There's Gold in Them Thar Hills

Its nice that someone other than Michael Phelps has won a gold medal. Nastia Liukin took the women's all around title and the head of US Gymnastics Bela Karolyi goes nuts while watching the routine. Gotta love the enthusiasm. I believe his exact words were, "Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautiful! Yeah! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! She's an Olympic Champion! I'm telling you. I'm telling you. I'm telling you. Wow. Wow. Wow."

Go USA

Our President and First Fan has been catching a lot of events while in China for the Oympics. Too bad Bush doesn't know how to hold the American flag. Somehow, I cannot imagine China's Paramount Leader Hu Jintao making this kind of gaff.

Via Sara

The Fleet Triumphant

One of the most remarkable events in World Sports happened one week ago tomorrow: Ebbsfleet United FC, the footie team of which I am an owner, beat Torquay United 1-0 in the FA Trophy final at Wembley Stadium.

This is the first time the 'Fleet has won the FA Trophy, or has been in the semis or the finals for that matter. The fact that former Torquay striker Chris McPhee was the one who netted the goal makes it even sweeter. The official estimate is that some 25,000 of the 40,186 fans inside Wembley Stadium – the Trophy Final's second biggest gate ever – were "of the red persuasion" (as the 'Fleet's site puts it). I wish I was there, even though those in red on "Star Trek" at least often do not make it home...the victory parade looks like it was a smashing good time.

The Fleet Sails For Wembley!

It has never happened before in club history: Ebbsfleet United will be playing in Wembley Stadium in the FA Trophy final on May 10.

I am so happy for all the supporters who have rooted for the team for the past few weeks, years or decades. The future is bright. Up the Fleet!

Up The Fleet!

My footie club purchase was in the works but now it is official: I now co-own (along with ~ 30k other people) a footie club called Ebbsfleet United FC in jolly old England. Sing the song of songs and let all the world rejoice!

As an aside, I take offense to the AP using the word "lowly" in its article title. Watch out England, we'll be in the Premiership in 10 - 20 years!

Setting Sail With "The Fleet"

I am not going on any nautical excursions in the near future. Instead, I am proudly announcing that MyFootballClub has entered a deal in principle to take over Ebbsfleet United Football Club, affectionately known as "The Fleet."

What this means is that I, along with the approximately 20,000 current MyFootballClub members, will own an equal share in the club. While I cannot earn a profit or receive a dividend, I will have a vote on transfers as well as player selection and all major decisions.

In case you are a huge English Footie fanatic and do not recognize the name, Ebbsfleet United was known as Gravesend & Northfleet F.C. until May, 2007. In 1946, Gravesend United F.C. (originally formed in 1893) and Northfleet United F.C. (originally formed in 1890) merged with the new club retaining the red & white home colours (and the Stonebridge Road stadium) of Northfleet United F.C..

The world is so excited that the EUFC site has crashed. All one sees on the homepage is the following message:

"As you can appreciate, this website has been inundated with traffic and we will need to upgrade our servers to cope with the demand generated by the EUFC/MyFootballClub announcement."

I have been waiting my entire life to own (a piece of) a professional sports team. So what if they play in England's Conference National league, which is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system? As Wikipedia notes, "It is the most profitable and competitive fifth-tier football league in the world." I'm only a plane flight from NY to London and a 55 min train ride from London to Kent away from seeing my boys play. I wonder who sits in the owners box - while there are 20,000 owners, there is only room in Ebbsfleet Stadium for 5,000 people. I like how it is affectionately called 'The Graveyard' or 'Cemetery.'

For more information, read the info I gleamed from the Members Area of MyFootballClub's site after the jump.

MyFootballClub has agreed a deal in principle to purchase a controlling stake in Ebbsfleet United FC. Placed 9th in the Conference, Ebbsfleet United FC is one promotion from reaching the Football League for the first time in its history.

MyFootballClub members will also have the option to buy 100% of the football club in the future for a fixed price.

Funds will be made available to Liam Daish during the January transfer window to help the club push towards the play-off places.

As part of the deal, the current Board will continue their roles at the club as non-executives after the date of takeover, and club staff (including the manager) will also stay on.

The football club selection process
Some of the top 15 clubs chosen by members were ruled out because they didn’t fulfil our criteria, for example high levels of debt. In all, MyFootballClub was approached by nine football club owners, and we approached several others. Getting to know one club and meeting the personalities involved is a process that can take several weeks. In three months, we took a close look at seven clubs. Confidentiality means we cannot disclose details of any of these discussions.

Of the seven football clubs considered, the MyFootballClub team believes that Ebbsfleet United FC presents a unique opportunity. Here is some background to the deal and the football club:

Price
We have been able to structure a deal so that the up front payment is relatively small (to allow investment in the squad), with a further staged payment due 12 months after takeover. The club will also have a small amount of debt, which will need to be repaid or refinanced 3 years after takeover.

Only when due diligence is complete can further details be released.

Current Directors and club staff
For continuity, all club staff will remain. Directors will become non-executive Directors and will continue their roles at the club.

The manager
Liam Daish’s title will change from Manager to Head Coach, in recognition of the unique role he will perform. Liam’s backroom staff, including assistant Alan Kimble, will remain.

Division
Playing in the Conference National, MyFootballClub members across the UK will have the opportunity of going to watch Ebbsfleet United matches close to home. This would not have been the case with a club in a regional division.

Promotion to the Football League is one of the great prizes in English football, and the Conference also has a Wembley play-off final. The division enjoys a similar amount of TV and press coverage as Division Two.

History
Ebbsfleet United FC is a new name, but its roots can be traced back Gravesend United FC (formed in 1893) and Northfleet United FC (formed in 1890). These two clubs merged in 1946 to become Gravesend & Northfleet FC. In May 2007, the football club changed its name to Ebbsfleet United FC.

Ground
Stonebridge Road was built in 1946 and has a capacity of 5,248 of which approximately 4,000 is standing. The club has a 17-year lease to play there the with a peppercorn rent. Plans are ongoing to build and move to a new stadium in the vicinity.

So as well as offering something for the traditionalist, there is also the prospect of a new stadium in future.

Club sponsor
Eurostar is the club’s main sponsor. The club is in the first season of a three-year deal. The club will receive monies in year two and three.

Location and transport
Ebbsfleet United FC is in northwest Kent and enjoys good transport links. By car it is junction 2 on the M25. And Northfleet station (a 5 minute walk to the ground) is 55 minutes from Charing Cross, London. Gravesend Station is also near by. And it is a 40 minute drive from Gatwick Airport.

Ebbsfleet International Station, on the Eurostar line, opens on 19 November. It's approximately 500m from the Stonebridge Road. In December 2009, a high speed 15-minute domestic service from St Pancras will be added.

Local area
The new £100m Ebbsfleet International Station with its 15-minute journey time to St Pancras will make the area extremely desirable for commuters and businesses. To provide for Ebbsfleet’s growing population, plans are in place for 3000 residential units, 2,190 acres of new parks and open spaces and 4.5 million sq ft of commercial property, which will create around 20,000 new jobs.

Commenting on the deal in principle between EUFC and MyFootballClub:

Liam Daish, Ebbsfleet United manager: “Everyone has worked wonders to get this club to in the top half of the Conference. We all agree the club needs something extra to take it to the next step. As a football fan, I think the MyFootballClub idea is fantastic. And as the coach, I look forward to the challenge of working with thousands of members to produce a winning team. Alan Kimble and myself are 100% committed to making this work.”

Jessica McQueen, Ebbsfleet United supporters' representative: “Also being a Trust, our members understand the MyFootballClub concept immediately. We very much look forward to working with the MyFootbcallClub members for the benefit Ebbsfleet United.”

Jason Botley, Ebbsfleet United Chairman: “The Board, Liam Daish and his coaching staff, club employees and myself are united in believing this is a great opportunity for Ebbsfleet United. This extra finance and support will enable our club to progress.”

Brian Kilcullen, Ebbsfleet United Director: “This partnership will also allow us to concentrate on driving the club forward in other areas, such as working on the new stadium development.”

Will Brooks, MyFootballClub: “Nine football clubs approached MyFootballClub and we believe that Ebbsfleet United is the perfect choice. We hope that MyFootballClub members and Ebbsfleet United supporters will join forces and make the football club more sustainable and successful.”

Dan Jones, Partner at Deloitte and Editor of the Annual Review of Football Finance: “The MyFootballClub ownership model is an innovative way of funding a lower league club. Reports of having raised over £700,000 in 11 weeks suggests it is viable too. The Sports Business Group at Deloitte has been following its progress with interest, and we're now looking forward to offering our experience in football finance to assist with advice and guidance during the due diligence process.”

Further Quotes from Liam Daish: “Picking elevens and formations isn’t a precise science, and luck often plays its part. I believe a strong dressing room and 11 who want to perform are just as important. And I’ll continue to make sure that happens.

“During and after matches, Ebbsfleet supporters often give me their opinion on which players should or shouldn’t start games. Now they can have their say.”

“My job won’t change that much. As a club, we’ll select an eleven and formation together. But just as before, what goes on at the training ground, in the dressing room on matchday is down to me.”

“It’s the supporters money that will finances this club. Pays my and the players’ wages. So there’s a good argument for them having a say in what players they want to see.

Lateral Mania

When watching and listening to the clip below, I just kept envisioning Rob Schneider's character from Necessary Roughness announcing the game. This clip has gotten so much press that the NYT wrote about the student announcer Jonathan Wiener (who did a fantastic job keeping up with the frenetic action on the field).

In case you were wondering, a lateral according to Webster is both defined as "directed toward, or coming from the side" when used as an adjective or "a pass in football thrown parallel to the line of scrimmage or in a direction away from the opponent's goal" when used as a noun. Enjoy watching about 15 of them below.

My Very Own Football Club

Ever wanted to own a sports team? If someone says “football” do you think “match” instead of “game?” If so, you'll want to know about a new site/org called MyFootballClub which is aiming to make football history in just 3 easy steps:

1. Get at least 50,000 members who will pay 35 pounds each (equal to $70.81 today).
2. Use the pooled money to buy an English football club
3. Have its members, who are also owners, vote on team selection, player transfers, etc.

If interested, they, or I should say we, have reached the magic 50k threshold and now are in talks with 4 different teams (nameless for now, though they are in the Division Two and Conference divisions). Overseas payments are now accepted and I paid yesterday.

I cannot wait to see what club we end up with!

Conduire en Paris

The video below is from 1976, it was shot at 4 or 5 in the morning (which makes sense considering how little traffic is on the road - thankfully) and it is flat out ridiculous. If you have ever been to Paris, enjoy the ride!

The Best Worst Sports Song

"One Shining Moment," the uber-cheesy song that CBS plays at the conclusion of the NCAA men's baseketball championship, known to all now as "March Madness," has finally taken a life of its own and not just because it has its own website. If you are not aware that this song exists, at the very end of the championship game broadcoast, this song is played while highlights of the entire tournament - all the highs, all the lows, the buzzer beaters, the cheerleaders, the fans, the champions, everything that can be considered a recap - are shown. For a while it was a "underground" hit - it was so bad and so cheesy 80's no one that I know could understand why CBS continued to play it but at the same time, like a good episode of "Knight Rider," it always left you wanting more.

CBS has realized this fact and is now openly advertising "One Shining Moment" as part of the whole championship process. Greg Gumbo mentions it in his broadcast as he is wont to say, "We'll see who is on top when 'One Shining Moment' plays." Players long to hear it because it means that they are the best - a former star called it the "best 3 minutes in basketball." CBS even spoofed it in previews for some of its sitcoms: the stars of "All About My Mother" enjoy a bar snack (a slo-mo dip of a nacho is shown) while the song plays.

The NYT today had an article about the history of the song which I found sort of interesting so I posted it after the jump. While G-Town won't be listening to it this year, Roy Hibbert and Jeff Green are only juniors so if they stay one more year, there is always next year.

Cheering Section: Guy Walks Into a Bar, Leaves With a Song by Peter Hyman on April 1, 2007

The short video montage that CBS uses to recap the agony and the ecstasy of March Madness is an N.C.A.A. tournament hallmark. Millions of college basketball fans are familiar with its musical accompaniment, but few are aware that the song originated as an effort to impress a pretty waitress.

The composer, David Barrett, was once a struggling folk singer. Having finished a show in late March 1986 at the Varsity Inn in East Lansing, Mich., he was watching a Boston Celtics game at the bar when an attractive woman sat beside him after her shift.

“She was the most beautiful waitress on the planet,” Barrett said. “The kind of woman who is so good looking that you don’t even bother talking to her.”

But the soft-spoken Barrett, then 31, tried to break the ice with an exposition on the poetic majesty of Larry Bird’s talents.

“I looked up at the TV to watch a fast break and when I turned back around, she had left without saying a word,” he said.

Barrett was determined to overcome the snub by making the woman understand how it felt to play basketball “in the zone” — by writing a song. He left the bar with the beginnings of a melody and what he hoped would be a good working title, “One Shining Moment.” The next morning, Barrett said, he wrote lyrics for the 3-minute-45-second tune in 20 minutes on a paper napkin.

Tomorrow night, that song will be the musical endnote to the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament for the 20th consecutive year. “One Shining Moment” has become “the anthem of college basketball,” the CBS announcer Jim Nantz said.

“It’s the official coronation now, more so than the hardware,” Nantz added, speaking by phone Thursday from Atlanta, site of the Final Four this weekend.

In 1986, Barrett received an assist from his high school friend Armen Keteyian, then a staff writer for Sports Illustrated, who passed a demo tape of his music to the television networks. CBS acquired “One Shining Moment” to accompany the highlights after Super Bowl XXI in January 1987, but the postgame interviews ran long and the package was never broadcast.

“David was crestfallen,” Doug Towey, the creative director of CBS Sports, said. “But a few months later I got back in touch and told him we wanted to use it for the Final Four. At this point, nobody can conceive of the tournament without it.”

“One Shining Moment,” with vocals by Barrett, made its Final Four debut on March 30, 1987, after Keith Smart hit a baseline jumper in the final seconds to give Indiana a 74-73 victory over Syracuse.

“I was sitting in a bar thinking, ‘Wow, what a game,’ like everybody else,” said Barrett, now married with two children and living in Ann Arbor, Mich. “I had no idea whether they were going to use the songs.”

Barrett had also composed a piano-and-strings piece, “Golden Street,” which was also unveiled that night. It is played as the national champions cut down the nets, as a prelude to the montage.

Barrett, who owns the rights to the songs, said he receives a generous “synchronization fee” from CBS each year and has a separate arrangement with the National Collegiate Athletic Association for their use during the tournament.

“One Shining Moment,” written with basketball in mind, has found its rightful home. After all, the 6-foot-3 Barrett was a standout shooting guard at his suburban Detroit high school and earned a basketball scholarship to Albion College. When an ankle injury ended his playing career, music became his sole focus.

Barrett’s most famous song has a cult following. Mateen Cleaves, who won a national title with Michigan State in 2000, has described “One Shining Moment” as “the best three minutes of March.” But it also has detractors.

“Taken on purely musical terms, it’s not a great song,” Evan Serpick, an editor at Rolling Stone, said. “The lyrics are melodramatic, and in any other context it would seem silly. Yet, somehow, juxtaposed with the emotional footage, it has a gravitas that works.”

Despite regime changes at CBS and the introduction of vocals by Teddy Pendergrass and Luther Vandross, “One Shining Moment” is a mainstay. (The Vandross version — his last recording before he died in 2005 — will be played tomorrow night.)

The song opened doors for Barrett and allowed him to make a living by pursuing music he is passionate about. He has since written the scores for professional golf, tennis and Olympic broadcasts, and for a half-dozen television shows.

A few years ago, Barrett said, he had an accidental reunion with the East Lansing waitress after he played a show there. She had brought along her two children and looked “just as beautiful as she was the night I tried to explain Larry Bird to her,” he said.

Barrett reintroduced himself and thanked her for the song. She laughed, having heard for years that she had been his inspiration.

“I owe you one,” he told her, wisely deciding to say no more.

The song had said it all.

E-mail: cheers@nytimes.com

We Are...Georgetown!

That was the chant heard throughout East Rutherford yesterday as Georgetown remarkably and ridiculously came back against North Carolina to win the East Regional in the NCAA tournament in overtime. They will be playing in the Final Four next weekend. I've been waiting for whole life for this moment. Seriously.

I became a Hoya fanatic because my uncle went to law school there however I missed their glory years in the mid 80's because I became a fan around '86. I remember vividly their loss in the East Regional final to Duke in 89 which is why I HATE Duke. I remember how Alonzo, Dikembe and a tat-less Allen couldn't bring them a regional championship but wouldn't you know it, the Big East player of the year this year is a Hoya named Jeff and sure enough, this was the year it happened...

If you by chance know how they got the name Hoya and why their mascot is a bulldog, pray tell. I know where I'll be next Saturday at 6:07 PM - watching G-Town vs. Ohio State. Go Hoyas!

3/28 UPDATE: long time friend and reader Phyl has enlightened me about my question above courtesey of Wikipedia. I guess I could have gone myself but how else do you engage the public? See below for the answers:

The University admits that the precise origin of the term "Hoya" is unknown. The official story is that at some point before 1920, students well-versed in the classical languages invented the Greek hoia or hoya, meaning "what" or "such", and the Latin saxa, to form "What Rocks!" Depending on who tells the story, the "rocks" either refer to the baseball team, which was nicknamed the "Stonewalls" after the Civil War, to the stalwart defense of the football team, or to the stone wall that surrounded the campus.

Georgetown's nickname is The Hoyas, but its mascot is "Jack the Bulldog." Among the earliest mascots was a terrier named Stubby, whose name is largely unfamiliar today but was perhaps the most famous dog of his generation. Stubby was discovered by a soldier at the Yale Bowl, and went on to fight in the trenches of World War I in France. He was "promoted" to Sergeant for his actions in combat and awarded a special medal by General John J. Pershing in a post-war ceremony. His owner then entered Georgetown Law School, and Stubby became part of the halftime show.

Goons: Indoor Lax Style

Below is a passage verbatim from a Village Voice article on the new Indoor Lacrosse League and the local team the New York Titans (who split their home games between Madison Square Garden and Nassau Colesium). It makes me remember the days when a wok lid was a frisbee, when making holes in walls was deemed a questionably okay pastime by some other than me, and when being asked, "What percentage of freak - goon - creature - dork are you?" was the start of a normal conversation. So, without further ado, here is the article:

Village Voice:
As in the NHL, indoor lacrosse teams usually have a "goon" - hockey players prefer to be called "enforcers," but NLL defenders don't get to be so picky - who'll fight opposing players when necessary in order to protect their more talented teeammates and fire up the crowd. The best offensive players aren't supposed to fight, because their team can't afford to have them get injured or land in the penalty box, but for those same reasons, opposing teams are constantly trying to provoke Boyle and Powell. "You'll get gooned up, but you have to keep your compsure," said Boyle, which led to the following conversation:

Boyle: You hope that your goon comes in and messes with their goon, and they goon each other out.

Powell: And you hope your goon is tougher than their goon. Or you will get gooned.

Boyle: Right, exactly. Because otherwise their goon's gonna beat up your goon, and then that goon's just going to keep beating the hell out of you.

Powell: Gooning.

Vegas, baby. Vegas.

Bill Simmons, also known as the Sports Guy, often writes very funny columns about how sports and life intersect. for ESPN. Some are just too wonky (in a sports sense) for me and the fact that he is from New England and therefore loves the Red Sox and the Patriots rankles me to no end. So, I read his column now and again but not religiously like some sports nuts I know.

That being said, his recent column titled Hip Hop Woodstock in Vegas about the recent NBA All-star game in Vegas was not only long but laugh out loud funny. I'm sitting in the Hard Rock Casino right now still laughing as I think about what he said and how its so true. Enjoy.

Via Ryan

Oy

Emmitt Smith, who once ran roughshod over 300 lb linemen in the bruising NFL, won the "Dancing with the Stars" competition last night which wouldn't be so horrible except that he looked like this:

Emmitt - how could you?

Donnie Baseball moves up the Ladder

Donnie Baseball is now one step closer to being hte Yankee manager when Joe Torre resigns. Although "The Hitman" (a nickname I never really loved - it implies violence and Donnie is such a nice guy) is my favorite baseball player - or athlete for that matter - of all time, the Yanks never have won a championship when he has been in uniform (1983 - 1995 / 2004 - 2006) so I'm not sure this is a good thing... Read more after the jump.

Major League Notebook: Mattingly Moves Up Yankee Ladder by Tyler Kepner

ST. LOUIS, Oct. 26 — The line of succession for the Yankees’ managing job might have become clearer Thursday.

Don Mattingly has been promoted to bench coach for Manager Joe Torre, with Kevin Long replacing Mattingly as the hitting coach. The moves leave Lee Mazzilli without a job on the major league staff for 2007.

Mattingly has spent the past three seasons as the Yankees’ hitting coach and has long been viewed as a possible successor to Torre, 66, who is entering the final year of his contract. Torre has often said that Mattingly will be a successful manager, even though Mattingly has no managerial experience.

Long has spent the last three years as the hitting coach for the Yankees’ Class AAA affiliate after previously working in the Kansas City Royals’ organization.

Mattingly will be Torre’s fifth bench coach in five years. Don Zimmer left after the 2003 World Series, giving way to Willie Randolph, who became the Mets’ manager after the 2004 season.

Joe Girardi was the bench coach in 2005 before leaving to manage the Florida Marlins, who fired him after one season. (Girardi is likely to return to the Yankees as a broadcaster for YES.)

Mazzilli took the bench-coach job last year after a season and a half managing the Baltimore Orioles, and he may be offered another position in the Yankees’ organization.

Not Amazing Enough

Even though Endy Chavez made one of the best catches I have ever seen live, or on reply for that matter, the Mets still went from you gotta believe to you gotta bereave (NY Newsday's cover today) in the span of 24 hours yesterday by winning game 6 on Wednesday and then losing game 7 in crushing fashion last night. Check out the ice cream cone scoop of a catch below:

I did it. I actually posted a Met to my blog. That catch makes you do crazy things - it was that good. That being said, I found it incredibly annoying having the Mets in the playoffs while the Yanks were sitting at home and while I didn't actively root against the Mets, I'm not sorry to see them lose either. There is now no more baseball in NY in 2006 and I say "good." Let's go Isles and J-E-T-S!

New York equals Atlanta

It seems that George Vescey and I are on the same page. I've been saying since the Yanks pathetically & meekly lost to the Tigers 3 - 1 that they are now they Atlanta Braves - a team that gets to the playoffs and then loses every year - and that I hate it. Sure enough, in the "Sports of the Times" article in Sunday's paper, he starts his column with: "As of now, the Yankees are officially the Atlanta Braves. They have a nice little season. They qualify for the playoffs. And then bad stuff happens to them." I am so pissed off and disappointed. They didn't play like champs, they played like chumps.

As the Boss put it: “I am deeply disappointed at our being eliminated so early in the playoffs. This result is absolutely not acceptable to me, nor to our great and loyal Yankee fans. I want to congratulate the Detroit Tigers organization and wish them well. Rest assured, we will go back to work immediately and try to right this sad failure and provide a championship for the Yankees, as is our goal every year.”

The thing people need to realize is that the great Yankee teams from 1996 - 2001 had role players with heart as well as superstars. They need to go back to that model ASAP. Get SupercalafragalisticexpealaBrosious to play third. Get Chad Curtis to play the outfield. Bring back some hungry players, bring back Paulie to smash some helmets and yell. Get some better and younger pitchers.

Rodriguez and Teammates Fall Apart, and Yankees Fall Short Again by George Vecsey

Detroit

As of now, the Yankees are officially the Atlanta Braves. They have a nice little season. They qualify for the playoffs. And then bad stuff happens to them.

This pattern worked well in Atlanta for a long time, but I have the feeling that Yankee fans (and the Yankees’ principal owner) are not going to put up with this, not for one more year. This kind of showing is not why a gross amount of cable revenue is being paid to Alex Rodriguez, who just may need to move on.

At the moment, the city of Detroit is thrilled — orange-flag-waving, horn-honking, income-anticipating thrilled. It was fun to see the Tigers’ players touching hands with their fans at the edge of the field (and spraying them with Champagne) after their 8-3 drubbing of the Yankees yesterday, but the Bronx Bombers do not exist for the humanitarian purpose of providing a lift to a downtrodden city.

The Yankees have not won a World Series since 2000. In Yankees thinking, this is a very long time. Yesterday’s loss was one of the most humiliating for the Yanks in the 11 years of Joe Torre’s tenure as the manager.

After winning their opening game Tuesday, the Yanks watched the upstarts play crisp, aggressive ball while the Yankees panicked, all over the place. Rodriguez was a wreck. Even Derek Jeter was lunging at pitches yesterday. And Torre was juggling players and showing he had lost faith in Rodriguez, his most expensive player. Now begins the revolution.

Rodriguez is not a bad person. He works hard, but he is being paid $25.2 million a year over 10 years to win the World Series, and that is not happening. He went hitless again yesterday, batted .071 in this short series, and has lost more than a series, more than a season. He has lost his teammates.

It’s a foxhole thing. The players know that Rodriguez has come up tiny in big games over the years. Now, with all of New York watching, A-Rod has come undone. If the Yankees’ management brought him back next year, the players would only ask, what about October?

After the final game, Rodriguez deflected any talk of moving on. He stood and faced the waves of news media and said: “I’ve never run from problems. I’m 100 percent committed to being a Yankee. This is the only place I want to play.” He added that he might think differently “if they’re dying to get me out of here.”

•There was no talk of that from Brian Cashman, the general manager, who said he was stunned at the reversal in three days. He called the attention to Rodriguez unfortunate, saying that other players “let us down at the same time.”

Cashman also said he had no thoughts of trying to trade Rodriguez, or of making any other personnel moves at that moment.

“I would like to figure it out and wrap my arms around anybody,” Cashman said. “I believe in working through adversity — ‘I got your back.’ I’m not giving up on anybody.”

As admirable as Cashman’s sentiments were, he has seen Rodriguez become identified as the main problem. Before this series began, Torre announced he was dropping Rodriguez to sixth, saying he had so many superstars he could basically pull a lineup out of his hat.

Some managers might have insulted everybody’s attention by pretending there was nothing wrong with Rodriguez, but Torre did the opposite: he confirmed A-Rod’s distress to the one person who might be trying to deny it — A-Rod himself.

A-Rod was subsequently moved back to fourth, and then yesterday was demoted to eighth. “We’re trying to win a ballgame,” Torre said.

That did not happen. Rodriguez was hitless and even made a throwing error at third base, which led to the Tigers’ fourth run. It was a terrible end to his third year with the Yankees.

Rodriguez would have to waive his no-trade clause, but it may be time to persuade him to do just that. The body language in the clubhouse is brutal, with Jeter, the captain, and most other key Yankees visibly abstract about Rodriguez. On some great teams, strong clubhouse personalities would have cleared the air, but Jeter’s team seems to lack the crusty resolve of great Yankees teams of the past.

Only Tuesday, many of us were speaking of the Yankees’ lineup as the best in baseball history — stars at every position, a modern Murderers’ Row. After this series, the 1927 Yankees of Ruth and Gehrig are safe for a while.

•The George Steinbrenner we used to know and love would be staging a King Lear imitation right about now, attempting to regain the powers of his youth. It is not clear how much Steinbrenner has left, physically or psychologically, but in his demanding prime he would have been firing or threatening everybody — relatives, executives, coaches, scouts, players and, yes, the manager.

Seeing the Yankees go from Murderers’ Row to virtual Hitless Wonders in recent days makes me wonder if Torre has a feel for this club anymore. However, moving Rodriguez just may revive the energy of this club.

Something’s got to change. Steinbrenner never meant for his Yankees to become the Atlanta Braves.

Where Fantasy Meets Reality

CNBC is reporting that office fantasy football leagues, being made up of employees from different levels of the org chart (from entry level employees to senior level management), create an interaction that may not happen throughout the typical work day. In fact, they may help you get a raise. Okay, its dubious but still, anything to validate my office league. Please note however that not only is my supervisor in my league but I've already repeatedly insulted her team so maybe I've shot myself in the foot here...

Fantasy football could help you get a raise: Author offers tips on using the game to climb the corporate ladder by Darren Rovell

Updated: 11:39 a.m. ET July 31, 2006

NEW YORK - It’s that time of year again. Fantasy football junkies absorbing all the information they can, crunching numbers, predicting breakout performances, and agonizing over whom to draft as quarterback, Peyton Manning or Tom Brady.

But did you ever think that your office league could ever lead to a promotion?

“These office leagues, they are made up of employees of different level of the org charts from entry level employees to senior level management," said Michale Henby, author of a book on fastasy football. "And it creates an interaction that may not happen throughout the typical work day."

Henby’s book shows fantasy players how to use the game to their advantage.

“A conversation will last longer when fantasy football is involved," he said. "Especially when it’s involved with two people who are in the same office, who are in the same league."

Henby’s work features a fantasy football conversation topic schedule broken down by a month. It also emphasizes the importance of seeding the league with upper management. Henby thinks he’s on to something, but others are cautious to endorse his idea.

“I’ll be honest, I would be leery of going to the CEO of my company and saying ‘Listen, our draft is at 3:00 on Tuesday. I scheduled it right before the meeting at 3:30. Would you like to be in it? It will be fun. It will be a great waster of time for all of us,'" said Will Leitch, editor-in-chief of Deadspin.com.

“It’s sad to take that little time when your brain gets to check out from work for a little while to work on fantasy football and to maneuver in, ‘Okay, I have to make a bad trade with the CEO, but maybe I can screw over the underling, so I look better if I still have the CEO win,'" said Leitch.

Henby actually covers that. Making a lopsided trade is the first deadly sin of fantasy football networking.

“One should not do anything unethical while they are playing fantasy football," said Henby. "If they do that, it could be perceived as a character flaw, which could then compromise future networking relationships."

With the average fantasy player being classified as a 39-year-old male who makes $75,000, Henby has many potential customers.

“It sounds like a good idea, but if that’s what we’re coming to, where fantasy football is being used as a corporate networking tool, then maybe fantasy football has gotten too big," said Leitch.

Fucking Kids From Shaolin

ESPN is now using a 5 second delay, instead of a live feed, for all Little League WS games because a foul mouthed kid from Staten Island was picked up by their microphones. Learning this news after a weekend full of loud and extremely foul mouthed 23 year olds from SI, I just had to laugh. In honor of the second Island borough, feel free to listen to some good Ghostface Killah tunes or feel free to read all about it courtesy of the AP after the jump.

From the AP yesterday:

Staten Island Manager Nick Doscher and one of his players were reprimanded by Little League World Series organizers yesterday after an incident Sunday during the team’s 1-0 loss to Lemont, Ill., in which the player yelled an obscenity and Doscher appeared to respond by striking him.

Staten Island, trailing by a run, had just turned a double play in the top of the sixth when the unidentified player swore as the players huddled in the dugout before the team’s final turn at bat. The obscenity was clearly heard on ESPN’s prime-time broadcast of the game, just before the network cut to commercial. It appeared that Doscher then struck the player with an open hand.

Neither Doscher nor the player was immediately available for comment. ESPN said it had decided to use a five-second delay for remaining Little League broadcasts.

Do You Love "Jogo Bonito"?

Even though the WC is over, I'm still going to post about footie. If you love it like I do, or simply pay attention to Nike ads, you might know that Jogo Bonito means "beautiful game" in Portuguese. If you are a Brazil supporter, you may want to find out what your Brazillian name is for when you get your very own customized Brazillian football jersey. Yes, they did bow out of the tournament a tad earlier than most thought. They still rock, or should I say samba...

Here is my shirt:

Via Chris

Its "Lift Your Spirits" Time, Footie Fan Style

Thanks go to Fox Sports for posting this Babes of the World Cup photo gallery which greatly helped to improve my mood. I wish I grew up in Brazil.

The Final Countdown for the US in Real Time

The restaurant beneath my office opened early today just for the World Cup matches. I'm there, with a laptop, coffee, borrowed wi-fi, American Flag, heart in stomach, and will present the game as I see and experience it:

10.30 AM - I'm watching the US World Cup match and cannot believe the bullshit that I just witnessed. Claudio Reyna, known as "Captain America," supposedly the best and most professional of all US players, just tried to dribble out of his own zone, lost the ball, gave it to Ghana and they scored. He was laying on the ground clutching his leg while it happened, weeping like a little girl, and I thought he was done, like he had torn his ACL. Then he got up eventually and is still in the game, which makes it even worse, because his leg should be broken if he gave up the ball that easily. So the US is losing. Great. Not only that, but 2 minutes later the Italians scored to take the lead against the Czechs. "Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?!" Dreck! Merde! I'm so pissed...

10:40 AM - For the first time ever, Reyna comes out of a World Cup game. So he is hurt. Good. I feel bad about feeling this way but it's how I feel - it was such a stupid, stupid play to get hurt on.

10:45 AM - GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAL!!!! A take away by DeMarcus, a great cross to Dempsey who brilliantly strikes to finish and this game is tied baby! Their first "real" goal of the WC. Just now, a Czech player was given a red card. Things are looking up...

10:48 AM - And now they aren't as more bullshit, this time thanks to the refs, has occurred. Ghana is awarded a penalty kick on a complete and utter senseless call. Although the striker looks nervous, he puts it away and Ghana is up now 2-1. I can't believe this...

Half-time - Why is it that I feel as if only 3 penalty kicks have been awarded in the first round thus far? Figures that one would be against the US. I really feel that FIFA hates the US. I can't even begin to go into it - one will think I'm a conspiracy nut. Plus, I don't want to sound like Mark Cuban, the current "The Refs and League Hate Me" poster child. I do believe that the US can pull off an incredible comeback, but it's going to be really difficult. They are re-reviewing the penalty kick and the announcer is saying "....not a penalty! In a game like this, you've got to really take a guy down, grab his hair...to get a penalty..." They report that Reyna' injury is a twisted right knee, close to a torn ACL (which is what it looked like when he was flopping about on the ground). G-d, I hope the US plays out of their gourd and come back. "The next world cup is 4 years away - you don't want to leave anything in the tank after these last 45 minutes." I couldn't agree more...and here we go - bon chance Les Etas-Unis!

11:10 AM - The US under Bruce Arena, their head coach, are 2-16-2 when trailing at half-time. Great stat. The announcer just complained about the grass not being match fit. I really hope the bitching doesn't start already...who am I kidding, I'm bitching..

11:17 AM - The US has never won the 3rd game in the 1st round. Great stat. Thanks guys. The US has missed some chances and time keeps on slipping slipping slipping into the future.

11:26 AM - Its the 64th minute and I'm starting to get that sinking feeling. I know what the Aussie's did against Japan but I'm not hopeful. Shot - POST! Damn it! McBride hits the post on a proto-typical McDiving header. Close but no cigar...

11:37 AM - Not much has happened of note. About 15 minutes are remaining in the match.

11:41AM - A hard tackle right outside the box. The US has a free kick and needs to capitalize on it. This is a very big play for them. What a crap ball! A horrible cross by Donovan and the ball sails out. Italy just scores again after a player literally dribbles around the Czech goalie. The Italians know how to get it done while Landon Donovan has not been a factor at all. So much for the "future of US Soccer."

11:58 AM - Game over man, game over. The US had a lot of set pieces (corner kicks and free kicks) and had a lot of good chances towards the end but just couldn't do anything with them which is what good footballers do - they convert those chances. It doesn't matter what the FIFA rankings say, the US is not that great of a team. My ego has taken a bit hit here; I used to think we were so good and that we had really buiit on our success from '02. They scored 1 goal in 3 games. Italy won but they lost. They are going home and hopefully will qualify for 2010 in South Africa. Damn it. My whole day is shot. All I say to say is, "3 Lions on the shirt....Go England!"

The Onion's Take On The US's Relationship with Footie

The Onion's recent World Cup related article Devastated By U.S. World Cup Team's First-Round Loss, Nation Grinds To Halt is so satirically funny it just has to be read and shared. My favorite part reads:

It is estimated that over 85 percent of U.S. households were watching the USA–Czech Republic matchup. And going into the game that most Americans have been waiting for, analyzing, and all but living for during the past four years, schools, offices, shopping centers—everything, in fact, except vital services—closed their doors as the game began.

Say you were from another planet, or the Midwest, and you didn't know that The Onion is a humor publication nad that the article was a humor piece, the 85% would have been the dead giveaway. I'm not even positive that eight-tenths of one percent of U.S. households watched the match, forget about 8.5%.

I for one have felt lately that The Onion just isn't as funny as it used to be. Hopefully, this article proves that they are back on track. Either that or I am just in love with all things footie right now. I can say for certain that one or both of those two statements is correct.

Does a Red Card Really Matter? It Depends.

To continue on my "all things footie" theme, the International Hearld Tribune (IHT) had an interesting article a few weeks back which featured a statistical analysis of how much getting a red card and having a player sent off really matters to the teams playing. One would think that the team with more men would automatically have the advantage but that assumption is incorrect. Feel free to read the full-text after the jump to find out more.

Soccer: When taking a red card, timing can be everything

By Daniel Altman The New York Times

MONDAY, JUNE 5, 2006

Anyone who follows sports knows there are certain situations in which it is better to commit a foul than give an opponent a chance to score. But when, exactly, is the right time to incur the referee's wrath?

Last month, the Champions League final in Paris between Barcelona and Arsenal presented such a situation.

In that game, Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona, the striker from Cameroon, was racing toward goal early in a scoreless match. Eto'o had already beaten Arsenal's defense, and only Jens Lehmann, the German national team's first-string goalkeeper, could stop him.

Eto'o, one of the top forwards in the world, nipped the ball past Lehmann, and it was then that Lehmann faced a decision: foul Eto'o and risk expulsion from the match, or let him pass for a certain goal.

Lehmann grabbed his ankle and sent him reeling. The referee, Terje Hauge of Norway, whistled the play dead and showed Lehmann a red card, thus ending his participation in the biggest match of the European season after less than 18 minutes.

Ronaldinho failed to score on the resulting free kick. But Arsenal had to play the rest of the match with 10 men instead of 11, and lost, 2-1.

Did Lehmann make the right decision from a statistical perspective? For Geert Ridder of the University of Southern California and his co-authors in research, the answer is yes.

They analyzed Dutch professional soccer from 1989 to 1992, using the assumption that the defending player's objective was to minimize the probability of losing the match - a decent model for the Champions League final, and for the knockout rounds of the World Cup.

The researchers found that with two evenly matched teams, as a tournament's two finalists often are, a player should foul to avert a certain goal anytime after the 16th minute. Lehmann acted prudently, with a minute to spare.

But what about games in the World Cup's group stage? Michael Wright, a senior lecturer in management science at Lancaster University in Britain, and Nobuyoshi Hirotsu, one of his former doctoral students, used data from the 1999-2000 English Premier League to see what would happen if a defender instead tried to maximize the number of points his team took from the match. In the English leagues (and others around the world), as in the World Cup's group stage, teams receive 3 points for a victory, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss.

The Lancaster researchers, again looking at evenly matched teams, found that the defender should always foul to avert a certain goal if his team is losing by one or two goals, and should never foul if his team is leading by two goals or more. If his team is winning by one goal or the game is tied, the gains by fouling begin from 7 to 13 minutes through the first 45-minute half, depending on whether the team is playing at home or away.

Wright and Hirotsu also discovered that committing the foul increased the chances of winning much more for the team that is already leading. The gains for the losing team are not so large. But in a few situations, like when one team is leading by a goal between minutes 28 and 41, a red card against that team actually improves both clubs' chances of winning; only the probability of a draw is reduced.

The question was recently asked in a different way by Marco Caliendo, a senior research associate at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin, and Dubravko Radic, an assistant professor of retailing and service management at the University of Wuppertal: How much does it matter that a red- carded player's team is reduced to 10 men for the rest of the match?

They used records of the World Cup tournaments from 1930 through 2002 to measure the effect of red cards. To hone their results as finely as possible, they considered only red cards awarded when a game was tied and neither team had a home advantage.

Caliendo and Radic found that a red card did not give either team an advantage in scoring after roughly the 60th minute of a 90-minute match. Absorbing the card and the expulsion was clearly preferable to allowing a goal as the match drew to a close. Earlier in the match, however, red cards actually raised both teams' chances of scoring, but the 11-man team gained a strong advantage.

So if Michael Ballack of Germany is steaming through the Costa Rican defense on Friday in the opening match of the World Cup, will the men at the back glance up at the clock before deciding whether to take him down? There is usually not time to think in such situations. But if it happens late in the second half, they shouldn't think once - let alone twice.


Anyone who follows sports knows there are certain situations in which it is better to commit a foul than give an opponent a chance to score. But when, exactly, is the right time to incur the referee's wrath?

Last month, the Champions League final in Paris between Barcelona and Arsenal presented such a situation.

In that game, Samuel Eto'o of Barcelona, the striker from Cameroon, was racing toward goal early in a scoreless match. Eto'o had already beaten Arsenal's defense, and only Jens Lehmann, the German national team's first-string goalkeeper, could stop him.

Eto'o, one of the top forwards in the world, nipped the ball past Lehmann, and it was then that Lehmann faced a decision: foul Eto'o and risk expulsion from the match, or let him pass for a certain goal.

Lehmann grabbed his ankle and sent him reeling. The referee, Terje Hauge of Norway, whistled the play dead and showed Lehmann a red card, thus ending his participation in the biggest match of the European season after less than 18 minutes.

Ronaldinho failed to score on the resulting free kick. But Arsenal had to play the rest of the match with 10 men instead of 11, and lost, 2-1.

Did Lehmann make the right decision from a statistical perspective? For Geert Ridder of the University of Southern California and his co-authors in research, the answer is yes.

They analyzed Dutch professional soccer from 1989 to 1992, using the assumption that the defending player's objective was to minimize the probability of losing the match - a decent model for the Champions League final, and for the knockout rounds of the World Cup.

The researchers found that with two evenly matched teams, as a tournament's two finalists often are, a player should foul to avert a certain goal anytime after the 16th minute. Lehmann acted prudently, with a minute to spare.

But what about games in the World Cup's group stage? Michael Wright, a senior lecturer in management science at Lancaster University in Britain, and Nobuyoshi Hirotsu, one of his former doctoral students, used data from the 1999-2000 English Premier League to see what would happen if a defender instead tried to maximize the number of points his team took from the match. In the English leagues (and others around the world), as in the World Cup's group stage, teams receive 3 points for a victory, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss.

The Lancaster researchers, again looking at evenly matched teams, found that the defender should always foul to avert a certain goal if his team is losing by one or two goals, and should never foul if his team is leading by two goals or more. If his team is winning by one goal or the game is tied, the gains by fouling begin from 7 to 13 minutes through the first 45-minute half, depending on whether the team is playing at home or away.

Wright and Hirotsu also discovered that committing the foul increased the chances of winning much more for the team that is already leading. The gains for the losing team are not so large. But in a few situations, like when one team is leading by a goal between minutes 28 and 41, a red card against that team actually improves both clubs' chances of winning; only the probability of a draw is reduced.

The question was recently asked in a different way by Marco Caliendo, a senior research associate at the German Institute for Economic Research in Berlin, and Dubravko Radic, an assistant professor of retailing and service management at the University of Wuppertal: How much does it matter that a red- carded player's team is reduced to 10 men for the rest of the match?

They used records of the World Cup tournaments from 1930 through 2002 to measure the effect of red cards. To hone their results as finely as possible, they considered only red cards awarded when a game was tied and neither team had a home advantage.

Caliendo and Radic found that a red card did not give either team an advantage in scoring after roughly the 60th minute of a 90-minute match. Absorbing the card and the expulsion was clearly preferable to allowing a goal as the match drew to a close. Earlier in the match, however, red cards actually raised both teams' chances of scoring, but the 11-man team gained a strong advantage.

So if Michael Ballack of Germany is steaming through the Costa Rican defense on Friday in the opening match of the World Cup, will the men at the back glance up at the clock before deciding whether to take him down? There is usually not time to think in such situations. But if it happens late in the second half, they shouldn't think once - let alone twice.

World Cup Investment Strategy

I read in the Wall Street Journal about a study written by Alex Edmans of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Diego Garcia of Dartmouth College and Oyvind Norli of the Norwegian School of Management. They found that World Cup losses deliver a statistically significant market decline the next day, with greater impact on small stocks. Winning provides little benefit, as national supporters apparently price in their team's victory.

An example of this came in the 2002 World Cup quarterfinal, when 86% of British fans polled mistakenly thought England would beat Brazil -- ranked as the world's best team -- while the most generous bookmakers saw only a 42% chance of English victory.

Based on this study then, one could implement this type of "World Cup" investment strategy: Choose a game where the likely loser of a big game is a country of great soccer patriotism and broad share ownership and, say the authors, "short futures on both countries' indices" to get maximum return from the asymmetry that losers get hit harder than winners benefit.

As the authors says, "It may offer the surest road to victory."

Orgy of Sports

This past weekend I enjoyed what could only be deemed as an orgy of sports and loved (for the most part) every minute of it. Now, I'm not just talking about any type of sports. I'm talking about the sports that the good old U S of A could care less about. While I did catch 3 Yankee games, for the most part I spent my time watching football, I mean soccer, and hockey and you know how popular those are with MUS (Mainstream United States). Here is a run-down of how I spent my Saturday and Sunday:

Saturday

8:45 AM - I arrive at Kinsale Tavern to watch England/Paraguay and enjoy a few pints of Guinness for breakfast. The bar is packed and there are many Crosses of St. George in the crowd (I have one on myself) though there is no chanting or singing. England wins one nil as Paraguay heads a wicked David Beckham cross into its own net. Many people will talk for the next few days about how bad England played and how tired they looked. Regardless, they lead Group B with 3 points.

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM - I play 2 on 2 football, I mean soccer, with 3 new friends that I met at the pub at Carl Schurz Park. We work up a good sweat and work up a thirst for more beer. Within 5 touches of the ball I am craving an organized game so badly that I almost cry. I have flash backs to my traveling team years and envision a not so distant future where I am playing on an organized team again. No food is yet in my system.

12:30 - 1:05 PM - Back at Kinsale to watch Sweden/Trinidad and Tobago. More Guinness and still no food. I leave at halftime to get Jessie some Advil and a heating pad as she awoke with a huge pain in the neck. I can say for certain that it’s not me.

1:10 PM - Upon returning to my building, I bump into Fritz, a porter who is sweeping the steps out in front, who comments on my shirt. He asks, "Did you watch the World Cup this morning buddy?" and we proceed to strike up a convesation about all things footie. Soon it veers into a discussion about our footie past. It turns out that not only did he play, he still plays (he seems to be in his 40's) but that used to play for the Haitian national team. Who knew? What I do know is that we'll be trading scores and quips for the rest of the month. Sweet.

1:15 - 2:00 PM - After I get back from the errands, I sit on the couch, play doctor (the real, not the kinky kind) and watch the rest of Sweden/Trinidad and Tobago which amazingly ends in a draw. The goalie on T&T is ridiculous and I have no idea how Sweden doesn't score 20 goals. I also finally eat something - a small grilled cheese sandwich which tastes delicious.

3:00 - 5:00 PM - Argentina/Ivory Coast is on TV and I'm on my couch watching it. I also flip back and forth to the Yankee game but they are losing and I'm not happy about it so I try not to pay too much attention. Argentina withstands a late Ivory Coast charge to win 2 -1. I have now seen 4 out of the first 5 World Cup matches and am feeling pretty pleased with myself.

5:15 PM - Jessie and I take a walk around the UES. We wind up going to dinner at Jasmine Garden, a Thai restaurant, near our apartment. The waiter notices my England shirt and comments on the game - "Yeah Beckham!" We talk footie for a bit and later in the meal he brings me a second beer even though I didn't ask for one. Before I can say anything, he says "For the World Cup - go USA!" I shake his hand and give a heartfelt thanks. I for one cannot remember the last time a waiter bought me a beer in a restaurant. In fact, I believe this may be the very first time, at least in a restaurant which a family member does not own. I declare yet again that the World Cup friggen rocks.

7:00 - 7:45 PM - I crash out and nap on my apartment's floor to recharge and dream of football. Okay, maybe the last part isn't true.

8:00 PM - Game 3 of the NHL Finals is on TV - NBC no less. NHL Hockey on NBC is weird. They are in love with Edmonton which is kind of odd, considering they are Canadian. I understand that they are a better "story" than Carolina but the coverage is very slanted towards the Canuckleheads. During the second verse of "Oh Canada," the singer Pierre something or other holds his microphone in the air and lets the 20,000 odd fans belt out the national anthem. They are incredibly loud, sort of on key and it gives me tremendous goose bumps. The crowd sings for a full minute of so. Man does Canada love hockey. I have never seen anything like this before, except at rock concerts when the singer screams "You know the words!" and lets the audience sing a chorus or two or maybe at one of the Yankee playoff games I went to post-9/11 in 2001. I decide Pierre sounds like a good name for my first born son and that Pierre DeJeff Lipson has a nice ring to it. The game itself is great. The action is fluid and very fast paced. That being said, I pretty sure that that a repeat of "The Golden Girls" on Lifetime will still get higher ratings when all is said and done. No one in the US cares about hockey. Okay, a few people do, yet I would hazard to guess that they are the same people that also care about soccer. The sports are very similar if you think about it. They each primarily feature low scoring games and highly praise not just goals but all the passing that lead up to goals as it is so difficult to actually score. In each the announcers voices rise and fall like 15 foot waves over and over again: "A pass up the left...now a cross to the right...a SHOT! OH!! JUST WIDE!!!!" Maybe I like these sports because I was never the uber-ladies man throughout my junior high and high school years. I would get close to hooking up a lot but often would never quite score, which is just like football, I mean soccer, and hockey. I think I have the beginning of a PhD thesis here...

Sunday

9:00 - 11:00 AM - I am awake and on my couch watching Netherlands/Serbia-Montenegro play while flipping back and forth to the French Open Men's Final. Americans really don't care about tennis either. This truly is the weekend of all weekends for the underdog un-MUS sports fan. Holland wins 1 - 0 on a brilliant text book goal by Robben. I am especially impressed because he was called off-sides about 2 minutes before on an identical play. Like a true pro, he learned his lesson so that when they tried the play again, which they immediately did, he executed it perfectly. Man, I am so psyched to play again. I cannot wait to be done with grad school next year so that I can join a football, I mean soccer, league. Right now, I just don't have time. In a year, or less than a year, watch out!

12:00 PM - I bike cross-town to walk my cousin's dogs thus missing the Mexico/Iran match. I am not that upset. While I like Mexico as a country, I hate their football team and Iran, well, let's not go there right now. This post is supposed to be about sports, not about politics. As an aside, the Puerto Rican Day Parade is going on and every 10 seconds I hear someone shouting "Boriqua!" My neighborhood is a mess. There is a vendor selling hot nuts on the corner of 85th and Park which is a completely incongruous site. There are more cops on my block than in some some small cities. I only just now learn through the power of search technology that "boriqua" means "a Puerto Rican" or "Puerto Rico" as it was the name of the island before the Spanish arrived. The crowd is loud-loud-loud. My block is filthy. Bingham is annoyed when I take him on his afternoon walk though he is so cute that he stops the people shouting "Boriqua!" in their tracks. Instead they simply go "awwww" and want to pet him.

2:30 PM - I watch some of the Yankee game while waiting for the next WC game to start and get a call from my buddy Dave. "I have some friends here - why don't you come over?" I hop back on my bike and head to his apartment.

2:55 - 5:00 PM - Dave has 2 TVs. When I arrive, one has on the Yankee game and the other has Portugal/Angola. Dave asks me if I want a beer. I laugh and say "What do you think?" We proceed to drink many. Portugal wins 1-0 but the Yankees blow the game in the 8th and lose 6-5 thus getting swept at home mind you by Oakland. That is the only downer of the weekend. After both games are over, the only sports left on TV before the NBA Finals is College Baseball and Nascar. While Dave loves it, I hate Nascar. They drive around in a circle 500 times. I just don't get the attraction. I head home to reconnect with Jessie, who was away for the day.

8:00 PM - Jessie and I go to dinner at Zocalo, a Mexican restaurant and one of our favorite restaurants in the city. I comment on Mexico's 3-1 win to our waiter and we chat about the WC. He mentions that he is in America and therefore roots for the US too. He walks away and I mention to the Jessie that the recent debate on immigration must have him spooked - "He's trying to make sure we don't report him to the Federales!" I recognize that what I said is very politically incorrect but I must point out that it also is quite possibly true.

9:30 PM through the end of the evening - The NBA Finals are on TV and I sort of care. I would like Dallas to win even though I strongly dislike the entire state of Texas because I view the Mavericks as "The Internet Team" (due to owner Mark Cuban) and therefore make a special allowance for them. Dallas does win. Yay. I'm much happier about the fact that I've seen the first 6 out of 8 World Cup matches. Not too shabby I must say. It reminds me of when I was in Ireland in '98 and how I just sat in a pub with my friend Rebecca ALL DAY LONG watching the matches. We didn't care who was playing who - we just liked to watch, and to drink ice cold Guinness. So I'm a footie fanatic - whatcha gonna do 'bout it? Nuttin? I thought so. Oh wait, you just don't care enough to do anything. Well, that works too as I'm a lover and not a fighter. I walk Mr. B one more time and go to bed dreaming of dribbles and crosses, of juggling the ball 100 times before it touches the ground and of an improbable US run at the title (which after today's utter disaster does not look that likely).

Footie Fanatics Unite!

The World Cup started about an hour ago. I'm currently in a bar with a laptop, borrowing someone's wi-fi signal, watching Germany play Costa Rica, drinking a Stella and doing work. Footie Fever has infected me and I guess the only cure will be for July 10th to arrive (the final is 7/9). I thought for sure that I wouldn't give 2 shits about the Germany - Costa Rica match. Then, at around 11:47 AM, 13 min to kick-off, I started to get all sorts of squirrelly, feeling trapped in my cube and desperately craving a TV so that I could watch the orgy of footie known as the World Cup.

So, I grabbed my laptop and headed downstairs to the bar/restaurant directly next door to my office. Luckily enough there was an unsecured signal available and here I am on cyberspace. Yeah, so I haven't posted in what feels like months (but is really weeks). Yesterday, I cared but right now I don't care. I have many posts stored in my brain, ones about topics like how the LIRR train announcements in Penn Station are now fully electronic (boo!) but those will have to wait. I'm watching soccer, I mean football damn it! England is playing at 9:00 AM tomorrow and I will be at a bar by 8:45. USA's first match is on Monday. I cannot wait!

Freddy Sez

Freddy "Freddy Sez" Schulman, my favorite octogenarian Yankee fan, is in the NY Times today, which is great timing considering I went to the Yankee game last week and talked all about Freddy to my co-worker Tony, who was not familiar with him. To me, seeing Freddy is a rite of Spring. When I hear the "tap tap tap" of metal on metal when someone bangs a spoon on his pot either when I'm at the Stadium, I'm listening to the game over the radio or watching it on TV, I know that Freddy is not only at the game but that all is right with the world.

As my first game was in 1986 and his was 1988, I feel like he has always been there. My favorite Freddy story is how after the Yanks won the Subway Series in 2000, they brought the trophy to his hospital bed since he was too ill to attend the victory parade. Freddy's down home charm allows the Yankees to remain a hometown team, even with a payroll that seems to be higher than a small nation's GDP.

I sincerely hope that he lives forever, though at the age of 80, I know that he may not carrying his pot around the stadium for that much longer but one can hope for another 20 - 30 years, right? After the jump, feel free to read all about him. I found it very interesting, especially since I believe some of the urban legends about him which I now know aren't true. The next time you hear a "tap tap tap" while watching a NYY game, you'll know what I'm talking about...

Stirring Enthusiasm, With Élan and a Pan
By MANNY FERNANDEZ

Freddy Schuman has attended about 1,300 New York Yankees games. But he has seen very little of them. He spends most of his time at Yankee Stadium with his back to the diamond, his attention focused on the crowd. He approaches a fan, offers a spoon, holds up a frying pan and waits for the noise.

The banging creates music only a Yankee fan could love: an off-key, metal-to-metal clanging that sounds less like a rallying cry and more like a boxing-ring bell with a crack in it.

Some fans do not love the sound at all, and they plug their ears with their fingers when Mr. Schuman walks by. Others leave their seats in the middle of the game to ask Mr. Schuman, 80, for the spoon, which he bought for a quarter at a Salvation Army thrift shop.

These fans bang Mr. Schuman's pan because their fathers banged Mr. Schuman's pan, because they believe that a couple of smacks to a piece of kitchenware with a green four-leaf clover painted on it will bring the Yankees a win, or because they have had too much to drink and want to hit something.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has whacked the pan. So has the Yankees' principal owner, George Steinbrenner. Yogi Berra hit it, and Hideki Matsui did, too. Bruce Egloff, 57, a doorman in Manhattan who greeted Mr. Schuman at a recent Yankee game, has struck it, as has Joe Cohen, 31, a police officer in New Jersey who has been going to games since he was 5. "You come to Yankee Stadium and there's certain staples that you expect," Mr. Cohen said. "Great hot dogs and Freddy. Where else is he going to go where 50,000 people know his name?"

Mr. Schuman, his spoon and his pan have become a quirky, treasured Yankee tradition, which he started 18 years ago when the team was in a slump and he wanted to inspire the fans.

He is a real-life mascot with one eye, one tooth and a raspy voice, the unpolished and unlikely cheerleader of a baseball empire with a nearly $200 million payroll.

He lost his teeth because he used to own a candy shop. He lost his right eye in a stickball game at East 178th Street and Clinton Avenue in the Bronx, where he was raised. He was 9, and sitting too close to the batter. He lost the candy shop, and a bicycle store, and a trucking business, and the nine-unit apartment building he used to own in the Bronx. He was even homeless for a time.

He had an uncle who used to celebrate the Fourth of July by riding a horse through Accord, N.Y., hollering and holding a broomstick he set on fire. Mr. Schuman feels that what his uncle did in Accord and what he does at Yankee Stadium are not so different.

He believes in miracles: A young man ran off with his pan one September day in 1996, when the Yankees were playing the Milwaukee Brewers, but a week later someone mailed it to The Daily News with no note and a fictitious return address. That pan is now at the Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center at Montclair State University in Little Falls, N.J.

Mr. Schuman and his pan — he has about eight of them — have been regulars at Yankee Stadium since 1988. He estimated that he has missed no more than 15 of the 81 home games each season, and some years as few as 2. Sometimes he missed a game because he was sick. Sometimes he was just tired.

"This is what keeps me going," he said of the games. "This is why I'm doing it. Probably if I stopped, I'd probably be buried already."

Mr. Schuman has given up more than his time for the Yankees. He has lost much of his hearing, he said. For holding onto a pan as dozens of fans before, during and after a game have struck it hard with a spoon two, three or four times, he has earned a pair of hearing aids, but he never wears them. He has no regrets. "It was a good cause," he said.

Not given to idle boasting, he calls himself the Yankees' No. 1 fan, but only because he feels that he has proof: A letter dated Nov. 4, 1993, from Richard M. Kraft Jr., then the team's vice president for community relations, in which Mr. Kraft called him exactly that, ending the sentence with three exclamation points.

Over the years, Mr. Schuman has become an unofficial Yankee ambassador, taking his pan to New Year's Eve celebrations at Times Square, the St. Patrick's Day Parade, the Puerto Rican Day Parade and, in February 2005, the bar mitzvah of Josh Housman, whose father, Mark, a longtime Yankee fan, hired him to provide entertainment.

Many fans do not know Mr. Schuman's last name. They know him simply as Freddy "Sez." During a game, he walks to every corner of the stadium holding a two-sided sign at the top of which he has scrawled: "Freddy 'Sez,' " followed by what he has to say for that particular game. Written in a curt, often-puzzling manner, like a Bronx haiku, the theme can be boiled down to two words: Go Yankees. One read: "Freddy 'Sez': Yanks quit? Hell no!!! Fight on!!!" The posterboard signs are stapled to the top of a piece of scrap wood, and below the signs he has bolted one of his welted, handleless pans, the bottom facing out.

Mr. Schuman, who lives with his fiancée and companion of 32 years, an accountant named Suzie Zakoian, on the Upper West Side, also gives away a newsletter to fans. Issues have featured his poetry ("I'm a believer, I got fever, pennant fever"), game analysis ("Can't we bunt? Are home runs the only way Yankees know how to play?"), public service notices ("If you're cooking, don't wear loose clothing near open flames or you may be cooking yourself!") and Ms. Zakoian's recipe for leg of lamb stew ("Add one can beef broth, chop up some parsley, sprinkle over meat"). Last year, he published a book, a collection of five years' worth of newsletters, that he sells for $25.

Mr. Schuman has taken his place in the history of New York's madcap baseball fans. The Brooklyn Dodgers had Hilda Chester and her cowbell in the stands at Ebbets Field from the late 1930's to the 1950's. They also had Louis Soriano and his Sym-Phony band of out-of-tune musicians serenading the fans, players and umpires, to whom they dedicated "Three Blind Mice." Ms. Chester was so revered that her cowbell is at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. One of Mr. Schuman's frying pans is there, too.

To many, Mr. Schuman has attained an almost mythic status. Some swear he has been going to games since the days of Joe DiMaggio. Others mistakenly believe he has never missed a home game. Some think he is Irish, because of the clover on his pans. (He is Jewish.) People bring him over to meet their grandchildren. They pose for photos with him, hand him dollar bills, call out his name in the stadium hallways. He never needs a ticket to see a game: he is let in free.

Chuck Frantz, the president of the Lehigh Valley Yankee Fan Club, in Pennsylvania, gave a party for Mr. Schuman's 80th birthday, paid for the printing of Freddy "Sez" baseball cards and donated a copy of Mr. Schuman's book to his local library ("The First Five Years," NF 796.357, Northampton Area Public Library, Northampton, Pa.).

"He's an embodiment of the die-hard Yankee fan," said former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. "If Freddy isn't there with his pan, it doesn't feel right. It feels like there's something missing."

Mr. Giuliani said he believes, as many Yankee faithful do, that Mr. Schuman brings the team good luck. Mr. Schuman did not quite comprehend the extent of this belief, until the morning of Nov. 4, 2001, when he was asked to rush out of his apartment and board a plane bound for Phoenix also carrying, among others, Mayor Giuliani and Mitchell Modell, the chief executive of Modell's Sporting Goods.

Mr. Schuman was urgently needed at Game 7 of the World Series. The Yankees were playing the Arizona Diamondbacks, and they had lost Game 6. "We all felt we needed to bring our lucky charm," Mr. Modell said.

Mr. Schuman banged his pan in Phoenix, but the Yankees ultimately lost, 3-2. "Mayor Giuliani took it good, but not me," he said.

He added, "I did my best."

1986 WS Game 6 Reborn in NES

This game featured one of the all-time classic NY sports moments - the famous Bill Buckner error (though everyone seems to forget that 3 singles and a wild pitch proceeded that momentous event). To pay homage to it, somebody reenacted the bottom of the 10th inning of the 1986 World Series using the classic NES game "RBI Baseball." Now, its not just the players and the action that was recreated. Oh no, that would be too easy. Also included is Vin Scully's audio perfectly syncronized to the action on the field, I mean in the game, which makes this simply fantastic. I have no idea how much time this took but I sincerely thank San Diego Serenade making this bit of sports nut/nerd art.

UPDATED on 4/17: Yahoo! Sports today had a great article about the RBI Baseball re-creation that Conor Lastowka, aka San Diego Serenade, put together. It just goes to show that WGTCTIP2 is truly ahead of the Mainstream Media (MSM) curve.

Via Monty

Lipso Nava traded to Da Bears

As MLB games started last night, I decided to once again look up my favorite minor league player and namesake Lipso Nava. It seems that early last week, star infielder Lipso Nava was traded to the Newark Bears. As the press release stated, "last season with the Riversharks, Nava batted .312 with 97 hits in 88 games, establishing a career high with 23 doubles. The veteran of over 1,300 games will be joining his third Atlantic League team after spending parts of five seasons with the Somerset Patriots and the Riversharks."

This is fantastic news for me as Newark is even closer to NYC than Camden. I am in the midst of contacting da Bears to arrange an interview with Mr. Nava. I hope to attend one if not several games this season. Buena suerte Lipso!

Another Winter Olympics 2014 Entry: Hoth

This candidate city web site for the 2014 Hoth Winter Olympics is pure genius.

Whether it involves American Idol or fallen idols (Michelle Kwan and Bode Miller) it appears the Olympics are getting less and less popular with the American public.

In order to revive the Winter Games and to help NBC out of their rating nosedive we devised the following plan that would grab a hold of the public consciousness here in the US as well as viewers around the world.

We believe the 2014 XXII Winter Olympiad (the 2010 Games have already been awarded to Vancouver) should be hosted and held on the ice planet made famous in Star Wars Episode V...Hoth

A good article describes how it came about.

New Yankee Stadium Only Has One More Hurdle

Today, the New York City Planning Commission unanimous approved the plan for the privately financed $800 million project and now its up to the City Council, which must vote on final approval within two months, to say whether or not this will be a reality. I know there has been some back and forth about whether or not its a good thing for the Bronx. My opinion? The Yankees should give a little bit more back to the community but all in all, its a good deal for most. You can't please all of the people all of the time.

I love the Olymics: Winter Edition

In the Winter of 2002, I was recovering from a serious car accident and couldn't even read due to massive headaches (it hurt too much to concentrate on the words). Thankfully, I had the Salt Lake City games to keep me company. I watched all day every day and for the most part loved every moment. That silly figure skating medal controversy was just too much for me.

There are so many things I love about the Olympics. I love the years of dedication and effort the athletes put in towards sports that for the most part will never make them any money and how they do it for some ideal "greater glory." I love the pagentry of the opening ceremonies, specifically when all the teams enter the stadium - I just love flags. I love how nations that shouldn't get along somehow do. At the end of the day, we are all humans. We were only born into our countries/states/cities. I didn't ask to be an American. Someone in China didn't ask to be Chinese. It just happened to work out that way when we were born. Sports is truly a global language - hell, North and South Korea are marching together in the opening ceremonies and those nations are still technically at war (a cease-fire was signed on July 27, 1953 but the war has not ended officially).

Specifically for the Winter Games, I love the obscure sports, like curling and the Biathalon, the later being where you cross-country ski as fast as you can for a few kilometers, then take a rifle off your back to shoot at some targets and repeat 5-10 times. Its what I imagine Nordic special forces to be. I'm not a huge fan of ice skating and ice dancing but I love when the Americans win, especially girls from Long Island. So, it is already understood that NBC owns my TV for 2 weeks and that NOTHING else will be watched starting on 2/10.

Torino/Turin is the now. For the future, Vancouver has got the games in 2010 which is pretty cool as I loved Calgary in 1988 (go Saddledome). The contenders for the 2014 Winter Oympics are [in alphabetical by city order]: Almaty, Kazakhstan, Borjomi, Georgia, Jaca, Spain, Pyeongchang, South Korea, Salzburg, Austria, Sochi, Russia and Sofia, Bulgaria . I for one am routing for Kazakhstan, if only because maybe then in a spirit of Olympic goodwill Borat's web site will be once again live.

Nikolay Valuev, aka the Beast from the East, aka the Russian Giant

Nikolay Valuev is 7 feet tall and weighs 323 pounds. He's also boxing's tallest and heaviest champion (he controversially won the WBA heavyweight championship back in December, 2005) and punningly the newest next big thing to hit the boxing world.

Feel free to start the Andre the Giant comparisons now. While Nikolay reads Tolstoy and writes poetry to his wife, there is a big brew-ha-ha in Russia now as he supposed beat the shit out of a security guards that was hassling his wife about where she parked her car. You tell me - is he more Princess Bride Andre or WWF Andre? Regardless, he's 43-0 and may be fighting in AC this year.

Just End The Season: Final Update

In type Jets fashion, they even made a mess of things when they won a game. Justin Miller, at the most inopportune time possible, ran back a kickoff to produce a come-from-behind victory which left the J-E-T-S with the 4th pick in next year's draft. If they lost, they would have drafted 3rd. Why couldn't you have done that when it actually mattered?!

After enduring last week's MNF debacle, you know, where they didn't get one real 1st down until 4:13 remained in the 3rd quarter, where they only ran 13 offensive plays in the entire first half (compared to 43 for NE), where they lost by the same score in the last MNF game (31-21) as they did in the very first one (to Cleveland on 9/21/70), I hoped for the best but expected the worst. True to form, the worst was what we got.

End Zone Notes:
>> Goodbye Wayne. Thanks for a decade of great football. You were the most powerful flashlight I've ever known.
>> Goodbye Vinny. I'm glad he set an NFL longevity record (TDs thrown in 19 consecutive seasons) on MNF - for one who literally got off of a couch to play this season, he deserves it.
>> Good luck Curtis. You don't have to worry about Reggie Bush anymore. I hope rehab goes well and that you're back badder than ever before.

Just End The Season Update #4

I took off a week after the J-E-T-S beat the Raiders (I game I attended) but considering they lost to the Fins in Miami to finish with their worst road record in franchise history (0-8), I thought I would write update #4. Sunday's game was prototypical Jets - rally, get incredibly close and then fall short at the very end. They are now 3-11. They are tied for the 3rd worst team in the league with the Packers and the Saints (though the Saints beat them so they are technically better than the Jets).

Going back to the Raiders game, when Curtis Martin didn't come out to play, I didn't know why. It was only after I got home that I realized he was shut down for the season. Not just that, but he may be done. As in "stick a fork in it" done. Injuries, non-guaranteed contracts and a salary cap add up to tons of job insecurity in the good old NFL. I'm hoping that Curtis is back next year starting for the Jets, especially since they let my main man LaMont go last season. In his first season in Oaktown, he's done alright and I'm sure he's going to be better and badder next year. A lot of people are already whispering that he's finished playing, at least for the Jets, and that would be a sad way to end a HoF career.

Just End The Season Update #3

Now the J-E-T-S are merely an afterthought in their own city. The first mention of the Jets on the main page of the NY Times.com's sports section today was in an article not even about the Jets. It was about how the mighty Patriots have fallen this year, saying their 16-3 victory yesterday was "a dull, mechanical victory over a 2-10 shell of an opponent."

There you have it. Football article #1: The Giants/Cowboys game. Football article #2: The Bengels/Steelers game. Football article #3: How Notre Dame are in a BCS bowl game. Football article #4: The aforementioned Patriots article. So where are the lowly Jets? They are buried down 3/4 of the way down the page under the "Pro Football" heading in an article titled "Patriots Rip The Seams of the Patchwork Jets."

Now for the galling stats. Yesterday's loss was the team's 7th consecutive defeat and its 9th in a row on the road dating to last year. Their QB Brooks Bollinger has led the team to only 1 touchdown in over 40 something drives since becoming the starter. Then again, at least he hasn't gotten knocked out. A reader Evan posted a comment to my first update and said, "We've been there through the days of glen foley and well you get my point. This year has been one of the worst to watch. It ruins my sunday to watch them." My friend Justin, who has 1 of only 5 Browning Nagle Jets jerseys in existance, won't even waste his time watching the games anymore. I for one still will and I am going to next Sunday's Raiders game. In years past, the Silver & Black versus the Green & White in December meant something. Either its going to be a fun remembrance of things past or cold waste of time. At least I'll get to spend time with my Uncle Jeff and my cousin Josh.

In case you were wondering, my fantasy team finished 7-6 but will not make the playoffs due to losing a tie-breaker. On week 13, I either needed to win or have 1 of 3 different teams lose. Wouldn't you know it - I lost and they all won. Somehow that is just so fitting this year.

Just End The Season Update #2

Another Sunday, another loss and they keep getting worse. One week removed from a total drubbing the J-E-T-S this week decided to dole out large scoops of hope (which tasted delicious). However, an hour or so later it was evident that the hope I had just eaten had spoiled months ago and that I was soon going to be very sick.

Like so many other Jets games that I've watched over the years, they fought gallantly only to come up nauseatingly short at the very end. Down by 2 points with only 10 seconds on the game clock, their rookie kicker, who already had made 4 field goals (the Jets had lots of trouble figuring out how to get into the end zone), came up about a yard short from about 53 yards out. Actually, it might have been a foot short. It was that close, but you know what they say though: close only counts in horeshoes and hand grenades. This game featured neither, the Jets lost at home and they are now a disgusting 2-9. Yes, Houston is still worse as they blew a 21-3 lead at home to lose 24-21 in OT which dropped them to 1-10. Its like they both are playing a game of chicken and I pray the Jets swerve first. Having the first pick in the draft isn't that big of deal to me. I'll take dignity over Matt Leinart or Reggie Bush any day...

Sick Soccer Skills

First off, while I like to refer the sport known globally as football and locally as soccer as football when posting I just could not pass up the fine alliteration above.

Before you head out to gourge on turkey related products over the next few days, you have got to check out the amazing juggling skills in this video. I have a one word review: Sick! I'm not sure who but somebody definitely got served.

Via Chris

Just End the Season Update #1

Last week I issued my declaration that the New York Jets should just end the season. Yesterday, they validated my call by getting shut out for the first time in 10 years in losing to Denver 27-0. Lovely. They have lost all 6 of their road games and have been outscored in those games 151 to 44. Super lovely. They also lost 2 quarterbacks in 1 game for the second time this season, which isn't half as bad as the fact that these 2 are different from the last 2, which means that the Jets are now on their 5th different quarterback this season. Super duper lovely. Did I mention that Brooks was vomiting on the sideline due to his massive concussion before he was escorted to the locker room? Did I mention that before Interceptaverde was knocked out he threw 2 more picks and fumbled the ball thrice bringing his total after only 4 and a half games to 6 interceptions and 5 fumbles? I think I'm going to stop now and just say I told you so.

Needless to say though I'm still watching and still hoping. Longtime Jet and future Hall of Famer Curtis Martin said "It's about as low as it gets, to be honest with you, but you can never give up. We're going to keep coming to work and we're going to keep trying." Actually Curtis, it could be worse. Houston is 1-9 and relatively healthy so their excuse is that they are just plain awful. Then again, who knows what will happen next week - the J-E-T-S may pass them by...

In a Ballpark, far, far away...

The image below is totally real:

An actor playing Chewbacca threw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to a game between the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park in Boston, Wednesday Sept. 28, 2005. Chewbacca and Princess Leia were on hand to promote the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston.

After this stunt, I swear if the Yankees lose to the Red Sox again this year I'm going to do something drastic, though I'm not sure what. Get Donnie Baseball his damn ring!

Lipso Nava Fan Club

Johnny Goodtimes (yes that is his real name), is the leader of a Quizzo bar game movement in Philly, PA. He is also a reporter who wrote an article titled "Down and Out in Lancaster" about the Camden Riversharks for the Philiapelphia City Paper. Mr. Goodtimes contacted me because after he interviewed and hung out with the team, he googled "Lipso Nava" because Lipso had made such a great impression on him.

Lo and behold, my site came up. Among other things, he told me that Lipso is called "the Living Legend" around the clubhouse and that many are convinced he would be a gold glover if he could just get a shot at playing in the majors.

The article talks about my favorite player quite a bit throughout the piece. In fact, right off the bat the article opens with this paragraph:

Lipso Nava has the best porn moustache in baseball. Catcher Travis Anderson informs me (and everyone else within earshot) of this fact shortly after I enter the clubhouse. "He's the Peter North of the Dominican Republic," the backstop says.

"He's from Venezuela," cries a voice in the back of the room.

"I know," shoots back Anderson. "I was trying to protect his identity."

Gotta love it. Makes me want to watch Major League in the worst way. The article itself is a good look at what life is like for minor league players. Enjoy.

One last thing. Johnny also said "If you decide to start a Lipso Nava fan club, count me in." I'm thinking of doing so. Anyone else out there interested in joining?

Lipso Snubbed

It seems that while the Camden Riversharks will be sending five players to the Atlantic League's All-Star game next week, Lipso Nava will not be one of them. To all those who snubbed my namesake, I say a pox on all your houses.

Catch The Damn Ball!

You know you are pretty bad when, as a fan, your ineptitude is so great that even the AP mentions it in their game recap: "Rob Marchese, a 41-year-old businessman from Queens sitting in a folding chair in the first row in the right-field stands, fumbled away both Rodriguez's and Giambi's homers."

I was watching the Yankee game last night on the tele with my friend Dave. In the first inning, A-Rod hit one that just cleared the right field fence, the kind of homer Donnie Baseball made famous. The ball went right through the hands of a middle aged guy wearing a gray tee shirt, hit him in his shoulder, then hit his chest, then went through his hands again and bounced onto the field. The second he dropped it he made the biggest commotion, slapping the wall and flailing about because he knew he blew it - he had an A-Rod homer in his hands and lost it. I have never been close enough to even try and catch a ball but I'm always aware of the ball when its hit. Catching a major league baseball is just one of many little things on my life's to-do list that I hope to accomplish. You just don't get a second chance on something like that.

Or maybe you do. Like the very next inning. Sure enough, in the bottom of the second Giambi hit one in the exact same place. Sure enough, the same gray tee-shirted guy was there, in the exact same spot. And yes, sure enough, it went through his hands, hit him in his chest, then his arm, and then bounced back onto the field. Again, he made a commotion except this time it was more rueful, as if he knew the Fates were conspiring against him so what are you gonna do, right?

If you'd like to see photo evidence, click here.

Rob: you have the privilage of being awarded 15 minutes of fame due to incredibly poor fielding skills. To that I say, "mazel tov."

After the jump, you can read what the NY Times had to say about it. It seems that everyone is talking about Rob...

From the July 8th Edition of the NY Times:

It was Rodriguez's 22nd of the season, and it seemed to delight all but one fan, who might have had the most exciting night of anyone at the game.

The ball hit the 41-year-old Robby Marchese in the chest and the hands, but it fell back to the field. Marchese was crestfallen, slumping his body on top of the wall, his head down, for several seconds.

"I didn't get all of it, but I got enough," Rodriguez said. "I think I hit it to the fan in the gray shirt who almost got two balls."

Marchese's next chance was just an inning away. Jason Giambi led off the second inning with a liner to right. Casey Blake chased after it, and the ball deflected off his glove - and onto Marchese's chest. Again, he dropped the ball.

"It didn't hit me where it was supposed to," said Marchese, who had never sat in that seat before. "I'm going to be on SportsCenter for the rest of the week."

By George, A New Stadium

The NY Yankees have announced they are building a new stadium in a deal worth around $800 million that is being almost totally privately funded. That means its coming out of George's pocket, not yours or mine, for the most part which is a breath of fresh air. In a nice bit of creative financing, the stadium will be financed by 40-year tax-free bonds issued by a local development corporation created by the city and state. The Yankees will have to shell out about $50 million a year in interest payments but that cost has the nice benefit of allowing the yankees to pay significantly less in revenue sharing each year to the rest of Major League Baseball. Why fund other teams when you can fund the construction of your own stadium? Very smart and shrewd move guys, I applaud you.

I for one am thrilled by the idea. I love the current stadium and have loved (though not necessarily enjoyed - losing games suck) every second that I have spent in it. The fact is though that its old, it needs to be updated and it needs to generate more revenue that it currently does, especially if the Yankees are to remain the Yankees. So, a new stadium at some point to me was a definite. It just was a matter of when, where and how. So, when the stadium proposal was publicly unveiled, I was very happy to see that it contained lots of good details, like how the current stadium will be kept for the use of local amateur, high school and college leagues and how "not only will the new house retain the feel of the current ballpark with identical field dimensions and bullpen placements, but many planned features will actually recapture some of the original features eradicated by the extensive renovation that was done on the old stadium from 1973-75."

When I was a kid, when Steinbrenner would rumble and threaten moving the team to NJ, I quaked in my little sneaks and prayed that moving day would never come. Over the years it was been a nagging fear and now I don't believe it will happen. The Bronx Bombers stay in the Bronx. Period.

After the jump, check out pics of the new stadium.

Lipso for MVP

It seems that a .309 batting average with 30 runs scored, 1 homer and 9 runs batted in is good enough to be added as a choice to the "Who has been the Riversharks MVP to this point in the season?" poll on the Camden Riversharks web site. The poll is below the fold so you'll need to scroll down to see it.

Do me and everyone who has "lipso" as part of their name (whether first or last) a favor and go vote for Lipso today. He's currently tied for the lead with 33% of the votes. I believe my faithful readers can push him over the top.

Lipso Nava spotted on LI

My friend Eric called me today to say, "Dude, Lipso Nava is in the Post!" Turns out, his new team, the Camden Riversharks, played the Long Island Ducks last night. The Ducks now have John Rocker on their team so they are getting tons of media attention, especially since he recently said: "I've taken a lot of [stuff] from a lot of people, probably more than anybody in the history of the sport. I know Hank [Aaron] and Jackie [Robinson] took a good deal of [stuff], but I guarantee it wasn't for six years." Um, how many burning crosses were placed on his lawn?

Anyway, the Post states that in the 7th inning, "Rocker started off well, going 0-2 to the first batter, Travis Anderson, before Anderson ripped a line-drive single to left. He then walked Kevin Jordan, throwing a one-hopper to the plate on ball four. He promptly loaded the bases when Lipso Nava singled through the right side of the infield to load the bases."

Ah, the NY Post, the most eloquent of newspapers, where all the writers should win Pulitzers....

Segway Polo

No, this isn't an April Fools Day joke:

This sport is real, it's growing, it's specially designed for and by wealthy dorks and I knew it was only a matter of time for something like this was invented once the Segway was unveiled to the public.

After the jump, read the NY Times article all about this "sport." Enjoy.

Thwack! Whir!... Whir? Segway Polo Is Born
By Josh Sens
NY Times, April 1st, 2005

WHEN Alex Ko and his companions took up polo, they made some subtle changes to the sport once enjoyed by ancient Mongol warriors, who are said to have played with the severed heads of their enemies.

Mr. Ko and his friends opted for a 6-inch-diameter Nerf ball.

And instead of horses, they chose to ride Segways, the self-balancing transportation devices first developed as a short-distance alternative to the automobile.

"It's similar to real polo," Mr. Ko said, "but without the manure."

He was standing in the thick grass of Ponderosa Park, a shaggy patch of green in Sunnyvale, Calif., preparing to compete in a game that replaces the thundering of hooves with the whir of battery-run machines.

On the first and third Sunday of every month, Mr. Ko, 34, a mechanical engineer from nearby Santa Clara, organizes Segway polo matches with friends and colleagues, most of whom work in the Silicon Valley, all of whom belong to the Bay Area Segway Enthusiasts Group.

Their matches have some of the trappings of traditional polo. Players wear jerseys - actually, colored T-shirts - and use mallets to knock a ball into a goal. Score is kept. And there is an umpire, although players feel free to ignore his calls.

"There are a few guys who take it seriously, but mostly this is a big goof," said Jon Bauer, 37, of San Francisco.

This morning's contest pitted four against four. Mr. Bauer's team wore blue T-shirts. Mr. Ko's team wore yellow and included Stephen G. Wozniak, one of the founders of Apple Computer and the owner of seven Segways. He is respected, if not feared, on the polo field for his aggressive play.

"My swing feels off," Mr. Wozniak said just before the match began. He whirled his right arm in a windmill motion and said that he was operating on vir