I'm channel surfing and happen upon some Q & A on ESPN or it could have been NESN. Nor really paying much attention to the programming, I am merely looking for some background noise to keep me company while I read the next assigned chapter for one of my classes.
I keep the sports station on, settle back with my textbook, concerned more with it's content than the one on the screen. And then, the words that I have heard more times than I care to, come blaring out at me.
"The Red Sox will have a killer lineup this season. No other team has made such an offseason splash. Look at the acquisitions of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford," said sonme unknown with a droning voice.
Heck, it could have been a parrot, for these exact words have been repeated so many tines since, well, the acquisitions of Gonzalez and Crawford.
Even Brian Cashman, the Yankee's GM must have gotten the same memo. He touted the Red Sox as having the better team on paper. But even he admits, the game is not played on paper, but on a field in front of fans. Lots of them.
I am not ready to concede anything. Look at the UConn Huskies' magical run through the Big East Tournament and the NCAA Tournament. They were never the team to beat. At least not on paper,anyway.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
To HD or not to HD, that is the Question
I've owned a mega-TV for a few years, one of the HDTV kind. The problem is I am a DirecTV customer (and a procrastinator). I have put off calling DirecTV to order and have installed a special HDTV satellite dish.
Why? Mostly because I hate waiting, I'm just not very good at it.
And so every spring, right around the time when every sports fanatic feels like he/she is a cat on catnip, I say that this is going to be "the year."
And this spring, I am saying the same thing. Because I want to see it all up close like I've never seen it before.
I want to see the sweat pouring off UConn's phenom point guard, Kemba Walker's face. I want to see just how much "smuts" that Jim Calhoun has stuck in the corners of his mouth after forty minutes of chronic gum chewing.
More than anything, I want to see the pink plumpness of Alex Rodriguez' lips and the wide gap between CC Sabathia's two front teeth.
And while it would be nice to finally figure out all of the words and images tattooed on AJ Burnett's arms, that would mean that he is pitching. Which is something that I definitely do not
want to see, especially in High Definition. Much more painful to watch.
On second thought, I think I really don't need HDTV this spring. At least, not yet.
Why? Mostly because I hate waiting, I'm just not very good at it.
And so every spring, right around the time when every sports fanatic feels like he/she is a cat on catnip, I say that this is going to be "the year."
And this spring, I am saying the same thing. Because I want to see it all up close like I've never seen it before.
I want to see the sweat pouring off UConn's phenom point guard, Kemba Walker's face. I want to see just how much "smuts" that Jim Calhoun has stuck in the corners of his mouth after forty minutes of chronic gum chewing.
More than anything, I want to see the pink plumpness of Alex Rodriguez' lips and the wide gap between CC Sabathia's two front teeth.
And while it would be nice to finally figure out all of the words and images tattooed on AJ Burnett's arms, that would mean that he is pitching. Which is something that I definitely do not
want to see, especially in High Definition. Much more painful to watch.
On second thought, I think I really don't need HDTV this spring. At least, not yet.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
March Madness vs. Preseason Baseball
This is the time of the year when I wish I had a dual-screen TV. Do I watch the Big East Tournament (meaningful) or Pre-Season Baseball (meaningless)? And there lies my challenge.
What constitutes meaningful to one and meaningless to another? Is meaning in the eyes of the beholder?
As much as my rational self knows that spring training games have absolutely no barring on the regular season, my emotional self never got the message.
And so today I am torn. Between meaningful and meaningless. Between a bunch of college boys who will desert me as they prematurely head to the NBA and a group of professional and charismatic men who will be there for me at least through the end of September (and hopefully well into October).
I think I've solved my own dilemma!
What constitutes meaningful to one and meaningless to another? Is meaning in the eyes of the beholder?
As much as my rational self knows that spring training games have absolutely no barring on the regular season, my emotional self never got the message.
And so today I am torn. Between meaningful and meaningless. Between a bunch of college boys who will desert me as they prematurely head to the NBA and a group of professional and charismatic men who will be there for me at least through the end of September (and hopefully well into October).
I think I've solved my own dilemma!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Friday Night Fix
The week was a tough one for me. Tests equal stress; lots of tests equal lots of stress. Which is probably why on Friday afternoon, I was diagnosed with a sinus infection.
After filling my Rx at CVS, I felt sorry for myself and thought some pampering would be a good fix.
So, I headed to Finale for a most unhealthy (and costly) lunch of butterscotch pudding and hazelnut hot chocolate. I left Finale believing I was on the road to recovery.
What's this have to do with counting down to opening day? Relax, I'm getting there.
After an hour curled on the couch (still feeling sorry for myself) with Oprah, I began flipping channels. And that's when I discovered it -- the perfect cure for my aches and pains --Yankee pre-season baseball.
And at 7 p.m., I was front and center on my comfy couch watching my boys of summer take on the Boston Red Sox. Suddenly, my sinus congestion and pressure lessened, my symptoms were fading fast.
Was it the antibiotics? The hot chocolate and butterscotch pudding? Was it Oprah?
No, it was baseball, my own "chicken soup" for the body and for the soul.
After filling my Rx at CVS, I felt sorry for myself and thought some pampering would be a good fix.
So, I headed to Finale for a most unhealthy (and costly) lunch of butterscotch pudding and hazelnut hot chocolate. I left Finale believing I was on the road to recovery.
What's this have to do with counting down to opening day? Relax, I'm getting there.
After an hour curled on the couch (still feeling sorry for myself) with Oprah, I began flipping channels. And that's when I discovered it -- the perfect cure for my aches and pains --Yankee pre-season baseball.
And at 7 p.m., I was front and center on my comfy couch watching my boys of summer take on the Boston Red Sox. Suddenly, my sinus congestion and pressure lessened, my symptoms were fading fast.
Was it the antibiotics? The hot chocolate and butterscotch pudding? Was it Oprah?
No, it was baseball, my own "chicken soup" for the body and for the soul.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
How I Got My (Pin)Stripes
They ask me how I could root for them, the Evil Empire as they like to call them here in Boston. ”I won’t hold it against you,” they tell me when they find out I am a Yankees fan, or that my favorite players are not named Ortiz or Youkilis, but rather Jeter and Rodriguez.
“But you live in Boston, how could you be a Yankees fan?” they ask.
“It’s easy,” I tell them. “How could I not? It’s something that I shared with my dad.”
I grew up with the Pinstripes, a passion I inherited from my dad, “Patsy” Perezella, a die-hard Yankees fan. The child of Italian immigrants, my dad had heroes, and their names were DiMaggio, Berra, and Rizzutto, Yankee greats whose backgrounds were similar to his own. Everyone needs a hero, and my dad, like so many others in his neighborhood, had found his on a baseball field in the Bronx.
It’s easy to remember the first time I put on a New York Yankees cap and pledged allegiance to the pinstripes forever. It was the Halloween after the 1977 World Series, and Yankee fever had re-entered the hearts of many a people in southwestern Connecticut, where we called home. It made my dad happy when my friends and I embraced his Yanks and chose to trick-or-treat as our favorite players -- Guidry, Dent and Piniella.
Our shared passion for the Pinstripes continued until his death in 2005, and today, I continue to root for the Pinstripes in his memory.
“But you live in Boston, how could you be a Yankees fan?” they ask.
“It’s easy,” I tell them. “How could I not? It’s something that I shared with my dad.”
I grew up with the Pinstripes, a passion I inherited from my dad, “Patsy” Perezella, a die-hard Yankees fan. The child of Italian immigrants, my dad had heroes, and their names were DiMaggio, Berra, and Rizzutto, Yankee greats whose backgrounds were similar to his own. Everyone needs a hero, and my dad, like so many others in his neighborhood, had found his on a baseball field in the Bronx.
It’s easy to remember the first time I put on a New York Yankees cap and pledged allegiance to the pinstripes forever. It was the Halloween after the 1977 World Series, and Yankee fever had re-entered the hearts of many a people in southwestern Connecticut, where we called home. It made my dad happy when my friends and I embraced his Yanks and chose to trick-or-treat as our favorite players -- Guidry, Dent and Piniella.
Our shared passion for the Pinstripes continued until his death in 2005, and today, I continue to root for the Pinstripes in his memory.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Pitchers(???) and Catchers Report
Well, it's official -- pitchers and catchers have reported to George M. Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees' Spring Training home.
Unfortunately, for me, like most Yankees fans, with their threadbare pitching staff, they might as well have reported to a Little League field. With just two reliable (we hope) starting pitchers, the remainder of their rotation is a big question mark.
So, after C.C. and Phil Hughes, who is worthy of putting on the Pinstripes?
Let me start with who is getting paid to wear and perform in the Pinstripes. That would be the overly-inked and overpaid A.J. Burnett. He's got at least three years and $55million dolars remaining on his contract.
Last year, however, he went a pathetic 10-15, and should have been forced to donate his inflated salary to the paying fans who had to put up with his horrific performances every fifth day.
Then there are the other four no-name or hads-been pitchers who are competing for the final two spots in the back-end of the rotation.
And speaking of back-end, has anybody seen the enlarged one on Joba Chamberlain?
Unfortunately, for me, like most Yankees fans, with their threadbare pitching staff, they might as well have reported to a Little League field. With just two reliable (we hope) starting pitchers, the remainder of their rotation is a big question mark.
So, after C.C. and Phil Hughes, who is worthy of putting on the Pinstripes?
Let me start with who is getting paid to wear and perform in the Pinstripes. That would be the overly-inked and overpaid A.J. Burnett. He's got at least three years and $55million dolars remaining on his contract.
Last year, however, he went a pathetic 10-15, and should have been forced to donate his inflated salary to the paying fans who had to put up with his horrific performances every fifth day.
Then there are the other four no-name or hads-been pitchers who are competing for the final two spots in the back-end of the rotation.
And speaking of back-end, has anybody seen the enlarged one on Joba Chamberlain?
Hollywood and the Bronx
Geographically far apart, but romantically entwined. Perhaps it was the Yankee Clipper of yesterday, Joltin' Joe Dimaggio, that got it all started, this Hollywood-Bronx connection.
Remember Marilyn Monroe? Of course not, you're probably too young. Well, the Yankees' star centerfielder, Joe D. and the Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe did more than just hook-up; they got married.
And today's Yankee stars seem to be falling in Joe D.'s footsteps.
Look at Alex Rodriguez, also known as public enemy #1 in Boston, and his list of Hollywood A-List conquests.
Let's see, first, he left his wife for Madonna, who at the time was 17 years his senior (can you say "Like a Cougar?"). And when he and the Material Girl were no longer "Celebrating" or on "Holiday," he found love (I think that's what he called it) with the adorable Kate Hudson.
Kate won over the hearts of Yankee fans, as they attributed Arod's stellar post-season play to Kate's presence.
Oh, if only Arod saw it the same way.
Now, he is making headlines with his newest gal-pal, Cameron Diaz. It seems Cam has Arod eating out of her hands, as evidenced by the infamous Super Bowl popcorn shots.
Joining Arod and the Hollywood connection is Nick Swisher, the bubbly Yankee leftfielder, who recently tied the knot with Joanna Garcia, most notably atar of the recent CBS sit-com,"Better with You." Did Nick succumb to Yankee peer pressure?
And where would a discussion about the Yankees be without Derek Jeter? It was he who rekindled the modern-day Hollywood/Bronx connection back in 1996 when his romance with Mariah Carey, the much-married Mariah Carey, made tabloid headlines.
But, fifteen years and many romances later, Jeter is linked with Minka Kelly, of "Friday Night Lights" fame. They were set to tie a knot of their own back in November, but that never happened.
Who will be the next unlikely pair in the Hollywood/Bronx connection? Yogi Berra and Betty White?????
Remember Marilyn Monroe? Of course not, you're probably too young. Well, the Yankees' star centerfielder, Joe D. and the Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe did more than just hook-up; they got married.
And today's Yankee stars seem to be falling in Joe D.'s footsteps.
Look at Alex Rodriguez, also known as public enemy #1 in Boston, and his list of Hollywood A-List conquests.
Let's see, first, he left his wife for Madonna, who at the time was 17 years his senior (can you say "Like a Cougar?"). And when he and the Material Girl were no longer "Celebrating" or on "Holiday," he found love (I think that's what he called it) with the adorable Kate Hudson.
Kate won over the hearts of Yankee fans, as they attributed Arod's stellar post-season play to Kate's presence.
Oh, if only Arod saw it the same way.
Now, he is making headlines with his newest gal-pal, Cameron Diaz. It seems Cam has Arod eating out of her hands, as evidenced by the infamous Super Bowl popcorn shots.
Joining Arod and the Hollywood connection is Nick Swisher, the bubbly Yankee leftfielder, who recently tied the knot with Joanna Garcia, most notably atar of the recent CBS sit-com,"Better with You." Did Nick succumb to Yankee peer pressure?
And where would a discussion about the Yankees be without Derek Jeter? It was he who rekindled the modern-day Hollywood/Bronx connection back in 1996 when his romance with Mariah Carey, the much-married Mariah Carey, made tabloid headlines.
But, fifteen years and many romances later, Jeter is linked with Minka Kelly, of "Friday Night Lights" fame. They were set to tie a knot of their own back in November, but that never happened.
Who will be the next unlikely pair in the Hollywood/Bronx connection? Yogi Berra and Betty White?????
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