least noting the upcoming anniversary.
Again, without casting any aspersions on Barack Obama whatsoever, I get the feeling that no president will ever take 9/11/01 as personally as George W. Bush did. And this gives me pause, because quite frankly, it’s just as personal to me this year as it was last year. The local TV stations will cover the reading of the names as they always do, but I note on the TV listings that the Today show’s planned programming is “Today’s Pets, real estate, personally tailored diets, and ambush makeovers.”
The nation is truly moving on. Re-reading some of my older posts, I realize that I am moving on as well. It’s the signs that point it out so explicitly that bother me, I think. If you’re reading this, I hope that you are moving on as well, and that my words haven’t interrupted that process. But as we move on, I think it’s healthy to take a moment, especially today, and look back.
God Bless America.
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