I recently had the pleasure of meeting fellow journalist and 19 time Emmy award winning journalist Bob Costas.  Bob talked about different experiences watching sports since his childhood.  Today's school children face a problem with late night baseball games as they have to go to sleep around the third inning.  When he was a kid, Bob had the same problem with a twist as World Series games were played during the day.  His sixth grade teacher knew this and brought in a television with rabbit ears so he could watch Whitey Ford pitch against Sandy Koufax in 1964.

He joked about sitting in between Joe Morgan and Bob Uecker during a baseball game.  Morgan was one of the best second baseman of all time and a Hall of Famer while Uecker bounced around on six teams over a seven year career and hit a mediocre .200.  Costas asked Morgan for World Series insight which he then asked Uecker for his.  Uecker replied that he was on the disabled list in the 1964 World Series.  Costas asked Uecker what was his injury.  Uecker replied hepatitis.  Uecker sensed that it was a sensitive issue and noted that the trainer injected him hepatitis.

Costas brought up one of his own faux pases and the crowd applauded.  He said that broadcasting is not brain surgery.  We briefly discussed Syracuse basketball as he is an alumnus and I am a huge fan.  Coach Boeheim's successor appears to be Mike Hopkins when the time is right in the future -- hopefully not for a long time.  Long live Coach Boeheim!  Let's go Orange!

Earlier that week, Costas interviewed Joe Torre for HBO Sports.  Costas' producer was wise enough to pull his ten year son out of school.  After the interview, Joe met the young boy and wrote a note to the boy's principal saying that he spent the day with Torre.  That shows Torre's class and going the extra mile for young people even though he was going through a difficult situation himself in the public limelight.  (True and related story: This was reminiscent of my friend Ned who was a broadcasting major in college.  He needed to get an interview for a journalism class and he saw Ned waiting to interview him during Spring Training.  He stopped the interview with the rest of the media and talked only to Ned.  As a result, Ned aced his class and is now a sports producer at a major network.  Wow, I miss Joe Torre already.)

Posted by the Tank reporting live from Midtown Manhattan.

Live! | MLB | Yankees Analysis (MLB)

Tuesday, November 13, 2007 6:34:38 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Comments [0]  |  Trackback

The Yankees look like they are closer to signing Jorge Posada, "My first priority is the Yankees," Posada told reporters Sunday at halftime of the New York Knicks' game against the Miami Heat. "I would like to stay with the Yankees. My heart is with the Yankees, so hopefully we can get something done."

After losing their manager, MVP 3rd Baseman, hitting coach, 3rd base coach, and pitching coach, Pettitte on the fence, the Yankees can't afford to lose Posada and his numbers. Next stop on the resign train is Mo.

Posted by Steve in New York.

Yankees Analysis (MLB)

Monday, November 12, 2007 8:50:56 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Comments [0]  |  Trackback

"I don't take anything he says to heart. Obviously I think I can be better defensively. But I have a Gold Glove, and that's the bottom line, and that's something I'm very proud of, and I feel like I'm getting better and better defensively, and obviously managers and coaches have seen that." --David Wright Yesterday

Chipper Jones lashed out in "shock" that David Wright won the Gold Glove:

"When I find out [Wright won] I was speechless, for quite some time... Certainly the guys with the least amount of errors and best fielding percentage quite obviously didn't win it.... I wouldn't have been disappointed had someone like [Pedro] Feliz or [Aramis] Ramirez won it. I'm a little confused by the final tally, that's a head-scratcher for me."

Chipper is just making trouble. Pedro Feliz is a utility player and while Aramis Ramirez had 10 fewer errors than David Wright, he also played in 40 less games and turned less double plays. David Wright makes a lot of great plays, some truly amazing dives, and I suspect that the number of games played (almost all of them), the depth of the plays, and contribution to his team were taken into consideration, subjective votes, rather than pure statistics. If pure statistics decided the Gold Glove and MVP, then it would be boring and done by a computer.

Time for Chipper to Shut Up. Maybe he will name his second daughter Citi.

Posted by Steve in New York.

MLB

Sunday, November 11, 2007 8:29:54 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Comments [0]  |  Trackback

Disco Crisco Twister .com

Nov 11 (Sun) at 7 PM at Arlene's Grocery 95 Stanton St. , New York, NY (Map)

Next Sunday: Disco Crisco Twister at Arlene's Grocery
Dana Sterling presents:
Disco Crisco Twister
Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 7pm
Join us for a night of fun, games and live music!
Games include:
* Live Musical Chairs: just like when you were four, but with a live band!,
* Sing That Tune: let your karaoke/musical Jeopardy freak flag fly!,
* Intimate Orange Relay Race: pass a citrus between your neck and chest to a complete stranger/new friend!,
* Pop Culture Trivia: Do you know what Hollywood bad girls are up to this season?
* Flip Cup: show off your dexterity & drinking skills!
* Twister (with a twist): grapple 1/2 drunk teammates while reaching for that red dot!

Come with your friends and play as a team, or just bring yourself and we'll introduce you to your new teammates.

Live at Arlene's Grocery
95 Stanton Street (between Orchard & Ludlow)
Subway: F to 2nd Ave.
with special musical guests:
Neo folk rock & roll The New Surreal
Alternative funk-rockers The Vinyl Stash
and Bringing the fun electro stuff DJ Skintight
Hosted by Ariel (of KiNDERGARTEN) & Stephanie (of Rotten Cheri)
21+
Admission $8 at the Door.
Get in for $5 when you RSVP to rsvp@annierock.com
www.discocriscotwister.com

Sunday Nov 4th 8pm come to...Amateur Female Jello Wrestling
going.com/jellowrestle

Sunday Nov 11th 7pm come to Disco Crisco Twister
going.com/discocriscotwister

Read more about this event    (and see who's going)

Co-Ed Disco

Saturday, November 10, 2007 12:52:27 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Comments [0]  |  Trackback

Last Week: I was 1-1 and 10-6 on the season.  However, I am psyched that the Bills beat Cincinnati.

This Week's Fearless Picks:

The Bills beat the winless Dolphins in Miami.  It's a potential trap game because the Dolphins played better in London and are coming off a bye week.

The Giants beat the Cowboys in a barn burner at home

Written by the Tank in the Bahamas and posted by Steve.

NFL

Friday, November 09, 2007 6:50:36 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Comments [0]  |  Trackback

Last Week: I was 6-0 and 27-11 on the season.

This Week's Picks:

#18 Auburn loses at #10 Georgia

Local Picks:

South Florida wins at Syracuse.

Rutgers wins at Army.  Anyway, I'll be rooting for Army.  Go Army!

Written by the Traveling Tank in the Bahamas and Posted by Steve in Barcelona.  We're global! 

College Football

Thursday, November 08, 2007 1:01:42 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Comments [0]  |  Trackback

Last night I was out for dinner on las Rumblas in Barcelona, early by Spanish standards at about 11pm. As I stepped off the metro I thought I walked into the middle of a riot. Was there a massive government protest? Did George Bush decide to visit? No, Barcelona is host to a match tonight between the Rangers of Scotland and local hometown favorite FC Barcelona.

To say that tonight's match is a huge one is an understatement. The Rangers and FC Barcelona are tied in the E Group in the Championship League with two wins and 1 draw apiece.

The Scottish Soccer hooligans were out in full force on the Rublas last night. I have experienced some crazy European soccer experiences in the past, including being in Paris (by accident) when France won the World Cup, but nothing could prepare me for this. The hooligans took over the square and were separated by police barricades, Scots on one side, Spaniards on the other. They were drunk (of course!), dressed in team colors and singing at the top of their lungs the songs of their team and country. Chants of intimidation in unison were shouted over and over again and at one point the crowd gathered into two groups (separated by police) and were throwing beer, food, and clothing at each other (over the line of police separating them.)

It was a lot of fun to be a part of. What amazes me is that life just stops for soccer fans in Europe and they travel to the city where their team is playing an important match and just go to bars, sing, dance, get in trouble, and watch the game on TV since there is usually no chance of getting a ticket. (I tried, but going rate is 350 euros on the scalper market, too high for our budget, I will be watching at a bar on las Rumblas, hopefully with a camera this time!)

Tennis:

Football is not the only thing going on in Spain this week, the Sony Ericsson Championships are going on in Madrid. With her ailing shoulder clearly healed, Maria Sharapova looked like her usual self. She won her first match in more than two months yesterday in Madrid, a 6-4, 7-5 win against Daniela Hantuchova.

Posted by Steve in Barcelona, Spain

Football (Soccer) | Tennis

Wednesday, November 07, 2007 7:07:46 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Comments [0]  |  Trackback

As Joe Torre donned his new LA uniform yesterday at Dodger Stadium, he announced that longtime fan favorite Don Mattingly will serve with him as hitting coach. This will be the first time Mattingly will wear a uniform other than a Yankees one. In addition Larry Bowa will come over as bench coach or third base coach, dealing a loss to the Yankees with two valuable coaches as Ron Guidry looks to leave as pitching coach.

As GMs meet in Florida for the winter meetings the Yankees will be in search for a 3rd baseman. Andy Pettitte declined his $16 million option, still uncertain whether he wants to pitch next season or retire. The Yankees need him to stay one more year as the young pitchers get up to speed.

In other news: it is reported the Maddux has re-signed with the Padres and Shilling has re-signed with the Red Sox.

Posted by Steve in Barcelona.

MLB | Yankees Analysis (MLB)

Tuesday, November 06, 2007 7:47:33 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
Comments [0]  |  Trackback