Posted Sunday, August 7, 2011: As the Yankee brass decides between Hughes or Nova as the odd man out in the five-man starting rotation, let's suggest here that they are looking at the wrong pitchers to knock out of their six-man rotation ... we hear that CC has to start every fifth day and that Colon and Garcia are each giving the club more than was expected - no argument there ... but Hughes and Nova have done what they have been asked to do and that is WIN ... hmmmmm ... who is left? ...
---
Posted Sunday, July 31, 2011: "Compromise" to most people comes about when each of the two dissenting factions involved gives in a bit to the other until an agreement can be forged with which both sides can live ... in the language of politics, it seems as if each faction takes a side and expects the other faction to embrace it as is and, when they don't, accuse the other side of "... failing to negotiate responsibly." ... tell you one thing - Pete Rozelle would have had this whole D.C. budget flap fixed a long time before it became the mess that it is today. ...
---
Posted Saturday, July 30, 2011: The bride officially retired from the work force this past Tuesday and, since I have been working out of our home for the past 13 years, I have to get used to her being around the house during the day on weekdays as well as on weekends now ... I'm glad she is home and doing stuff she likes to do and everything seems to be working out so far ... I have encountered one problem, though -- seems as if I keep turning on the TV or checking the sports pages to see what afternoon games are being televised, thinking that since she's home, it must be the weekend. ...
---
Posted Tuesday, July 26, 2011: The sheepish grin and the "I'll take it" seen by TV lip-readers (and confirmed by Michael Kay of YES) told the story of Yankee lefthander Steve Garrison's first major league batter last night in the ninth inning of the Yanks' 10-3 win over the Mariners at the Stadium ... brought in to pitch by Joe Geraldi - a nice gesture by the Yankee manager, by the way - with one out in the ninth, the first batter Garrison faced hit a hard liner to left that Brett Gardner got to and the second batter skied to right ... it took seven years in the minors before Garrison got his first major-league appearance ... no telling when he'll get his second chance because he'll probably be the one to do when Rafael Soriano returns (maybe today) from the DL. ...
---
Posted Monday, July 25, 2011: Two guys talkin' over coffee this morning with both agreeing all these talks of the past few weeks have taken their toll on their reading ... too many false hopes, gloom-and-doom reports, stories about settlements nearing or talks breaking off, and on and on and on ... both guys agreed that something had to happen soon as they went back and forth ... then it dawned on the both at the same time - one guy was talking NFL lockout and the other was talking the national budget ... they thing to do, they decided after they stopped laughing at each other, was put the football people in a room and have them solve the national crisis and put the politicians in another room and have them solve the NFL owners-players flap ... maybe then, each side will solve its own problem using common sense. ...
---
Posted Sunday, July 24, 2011: Want to make sure I heard this correctly ... the NFL owners OKd the players' proposal and now it's taking a week or more for the players' to OK their own proposal in order to get back to football? ... seems as if somebody is still looking for the key to unlock this lockout ... don't set up those office pools just yet! ...
---
Posted Saturday, July 23, 2011: We've all seen Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano do some remarkable things on defense, but he has to drive youth coaches nuts because so many young infielders are trying to imitate Cano's seemingly casual sidearm flip to first after catching a ground ball ... Cano has it down pat, but when the younger set does the "Cano Flip" it usually ends up the first baseman chasing a wild throw and with the batter-runner on second base ... one good way to get your young side-armer back to throwing overhand is to have him play catch along side of a high fence with his throwing shoulder about a foot from the fence and throw paralell with the fence ... this will force him to throw more overhand because his throwing hand will hit the fence if he throws sidearm ... maybe the TV people should put up a disclaimer "Don't Try This at Home!" under Cano's name every time he makes one of those tosses that look so cool and oh, so easy.
---
Posted Thursday, July 21, 2011: Well, now we know what has been ailing Tiger Woods all this time - it was his caddy! ... Tiger recently fired Steve Williams, who carried his bag for the last 12 years - and 13 of his 14 majors - without giving us anything more than some BS Web site statement thanking Williams and wishing him well ... Williams - on his Web site - said the "... end of our very successful partnership at this time" came as a shock and was very disappointing to him ... at least there was no blood shed or windows smashed or clubs hurled in anger in this breakup. ...
---
Posted Tuesday, July 19, 2011: Now that the NFL and players are close to an agreement and the lockout is soon to be lifted, I guess all those benefits for the NFL players who have been living without a paycheck can be canceled. ...
---
Posted Monday, July 17, 2011: Couldn't help buty cringe a bit when the woman announcer working the USA-Japan Women's World Cup final on ESPN said just before the penaly-kick shootout started that Japan had the edge because: "... its players had seen USA in a shootout before and have studied their penalty-kick tendencies." ... turns out she was about 110% correct in her analysis as the Japanese goalie stopped two penalty shots, one sailed over the net and the only USA player to beat the Japanese keeper was Abby Wambach as Japan beat USA, 3-1, in penalty kicks after playing to a 2-2 tie in regulation and two 30-minute extra periods ... just spent the better part of an hour trying to find the announcer's name ... closest I came was an internet columnist who called her "... the lady announcer."
---
Posted Sunday, July 17, 2011: First off, I couldn't believe the Yankees YES announcers when they introduced the station's text poll the other day as choosing between which event offered more excitement - the home run contest at baseball's All-Star game or the slam dunk contest at the NBA's All-Star game ... second off, I couldn't believe the results - about 75% of the texters favored the home run derby - were actually read with a straight face four-five innings later ... and then they discussed it as if it were a scientific survey!!! ... not one mention of the fact that it was a poll taken from baseball fans during a baseball game who (duh!) favored baseball over basketball ... to be fair, the NBA should conduct a similar "poll" next year during the All-Star break. ...
--
Posted Friday, July 15, 2011: Five-year-old granddaughter to Grandpa after looking at some of Grandpa's old (really old) photos back when he was a kid: "Grandpa, how come you don't have color pictures like I do?" ... Grandpa: "They didn't have color when Grandpa was your age." ... Granddaughter, with a puzzled look on her face: "Then how did you learn your colors?" ...
---
Posted Wednesday, July 13, 2011: So Selig turns out to be a bud of Jeter by saying he would have opted out of the All-Star game, too, in the same circumstances ... watched John Kruk's commentary on ESPN and, although I didn't agree with him, he made his points in a calm, concise manner and turned out to be a good listen ... it would have been better, however, if he had included the names of the other players who elected to miss the game, too ... A-Rod and Chipper are recovering from surgery, but the others were in the same reason boat as Jeter ... but Krug mentioned only Jeter in his criticism, as if he had it out for him ... didn't see or hear Stephen A. Smith's rant against Jeter, which I'm told was a tad more emotional than Krug's delivery ... just as well, noise and bluster are not as impressive as a fact now and then when expressing one's opinion. ...
---
Posted Tuesday, July 12, 2011: Let's see now, some Major League Baseball execs and a few players have gone on record as saying they are disappointed in Derek Jeter for pulling out of tonight's All-Star Game because he needs to sit back and chill for three days ... he has earned his "emotional rest" after going through his 15-day stay on the DL, the pressures (as he finally admitted) of chasing his career 3,000th hit, and the media blitz he went through after his memorable 5-for-5 last Saturday after reaching the milestone ... let's see, what's better here - a round-trip to Arizona and lining up with 48 other All-Stars to your cap to the adoring fans or three days off with his family and the adorable Minka Kelly ... 48 All-Stars or Minka? ... Minka or 48 All-Stars? ... Hmmmmmmmm. ...
---
Posted Monday, July 11, 2011: Derek Jeter's career milestone 3,000th was not only a good day for Jeter, the Yankees and baseball, it was a good day for the daily newspapers that cover the Yanks, too ... I'm still not finished reading everything yet but the coverage I read and saw in the Star-Ledger, NY Daily News and NY Post (sorry, never been a Times fan for sports) with words, photos and graphics was a good read as well as a good look ... it was a lot of work, though, but the kind of work your favorite writer probably signed up for when he took the job ... tired of NBA, NHL lockout stories ... tired of this damn steroid issue other than it should be used as a warning for today's kids ... tired of injury updates, MRIs, and reading about how long and at what distance injured pitchers threw yesterday ... but for one day - Sunday, July 10, 2011 - Derek Jeter was able to put real sports on top of real sports pages once again. ...
---
Posted Sunday, July 10, 2011: Not only did Johnny Damon lead his Rays teammates out of their dugout to applaud Derek Jeter after his ex-teammate homered for his 3,000th career hit at The Stadium yesterday, he had one of the best quotes of all that was said and written about the historic event when he said during his post-game TV interview: "Derek stands for the good stuff in baseball." ...
---
Posted Saturday, July 9, 2011: Last night's Yankee rainout caused more of a stir than usual because neither the Rays nor Yankees really wanted to make up the game by playing two games today ... the Yankees wanted to play a split doubleheader so they could get two gates, but needed an OK from the Rays ... "It's a business decision," said Cashman the GM ... the Rays wouldn't agree to a split doubleheader simply because playing two game in one day isn't in their best interests as a team right now ... the Yankees could have scheduled a doubleheader (one gate) and the Rays would not have had a say in the matter ... but the Yankees didn't want to do that and lose a gate ... "It's a business decision," said Cashman the GM ... forget the fact that Jeter loses a home game in an attempt to get his 3,000th career hit before the All-Star break ... forget the fact fans who paid some fancy prices to see Jeter make history can now use that ticket for a game in September instead ... "It's a business decision," said Cashman the GM ... it's not that any of us out here don't know sports is business - BIG business - these days and most of us deal with that in our own way ... sometimes by spending one game's worth of ticket money on a nice, big, flat-screen TV for the rec room ... if fans ever looked at sports with an "It's a business decision" eye, there would be fewer people at big league ballparks, to be sure ... meanwhile, it's back to the couch and the TV where I can lose myself and watch sports for the sake of sports for a couple hours ... at least until the commercials hit between innings. ...
---
Posted Monday, July 4, 2011: Miss Jeter much? ... How about Nunez?
---
Posted Sunday, July 3, 2011: Glad to see the Yankee and Mets players talking about Yanks vs. Mets as if it meant something, for a change ... I never did believe those "... just another game" or "... it counts as only one win or one loss" quotes from players and managers from previous series ... maybe it's not Yanks vs. Red Sox, but the Subway Series is still a big deal and the NY papers are playing it up big and having a lot of fun with it, as they should ... speaking of fun, I've decided NOT to wear my Yankee T-shirt to my Met fan neighbor's beerbecue this afternoon ... no sense bustin' chops of the guy who is going to be fixing food for you, right? ...
---
Posted on Saturday, July 2, 2011: Just spent the last five mornings watching our grandson Cooper participate in the Frank Elias/Denville Rec baseball camp at Gardner Field in Denville ... I'm convinced more than ever that clinics and camps are the best way to go for developing young players ... campers aged 5-12 went through drill after drill for 3 1/2-hours each day and Elias' instructors kept it lively and interesting for the kids ... the players were grouped according to age and, of course, the drills were more sophisticated for the older kids, but proper throwing, hitting, fielding and running mechanics were stressed at all levels ... hitting drills were done off the tee with Whiffle balls and bats and regular LL bats and tennis balls were used in the 45-minute game each group played at the end of the three-and-a-half-hour day ... the kids played the mini-game all out but there was no pressure to win, no sad faces on the losing team and a lot of high-fives all around ... any town that adopts a clinic/camp approach at its youngest level will soon find it will have stronger teams in the upper age groups ... also, youth coaches would have found it interesting and helpful to watch one or more of Elias' camp sessions. ...
---
Posted Friday, July 1, 2011: Just made some tea (green, of course) for my early morning wakeup call and the sound of the tea kettle whistling took me back some 60-plus years to our first morning after our first night in our new home on Lakeside Drive in Rockaway ... my mother (Doris) was so excited with her new home that she woke up my brother Jim and me and marched us out into the kitchen so we could listen to the tea kettle signal our first morning in our new home ... still remember how exited she was and how much we laughed ... by this afternoon I shall have forgotten that I had tea this morning - but I'll never forget that day 62 years ago. ...
---
Posted Thursday, June 30, 2011: Three of the five Yankee stories in the Daily (NY) News this morning were about injured players - Jeter, Colon and Hughes ... nothing on Joba, Soriano and the rest of the M*A*S*H units' walking wounded as they work on their own medical problems ... about eight pages deeper into the sports section, we find that these same Yankees have the second best record in the majors - 47-31, .603 ... only Philadelphia (51-30, 630) is better ... shows to go you that somebody in pinstripes is doing something right. ...
---
Posted Wednesday, June 29, 2011: Michael Kay had a "nice catch" on himself last night while announcing Yanks 12, Brewers 2 ... the talk was about at what point does the team with the big lead stop trying to manufacture runs with stolen bases, bunts, hit-and-runs, etc., so as not to appear to be rubbing it in to the losing team ... Yanks stole a base early in the game with a 5-0 lead and stories started about managers on the short end of the score getting riled up over such tactics being used ... Kay said "... there is an unwritten law" about running up the score and the added "... maybe we should start reading up on it." ... but he caught himself very nicely when, in almost the same breath he said: "Of course we can't read up on it because it's unwritten." ... nice catch, Michael. ...
---
Posted Tuesday, June 28, 2011: Today's papers are full of Jeter not coming off the disabled list when his 15-day stint expires Wednesday ... Girardi was asked if the Yanks were being cautious with their soon-to-be 37-year-old captain and the answer had a very strong lean to the affirmative ... of course, going 9-3 in the first 12 games Jeter was on the DL helps some, too. ...
---
Posted Monday, June 27, 2011: You don't have to be a Yankee fan to appreciate yesterday's telecast of Old Timers' Day on YES ... from the pre-game ceremonies, the "game" with Tino's homer, Kay & Co.'s talking about the Old Timers during the game, bringing Piniella and Tino into the booth to talk - the whole show was great! ... nice touch at the end, too, after all the post-game interviews were done and the segment was signing off, they showed Girardi out on the field in shorts with his kids and some of their friends ... Girardi was throwing BP to the boys and the girls were seen turning cartwheels in the outfield ... only bad part of the entire day was realizing that I was older than a lot of the Old Timers. ...
---
Posted Sunday, June 26, 2011: Now that Little League All-Star season upon us, I was once again reminded of the stark difference between today's game and the era (1950-52) in which I played on the Rockaway Borough LL All-Stars ... most of today's players get brand new uniforms that look great and the kids love them ... my All-Star uniform was the same one I wore all season - 'cept my mother washed it twice in an attempt to get out all the mud, dirt, ketchup, grass stains and whatever else thatg was accumulated throughout the season. ...
---
Posted Saturday, June 25, 2011: You have to feel for Virginia pitcher Cody Winiarski today after the reliever threw away two bunts on back-to-back plays in the 13th inning last night, errors that enabled South Carolina to defeat Virginia, 3-2, and move on to the championship best-of-three series against Florida in the College World Series being played at Omaha, Neb. ... bottom of 13th, man on first, South Carolina bunts and Winiarski throws the ball wildly to second leaving men on first and second ... another South Carolina bunt is fielded by Winiarksi and this time he throws the ball too low to handle at third and the ball skips away, allowing the winning run to score ... even ESPN producers must have felt sorry for Winiarksi because they showed only the second of his two throwing errors on its Sports Center show ... tough, tough way to lose a game. ...
---
Posted Friday, June 24, 2011: There they were, right at the top of Page 90 of today's Daily (NY) News - the 2011-12 schedules for the New York Rangers and New York Islanders ... and in the sports TV listings on the same page, we're told that the NHL draft will be shown on Versus-TV tonight at 7 ... now that the last turned-over, burned-over car fire has been put out in Vancouver, this is the best news there is for hockey fans right now. ...
---
Posted Thursday, June 23, 2011: It has become clear that location, location, location is what Brian Gordon's pitching is all about ... last night, you saw what happened when he misses his spot - the Reds lit him up three times in the Yankees' 10-2 loss at Cincy ... count on Gordon to do put this lastest outing behind him and do much, much better in his next start ... 12 years in the minor leagues will do that to you. ...
---
Posted Wednesday, June 22, 2011: Not the biggest NBA fan in the world here, but I have to admit i could have taken another week or so of Mavs-Heat ... I'm sure I'll come to my senses soon, though.
---
Posted Tuesday, June 21, 2011: The eyesight is blurring away slowly, blink by blink ... ditto the hearing ... and sometimes the fingers can't get out of the way of each other on the keyboard ... but i KNOW I heard the following during the Yankees' 5-3 victory over the Reds on ESPN last night when the discussion turned to one of the better rookie infielders on the Reds: "... he's one of those players you know one day is going to win a Gold Glove on the defensive side." ...
---
Posted Monday, June 20, 2011: I'm pretty sure I read this correctly when I read in one of my favorite newspapers a couple days ago that Phil Hughes was expected to pitch a "simulated minor league game" ... I don't know what a "simulated MINOR league" game is, though ... was it because he was going to pitch it in the Yankees minor league complex in Tampa? ... or was it because his "simulated" batters were minor leaguers? ... guess the Yanks didn't feel he's up to throwing against simulated major leaguers yet ... yesterday, he threw 4.1 innings in a minor league game with the Staten Island Yankees reports were he consistently touched 93 mph while giving up one run on three hits while striking out seven ... against real batters, too.
---
Posted Sunday, June 19, 2011: Yankee fan friend of mine tells me that the talk shows in Philly were saying that the Phillies sent e-mails to several major league clubs to let them know their farmhand Brian Gordon was opting out of his contract and would be available ... the Phillies said he was a good person and a solid pitcher who could throw strikes and was worth a look by club with pitching needs ... classy move by the Phillies. ...
---
Posted Saturday, June 18, 2011: You have to like the Brian Gordon story ... Gordon is the 32-year-old righty pitcher the Yankees signed Thursday when he opted out of his contract with the Phillies ... Gordon had been 5-0 with a 1.14 ERA with the Phillies Lehigh Valley club in the International (AAA) League this spring, his 15th season in the minors ... he started Thursday's 3-2, 12-inning win over the Rangers and pitched a solid 5.1 innings allowing two runs (earned) on seven hits while striking out three and walking three ... his only other major league experience was 4.1 innings in three games with the Rangers in 2008 ... day before he signed, Gordon went into a park built on the site of old Yankee Stadium to play catch with one of the Yankee front-office people ... the day he signed, he walked around the field at The Stadium for an hour, soaking in as much as he could so he wouldn't be in awe of the place when he walked out onto the mound of the first time ... Gordon has been in the minors since 1997, when he signed as an outfielder before turning to pitching in 2005 in an effort to prolong his baseball career ... it'll be very interesting to see how he does in his second outing ... one thing for sure, you have to root for him. ...
---
Posted Friday, June 17, 2011: Needed some R&R these past couple of weeks following a medical procedure that took a little wind out of the sails. No need for detail, but the message I'd like to give is a very simple and very brief one: "Early Detection." ... all you old parts out there like me must get your yearly checkups and, if the doctor makes the call that more testing is needed, get it done ... a couple-three weeks on the DL is much, much better than the alternative. ...
---
Posted Friday, May 27, 2011: Congratulations to Jake Cougle, son of Leanne and Art, for hitting his first Little League home run last night, a high moon-shot that cleared the fence in right-center at Marcella, while playing for the Orioles in the Rockaway Township Majors ... this puts him in a tie at one with his sister Erin, who circled the bases two summers ago, and one behind his Grandpa Decker, who hit two out of the park in three years playing for the ReMacs in the Rockaway Borough Little League in (gulp!) 1952-54. ...
---
Posted Thursday, May 26, 2011: The Associated Press reported today that the NFL big shots have noticed "... early cracks in fan loyalty" after 10 weeks of the lockout that is in effect now ... Commish Roger Goodell was quoted as saying he has noticed "... TV ratings on the draft were down roughly four million people and traffic on our NFL.com Web site is down." ... let's hope Goodell wasn't looking for a positive fan reaction from all this mess ... and wait until it gets closer to September and the fear of no office pools, no King of the Hill pools and no NFL on TV starts to sink in with the fans ... Law & Order reruns just won't cut it this time. ...
---
Posted Wednesday, May 25, 2011: The good news is that Mets owner and CEO Fred Wilpon apologized for his ill-timed and blistering negative criticism of players Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran that appeared in the New York magazine recently ... the bad news is that he opened his big yap in the first place ...
---
Posted Tuesday, May 24: Beautiful day and early evening here ... don't tell anybody, but it's not raining and it doesn't look as if it IS going to rain ... however, not one of our four grandkids has a game scheduled - not a softball, Little League baseball, rookie league or T-Ball game in sight where the bride and I can go and sit in the sun and watch the kid play some ball. ...
---
Posted Tuesday, May 24, 2011: It's tough for athletes to ignore taunting fans, especially when they are sitting close to the bench or dugout and have had their tongues loosened and bravado increased by a couple-three adult beverages ... best retort I ever heard came from a minor-league teammate of mine who completely silenced one of our unruly fans one night back in the mid-60s ... the fan had been ragging us all game and hadn't been too quiet about it, either ... finally, relief pitcher Joe Penland had enough and stuck his head outside the dugout, located the noisy fan and said loud enough for everybody in the vicinity to hear: "Hey, pal ... one of our ballplayers is missing ... you know where your wife is?" ...
---
Posted Friday, May 20, 2011: Little League "pitch counts" - where pitchers are given more time off between appearances the more pitches they throw in a game - are an effective way to limit arm strain or injury for out young hurlers ... why then, do the same coaches who carefully monitor the number of pitches thrown and will often change pitchers in the middle of a batter to save a pitcher's arm from overwork bring in a relief pitcher and deem him ready to pitch after only a handful of warm-up tosses ... and the pitcher who was removed then usually gets to go to a position and does without putting on a long-sleeve sweatshirt to keep their arms warm and from getting stiff or sore - especially on those cool early-season days or nights. ...
Posted Thursday, May 19, 2011:
Six hours at Mt. Airy's tables -- Plus $15
Twenty minutes at Mt. Airy's slots -- Minus $80
Returning to Rockaway and finding out that it had not rained for the entire day -- Priceless!
---
Posted Wednesday, May 18, 2011: To get an idea of how Dirk Nowitzki got to score 48 points on 12-of-15 shootging from the field and an NBA playoff record 24-of-24 from the free throw line in the Mavs' 121-112 win over the Thunder last night, check out the May 16th edition of Sports Illustrated ... Nowitzki's dedication to his craft and his work ethic should be a must-read for all young athletes ... old athletes, too ... old ex-athletes will get a lot out of it, also. ...
---
Posted Tuesday, May 17, 2011: Dozed off watching Charles Barkley & Co. expound with sound on the NBA playoffs the other night and woke up to the raucous laughter of the Three Stooges ... took me about 45 seconds to realize somebody had changed the channel. ...
---
Posted Monday, May 16, 2011: Watching the Yanks-Bosox last night and saw what was wrong with A-Rod's hitting this season - can't believe it took so long to figure this out, either ... A-Rod's problem is that he is a right-handed batter AND a left-cheek chewer ... he has so many sunflower seeds stuffed in his left cheek that the bulge it creates cuts down on his front-eye vision while batting ... what he has to do is to becomed a right-cheek chewer and his batting woes will be fixed ... this isn't as silly as it seems, either - just ask any tobacco-chewer ballplayer. ...
---
Posted Sunday, May 15, 2011: Hey, Cashman! ... Chill, willya! ... Jorge Posada asked for a day off yesterday and now - according to ESPN and their bullpen of baseball analysts - the Yankees have contacted the commissioner's office to see if they can take disciplinary action (suspension, dock him a day's pay/two day's pay, fine, void his contract, etc.) against him ... he ASKED for a day off, for pete's sakes -- he didn't just take it, or jake his way through a game ... according to Posada, being lowered to ninth in the batting order didn't bother him (he doesn't like batting .165 any more than any Yankee fan or Yankee official), he just wanted a day off and asked Girardi about it an hour before the game ... he was on the bench for the 6-0 loss to the Red Sox last night and this morning there is this "discipline" garbage coming from the Yankee brass ... ESPN, by the way, reports the Yankees as "being furious" at Jorge's request ... but interviews with Cashman (during the game) and Giradi (after the game) shown on FOX-TV and ESPN last night did not show any anger at all - except for Cashman ducking every other question asked of him ... even after everybody kisses and makes up, this thing is not going to end nicely. ...
---
Posted Saturday, May 14, 2011: Yanks have lost three in a row and seven their last 10 and - except for Joba's outing last night - the pitching hasn't been the main problem ... seems as if it's the Jeters and the Posadas now who are not coming up with the big hits as often as they did in the past ... is this a Celtic/Laker thing where they are just getting older? ... time - if not a continued tumble in the standings - will tell. ...
---
Posted Friday, May 13, 2011: Anybody planning any Canucks-Sharks TV-watching parties? ... Just curious. ...
---
Posted Thursday, May 12, 2011: When ESPN showed clips of last night's Phillies-Marlins game from Florida, couldn't help but notice when the Marlins' Hanley Ramirez homered to left-center in the first inning, not a fan could be seen in at least six full sections of orange seats ... when the Phillies' Shane Victorino homered into the same area in the eighth, about 10 fans could be seen ... guess the Florida crowd shows up late for most games, huh? ...
---
Posted Wednesday, May 11, 2011: So Mets catcher Josh Thole has cancelled his Twitter account ... seems most of his messages from fans were full of negative criticism on his hitting and his fielding ... there was a lot of name-calling, too ... "I thought this was supposed to be fun," he said in explaining why he is no longer a member of the social network ... yup, almost as much fun as hitting .239. ...
---
Posted Tuesday, May 10, 2011: Just getting to my May 9th issue of Sports Illustrated and the "Faces in the Crowd" section reports that Rick Baird, 53, of Charlotte, N.C., made 18 holes-in-one in one round at the recent Richmond Open, a stop on the Professional Putters Association Tour ... it's the third "perfect game" recorded in competition since the PPA was founded in 1959 ... curious now, Google offered more info - even with a second-round score of 18, Baird finished the 54-hole morning tournament in fourth place with a 74, earning prize money of $85 ... he did better in the afternoon tournament, losing a three-way playoff to finish tied for second and pick up an additional $115 ... no mention of any windmill holes, though ...
---
Posted Monday, May 9, 2011: Laker coach Phil Jackson was gracious in defeat as he was swept out of the NBA playoffs yesterday ... true, he got whacked for $35,000 by the league earlier in the day for comments made about the officiating in the series, but he handled the post-game press conferences without a hint of malice toward anyone ... too bad we can't say the same for two of his players - Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum - who were ejected from the game for taking some cheap shots near the end of the Mavs' 122-86 blowout. ...
---
Posted Sunday, May 8, 2011: Leave it to Mushnick to point out that a week after the Lakers' Ron Artest had won this season's NBA's J. Walter Kennedy Award for exemplary citizenship he had been suspended for Game 3 of LA-Mavs ... under the heading "Dept. of You Can't Make This Stuff Up:" Phil Mushnick wrote in today's N.Y. Post that Artest had earned the suspension "... for nailing J.J. Barea with a swinging forearm" after being "... hit with a technical for dirty play" earlier in the game ... Artest gets to display his outstanding citizenship this afternoon in Game 4. ...
---
Posted Saturday, May 7, 2011: Going into last night's win over the Rangers, the Yankees were acting more like the Mayo Clinic than a first-place team ... not playing very well? ... in a losing streak? ... can't score any runs? ... a game against the Yankees will cure those ills ... Chisox hadn't been scoring runs until they played the Yankees and split a four-game series ... Tigers had lost seven in a row until winning three of four from the Yankees ... even with the Yankees taking two of three from the Blue Jays and Nova's gem over the Rangers last night, the Yankees are only 6-6 in their last dozen. ...
---
Posted Friday, May 6, 2011: Had a very, very early appointment today and, as usual, it was nice to be out and about as the sun was coming up ... before the traffic started ... before exhaust fumes clogged the air ... before the noises of the day started ... before the price of gas had been changed ...
---
Posted Thursday, May 5, 2011: Those of you who predicted a Celts-Lakers championship series, raise your hand ... those of you who still think it will happen with both clubs down 0-2, keep your hands raised ... hmmmmmm, thought so. ...
---
Posted Wednesday, May 4, 2011: It was only seven minutes and 10 seconds of NBA playoff basketball, but it was the way the Miami Heat dominated those final seven minutes and 10 seconds of their 112-91 win that gave King James & Co. a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven war that has to make the Celtics and their followers sit up and take notice ... the Celts had just tied the game at 80 with 7:10 left, but the expected battle to the finish line was all Heat and, before you knew it, it was 94-80, and the Celts had been bowled over for the second straight game ... dominated in the final 7:10. ...
---
Posted Tuesday, May 3, 2011: Fishermen who take their children fishing with them are to be commended and the hope here is the kids will not only love fishing but end up love fishing with their old man, too ... but until they learn to cast properly and their attention span for the sport exceeds 45 seconds, please avoid crowded riverbanks or lake fronts when taking the little darlings fishing with you ... believe me, there are times when I, too, feel like throwing rocks, handfuls of dirt, tree branches and my little sister into the water, but I try to hold off on that until here are no other fishermen in the vicinity. ...
---
Posted Monday, May 2, 2011: In the event the NFL season is either cancelled or postponed, they can always put reruns of the Celts-Heat series on Sunday TV for those fans who miss all the hitting. ...
---
Posted Sunday, May 1, 2011: If Assemblyman John Burzichelli, D-Gloucester, succeeds in disbanding the NJSIAA in an exercise that started out because he thought the organization was charging too much for high school state championship events, he should next turn his takedown tactics on General Electric or the oil companies ... all the money - and then some - he is saving fans on ticket prices and high schools on NJSIAA dues go to either taxes or into the gas tank. ...
---
Posted Saturday, April 30: Best part of today's Thunder-Twins-Orioles softball-baseball Rockaway Township-Hackettstown grandkids tripleheader that the bride and I enjoyed from 9 a.m. till 4 p.m. was seeing the Orioles' Justin Miller hit a homer well over the fence in right-center and get a couple of quiet handshakes from the opposing shortstop and third baseman while running from second to third. ...
---
Posted Friday, April 29, 2011: Well, it was nice to see our cousins from across the pond kept their senses about today's "Wedding of the Century" ... the British bookmakers hit the head on the nail when they made "yellow" the 7-4 favorite as the color for the Queen Mother's hat (which it was) and there was a talk of "office pools" during the few minutes I caught on TV this morning ... the books placed odds on what time Kate would show up; the weather; how long Kate would keep Harry waiting; whether their car would break down; the names of the royal couples future kids; and a lot more ... the expected take on the bets was estimatged at $1.6 million - not much in terms of sports betting, though ... Google "British Bookmakers / Royal Wedding" to see a lot of stuff you won't believe that was worth a putting a royal bob or two on Harry and Kate's big day. ...
---
Posted Thursday, April 28, 2011: Going back and forth between TNT and the ESPNs for late-night NBA playoff action, the following was heard by one (don't ask me who) of the TV announcers with 1:59 left in a game: "So-and-so (again, don't ask me who) has picked up his fifth foul already." ... ALREADY? ... with 1:59 left? ... am I missing something? ...
---
Posted Wednesday, April 27, 2011: Rafael Soriano is like the little girl with the curl - when he's good, he's very good; but when he's bad, he's horrid ... just because the plans call for him to be the eighth-inning setup man doesn't mean he has to pitch the WHOLE inning ... it took two runs (earned), two hits and two walks in 29 eighth inning pitchers to determine Rafe didn't exactly have his best stuff? ... when he's off, he's off -- recognize it early, Joe, and get him out of there early, too. ...
---
Posted Tuesday, April 26, 2011: U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson has ruled in favor of the players, lifting the lockout imposed by the NFL owners when negotiations on how to divided $9 million in revenue broke down last month ... while we still can't be sure the ruling will stand since the owners filed an appeal, it must be noted that it took a woman to get these players back on the job and, hopefully, a full TV schedule of NFL this fall ... something for which I'm sure all the wives and girlfriends out there are thankful. ...
---
Posted Monday, April 25, 2011: After going 0-for-the-playoffs in their first post-season series in seven years, the Knicks and their newest players will spend the summer getting to know each other in their practice sessions, something they said they couldn't do while playing regular-season games ... maybe that's why the New Yorkers were 14-18 after getting Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups from the Nuggets in February ... wait a minute - didnt the Heat's Big Three say the same thing in explaining their early-season problems. ...
---
Posted Sunday, April 24, 2011: It says here our rookie Guv and his pal Sweeney should watch the way East Brunswick High School football coach Marcus Borden and Brick Township School Districts athletics director Bill Bruno work things out when they get together to combine ideas for establishing a system to crown four public school group football championships in the state instead of the 16 sectional championships that now exist ... dollars to doughnuts there won't be any trash talk, either. ...
---
Posted on Saturday, April 23, 2011: Dunno about you, but when the TV cameras focused on numbed Knick coach Mike D'Antoni during the final quarter of the Celtics' blowout of his Knicks last night, the cliche "... like a deer caught in the glare of headlights" came immediately to mind. ...
---
Posted Friday, April 22, 2011: Spent a fun-filled day at Mount Airy Casino in the Poconos yesterday ... left a couple bucks there about six months ago and decided to visit my money to see how it was doing ... it seemed lonely, so I left some more to go with it. ...
---
Posted Thursday, April 21, 2011: NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, as quoted in today's Daily Record: "Shutting your business down has a dramatic effect on your business." ... really now, can anyone argue with that kind of logic? ...
---
Posted on Wednesday, April 20, 2011: Put this one in the "What have you done for me lately?" column ... Mariano's first blown save in nine opportunities this season not only made headlines, but brought out a newspaper chart listing his most recent five blown saves from last season ... Burnett tried to take some of the heat for not going deeper into the game ... but nobody said anything about the fastball that the Jays' Travis Snider hit in the 10th for a walkoff double after having looked foolish on curves in his previous two at-bats. ...
---
Posted Tuesday, April 19, 2011: The vote here is "NO!" for legalized sports betting in New Jersey's casinos and horse tracks ... a recent poll taken by FDU's PublicMind poll and published in the Daily Record indicated voters were 53% in favor, 30% were not in favor, and 17% had no opinion on legalized betting ... those who bet do not need a state agency to take their football, basketball, baseball, etc., wagers ... it just makes it easier for those who do not bet to do so - and those are probably people who should not be betting at all ... don't get me wrong, I love sports pools, lotteries and still take a trip to the track or a casino every so often ... I just don't think it's in the best interests of the state's citizens to make sports betting readily available ... besides, will the state let you keep a marker? ... will the state take your action over the phone? ... will the state buy you a shrimp cocktail and an iced tea when you show up with your money in a paper lunch bag to pay your tab? ...
---
Posted Monday, April 18, 2011: Got a party of at least 10 baseball fans who love to eat? ... check out the special offered by the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees of the International (AAA) League ... they have an all-you-can eat game ticket package for $15-$17 for each fan in your group ... other affordable group ticket rates are also available ... it's not only a fun day (we'll wait till it warms up a bit, however), but it beats the $175 per ticket seats and $48 parking tab a friend of mine experienced at Yankee Stadium this past weekend. ...
Posted Sunday, April 17, 2011: Not a good Opening Day for the grandkids ... Rockaway Township LL parade was weathered out leaving Erin and Jake without their softball and baseball yesterday; Faith, on the DL with the yellow cast on her left arm, needed the biggest chocolate muffin in the snack stand to keep the tears from flowing when she suddenly realized her T-Ball teammates were taking the field without her for their opener yesterday morning; and Cooper's afternoon baseball practice was rained out, leaving him 0-for-April in practice sessions held. ...
---
Posted Saturday, April 16, 2011: Can't help but cringing whenever I hear a proud pop brag about how well his Little Leaguer is throwing his curveball ... brings to mind that HBO special of a couple years back where a California surgeon said his Tommy John surgeries on Little League kids went from 14 to one the year after his area's Little League banned pitchers from throwing curves. ...
---
Posted Friday, April 15, 2011: Our 5-year-old granddaughter Faith will start her athletic career on the disabled list tomorrow when her Braves T-ball team opens its season ... an accident at play resulted in a fractured arm and she'll be sidelined for at least three weeks ... far from disappointed about the incident, Faith was pleased to report that she got to pick out the color of her cast ... "It's yellow, Grandpa," she says. "And you and Grandma are going to have to write your names on it."
---
Posted Thursday, April 14, 2011: For a second there, I thought I was on the wrong page ... under the SPORTS logo of my favorite state newspaper were stories on Barry Bonds being found guilty of obstructing justice; a former Rutgers football player and a former Bayonne High School player being charged by police for several offenses after a traffic stop; the Lakers' Kobe Bryant being fined $100,000 for aiming a gay slur at a ref; and, inside the paper but not on the sports pages, a soccer mom being charged with simple assault after smacking a player in the back during a youth soccer game. ... the "Who, When, What, Why and Where" learned in Sports Reporting 101 applies too much to off-the field stuff now, too. ...
---
Posted Wednesday, April 13, 2011: It must be getting close to playoff time 'cause more pushes are coming to more shoves in the NBA games I've caught on ESPN the past couple of late-nights ... one of the best places to view all this mayhem (if you're lucky) is at the end of the court in the seats practically right under the basket ... the action on the other side of the court might be a big sketchy, but to see these trees go at each other for position under the boards is something to see ... just don't be surprised when you get some good old hard-earned NBA sweat on you when these huge people collide. ...
---
Posted Tuesday, April 12, 2011: Seems that the British and Irish press had a field day with Rory McIlroy's fourth-round collapse at The Masters this past Sunday ... "misery" and "horror show" and "meltdown" and "train wreck" were some of the kinder words written about the 21-year-old who went from a four-stroke leader to a five-way tie for 15th after shooting an 80 in the final round ... still, others provided enough theater to make the Sunday telecast the second highest Masters TV ratings in the last 10 years ... Tiger Woods' return to golf last year was the top-rated, proving we, too, love to watch somebody being miserable. ...
---
Posted on Monday, April 11, 2011: Charl Schwartgzel birdies the last four holes to finish 14-under and win the Masters, a tournament that saw eight different players hold at least a share of the lead on the final day ... Australians Jason Day and Adam Scott, playing together, finish two-back to tie for second and walk off the 18th with big grins ... even Tiger Woods was in the hunt until his putter failed him and he finished in a three-way tie for fourth another two back ... all this final-round excitement kept Rory McIlroy, who started the final day with a four-shot lead only to shoot an 80 and finish 10 strokes off the pace in a five-way tie for 15th, from being "Butlered" to smithereens by the Masters media. ...
---
Posted on Sunday, April 10, 2011:
Fishing license and worms - about $30
Food, beverages, cigars - about $45
Time spent with my 41-year-old son at the side of the lake while waiting for trout season to open - PRICELESS!
---
Posted on Saturday, April 9, 2011: Whenever Joba throws anything but a fastball when he is behind in the count he should be fined ... ON THE SPOT! ...
---
Posted on Friday, April 8, 2011: Soriano came back from his Wednesday disaster with a one-hit, 10-pitch scoreless inning for his third "hold" of the seqason in yesterday's 4-3 win over the Twins ... going back to Wednesday, his one-hit, three-walk outing should not have gone that far as it was evident that he didn't have it when Martin set up for an inside pitch only to have Soriano miss by about six inches OUTSIDE ... Girardi should have been out there with his hook even before Martin had the ball back to Soriano ...
---
Posted on Thursday, April 7, 2011: I always thought it was "Of the people, by the people and for the people" ... seems that our beloved congressmen and senators will get paid; federal workers will not get paid; soldiers won't get their checks (but will get back pay); and IRS refunds won't go out unless filed electronically if the govenerment shuts down today ... seems these days the "for the people" has been changed to "FROM the people." ...
---
Posted Wednesday, April 6, 2011: "Profits Are Down!" screams the headline - and then fill in the blank at whichever company or casino you have read about recently ... key word here is "profits" ... they are not losing money, they are just not making as much money as they would like to make ... people complaining about having to live on a "fixed income" bother me, too ... I wish my income WAS "fixed" from year to year ... salary cuts, unpaid weekly furloughs, increased medical premiums all led to a decrease in income ... and then there's Social Security -- awww, that's enough for one day. ...
---
Posted Tuesday, April 5, 2011: So UConn 53, Butler 41 wasn't the best-played game we've ever seen and the players didn't perform their best while playing on the biggest stage of their careers ... but you would of thought that Barkley & Co. had never played in a clunker, had never thrown up an air ball, and never had dribbled a ball off their foot out of bounds in their careers the way they carried on about the game in their post-game analysis ... in print, one story I read described last night's NCAA final as "dreadful" and another said it was the "worst final ever." ... it was still a fun tournament to watch ... VCU gave us a good show and two-year coach Shaka Smart was rewarded with an eight-year contract worth $1.2 million a year plus unspecified bonuses ... it was said he was offered 2 mill a year at N.C. State, but Smart decided to stay put at VCU ... Smart, Shaka! ...
---
Posted Monday, April 4, 2011: 'KEEP OFF THE FIELD' is not the sign you want to see on a youth baseball field ... these signs are necessary at this time of the year, though, as fields dry out in preparation for Opening Day games scheduled in the next week or so ... once we get into the season, however, fields with KEEP OFF signs on them all day just because they were lined at 10 a.m. for a 6 p.m. game doesn't seem right ...
---
Posted Sunday, April 3, 2011: Even though my chance for finishing third (and in the money!) in a 139-player NCAA pool ended with Butler's victory last night, both games were very entertaining ... funny, but I can't help thinking VaComm and it's defense might have been better suited to beat UConn in tomorrow night’s title game ... also, the way this tournament has been going this year, who says a No. 8 can't beat a No. 3 in the championship game? ...
---
Posted Saturday, April 2, 2011: Was visiting friends the other day and couldn't help but watch a lively neighborhood street basketball game between six kids about 10-11 years old ... as the dinner hour approached, the kids were called home one by one until only one lad was still out there ... he took some shots by himself and then started throwing the ball high into the air, letting it hit the ground, running under it as it bounced and timing his leap to meet the ball still going up and pushing it with one hand even higher ... he did this four-five times until his mom called him in with a "... if you have nothing better to do come on in the house." ... nothing better to do!!! ... geeez, mom, the kid was playing, using his mind to make up some silly little game that he was enjoying!!! ... not even close to "... nothing better to do." ... I've often said that young kids of today don't know how to play -- they need constant supervision and need to be told what to do ... and then there are those whose only exercise they get is with their thumbs - but that's another story. ...
---
Posted Friday, April 1, 2011: Okay, I get it ... this white stuff ... April Fools, right? ... I think we all get it now, so please turn it off and bring us the spring season for which we have waited so patiently all winter! ...
---
