Sports Talk
President Obama’s NCAA Bracket – 2010 Edition
Thursday, March 18th, 2010In the last three days, the post I put up a year ago showing President Obama’s 2009 NCAA Bracket received 565 pageviews (in the previous three days, it received seventeen). Since there’s so much apparent interest, here’s the 2010 version:
(click to enlarge)
Have at it, folks…
Categories: Political Rantings, Sports Talk | No Comments »
Carrie Fisher, Episode Two – Attack of the Country Singing Clones
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
It seems that country singing superstar Carrie Underwood is engaged to marry the NHL’s Ottowa Senators’ Mike Fisher. Which, in the extremely unlikely event that she chose to change her world-famous name, would make her Carrie Fisher.
Attention 40-something year-old men: you may now commence picturing Carrie Underwood in a metal bikini. That is all…
Categories: Sports Talk, Words about Music | 5 Comments »
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…
Categories: Family Matters, New York, New York, Sports Talk | No Comments »
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!!!
Categories: Family Matters, New York, New York, Sports Talk | 3 Comments »
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!
Categories: New York, New York, Sports Talk | 2 Comments »
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!!!!!
Categories: New York, New York, Sports Talk | No Comments »
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!!
Categories: New York, New York, Sports Talk | No Comments »
Rivera in Puerto Rico?
Thursday, October 15th, 2009From a friend of mine, yesterday afternoon (Oct. 14):
My mom is on her way to Puerto Rico at the moment. She called me from the plane and said Mariano Rivera is sitting four seats away from her. Is it possible that he is on a Jet Blue flight to San Juan at the moment? Doesn’t he have a World Series to worry about????
Her mom later confirmed that it was, indeed, Mariano Rivera flying to San Juan on Wednesday, via an autograph and what she called a “very nice” conversation. (I also confirmed for my friend that it was the ALCS, not the World Series, that Mo would be worried about, but we’ll forgive the semantics in return for the inside tip…)
So, the question is this: with Game 1 scheduled for Friday, October 16 (weather permitting), why would Mariano Rivera fly to Puerto Rico on Wednesday, October 14? Wouldn’t you think the Yankees would have some kind of workout/practice schedule in New York this week? I’d guess that maybe he’s flying home for a couple of days, but Mariano was born and raised in Panama, not Puerto Rico. Connecting flight, perhaps?
Mom is checking the local, Puerto Rican papers for more scoop. I’ll update you here if I hear more.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled 24/7 analysis of the upcoming ALCS/NLCS series, brought to you by ESPN…
Categories: Sports Talk | No Comments »
More Baseball – Weather or Not…
Saturday, October 10th, 2009Tonight’s Phillies/Rockies game has been postponed due to snow and record low temperatures in Denver, despite the Rockies’ home field being the only one in the major leagues with an underground heating system.
Tomorrow’s Yankees/Twins game will likely go on as planned, even though Minneapolis’ forecast for tomorrow night is 38 degrees and snow flurries, but that’s only because the Twins still play in the Metrodome (an absolutely awful, but still, indoor) place to play baseball. Next year, when the Twins move to Target Field, which has no roof (retractable or otherwise), this will be the kind of thing Twins fans might wake up to on game day:
(Photo is of an actual house in the Minneapolis suburbs, courtesy of a very cold friend of mine…)
Of course, their other option is to just stop playing baseball in September from now on… ;-)
Categories: Sports Talk | 1 Comment »
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]
Categories: Family Matters, New York, New York, Sports Talk | 2 Comments »