 Tuesday, April 15, 2008
WTF?! - What The Fox!
Red Sox 4 - Yankees 3 with two outs in the top of the ninth at Fenway on Saturday night. Cano had a full count against Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon. The pitch and
NASCAR
WTF?!!! What the Fox!
Fox pulled the 21st century version of Heidi. NBC cut from the Raiders-Jets playoff game to Heidi in the 1970s.
Fox didn't even apologize. They said the game was over on FX, a cable station that many people don't have. They didn't even wait for the next batter.
I stood in disbelief. What's even worse is that the NASCAR race went into an early caution like on the second lap. So everyone lost.
Fox owes everyone an apology.
Posted by a fuming Tank in NY.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Winning Games in April
The Mets and Yankees are off to an ok start, but are both 1 game under .500. While the Yankees in recent years have started very slow only to win the division or wild card well after the all star break, they mostly took advantage of Boston collapses. Teams that dominate do one thing and they do it well, they win games in April. The 1990s Atlanta Braves and the late 90s Yankees won tons of games in April, building out a big lead and never looked back. The Mets and Yankees both lost series this weekend that they should have won. These games may come back to haunt them, last year the Mets lost the playoff spot by 1 win and the Yankees lost the division by a slim margin. Wins in April of last year would have made the difference. Steve and the Tank are not pushing the panic button, but the teams need to start winning games in April. Posted by Steve in New York
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Mets Fans need their Heads Examined
Johan Santana made his long awaited Shea Stadium debut yesterday. He came into the game with a 1-1 record, and an ERA lower than 1.8 and the one loss was a dominating appearance in Atlanta where he gave up 1 run in 7 innings.
Johan had a shaky first inning giving up two hits. Mets fans booed him. Mets fans need to have their heads examined. I know that Santana has come in with high expectations, but come on, give the guy a break. He is on track this year, despite his bad outing at Shea (4 earned runs and a botched fielding play) yesterday, give the guy a chance. Don't give him the A-Rod treatment. Steve and the Tank will continue to support both MVP A-Rod and Cy Young in waiting Santana until they give us ample reason not to. So should the rest of New York.
Posted by Steve in Seattle
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Wonderful Wang and the Brew Crew Goes to Shea
A cold foggy mist descended over Shea for Friday's Brewers-Mets game. The Brewers were one of my pre-season dark horse picks. The Brewers really surprised last season with young players like Tony Gwynn, Jr, Prince Fielder, and others.
The Yankees and Red Sox are both 5-5 coming into this first game between both teams of the season.
DW singles to start the bottom of the fourth. Brewers pitcher Manny Parra throws over to first. It almost makes you wish for Aaron "The Human Raindelay" Heilman. Almost.
I am multi-tasking as usual and listening to the Yankees game on the radio. Wang is perfect through three innings, touch wood. Gotta love technology. 
Beltran walks.
Wang gives up his first hit to Pedroia but Big Papi grounds into a double play. Yeah! At the end of four, Yankees 0 - Red Sox 0.
Delgado singles to right and DW scores. Mets 1 - Brewers 0.
Adam Sandler starts the "Let's Go Mets!" cheer. Like The Tank, Sandler is a Yankees fan who roots for the Mets.
Easley flies to left center, Beltran tags, and scores. Mets 2 - Yankees 0.
The Fenway official scorer takes the hit away from Pedroia. Wang has a no-hitter and A-Rod is charged with the error. Touch call according to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman.
Wild pitch to Ryan Church. Delgado advanes to second. Church singles to center, Delgado advances to third.
Matsui walks.
Casanova singles to left. Delgado scores and Church advances to second. Mets 3 - Brewers 0.
Posada lines a foul ball down the left field line. Darn it!
Figueroa is safe on his own bunt. Bases loaded with one out. Talk about helping your own cause. Jose Reyes steps to the plate and grounds out into a double play on the first pitch. Darn it! Mets 3 - Brewers 0 at the end of four.
Giambi strikes out. Molina hits to left center. Matsui scores, Posada goes to third and Molina to second. Yankees 1 - Red Sox 0 with one out in the fifth. Gonzalez please don't hit into a double play. Yes, he walks and the bases are loaded thank God.
Figueroa gives up his first hit to Hardy who doubles to left to score the first run. Mets 3 - Brewers 1.
The Yankees only score one run. Darn it!
Dillon strikes out on 3-2. He threw away his helmet and started running to first but the ump called him out. Mets 3 - Brewers 1 going into the bottom of the fifth.
Manny flies out to deep right. Whew! Unfortunately, JD Drew's hit to deep right hits off of Abreu's glove for the first hit and home run. At the end of five innings, Yankees 1 - Red Sox 1.
The Cowbellman performs near me at Shea while A-Rod comes to the plate at Fenway. A-Rod singles to left with two outs. Yeah!
Matsui doubles to the Green Monster. A-Rod advances to third.
Gross flies out to right at Shea. Prince Fielder doubles to left center. Braun hits a bomb to center but Beltran sprints and catches it. In the middle of the sixth, Mets 3 - Brewers 0.
Yankees are out of the sixth. Darn it!
Joe Smith starts to warm for the Mets while Ryan Church flies to right center for the second out of the sixth. Casanova flies out to the double
Speaking of great defense, the Rangers and D*vils are tied at 0 in the second period. Wow, what a New York sports night!
Joe Smith takes the mound in the top of the seventh.
Timlin relieves Buchholz to start the 7th. Giambino hits a bomb to center. Molina hits a double off the Monster.
DW's throws is wild of first.
Gonzalez sacrifice bunts to Timlin and Molina advances to third. Timlin gets the hook. Yankees 2 - Red Sox 1 with one out in the seventh.
Craig Counsell grounds out to Reyes to end the top of the seventh. Mets 3 - Brewers 2.
Melky sacrifices Molina home. Yankees 3 - Red Sox 1 with two out in seventh.
Get up and stretch! It's the Seventh Inning Stretch at Shea.
Cano strikes out. Get up and stretch (at Fenway)! Yankees 3 - Red Sox 1.
Chavez walked. Anderson sacrifices Chavez to second. Last night's hero Pagan comes to the plate hitting .600 with Runners In Scoring Position. He singles to right. Mets 4 - Brewers 2. DW singles to center. The center fielder fumbles the ball and Pagan advances to third.
Pedroia grounds out to A-Rod. Yeah!
Big Papi grounds to first.
Beltran hits into a double play. Darn it!
Aaron "The Human Raindelay" Heilman is booed.
Manny strikes out! Yeah! Yankees 3 - Red Sox 1 at the end of seven.
Javier Lopez comes out of the bullpen for the Red Sox. Abreu grounds out to Casey who flips it to Lopez.
Heilman strikes out Weeks. OMG!
A-Rod singles to center.
Heilman gets out of the eighth. Time for the 8th Inning Sing-Along. Tonight is Billy Joel's "Movin' Out". Good selection, but not as good as Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" from Opening Day. BTW, I met Billy Joel during the Sting and Annie Lennox concert a Jones Beach in July 2004. This before I bought a digital camera. Darn it!
Matsui grounds to second to force A-Rod.
Rangers 2 - D*vils 0 in the third period just flashed on the left center score board. Yeah! The crowd at Shea goes crazy.
Delgado strikes out. Easley comes up to MC Hammer's "2 Legit to Quit" but he grounds out.
Giambino walks to load the bases. Francona brings the hook for Lopez.
Wagner comes into the game the tune of "Enter Sandman".
Fielder grounds out to Wagner. Braun flies out to right. Two out in the top of the ninth. Hall flies out right. It's great to hear "Takin' Care of Business" again. Mets 4 - Brewers 2.
Yankees 3 - Red Sox 1 in the middle of the eighth.
Abreu makes a great catch on Youkilis. Three up, three down in the 8th. At the end of eight innings, Yankees 3 - Red Sox 1.
Gonzalez doubles to left.
Melky sacrifices Gonzalez to third.
Cano grounds out to third. Gonzalez holds at third.
Abreu hits an infield single to Pedroia. Gonzalez scores. A-Rod grounds out to end the inning. In the middle of the ninth, Yankees 4 - Red Sox 1.
Casey lines out to Melky to start the ninth. Lugo grounds to short. Coco Crisp bunted to third but Wang can't get it. Crisp is safe at first. Crisp advances to second on defensive indifference on the first pitch to Pedroia. Pedroia lined to Matsui to end the game. Ballgame over, Yankees win, the Yankeeeees win!
Wang pitched a two hitter and the Yankees won 4-1. Wow! All without Jeter. Double wow!
This is one of the many great things about New York. Mets win, Yankees win, and Rangers win 2-1 according to Don LaGreca reporting live on the ESPN 1050 AM post-game report.
Posted by The Tank in a New York State of Mind reporting Live from Shea Stadium in Flushing, Queens.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Mist, Monsoon, or Make-up Day?
The Mets and Yankees endured their fair share of rain last night.
A mist early in the game turned into a slight rain but nothing that couldn't prevent playing the Phillies-Mets game at Shea last night. The Mets 8-2 victory was their first in nine games against the Phillies going back to last season. The Mets' bats combined with four Phillie errors and a solid pitching performance from Pelfrey got the job done.
On the other hand, the Yankees played in monsoon like conditions in Kansas City last night. The start was delayed and Joe Girardi managed in reverse pitching relievers then starter Ian Kennedy later in the game. Bruney pitched solid. Bruney's loss of 20 pounds (note to self) and a great attitude have been making all the difference, touch wood. I think Bruney will go down as one of Brian Cashman's better picks if this year is indicative of future performance.
Anyway, the game should have been postponed. It's not like it's September and they need to get the game in. They could have made it up on Thursday or another day later in the season. You don't want to risk injury as Jeter and Posada are already injured. MLB and the umpires should have postponed the game.
Posted by The Tank in Building an Arkville.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
The Mets Were RickRolled at the Last Shea Home Opener
It was a cool but sunny day for the last home Opening Day at Shea.
DW hit it to the wall. Two out. Darn it! It's better to see him in person than on the 7 train as a wax statue. (Many thanks to Linda for the DW permalink and for joining me at the game.)
Moyer kept throwing it over to first to keep Castillo at first. I yelled at him like "he's not Reyes!" Beltran grounded out to third to end the inning. It's scoreless at the end of the first.
Delgado hit a solo blast to right center. Pagan flew out to left center. Mets 1 - Phillies 0.
Time for a new feature, Verizon Wireless' Dancing with the Fans. "It's so bad," Linda says. I concur but it's so bad, it's good. More later on how I can improve this later.
Moyer is the oldest "official" player in the majors at 45 years old and 4 months. He's almost as old as Jessie Orosco a few years ago on the Yankees but not as old as El Duque who is probably is my Dad's age. BTW, Happy Belated 76th Birthday to my Dad a couple of days ago on Sunday, April 6th.
Drinking a gallon of water a day is good for you but you have to go to the restroom. The good news is that my superstition of running to the restroom works because the Mets scored a run while I stepped away from the action.
Perez walked Moyer in the top of the fifth but got out of the jam.
After DW's "Wright Way" advised all kids to wear a helmet, he hit a double down the left field line. A fight broke out between Mets and Phillies fans near the third baseline. Beltran unfortunately grounded out to end the evening. BTW, where is Jose Reyes' Spanish Language Academy.
Castillo is out with a strained right knee. Ouch!
Perez gave up three hits in 5.2 innings but runners on the corners. Joe Smith walked another batter but got out of the jam.
The seventh inning was where it fell apart. Schoenweis loaded the bases. Delgado's throw to Reyes at second hit Utley in the back and the Phillies scored two runs on the play. Darn it! The Phillies added another run to make it 3-2 at the Seventh Inning Stretch.
Schneider hits a single up the middle. Chavez grounds into a double play. Reyes hits a single up the middle. Easley hit the ball a ton to left but it was caught the left field warning track. Darn it! At the end of seven, Phillies 3 - Mets 2.
Stephanie from Franklin Square, Long Island, beat out Vinnie from Staten Island to win Verizon Wireless' Dancing with the Stars.
The Phillies scored another run in the top of eighth to take a 4-2 lead.
Aaron "The Human Raindelay" Heilman keeps looking back to second and then gives up an RBI single. Darn it!
The RickRollers strike again to the tune to the great Rick Astley song "Never Gonna Give You Up".
I ask all of you to please call the Mets to demand that they have me sing this classic song during the Verizon Wireless Dance with the Stars contest. I maybe a few years too old for "American Idol" but this is a nice consolation prize. To quote Milli Vanilli, "you know it's true."
While everyone cheers Mr. Met, Linda boos him. She is still emotionally scarred from a ferry trip from the City to Shea a few years ago where Mr. Met had all the kids singing "Meet the Mets". It drove her to near insanity and almost prompted her to throw Mr. Met overboard. It's a good thing that on the Antarctica Marathon trip three years ago that she didn't see nor hear Steve and I singing karaoke or we could have been thrown into the freezing Antarctic waters. Whew!
Mr. Met's handler unfortunately prevented me and others from getting our exclusive photo with Mr. Met. I've got photos with A-Rod and Playboy's Miss November 2007 but my photo album isn't complete until I get a photo with Mr. Met.
Nice to hear the Twilo music for Brooklyn Pete. Where you at bro? Yeah, my Blackberry is on the fritz. It has a Java error and doing a cold reboot could cause the lose of all the data on my Blackberry. You know life will suck if anything bad happens to my Blackberry.
DW struck out looking on a questionable call. Beltran doubled down the left field line. Delgado grounds out and Beltran advances to third. Brady Clark walks to first. The Mets don't score and lose the game 5-2.
Posted by a dejected Tank reporting live from Shea Stadium.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Take It To The Bank With The Tank - "Rock Chalk Jayhawk!"
I reconvened at PG's Place on the Upper West Side to watch the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship Game. PG was with me at the infamous Knicks-Nuggets fight at the Garden in December 2006. Kansas had a five point lead at halftime. Rose hit a sick bank shot with 4:16 left in the second half. It was reviewed to be a two instead of a three. Let's see how that plays out later in the game. Memphis went on 16-4 run to overtake Kansas. But, Kansas got a steal and hit a three to close it to 60-56. Chris Douglas-Roberts hit two free throws to make it 62-56. Joey Dorsey fouled out with 1:23 left. Chris Douglas-Roberts missed a free throw. Kansas scored to make it 62-60. Memphis takes a timeout with 44 seconds left . Robinson got blocked with 20 seconds left. Chris Douglas-Roberts misses two free throws but Dozier gets the rebound. Chris Douglas-Roberts slams the ball down with 10.6 seconds left. Shouldn't he be called for a technical? The refs feel differently and don't call a technical foul. "The Kansas point guard (Collins) should be shot!" (for bringing the ball up so slow). But, "Super Mario" Chalmers bailed him out with a clutch three to tie it at 63. Advantage to Kansas because Dorsey is out with five fouls and Memphis missed four of last five free throws in regulation. Memphis wins the tip but Kansas gets the steal to take a 65-63 lead. PG wants Patrick Ewing going into the Loser's Hall of Fame instead of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Collins' East to West dribbling doesn't get it done for PG. Rush got the outlet, got his rebound to make it 71-65. Chris Douglas-Roberts hits a three to make it 71-68. It was their first basket in over six minutes. "Super Mario" Chalmers hits both ends of the 1 and 1 with 45.1 seconds left in overtime. Collins from Kansas slips loses the ball on the inbound. PG is about to kill him. "Don't dribble!" PG yells at Memphis before Chris Douglas-Roberts misses a three. Kansas came back from down nine with two minutes left in regulation. Kansas wins 75-68. Congratulations to KU! Congratulations to Coach Bill Self! Congratulations to Assistant Coach Danny Manning for getting into the College Basketball Hall of Fame on Sunday. Larry Brown coached Danny and the Miracles to Kansas' last championship in 1988. It was a very memorable time as I was on my high school senior trip to Washington, DC. For those keeping the score, The Tank picked Kansas to win it all at the beginning of the tournament, touch wood. (This is even more accurate than my pick of Ohio State beating Florida 75-73 in last year's Finals. However, it was as accurate as my Yankees 94 win prediction during the Yankees' darkest hour last summer or Ohio State beating Michigan by three points in the Immortality Bowl in November 2006 to beat out ESPN's Scouts Inc who had Michigan winning the game by three points.) If you ever have a chance to go to Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kansas, please go. I trained in Lawrence in team handball in the U.S. Olympic Festival in Los Angeles in the summer of 1991. In between training sessions, I went to the "Phog" with a couple of teammates. The lights were off during the day and sunlight streamed through the windows. It is a basketball cathedral and I heard the ghosts from the past. "Rock Chalk Jayhawk!" "Rock Chalk Jayhawk!" It's times like that make college sports so much more special than professional sports. Posted by a psyched up Tank at PG's Place on the Upper West Side.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Will John Calipari Be the Knicks Next Head Coach?
The above headline isn't a rumor but more of a hope, a prayer that new Knicks President Donnie Walsh fires Isiah and hires Memphis Coach John Calipari.
Calipari is from New York as is Walsh. Calipari coached the Nets back in the 1990s with players like Kerry Kittles. Calipari wasn't too successful so might not be inclined to take Walsh's offer. However, the thought of turning around the Bricks into the Knicks again might be the challenge that Calipari wants, especially if Memphis wins tonight. Calipari will have a national title and a nearly undefeated season.
If Calipari doesn't win, he might pass on the Bricks and stay in college. He makes lots of money, can recruit any player in the country he wants, and is literally Big Man on Campus (BMOC).
But if Calipari wins, isn't there part of him that wouldn't want to come home and help the millions of suffering Bricks/Knicks fans? He would be the brightest coaching star on the world's biggest stage. What do you say John? I can't handle another season of Isiah. Please come home John.
Posted by a desperate Tank in NY.
|
| January, 2009 (8) |
| December, 2008 (34) |
| November, 2008 (30) |
| October, 2008 (31) |
| September, 2008 (29) |
| August, 2008 (30) |
| July, 2008 (30) |
| June, 2008 (30) |
| May, 2008 (31) |
| April, 2008 (30) |
| March, 2008 (31) |
| February, 2008 (29) |
| January, 2008 (30) |
| December, 2007 (32) |
| November, 2007 (32) |
| October, 2007 (33) |
| September, 2007 (33) |
| August, 2007 (31) |
| July, 2007 (33) |
| June, 2007 (30) |
| May, 2007 (32) |
| April, 2007 (33) |
| March, 2007 (31) |
| February, 2007 (29) |
| January, 2007 (32) |
| December, 2006 (30) |
| November, 2006 (26) |
| October, 2006 (32) |
| September, 2006 (28) |
| August, 2006 (23) |
 |