J - E - T - S Just End the Season

Bill Simmons of ESPN recently wrote a column about the different levels of losing in sports. It is an intricately detailed sonnet about futility. He gives personal anectdotes of how each different kind of loss affected him. It is amusing, it is tragic, and after pondering my life as a Jets fan, it is woefully incomplete.

Level F for Futility - When you know before the season ever starts that your team has absolutely zero chance of doing anything worth cheering for because they can't stop the run, can't run the ball, and their QB is so incompetent every fan KNOWS that at a crucial moment he will kill your team's chances with a life sucking interception.

Example: The 2007 New York Jets.

I spent a lot of time on the phone with Annoyed today. We are both Jets and Yankee fans which if is kind of an anomaly if you are from the NYC area. Most Giants fans are Yankee fans and the Jets and the Mets fans seem to match up despite the oddly annoying rhyme scheme that creates. (For an odd twist the Nets are moving right into the hotbed of Jets, Mets fandom in Brooklyn with the hopes of creating an annoying fandom rhyme scheme trifecta.)

After the Jets flukishly jumped out to a small lead Annoyed and I sat on the phone with each other shamelessly predicting when the downfall would occur. Chad Pennington obliged as he always does. One interception demonstrated Pennington's incompetence to such a glaring degree that Randy Cross, who was announcing the game, called it, "truly terrible." When the Jets got the ball back for a final chance to tie the game, Chad predictably threw a soul sucking interception.

To be fair, this particular incarnation of Jets incompetence was not limited to the offensive side of the ball. The defense was equally offensive. The defense's inability to stop the run or tackle was just as incompetent as the offense's inability to run the ball or convert a crucial 3rd down play.

In other news the Dolphins lost again and currently leading the charge for the #1 overall pick in the 2008 draft.

The Patriots may go undefeated.

Joe Torre staved off firing for a day because the Yankees managed to win a game against Cleveland.

No 1 of Consequence

So long Scooter

In case you haven't been paying attention or don't really care, baseball lost a great envoy this week. Phil Rizzuto wasn't just a great shortstop and great New York Yankee, he was greatly responsible for me loving baseball.

I was born in 1971 and some of the earliest memories I have of my father revolve around him coming into my bedroom to say goodnight and tuning in the Yankees games for me on a transistor radio. I listened to the exploits of Willie Randolph, Graig Nettles, Ron Guidry, Thurman Munson et al through Scooter's descriptions and stories. My love for the Yankees was born in those moments and refined over years and years. Listening to Phil shout "Holy Cow" into the microphone punctuated some of the greatest sports moments of the 1970's and my childhood.

Like many people who lived in Essex County, NJ I have my own Phil Rizzuto story, and it isn't just about the time I ran into him at the Millburn Diner with his wife Cora. In his later years Scooter was big on strolling around the local malls. He had a secretary that drove him around the area and he would shop and chat with people during the day. I used to get my hair cut at the Livingston Mall and as I was popping in for a trim he was walking out of the mall.

"Mr. Rizzuto," I said, reaching out to shake his hand, "I just wanted to tell you what a big fan I am and thank you."

I spent a few moments relating how my dad used to turn the games on and how my love of the Yankees was born listening to his voice.

He smiled and said, "Holy Cow! What a memory you've got!"

I laughed and beamed as he went on about his business. I know he threw his catch phrase around pretty liberally, but that one was just for me.

Rest in peace.

4 books I intend to finish before Feb 12

Why on Earth is February 12th the goal? Well, I have accepted a role on the global management team of my company and I am starting some intense training on that date. After that, things are going to be a whirlwind with multiple trips to Scotland on business, countless hours working, and very little time to focus on any leisure reading outside of news and keeping up with my various fantasy baseball teams. So this is the goal I have set for myself.

I have a legitimate shot to finish three out of the four, mainly because I have already started reading three of them. The 4th is over 1000 pages long and apparently the beginning of a rather intricate tale.

So let’s begin the latest installment of what is No 1 Reading:

Watchdogs of Democracy? The Waning Washington Press Corps and How it has Failed the Public. By Helen Thomas

This work is extremely critical of the White House press corps and the press in general, essentially accusing them of being complicit in the abrogation of our constitutional right to know what the hell is going on with our government. She accuses them of being fearful of falling out of favor with a bully of a White House and not asking the tough questions. Helen is a long time Washington correspondent and has been continually snubbed by the President and his handlers during press conferences because of her desire to find the truth for the people.

Why am I reading this? Well, I have been making a similar argument for a long time. No Best Man of Consequence works in the media and I often challenge him and the industry by proxy when I see what I feel are significant injustices taking place in the world. He always comes back at me with the “people don’t care about anything anymore argument,” which I partially agree with and we usually move on to something else. (I have a partial post about our distracted society and how we all suffer for it, but that is a different discussion for a different day.) Anyway, he usually has me outclassed in the argument because I don’t have anything empirical to back me up when we talk about it, so I am trying to broaden my mind in this particular area.

Phil Gordon’s Little Green Book – By Phil Gordon

This is considered by many to be the best poker book ever written. I am only a couple of chapters in and am already enthralled by his simple and concise style. Annoyed and No Brother both recommended this book very highly and since I respect their opinions and their poker abilities I definitely want to finish this book.

Why am I reading this? I want to be a better player. I do well in my home game here in GA and I do well online. I, hopefully, am going to be in Atlantic City in late February and am definitely going to be in AC in early April and I want to be at the top of my game. Digesting the information in this book and integrating it into my personal strategy of play is one good way I can do that.

Now I Can Die In Peace – Bill Simmons

Anyone who reads this blog knows I am a big fan of Bill Simmons. I read anything he writes and I enjoy about 80% of it. The odd thing about my liking this guy is that he is a huge Red Sox fan and this book is a collection of articles and associated commentary leading up to the Red Sox defeat of the Yankees in 2004 and their World Series championship. I have been reading the book for awhile and I am really enjoying it. I am planning a detailed post related to it because it offers such a unique perspective to a Yankees fan. Also, for a Red Sox fan Simmons has a very good understanding of the mentality of Yankees fans even though he calls rooting for the Yankees the same as “rooting for the house in blackjack.”

Why am I reading this? You have to support people who have entertained you that much in your life. Even though the subject matter is not something I am terribly interested in the writing is good and I have been entertained throughout.

Game of Thrones – George R.R. Martin

This book is the first in a significant series. HBO is turning it into a TV series. When they made the announcement, No Accountant of Consequence, who is an expert in this particular genre, was very excited. He highly recommended it so I picked it up.

Why am I reading it? The recommendation is a big reason, plus HBO’s de facto endorsement of the content carries a lot of weight with me. Of all 4 books I have going right now though, I will probably not get this one finished by my deadline.

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Some quick hits not related to what I am reading.

I have about 10 posts in draft and this causes me to be significantly irritated with myself. I really want to write more, but I won’t just throw anything up and a lot of the topics I want to cover require research because as most of you know, talking out of my ass is something I don’t really like to do.

Pitchers and catchers report to spring training imminently. (Feb 14) I am very excited for the coming baseball season.

Work has taken a lot of interesting twists and turns this year. This is my 24th month with the company and if you had asked me in my 4th month if this is the way it was going to go I would have told you that drugs were bad and you should really get your head checked.

Projectile vomiting and explosive diarrhea from your almost one year old baby is not really fun. There is just something about a very sick little baby that is especially pathetic. There is also an acute feeling of powerlessness that happens when your child is sick. My little man has the flu right now. He can’t keep anything down and he is just miserable. It just sucks that there is nothing we can really do for him.

Disney World is an incredible amount of fun, but while it may be the most wonderful place on Earth, it isn’t even the 1000th most relaxing place in Florida. I still have blisters on my feet.

Strawberry, the voice of reason.

You have truly reached a bizarro reality when Darryl Strawberry is a voice of reason. Essentially the linked article talks about how Derek Jeter needs to embrace Alex Rodriguez and make him feel welcome after his rough year last year. You can make a valid argument that A-Rod is making 25 million dollars and he should stop his girly crying and play up to his abilities. However, I tend to believe that we are all human beings and even those seemingly above it all can be affected by significant negativity in their surroundings.

I also heard an insider story that A-Rod showed up at Jeter's house and basically begged forgiveness for the 2001 article in Esquire that caused friction between them to begin with and was turned away.

A-Rod was quoted as saying: "Jeter's been blessed with great talent around him. He's never had to lead. He can just go and play and have fun. And he hits second -- that's totally different than third and fourth in a lineup. You go into New York, you wanna stop Bernie [Williams] and [Paul] O'Neill. You never say, 'Don't let Derek beat you.' He's never your concern."

Competitors like Derek Jeter have egos the size of small planets. They aren't going to take something like that lightly. Especially when the guy doing the talking has never won jack squat in a team environment. Rodriguez has been a significant individual achiever in his career, but his teams have done nothing in the playoffs. Hang on, I feel myself meandering off point here.

My point is this, Strawberry is correct, Jeter needs to let it go. He needs to publicly step to the microphone and say something to the effect of, "Alex Rodridguez is one of the greatest individual performers in baseball history. He has shown himself to be a great team mate and contributor to the New York Yankees. His selflessness in switching to 3rd base when he arrived in NY is evidence of his commitment to the continuing greatness of the Yankees franchise and to our incredible fans. I am proud to call him my teammate and proud to run out on to that field next to him every day. What's past is past, the only future that matters is bringing the 2007 World Series championship to New York and paying back our loyal fans for their tremendous support."

Then, he needs to act like he meant it. No one will boo A-Rod again. A-Rod will hit about 75 home runs and drive in 150 and the Yankees will win the World Series, which is all that matters. Leadership by work ethic and example are all well and good. Sometimes you need to lead with your words. This is definitely one of those times.

SuperTeam, no more

For all of my lamenting as a sad sack Jets fan, I also have the pleasure of rooting for the New York Yankees in the baseball world. My Yankees fandom started early in the 70's. For some reason my father, a lifelong National League fan, began putting the games on for me on my transistor radio. Many nights of my youth were spent listening to Phil Rizzuto give the play by play as Willie Randolph, Graig Nettles, Mickey Rivers, Reggie Jackson etc, went to the World Series in 1977 and 1978. I was imprinted with the pinstripes at that time and my love of them has never waned.

There have been some lean times. 1982 to 1993 were awful. The Yankees were a pathetic mess. 1994 was ashame because they Yankees were awesome and were on a collision course with the juggernaut Indians in the playoffs. Also, the Montreal Expos had the best record in the National League before the strike and I was very excited for their long suffering fans. 1995 marked the Yankees return to the playoffs and I was lucky enough to witness one of the greatest playoff games of all time which included Don Mattingly's only postseason homerun and a game winning home run by Jim Leyritz in the bottom of the 15th inning. The Yankees ended up losing to the Mariners because Randy Johnson was an assasin and Edgar Martinez and Ken Griffey Junior were absolutely unstoppable, but there was no denying that Yankees were back. The return to glory was imminent.

Joe Torre took over the team in 1996 and the Yankees won the World Series. A fresh faced Derek Jeter was the rookie of the year and it was like Camelot for Yankee fans. 3 more World Series championships followed in 4 years and it was an embarrassment of riches. The New York Yankees were the kings of baseball and all was right with the world as far as me and baseball were concerned.

Yesterday the New York Yankees completed yet another series in which they choked very hard against an opponent they should have dispatched. I am not going in to a deep analysis of the series, but there is no way they should have lost to that Tigers team. The Yankee pitching imploded and their vaunted bats went silent. It has happened to them far too often in recent years at critical times. We have become the Atlanta Braves of the American League and the Yankees need to be fixed.

The Yankees manager in 1995 was Buck Showalter. In 1996 Joe Torre took over and the Yankees got over the hump to win the World Series. 10 years later, with a heavy heart, I think the Yankees have no choice but to part with Joe Torre. There are rumors Lou Pinella would replace Torre and while I don't think he is a great choice, there are worse ones. His personality is almost the diametric opposite of Torre's and I think the Yankees need a kick in the ass.

I am going to try and put together a "Fixing the Yankees" series of posts, but work is as insane as ever and I don't know how much time I am going to have to write.

No 1 of Consequence

Jeter for MVP

I recently had this discussion and thought I would migrate it here to the blog because I have zero time to write at the moment and I didn't want the blog to die. For you Yankee haters out there, this ones for you.

Should Jeter win the MVP, I don't know. I think there is a strong argument that there is an east coast bias in the voting and that is why he will probably win. If the Red Sox hadn't complete imploded as the Yankees ass raped them for 5 consecutive games the argument would be moot because the loveable David Ortiz would win hands down.
I will make a couple of arguments on Jeter's behalf because hey, he's da captain and all, plus I have had him on my fantasy baseball keeper league team for ten years.

First thing, he hits in the two slot, while Morneau and Dye (other legitimate candidates for the MVP) hit in RBI slots and Jeter is probably going to drive in over 100 runs. The last player to drive in 100 runs from the 2 slot is Derek Jeter, but the last guy to do it before that was Mike Devereaux in 1992. I think that should get him some bonus points.

2nd, in an era of musclebound guys jack the ball over the wall he consistently hits for a high average and is incredibly productive. If you look at the runs created stat which is (runs+rbi)- home runs you find that Derek Jeter is actually a more productive player than both Morneau and Dye. Morneau has 175 runs created, Dye has 167, and Jeter leads them both with 183.
Jeter is batting .396 with runners in scoring position. Morneau is hitting .333 w/risp. Dye is hitting .356.

Jeter leads in almost every key production staistic. Then you get to the intangibles. They are truly hard to quantify but I will give you an anecdotal example of leadership on the field.

A couple of weeks ago the Yankees were playing a double header against the Tigers and were down by two runs late. They scratched out a couple of hits and with one out they had runners on second and third and Jeter came up to the plate. He scorched the first pitch down the line and drove in both runs to tie the game. Jeter ended up on second.

A-Rod came up and this was right in the middle of him forgetting he was A-Rod and having a period of time where he thought he was Alex Karras. Every time he came up to the plate he would be looking for Webster and totally forgot how to hit for about 6 weeks.

Jeter stole third on the first pitch of A-Rod's at bat, giving his struggling lover & team mate the opportunity to drive in the go ahead run while still being completely incompetent at the plate. Pudge Rodriguez was the catcher at the time, only the most dangerous defensive catcher in my lifetime. (By the way, Jeter has 30+ stolen bases and neither Morneau or Dye are a factor on the basepaths) The inevitable dribbler to short followed the stolen base and Jeter scored on the out.

I can't define intangibles or leadership if you ask me to, but I know them when I see them. I am not saying Morneau and Dye don't have those same qualities, but I am saying that Jeter deserves to be in the discussion whether he wins the MVP or not.

No 1 of Consequence

Ohhhh let me tell you ‘bout a Johnny Damon

Oh let me tell you about a Johnny Damon. Johnny Damon is not that good. Johnny Damon is mediocre defensively. He can catch, but in terms of his arm, well, your mom could probably throw the ball farther. He has a good history of scoring a lot of runs, but he has played for some pretty potent offenses in his time. He has a decent career on base percentage, but has NEVER been in the top ten during any season of his career. He is fast, but he has stolen less than 20 bases each of the last two years. He has some pop, but has cracked 20 homers once in his career. Once. One time in ten years. The one place he has excelled is scoring runs, but that is just a product of being up before guys like Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz in Boston, Giambi, Tejada, Chavez in Oakland and even Sweeney, Randa, and Dye in KC. All of whom are multiple 100+ RBI guys. (OK Randa only did it once, but I am making a point here) Anyone could score 100 runs leading off in front of lineups with that kind of potency. I can only assume Damon will score 120+ runs for the Yankees, so it could be a whole lot worse.

(Sidebar: Someone at my office bet me that Damon would hit 35 homers this season. I tried to let him off the hook, even showed him Damon’s career stats, but to no avail, he was adamant, so next September I will be pocketing a cool hundy)

The worst thing about Johnny Damon is that he does not address the significant pitching needs the Yankees have. I read today they signed Octavio Dotel who is coming off an injury. That is interesting. They have had some success in the past making moves like that, Jon Lieber being the last one. They have also had some mighty failures signing players coming off injury, see punk ass bitch, Kevin Brown. My point is, why spend 52 million over 4 years on a guy that isn’t a critical need. Even if you can’t find the pitching you need this year, why not save the money, muddle through with Bubba Crosby and someone you pick up at the trading deadline, and come out swinging on next year’s free agent pitching market. You wouldn’t be any worse off than you are now and you would have another 52 million in the bank for the future.

No1ofConseqeunce

R.I.P. Barry Halper

Sad Day

Rest In Peace Barry Halper

Guy had the best quote about George Steinbrenner ever, “There is nothing so limiting as being the limited partner of George Steinbrenner”.

No1ofConsequence

No 1 Returns

Return of the product…..

I am back, yes, that’s right, little old addle brained me. It’s blogtacular. The Jersey Jew with the slightly interesting take on the world. It has been about a year since my words have graced this space. A year. A lot can happen in a year so I will give you the extremely short version. As you may, or may not, recall I was laid off from my old company last October. One night, in a fit of depression over another lost job I e-mailed my resume to every company that competes with my old one. Lo and behold my current CEO calls me up, we meet in NYC the following week, hit it off famously and before I know it I am once again employed. Not just employed mind you, but in what could almost be considered a dream job. I currently have a team of 7 employees and growing and we are the belles of the ball.

Belles you say?

Well, it’s interesting you mention that, because this new employment (not so new anymore) has taken me to the ATL. Atlanta, as in Georgia, as in, the south. Red state hell. Can we talk sports? Not so much, being a Yankees and Jets fan and having no real affinity for college football. Can we talk politics? I don’t think we can because I believe some markedly different stuff than most of the known universe to begin with. You magnify that with the southern conservative microscope and you end up with some heinously different ideas. Can we play poker? Eh, they still play things like guts and Chicago.

A majority of my time right now is spent diabolically planning the downfall of my old company. I already stole a significant member of their international team and am heavily courting their number one sales guy. He knows he needs to come over to the light side and get off the Titanic. He knows my company will crush his over the long term, but he is still trying to convince himself of the truth. Yesterday I presented my company’s services to one of the Titanic’s biggest clients. They loved it. I can’t wait until I sign them and we make our announcement.

I am coming back out of the ether, so for the uninitiated I write about a number of different things. I am interested in sports, politics, movies, TV, whatever odd thought causes me to have a deep introspective moment throughout the day. I try to write once a day, but I have a tremendous amount of responsibility in my current position so I am not sure if this is going to be possible anymore. That I am writing again at all makes me incredibly happy and I am very thankful to return to blogging.

Some quick hits:

Ø The Jets suck, being a jets fan is one of the most infuriating things in sports. I had to get satellite TV in order to watch the Jets every week. Now, of course, I want to send the Jets the bill for the NFL Sunday Ticket. I went to see them play in the Georgia Dome on Monday night in October. It was one of the odder experiences of my life. Giants Stadium, despite its age, is a great place to watch a game. Jets fans are rude and crass and loveable. They sit in their seats and when something happens they jump up and cheer like maniacs and then when the moment has passed they sit back down and go back to watching the game. Here in Georgia, the fans stand the entire time. I mean the whole game. 2 and 6 plenty of time in the game, run up the middle for a marginal game, they are standing. Are they cheering? Not really. Are they booing? No way. They are just standing. This makes watching a game at the Georgia Dome a pain in the ass. I never thought I would say this, especially growing up watching the Jets at Giants Stadium, but southern football fans are rude as hell. No fan etiquette whatsoever.

Ø I am a little disappointed in the Yankees off season. They haven’t really addressed some of their needs and some players that could have helped them have slipped by. I am very happy that Brian Cashman and Joe Torre are staying with the Yankees. The Yankees blew the Leo Mazzone negotiation. Allowing him to go to a team in their division was doubly stupid. They should have showered him with money. The guy is like Rain Man for pitchers. Everyone on the Yankees could have used him. The fantasy baseball value of every Orioles pitcher has skyrocketed in my mind. Mazzone is worth a run to a run and a half on the team ERA.

Ø The political climate of this country sickens me. I don’t really want to get into it right now.

Well, I think I have written quite enough for my first foray back into the blog world. Talk to you again soon.

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