The first annual Steve and the Tank person of the year for 2007 is Barry Bonds. (Yes Barry Bonds.) The person of the year is the person who, better or worse, defines the sporting year. We at Steve and the Tank could not think of anyone else more deserving of this distinction.

2007 was a very turbulent year.

2007 saw Barry Bonds break Hank Arron's home record, Tom Brady's record 50 TD passes, Randy Moss' record TD receptions, and the Patriots cheating in their first game on the way to a perfect record breaking 16-0 season.  2007 saw milestones like Tom Glavine's 300th win and Roger Federer steamroll his way to several records. We also saw one of the greatest collapses in sport history when the Mets lost the NL East in the final week of the season.

And yet this year was filled with too much scandal and sadness. The year opened with news of Denver Broncos Darrent Williams' murder in a drive by shooting and ends with Jim Leyritz charged with DUI and manslaughter. In between is Sean Taylor's murder, Michael Vick convicted of dogfighting and Barry Bonds indicted for lying.  Not to mention the NBA refs cheating and  almost the entire elite riders in the 2007 Tour de France dropping out for doping.

And then of course the Mitchell Report. While Yankees fans still think the Irish Catholic who brought peace to Northern Ireland somehow was loyal to the Boston Red Sox, the Mitchell Report, despite all of its flaws, cast a very dark shadow over the nation's pastime.

2007 was a year of records and scandal. Like it or not, Barry Bonds is the face of 2007 as he is the epitome of records and scandal.

Posted by Steve in New York waiting for a better sports year in 2008.

Editorial

Monday, December 31, 2007 3:11:17 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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The Patriots are on a historic mission to go undefeated.

This is part of the Boston Sports Apocalypse that I have long rued.

The Giants are 3-4 going into this game and 7-1 on the road.  One of the Giants players remarked that they play better on the road and there are many Patriots fans here who make it feel like Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts instead of Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

The Giants were 3-5 last season at home so recent history doesn't help the Giants.  Giants Stadium doesn't offer lots of advantage as the Ghost of Jimmy Hoffa (GoJH) blows at unpredictable times.  Bay Ridge Bob and I saw Bruce Springsteen in the summer of 2003 and the GoJH was a nice cooling breeze on that warm summer day. 

Different story on a winter's day as the GoJH made a cold night even colder.                    
                     
The breakdown of fans is about
                       
Giants Fans - 70%
Patriots Fans - 25 %
History Buffs - 4.99 %
Praying Against the Boston Sports Apocalypse - Me and God knows how many others.

Getting a ticket to this game was one of my daunting challenges ever.  I think trying to buy a ticket on Craigslist from Staten Island Tom (SIT) summed it up best.  I e-mailed SIT that I live and work on the Upper West Side and could meet him near Columbus Circle and give him the money for the ticket.  Sounds logical, right?  No, he goes to the Bullpen on 88th and 1st and says he came in special for me.  SIT went there to drink.  Listen bro, I have to go to Bay Ridge Bob's daughter's Baptism on Saturday morning in Jersey so either please go to the Upper West or sell it to someone else.

Everyone is trying to get in on the action as a player's girlfriend or wife named "Toy" tried to sell his ticket for $1,000 which included pre and post game parties.  Nice but no thanks.

After Bay Ridge Bob's daughter's Baptism in Passaic, I took NJ Transit from Montclair to Newark.  I saw the new Prudential Center, AKA The Rock, as I was waiting for the Greyhound to take me back to Port Authority.  Gotta love public transportation.  Which presidential candidate is most committed to the environment and reducing traffic?  The Tank.  I look forward to your vote in November 2008.

I let Brooklyn Pete and his buddy George into the bus ticket line at Port Authority.  We briefly catch up and then it's off to Linda's for a brief cameo at her surprise birthday party.  It's good to see Johnny Versace, Erin, Sara, Lana, Steve, Kathleen, PermaGuest Outlaw Jack, White Fedora Mike, Adam, Linda's Mom and Aunt, amongst others.

Back to Port Authority to scalp a ticket.  "I won't sell a ticket to a guy in a Canadiens jersey," some guys snidely remarked.  Hey, I am a Canadiens fan and was asked to wear red to Linda's surprise birthday party.  I bought a ticket but had a bad feeling that it was fake.  I had a bad feeling but game time was less than an hour away.  As I try to enter Giants/Gillette Stadium, the Giants score but my scalped ticket did NOT scan and it was fake.  Darn it!  There were no more tickets in the booth.  Double darn!  I scalped a second ticket from a guy named Gus and get in.  Thank God!

The Patriots Stephen Gostkowski unfortunately kick a field goal in my end to close the gap to 7-3.

Junior Seau is a great player and makes a great tackle.  I loved him on the Chargers but can't root for him here.  He's a great player like KG on the Celtics, a future Hall of Famer who never won a ring, trying to win one before his ends.  I'm conflicted and I'm sure he is too for selling out to the Pats. 

3rd and 14 and they call a ridiculous penalty on the Giants defense.  The NFL really wants the Patriots to go undefeated.  This is worse than the Monday Night Game against the Ravens a few weeks back. 

After the end of the first quarter, Tom Brady to Randy Moss to tie the Peyton Manning's quarterback record at 49 and 22 to tie Jerry Rice's wide receiver record.  Patriots 10 - Giants 7.

Not to be undone, the Giants take the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown to retake the lead at 14-10.
                   
The Patriots drive down the field to kick another field goal to close the gap to 14-13.  The young lady, "Diane", to my left took the Patriots for the over for the game, 14, and the half, 24 for both teams.  She should be in Vegas.  Her boyfriend, "Jack", comes back and graciously buys me a water as I am in full blog mode.  Thanks "Jack"!

Randy Moss drops what would have been the tie breaker.  Gostkowski kicks another field goal to give the Pats a 16-14 lead with 1:59 left in the first half.

There is a WPLJ radio ad for Pub 46 in Clifton, New Jersey.  Hey, I passed by there Saturday afternoon as Bay Ridge Bob's uncle-in-law Oleg gave me a ride from the Church in Pasaic to the Baptism Dinner in Montclair.  Thanks Uncle Oleg!
                 
Eli Manning leading a drive down the field?  Wow, I really need laser vision surgery.  Talk about history in the making.

There is a fight between Brandon Jacobs and Junior Seau.  Penalty against the Patriots.  Imagine that?
                
The Giants have a first down at the Patriot 19.  But wait, the refs moved it to the Patriot 14 with 31 seconds left.

Eli takes off running to the Patriots 3.  Whoa!

Eli completes a touchdown pass to Kevin Boss pictured below.

The Pats get the ball back but don't do anything with it.  At halftime, Giants 21 - Patriots 16.

Robert in Tampa calls and Steve texts to say hi.  Robert is afraid that the Giants will play that well against the Bucs next week.  Steve is cheering Eli and the G-Men on.  Is this the night that Steve becomes an NFL fan again after the Jets scarred him by moving to Giants Stadium?  Steve was more emotionally scarred than The Tank and that's saying lots. 

The Giants kickoff goes in the end zone and the Patriots start at the Giants 20.    Tom Brady is almost sacked on third down and the Pats are three and out.            

Can Eli continue to lead the G-Men?  Only time will tell.

The Giants run the ball.  If there is any weakness on the Patriots, it's run defense.  Jacobs continues to pound the ball.  This softens the Pats defense up for touchdown pass to Burress.  Giants 28 - Patriots 16.  Can Tom Brady and the Patriots come back?

Wow!  What a game!  I'm not happy to get ripped off on the first fake ticket but thanks to Gus for selling me a real ticket. 

The Patriots take the kickoff to their 27 yard line.  Talk about TV timeouts!  I'm freezing.  Giants stop the run.  Brady has to pass.  He's got the weapons to do it.  Bon Jovi's "Born to Be My Baby" plays on WPLJ.  Hey, I can't hear the FAN radio feed probably because I dropped my geeked out AM/FM/TV/Weather Band radio which also plays MP3s for the 50th time.
        
Brady converts the third down as he he always does.  He goes into shot gun mode.  Another quick slant pattern.  Prince's "1999" is playing on WPLJ's Saturday Night 80s with Jamie Lee.  Gotta love Jamie Lee.  Yeah, I know she's married. 

Brady throws to Moss in the end zone but there's a flag.  Of course, it's against the Giants.  First and goal at the one.  Incomplete pass but a penalty against the Patriots.  Finally!  Both teams sub out run for pass situation.  It doesn't matter as Mulroney runs for a touchdown.  Giants 28 - Patriots 23 with exactly four minutes left in the fourth quarter.

The Giants have the ball at their 40 after another solid kickoff return.
                   
Can Eli put another solid drive together and take time off the clock? 

Wow! Slant pattern to Burress converts a third and three.  But, back to Earth, Eli is sacked for a big loss.  3rd and 22 from the Giant 45.  Jacobs catch takes him to the Patriots 46.  The Giants punt goes to the Patriots 17.  It's only a net of 29 yards.  Ouch!

The Patriots drive starts in my end but the end of the quarter means they will switch ends.  At the end of the third quarter, Giants 28 - Patriots 23.

The Patriots get the first down.  The Giants dig in for 3rd and 10 at the Patriots 28.  Brady calls a timeout.  Good idea. 

The Giants Stadium TV shows a guy dressed up with a Giants cape.  The crowd goes wild.

Moss drops the pass and the Patriots have to punt.  No return.  Solid coverage by the Patriots special teams.  Giants ball at their 30 yard line.  During the TV timeout, Jamie Lee is spinning the Bangles "Walk Like An Egyptian".  Hey, you expect no less than total media coverage from The Tank.

Fumble!  But Eli recovers.  Whew!  OMG!  Is the Patriot Black Magic at work?  The Bible doesn't specifically mention the Patriots in Revelations but all the other plagues of the Apocalypse -- wars, famines, floods, etc are sadly coming to fruition.  It's time to repent people!

Giant timeout as I ponder the parallels between the Boston Sports Apocalypse and the One referenced in the Bible.  To quote The Church Lady, "How convenient?!"

3rd and 11 from the Giants 11.  The Giants don't convert.  Of course.  The Patriots return the punt to their 35.

Moss drops an under thrown Brady pass at the Giants 16 yard line.  Wow!
 
On the very next play, Brady throws another bomb to Moss for the record.  #50 for Brady breaking Peyton's record and #23 for Moss breaking Jerry Rice's record.  The Patriots convert the two point conversion to take a 31-28 lead.
                           
There is a penalty on the kickoff.  Giants ball at their 24.  A good return goes by the wayside with 10:57 left in the fourth quarter.

Jacobs reverses on second down to get the first down.  There is a penalty against the Giants. 

Eli goes back to his old ways as he overthrows his receiver for an interception.  Patriots ball at their 48 yard line.  Sack for the Giants.  Yeah!  Walker gets nine yards of it back to the Giants 36.  3rd and 11 from the 36 but Pierce catches the ball to the Giants 23.

Mulroney on the run.  Another run.  Complete pass to Walker to the Giants 9.  First and goal.  Slant pass to Moss to the five.  Mulroney runs for the touchdown.  Patriots 38 - 28 with 4:36 left in the fourth quarter.

Giants fans start to leave en masse.  Not The Tank.  I am too much of a history buff and want to maximize bang for my scalped bogus and real ticket.  I don't leave unless it's a medical emergency or if I have to go to work.

After the kickoff to the Giants 32, the Giants inexplicably run the ball.  The only saving grace is that their is a penalty against the Patriots.  The Giants have a first down on the Patriots 46 yard line.  Run the two minute drill Eli.  Come on.  An under thrown ball to Toomer inside the 10.

Get out of bounds Jacobs.  Time ticks down to the two minute warning.  3rd and 1 from the Patriots 18 yard line.
                   
Good pass to Smith who goes to the four.  Eli has to call a play.  Eli goes to Burress but it's thrown over his shoulder.  The Patriots call their final timeout.  Why are the Giants public address people playing "New York, New York"?  That's only for victories at Yankee Stadium.  The Giants are losing.  WTF?

After a pass completion that loses a yard, the Giants lose their second timeout.  Penalty with 1:07 left.  3rd and Goal.  What a one handed catch by Plexico Burress!  Patriots 38 - Giants 35 with 1:04 left in the fourth quarter. 

Can the Giants recover the onsides kick?  ACDC's "H*ll's Bells" blares over the speakers as the kick is made.  Vrabel recovers the onsides kick with 1:03 left.  Brady takes a knee and the Giants take their final timeout with 1:01 left.  The Giants can't stop the clock again as Brady takes another knee to seal the Patriots 38-35 victory.

Congratulations to the Patriots for completing a perfect 16-0 regular season.  Please join me in prayer for someone to stop them in the playoffs to prevent the Boston Sports Apocalypse.

Posted by a cold but historically fulfilled Tank reporting live from Giants Stadium in the Swamps of Jersey.

Live! | Milestones & Records | NFL

Sunday, December 30, 2007 5:19:28 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Last Week's Recap: I was 2-0 in my picks and 24-11 on the season.

This Week's Fearless Picks:

The Boston Sports Apocalypse continues as the Patriots march to another Super Bowl and beat the Giants at the Meadowlands on Saturday night to complete a perfect 16-0 regular season. Steve agrees with me that the Patriots are cheaters. The Patriots were warned by the NFL last season but still cheated anyway.

The Bills lose to the Eagles. This is a tough game to pick, avoid it if you can.

The Jets beat the Chiefs in former Coach Herm Edwards' homecoming.

Written by The Tank and posted by Steve in NY.

NFL

Saturday, December 29, 2007 8:38:13 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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The New England Patriots are on course to win 16 straight games and finish the season a perfect 16-0. Normally most sports fans would be cheering them on, wanting to see some history. There are a few reasons why nobody wants the Patriots to win.

First they are cheaters. In Week 1, Jets head coach Eric Mangini caught a Patriots cameraman trying to tape Jets signals from the sidelines. The Patriots got off easy with a $250,000 fine, coach Bill Belichick got a $500,000 fine, and the Patriots lost a first round draft pick. (Got off easy? They cheated and Belichick should have been suspended. Just look at all the hoopla with Barry Bonds now.)

Now Bill Belichick knows that the Patriots are a much better team than the Jets and can win normally, so why would he cheat? They cheated because they are not nice people and want to win at all costs. This leads into point number two, the Patriots are not classy, they put themselves above all else. They cheat, they run up the score, they leave in their starters up until the last minute with a 50 point lead. That is not classy, it is saying "We rock, you suck, get out of our way."

Last reason why the Pats have to lose is because the NFL is boring for the rest of us. The Patriots always win. I thought salary caps were suppose to prevent dynasties from forming. The Yankees made baseball boring for the rest of us in the late 90s, and as proof the last time the Yankees won a world series in 2000, it was the worst rated world series since they started keeping statistics. Memo to the NFL-most of the country will still watch the Super Bowl, but they probably will channel surf when Belichick starts to run up the score.

Posted by Steve in New York

NFL

Friday, December 28, 2007 8:17:59 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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A fly on the wall reporting from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day dinners:

• Many New Yorkers are counting down the days until the NJ Nets move to Brooklyn.The Knicks are so bad that we are just ready to toss in the towel and become Brooklyn Nets fans.
• Its time to check out the Devils new home. The Devils moved to Newark, NJ, and anytime a new arena opens in your sports radius, you have to go see it, even a High School field.
• Yankee fans are still in denial about Clemens. While I want to believe, I know in my heart that he is guilty, just as Barry Bonds is. Andy Pettette came clean, time to come clean Roger. Too much circumstantial evidence and the confession by your best fiend only hurts you.
• The Yankees need to make an offseason move. All they did was spend a lot of money keeping the status quo.
• Mets fans are mad as hell. All Mets fans want just one thing for Christmas: a starting pitcher.
• Steve's Uncle thinks the Mets pitching is ok. While the rest of the family will trade the farm for Santna and others. Uncle Joe defends Omar saying that the Mets payroll will balloon and that you can't give up too much. The rest of the family thinks that he is crazy, time to win man!!!
• The Mets should swap Orlando Hernández and Aaron Heilman. Heilman just whines about wanting to be a starter and lacks the 90s needed to be a big league closer. He is young and has enough arm strength to give 175-200 quality innings. El Duque is getting too old to give you 200 quality innings.

Posted by Steve in a food coma.

MLB | NBA | NHL

Wednesday, December 26, 2007 8:08:33 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Kobe Bryant scored 39 points at the Garden on Sunday to become the youngest player in NBA history to score 20,000 points.

In the post-game news conference, Kobe was asked if he wanted to be a Knick.  Kobe said he didn't want to get in trouble but he did say that the Garden was his favorite arena. 

Kobe coming to the Knicks would be like KG going to the Celtics.  It would be worth trading seven or more of the current Knicks to the Lakers for Kobe.  If Knicks fans are going to have to suffer with Isiah coaching the Knicks for the rest of the season or longer (God forbid), we should get appropriate compensation for our pain and suffering.           

Merry Christmas and Happy Basketball Holidays to all.

Posted by a hopeful Tank in NY.

NBA

Tuesday, December 25, 2007 12:16:22 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Roger Clemens responded to his critics including Steve yesterday on his website in a one minute and 48 second address shown on ESPN and posted on YouTube. 

I am giving the Rocket the benefit of the doubt and some time to let this situation play itself out just as Derek Jeter said a few days ago at his annual children's charity benefit shown on NBC 4 New York. 

I am not in denial as Steve noted the other day but I still believe in the old fashioned values of "innocent until proven guilty".  This country has unfortunately become "guilty until proven innocent".  When elected President next year, I promise to lead the change the culture of people being judged in the court of public opinion.

I am looking forward to Rocket's interview with "60 Minutes" Mike Wallace in two weeks.  The LA Times issued a front page apology a couple of days ago for naming the Rocket as a steroids user in 2006.  Time will tell if Senator Mitchell and/or Brian MacNamee will have to apologize in the future.

Posted by an open-minded and traveling Tank in Tampa, FL.

MLB | Steroids | Yankees Analysis (MLB)

Monday, December 24, 2007 4:10:04 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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