The temperature in New York is currently, 26 degrees

Section 39 in the Bleachers at The Old Girl

So Lee took $40M less to head to back to Philadelphia. Hard to hate on that.

The man took $40 Mil less to go back to a city that he never wanted to leave in the first place, and join a rotation that will be among the very best. The likes of which we have not seen since “arguably” the…

1998 Yankees?? (Wells -18 wins, Cone – 20 wins, El Duque – 12 & 4, Pettitte 16 wins).

Several of those Orioles rotations in the 70′s?? (Palmer, Flanagan, El Presidente- Dennis Martinez, McGregor, Qatar, etc).

Or your Braves of the 90′s? (Maddox, Glavine, Smoltz, Nagle/Millwood/Avery/etc.).

Regardless, Lee took less to join a great team / sports city. A team who has a chance to be historically great. Hard to be angry at a man for that.

By Andrew Marchand
ESPNNewYork.com

ARLINGTON, Texas — Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher wants to face Cliff Lee in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, but he is sick of talking about him. Swisher cannot stand hearing another question asked about Lee.

With the Yankees facing Texas Rangers starter Colby Lewis in Game 6, Swisher did not take kindly to a reporter asking teammates a couple lockers down about Lee.

“You guys are talking about Cliff Lee?” said Swisher out loud in a room full of reporters. “[Expletive], who cares?”

As he walked off, Swisher said, “I can’t wait to hit against his [behind].”

Later, when a reporter asked about saying this out loud with reporters present, Swisher cut off a reporter when the words “Cliff Lee” were uttered.

“I’m not talking about Cliff Lee,” Swisher said. “I don’t give a [expletive].”

Lee is 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA in three postseason starts the last two years.

Swisher vocalized annoyance among many of the Yankees in the clubhouse leading into this series when they were constantly asked about Lee before Game 1 even though Lee wasn’t starting until Game 3.

The 50 best songs of all time?

The 50 best movies of all time?

How can one person or a group of people be so 110% pretentious enough to think they would be worthy enough to name that sorta thing? BLAH- YUCK

BUT, with that being said- this from the fine folks at si.com & the work of Joe Pasnanski, is a countdown worthy of your time.

The top 32 Sports Calls of all time. Complete with youtube clips of the calls. SALUTE to that!

ENJOY!

Game 1 should be a crap shoot. Going into this season you probably would have said the most likely two Cy Young winners in the National League would be Lincecum and Halladay- and both pitchers have been lights out as of late. Halladay and his no-hit dramatics in the NLCS v. the Reds, and Lincecum’s huge pressure starts down the stretch to put the Giants in the playoffs.

One can argue that Cain v. Oswalt in Game 2 is even more in the favor of the Giants since Cain has been blindingly good down the stretch and Oswalt had a “what was that??” performance in Game 2 of the NLDS verse the Reds.

As for Game 3, the way Jonathan Sanchez has been dominating and pitching with all the pressure of the world on his shoulders down the stretch of the regular season is something hard to dispute. Despite how great of a year Hammels had, Sanchez the last month, to me, has been if not the top- one of the top starting pitchers in baseball.

Game 4? Madison Bumgarner v. who? Joe Blanton?. I wouldn’t trust Joe Blanton v. a juggs machine. Even Bumgarner has delivered for the Giants of late.

OF COURSE, the Phillies have a more dominating lineup- but it’s also a lineup that loves to strike out, and with the Giants sporting 3 great strikeout pitchers… I’m gonna do it! I’m gonna do it!

I’m taking the Giants in SIX. Yes SIX.

I feel the hot lights they’ve played so well under the last two-months is a huge advantage. I also like Brian Wilson out of the pen, and feel like Lidge is STILL a ticking bomb in that pen.

So yes, Giants in six… Final Answer

Deadspin broke the story awhile back, but rapidly growing new allegations have suddenly propelled this story to nation wide news starting on Friday, and hitting a peak on Monday.

Here is the deadspin.com link for a synapses to the whole scandal.
Me Personally? I could care less, and I feel like so should you. Isn’t it time we stop viewing the world’s best athletes as superior human beings both on and off the field? While athletes are the  modern day equivalent to the gladiator warrior, why do we think any athlete popular enough to get a nationally run commercial could be immune to any flaws off the field as well?

Athletes have time after time  let us down with antics off the field since the first American Sports Figure, Babe Ruth (who was quiet the philanderer himself in his time, but was protected by the media of his era). Why should we continue to have faith in all of them, especially with the thing called the internet these days?

I think the time has come when we should stop viewing our modern day gladiators as superior model citizens. We should begin to view them with the same you view your neighbors, friends, co-workers, or bosses.

As non understanding assholes who think they know more than you.

link is here

3:20 AM, October 8, 2010 ι By JOSEPH STASZEWSKI

The New York City basketball world lost a legend Wednesday night when John (The Franchise) Strickland died in his sleep at the age of 38.

The sad news was spread all over Facebook and Twitter by different members of the city’s streetball community, by which Strickland is revered. They shared stories like him dancing with the crowd at Dyckman and his words of wisdom, including his signature phrase, “finish your breakfast”, which meant schooling and scoring on your man off the dribble.

Strickland’s reach goes so far that even Miami Heat star Lebron James mourned his passing on his Twitter account saying: “R.I.P to homie Strick.”Finish Your Breakfast”. Roc Boyz in the building.” Strickland was mentioned in Jay-Z’s hit song Public Service Announcement in the line: “No one can do it better. I check cheddar like a food inspector. My homey Strick told me, ‘Dude, finish your breakfast.’”

The 6-foot-8 forward, who was currently in the Halifax Rainmen’s front office as their Director of Basketball Development, was considered one of the best players ever in streetball. As a low-post wizard and a superb passer, he once averaged more than 40 points per game at Nike Pro City, considered the circuit’s primer league. Strickland became the first person to win a title there as a player and a coach when he led Gold’s Gym to the championship this summer.

“It’s not a good feeling, it’s a great feeling,” Strickland said after. …“It’s really about the players more than anything. They make me look better than what I am.”

Well he was pretty darn good himself, still playing in big games throughout the city.

Strickland, a Brooklyn native, played at Hawaii Pacific University, where he averaged a double-double in each of his final two seasons. He also played six seasons in the USBL (1995-2000). He was voted to the 1997 All-USBL Second Team and the All-USBL First Team in 1998. He averaged 22 points and 7.7 rebounds in 95 games. He spent more than 10 years playing overseas. Strickland, who earned himself an invite to the Knicks training camp in 1996, played for the Rainmen of the PBL from 2008-2010.

New York Post

John Strickland was invited to the Knicks training camp in 1996.

Strickland will be remembered as the guy in the gym you couldn’t take your eyes off of whether he was on the court or not. He was a showman, always playing the crowd and living in the moment of spontaneity. Pro City announcer Big Brawley Chisholm joked with Strickland during this year’s final that he needed to pick his pants up as they kept dropping down his waist on the bench. Strickland, with his hat backward, took it in stride and kept on coaching his players.

But while Strickland was never one to miss a chance to make a joke, there was a serious side too — the one that made him a father figure to many of the circuit’s players, the one that made him such a competitor on the court and the one that got him into heated basketball discussions after games, especially losses.

There are certainly players and people who can never be replaced or replicated. Strickland was the prototypical streetball player. He could flat out ball, could win over fans as well as win games and took those who came after him under his wing. Strickland’s passing leaves a great hole in the fabric of New York basketball.

There is only one Franchise.

So for my Mets friends, I have attached the best moment of their season. The high water mark.

Lets go back to April 30th, 2010, Coming off a 9-1 home stand, The Mets went down to Philadelphia to play 3.

The Mets won 9-1 over the Phillies and take 1.5 game lead on first place.

The way it was suppose to be, Wright being greeted by Bay at homeplate.

At least there’s always next season.

1) The Walkoff HR by Thames v. The Red Sox in May

2) The Come from behind win v. Los Angeles in July

3) The come from behind win in the two-game series at Arlington, vs. The Rangers in the late summer.

Come to think of it, this Yankee team has had many of the symptoms of Yankee Teams from 2002-2008.

Cold slumps, players not playing at their all-star potential, game after game being nearly indistinguishable from the rest, not much adversity, a lack of close games, losses in several regular season games that were deemed “big games”, and mediocre starting pitching as a whole (CC has been fantastic, Hughes has been as good as you can ask).
Taking all that into account, I believe the Yankees are staring a 1st Round disappointment square in the face. As a Yankee fan I hope I’m wrong, but the fact remains this team (with this payroll) has had a very “ehhhh” season.

Take into account all the fantastic moments the 2009 season left Yankees with, this 2010 team has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to the 2010 playoffs.

Time will tell, but the playoffs start next week… very exciting.

We all know Charlie Finley, owner of the Oakland A’s franchise from 1960-1981, was as colorful an owner as any Major League Baseball has ever seen.

Recently I heard about this story about Charlie Finley, that I found interesting about his “affection” for the dimensions in the Old Yankee Stadium.
From my main source of everything… Wikipedia (so I know it must be true)……

After supposedly being told by manager Ed Lopat about the Yankees’ success being attributable to the dimensions of Yankee Stadium, he built the “K.C. Pennant Porch” in right field, which brought the right field fence in Kansas City Municipal Stadium to match Yankee Stadium’s dimensions exactly, just 296 feet from home plate. However, a rule passed in 1958 held that no (new or renovated) major-league fence could be closer than 325 feet, so league officials forced Finley to move the fences back after two exhibition games. The A’s owner then ordered a white line to be painted on the field at the original “Pennant Porch” distance, and told the public address announcer to announce “That would have been a home run in Yankee Stadium” whenever a fly ball was hit past that line but short of the fence. The practice was quickly abandoned after the announcer was calling more “would-be” home runs for the opposition than the A’s.

That’s the sort of antics that would even make Mark Cuban tip his cap.

A salute to Charlie Finley… A man who once proposed that the Major Leagues use orange baseballs.
A man who created the idea of  a mechanical groundhog behind home plate that would bring the umpires new baseballs- and used it in a few spring training games.

The man who discovered MC Hammer, when he hired him as a ball boy.

Yet oddly one of the most successful owners in baseball history.

Crazy like a fox, Charlie Finley