Thursday, October 31, 2013
Boston Red Sox
Congratulations. Historic & deserving World Series win in six games over the Cards, Entertaining Series for me, having no particular like for either team, I found myself rooting for the Sox to win one at home. Emotionally, deeply satisfying for a city still dealing with the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. & they beat some great pitchers.
Labels: baseball, in the news, sports
Friday, August 16, 2013
Difference between this August & last August. Mets 9 games under .500 but not acting or playing like it. They go to L.A., lose three close ones to the Dodgers - two of which they should have won except the Dodgers aren't losing to anyone right now, they're the best team in MLB, on an amazing run. The Mets shrug it off, go to San Diego & beat the Padres in the series opener. Without David Wright. There's players on The Mets, rookies & vets, who want to be with The Mets next year. Manager Terry Collins & management have made it clear that August & September are judgment time. There's some major holes to be filled on this team, from the inside or the outside. Collins stands a fair chance of coming back next year.
Yankees have finally assembled a lineup with some pop in it. Might be too little too late. Six games back for wild card. Do-able, but they have to jump four other teams & accomplish it with mediocre starting pitching, except for Kuroda.
Yankees have finally assembled a lineup with some pop in it. Might be too little too late. Six games back for wild card. Do-able, but they have to jump four other teams & accomplish it with mediocre starting pitching, except for Kuroda.
Friday, October 19, 2012
It was gratifying that the Yankees not only lost the ALCS, they lost so ugly it will be legendary. Swept in 4 games by Tigers. Some of the most execrable hitting in postseason history wasting good pitching in 3 of the 4 games. This wasn't '76 or '95, teams on the verge of greatness, but a bunch of miserable, tired failures, the last wheeze of a "dynasty" that was rarely as good as advertised anyway.
Labels: baseball
Friday, August 17, 2012
Nationals 6, Mets 4
Mets pitcher Johan Santana set a negative club record tonight by giving up six runs in his sixth consecutive game. Johan is the Mets' ace who pitched the first no-hitter in Mets history back on June 1. He's pitched a couple of good games since, but mostly he's been awful. He had Tommy John surgery last year & was on the disabled list for three weeks this season with a sprained ankle.
Mets manager Terry Collins was so deeply moved by Santana's gutsy no-hitter & what it meant to Mets fans that he called Johan his "hero" & could not restrain tears. We all felt that way that night. But Collins also expressed anxiety in his post-game press conference over leaving Santana in the game to throw 134 pitches on his recently repaired arm. Of course, he had no choice. But he had plenty of call to worry. Collins is an emotional man & he cares deeply about his players; most of them are kids up from the minors he had over-achieving for half the season until they ran outta gas. Santana is an old pro. Maybe the no-hitter did something not good to Santana.
Mets manager Terry Collins was so deeply moved by Santana's gutsy no-hitter & what it meant to Mets fans that he called Johan his "hero" & could not restrain tears. We all felt that way that night. But Collins also expressed anxiety in his post-game press conference over leaving Santana in the game to throw 134 pitches on his recently repaired arm. Of course, he had no choice. But he had plenty of call to worry. Collins is an emotional man & he cares deeply about his players; most of them are kids up from the minors he had over-achieving for half the season until they ran outta gas. Santana is an old pro. Maybe the no-hitter did something not good to Santana.
Friday, June 01, 2012
Special night for Mets fans
In year 51, in game 8,020, in ballpark 3, the New York Mets have a no-hitter of their own.
Johan Santana threw the first no-hitter in Mets history Friday night, the 275th in major-league history, and New Yorkers at Citi Field celebrated a moment more than a half-century coming, through the likes of Nolan Ryan, Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Doc Gooden, Frank Viola, David Cone and equally capable pitchers.
But it was Santana, the Venezuelan-born left-hander, the two-time Cy Young Award winner whose career was threatened by major shoulder surgery in 2010. He stood on the mound after a grueling 134 pitches against the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals, punched his glove, raised his fists and became the first with an 8-0 Met win.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Winter Solstice
happened last night, makes to day the shortest day of year, then we begin inching toward March equinox.
Last night a large building in the huge old Burry Biscuit complex caught fire. A total loss of the building, they have to let it burn & hope it doesn't spread. The fire chief describes the inside as "a maze." It's over a mile east of here, with breeze blowing from west we have no smoke in this neighborhood. Burry moved out over a decade ago. Burry had a Girl Scout cookie contract & was a major local brand. Interlaken Bakery was in there for awhile, they mainly made wafers for ice cream sandwiches. The facility was subdivided & had several businesses. It's a pretty crummy stretch of road now near the Newark border.
When I was a kid, Burry had a unionized workplace, you could earn a living there. The company was renowned for its men's & women's softball teams, playing in the highly competitive industrial leagues, considered semi-pro because it was believed that companies recruited ballplayers & gave the best ones special privileges. The teams also played "traveling" independent ball clubs. The men's teams had some former college & high school men stars; I don't know where the women learned to play at such a high level back then. Newspapers assigned sports reporters & photographers to cover the most important games (Burry, Esso Refinery, Linden Arians, Raybesto Brakettes, Budweiser Belles. The Arians & Belles were still playing in the '80s, I used to go to their games, their league was struggling).
That vast adult amateur sports scene lasting from the '30s to the '70s, including bocce clubs & thousands of bowling leagues, is gone now. I played in one of the last bocce leagues in the late-'90s, for Renna Graphics, on a lousy gravel court behind Rahway Library, just a goof for us except when we played an Italian-American club & got destroyed.
(By the numbers bowling remains a very popular game, but the leagues have collapsed, which may say something about our social order. My mom played leagues for years, I was never under the impression she was into bowling, it was her weekly night out. )
Last night a large building in the huge old Burry Biscuit complex caught fire. A total loss of the building, they have to let it burn & hope it doesn't spread. The fire chief describes the inside as "a maze." It's over a mile east of here, with breeze blowing from west we have no smoke in this neighborhood. Burry moved out over a decade ago. Burry had a Girl Scout cookie contract & was a major local brand. Interlaken Bakery was in there for awhile, they mainly made wafers for ice cream sandwiches. The facility was subdivided & had several businesses. It's a pretty crummy stretch of road now near the Newark border.When I was a kid, Burry had a unionized workplace, you could earn a living there. The company was renowned for its men's & women's softball teams, playing in the highly competitive industrial leagues, considered semi-pro because it was believed that companies recruited ballplayers & gave the best ones special privileges. The teams also played "traveling" independent ball clubs. The men's teams had some former college & high school men stars; I don't know where the women learned to play at such a high level back then. Newspapers assigned sports reporters & photographers to cover the most important games (Burry, Esso Refinery, Linden Arians, Raybesto Brakettes, Budweiser Belles. The Arians & Belles were still playing in the '80s, I used to go to their games, their league was struggling).
That vast adult amateur sports scene lasting from the '30s to the '70s, including bocce clubs & thousands of bowling leagues, is gone now. I played in one of the last bocce leagues in the late-'90s, for Renna Graphics, on a lousy gravel court behind Rahway Library, just a goof for us except when we played an Italian-American club & got destroyed.
(By the numbers bowling remains a very popular game, but the leagues have collapsed, which may say something about our social order. My mom played leagues for years, I was never under the impression she was into bowling, it was her weekly night out. )
Labels: baseball, Elizabeth NJ, holidays, sports
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Matt Kemp
I probably would've voted for Matt Kemp of the Dodgers by a hair over Ryan Braun of the Brewers as National League MVP. They were really close. Braun won. Braun had the pressure of a divisional race. Kemp had the pressure of a mediocre team with an owner having serious legal problems. It was rumored several times during the season that the Dodgers wouldn't make their payroll. Yet the Dodgers finished three games over .500. Kemp hit 39 homers & stole 40 bases in 2011. He's says he's going for 50 & 50 in 2012. I think he's serious.
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Hot Stove
Can the Los Angeles Dodgers find an owner who
- Understands it's the freakin' Dodgers?
- Has it contending for a playoff spot every season?
- Knows that if the team is run well, it'll earn lots of money?
- Understand that Citi Field is in New York City?
- Remember that Yankee Stadium is also in New York City?
- Consider the possibility that if they can't afford to make a reasonable offer to Jose Reyes, they can't afford to own a Major League baseball team in New York City?
Labels: baseball
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Listening to Dr. Joy during a great baseball game
Listening to Dr. Joy Browne on the radio. Whenever she talks about dating, how to meet people, one suggestion is always take a class at a community college.
When I was about 40, recently out of a long term relationship, I enrolled in a Saturday course in Child Psychology. Not to meet women, It was a requirement I had to fulfill. The teacher was To-Be-Announced. When I arrived there, I noticed the class of about 25 had only 3 men, & hardly any of the women, most looked over thirty, wore wedding rings. I thought, well, this class might have some unexpected perks.
Teacher turned out to be a large African-American woman, very opinionated, very smart, liked a loose class with lots of free-flowing discussion. She was a wonderful teacher. The next week I saw nearly all the women now wore wedding rings. Brazenly, I called this to the teacher's attention - it was a psychology class. She asked, "How many of you, thinking I might be a male teacher, removed your wedding rings last week?" Sheepishly, a lot of them raised their hands. She said, "I think Bob is a very disappointed. But his disappointment is a compliment."
This teacher had some important job in Newark Public Schools. Shortly before the end of the course she tried to recruit me into the Alternate Route Teacher Certification Program, Newark then experiencing a severe teacher shortage mostly from new hire teachers failing to finish a full school year. I said I had no degree. She asked how many credits I had, which wasn't too far from a degree, & if I had substitute teacher approval in any school system. I said, yes, in two Union County Systems, but I'd only worked a couple weeks in one on short-term creative writing contract. She said I could be a full time substitute while I finished up the degree & went through Alternate Route training, & they'd apply substitute days toward tenure. I thought, they must be really hard up for fresh meat. So I got honest. I said, look at me, they'll chew me up in Newark. She said they wouldn't assign me to one of those schools. I thought, sure, that's like the National Guard recruiter in the spiffy uniform promising you that after basic training you'll never again get your fatigues dirty.
I didn't apply. Later, Star-Ledger exposed that Newark Alternate Route hires were being assigned classes with no mentors, Your first month or two was supposed to be closely supervised by an experienced teacher. New teachers - none with a degrees in education - were being assigned classes with little or no mentoring, clueless about discipline, class plans, educational materials. Schools were so understaffed that mentors couldn't be spared. Newark seems to have solved the under-staffing problem.
I do know a couple of guys who used Alternate Route to become public school music teachers. I had thought there was a surplus of music teachers, & these two guys, tho good musicians, lacked broad experience, including basic keyboard skills. But both became very good music teachers.
When I was about 40, recently out of a long term relationship, I enrolled in a Saturday course in Child Psychology. Not to meet women, It was a requirement I had to fulfill. The teacher was To-Be-Announced. When I arrived there, I noticed the class of about 25 had only 3 men, & hardly any of the women, most looked over thirty, wore wedding rings. I thought, well, this class might have some unexpected perks.
Teacher turned out to be a large African-American woman, very opinionated, very smart, liked a loose class with lots of free-flowing discussion. She was a wonderful teacher. The next week I saw nearly all the women now wore wedding rings. Brazenly, I called this to the teacher's attention - it was a psychology class. She asked, "How many of you, thinking I might be a male teacher, removed your wedding rings last week?" Sheepishly, a lot of them raised their hands. She said, "I think Bob is a very disappointed. But his disappointment is a compliment."
This teacher had some important job in Newark Public Schools. Shortly before the end of the course she tried to recruit me into the Alternate Route Teacher Certification Program, Newark then experiencing a severe teacher shortage mostly from new hire teachers failing to finish a full school year. I said I had no degree. She asked how many credits I had, which wasn't too far from a degree, & if I had substitute teacher approval in any school system. I said, yes, in two Union County Systems, but I'd only worked a couple weeks in one on short-term creative writing contract. She said I could be a full time substitute while I finished up the degree & went through Alternate Route training, & they'd apply substitute days toward tenure. I thought, they must be really hard up for fresh meat. So I got honest. I said, look at me, they'll chew me up in Newark. She said they wouldn't assign me to one of those schools. I thought, sure, that's like the National Guard recruiter in the spiffy uniform promising you that after basic training you'll never again get your fatigues dirty.
I didn't apply. Later, Star-Ledger exposed that Newark Alternate Route hires were being assigned classes with no mentors, Your first month or two was supposed to be closely supervised by an experienced teacher. New teachers - none with a degrees in education - were being assigned classes with little or no mentoring, clueless about discipline, class plans, educational materials. Schools were so understaffed that mentors couldn't be spared. Newark seems to have solved the under-staffing problem.
I do know a couple of guys who used Alternate Route to become public school music teachers. I had thought there was a surplus of music teachers, & these two guys, tho good musicians, lacked broad experience, including basic keyboard skills. But both became very good music teachers.
Labels: baseball, mental health
Thursday, October 06, 2011
Seeyah Yankees
Detroit beat the Yankees in five games, tonight a close one at the Stadium. Yanks outscored Tigers, their two wins were blowouts. Yanks had their chances, Tigers had the pitching, I hope Tigers beat the crap out of the Rangers.
Yankees actually know how to lose with class. Personally, I like many of their ball players. But you can't say that about Yankee fans, especially the younger ones who know nothing but winning. 2008, the only year since '94 the Yankees missed the playoffs, is to many Yankee fans what Katrina is to New Orleans, so tragic they consider it, so outraged they were. Losing to a very solid Detroit team isn't like what happened to Boston this season. Be good to have a Rust Belt series, Detroit & Milwaukee, a baseball fan's series. Impossible for Fox to promote it. Any series without the major market Yankees or Dodgers sort of lacks broad appeal outside of baseball unless there's some other compelling story (like the Red Sox "idiots" breaking the "curse" in 2004). Dodgers haven't won a pennant since 1988, since the O'Malleys sold the team. The World Series now gets second billing to the NFL season.
Yankees actually know how to lose with class. Personally, I like many of their ball players. But you can't say that about Yankee fans, especially the younger ones who know nothing but winning. 2008, the only year since '94 the Yankees missed the playoffs, is to many Yankee fans what Katrina is to New Orleans, so tragic they consider it, so outraged they were. Losing to a very solid Detroit team isn't like what happened to Boston this season. Be good to have a Rust Belt series, Detroit & Milwaukee, a baseball fan's series. Impossible for Fox to promote it. Any series without the major market Yankees or Dodgers sort of lacks broad appeal outside of baseball unless there's some other compelling story (like the Red Sox "idiots" breaking the "curse" in 2004). Dodgers haven't won a pennant since 1988, since the O'Malleys sold the team. The World Series now gets second billing to the NFL season.
Friday, September 23, 2011
da Mets
The Mets finished the season with a road record of 43-38. Based on that number, one would imagine they had a winning home record with six home games left. Their home record to date is an abysmal 31-44. If they'd won 43 games at home so far, not unreasonable even for a mediocre team, they'd be two games out in the Wild Card race.
Rookie Manager Don Mattingly is bringing in the Dodgers at about .500. He stepped into a nightmarish situation there. It's presumed by many that The Mets front office is grooming feisty former Mets second baseman Wally Bachman for the manager job. But I think when feisty Terry Collins is done - he's a good judge & motivator of young ballplayers, The Mets will not be looking for another feisty, & it wouldn't surprise me if Mattingly were offered the job, provided he improves the Dodgers next season.
Rookie Manager Don Mattingly is bringing in the Dodgers at about .500. He stepped into a nightmarish situation there. It's presumed by many that The Mets front office is grooming feisty former Mets second baseman Wally Bachman for the manager job. But I think when feisty Terry Collins is done - he's a good judge & motivator of young ballplayers, The Mets will not be looking for another feisty, & it wouldn't surprise me if Mattingly were offered the job, provided he improves the Dodgers next season.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
da Mets
At this time last summer da Mets were in meltdown, had started sliding before the All-Star break. They were damaged, listless. & the manager, Jerry Manuel, was becoming more irritating by the day. He chuckled too much, shrugged too much, & clearly wasn't motivating anyone including himself. Da Mets, a mediocre team by their record, just swept four games from another mediocre team, the Reds, at Cincinnati. They are a feisty, hustling bunch, fun to watch. At 54-51 they're 11 games out in NL East. In the NL Central they'd be 3 games out. At 7 games out in Wild Card, their chances of overtaking the Braves & even the Diamondbacks are minimal. But they're still in it. My guess is that, as their pitching staff wears out & some of the "kids" cool off & they go head-to-head against the Phillies & Braves they'll finish around .500. But for now, if you're a real Mets fan, you're enjoying the ride. Carlos Beltran had to go. He wasn't going the make the difference.
Saturday, July 09, 2011
Derek Jeter
No one thought Jeter's 3000th hit would be a home run. He hadn't hit a home run at Yankee Stadium since last summer. Odds were it would be a single, the ball fielded & returned to the dugout. That a fan got hold of it made it an object of unexpected extraordinary value.
One of the blandest sports superstars of all time, who groomed himself to be a blank personality & astutely avoided, in an era when the media overlooks nothing, not only all controversy, but even saying anything remotely interesting. & what does he do? Smacks a home run for his 3000th hit & goes 5 for 5 including driving in the game-winning RBI on a picture-perfect baseball Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. & Christian Lopez, the 23 year-old guy who catches the ball (estimated value over $200,000, as high as half-a-mill) is so nice & unselfish that he wants only to meet & hand it to to his hero Jeter. Sheesh.
There's more. Lopez's girlfriend bought the game tix for $65 bucks at Stub Hub. She says she won't second guess Christian's decision (but I bet she does when she plans their wedding). The Yanks gave him front row seats in the Legends Suite for Sunday's game, four suite seats for the remainder of the season including any playoffs & World Series games (Seats the Yanks have trouble selling anyway), plus autographed Jerseys & balls. Taxable gifts.
Derek is building the largest mansion in Tampa for himself & son amour Minka Kelly; 30,875 square feet of space, seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom waterfront English Manor style home. Me, I woulda held on to the ball until I talked with a lawyer. A lawyer might advise, "Give it up, ii'll cost you more than it's worth." But I'd have to see the numbers.
One of the blandest sports superstars of all time, who groomed himself to be a blank personality & astutely avoided, in an era when the media overlooks nothing, not only all controversy, but even saying anything remotely interesting. & what does he do? Smacks a home run for his 3000th hit & goes 5 for 5 including driving in the game-winning RBI on a picture-perfect baseball Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. & Christian Lopez, the 23 year-old guy who catches the ball (estimated value over $200,000, as high as half-a-mill) is so nice & unselfish that he wants only to meet & hand it to to his hero Jeter. Sheesh.
There's more. Lopez's girlfriend bought the game tix for $65 bucks at Stub Hub. She says she won't second guess Christian's decision (but I bet she does when she plans their wedding). The Yanks gave him front row seats in the Legends Suite for Sunday's game, four suite seats for the remainder of the season including any playoffs & World Series games (Seats the Yanks have trouble selling anyway), plus autographed Jerseys & balls. Taxable gifts.
Derek is building the largest mansion in Tampa for himself & son amour Minka Kelly; 30,875 square feet of space, seven-bedroom, nine-bathroom waterfront English Manor style home. Me, I woulda held on to the ball until I talked with a lawyer. A lawyer might advise, "Give it up, ii'll cost you more than it's worth." But I'd have to see the numbers.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Tale of Two Owners
The two highlights for the L.A. Dodgers from their home game with The Mets tonight: Gene Simmons of Kiss throwing the ceremonial first pitch, accompanied by Shannon Tweed; & All-Star slugger Matt Kemp breaking his bat over his knee after striking out to end the game. In-between they left 13 guys on base & lost 6-0 to the Little Team That Could, The Mets playing without Jose Reyes (& David Wright, Ike Davis & Johan Santana).
Both teams have financially-troubled ownership. Difference is that Wilpons love owning their team, hired a new front office, & latched on to an unlikely manager who has a bunch of - mostly bench warmers & minor leaguers playing over-their-heads, with energy & heart. They bounce back from defeat. The Dodgers don't put a much better group of players on the field, & their new manager is a good guy if inexperienced, but it has to affect them that their owner has demonstrated a willingness to screw them out of their paychecks if that's what it takes for him to hold on to his fabled ball club & keep his wife's hands off it in a divorce settlement. A series between The Mets & Dodgers ought to be a marqee cross-continental rivalry. I'm not a Dodgers fan. I enjoy rooting against all L.A. teams. But the fun in it is that most L.A. teams, pro & college, are pretty good, & it's supposed to mean something to beat them.
***
One of the worst versions of the National Anthem ever at the Yankees game in Cleveland tonight. Between the beginning & end of the song the singer dropped about 4 keys. So bad that Yankees radio announcer Susan Waldman, a very good singer who has sung the anthem at public events, was silent then muttered a little "whew" before she gave the lineup.
Both teams have financially-troubled ownership. Difference is that Wilpons love owning their team, hired a new front office, & latched on to an unlikely manager who has a bunch of - mostly bench warmers & minor leaguers playing over-their-heads, with energy & heart. They bounce back from defeat. The Dodgers don't put a much better group of players on the field, & their new manager is a good guy if inexperienced, but it has to affect them that their owner has demonstrated a willingness to screw them out of their paychecks if that's what it takes for him to hold on to his fabled ball club & keep his wife's hands off it in a divorce settlement. A series between The Mets & Dodgers ought to be a marqee cross-continental rivalry. I'm not a Dodgers fan. I enjoy rooting against all L.A. teams. But the fun in it is that most L.A. teams, pro & college, are pretty good, & it's supposed to mean something to beat them.
***
One of the worst versions of the National Anthem ever at the Yankees game in Cleveland tonight. Between the beginning & end of the song the singer dropped about 4 keys. So bad that Yankees radio announcer Susan Waldman, a very good singer who has sung the anthem at public events, was silent then muttered a little "whew" before she gave the lineup.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Electric out for about an hour, just came back on, longest it's been off here. We have frequent, annoying mini-interruptions. This one the power went off for a few seconds, on for a few, off, on, then off & stayed off. I turned off power to the PC & modem & settled in with a candle, two small flashlights, & listened to the rest of the Mets game - which had been delayed by rain & heading into extra innings - on the battery transistor. Mets lost in 11th on run singled in by Marlins relief pitcher, that kind of game.
Labels: baseball
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
The Battlin' McCourts
MLB takes over operation of Los Angeles DodgersI thought the Mets had big problems. But da Mets are da Mets & Mets fans are Mets fans & if you know da Mets you know what that means.
NEW YORK (AP)—Major League Baseball is taking the extraordinary step of assuming control of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a team increasingly paralyzed by the bitter divorce of owners Frank and Jamie McCourt.
Once among baseball’s glamour franchises, the Dodgers have been consumed by infighting since Jamie McCourt filed for divorce after 30 years of marriage in October 2009, one week after her husband fired her as the team’s chief executive. Frank McCourt accused Jamie of having an affair with her bodyguard-driver and performing poorly at work.
Selig told Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt that he will appoint a representative to oversee all aspects of the business and the day-to-day operations of the club.
The Dodgers are one of the most storied franchises in all of sports, in a city that loves baseball & has beautiful weather for it. When run well, the monetary value of the Dodgers is probably second only to the Yankees. The Los Angeles Dodgers not only own & market their own brand, they have the old Brooklyn Dodgers, too. Every year the suits at whatever network has the World Series pray for a Yankees-Dodgers series. I loved to make fun of the Dodgers. But I made fun of them because they were good, they always had characters, & they were Los Angeles.
& all this mess because of a bad marriage. Well, I suppose there's something kind of L.A. about that.
Monday, February 07, 2011
Super Bowl wrap-up
My reaction to the Black Eyed Peas Super Bowl performance:
For all its popularity, power & profit, professional football still lacks the cultural prestige of major league baseball, & I suspect it always will lack it. It's basically a sport of bullying behemoths with few unlikely heroes. Every World Series delivers an over-achiever or two, & it's possible for the average person to follow a baseball season (& a game) without giving it one's full attention. Baseball is paced differently. It's o.k. to become distracted or bored during a baseball game, & do other stuff with the game in the background. The language of baseball, as George Carlin & Abbott & Costello demonstrated, is something everyone can enjoy. But the language of football - if callers to sports talk radio shows are typical - seems designed to make unintelligent men sound smart.
Eventually, I think the consensus will be that the whole event was less than memorable. Christina Aguilera's national anthem gaff wasn't scandalous. The game wasn't so exciting; Green Bay never trailed, & it's not easy to feel sentimental about Vince Lombardi. None of the commercials had the stuff of legend. Most viewers didn't care who won.
- They've been better. Much better.
- The robot thing is kind of cold - & old.
- Haven't I seen this Super Bowl halftime show before?
For all its popularity, power & profit, professional football still lacks the cultural prestige of major league baseball, & I suspect it always will lack it. It's basically a sport of bullying behemoths with few unlikely heroes. Every World Series delivers an over-achiever or two, & it's possible for the average person to follow a baseball season (& a game) without giving it one's full attention. Baseball is paced differently. It's o.k. to become distracted or bored during a baseball game, & do other stuff with the game in the background. The language of baseball, as George Carlin & Abbott & Costello demonstrated, is something everyone can enjoy. But the language of football - if callers to sports talk radio shows are typical - seems designed to make unintelligent men sound smart.
Labels: baseball, culture, sports, TV
Monday, January 24, 2011
When you're a Jet
New York is a baseball town. We have no major college football here, & none of our three Big East basketball schools have done much lately. When the other professional teams aren't winning, baseball rules here from March to - usually -the Yankees post-season, & off-season news like trades & contract negotiations get lots of attention. Had The Jets missed the playoffs, sports pages & radio would now be turning toward baseball, serious hot stove talk, with an eye on The Knicks & Rangers. Ryan kept The Jets on the back - & often the front - pages of The Daily News & Post. That is a remarkable achievement. We haven't had so much trash talk & general weirdness since the '86 Mets. But those misfits won a memorable World Series.
As a team & brand, the Yankees have, over the past 15 years, moved into class unto themselves. There's no parallel to their success.
The Giants, Knicks, & Rangers are storied, history-laden teams with fiercely loyal fans. The latter two play in Madison Square Garden.
The New Jersey Devils & New York Islanders, both of which have had their moments, are actually suburban hockey teams, although the Devils are now in Newark NJ.
The Nets, originally The Americans, were an ABA franchise - a good one - that wandered from Jersey to Long Island & back to Jersey, & is now in Newark until an arena is built in Brooklyn. When they do move, they'll shed most of their Jersey fan base. They're in flux.
The NY Jets, formerly The Titans of the AFL, came to Jersey from the Polo Grounds, then Shea Stadium. They share a stadium with The Giants &, except for the Joe Namath era have always been the second football team here. Their fans - a geographically diverse bunch - have an inferiority complex. To understand why Rex Ryan has so many defenders, you have to understand this complex. Rex Ryan does.
Although I'm not an NFL fan, The Jets kept me amused until they became the sole focus of attention over recent weeks. I was most fascinated by wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery, A soft-spoken native of Alabama out of North Carolina State, articulate & intelligent. I've never heard anyone so consistent at substituting a "d" for "th" in the words the, these, those, there, them. Den, he sounds like William Bendix playing da guy from Brooklyn in a fox hole in a World War Two movie - if Bendix also had a smooth, southern voice.
When the Giants made their improbable run to the Superbowl & Championship in 2008, nearly the entire New York area jumped on the bandwagon. I doubt that would've happened with The Jets had they won yesterday. I resented all the references to "magic carpet ride,"miracles," "star dust," "sports gods," etc. The Mets, by tradition & the example of their two championship series, are the only team in New York requiring supernatural intervention. They needed it as underdogs in '69 & as arrogant alpha dogs in '86. They pay dearly in other years for this rare other-worldly assistance. All the other local teams win on talent & the residue of design called "luck." The Jets had their two revenge wins over The Colts & Patriots, then went to Pittsburgh as if a game plan were sufficient without will, intensity, & hunger. They ran into a tough, experienced team, one that reminded me of the 2009 Phillies, reigning champs that swatted aside the Rockies & Dodgers before losing to the Yanks in 6 interesting games.
As a team & brand, the Yankees have, over the past 15 years, moved into class unto themselves. There's no parallel to their success.
The Giants, Knicks, & Rangers are storied, history-laden teams with fiercely loyal fans. The latter two play in Madison Square Garden.
The New Jersey Devils & New York Islanders, both of which have had their moments, are actually suburban hockey teams, although the Devils are now in Newark NJ.
The Nets, originally The Americans, were an ABA franchise - a good one - that wandered from Jersey to Long Island & back to Jersey, & is now in Newark until an arena is built in Brooklyn. When they do move, they'll shed most of their Jersey fan base. They're in flux.
The NY Jets, formerly The Titans of the AFL, came to Jersey from the Polo Grounds, then Shea Stadium. They share a stadium with The Giants &, except for the Joe Namath era have always been the second football team here. Their fans - a geographically diverse bunch - have an inferiority complex. To understand why Rex Ryan has so many defenders, you have to understand this complex. Rex Ryan does.
Although I'm not an NFL fan, The Jets kept me amused until they became the sole focus of attention over recent weeks. I was most fascinated by wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery, A soft-spoken native of Alabama out of North Carolina State, articulate & intelligent. I've never heard anyone so consistent at substituting a "d" for "th" in the words the, these, those, there, them. Den, he sounds like William Bendix playing da guy from Brooklyn in a fox hole in a World War Two movie - if Bendix also had a smooth, southern voice.
When the Giants made their improbable run to the Superbowl & Championship in 2008, nearly the entire New York area jumped on the bandwagon. I doubt that would've happened with The Jets had they won yesterday. I resented all the references to "magic carpet ride,"miracles," "star dust," "sports gods," etc. The Mets, by tradition & the example of their two championship series, are the only team in New York requiring supernatural intervention. They needed it as underdogs in '69 & as arrogant alpha dogs in '86. They pay dearly in other years for this rare other-worldly assistance. All the other local teams win on talent & the residue of design called "luck." The Jets had their two revenge wins over The Colts & Patriots, then went to Pittsburgh as if a game plan were sufficient without will, intensity, & hunger. They ran into a tough, experienced team, one that reminded me of the 2009 Phillies, reigning champs that swatted aside the Rockies & Dodgers before losing to the Yanks in 6 interesting games.
Labels: baseball, music, religion, sports
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
World Series
Texas Rangers versus San Francisco Giants. Bad for Fox TV ratings, but unusual & good matchup for baseball lovers. My nominal rooting interest is San Fran, as the National League team, a former NYC team, & because I never root for teams from Texas in any circumstances. But tough for my friend Carrie. She resides in Hollywood, & she can't go with Giants anymore than a true pinstripe Yankee fan could go with Red Sox. Dodgers, of course. Probably Padres, Diamondbacks, & Rockies, too. But Giants? Never. Or Lost Angeles, California, Anaheim Angels. if that AL team had made it. Fortunately for Carrie, the hockey season has begun.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
The guy who won the '86 World Series
Half-listening to Steve "The Schmoozer" Somers on WFAN after the Mets game last night, he took a call from Fanwood NJ, a guy complaining about Mets abysmal hitting, common gripe, the voice sounded familiar. Hey, I know that guy. Haven't seen him in years, but he's a rabid Mets fan, & he lives in Fanwood. In fact, he has a jar of Shea Stadium pitcher mound dirt from '69 series win, a powerful mojo, & claims to have won the '86 series by opening it during the 10th inning of the 6th game, when the Mets were an out away from losing the series to the Red Sox & staged an improbable comeback capped by Buckner's error at first base. I had no reason to doubt him. I'm sure he tried everything else, changing seats, putting the jar of dirt on top of the TV; actually exposing the sacred soil to the tainted air of New Jersey was an act of total desperation.
He & his wife did some major interior renovating when they bought the Fanwood house. Whenever they needed a wall taken out, they invited friends, supplied pizza & beer, & an assortment of sledge hammers & crowbars, & let us have at it. It was very theraputic. Interesting pair, lost touch with them as they settled in raised a couple of kids.
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be." Thomas Jefferson
He & his wife did some major interior renovating when they bought the Fanwood house. Whenever they needed a wall taken out, they invited friends, supplied pizza & beer, & an assortment of sledge hammers & crowbars, & let us have at it. It was very theraputic. Interesting pair, lost touch with them as they settled in raised a couple of kids.
Labels: baseball, religion, sports
