Tuesday, October 27, 2009

PEDs and the World Series

Here we are are about 30 hours away from the start of the World Series and so far these Major League Baseball playoffs have been all about Alex Rodriguez. The man who when all is said and done will retire as the baseball player with the greatest offensive statistics of all time has finally won over a large chunk of the baseball media and fans who were always critical about his lack of "clutch" hitting. 

It was back on February 9th of this year that Alex Rodriguez sat down with Peter Gammons of ESPN and confirmed the reporting of Sports Illustrated's Selena Roberts that he had indeed failed a steroids test in 2003. There are reportedly as many as 104 names people on the list the list the US Government seized back in 2009. The Major League Baseball Players Association disputes that number. Earlier this year the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a 9-2 decision ruled against Federal Agents saying they did not have the authority to seize that list.  


The list contains names of players who allegedly failed the 2003 MLB administered test. The test was supposed to be anonymous and destroyed after the results but Federal Agents seized the list. Ever since then names have been leaking out slowly. The list is also in the hands of lawyers including those involved with the BALCO case. So far we know for sure 7 names that were on the list.

Everyone is familiar with the story. Everyone has a different opinion on it. There are those like me who just want the whole list to just come out at once. This would be the ideal solution. We all know that a significant number of players used Performance Enhancing Drugs. It helps no one that these names trickle out one by one every few months and dominate the headlines. The "clean" players have done a horrible job here. Yes, they are part of the union but every day that passes by they are just letting themselves be associated with cheaters. If the MLB and MLBPA really thinks these names won't continue to be leaked they are just fooling themselves. Both the MLB and MLBPA have already acknowledged that baseball did have this cloud over it. Yes, I know they only did so once Congress got involved but all parties involved need to take the next step and put this era behind us.

When all the backlash against Barry Bonds began at the start of this decade I continued to root for him. I felt all along that he was being hung out to dry by everyone because of his personality. Barry Bonds never came across as the friendliest guy in the room. He wasn't out there doing commercials like pretty much every major star does right now. He wasn't kowtowing to the media either. In that process he made a lot of enemies who took great joy in his downfall. The problem here is that fans, media and the MLB all continue to be hypocrites. The media has let guys like Alex Rodriguez get a complete pass. They're falling all over him in this year's playoffs. Why is no one asking whether this man who's already acknowledged cheating might still be doing it? Human Growth Hormone is still a problem in this sport. Would anyone really be surprised if it comes out later that Alex Rodriguez was caught using HGH? Fans around baseball have been hypocrites. These players get booed in other ballparks but are revered in their home ballparks. New York Yankees fans who used to regularly criticize Barry Bonds on sports radio now give curtain calls to Alex Rodriguez. These same fans did it for Jason Giambi and Andy Pettite.

The media continues to give Alex Rodriguez a complete pass. Everyone is covering this as though this is some great feel good story. Why is everyone forgetting that just 8 months ago this man was exposed as a cheater and a fraud?

What are the MLB and MLBPA gaining from withholding these names? They know they will come out eventually. Shouldn't the MLBPA be looking for it's entire group? Every time a name is leaked that one player faces the spotlight for a couple of months. Why not just do it all in one shot in a controlled atmosphere and put it behind you?

With that said I'm shocked we haven't seen another name or two get leaked during this year's playoffs. With Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz having been named earlier this year I fully expected another name or two to be leaked with the spotlight of sports fans on the MLB in October. I mean, wouldn't this be the perfect time to cause damage to baseball?

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

submit to reddit Digg! Seed on Newsvine

Sunday, October 25, 2009

MLB has already put the Yankees in the World Series


Has MLB never seen the "Dewey beats Truman" picture? Clearly they haven't because there is just no justification for this ridiculous act. I was reading the Los Angeles Times and look what I found. Here I was thinking the only major sports uproar today would be about baseball going head to head against the NFL tonight.


 How does MLB justify already selling merchandise on their website saying "New York Yankees American League Champions". Are you serious?



I know and fully understand that a lot of this stuff is printed ahead of time but how can you be advertising it on your website already? Everyone knows MLB would prefer the Yankees in the World Series for ratings purpose but you're setting yourselves up for major criticism if calls go against the Angels tonight since you know, MLB has already put the Yankees in the World Series.

Did MLB not learn anything from that guy who had a book up on Amazon available for pre-order about the undefeated Patriots?

At last check MLB had not fixed this on its site.

Do you remember other incidents like this one? Please share.

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

What are you watching Sunday Night?

Fans in the New York market will be torn Sunday Night. Because of the rain in New York Saturday night Game 6 of the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles of Anaheim has been postponed to Sunday night. At the same time Sunday Night Football will be on too with the New York Giants taking on the Arizone Cardinals. What will you be watching at around 8:30 Sunday night?

Football obviously is the bigger thing nationally and should win the ratings war for NBC over Fox's MLB telecast. What happens is the New York market will be completely different. The Yankees/Angels game should crush the NFL game and destroy NBC's ratings in the New York market. NBC 4 in New York even has a special edition of the Sunday sports show "Mike'd Up" planned but it will be a waste as baseball should crush football in New York rating wise.

People will most certainly blame Major League Baseball for scheduling a game at 8:20 PM eastern time on a Sunday night. What do people expect MLB to do here? Fox has a full slate of NFL games around the country including 3 starting at 4:15 PM. There is no way MLB would take the chance that one of those games goes into overtime leaving the start of a big baseball game like this off of TV. There is no way you can blame MLB or Fox here.

With that in mind thought, what will you be watching tomorrow night?

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Barack Obama/Jon Corzine(09!) (also starring Caroline Kennedy)

BREAKING NEWS - The 3,500 people in attendance at the Rothman Center agree that Barack Obama is even more awesome in person.

When this Jon Corzine campaign schedule was revealed for this week I did all I could to attempt to go to all the major events. Today after a long but memorable day I can report that I did. It all started on Monday as Vice President Joe Biden campaigned at Middlesex County College in Edison. Former President Bill Clinton was at the College Avenue Gym at Rutgers University in New Brunswick Tuesday night. The main event was today. It was the day Barack Obama returned to the Garden State to campaign for Jon Corzine for the 2nd time in this election cycle. The President campaigned in Holmdel at the PNC Bank Arts Center back in July.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Bill Clinton/Jon Corzine (09!) at Rutgers University

The magical week for Jon Corzine continued Tuesday night at the College Avenue Gym. The place was rocking from the get go. There is no doubt about, this crowd was there for Bill Clinton. Everyone knew it and yes that includes all the other speakers there tonight.

The gates were supposed to open at 7:30 PM. I got there around 6:15 and by then there were already a couple of hundred people in line waiting to get in. Across the street were a grand total of 12 protesters who were hardly creative. Among the signs they were carrying were "No you can't". Really original there. There was a guy dressed as a chicken and holding a sign that said "Cluck U Corzine".

The event was held at the College Avenue Gym at Rutgers University in New Brunswick. The College Avenue Gym actually sits on the site of the stadium where the first ever college football game was played way back in 1869. The Scarlet Knights beat Princeton by a score of 6-4 on that day.

Members from the Corzine camp were giving out "Corzine/Weinberg" buttons and also t-shirts that said "Yes We can 2.0" I got my hands on a button but was not able to secure a T-Shirt. This one guy from the campaign did say he'd bring one over but passed by me twice saying "I'll be right back" only to toss shirts to people directly behind me. Are you kidding me? Someone from the Corzine camp did get in touch with me via twitter and asked for my phone number. Just got a message from them claiming that they did have a shirt for me but didn't see my reply with phone number until it was too late. I don't know whether to believe them.

The evening started off with Middlesex County Democratic chair Joseph C. Spicuzzo. He was doing his best to bring humor to the event from the start. He speaks with a stutter, so he made sure to clarify for everyone that he wasn't drunk but actually had a stroke last year. He was on the stage to introduce the President............of Rutgers University Richard McCormack. Nice swerve which most of the crowd didn't see coming. As expected it was a fairly young crowd and I'm sure it was the first political event for most of them. I'm sure a lot of them weren't aware you have to sit through a ton of local politicians before the main event starts.

Honestly don't remember much from Richard McCormack's speech. I guess that pretty much says all there is to be said. He did talk about Bill Clinton making a trip to Rutgers University shortly after winning his first presidential election to make a policy speech. He also talked about Corzine being a friend of Rutgers University. Right around this time there was a loud "R.....U.....R......U" chant. That is a common chant at Rutgers football game where the student section yells "R!" and everyone else replies with "U!". The chant inside this gym was about as loud as any of the recent Rutgers home games.

Three Freeholders were up next coming up one by one to announce support for Corzine and reminding everyone in New Jersey to vote "Column A" on November 3rd. Nothing out of the ordinary here either. Crowd was getting bored by this point. Carol Barrett in particular was really bad. She was literally reading her speech off of a paper and lost her place a couple of times leading to awkward pauses.

Up next was Dymir Arthur. He is a Rutgers graduate from the Class of '09. He gave a really good speech urging the young voters in attendance to get out and vote. He emphasized that "us young people have more power then we realize."

There was about 15-20 minute long break up next (might have even been longer). The crowd let it be known as to why they were there with a loud "We want Bill!" chant but were drowned out by the music being played. They were tossing a lot of Corzine T-Shirts into the crowd during this break too.

One thing I noticed was a disturbing lack of security. I asked a campaign worker and got to go through the entrance that people with the VIP "blue tickets" were taking. When I went through I was shocked to find out that only screening done was to check my ticket. There were no metal detectors at this entrance. There was no secret service or even local law enforcement officials checking you at this entrance. Me and plenty of other people just walked through by just showing our tickets. This is particularly depressing if you've read recent reports on how much the workload for the secret service has increased.

When the event resumed Mr. Spicuzzo was back at the podium. He gave a short biography of himself because he had failed to introduce himself earlier. He didn't judge the crowd well at all. He started to talk about the newly expanded Rutgers Football Stadium. This got him some boos through the crowd. This stadium continues to be a sore subject with Rutgers students. For those not familiar with the situation, Rutgers Stadium just went through an expansion project which saw capacity rise by almost 12,000. The cost for the project was over $100 million. A lot of Corzine tied big donors had pledged to raise money for the project. When the time came though the recession forced most of those donors to back away leaving Rutgers University in a tough spot. The school ended up taking a large loan which obviously didn't sit too well with the student body or some of the football season ticket holders as ticket prices soared while the team has taken a step back. This is a problem anywhere there is big time sports. People who don't like sports will always have problems with big stadiums at a public university while tuitions are rising. They don't like that the athletic department has such a large budget and that football and basketball head coaches make so much money. What they choose to ignore is that these sports bring in a lot of money for the school through merchandise, TV rights and ticket sales.

Our next speaker was State Senator Bob Smith. Found out a couple of days ago that he was my State Senator now that I live in Piscataway. He talked about knowing Hillary way back when they were both teens and his family had a summer cottage in Pennsylvania. He joked and said hopefully "President Clinton was listening backstage because if I had played my cards right I could have been a President." The line got a huge applause and a "Hillary" chant. Turns out that this crowd loves both Bill and Hillary. Mr. Smith was out there to get introduce candidate for Lieutenant Governor Loretta Weinberg.

This is the first year New Jersey is having elections to elect a Lieutenant Governor as it is a newly created position. Weinberg isn't the world's greatest speaker and this is a big problem for the campaign that I will talk about below. Everyone knows that she wasn't Corzine's first pick but after the whole corruption episode was thrown into the spotlight.

I have said it before and I'll say it again. I believe Jon Corzine is the man for the job right now. As Vice President Biden said yesterday he's governed through some tough times well, he deserves a chance to govern as things get better. He kept his speech relatively short even joking that the people weren't there for him but to see Bill Clinton. The Governor did talk about Loretta Weinberg being an advocate for women in Trenton. Corzine reminisced bout the Clinton years saying during those 8 years we "created 23 million new jobs." He urged everyone to vote and to make sure you get others around you to vote. He referred to the infamous 2000 elections to emphasize the importance of every of every single vote. He said we would be a much different country if the Clinton/Gore policies had been around for the last 8 years.

Bill Clinton was simply Bill Clinton. He did what he does best, better then pretty much anyone else out there. The Corzine camp better turn this speech into a campaign commercial fast. They were way too slow with the Obama one in July. Bill pointed out Rutgers Womens Basketball Coach and Basketball Hall of Famer C. Vivian Stringer being in attendance adding that "Hillary is outside of the campus the world's biggest fan" of Coach Stringer. The man knows his audience. Bill Clinton in 15 minutes made a better case for Jon Corzine then Jon Corzine has all summer. Now of course Mr. Clinton is a great public speaker and to be fair there aren't many in the country who are even remotely close to him. Clinton put on his glasses for emphasis and started reading off some New Jersey related statistics that show the state at or the near the top in a lot of key categories. Graduation rate is among the best in the country, early education is not only alive and well it is diverse. Public schools are scoring good scores on tests. More and more children have healthcare. Bill makes sure to point out that he took Weinberg's law from New Jersey that saw to it that new mothers and their babies stayed in the hospital for 48 hours when his administration set the federal guidelines. Bill Clinton has this aura to him. It was fascinating to see this crowd fired up for him. As Mike Memoli of "Real Clear Politics" pointed out, most of the students in attendance were in diapers when Bill Clinton first won election in 1992.

The best argument for Jon Corzine's election unfortunately is being made by others. As Christina Bellantoni pointed out Corzine is becoming a "sidekick at own events." It was the case back in July when President Obama came to campaign. It was true Monday when Vice President Joe Biden swung by the Garden State for a little campaigning. It most certainly was the case today as former President Bill Clinton fired up supporters at Rutgers University. Wednesday Barack Obama will do the job once more. It may not be the worst thing in the world if as Corzine is being overshadowed by big speakers that him and everyone around him continue to tie Christie to George W. Bush. It should be a slightly disturbing trend for the Corzine campaign and I'm pretty sure the Corzine people are aware of this.

Looking forward to heading out to the Barack Obama event tomorrow. If you have attended any on of these recent rallies or are heading out to one of the upcoming ones let me know.

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

A dozen people protesting....that's all there were. It was a step up from the 10 that were at the Biden event.


The top portion was filled all across but these bleachers to the right had empty VIP seats through the event. Don't know why they weren't filled with people who actually there at the event. Keep in mind they turned away hundreds from the event. 



Professor Clinton giving the facts. 


The Secret Service's worst nightmare as the crowd rushes forward to shake hands with Bill Clinton. 

This obviously wasn't intended to look like this but ends up looking pretty neat. 


My LifeGiving: How Each of Us Can Change the WorldLiving History

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Fox Business Channel (and Reuters?) get duped

Since when did October become National Hoax month?

By now everyone has heard of the so called "balloon boy". This one though is just strange. A group sends out a fake press release posing as the US Chamber of Commerce and then rent a room at the "National Press Club" and then holds a fake press conference there. Watch the chaos that follows. Did someone other then Fox Business cover this?

I don't have words for this. Just watch the video.



As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

Monday, October 19, 2009

"Ladies and Gentlemen" Biden/Corzine (09!)

Jon Corzine's week got off to a good start today. He held a campaign rally at the Middlesex County College in New Jersey where he was joined by Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Frank Lautenberg, Representative Frank Pallone and Representative Rush Holt among others. Bill and Hillary Clinton campaigned at the same venue way back in 1992.

Before the event even got under way I saw 4 anti-Corzine protesters representing "Students against Corzine." I heard that number got up to 10. I was going to photograph them on my way out but they weren't there anymore. Up until around 11:15 or so everyone had to wait outside. Just like the Obama/Corzine (09!) event earlier this summer this left a lot of time for people to just mingle and share stories. I was actually interviewed by a reporter from the Home News Tribune (part of the Gannett family). Yeah, I know it's not the New York Times or the Washington Post but I'll take what I can get. I had tickets to the event thanks to a friend who works in New Jersey politics but was lucky enough (again!) to get access to an extra VIP pass and ended up sitting in the 2nd row. When you have elected officials sitting behind you, you know you got lucky.

I'm sure this is a common occurrence any time someone high profile like the Vice President is involved but the event didn't start anywhere close to the time listed on the ticket.

None of the local officials really inspired anyone aside from maybe Freeholder James Polos.
The two congressmen in attendance were better. Frank Pallone who is now serving his 11th term in the House as well as Rush Holt. If you aren't familiar with Holt's background you should read into it. It is really impressive. It can be argued that he is the smartest person in Washington.

This was the first time in a long time that I've heard Frank Lautenberg speak and he just seemed out of it at times. I mean the man is 85 years old but his speech at time was off. I don't think he stays senator until the end of his term in 2014 which is another reason why this Governor's election is important because Corzine can be in a position to appoint a Democratic senator to replace him should need me. Mayor Cory Booker of Newark perhaps? Launtenbeg was on the stage to introduce State Senator Barbara Buono and completely botched her name.

Next up was state senator Barbara Buono who was there to introduce Corzine and Biden. Funny moment before then as an aide to Buono came around to people sitting near the front and asked if they'd give her standing ovations when she came in. Buono's speech wasn't anything to write home about and by this point everyone was ready for the main event. People had been waiting for over 2 hours and by this point were pretty much ignoring the speakers.

Joe Biden and Jon Corzine both came out together and joined Buono and Lautenberg on the stage for a photo op. Buono quickly left the stage and Senator Launtenberg literally wandered around the stage from end to end. It was awkward. At one point Vice President Biden even asked him to sit on a stool that was on the stage but Lautenberg turned him down. At some point during the Corzine speech he walked off the stage and didn't return.

Corzine's speech was what you would expect it to be. He was getting decent reaction but the crowd of about 600 or so got into it a lot more when Corzine was criticizing Chris Christie then they did when he was talking about himself. New Jersey does have a love/hate relationship with this governor but voting Chris Christie into office is not an option. As Congressman Holt said earlier in the day "One Christie (former governor Whitman) is enough." Corzine went through the generic campaign shtick talking about having partners in Washington in Barack Obama and "the 3rd senator from New Jersey Joe Biden." The Governor hammered Christie on his refusal to accept stimulus money. As expected Chris Christie was tied to the failed policies of Bush/Cheney but Corzine took it one step further by making sure to link Christie to Sarah Palin and Mark Sanford over the stimulus money.

The main event was of course Vice President Joe Biden. People always talk about how much fun it is to be at events where Biden speaks, and they were "literally" right. He didn't use the word as often but did not fail to disappoint with his "ladies and gentlemen." I lost count of the amount times he said it today. Biden was effective in his role. He started off by talking about his mother saying that if you weren't a Democrat you went to hell. He had a nice laugh about that before adding that he didn't think it was true. He talked about Corzine's financial background. He made sure to emphasize just like President Obama had back in July that Corzine was one of the voices the Obama transition team turned to on economic issues. Many like me believe if Corzine had endorsed Barack Obama from the start and not Hillary Clinton he just may have had a prominent role in the Obama administration. The Vice President hammered Christie and the GOP for their opposition to everything saying "I know what all these guys are against. I always have trouble figuring out what they're for." I couldn't have said it better myself. Biden also talked about his wife Jill who as we all know is also a professor at a community college. Biden had to throw in his obligatory Amtrak reference too. Not sure if this was the right though, Amtrak and NJ Transit northeast corridor were hours behind schedule with their service this morning.

Healthcare was a big theme through the day. Normally you see a diverse group standing behind or to the side of the stage for the TV cameras. Today it comprised entirely of women, pretty much all of whom had pink mammogram related stickers on their shirts as part of "Breast Cancer awareness month."

Education was another theme sprinkled throughout, especially early education. Joe Biden made sure to mention his wife Jill who is a professor.

As Jon Corzine is in the middle of his big week, raising money for Chris Christie today is Bobby Jindal?

All in all it was a good event. Corzine doesn't exactly capture you with his words but he is the man for the job at this time. The motto for me all summer long has been "anyone but Christie" and most of New Jersey at this point seems to agree. New Jersey loves Joe Biden. Biden got a huge reaction from the crowd. He shook a ton of hands afterwards and seemed to take as many pictures with the people in the crowd.

As we were walking back to the parking lot we were stopped and had to wait on the sidewalk for about 10 minutes waiting for the Biden motorcade to go by. Someone from the Corzine PR team did a great job here because just as the Biden motorcade was going by Corzine got out of his SUV (Jed Bartlett style from that West Wing Budget negotiations episode) and shook some more hands and took photos with people.

I was expecting a much heavier security presence at the event. Definitely was expecting more secret service personnel there too. Everyone had to go through metal detectors but inside the building (at least in the front where I was) there weren't as many visible secret service personnel. No food or drinks were allowed into the building. In addition to the Secret Service  the security was also being handled by campus police, NJ state troopers, Rutgers police. Want to see how different the situation is on Wednesday when Barack Obama campaigns for Jon Corzine. There are some disturbing reports about the amount of death threats these days.

I have tickets to the Bill Clinton/Jon Corzine event at Rutgers University tomorrow night. I am still trying to get my hands on one for the Obama event Wednesday. If you were there today or will be at one of ones the next two days, let me know what you thought about the experience.

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

Video of the Biden Speech



Below you'll find some pictures I took at the event.






Women were placed front and center at the event by the Corzine camp.


Congressman Frank Pallone


Congressman Rush Holt.....smartest congressman out there?


Senator Lautenberg


State Senator Barbara Buono, just don't ask Senator Lautenberg to say her name.







Joe Biden took a lot of pictures with people.


Jon Corzine pulling a Jed Bartlett.

That's Joe Biden in that SUV.

Promises to Keep: On Life and PoliticsHow Barack Obama Won: A State-by-State Guide to the Historic 2008 Presidential Election (Vintage)

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Joe Biden campaigning for Jon Corzine Monday

This is a big week for Jon Corzine. He's been surging in the polls and just got endorsed by the New York Times. This is a big campaign week for him as I mentioned previously.

I will be in attendance tomorrow morning as Vice President Joe Biden stops by the Middlesex County College in Edison to campaign with the Governor. Bill Clinton campaigned there in there in 1992 and as far as I know no other President or Vice President has been there either before or after winning an election. If anyone needs tickets to this event let me know. I have extra tickets courtesy of a friend who works for a state senator.

Stay tuned to this blog tomorrow for pictures and reactions from the event. If you are attending let me know.

I also received confirmation from the Corzine campaign today that I will be in attendance Tuesday evening when former President Bill Clinton campaigns at Rutgers University for Governor Corzine.

I am still working on getting tickets for the event on Wednesday that will welcome President Barack Obama back to New Jersey.

Like I said, stay tuned to this blog all week long for updates and pictures from these events. Also follow my twitter feed.

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Move over "Balloon Boy"....hello "Miracle Stroller"

For about 24 hours now Americans have been fascinated by the "Balloon Boy" and the Heene family. The media needs to move on because this next story is far more amazing....and it actually isn't a hoax.

Watch the video:



Yes, that is a stroller with a 6 month old baby inside it...being hit by a train.....dragged 130 feet.....and the baby some how survived.

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

Falcon Heene - "Balloon Boy" Hoax continues

Lets do your job media. This Heene family is exposing themselves as frauds

By now you must have already watch the CNN interview from last night where the kid admits "we did this for the show" while the parents scramble to make excuses.

The story from the family was that the 10 year old son saw the 6 year old son get in the craft and take off. The older son then allegedly ran in to tell his parents, which led to a big time search for the kid. By now you obviously know how the story ended.

But that story is a lie. First the CNN interview and now this home video on ABC's "Good Morning America" this morning.

What a shame. What a disgrace.

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Chris "Maddog" Russo appearing on WFAN Friday?

If you follow sports radio anywhere in the United States chances are you have heard of "Mike and the Maddog."

For almost two decades they ruled the New York airwaves. They're credited as being the original sports talk show guys. WFAN was the first all sports station in the country and they became a major part of it. It was an odd pairing. At times....very odd. They fought a lot in the early days.....and eventually one of those fights let to the end of their great partnership.

Last year Chris Russo left for Sirus Radio to never be heard from again (I kid!). Couldn't really blame him. For years it was reported that he was always paid less then his partner. That never made any sense to me. They were a team....a solid one at that. They contrasted each other's styles well and brought the best out of each other on the air.

Russo said an emotional goodbye last year....and hasn't been back on the station since.


There was a rumor of a possible Chris Russo appearance on Mike Francesa's show at the Super Bowl this year....but it never materialized. The two have been at war over guests.

Earlier today Chris Majkowski who's a producer at WFAN tweeted that Russo will be appearing on the station tomorrow.
For those listening on our flagship, Francesa and Russo will be together to start the show tomorrow at 1:05 from Yankee Stadium.
Sal Licatta who is Mike Francesa's producer would not officially confirm.


Looking forward to it. Should be great radio.

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

Falcon Heene - "Balloon Boy" Hoax

Did you guys follow this Falcon Heene story all day today?

He is the kid all of America thought was on the Helium balloon today as it floated across Colorado. Immediately a lot of people thought it was some kind of hoax. More people jumped on that bandwagon when the balloon landed.....and no one was there.

Then there was a manhunt to find the kid......and he turned up hours later from the attic of his own home. Strange....right? I immediately thought something was up and have been saying so all day long on my twitter feed.

It had to be a hoax. This family from all we know about it, just craves attention. So the media played right into it and rightfully so. It was a fascinating story today but immediately people began to catch on that something was up. If you read my earlier post from today you saw Youtube links and other stuff that helps point to this family being crazy.

Wolf Blitzer landed the interview on behalf of Larry King Live that all the news outlets wanted. He exposed this family for the frauds they are....and didn't even realize it. He should have pressed them harder when the kid says "you said it was for the show." What a disaster. What a disgrace. What was Blitzer thinking? Watch the clip.




As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

Time is now for Jon Corzine (09!)

It has been a long summer so far for New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine. He's been down in the polls all summer long but this week just might be what the doctor ordered for this once stagnant campaign.

Jon Corzine will benefit from some pretty powerful campaign stops coming up next week.

On Monday Vice President Joe Biden will stop by at the Middlesex County College in Edison for a campaign rally at the College Gym. Bill Clinton also stopped by to campaign in 1992 when he was running for President.

On Tuesday the attention shifts to the College Avenue Gym at Rutgers University as Bill Clinton will hold a night time rally. The College Avenue Gym actually sits on the site of the stadium where the first ever college football game was played way back in 1869. The Scarlet Knights beat Princeton by a score of 6-4.

Wednesday brings to us the main event as Barack Obama will stop by Fairleigh Dickenson University in Hackensack. I don't know how set in stone that venue is. I realize Bergen County is a key region in NJ....but why not hold this rally somewhere you can fit more people? Barack Obama was here back in July and the rally was moved at the time to a bigger location which led to 17,500 people showing up. Why would you not do the same here? Or are they going to do another last minute swap like they did back in July?

I was fortunate enough to attend the Obama rally in July, will do my best to attend all 3 of these.

Also on Wednesday Caroline Kennedy will be coming down for an event in the evening.

Latest polls show that Corzine has made up what was once a double digit deficit.


Anyone else going to any of these events?

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

The saga of Falcon Heene.

Edit 3: Are you guys watching this interview on Larry King Live? Did this kid Falcon say something along the lines of "for show" when they asked him why he didn't come out when people were calling him?

Edit 2: The entire Heene family will be on Larry King Live tonight. Wolf Blitzer will be filling in for Larry King.

Edit: Kid found at home....in a box....in the attic. There is still more to this story that we do not know.

Ok...finding more out about this father now and the more we find out the more bizarre it gets.

Original Post:

Are you guys watching this Helium balloon story from Colorado? Reports are a 6 year old boy climbed aboard his father's Helium balloon....and took off.

The kid ironically named Falcon was reported to be on the aircraft by one of this brothers. This balloon has been flying around for a while and just landed. There was no one inside though?

What happened along the way? Did a piece of the aircraft fall off before cameras got to the story? Was this a hoax? Is the boy really missing? Kidnapping? Need to hear from the family fast.

One of the early ABC reports.

This is a family that chases storms and UFOs. They made this aircraft together as a family. Huffington Post did some quick research. The kid's father has his own website about this balloons and storm chasing. That is not the end of the craziness for this family. They were on a recent episode of the show "Wife Swap".

When the story first broke I thought there was no way this story would end well. When I saw the soft landing....my thoughts changed for a moment. Now this? Where is that kid? What happened to him? Did he ever take off?

Look at this family made music video that the 3 Heene kids were in.



Richard Heene also believes he discovered life on Mars.



Someone is already having some fun with this story on twitter. See this account?

Anyone know how old the brother who reported the story is?

This father seems like quiet the character. David Shuster quoted someone earlier who said this kid's father in the 80s gave his dog a mohawk. What a whack job.

Oh...and yeah this family is into conspiracy theories....and "faking stuff?



Where is Falcon Heene?

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

Rush Limbaugh wants you to give up the NFL

For the longest time Rush Limbaugh has been a crazy, ignorant, racist, fear mongering, hate spreading fool. Well today brings a new chapter in that saga.

Rush, who all week was crazy about the NFL and wanting to own a team now says that the NFL is "outpost of racism and liberalism." Is anyone really surprise that he ignored all available data that proves otherwise. What a joke. I can safely say that 90% of NFL owners are probably Republicans and conservatives. If the NFL was this big liberal outpost.....why did Rush want to join it in the first place? Why did he take a job at ESPN a few years ago commenting on it?

Rush wants to go around blaming others for him getting shut down by the league this week. Does he not remember his disgraceful stint at ESPN? Now I'd be the first to say that McNabb has been overrated but...when was he ever built up by the media? The media has been rough on McNabb forever.

Hilarious stuff, Rush is threatening to sue over "false statements". Pretty funny coming from a guy who's entire show is popular because of lies and propaganda that he feeds to ignorant people.

Credit to Media Matters. Here are just some of Rush's idiotic comments over the recent years.

Good luck with this one Rush. Your followers might be bigots and racists....but they aren't going to give up their football. You would have had better luck if you asked them to boycott oxygen.

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

Thursday, October 08, 2009

Barack Obama and Reggie Love

By now unless you've been living in a cave somewhere you should know that Barack Obama is a big time basketball fan. Not only does he watch basketball, he plays a lot of basketball. It has been well documented on Twitter too where Christina Bellantoni of "Talking Points Memo" created the brilliant hashtag called "#potuslovessports"

Some of you might be aware that the President is holding another pickup game today. I'm guessing that came up in today's press briefing with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs.

Watch the video to see what happened.



Obama playing hoops, blocking a shot by aide Reggie Love (Whi... on Twitpic

Reggie Love for those who aren't aware of it is the personal aide to the President. The "body man" as they are called. If you're a "West Wing" nerd like me you'll make the immediate connection to "Charlie." This is what Reggie Love does. What makes this basketball story better is that Reggie Love actually played for Duke. He was part of a pretty loaded Duke team that won a national title. A total of 5 players from the team ended up going to the NBA.

Saw another piece on Obama and Basketball today. ABC did a little reporting and wants to know why there have been no women involved in these pickup games?

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

2009 MLB Playoffs Day 2....Live Blog

Welcome back for day 2 of the MLB playoffs. Hopefully the games are more entertaining today then they were yesterday. We're still a while away from first pitch today. Got some good baseball articles? Send them my way.

12:46 AM - Angels win 5-0. Big win. Needed this. Great play from start to finish. Lackey and Oliver combine for a shutout.

12:21 AM - Great start for Lackey. 7.1 innings of shutout ball. Just what this team needed. Glad the team finally scored some runs for him.

12:14 AM - What a strange inning. 5-0 Angels after 7.

12:03 AM - Angels have to capitalize here. Bases loaded nobody out as Vlad hits it off the pitcher. You can not let the Red Sox hang around.

12:01 AM - 4 walks for Bobby Abreu. Nice. Makes it two on nobody out for Vlad as Torii Hunter got hit by the very next pitch.

11:55 PM - These Wikipedia users are just crazy. C.B Bucknor's page was updated.

During the off-season, Bucknor, who is legally blind, speaks at the Helen Keller Institute for Sensory Impaired Children.


11:45 PM - Nice play from Jacoby keeps the score at 3-0.

11:42 PM - The Angels still haven't attempted a steal? Did not see that one coming.

11:19 PM - Speaking of good pickups by the Angels....Torii Hunter with a 3 run Homerun gives the Angels the lead here in the 5th. Still just one out.

Angels 3 Red Sox 0

11:14 PM - If a year ago you told me I'd be cheering for Bobby Abreu I would've called you crazy. What a pickup he's been for the Angels.

10:44 PM - Vladmir Guerrero strikes out swing with the bases loaded to end the inning. We're headed to the 4th in Anaheim. Still scoreless.

10:36 PM - I am liking this TBS crew doing the Angels/Red Sox series. Buck Martinez solid as usual. As bad as TBS has been doing these games so far I love the "Pitchtrax". Everyone who broadcasts baseball needs to start copying that now.

10:00 PM - You know...I didn't even think about it but "Pardon the Interruption" of ESPN brings up a good point.
Matt Holliday's crotch botch: karma for missing home plate? http://bit.ly/2E1nYx




9:43 PM - As this Angels game gets underway take a few minutes to read this article on Nick Adenhart.

9:15 PM - Dodgers win on a bloop single to centerfield. Mark Loretta gets the game winning hit. Snaps 0-15 streak against Ryan Franklin. Poor Matt Holliday, drops what would have been final out. Gotta feel for Adam Wainright. Dodgers win 3-2 and lead series 2-0.

9:14 PM - Russel Martin walks to load up the bases. Winning run is at 3rd. Unbelievable. Cardinals wasting great outing from Adam Wainright.

9:11 PM - What an at bat from Casey Blake. Ends up drawing the walk. Belliard follows that up with a base hit up the middle tying this game up at 2. Winning Run is at 2nd.

9:05 PM - How did Matt Holliday just drop that ball?

8:51 PM - We head to the bottom of the 9th. Dodgers are down 1 but have 3-4-5 due up here in the 9th. Get ready for a parade of pitchers out of the Cardinals bullpen.

8:43 PM - Wainright battles out of the inning. He's through 8. Great stuff from him as the Dodgers leave the bases loaded here in the 8th. Still 2-1 Cardinals. He threw 109 pitches giving up 3 hits and striking out 7.

8:41 PM - This is Wainright's game to lose. Bases loaded now for the Dodgers. Kemp is up. Dodgers still trail 2-1 but there are 2 outs here in the bottom of the 8th.

8:36 PM - Jim Thome pinch hitting for the pitcher Jonathan Broxton with one on and 2 outs get plunked in the back. Orlando Hudson comes in to pinch run at first. He's the go ahead run. Wainright still in this game.

8:29 PM - Broxton gets Pujols, Holliday and Ludwick on 9 pitches. Once again....brilliant move from Joe Torre there bringing him in that situation.

8:24 PM - Interesting move from Joe Torre. It is the right move. Bringing in the closer Jonathan Broxton here in the 8th with the Dodgers down by one but the Cardinals have the heart of their order coming up.

8:01 PM - Cardinals take 2-1 lead. With the way Wainright is pitching right now that might enough. Heads up play by Loney there getting the runner at 3rd.

Kershaw does not make it out of the inning. Joe Torre going to the bullpen with runner on first and two outs here in the 7th.

7:56 PM - This my friends is playoff baseball. We're tied at 1 as we head to the 7th. Does Kershaw have more inning in him? Wainright is pitching a gem right now. Through 6 innings he's allowed just 2 hits striking out 5. He's thrown just 79 pitches.

7:31 PM - Shadows playing a factor now. Tough to hit out there. Wainright dealing right now. Just that one mistake right so far that took away his perfect game and shutout. Bottom 5 right now we are tied at 1.

6:44 PM - The starting lineups have been posted for the 3rd game of the triple header.

Red Sox:
Ellsbury, Pedroia, V.Mart, Youkilis, Ortiz, Bay, Lowell, Drew, Gonzalez with Lester pitching.


Angels:
Figgins, Abreu, Hunter, Guerrero, Rivera, Morales, Kendrick, Mathis, Aybar. Lackey pitching.


Those lineups courtesy of Ian Browne.

6:27 PM - Matt Holliday solo homerun gives the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Agree with the TBS crew....those shadows are going to come into play as the game goes on.

6:19 PM - Rockies win 5-4. Huston Street gets Victorino out to end the game. Rockies win 5-4 and split the two games in Philadelphia. Game 3 Saturday with snow in the forecast.

6:17 PM - Meanwhile over at Dodgers stadium the Cardinals just went down 1-2-3 in the first inning.

6:15 PM - Jimmy Rollins base hit to right field. Winning run on first now for the Phillies. There are two outs.

6:11 PM - Matt Stairs draws a one out walk.....and with the bench quickly emptying for the Phillies Cliff Lee comes in to pinch run. He's the tying run here in the bottom of the 9th. With Cliff Lee coming into the game every member of the Phillies starting rotation not named Pedro Martinez has come into the game today.

6:00 PM - We're headed to the bottom of the 9th here. The Phillies are down by one and will have the bottom of the order coming up against closer Huston Street.

5:56 PM - Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe is reporting that the Yankees plan on keeping Joba Chamberlain in the bullpen if they advance beyond the Divison Series.

5:48 PM - Jayson Werth win a solo shot. Phillies down just 5-4 now in the bottom of the 8th. Two outs and Raul Ibanez coming to the plate as the Rockies make a pitching change.

Has anyone benefited more from playing in Citizens Bank Ballpark then Jayson Werth?

5:43 PM - Is TBS serious with this "language of the game" thing? Baseball fans know how to calculate stats

5:39 PM - Horrible job by the Rockies. Bases loaded and one out and the Rockies get nothing out of this inning. Lead just 5-3 as head to the bottom of the 8th. Jason Giambi strikes out to end the inning.

5:30 PM - The Rockies need to add a run or two here. Two on and nobody out here in the 8th.

5:11 PM - Good work from Scott Eyre. Comes into a tough situation and gives up only one run on a sacrifice fly. We're headed to the bottom of the 7th and the Rockies lead 5-3.

5:00 PM - Tough luck for the Phillies. Looks like Happ just hurt himself. Grounder came straight back and hits him in the leg. He seems to limping after his warmup tosses. Tough break for Phillies. Pedro Marinez has to start game 3 now for the Phillies right? Bases loaded for the Rockies no outs. Pitching change yet again.

4:57 PM - Joe Blanton can't shut the Rockies down here in the 7th. They have runners on the corner and the Phillies are going to the bullpen again. In comes Happ. No one out.

4:51 PM - Raul Ibanez with another big hit brings in two more for the Phillies. They are down just 1 now. Headed to the 7th inning. Rockies lead 4 to 3.

4:39 PM - Runners on first and third no one out for Ryan Howard here in the bottom of the 6th. His double scores one. Runners on 2nd and 3rd nobody out right now. Pitching change for the Rockies. Colorado still leads 4-1

4:32 PM - I have to ask again....why is 1050 ESPN Radio in New York not broadcasting the first game of the day? It's not like Michael Kay's show does great ratings going up against Mike Francesa and WFAN.

4:18 PM - Phillies pinch hit for Hamels here in the bottom of the 5th. He's only thrown 83 pitches but with being down 4-0 and a man on first here they have to try and get some runs here.

4:16 PM - Good work by TBS (wait...did I really just type that?) on that replay. What was Gonzalez doing there? That was a big run there. If he gets thrown out at 3rd there and the score stays at 3-0 it's a completely different game.

Rocies lead 4-0

4:08 PM - Just as the Rockies get that double to put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out here in the 5th, Jayson Stark brings some bad news for Phillies fans:

Cole Hamels' last win in a day game? (Cue Jeopardy music.) It was in LAST year's LDS. That was 10 starts ago (in the sun)


3:53 PM - We head to the bottom of the 4th with the the Rockies leading 3-0. That was Torrealba's first homerun since early May.

By the way did you guys see this? I know it is not baseball related....but it is sports related.

3:5 PM - Homerun Yorvit Torrealba. It's a two out, 2 run shot. Rockies lead 3-0.

3:42 PM - We're only in the 4th inning of the first game on the second day of these playoffs but George Lopez is already getting on my nerves.

3:34 PM - Good work from the Rockies getting ahead early. They obviously wanted a couple more in the early going. They can't let Cole Hamles settle in. Only way the Rockies win this series is by getting into this Phillies bullpen.

Rockies 1 Phillies 0

2:37 PM - Getting ready for first pitch in the Phillies/Rockies game. As much as I dislike all Philadelphia sports teams I have to say that everyone has to check out Citizens Bank Ballpark. It is an amazing ballpark. Went there a couple of years ago for a Mets/Phillies game.

1:55 PM - Yankee fans need to seriously back off about Jeter having 18 playoff Homeruns. Have they seen how many playoff games he's played? Mickey Mantle had 18 World Series homeruns. This is yet another reason why I hate Yankee fans.

Listening to Mike Francesa on WFAN and Yes Network in the meantime. WFAN is moving to a new studio in Manhattan after 22 years. Show starts off with a Mike Francesa tradition. Listening to audio clips from WCBS880 Yankees Radio play by play man John Sterling. If you don't know of him go ahead and google him. If you think Chip Caray is bad....you haven't heard anything yet.

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. This article is on Newsvine too, please help seed it up the Vine.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

MLB Playoffs Day 1....Live Blog

1:32 AM - Rick Ankiel strikes out looking on a 100 MPH fastball to end the game. Dodgers go up 1-0 winning this one by a score of 5-3. I'll be back again tomorrow to live blog. Spread the word. Have a good night.

1:30 AM - Wow...tying run coming to the plate for the Cardinals with two outs. What was Kemp doing there? You have to keep the ball in front of you there. We've seen some bad outfield play today. Dodgers lead 5-3.

1:23 AM - We head to the 9th inning with the Dodgers leading 5-2. These 2 teams have left 29 men on base tonight. That is a record for a 9 inning playoff game. Unreal. Matt Holliday, Ryan Ludwick and Yadier Molina due in the 9th against Broxton.

1:18 AM - Back to back 1 out walks here in the bottom of the 8th. Dodgers threatening to extend their lead. Russel Martin at the plate grounds out to the right side. Pujols with a great diving stop. Runners move over. Broxton is staying in the game. Dodgers feel safe enough with the 3 run lead. Need Broxton to close it out in the 9th inning.

12:57 AM - For a game that has had so many base runners there hasn't been any juice to it at all. There are runners getting stranded all over the place.

We are through 7 at Dodger Stadium with the Dodgers leading 5-2.

12:26 AM - Bob Nightengale points out that the Dodgers and Cardinals have set a Divisional Series record already tonight:

The Dodgers and Cards have already set a Division Seires record by leaving 23 runners on base....and we still have 3 innings left.


12:18 AM - Bases loaded yet again.....and this time Russel Martin gets hit by a pitch forcing in the Dodgers 5th run. Dodgers now lead 5-2. Bases still loaded as the Cardinals change pitchers. Jim Thome is pinch hitting for the pitcher.

11:52 PM - What an at bat from Rafael Furcal here. Gets the RBI on a sacrifice fly after an 11 ptich at bat. Runner on 3rd now....2 outs. Dodgers lead 4-2.

11:46 PM - Pierre pinch hitting for Jeff Weaver drops down a bunt with 2 on and no outs.....but why didn't he run right away? Runners on 2nd and 3rd for the Dodgers. One out....and they still lead 3-2.

11:25 PM - How many times have the bases been loaded already in this game? Dodgers have them loaded here in the bottom of the 4th. Still 3-2 Dodgers.

11:10 PM - Randy Wolf doesn't make it out of the 4th inning. Bases loaded and 2 outs. Jeff Weaver coming into the game to face Ryan Ludwick. Dodgers lead 3-2.

10:56 PM - Chances are by the end of the playoffs I'll be sick and tired of Ernie Johnson, his mother, his blackberry and his mailbag.

10:49 PM - Big error by Derosa there. He has to throw that ball home. Don't look at the umpire either....throw the ball first. Big error. Dodgers lead 3-1. Two on and one out. Carpenter is in some trouble here.

10:24 PM - I haven't verified Jay Crawford's math but:

the yankees have spent 1.555 billion since 2002. 6 div titles 0 ws rings. twins have spen 475 million. 5 div titles, 0 ws rings. REFUND!!!


10:18 PM - I'm going to interrupt this Live Blog because I just won $50 gift card from the WNBA. I wonder if it works on the NBA store website too?

WNBAStore.com winner is @sahyder1, who correctly predicted the @PhoenixMercury win & Catch, @cappa23 hi scorers


You can now return to your regularly scheduled programming.

9:58 PM - Matt Kemp 2 run Homerun. Dodgers take 2-1 lead. Nobody out in the bottom of the first.

9:52 PM - Dodgers get out of the inning without much damage as Cards leave bases loaded thanks to inning ending double play.

9:51 PM - Bases loaded and a run in for the Cardinals already? Randy Wolf's first career playoff start isn't going well. Only one out.

9:46 PM - Ballgame over....Yankees win. Marino pitches a scoreless 9th. 7-2 Yankees the final.

Time for Cardinals and Dodgers.

9:35 PM - What? Why put in Joba in for only one batter? Why is Rivera pitching the 9th? Why not let Joba finish the game? What exactly did the Yankees learn about Joba from that one batter?

9:30 PM - So TBS just showed a picture of the Empire State Building. One problem though....I don't think that video was from tonight. This link updates what color the Empire State Building is lit up with that night...and according to this it is white today. TBS showed Red and some other color.

9:25 PM - Phil Coke and Joba Chamberlain get the final 2 outs of the 8th on 3 pitches. Lets see how Joba pitches in the 9th with a big lead.

9:00 PM - I don't agree with the Twins here. Two outs in the 7th and Jeter on 3rd. A-Rod is at the plate. They just took out Liriano and brought in Rauch. I would've stuck Liriano there...pitch around A-Rod and go after Matsui. Should've tried getting Liriano to the end of the game. The bullpen is shot....why waste the arms?

Of course as I type this A-Rod drives in Jeter. Yankees lead 7-2.

8:47 PM - Phil Hughes with a big strike out of Orlando Cabrera. Great at bat but Hughes gets the better of him. Twins strand two runners in scoring position. Mauer was on deck.

My question is why did they show Kate Hudson after that strike out?

8:38 PM - Posada is having a really rough game behind the plate. Big spot here for the Twins. Runners on 2nd and 3rd with two outs. Cabrera to the plate against the new pitcher Phil Hughes. Mauer is on deck. Cabrera needs to get on base here and bring Mauer to the plate with men on.

8:09 PM - Hideki Matsui crushes one off of Liriano. Two run shot. 6-2 Yankees. This one is turning ugly in a hurry.

8:04 PM - Here is where you fall into a trap. A-Rod was in an 0-19 slump with runners in scoring in the playoffs....runner on 2nd and 2 outs, you have to walk him. Twins decide not to and he gets a hit scoring Jeter.

Ken Davidoff of Newsday in New York did a little research on that A-Rod RBI.
The last time he had postseason hit w/RISP, A-Rod's teammates included Ruben Sierra, John Olerud, Esteban Loaiza and coach Willie Randolph.


Yankees lead 4-2. Pitching change as Liriano comes into the game for the Twins.

7:51 PM - Cliff Lee got a complete game earlier today. Have any idea who got the last complete game in National League playoffs before today? Ed Price has the answer.

7:42 PM - With 2 outs Swisher doubles down the left line. Cano scores from first. The throw from Young was up the line. Mauer had not shot at the plate.

Cabrera strikes out to end the 4th inning.

Yankees lead 3-2

7:29 PM - Jerry Crasnick just posted this:
I just checked this: The opposing team BA against Brian Duensing rises from .219 to .250 to .317 to .379 with every 15-pitch increment.


7:21 PM A-Rod strikes out to end the 3rd inning. Since the start of Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS he is now hitting 9 for 63 (.143) with 2 homeruns and 3 RBIs. He's also struck out 19 times.

7:14 PM - Derek Jeter ties it up with a 2 run homerun. Yankees 2 Twins 2

7:12 PM - Chip Caray just called another fly ball a basehit. Are you kidding me?

6:55 PM - Chip Caray says he "thinks" Yankees gave #27 to Girardi because they want their 27th championship. Hasn't that been widely known for 2 years?

6:12 PM - Suzyn Waldman on Yankees Radio Network just said Orlando Cabrera got a World Series ringwith the Angels. Um....in 2002 Cabrera was playing for the powerhouse Montreal Expos.

5:50 PM - That Dwight Howard "NBA on TNT" commercial where he jumps out of a taxi might be the best commercial we see all playoffs long.

5:45 PM - Carl Pavano just got booed in the pregame introductions.

5:26 PM - Atkins strikes out to end the game. A complete game for Cliff Lee in his first career playoff start. Wh at a start for him. What a pickup he's been for the Phillies.Another base hit would have made things interesting. Manuel surely would have had to go to the bullpen.

Way too much time left until the Yankees/Twins game which comes our way at 6:07 PM. I guess I'm switching over to the Yes Network to watch the Yankee pregame show.

The Phillies win Game 1 by a score of 5-1.

5:24 PM - There goes the shutout. A 2 out hit breaks the shutout. Rockies are still down 4 down to the last out. Lee going for a complete game.

5:06 PM - Cliff Lee is through 8. Ed Price of Fanhouse.com points to this possible historical note:
No pitcher has ever stolen a base and thrown a shutout in the same postseason game


5:00 PM - Why did Barack Obama record a commercial for George Lopez's new show?

4:51 PM - Great article in the Wall Street Journal about the one and only Vin Scully.

4:35 PM - Rockies get out the inning but down 5 runs now. They have 9 outs left and the heart of the order coming up in the 7th against Lee.

4:28 PM - Finally an out. Pedro Feliz flies out to left.

Jayson Stark brings us another nugget:
Phillies have actually scored 5 runs without hitting a HR. Not their thing. Only did that 9 times all year -- and just once since July 22


4:25 PM - Wow, no National League team has won back to back World Series since the Reds in 75-76....before that you go back to the Giants in 21-22. Wow.

Pitching change. The lefty Beimel comes in but gives up a base hit to Ibanez. Worth scores easily. Rockies head back to the bullpen and in comes the right handed Matt Daley. 5-0 Phillies

4:21 PM - Werth crushes one to left center.....but the wind carries that ball more to center field.....Werth with an RBI triple. He thought about rounding 3rd and going home too but with no one out wisely stops at 3rd.

Phillies lead 4-0. Philly bullpen can't blow this....can they?

4:18 PM - Chase Utley singles. Ryan Howard follows that up fly ball deep to left field....where Carlos Gonzalez over runs the ball before crashing awkwardly into the wall.

Utley scores easily on the double to make it 3-0 Phillies and no one out here in the 6th. Keep in mind though that this Philly bullpen is an adventure.

4:13 PM - This nugget from Jayson Stark of ESPN:
Not that this means anything. But the Phillies were 10-0 last postseason when they took a lead of two runs or more.


We head to the bottom of the 6th. Phillies lead 2-0.

4:05 PM - The Rockies get out of the inning giving up just 2 runs.

3:58 PM - Nice at bat by Ruiz. What was that...like 8 pitches? What was Hawpe doing there in Right Field? Have to keep the runner at first there. Ibanez scores easily from 3rd on the play but Hawpe's misplay in RF sends Ruiz to 2nd as Cliff Lee comes up to the plate with just 1 out.

3:51 PM - It's cliche but a leadoff walk to Jayson Werth comes back to haunt the Rockies here. Raul Ibanez (what a pickup he was by the Phillies) follows that with a double.

Phillies - 1 Rockies - 0. Bottom 5th and there are still no outs.

3:43 PM - Just over an hour into this game and we are already headed to the bottom of the 5th in Philadelphia. Gotta love a pitchers duel.

3:23 PM - Rockies got lucky there. Just can not let a pitcher get a base hit and then still a base.

Quick stat from Ed Price of Fanhouse:
Cliff Lee gets first postseason SB by a pitcher since John Smoltz in 1995. Smoltz also had SBs in 1991-92, before that Billy Loes in '52


3:19 PM Can't let the Phillies pitchers get on base with 2 outs and turn the lineup over for that top of the order. And you can definitely not let Philly pitchers steal a base. What are you doing?

What is Cliff Lee trying to do here? He's lucky he didn't get picked off there.

3:08 PM Lineups for Yankees/Twins have been posting. Credit to Tyler Kepner, he's the Yankee beat write for the New York Times.

Twins Lineup:

Span cf, Cabrera ss, Mauer c, Cuddyer 1b, Kubel rf, Young lf, Harris dh, Tolbert 3b, Punto 2b; Duensing p


Yankees Lineup:
Jeter ss, Damon lf, Teixeira 1b, ARod 3b, Matsui dh, Posada c, Cano 2b, Swisher rf, Cabrera cf; Sabathia p


2:39 PM Wind is going to be a factor in today's game. Looks like some serious gusts in Philly. Yankee Stadium Forecast for later today calls for gusts of 40 miles per hour.
2:35 PM I wonder if we can ask "EJ's mailbag" if it is possible for TBS to replace Caray on the main broadcasting team?

2:32 PM Brian Anderson and Joe Simpson (who are these 2? Who's games to they call?) welcome us to Citizens Bank Ballpark on TBS.



It's finally here. Playoff Baseball. It should be an interesting month. The National League is wide open. There isn't that much seperating the 4 teams. The American League is a slightly different story. The Yankees go into their Divisional Round Series against the Twins as heavy favorites. Last I checked they were around 5 to 1 favorites to win the series. The problem for them is that they can't seem to beat the Angels.....who in turn can't seem to beat the Red Sox. So where does all of this leave us? I'll try to live blog on days I am at home or somewhere with an access to a computer. On Saturday I'm going to a Rutgers Football game so I'll blog the late games then.

The Twins game 1 starter Brian Duensing was a teammate of Joba Chamberlain's and has apparently never even been to New York. Oh boy. C.C Sabathia needs a solid game 1 here for the Yankees. His career playoff numbers are nothing to write home about. What a sight it would be if the $161 million man got booed out of the stadium?

The Twins have nothing to lose here. Without Justin Morneau they go into this series as heavy underdogs as was already mentioned. I expect Joe Mauer, who should be the American League MVP to get a lot of IBBs.

The Phillies/Rockies series starts off on a bad note. Jorge De La Rosa a 16 game winner is out for the Divisional Series for the Rockies. Major loss especially against this Phillies lineup. Lots of pressure today on Cliff Lee. He's had good run for them since the trade but he has never started a playoff game.

I'll talk about the Dodgers/Cards Series later.

Listening to a Brian Cashman interview with Mike Francesa right now. The Yankees brass was gathered at Yankee Stadium last night watching the Twins/Tigers game and then going over the advance scouting reports on the Twins.

Quick predictions
Yankees in 4 (Twins need to jump out early today on Sabathia and wear out the Yankee bullpen to have any shot)
Angels in 5
Dodgers in 5
Rockies in 5

As always you can leave a comment here, reach me by e-mail or contact me via Twitter. I'll be be live blogging on Newsvine too.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...