Lesnar, Cy Young, Jets- Pats, Yankees and more random thoughts from TPC

Tomorrow Night marks the biggest night in the young MMA career of the Phenom that is Brock Lesnar. For those who don't know, Lesnar is a former National Wrestling Champion while at the University of Minnesota and then turned "Pro" as "The Next Big Thing" in the World Wrestling Entertainment company (WWE). Lesnar is a physical specimen of size, speed and brute strength, non of which has been seen before in the UFC. Lesnar carries a 2-1 MMA record against one of the All Time great UFC champions, Randy Couture into tomorrow's heavyweight Title Bout. Couture, a former NCAA wrestling champion himself comes into this fight with a storied career. "The Natural" has held the Heavyweight belt three times and the Light heavyweight title twice, with storied victories over Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Tim Silvia. he has however never faced someone of the likes of Lesnar.
Despite the obvious size, strength and speed advantages of Lesnar, he is an extremely inexperienced MMA fighter, and despite his recent destruction of Heath Herring (in most impressive fashion) he got caught into an early submission by former Champion, Frank Mir, in his previous bout, despite dominating Mir early.
What's TPC's take? It says here, despite Couture's savvy and experience he is very similar in ways to Lesnar, except he's giving up way too much size and strength to Lesnar. Lesnar will attack and pound Couture and will be rewarded with not only the Most Watched UFC bout in history, but with a world title to boot.

I have little problem with Tim Linsecum winning the NL Award. Statistically he was the best pitcher in the NL this season. He was second in the league in Wins despite playing for a very poor team, he was first in K's and second in ERA. However, my vote would have went to Johan Santana, who single handedly kept a reeling Mets squad in the playoff race until the final day of the season, didn't lose a game from June on, was FIRST in ERA, the most telling of pitchers stats, had only two less wins than Linsecum despite the horror that was the Mets bullpen, all this while pitching in incredible pressure situations, must win games, every time he took the mound from mid August on. Linsecum didn't pitch in a meaningful game all year. Somehow, Brandon Webb and his almost a run more per game ERA than Santana finished first. As always, the voters are idiots.
Which brings me to the AL voting. It was a foregone conclusion that Cliff Lee and his unbelievable season would finish first. Now, Roy Halladay had a great season and deserved his second place finish, but how does any voter justify his vote for Halladay over Lee? It makes no sense. I just need one reason. Please.

The Yankees made a great move yesterday that is quietly being swept under the rug with the CC Sabathia sweepstakes going on. Swisher is a Yankee type player in the late 90's mode. Hard working, hustling, versatile, and most important he has a great eye. That means extra pitchers for the opposing starter and it means more men on base for Arod and the boys. yes, Swisher had an awful year last year (he hit only .219) but lest keep in perspective:
He hit 24 Homers and walked 82 times. He's a switch hitter and he's only 29. He also only makes $3.6M a year, which is about $15M less a year they would have to pay Texiera to play 1B.
I think it's a great move and will be one of the more understated reasons for the Yanks return to prominence next season.

Finally, the Jets excorsized a lot of demons last night. Brett Favre played an amazing game, virtually unstoppable, especially with the game in the balance. The problem was, and this will haunt them at a later time, Mangini did not adjust one thing after the Patriots made their adjustments, which almost cost him the game. They did not pressure Cassell. They let a QB who has shown to be very skittish while being pressured, be as comfortable as possible in the pocket, and let him pick them apart underneath, which is all he can do as he cant throw an accurate pass over 15 yards. Mangini should have sent 6-8 men at him at all times and let him beat them deep (which he should he couldnt do). They played right into his hands and let him attack the Jets with his strengths (underneath stuff and his legs). Good coaches take away the other teams strengths. The Giants did that by attacking Brady in the Super Bowl and it paid off. The Jets almost paid for it.
I think the Jets are the most talented all around squad in the AFC. They have a good offensive line, a very good RB and QB, a great defensive line and maybe the best all around CB in the league (Reeves)and an immense weapon in Leon Washington. They also are handicapped by Mangini's coaching and I'm not sure he can get them past a playoff game. I hope I'm wrong as it would be great to see two New York squads battling for Football Supremacy, I just don't see it happening unless Mangini changes in a hurry.

Flying the Friendly Skies-TPC style

TPC was fortunate this week to fly out to California (Los Angeles) on business and went the only way TPC can go- First Class (at least when his client pays).
Here are some thoughts on the trip:

1. TPC flew Continental for the first time in years and for the first time ever in Continental's First Class. Usually TPC takes American (bearable) or USAir (barely bearable) when going cross country First Class, Jet Blue otherwise. Well, TPC is glad to say Continental rules! Seriously, a very pleasant trip, good food (Kosher of course, which we will get too- USAir doesn't even offer first class passengers a kosher meal), very nice flight attendants (in the customer service meaning, not in the Singapore Air meaning), great seats and plane and an overall good experience. The People's Champ fully endorses Continental Airlines.



2. Where's the Political Correctness when it comes to Kosher Food? Why am I the only guy that has to rip apart 14 packages before I get to my barely edible meal? Seriously, if this were in a different setting, like a kid with special needs had to do something in this strange manner, how do you think it would be handled? I would venture to say everyone would have to have double wrapped meals and deal with it, as to not offend the "special one". Well, this "special one" demands the same! Double wrap for everyone!



3. Whenever you fly NY to LA, there is a good chance you will have some sort of celebrity or celebrities on your flight. I had a few going. I don't know who they were but there was an attractive blond in her mid 20's I suppose who wore a baseball hat and sunglasses until she got in her seat (directly across from me) and then relaxed when she was amongst the other First Classers (she was definitely not an A lister as I would have then known her). Same type of story with the guy next to her (either her boyfriend, or friend, or .......who really cares. he seemed like a dweeb). TPC is thinking of going the all day all night sunglass route ala our celluloid heros and Corey Hart.



4. I then saw a guy I actually knew, Robert Lasardo, aka Manny and Father Mateo from General Hospital. See, TPC watches GH, at least when he goes to bed and his wife is watching SoapNet (and GH is on from 10-11). However, it's not all bad. There's some international espionage, mafia-gangsters, acceptably attractive females (although not too attractive as to threaten you're wife/girlfriend- the secret to Grey's anatomy success, IMO) and a computer genius who would have been the 3rd wheel if Bill and Ted had a third Wheel (Spinelli). Okay, it's very gay, but I really have no choice unless I want to sleep on the couch and that aint happening (at least by choice). Anyway, I see Lasardo (who I instantly recognize because of his famous tatoos) and notice the guy is TINY. He always portrays extremely scary, tough guys and on the screen, he always comes across that way. In person? (besides seeming like a really nice and pleasant guy) He's TINY. I think in a full contact to the death match, The People's Little Champ (now a Yellow Belt and in First Grade) would take him. Seriously, he's listed as 5'7" on www.Soap.com, but he isnt an inch over 5'3" and doesn't weigh more than 120. Tops.



5. TPC loves the First Class free drink policy. American usually serves Glenlivet. The best I could on Continental was Jack Daniels and a splash of diet coke, but 3 or 4 does the job extremely well (especially when they are doubles). The key? Make sure you have the aisle seat, unless you really want to piss off the guy next to you.

The Five Towns Vaad, Bagel Boss and messing with the fressin'

This weekend reinvigorated a major debate/fight that took place in the Five Towns over the last few years (which included the now SuperStore Gourmet Glatt). To quickly review, Bagel Boss Cafe in Hewlett is currently not under the supervision of the Five Towns Vaad. Almost unanimously, all Orthodox Synagogues in the area have advised their congregants to not RELY on any Hashgachah for anyone outside the Vaad. Very simply, if you want to come into the area as a food establishment and you want the endorsement of the local Orthodox Rabbi's, use the Vaad. In other world, don't go to Bagle Boss.
In a perfect world (or even the imperfect world we live in) this means, no matter how Chassidish, Mizrachi, Modern Orthodox, Yeshivish, etc you are (or pretend to be), you can trust the food anywhere. For anyone who lives in areas where this isn't the case, knows this is an incredible Chiddush. People who live in per say Brooklyn need a GPS to navigate through which of the butchers, restaurants, food stores, etc where they can shop.
Now, recently Rabbi Billet, Head Rabbi of the Young Israel of Woodmere, the largest YI in the world sent out the following email:

Dear Members

There are several stores (Bagel Boss and Dunkin Donuts near the Hewlett Station) that display Kashrut certificates from a Rabbi Asher Schechter. The only stores in our neighborhood that serve baked or cooked items made in house or by a company like Dunkin Donuts (which is a mostly non kosher chain) whose Kashrut standards are recommended are stores under the Vaad HaKashrut of the Five Towns.

Local non Vaad supermarkets who bake in house (like Costco) can be relied upon if their products carry a recognized national hechsher like the OU, KOF K, OK, STAR K etc.

RHB

This created an uproar amongst the various factions (those pro the Vaad and those anti). Those pro use the solid arguments of not going against the klal and listening to you're Rav as their basis. Plus, the Vaad is a respected organization and respected by ALL sides of the Orthodox spectrum. The sides against use the basic argument of free enterprise and competition and keeping checks and balances in the system. They also use the argument of cost and how small establishments should be able to use other reliable and cheaper option. In the case of Bagel Boss, since they have many stores and they use the same certification on all (which from all I've heard is extremely reliable) why pay a double tax.
Either way, I have heard extremely valid arguments on both sides of the fence. I am not here to argue either side. I'm just a simple yid who doesn't qualify to argue on extremely sensitive and important halachac issues. I trust my Rav enough to do this for me and make these judgments. If i didn't, I would go someplace where I could.
What I'm here to do is expose the underlying issue here:. It's what people are failing to notice; it is also at the core of the major problem in Orthodox Jewry today. The problem isnt whether or not people care about some poor guy who cant afford a Hashgachah (although there are some altruistic people that do, in general most couldn't care less). It's not about whether or not they really could give a rats toochas if the Vaad had a check and balance. Believe me, if Bagle Boss weren't that good we wouldn't have heard a peep (for the record I have eaten at many Bagel Boss's but never at the one in Hewlett and wont until it is approved by my Rav). It's simply about someone telling someone else, what he can and can not do when it comes to his Taaivadick (new word perhaps), narcissistic, gluttonous lifestyle. For G-d's sake, no one is going to tell Mr. Schwartz where he can or cant eat a bagel. No sir. When these guys are discussing the Vaad and the controls of their local Orthodox Rabbi's at some fancy (treif) sushi bar in the city or some local Italian Restaurant treif- but they only eat the pasta, or even the local diner over eggs and coffee, it has nothing to do with the poor guys ability to pay the Vaad. It's about his narcissistic urges being fulfilled. You see that is what this is about and that is the root of many if not all our problems.
Sure, it's great to have a friendly Rabbi who will say a nice speech at little Tyler's Bar Mitzvah or Kimberly's Shalom Bat, or even give you a Gut Shabbos (or Shabbat Shalom) after you strolled in during Mussaf, but heaven forbid he should give you religious advise or direction (unless of course it's to help poor Tyler with his drug problem in 10th grade and trying to figure out which Yeshiva will still take the poor soul).
The problem is we live in a "me first" society and that includes G-d. Sure, I'll pray to G-d during the times that I choose to and when I need him (you know, like so I can have more money to fill my selfish life). That means, Shacharis starts when I show up. It means davening 3 times a day is optional and only if doesn't interfere with real things-like work or kiddush club. It means, if I want to talk in shul, the nagging Gabbai/ Shammash- who is trying so hard to keep the Bais Medrash a Makom Kedushah- should mind his own business. It means if the restaurant I want to go is the "in place", I'll go and eat (only of course if it's Sushi or Dairy, I would never eat meat out, heaven forbid).
It also means why we have so many kids these days who are apathetic to Yiddishkeit. In my day, the kids that were apathetic were the kids smoking weed, drinking and engaging in other various forms of questionable halachic activities. The "good" kids were frum. Today, not so. Why? Very simply, when you get picked up for Yeshiva at 7:30 AM and don't come home until two-three hours after your the kid next door who goes to the local #6 school, and all you learn about is how important learning, davening, middos (or Midot) and Avodos Hashem is, and then as soon as you go home and ask your dad why he only wears a kippah while eating and going to shul (if that much) and why it takes him 6 minutes to daven in the morning (it at all) and that includes putting on and off his tallis and tefilin, and why when he went to Moishe's house he found out that there actually is Shacharis on Shabbos and not just Mussaf, etc. etc.
Kids are extremely smart and perceptive. If they see the whole thing as some hypocritical game, they treat it as such. They understand their parents pray to G-d when they need things, like a new Lexus or an additional floor to our house. But they don't really need to serve G-d. That's old fashioned.

The bottom line is when we argue to eat in these places and argue against our Rabbincal leaders (by the way, I believe 100% that if you do have an issue with a ruling or Psak you should talk to your Rav. But do it in a nice, discreet, private fashion that allows for the kavod of the situation and the Rav. Don't just blab it to your friends while during mussaf) are we doing eat because we just want to fill our own gluttonous needs or not?

Baseball TV Rant- Why TBS??????????

What the hell is the ALCS doing on some third rate cable station (WTBS?)??????????????????

WHAT THE F IS UP WITH THAT??????????????????????????????????

Again, this shows you exactly why Baseball has taken a major back seat to Football in this country and it's no wonder that my six year old son barely knows any players outside the Yankees and that crap squad from Flushing. Seriously, the kid knows NBA players and NFL players because he gets to see them on TV. He never gets to see out of town baseball games because it's always on too late and/or it takes his Dad forever to find where the hell the freaking AL and NL Champioship Series games are being played. What an awful decision by MLB.

Why men drink and other random Will Ferrell is a genius thoughts.

1. Let's review. 5769 years ago Tuesday the Master of the Universe decided to create the world and bestow his unending Goodness on our lowliness (not to get int semantics but G-d did create the world on a Sunday- coincidence it's also NFL SUNDAY!! TPC thinks not!).

Well, things were looking up for a few days, G-d created light and all was good, the skies and oceans, birds, beasts, yada yada and All was Good. And then G-d created man. Man, we'll call him Adam for the purpose of this story, was chilling around the Garden of Eden, looking at all the wondorous creations and naming all the amazing animals in G-d's Wild Kingdom. So what happened? As always Adam (or man in general) got impetuous and asked G-d to give him a partner like the rest of the animal kingdom. Now, Adam thought he was going to get himself a drinking buddy, someone to play a quick 18 on a nice Friday morning, maybe some one on one hoops, someone for Tuesday Night cards and maybe even someone he can bum a few smokes off when he's running low. So, what does G-d do in his infinite Wisdom and Unending Sense of Humor? He gives him this amazingly beautiful creature that the poor guy is going to piss off the above "buddy" he was hoping just to try and impress this wonderous creture G-d called Woman.
Obviously, Adam is feeling a little frisky and needs to impress this damsel in her near distress. But he has no experience, no MoJo to fall back on and Adam needs to get out of his "shell" and lose some inhibition to win his Woman over. So, he partakes of some of the best Herbs the Garden has to offer and the next thing you know he's seeing a snake flirting with his girl and blaming the damn Serpent for the punishment he's about to receive for eating from the Tree (maybe he had the munchies????). Anyway, he hook sup with her, they finally sober up and realized they were naked! The next thing you know we have to go out and make a living, deal withthese stock market and real estate crashes and our poor brides have to endure the pain of childbirth because we needed a little bit of this and that.
So, we turn on our Holy Lord again until 10 generations later , finally, a savior is in our midst- The Rightious Noah. We have this Flood 40 days and 40 nights of never stopping torrential rain ( making katrina look tame by comparison) and almost a year of the earth boiling in extremely hot water. Now, with all that we forget, Noah was stuck on a ship with no windows (this was no Love Boat my friends) with his sons and daughter in laws, his wife and all those animals to deal with (not including the grandkids)- DONT TRY THIS AT HOME. So, can anyone blame Noah for wanting to just chill out with some good wine, relax, enjoy the Sun and just pass out the second he gets out of that boat? I didn't think so. And that my friends is why men always love to drink. We were fine until the woman and family came around. Then, we needed it. It's biblically in us.

2. Will Ferrell is a genius of magnitude proportion. Who else can play the Cheerleader dude on SNL, the duet on SNL, More cowbell, Ron Burgundy and most recently, Chaz from Wedding Crashers? Who else could pull all that off? You think you have the guts to go from Wedding Crasher to picking up chicks mourning at a funeral? And all that and he can still party at night at the Roxbury.

Politically Correct Stupidity

I hate the term African American. It is an insult to every non African Black American, every White African American (yes, this just in, not every African is black or colored or dark skinned, whatever tickles your fancy), and every White American.
Why? First off, not every Dark Skinned (or black, etc) American person is from African descent (I guess if you go back far enough maybe, but that's just sheer stupidity. Then we're all Middle Eastern Americans and that doesn't work well). Second, as a White or light colored American I am offended every time someone calls me white (or Caucasian- what the F kind of word is that anyway? I'd much rather be called a brotha than a Caucasian). For the record, Wikipedia defines Caucasion as The Caucasian race, sometimes the Caucasoid race, is a term of racial classification, coined around 1800 by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach for the "white" race of mankind, which he derived from the region of the Caucasus. It was thus in use as denoting populations of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and parts of Central and South Asia, or more narrowly people of European origin. The concept's existence is based on the now obsolete typological method of racial classification.
In other words, we should call every White guy European American and knowing how much I hate the French (except their Fries and Toast) that is a much worse insult than calling someone Black or Colored.

Personally, if the guy is white, black orange or green and is a US citizen, he's an AMERICAN. Plain and simple. If he's from Africa- he's freakin' African, no matter the skin color. Same as the Caribbean and every other place people come here from.
Just stop the freaking nonesense.

TPC's Random Thoughts- Fans questions answered and why we need a hot First Lady

On my Fantasy Football Message Board the Ducks posted the following:
As a loyal People's Blog follower, the people want to know many timely things that the People's champ simply ain't providing: --TPC's endorsements. Sure, Palin sounds like TPC (real name), but we want to here more. How are we to vote, TPC, if we know not who our leader is endorsing.
--The bank crisis, the economy, gas prices, and yes, the war on terror. Where are we headed.
--The last game at Yankee stadium. The people want to hear TPC's thoughts...and his memories there. --The truth to the rumors that TPC and the Ducks will be forming a sports talk radio show since the loss of mike and chris. TPC, you can be the smart, arrogant one. I'll be the raving know-nothing lunatic. perfect no?

To the answers and much (or maybe not so much more).

1. While TPC won't get to heavily involved in politics for this site, TPC heavily endorses the McCain-Palin ticket. While TPC wouldn't want to be married to Sarah (she seems even tougher than The People's Lovely Bride) he does endorse her leadership skills and her ability to mix it up. Great choice by what would have been a dead Republican ticket without her.
The fact that she is a somewhat attractive 40+ year old woman in a very unattractive business might have something to do with it. I mean, before Palin, Monica Lewinsky was it. At least Palin brings the game back to respectability.
2. On that note, why can't we get a first lady like Carla Bruni? Now, I'll give France the fries, some pastries and I'll even throw in the toast, but no way should they have a hotter First Lady than the good ole U.S. of A. I think we need to institute a trophy wife policy. Seriously, if that old dude can land Anna Nicole Smith just because he was a billionaire, you don't think we can find someone much hotter who wants to be with the Most Powerful Man in the World? I think this would be the Reality Show of all Reality Shows. The Bachelor on Steroids and HGH while doing shots of Tequila. You throw in some Survivor type challenges, Howie Mandel and his banker and folks, we have "The Next First lady". Hold on while I call Marc Burnett.
3. The bank crisis is a disaster. The Fed is taking some good steps and some bad steps (particularly the current halt on shorting- takes all the checks and balances out of the market and limits hedging). Get Bloomberg in there to fix it. We need a business man not a politician. And F the gas prices. I like Howard Sterns old idea. Drop a bunch of nukes in the Middle East (sans Israel) and put up a flag and call it the United States of America II. Free gas for everyone!
4. TPC's Yankee Stadium memories will be part of an all new piece.
5. TPC is ready to join forces with the Ducks and put Francessa where he belongs. Retirement.
6. If you can't find any other reason but his name is BARACK OBAMA (yes, that might be labeling a whole culture but last I checked we are in a war with Islamic Fundamentalists). Now, he might be a great man and a great potential leader (although most evidence points to the contrary) personally, I'm not willing to find out. The risk is too great.

Quick thoughts- Ryder Cup, Yankee Stadium Farewell and more

Just some quick thoughts until I have to time to give the following it's proper due:

1. Yankee Stadium Farewell- No one, AND THE ROCK MEANS NO ONE, does that type of celebration (whether it's the farewell, retiring someone's number, ring ceremony, etc) better than the New York Yankees. yes, it's a lot easier when you have that type of tradition to go to. Still, it's nice to see it done properly.
2. ESPN did a very good job on it's pre game show. Good thing FOX and Joe Buck weren't involved.
3. The Yankee faithful gave Bernie Williams the biggest applaue of the night on Bernie's first return to the Stadium since his "retirement". One of the classiests and greatest Yankees of all time.
4. Paul O'Neil is just plain out Cool.
5. I think the most telling moment of the night was the complete and utter ommission of Roger Clemens from the evening. Not one mention of him. Not one video moment of him. Nothing. And good for the Yankees for doing it that way. F him. The lying bastard deserves it.
6. Great job by the Tiger less U.S. team that defeated the Euro's in the Ryder Cup and finally bringing it home, for the first time since '79. Mahan, Kim, and Boo really shined bright for the U.S.
7. Great job by Azinger for his picks and his leadership.
8. Harrington, Westwood and Sergio all failed to show up for the Euro's.
9. After watching Mahan and Kim, it says here, they will win many majors in the future. Both have incredible talent and the game to win majors. I wouldnt be surprised to see a combined 5 between them.
10. What the hell happened in Flushing? Can this happen again? I thought with the great job of Manuel and having Sanatan and Pelfrey on the mound two of the 5 days they would prevent a collapse. As great a job as they are doing, their bullpen is miserable and Reyes is showing two years in a row he doesnt have the stomach for September baseball. Not many Jeter comparisons nowadays.
11. It was great watching Jim Furyk clinch it for the U.S. He's a great guy, a good role model and the only Major Championship winner that ever had the honor of playing a round with The Peoples Champ.

I always wonder....

a new feature by The People's Champ about things I wonder about...........

.....why do people always look in the tissue after they blow their nose? What are they expecting to find?
.....why didn't Agent 98 get more press? Seriously, in the 70's you had Ginger, Mary Anne, Pinky Tuscadero and if you really want to go nuts, Jennie Picolo. You're telling me Agent 99 wasn't in that class? She had the 70's boppy haircut, the 70's mini skirt, she packed heat AND she had her number retired by every NHL team for all time. What can beat that? Maybe she wasn't as glamorous as the Movie Star or as cute as Mary Ann? She was much more wholesome than Pinky and down to earth than Jennie. She had the entire package. Okay, would you believe part of the package?
......Speaking of Happy Days, why didn't anyone think there was something wrong with a guy who wore the same clothes everyday, hung out with much younger High School kids, stole money from the juke box and his office was the Men's room at the local diner? Every kid dressed and talked and tried to act like The Fonz and no one thought anything of it.You think this kind of stuff would pass muster these days?
.....why do we drive on parkways and park in driveways? Okay, that's my Steven Wright plug for the day.
.....why we emphasize social skills so much in Nursery and Kindergarten, but we live in a society that is minimizing these skills more and more each day (unless of course you count email, text message, facebook, IM'ing, etc as social skills).

New Giants Stadium Sponsor- Nazi connection

The new Giants and Jets Stadium are currently negotiating a deal with Allianz for their Stadium rights.
So, what's the big deal? Most major stadiums have sponsor deals for their stadium rights and the amount of revenue the stadiums receive is staggering. In fact, the current rumor is the New Stadium will receive between $20M and $30M a year from Allianz.
As Repoted by Richard Sandimor of the New York Times, the big deal is Allianz financed facilities and personnel at concentration camps like Auschwitz and Dachau. Kurt Schmitt, its chief executive in the 1930s, served as Hitler's second economics minister and can be seen in a photograph from a rally wearing an SS-Oberführer’s uniform and delivering the Nazi salute with Hitler standing in front of him.
They also insured valuables taken from Jews by Nazi's and they refused to pay life insurance policies of Jews and sent the funds that was due to Jewish beneficiaries to the Nazi's (as most German insurance companies did at the time).
What the hell is Woody Johnson and the Tisch families thinking? THIS IS NYC, the Jewish Capital of the USA, not to mention it's 2008.

As the great Max Kellerman quipped on his ESPN show this AM, "I guess Klu Klux Klan Stadium was already taken".

Fate Accompli

You can't make this stuff up.
In what will be remembered in the annals of Baseball History for all time, Alex Rodriguez hits the first Home Run ever reviewed by instant replay.
Of course it occurred with the Yanks up 6-3 in the 9th. Another fitting way for Arod to be remembered this season.

I come to bury Caesar not praise him.............

In keeping with the spirit of killing A-Rod, I read an incredible article from fangraphs.com on the statistical ineptitude of A-Clutchless. I have long been an A-Rod supporter, but the pundits and haters are correct this season. H ehas been horrid.

Basically, to sum up the article, and I quote:

When analyzing how “clutch” a player truly is, sabermetricians turn to a statistic called WPA, or Win Probability Added, that calculates how many wins a player added to his team by giving more credit to important situations. Fangraphs.com comes up with a “clutch” score by comparing WPA with WPA/LI – Win Probability Added with the Leverage Index removed, i.e. making all at-bats equal, regardless of the situation.

Except for a couple of seasons, Alex Rodriguez has been anything but clutch. And this season, his Clutch score is the lowest in baseball and 20th-worst since 1974.

After the Boys of Summer have gone........

It's been a long time since I was part of the "closing committee" in the mountains, but this weekend I was fortunate (or unfortunate) to take part in that experience.
I have been a steady patron of the Catskill Mountains since I was The People's Tot. I have experienced summers as a child in a bungalow colony, camper in sleepaway camps, counselor and lifeguard at bungalow colonies/housing communities, ran a grocery store as well as some other odd jobs (including Professional Handicapper at Monticello Raceway). This was my first Labor Day Weekend in 15 years and my first all-day Monday stay since....well, not even sure if I ever did that.
It was kind of surreal. Perfect weather. 78 degrees with clearest sky you can imagine.
Most of the colonies cleared out Sunday AM, some straggled around till the evening. I was actually shocked when I went to shul Monday AM and saw a pretty large crowd. I figured maybe this place was different because there were winterized homes and a lot of snowbirds who actually live there 4 months out of the year. Well, I took my 6 year old to play some golf at the local course (Lochmor). Place was relatively empty. A walk on tee time (something unheard of in the greater Met area) was done, no problem with a 6 year old no less (another no no before twilight in normal season) without issue.
We then took a ride to our favortie pizza store (Fialkoffs on Broadway in Monticello). Usually a 30-40 minute wait on a Sunday afternoon, we walked right in and ordered. Place was pretty much closing up for the season. We then had some ice cream and headed back to the ranch. Driving through Swan Lake, White Lake, and Liberty, we saw the depressing signs of the Exodus and the proof the summer was coming to a close. Most places we passed were virtually empty, just rows of bungalows and houses with no kids running around, no cars parked in the lots. Just desolation. When we got back home we headed back to an empty basketball court, an easy spot in front of the pool (a virtuall impossibility and other day), and about 10 people sitting around the pool, when on a normal Sunday you would have had full tennis courts, hundreds by the pool, and a full court game with at least two teams waiting for next.
Well, July 4th Weekend is just around the corner......................

Annoying Sports Announcer Stuff

When did the requirements to be a baseball analysts start including "Grammarian"?
Seriously. Someone needs to tell these guys it's RBI's, not RBI (when using plural). For example, "Jason Giambi had 3 RBI's today, in the Yankee comeback against Boston", and not, "Jason Giambi had 3 RBI today in the yankee comeback against Boston".
Freakin common sense. What worked all these years is all of a sudden not good enough anymore. This is the problem when sports reporters, analysts, etc. take themselves too seriously. they start to have the need to come up with this ridiculous garbage (not to mention having all these skirts as sideline reporters who can't even spell RBI's, but that's a topic for another day).
And you wonder why guys like the Scooter, Harry and Skip Carey were so beloved. They just cared about their team and loved the game.

12 minutes late or 18 minutes early?

Although not a Yeki, I am extremely Makpid on time. I am of the school "5 minutes early is on time, on time is late".
Now, every morning, no matter where I daven (usually the same place) there are drips and drabs of people who come into shul a good 10-12 minutes late. Always the same guys. During the week that's 40% of the davening time (usually around a half hour).
Personally, I try to get to shul 10 minutes before "kickoff". That gives me time to put on tallis and tefillin and actually say Korbonos (you know the stuff that take up a lot of pages in the siddur that no one says).
Well, the guy that comes in 12 minutes late, by the time he puts on tallis and tefillin, the zibbur is well past Barchu, sometimes even up to Shemonah Esrei. Doesn't this defeat the whole purpose? Why doesn't the guy just chill a few minutes, put his tallis and tefillin on like a mensch, say some brochos, korbonos and be on time for once in his life? (forget about getting his lazy a$$ out of bed 10 minutes earlier...) I never got this. And when is that proverbial deadline where the "12 minutes late guy" says it's too late and just wait for the next minyan (generally every half hour in most mid-large shuls in the Five Towns, Brooklyn, Queens, and Monsey). Is it the 14 minute mark, the 16 minute mark?
I know your out there "12 minutes late guy". Let's hear the answers!

The uncomfortable Bar Mitzvah zach

One of the things I love about my shul and Rebbe is we don't do the typical, rote, uncomfortable rituals that many Modern (Americanish) shuls do.
This AM at Shacharis I witnessed the uncomfortable Bar Mitzvah Boy Address and I cringed the whole 3 minutes or so that it lasted (it felt like a good 4 hours. I've played rounds of golf that seemed quicker..but I digress).
The shul I attended was zocha to have a Bar Mitzvah. The Bar Mitzvah boy did a great job, great voice, etc etc. It was actually quite pleasant....until........................the Rabbi's Bar Mitzvah address.
In this case, the Rabbi was the boys grandfather, a now retired former pulpit Rabbi. He gave a very good sermon and then called his grandson to stand next to him while he addressed him. The boy was standing next to him in front of the whole shul with that awkward stance and awkward smile. I felt awful for the kid. What must be going through his mind? "Can we please hurry up here, my mouth is hurting from holding this fake smile". It seemed like forever. The typical stuff was said, the typical jokes. "Moshe" we're so proud oy you....we put a lot of work into you...we hope it pays off....now your a Bar Mitzvah and your responsible for yourself...........we're off the hook." etc, etc.
If I were elected Emperor of the world, one of the first things I would outlaw is the uncomfortable Bar Mitzvah boy address.