Hey Abbott!

I told ya'll that I'd update you about my Jim Abbott day and I apologize I haven't done it sooner, just have had quite a bit going on lately.  He was the coolest guy ever and not just for an athlete.  A genuinely great person that I now love more than ever before.  He gave everyone copies of his book and he stuck around to sign copies for everyone, which I thought was great.  So I got my book signed and I also said to him that when I watched his no-hitter is when I fell in love with baseball.  He told me thank you and I said no, thank you! So I was glad about that.  Here's the photo...

Reboot. Restart. Let's try this Again...

I haven't read some of these old posts in a while & I seriously almost forgot how funny I was! Holy Hannah, I'm a hoot! I actually have quite a bit going on in my life right now & I always used to find this as a good way of therapy so I decided to start over. Welcome back, to me. I also live alone & get in these super creative moods & don't know what else to do. Sooo, you're welcome.

I am so pumped for tomorrow! I work at ESPN & tomorrow, Jim Abbott will be coming to campus! I always say that my very first actual baseball memory is his no-hitter. I now consider myself a bit of a baseball historian so I obviously know about all of the Yankees that came before him, but I don't actually remember them. People also always accuse this Yankee fan of just liking them only when they started getting good again. 100% UNTRUE.

That is where Jim Abbott comes in. When Jim Abbott pitched his no-hitter, I was 7 years old. But that is the day I officially became a Yankee fan. September 4, 1993. The Yankees hadn't won a title in forever & Donnie was in the twilight of his career.

Pop Pop was over our house for some reason, either bringing us a gift of some sort or over for dinner. Whenever he was at the house & the Yankees were playing, he would go in the living room & watch the game. It didn't matter what you were watching before & we only had 1 TV, so we had to watch what Pop Pop wanted to watch. My brothers would go upstairs but I would always sit & watch & talk with Pop Pop. I'd watch games but nothing ever really stands out to me as memorable. Until September 4, 1993. I was 7 so I didn't really comprehend the importance or rarity of a no-hitter but I did understand what I was looking at. A man with one arm was pitching & pitching really, really well. After that, how can you not be hooked on such a beautiful game!

I equate the amount I love baseball with the amount I love Pop Pop because those 2 things always went together. Whenever I think of 1, I think of the other. Now that he is no longer with us, I still feel like he's around every time I watch a game & so I think about him every day. So when it comes down to it, I want to thank Jim Abbott tomorrow, for making me fall in love with this game & keeping Pop Pop in my life.

I didn't realize what this post would turn into! I'm def crying now haha. I better not cry tomorrow in front of Jim Abbott! I'm really hoping for a picture with him & then I can repost it tomorrow & let ya'll know how it goes.

Ladies' Night Out!

So it's been a while but I'm coming back with a bang! You know that “Make a Wish” foundation? Well I’m not dying (knock on wood) but I got my wish granted last night! I attended CC Sabathia’s 30th birthday party at the 40/40 club in NYC & partied with all the NY Yankees. Thanks to Sam Sank’s former company, I get invited to some pretty nice events but they generally fall on weekdays that I’m in CT so can’t go. I happened to be home this weekend & due to some bad luck which turned out to be great luck, I got to go to this exclusive event not opened to the public. Players did not want any photos so I got whatever I could.

I walked in to be greeted by a live crocodile in a tank & girls walking around like Britney when she performed “I’m a Slave for you” with the snakes & all. After getting some liquid courage I even put my life on the line so you could all see me holding a giant snake so watch the video! Some hottie socialite/pseudo-celeb dared me if he did it then I had to, so I being a sucker for good-looking guys agreed. My friend & I sat at the bar & it was like a show going on & every time a new Yankee walked in it was exciting! Most exciting were by far Alex Rodriguez & Reggie Jackson (for me anyway). Cameron Diaz was also in attendance so those rumors could be true but she & A-Rod were not socializing whatsoever. Apparently I also missed out on Beyonce & Jay-Z which I would’ve died to see!

So we go up to the upstairs bar & Marcus Thames & I made eye contact & he must’ve thought I was someone else at first because he pointed at me & smiled & then walked across the room to come over to me & give me a kiss & hug hello. I think he then realized his mistake but was very cool nonetheless & we were like old pals. Once he started talking to Joba Chamberlain we decided to take a shot with them (Red Headed Sluts are Joba’s go-to, we have this in common.) So shots with Joba, old friends with Marcus & the night was only beginning. Got sandwiched between Alex & Joba while walking. Shook the hand of Reggie Jackson. Danced with Curtis Granderson (who is an amazing dancer!) Re-introduced myself to some current Yankees who were once upon a time Staten Island Yankees that I had to drive to & from the stadium when I interned there & they were both super duper nice. Francisco Cervelli was the one I was hoping would remember me & he at least pretended to & then the rest of the night would give me a wink & a smile every time he saw me. I wished CC a Happy Birthday & he gave me a big papa bear hug & said “Thank you & thank you for coming.” Happy to be there, CC. Had a few convos with Phil Hughes. Shoved several girls out of the way to introduce myself to Robinson Cano & I got to see that big beautiful smile in person & it was aiming at me & then I got a kiss on the cheek & could’ve died a happy girl. David Robertson cleared the way to the bar so I could get there. Bumped into (literally) Brandon Jacobs of the NY Giants & feared for my life because he is so big. I also played craps for a while & I won somebody $21,000 which I still am not sure if I was playing with real money or not. It was all-in-all AMAZINGG & I am pretty much the coolest person alive.

I Bleed Blue

It feels good to be back in the postseason, real good. It feels especially good to be back in the ALCS & I'm sure it will feel even better (fingers-crossed) when we get to the World Series. I faced quite the dilemma going into the Division Series. Since I am a Yankees fan (obviousry), it goes against everything that I believe in down to my bones to ever want the Red Sox to win. Ever. But I'm not gonna lie, I'd much rather have faced a team that we beat the last 9 out of 10 games in the regular season, as opposed to the Angels. I make no secret about it, I'm a little scared of the Angels. I'm aware that we are the best team in baseball but that doesn't mean I don't have a deep respect for that Angels lineup & their manager. The way they played tonight, however gives me a little confidence booster.

I had a pit in my stomach all day because I was nervous about this series. My nails are finally long enough that if I have an itch I get a good scratch, so I'm really hoping I don't gnaw them all off. It's funny though, because as soon as the first pitch was thrown, I was calm, cool & collected. If I'm this way, I can only imagine how the players are since they actually have to play in these games, while I just have to sit & watch them. I think we played a solid game tonight, though. CC was wheelin & dealin. I love love looove that Derek's new walk-up song is "Empire State of Mind". Alex is on fiya & I love it. Something I do not love, however is Mark Teixiera's post-season performance thus far. Yes, he had that game-winning home run & I was proud but that's his only RBI & he hasn't had any other hits with runners on base & that's not very good. Just something to keep your eye on.

I don't wanna jump the gun here because we play 1 series at a time & this needs all of our focus. However, I was thinking today about the possible World Series match-ups & I am unabashedly cheering for the Dodgers to win the NLCS. To be honest, the only reason I'm hoping for this is because I wanna see who gets a bigger ovation at Yankee Stadium, Joe Torre or Don Mattingly. I'm banking on Donnie but it'll be fun to see. If the Phillies make it to the WS, though I only hope for one thing: Pedro Martinez is pitching the deciding game & we beat him mercilessly & then throw him to the ground like he did Don Zimmer all those years ago. That's all I've got for now. Hopefully my next blog will be a happy one.

Shop Talk

Ok so let me get this straight. Miami beat Florida State. Florida State just beat BYU. BYU beat Oklahoma. We (Miami) will be playing Oklahoma in 2 weeks. I'm feeling much better about our chances now! I mean, yes we do have to play Virginia Tech next & they will be a challenge but I do really appreciate how good my team is this year & I've got faith! Last year when I found out we were going to be playing Oklahoma at home, I put that game in my loss column. Big time. Now, it'll be a good one. Love love love Jacory Harris & how about Jimmy Graham! Miami basketball star turned football star with the TD against GT! Way to go Fing! I don't wanna jump the gun, but I can almost smell a BCS game. Perhaps the Orange Bowl?

As for my other football team, I'm feeling good about our first game. This week though, is where we'll really see what we're made of. Nothing would make me happier then to go into that brand new multi-billion dollar stadium in Texas & beat the shit out of those Cowboys. Ya'll know how I feel about Texas & I don't like to see Texans be sad, but if it's my happiness or theirs I think you can guess where my loyalties lie. Go Giants!

As for my baseball team, I really hope they're not just resting on their laurels because I'd really like to see this American East title be locked up. I'm pretty disappointed in the Rangers because I was hoping they'd at least make the Wild Card interesting but as it looks now, it will be my enemy in the postseason. If things ended today, we'd be playing the Tigers in the division series & then either the Angels or the Red Sox in the ALCS, which I wouldn't really prefer either of those scenarios. Then I'm putting my money on either the Dodgers or Cardinals in the World Series & it's gonna be tough. But I mean, you gotta beat the best to be the best & then a parade after that hard fought fight would be very rewarding.

That's all the sports talk I got for you tonight. You stay classy, Planet Earth.

Talkin' Baseball

Let me start off first & foremost by saying how much I love this team! If you're not an avid reader of the blog, let me just inform you that "this team" that I speak of is none other than the NY Yankees. It's the first time in a long time that I actually feel like we are a team, rather then just a bunch of individual superstars playing together. We don't give up & really seem to be having fun playing, which is exactly how it should be! The pie in the face is my favorite & it really cracks me up. These new guys in the clubhouse are a welcome addition!

If you know me even remotely you know there are 2 things that I can jabber on & on about for days: pizza & baseball. What I love about talkin' baseball is that anyone who loves baseball loves talking about it. Everyone loves hearing everyone else's opinions & thoughts & it's just a way to bring people together all over the world. Pop Pop & I have been talkin' baseball ever since I was a wee one. It used to be him telling me all the stories of great Yankees past & present & I would listen & take it all in. I owe this man every ounce of Yankee fandom that exists in me. Eventually it became what it is now & every time we get together we talk about the latest games, acquisitions, etc. He even calls me after a good play or a home run so we can talk about it. I love it so much.

Being a girl, guys find it unusual that I know so much about baseball so they feel it necessary to quiz me on my intellect. I always succeed with flying colors & they see that I am a worthy companion to talk baseball with. If I quizzed them, I might not be so impressed but they just don't believe that a girl can know so much until I prove them wrong. I actually get incredibly turned off if I know more about sports then a boy does because clearly he is not man enough for me. A necessary quality of a husband for me is that we need to be able to have good sports conversations. The male members of my immediate family are not exactly sports savvy & my brother's best friend even requested an audience with yours truly because he can't talk sports enough with my brother.

It's funny how sports can be such a bonding/breaking point. Everybody needs that friend or two that they can debate sports points with. I loved being at Marist & then Miami because there were so many different views that people had & it made for much more interesting talk. Sometimes those views were too divergent from my own & fights nearly ensued several times but I gotta respect anybody who can equal my passion. A girl doesn't get a tattoo for something she only likes a little bit. There's not enough diversity on this island for my liking & too many pretend fans if you ask me. This will not stop me though, from constantly trying to find new people to talk sports with.

WWhat's Your Fantatasyy?

So I was home all day & kept saying I should blog today, but I'll do it later. Well now it's later. I'm waiting for Heroes to get to a half hour in so I can fast forward through all the commercials so I figured while I'm waiting I'll blog. There is really only 1 thing I can think about lately so I figured what better to blog about...BASEBALL SEASON!

I am so f-ing pumped for this Yankee season it's not even funny. The new stadium, CC, AJ & Tex all make it so exciting. I was also watching several Yankee-related shows this weekend, including the "Pride, Power & Pinstripes" special & it just made me even more excited. Everything about baseball makes me happy (except for Yankee losses obvi). I cannot wait for the exhibition game this Friday against the Cubs because that will be the 1st real look inside the Stadium & I feel like if I were a boy, I'd get an erection watching it. Yes, that is how much I love baseball. I can't wait to see our team & I think the chemistry this year is really good & everything will come together for the big #27.

In addition to the regular season I am also excited for fantasy baseball! For those of you who have been loyal "Completely Random" followers, you have read some of my fantasy baseball blogs & know how obsessed with it I am. This season I got my friends to join it also & we have our own league where trash talking is plentiful & the competition is high. Maybe I'm just talking about myself with that statement but it's all good. I am in 2 leagues & have 2 really good teams & am super excited for all that will come.

In a side note, I am a big loser & always love the sayings that they have every year for YES commercials. One year it was "Pride, Power, Pinstripes", last year was "Looking Back, Looking Forward" (which I wasn't a fan of) & this year I do not know yet! I hope it's a good one, though because those commercials always pump me up when I see them because like I said, I'm a huge tool. Have I mentioned in this blog that I'm excited? Oh I have? Okay fine, I'll just go watch Heroes now.

Standing By My Man

I suppose I couldn't just let this controversy pass on by without mentioning it. As it seems, my Alex (& yes, he's still my Alex despite this silliness) has admitted to using steroids from 2001-2003 while he was with the Texas Rangers. Whenever anyone has brought it up to me, I just say I don't wanna talk about it because I wanted to hear what Alex had to say for himself beforehand. Today he had an interview with Peter Gammons on ESPN, so now I think my time has come to comment.

I am in no way condoning what he did, but I guess he just felt pressure to live up to his contract. Maybe he realized it was the wrong thing to do & saw his numbers really weren't all that much better & gave it up when he came to the Yankees. I mean, at least he was man enough to admit it & not try to deny knowing about it or even worse, pin it on his wife like Roger Clemens did (although by the looks of Cynthia, I really wouldn't be surprised if she had some roid-rage of her own.) He's human, he made a mistake. He's not exactly a clutch player so I'm hoping this doesn't add more pressure to him. He said in his interview that getting this all out in the open was a good feeling for him & that "the truth will set you free". He did this to himself so we will just have to wait & see. If he does good, he will be cheered. If not, you can guess. He made his bed so now he has to lay in it.

What I wanna know is what about these other 103 players that tested positive? There is no doubt in my mind that there are plenty of other big names on that list but they are only singling out Alex. These were anonymous tests so he could probably sue the union if he wanted to for releasing that information because that's gotta be some sort of breach of contract. And why release it now? If they were going to do that then why wouldn't they have done it sooner? And why save it if you were never supposed to release it?

I get that baseball is a game of numbers so by him doing steroids, he taints those numbers. I really believe, though that if you take away those 3 years, those 156 homeruns & those 395 RBIs, his numbers will still be up there with the greatest of all time. He cannot be denied the Hall of Fame because of this. We romanticize the game of baseball & call these the "Steroid Years" & now the game is ruined. Let's be honest, though. Joe D & Mickey Mantle & Babe Ruth were not gods. If they had available to them what players have available to them now, they would do the same thing. I also have to wonder why it's such an enormous deal in baseball but steroids in football, nobody gives a shit about. Don't even try to say there aren't any in football because that's the funny thing I've ever heard.

Alex is my favorite player so I am giving him the benefit of the doubt & believing that he is not doing it anymore. I know how hard he works out, I mean I did often stalk him when he was working out at the U. I don't think he should be punished unless they want to punish every one of those other 103 players. If anything, take away his MVP award that year. He still won two more when he was clean. In fact, 2007 was one of the best seasons of his career. He is still one of the greatest players to ever play the game of baseball & this does not alter my opinion of him. Of course I am disappointed but I truly believe that he is sorry for what he did & you could tell that by how emotional he was. Everyone makes mistakes & I am willing to forgive. I will be cheering for him as I always do with my #13 jersey on come the start of the season.

Recession Sheshmession

I love listening to Red Sox crying right now. Watching SportsCenter is putting such a smile on this little face of mine. In case you haven't heard yet, the Yankees have agreed to a preliminary deal with Mark Teixeira. Not only is he the top free agent position player of this year, but he was also at the top of the Red Sox wish list. I love how Steve Phillips of ESPN (an obvious Boston fan) tries to make it seem like it's not such a big deal & now the Yankees are "at the Red Sox level". We got the best hitter & the top 2 free agent pitchers. Give up. We won this round, Steve.

The Yankees were considered out of the race for Teixeira because of our other high-priced acquisitions of the off-season. Today, however the Yankees pulled a similar feat that they did in 2004 when Alex came to the team...they surprised everyone! Both times we pulled the rug right out from underneath the Red Sox & they were left flat on their asses. Alex was my favorite Valentine's gift the Yankees ever gave me; Teixeira is my favorite Christmas present.

As for these animals who keep complaining about my team making it unfair for them, let's look at the stats. First of all, the Yankees got rid of over $88 million of next season's salary by shedding some dead weight (cough, Carl Pavano). Bobby Abreu, Mike Mussina & Jason Giambi were all making big money too & we no longer have to worry about that. Giambi was making $21M/year, Teixeira will be making $22.5M. Is he worth the additional $1.5M? Um, are you kidding? Of course he is. Our top 3 free agent signings total up to $64M/year. We have a lower payroll this year then we did last year, so why would we not go for him? Really, we're making it a more even playing field if we're lowering our payroll. So quit complaining.

The reason we have the ability to pay all this money is multi-fold. Let's start with our brand new beautiful stadium that is going to generate more revenue in one year then the Pirates can hope to make in 5. When you sell out every game with select seats priced as much as $2500, what do you expect us to do with all this money? We also have the #1 Regional Sports network in the country with YES (can you tell I used to do P.R. for them?) The network brings in big dollars. Also, the Yankee brand is just an automatic money-maker. I mean crazy folks even get such symbols tattooed on their bodies, for goodness sake!

I personally appreciate what the Steinbrenner family does. They want to win & they will spend money in order to ensure this. Whether or not the economy continues to plummet has no baring on the NYY. They give we, the fans reason to be fans because we like cheering for a team that wins. Think what you want about our "evil empire" but they do it for us. The Yankees have always spent money to get big names, so it doesn't matter. Keep crying about it being unfair because I will be looking down at you from atop the American League East smiling, come October.

Very 1st Blog Post

So I must say, I've been wanting to create a blog for a long time ever since reading my friend Amanda's & so now was the time.  She seems so creative & witty in hers & since I too am both creative and witty I thought why not share this with the world?  I currently should be studying for one of my finals but why would I ever do that when I can waste time & do this?

So this first blog, as you might expect if you know me even a little bit is going to be about the Yankees.  It's hard for me to describe my love for the Yankees.  It's probably the only true love I've ever known.  I mean I did get it tattooed on my body for all of eternity, which I'd never do for anyone else...that's how you know it's true love.  Just like any other romance, however it can be a very strenuous relationship.  After much anticipation & excitement of the season beginning, it has thus far been a let-down.  Jorge & Phil Hughes are both going to be out for a while, not to mention the greatest of all, Mr. Alex Rodriguez.

As a girl, some people (mainly the male species) think that I don't know as much as they do.  Let me make this clear here & now...I not only know as much as you do, but I know much more.  As I was just studying outside by my pool, my mind began to drift off, as it often does when reading for "poo".  I was thinking about how majestic Alex's swing is (& yes, my thought process is completely random & sometimes bizarre).  It's just the most perfect thing I have ever seen.  When he hits a homerun, to me it's almost as good as sex (ALMOST).  Perhaps that makes me weird but I don't care.  "I'm in love, I'm in love & I don't care who knows it!"

I believe that is all for now.  Welcome to my blog & I have no doubt that my future blogs will be peppered with witicisms & movie quotes & all that jazz.  I hope you enjoy all that you read & if you have any comments, feel free to share them, because after all aren't blogs meant to be commented on?