Burritos At Giant Stadium?

Friday night, I was at an international soccer doubleheader at Giant Stadium. The first game was Honduras v Panama, followed by Mexico v Cuba. They were playing in the Gold Cup, which is an international tournament for Central and North American countries (USA is 2-0).

The whole experience was so surreal. I made a stupid mistake right when I arrived at the stadium. My dad has this trick that he uses at Jet games, where he parks very far away from the stadium, so that when we leave we can pull right out into the exit and not be stuck in an hour of traffic inside the parking lot. Five minutes of walking is worth 60 of sitting in a car. So I parked near the exit, very far away from the stadium. What I didn't account for was that we weren't at a Jet game. 22,000 out of the 80,000 maximum fans were there, meaning there was no traffic at all after the game, and I felt pretty dumb walking across the entire empty parking lot.

The decrease in quantity of fans was more than made up by the increase in quality. That's not a knock on NFL fans, but a tribute to soccer fans around the world. Without a doubt, soccer fans are the best by far. Especially the crazy international guys. It was so bizarre, we saw just 7 other non hispanic white Americans at the game, out of 22,000. Every single person was Mexican, Panamanian, Honduran, or Cuban. It was so weird having people look at me as the minoritiy for once. What's even more weird was the smell of burritos that filled the parking lot before the game. Instead of fat white guys grilling burgers, it was little hispanic guys making burritos. Instead of footballs being tossed, it was soccer balls being juggled. It was just sooo surreal.

We got there pretty early and got front row seats behind the goal. This was amazing because we got in TV and had a great view for all the goals. And there were a ton. Panama upset Honduras 3-2 in the first game, and Mexico beat Cuba 2-1 in the second. There was so much action: amazing goals, hard fouls, great saves, everything.

But the game could have been boring and the experience would have still been amazing. The crowd was absolutely hilarious. Everybody had crazy sombreros on, or wrapped themselves in their country's flag. They had all these funny cheers and we couldn't understand anything they said.

There was this group of insane hondurans sitting behind us. They all had dreadlocks and danced the entire game. One of them kept holding the flag up to the sky and pointing and screamed "SI..SI..SI." And that was when they were sober. Then they got really drunk and starting going insane and running up the aisles and dancing. We we're dying.

I was also apart of the best wave I've ever seen. It went around the stadium 8 times I believe. Everyone was screaming and going nuts. The eruption that took place whenever a goal was scored reminded me of how amazing sports are. Some of these people seroiusly put the fate of their happiness in the outcome of the game. It's something I don't recommend, but it was really fascinating to see how happy and sad depending on their team's play.

I go nuts for the Rangers and Jets, Bill Simmons is a nutjob for his Celtics and Red Sox. But neither of us are on the level that some of these people were on. It's a level that I didn't really know existed. There was one kid sitting close to us. When Mexico scored the game winner, the player ran around and took his shirt off. For some reason, the kid sitting next to us just took his shirt off right after the player did. It was so weird and hilarious. We we're trying to figure out what could have possibly went through his mind to make him just take his shirt off.

It was a great night at Giant Stadium and one that has sent me on a mission to see English Premier League soccer live, and some day go to the world cup. Imagine what that's like compared to this. This was just a few crappy teams playing in the Gold Cup.

Why does everybody love Mike Emrick

I want to start this post by praising the NHL competition committee. The last few years have been both difficult and fairly revolutionary for the NHL. In sports, I'm a pretty big traditionalist. But the changes that the league has made over the past couple years have been effective and necessary. I don't want to get into the details, but the game is just so exciting, action filled, and safer: just better TV for both the casual and die hard hockey fan. Once the TV contracts get worked out so we are back on national TV, the league will really start to grow.

What I really want to discuss is why everybody is obsessed with Mike Emrick (the play by play guy for the cup finals). He is the league's go to guy for any nationally televised hockey game. He's won all kinds of awards for his amazing announcing. I even saw an article about him on deadspin.com, which is just ridiculous.

I hate him. I'll admit that my hatred for him is slightly biassed because he is the NJ Devils play by play guy during the regular season. But the more I see him, and especially the more I hear others praise him like he's Marv Albert, the more frusterated I get. I guess there are three things that I can't stand about him.

The first is his voice. It reminds me of Walter Cronkite on a helium overdose. I think that's actually a pretty impressive comparison on my part considering the closest I've come to hearing Cronkite's voice is when Jim Carey does an impression of him in the movie Bruce Almighty.

The second reason is that he makes every mundane play seem like it's the most amazing thing that's ever happened in hockey. I guess that's what people like about him. But I hate it. I'm tired of hearing him say things like "And NOW he PASSES THE PUCK BACK AND THEY REGROUP!" It's just ridiculous.

My third problem with Emrick is the most important one. He uses the most ridiculous verbs to describe actions in an athletic competition. Rather than talk more about it, I've made a list of strange verbs he's used that piss me off. In fact I'm gonna rank them (1 being the most ridiculous).

Mike Emrick Stupid Verb List (1st edition):

1. Forklifted
2. Knifed
3. Whistled
4. shovelled
5. rifled
6. steered
7. Yanked
8. Slinged
9. Glided
10. drilled
11. chopped
12. Popped
13. Cancelled
14. Weaved
15. Heaped

Enjoy trying to watch the rest of the series without listening for Emrick's bullshit.

Best Ejection Ever

I don't want to build this one up. All I can really say is that Lou Pinella has met his match.
(look at the second baseman laughing at the end)
The Video

Jose Reyes

Jose Reyes is pretty much everything that's great about sports. A couple nights ago, my friend Lee and I were watching the Mets Giants game. At one point Lee says, "Just look at Jose Reyes. He's like a 5 year old. He acts exactly the way a 5 year old would if he were in the MLB." At the time, the Mets were at bat and Reyes was standing up at the edge of the dugout next to Endy Chavez. Jose was dancing and grinning and waving his arms at the pitcher to try to mess him up. If you just said to yourself, "come on, it's the big leagues, there's no place for that," then I hate you. It was absolutely hilarious, and really just perfect.

It reminds me of the kid from the movie Little Big League, when a 12 year old plays for the Chicago Cubs. He gets on first base and starts dancing, making faces at the pitcher, and shouting the imfamous "pitchers got a big butt" chant. Then the pitcher pegs the batter in the back and says "that one was for you kid." I digress.

At the beginningn of the year, my friend Max said that Jose Reyes is the most exciting player in all of sports. I found it hard to believe that such a prestigious title could go to a baseball player, but it's true. He's already a top 5 player in the game. He gets big hit after big hit, has 28 stolen bases (more than several entire teams), has 7 triples already, and fields unbelievably well. Whenever this kid is at bat something ridiculous is about to happen. He can take a standard double and make it a triple, and he can take a single and steal 2 bases to get to third. He drives pitchers crazy. A couple nights ago, he was on first base, with the mets down 1 in the bottom of the 12th. He dances around and fakes a steal, which causes reliever Armando Benitez to balk. Reyes is on second. Then Benitez throws a wild pitch. Reyes is on third. Reyes messes around with Benitez some more and causes him to balk a second time! Reyes scores and the Mets go on to win.

And when he's not doing something amazing, Reyes is dancing and playing around on the field and in the dugout. He's also known for his amazingly creative and elaborate handshakes that he does with the 2 Carlos'. Everything about this guy is great. He's got that competitive edge that lets him be great, that little kid mentality that never left him, and the physical ability that gets you out of your seat on a regular basis.

Surprisingly, I couldn't find any good videos of Jose (youtube failed me for once). But I did stumble onto the greatest playoff catch I have ever seen. I'm sure you remember last year in game 7 of the NLCS, Mets vs Cardinals. It was 1-1 in the 7th and Edmonds hits a shot that shod be a homerun, making it 3-1 i think, and basically ending the season. But out of no where Endy leaps up and makes the most amazing over the wall snow cone grab ive ever seen, keeping the Mets alive. The catch's glory was diminished after the Mets lost the game and got eliminated.

The Catch
The Catch from the Crowd's perspective

Back Soon

Not that I have a large fan base, but for the handful that do check this every now and then, sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have a lot of catching up to do, but it's gonna have to wait another week. I have 4 finals this week, but I'll leave you with these videos in the mean time.
Sports Bloopers 1
Sports Bloopers 2
Just Ridiculous Now

Kentucky Derby

The great thing about the Kentucky Derby is that it's one of the most exciting sporting events we have that you don't have to see live to fully appreciate. There's no regular season, no playoffs, just 2 minutes. And now it's even easier with great sites like youtube. You can spend 2 and a half minutes and watch the complete race on youtube, and get the same entertainment as you would watching it live. Plus, you don't have to worry about avoiding all human contact before you watch it in fear of someone telling you who won. Because you don't know whose racing anyway. And even if you did, it's nearly impossible to tell them apart. All you have to do to enjoy the kentucky derby is get to a computer and watch it on youtube.

Great Season

Rangers lost today 5-4 and the season is done. I'm not gonna be ranting throughout this post; I'm on a pretty stable emotional level right now and I'm gonna be okay.

After the post game phone calls, I was able to really get myself together. I put my Ranger jersey back on, flipped on NHL 07, and played that for a couple hours while listening to James Blunt. I'm not one to brag, but it was at that moment that I realized what a great Ranger fan I am. If I could script what a perfect Ranger fan would do after a season ending loss, it would include playing NHL 07 and listening to James Blunt with a Rangers jersey on.

I feel like today I've become an even bigger Ranger fan than I have been. I honestly didn't think it was possible. But now that we are back in the hunt for the cup every year, I'm really starting to understand everything. My dad told me after the game 5 heartbreaking loss on friday, "Now you're a true Ranger fan." He explained that now I had experienced one of the classic Rangers melt downs with only seconds remaining in an enormous game. He was right.

I'm actually really impressed with all Ranger fans throughout the playoffs. The support was unmatched throughout the league. The garden was rockin every game. The 5 minutes after the final buzzer sounded was a special 5 minutes. I didn't know how the garden would react. It was perfect. After like 20 seconds of silence the garden started going nuts for the Rangers, giving them a huge standing ovation. Throughout the handshakes, as the players consoled one another trying to pick their heads up, the fans helped with a great Lets Go Rangers chant in complete unison.

For the past 2 seasons the Rangers had adopted a great european hockey tradition: after every win on home ice the whole team gathers at center ice and salutes the crowd with their sticks. It's an amazing tradition and the fans love it. Well even after the loss today, the boys stayed on the ice and saluted the crowd one more time as the fans responded with their enormous ovation. I'm gonna try to find the video of the 5 minutes after the game, it was amazing.

We had a great year, and could not have went out with more respect. So, I'll end the post with the 2 greatest words in sports: NEXT YEAR

Game 5 Rangers Sabres (I guess I have to discuss it)

FUCK (I'd like to take a moment to let that sink in).. Well, it was 0-0 after 2 periods and about halfway through the third when the Rangers scored a great goal on a 3-2 break. But it was called off due to a goalie interference penalty that simply didn't happen. That's okay, because with 3 minutes to go we finally got on the board with a great wrister by my boy marty straka. It was amazing. Everything was perfect. The Buffalo fans had pretty much turned on the Sabres. Some people started to leave. The place was amazingly silent.

Okay, throughout the whole game I had been talking to Harry online. With just over a minute to go, I tell Harry that I really really need to poop. He gave me some encouraging words to fight through it. I was pacing around the room, just waiting for the fucking thing to end. I couldn't do it though. (No I didn't poop in my pants). But the Rangers iced the puck causing a stoppage of play with 15 seconds left. I figured that we could hang on and I just had to go poo. So I did...

It was a pretty quick and successful trip to the office, and I came back upstairs, walked down the hall towards my room basically giggling to myself with happiness and joy because the Rangers just took a huge 3-2 series lead vs the number one seed.

I come back into my room and the first thing I hear is the crowd going insane. I thought it was at Buffalo tonight, what's going on? Then I hear the announcer say, something like JUST 7.7 SECONDS AWAY FROM WINNING GAME 5, THE RANGERS NOW FIND THEMSELVES BACK WHERE THEY STARTED AS WE GO INTO OVERTIME.

I frantically said to myself, "What did I do?" They had tied it up with 7.7 to go and later they ended up stealing this fucking game in OT. Now the Rangers go back to NY on the verge of elimination in game 6 on sunday. But I am soooo sorry to every Ranger fan whose heart dropped like mine did when the Sabres tied it up. It was my fault. I took the win for granted. Those who know me well know that this is so uncharacteristic of me. Never again will I let an intestinal desire outweigh the heart's desire. I am never pooping during a Ranger game again. So like I said, FUCK. But we got to put it behind us and come out strong in game 6 and 7.

Recap of text messages and IMs regarding the game last night:

Text messages-
Bohm- "1-0 and should be 2"
Freddy- "ouch"
Bohm- "I'm gonna hang myself now"

IMs-
Icekid99 (9:28:09 PM): you dont want a faceoff in ur own zone late
Sinkit510 (9:28:17 PM): i know its silly
Icekid99 (9:28:21 PM): ah ive got to poop
Sinkit510 (9:28:41 PM): bring your laptop into the toilet
Icekid99 (9:28:48 PM): im gonna be strong
Icekid99 (9:29:29 PM): ah I dont have much time here
Icekid99 (9:29:40 PM): im gonna poop right now
Sinkit510 (9:29:49 PM): no be strong
(I go, Buffalo scores)
Sinkit510 (9:31:45 PM): fuck
(I come back)
Icekid99 (9:35:16 PM): ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Icekid99 (9:35:21 PM): im never pooping again
Icekid99 (9:35:51 PM): ahhhhhhhh

Something else that is very noteworthy. In the great spring of 1994, the Rangers were up 1-0 on the Devils in game 7 of the conference finals, when the Devils scored to tie it up at 1 with 7.7 seconds to go. However, as we all know, the outcome of that game was slightly different. This is my favorite call of any announcer in any sporting event ever. And it's also a top 5 favorite sports moment of mine. It is Stephane Matteau in Double Overtime

Coaches

Today the Yankees fired their conditioning coach after another Yankee player went down with a hamstring injury last night. The league's top pitching prospect, Phil Hughes, had a no hitter going into the 7th inning in just his second start ever. But he had to be taken out of the game and will be side lined for over a month due to a hamstring injury. This after Mussina, Wang, Pavano, and Matsui all went down with injuries in the first month of the season. Rumor has it that the training program this conditioning coach used was causing all of these injuries. So after last night, Cashman and the Boss let him go. All this talk about coaching makes me want to show some classic coaching speeches I've collected:

Bobby Knight Half Time Speech- This is one of my favorite sound clips of all time. I mean to be honest, I wouldn't call it a successful pep talk. Then again he is the most winning college basketball coach of all time. Love him or hate him, this speech is hilarious. Also, parental discretion is advised.

Friday Night Lights Half Time- I have to say, Billy Bob Thornton is kind of a douche bag, but this is the one movie I actually like him in.

Not Sure How to Label This One- I'm not even sure what sport this is. I'm guessing it's rugby, or maybe Aussie Rules Football. Either way, between the accent, the amateur footage, and just the look of these guys, this is a great clip.

Coolest Video On This List- This guy is the man. I'm not gonna lie, the music makes the whole thing much better. But if someone told me this was from a movie, I would completely believe it. I feel like killing someone after hearing this guy talk.

Billy Donovan- This is Billy's speech to the Gaters before their first of back to back national championships. I wish they could put cameras in the locker rooms for every speech. That would really be amazing.

Miracle - This is the best inspirational speech I've ever heard in my life, hands down. This movie, and really this speech, is what made me want to become a hockey coach.

Hoosiers- This is probably the worst speech and the worst acting I've ever seen. I just had to throw this one in. To my shame, I have actually not seen this movie yet. Apparently it's a classic sports movie. But just look at how stupid this clip is.

NFL Draft II

It was so nice being at college for the draft instead of home. At home, I would have been up at like 9:30 or 10:00 and sat around waiting 2 hours for the draft to start. But at school I wake up at about 11:45, tell Steve to throw me the remote, flip on channel 36, and stay in bed until 4:oo in the afternoon watching the draft. The other nice thing is that you are in an environment where there are about 20 other guys all going nuts after each pick, yelling to each other through the walls (all from our respective beds).

Anyway, I have a few notables from the draft that I'd like to discuss:

1. The commentators-- I actually thought they did a terrific job covering the draft throughout the entire day. Usually after like the 14th pick, Boomer, Mort, and Jaws have absolutely nothing left to say, but still have to stay on the air live for the next 7 hours. It reminds me of high school guys trying to impress a girl. They just sit there picking their brains looking for anything to say that will evoke a positive response. I was waiting for Berman to say something like, "So, uh, anybody see House last week?"

2. Keyshawn Johnson-- I haven't heard much talk about his performance this weekend. I'm a Jets fan so obviously I don't like KJ, but he was unbelievable as an analyst with the other three professionals. His book "Just Give Me The Damn Ball" must have really propelled his confidence, because he was actually well spoken, charasmatic, smart, even funny. I'd say the odds of him becoming an ESPN analyst in a few years are about as good as Randy Moss and Brandom Merriweather teaming up to commit armed robbery: very high.

3. That's actually a nice segway into my next notable: The patriots deciding that maybe the Bengals are on to something by filling up their entire roster with criminals. Brandon Merriweather is obviously a solid safety, coming from the same school as Ed Reed and Sean Taylor, but he was also the guy stomping on that FIU player's head in the huge brawl, plus he shot a hand gun at a guy who was apparently trying to kill his roomate. I love the people that defend the latter of his actions by saying that what he did was technically legal. But one G wasn't enough for the Pats as they also acquired Randy Moss from the Raiders. The newest shut down cornerback for the Jets won't have to worry about Randy too much, because chances are he'll be in jail or unemployed after this season.

This video makes me single handedly love Vince Young and the University of Texas

The Day After

Well I've had a day to calm down after the enormous win yesterday. The magnitude of yesterday's victory could turn out to be huge. I remember last season my lacrosse team had a night game in Pelham, in which my team and I had the best game of our lives, and ended up winning 10-9 in sudden death OT under the lights in front of a large part of the school. It is without a doubt a top five moment of my entire sports career, and one of the happiest moments of my life. I'm always going to remember that feeling I had in the bus coming home from the game. It actually carried me for the next several weeks, elevating our play even further. A night like that can carry an athlete, and a whole team really. I hope the Rangers can build off the monumental win yesterday the way Hastings Lacrosse built off ours, which was actually almost exactly one year ago this friday.

The game was also huge for the NHL, because it was a rare broadcast on NBC on a sunday afternoon, with no football or golf overshadowing it. I'm not going to talk much about how great it was for the league, because I found a really great article talking all about that. Here it is:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2007/columns/story?columnist=hradek_ej&id=2854033&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1

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WE WON

In Between Periods

I thought it would be really cool to post in between the third period and overtime of game 3 of the Rangers Sabres series. Rangers are down 2-0 in the series and this game is tied at one. I'm ridiculously wired right now. The fucking refs are tryign to take the game from us. They called back a goal that was clearly a mistake. Even the announcers said that. Then they made a horrible call on a Shanahan cross check giving them a powerplay in the third and that let them tie it up at 1. I'm losing my mind. I'm jumping around the room right now going nuts. We have to have this one to win. I decided to put my ranger jersey on with 2 and a half minutes left to play. I think I'm going to keep it on for OT. I don't want to edit this at all, becuase i just want it to capture my mood right now. OT is about to start. AHHH Lets Go Rangers

Joquain Said Dominate

I came across a great 13 second video the other day. It's a very quick halftime outburst from Ed Reed when he was at THE U. It's particularly relevant around draft time, considering the Jets passed on Ed Reed to take Bryan Thomas a few years back. I actually like Bryan Thomas, but Ed Reed is a superhero.

Harry Foster recently told me that this Joquain of whom Reed speaks was the right tackle and basically the team's leader. And well, Joquain Said Dominate.

The Draft

It's certainly not as crazy as last year 4 days before the NFL draft. It was around this time one year ago that we heard about Houston signing Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush. How's that working out for you Texans? That was rhetorical, you don't have to answer.

There are plenty of other (much better) places to get your draft analysis than here. So I want to make a list of players that I, and only I, think will become the next big sleepers of the 2007 draft. I'm going to call it my "I told you so" list. So in a couple years we can all look back on this post and I can say I told you so. So hear is the premier edition of the David Bendet "I Told You So" List:

Drew Tate QB Iowa
Kevin Huff QB Tuskegee
Lorenzo Booker RB Florida State
Kenny Irons RB Auburn
Sidney Rice WR South Carolina
Dwayne Bowe WR LSU

Don't ask me why; just have some faith. Anyway, anytime I think about the NFL draft I can't help but laugh about the Jets' draft disasters from pretty much 1980-1999. If you don't believe me, check out this hilarious video.

You Talkin' About Playoffs?

Last Tuesday, Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel lost it in his post game press conference and ended up challenging one of the reporters to a fist fight. (This was actually the same game I was at, where Mets fans took over Citzens Bank Park.) (My friend Eamon always comments on how Charlie Manuel sounds like he's mentally retarted when he speaks, and I completley agree with him). Now that those side notes are out of the way, the latest coaching tirade got me to thinking about other classic tirades. Let's take a look at the tape:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HyzTzwTFgcs&mode=related&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SWXBxghasp4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYzVcdNNi00&NR=1

Was That the Gyro Ball?!?!?!?!?

Alright fine. The Red Sawx swept the Yankees. My dickhead roomate Steve has been giving me shit for the past 24 hours. I'd fire back, but everyone else already hates him so I'm just going to let him take his anger out on me. It's April, we had 2 minor league pitchers starting, and frankly I just don't care about the losses right now.

On Sunday night, the third game of the series was broadcasted on ESPN. The Japanese legend Dice K took the mound for Boston. Personally I think they should call him the "Asian Sensation." I just think that's a great nickname. Ever since his name popped up over the past off season, people have been gossiping over his secret pitch: THE GYRO BALL (oooo).

When I first heard about it, the image of a baseball spiraling up, down, left, and right towards the plate came into my mind. I mean that's really what a pitch should do to merit a name like Gyro. As time passed, I realized that that's not what a gyro ball is. I also realized that no one really knew what the hell a gyro ball was. Then I started seeing stories on sportscenter about if it really exists, and what it looks like, and if he really throws it.

But if I hear another announcer, friend, or random person I don't know ask if the last pitch was a gyro ball one more time, I don't know what I'm going to do but I'll be extremely angered. The entire night, all I heard was "WAS THAT THE GYRO BALL" after every damn pitch. Whether it was the announcer, my friend to the left, the one to the right, or a guy from the room next door, it just killed me. I feel so bad for the Boston fans who have to put up with that 35 games a year for the next 15-20 years.

Incidentally, all this talk over the gyro ball does make me wonder if it really exists and what it actually is. I've heard so much about it and seen so many differen't things. Recently I heard that it was a ball that spins like a slider but stays completely straight and keeps it's speed. I also heard that it's a ball with some weird diagnol spin that looks like a fastball and then at the last second breaks down, or sometimes from right to left. I don't know, the more I talk about it the more I'm confused. I just watched this video about it, and I still don't really know. Dice K still says he doesn't throw it in games, and a lot of people don't think it's possible. Either way it's not a big deal, won't revolutionize pitching, and like most things it's completley overhyped.

But from now on, please, don't ever let the words "Was that a Gyro Ball" leave your mouth.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lFvNWDKAxAs (I guess this explains it)

HOME SHOPPING NETWORK

This will probably be one of my favorite entries. Last week, Bill Simmons posted a bunch of links to youtube videos in his latest blog. There was one in particular that really resignated with me. It was a home shopping network blooper. It was one of the funniest videos I've ever seen. I starting looking for other videos of the home shopping network, and well, I was pretty successful.

These videos don't need any more of a build up because they truly sell themselves (as well as several other useful products to use around the house):

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Sv5woNs9WRE

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DmRUaxq-QhU (my favorite)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QC70vdm4Al0

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zQqjqfA6G34

THANK YOU YOUTUBE

AROD

What Arod is doing is nothing short of legendary. I'm sure you know but just to recap, the man has got 12 HR in 15 games, 30 RBI, and 2 walk off HR (including one walk off grand slam) in a town that booed him like he was the enemy for a good part of last season. Albert Pujols has the record of 14 HR in april and Sammy has the record of 20 in a month (although that's a little controversial). I could not be more happy for Alex, expecially because of the horrible and unjustified treatment he recieved from the Bronx "faithful" just a season ago. Watching the Yankee Red Sox game last night, I noticed something else about Arod.

For the first time since he arrived in New York, I saw an Alex Rodriguez that seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. He was laughing and smiling and joking the whole game. He reminded me of role model athletes like Ronaldinho or Jose Reyes, just out there having a great time. Those are always my favorite athletes: the ones who can just go out and make the game enjoyable and exciting for everyone. There was this one really high pop up that Arod had some trouble with but ultimately caught, and as he was running back to the dugout him and Jeter were talking and laughing about it. In the on deck circle at one point I saw him looking back to the dugout and yell something and then start laughing. 2 minutes later he was rounding third base in a light jog (still laughing). Even in the dugout, he was goofing around with Cano.

I feel like when a player can free himself from the pressures, whether it's parental pressure or fan pressure, he performs so much better. When you can find that little "happy place" on the field where it's just you out there, thinking about nothing except all the joys that the game brings you, that is when you will really get the most out of you in terms of enjoyment and production. That's what sports are about. I hope Alex can keep this feeling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsZrnUwhw0c&mode=related&search=
(i think the camera guy gets shot like 14 seconds into the video)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=utVBTM9mwjY&mode=related&search=

Who the Hell is Robbie Schremp

I have been looking for this clip for about a year now ever since I saw it on a random sports show on MSG. I couldn't find it, but the great Bill Simmons was able to pull through. He posted a link to it in his latest blog. I don't know what's more amazing, the move or the comically horrendous interviews they get.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgLmH4PuR-I

Wednesday Night Recap

I already posted today, but I feel the need to jot down the sports stories I've come across over the past hour of my life:

• New York Rangers beat the Atlanta Thrashers 4-2 to complete the first round sweep. This year was the first Rangers playoff win in over 10 years. I don't get the games here in Delaware, so I was watching on this amazing site: http://dewsaw.com/sports/. If you're ever out of town and need to see your team's game, this is the place to go. Anyway, it was just such an unbelievable atmosphere at the Garden. There's pretty much no better feeling for me than seeing the Garden alive like it was tonight. So I'm pretty pumped up right now.
• Mark Buehrle just finished a no hitter. It's only the 16th ever in White Sox history. I was at David Wells perfect game for my friend Ben Gold's birthday party when we were 9 years old. A foul ball came up to our seats and it went under the seat next to me. I reached my hand through the back of the seat and I literally had my hand on it, but the seat closed on my hand and I had 2 choices: lose an arm or lose a baseball. I know it was a tough decision but I had to let it go. Anyway it just reminded me of that.
• Vince Young is going to be on the madden cover next year. He was asked in an interview if he is worried about the curse. He doesn't seem to be, as he eloquently explained, "Nah. I'm a big fate guy, I don't worry about no jinx." In case you forgot, here's some of the previous guys who ''weren't worried about no jinx.'' Daunte Culpepper--sprained knee. Marshall Faulk--sprained ankle. Michael Vick--fractured fibula. Ray Lewis--torn hamstring. Donovan Mcnabb--sports hernia. Shaun Alexander--broken foot. So good luck Vince.

Rowdy Fans

I was at the Phillies game last night with Nate, Paul, and his dad for Paul's birthday. We got seats 20 rows up behind third base for just 40 bucks. That's one thing the Phillies have on the Yankees: cheap tickets. Plus, once a week they have this 1 dollar hot dog night. I guess that makes up for the 8 dollar cheesesteaks and the 3 dollar bottled waters.

Anyway the mets completely dominated the game, winning 8-1. The hurricane like weather, accompanied by the miserable Phillies performance led to most of the Phillies fans leaving after the 5th or 6th inning.

But there were still plenty of Mets fans there, and they were going nuts. They completely took over the stadium. And if you know anything about Philadelphia sports, the Philly fans that were still there did not take too kindly to this behavior. There were several fights and verbal altercations, leading to that famous scene where there are a thousand yellow coated security guards escorting 2 guys out of the stadium with everyone around them yelling the classic ASSHOLE chant. I love sports.

One thing I noticed about fights though is that they never EVER happen near where I'm sitting. If I'm in the top row, it's the CEOs fighting about whose wallet is fatter, if I'm down with the business men it's the fat drunks in the nose bleed section fighting about which team fuckin' sucks more. Another thing I hate is when I look over to try to see the fight, I can never actaully see it. Like last night there were about 4 different times when everyone in my section was looking to try to see the fight and all we could see was a bunch of other people standing up and a lot of yellow shirts surrounding them.

Anyway, the scene last night got me thinking about other rowdy fan situations. The first thing that comes to mind is the infamous right field bleacher creachers at Yankee stadium. Here are some examples:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TwBa3XA3Sl4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7rWh654214&mode=related&search=
(make sure you watch this whole thing; i love the guy just giving him the finger the whole song)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tp8IttUXf_o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THCv99YubHI&mode=related&search=

Great Time For NHL

I hate how people dislike the NHL simply because they don't understand it or never played hockey. It's become such an easy target to trash (kind of like Britney Spears). However, the key difference between the NHL and Britney Spears is that Britney deserves it.

The reason most people dislike it is because they aren't as experienced with hockey as they are with sports like football. But many people who never played football still love it (me). What seperates it from hockey is not the content of the sport, but the publicity it gets. Sportscenter and other shows on ESPN are competely centered around the NFL. Whether it's my boy John Clayton running around finding breaking news, or expert Sean Salisbury telling us how a quarterback looks off a saftey to find single coverage for the 273rd time, football gets a ton of coverage.

Hockey doesn't have that luxury, and lately it's been even worse. ESPN did not renew the TV contract with the NHL after the lockout and commissioner Gary Bettman was forced to sign with Versus, a channel most people don't even get. There's a spiral effect because since the NHL isn't being shown on ESPN a few nights a week, they rarely show highlights of the games on sportscenter. One or two nights a week they bring in Barry Melrose for 5 minutes to talk about the league's highlights, but 4 of those minutes are usually spent making fun of Barry's mullet and pinstripe suit.

The decrease in scoring before the lockout led to a decrease in popularity. Then the league really shot itself in the foot by cancelling an entire season on us. For the most part, the new rule changes they made have really proved to make the game more exciting for the casual fan and new fans. But the damage the league suffered from like '99 to '05 was just horrible and led to the decrease in popularity and publicity for the league. Now that the game play is exciting, a slew of hot young players are in the league, youth hockey is increasing, and the Versus TV contract will expire soon, hopefully we will get back with ESPN and NBC programming daily and get the league headed to a height that we've never seen before. And it starts with the playoffs tonight.

Everybody loves playoffs in all sports. Fuck it, I would watch a mahjong playoff series between a group of 86 year old asian women. Playoffs are exciting; they're great. The greatness of athletics culminate in the playoffs. This year the NHL playoffs are going to be even more exciting because of the competitive matchups in pretty much every series. The intensity will be up. It's going to be great end to end, sacrifice the body hockey. I can't wait for my Rangers to go deep this year. I can't wait for all the games. When sportscenter is forced to show all the amazing finishes and crazy moments that are about to occur, people won't be able to help but get into it. And the ensuing increase in popularity will be used to get the NHL back on national TV almost every night. What a great time for hockey.

In fact, if the NHL was a publically traded stock, I would highly recommend buying some right now. Actually it might be. I should really go look into that. I am a finance major.

Bendet Like Beckham

Alright. This is the fourth time I've attempted to start a blog. I've had all these differen't ideas, but not been happy with any of them. My most recent idea was a sports blog where I found interesting sports articles online and provided links to them, and then gave my personal rhetoric. That's a good idea but I've been so busy that I don't have the time to do a good job with it. So, I want to take that idea and tweak it so I post a couple times a week at most. I'm not going to start with any complete direction, except that I'm going to write about interesting or funny sports phenomena. I want to have a readership made up of my friends at first, and then hopefully spread to other people who are interested in the same things as us. I highly encourage discussion through the feedback option from all readers.

There are three people who I'd like to mention before I really start this up: Bill Simmons, Tim Urban, and Danny Fein. I'm sure everyone knows Bill Simmons, the best sports writer in the world, who uses a blog-like format. Every young sports writer (not that I would classify myself as one) should try to be like Bill. The next guy is Tim Urban. For a young guy writing about random daily events, he is absolutely hilarious. It's kind of like the Seinfeld of blogs. The last person is my good friend Danny Fein. He's the person who literally explained to me what a blog actually is just a few months ago. Him and his buddy Benjy, from UPenn, started their own music blog that is also doing really well. Here are the must see links to each of those three people:

Bill Simmons Articles:
sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/simmons/index

Tim Urban Blog:
www.timurban.blogspot.com

Danny and Benjy Blog:
www.thecanalsblog.com