Excuse Me Sir, You're Standing On My Throat

How The Sports World Is Beating Me Down Lately

It's been a while since my last post and I know you're probably thinking that I am a lazy bag.  That I don't care to stick to this nice little side project I have kicked off on the tail end of this past summer's scintillating World Cup...you'd probably be right in most cases (I am pretty lazy), but not here.  The truth is that I am burnt out with the sports world right now.  

My teams have been miserable in 2014.  The Mets actually did the best they could but still ended up below .500 in the win column and really showed zero life at the plate.  The bright side is ace pitcher Matt Harvey returns to the rotation next season and that is a very bright side indeed, but it's not enough to get excited about just yet.  

Manchester United (my favorite soccer team) has been so far below average this season that they just keep making transactions, roster shake ups and increasingly annoying predictions from their front office.  Brand new head coach Louis Van Gaal has been flapping his gums since the summer as to how he was going to shake things up at Old Trafford and revitalize the club who has struggled mightily since the departure (retired) of United demi-god Sir Alex Ferguson.  The team lacks identity as all of their players of yester-year are now gone…Ryan Giggs is on the coaching staff but that doesn't seem to be helping…at all.

The Jets make me just sad.  There is very little upside this season other than at least we now know that Geno Smith is not the QB of the future.  Rex Ryan has benched him a few times already during games and has now decided to flat out start Michael Vick this week.  Geno completed more passes to players on the other team (3) than his own (2) before getting the hook.  It's sad, I have removed emotions from the mess and am looking forward to the playoffs.

Moving right along on the Melancholy March, things haven't improved around the NFL with regards to the domestic and substance abuse policies.  Since the start of the season, players have been arrested, arraigned, sentence and so on…it's pretty depressing when you think about getting excited about an organization that allows this type of thing to go on while raking in the dough and not giving back enough to the fans.  

But you know what?  It's our own fault.  Heck, a report came yesterday that at the miserable Jets-Bills game a few fans got into scuffles in the stands with one of them getting knocked out cold.  Is this what we really want to do with our Sundays?  And it's both sides.  The report quotes a high level of intoxication, Buffalo fans being obnoxious and a Jets fan punching his face off.  That's too stressful for my tastes on Sundays.  I have chosen a different path with sports lately, it's one of indifference most the most part.  I enjoy watching small doses and find some stories utterly fascinating like the Royals playoff run (not going well lately) and the lead up to the insanity that will surely come about when the college football mafia begins to determine which teams will be competing in their brandy new COLLEGE FOOTBALL SUPER PLAYOFF EXTRAVAGANZA!!!  Slow golf clap….

Maybe I am just being a crotchety old man who is having a tough time dealing with a recent rough patch with his favorite teams, but the other day while I was working through my drawers of clothing, rotating my warmer weather clothes into the bins for storage and colder weather gear into the drawers I can across a few items of clothing - 

1.  Marc Sanchez jersey (not sure why this wasn't burned)

2.  Jose Reyes jersey (see comment above)

3.  Carlos Beltran & K-Rod t-shirt jerseys smashed into the back of one drawer (you can tell I have been lazy in rotating some years)

4.  And worst of all - Darrelle Revis jersey (a really nice one that was a Christmas gift from my mother-in-law, incredibly thoughtful!)  The saddest thing about the Revis scenario is now he plays for the Patriots…

Honestly, I have no answers…

Hope this brightened your day by comparison!

HAPPY WATCHING!!!

Manchester United Complete Mega Transfer Deal & Ice, Ice Baby!!

Less farting around and more productivity!

Hi Everybody!  It's Tuesday, let's celebrate with some soccer news!

Angel Di Maria (Argentine soccer player) has been purchased from Real Madrid by the Red Devils of Manchester United for a club record 

£59.7M!!  That is some serious scratch just for the right to then sign him to a long term contract.  Di Maria a world class winger will really add poise and punch for a currently punchless and directionless ManU side.  He had a very solid World Cup for Argentina back in July and was named Man Of The Match at the Champions League final, where Real Madrid took down cross town rival Ateltico Madrid.  The signing piles up the total summer transfer costs incurred by Manchester United to a whopping  £132M.  The jury is out on the productiveness of the signings (the EPL season is only 2 games old for the squad) but I feel like it will not be enough to get them back to where they want to be (on top of the EPL table).  They missed out on a ton of top notch talent this summer with most of it either resigning with their current club or heading to the "new" Super Powers, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.  I am not saying that they haven't been good in the past but now they are all drawing THE top talent.  Toss in the top English and German clubs and someone is bound to get boxed out.  The REST of the soccer world does not operate with the high level of socialism found in our MLS.  **I am looking right at you New England Revolution and this pathetic "lottery" for Jermaine Jones**

Moving right along - I was called upon to do the  Ice Bucket Challenge, kinda nailed it...a big ol' bowl of frosty ice water...which was welcomed given that it is in the mid 80's in Jersey City and the more important part is that my dad, mom and brother were nominated for the challenge.  I am sure it will be great to see their interpretations of the challenge!  This charitable endeavor goes to raise money for curing ALS aka Lou Gehrig's Disease.  I have always found him to be a fascinating figure in baseball history despite being a life long New York Yankee.  He was nicknamed the Iron Horse for having played in 2130 consecutive games in the majors, a record since broken by Cal Ripken Jr.  Not to take anything away from Ripken, but when comparing Gehrig's career statistics to his, the only way Gehrig's playing were cut short was due to this debilitating disease.  The Iron Horse was a lifetime .340 hitter with 493 HRs and 1995 RBIs compared to Ripken's .276/431/1695 stat line.  Again, it takes a great player to play this long and for this many consecutive games but as evidenced by his stats, Lou Gehrig was not slowing down any time soon if not for getting ALS.  I am reminded of a post I put up last week or the week prior about silly sports injuries and the reasons some guys missed playing time.  It would have been interesting if fantasy baseball were around in 1939 and the little injury note icon popped up next to Gehrig's name in your lineup.  And you're like WHAT?  He can't be injured...and the note just simply says - "considers self world's luckiest man, potentially out for season because he's slowly dying."  Gehrig died 2 years later.  Let's find a cure!!

Also - I am matching my ALS donation with a donation to The Water Project they help people (kids, moms, dads and everyone else) who do not have easy access to potable water.  There are nearly 1 billion people like this around the world.  That's not fair and we need to help.

Keep it real my friends, and Dad, Mom and Steve you are on the clock!!!!

Happy Watching!!!

Reporting to you from the US Open tomorrow - will be a good one!

Bartolo Colon and Other Funny Sports Names

Hi Everyone!  

We have made it to Hump Day, let's get down to business yo.

Daytime baseball which is increasingly happening on Wednesday as opposed to the traditional getaway day on Thursday is a glorious thing.  With the widespread proliferation of the Internet (thanks Al Gore, you're the best) and smartphones (thanks Steve Jobs, you actually were one of the best) we are able to follow our favorite teams, fantasy and otherwise during the work day and really enjoy a bit of sunshine in what otherwise is a generally grey and mundane day.  Spreadsheets, annoying requests and conference calls can easily be overlooked when you can follow the box score of your fave team at 3:15PM EST.

I will illustrate how the daytime baseball situation can be phenomenal - 

1.  The aforementioned Bartolo Colon (Mets starting pitcher) who whenever I see all I can think of is that his last name in English is essentially a portion of the large intestine responsible for a lot of filtering and pushing.  Yes, I know I am disregarding the accent mark over the second "O" but still.  Either way, I love it.  Bartolo was picked up for 2 years at around $20MM, he is 41, 265lbs of ferociousness and basically throws only gas.  It's beautiful!  Sorry, it just is.  He won 18 some-odd games last year, is kinda sorta at the tail end of his career and today....and today...he took a perfect game into the 7th inning against the Seattle Mariners.  The Mets have one no-hitter (thanks Johan, much love) and zero perfect games.  It would have been glorious but it wasn't meant to be...at least not today.  Robinson "the jerk" Cano picked up a single off of Colon in the 7th.  It's fine but dumb.  He did throw a no-hitter in the minors while in the Cleveland Inidians org.  So he has that going.

2.  Moving over to a more semi-sports, semi-pop news story...does anyone in Giants nation think the signing of David Tyree is a bad idea.  The Giants franchise is known for consistency, storied playoff runs and above all...class (aside from you LT, yes I know you're a Giants god, but still...classless) - http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/24633397/giants-hiring-of-former-wr-david-tyree-already-causing-controversy David Tyree hates gays.  I am not sure why, but he seemingly does.  Hates the fact that they might get married and live in his neighborhood.  He has been quoted as saying that, "same sex marriages will lead to anarchy".  Yes, hoards of gay couples will unite and instead of just enjoying their marriages will pillage and loot the local countryside like a bunch of vikings.  Makes all the sense in the world... I think the Giants need to revisit this one.

3.  Other funny sports names that I promised in the post title - NFL player Marvin McNutt, Phillies pitcher A. Bastardo, R.A. Dickey or Rob A Dickey and this guy Cheeky Cox - http://quicklol.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/funny-sporting-names-1.png

4.  Dinner is on it's way and I am starving.  Been trying to get in beach shape for a trip to Florida later this summer, but I am starving!  Bring on the meats and cheeses!!!

I hope you are all having a beautiful week and that if you have any questions or comments you post them in the fields provided.  

There are 3 soccer games on tonight.  Check out ESPN2 and NBC Sports.  Man City, Tottenham, Toronto, KC...my team MANU...get involved.

And as always, Happy Watching!!

-Shaun