You hear about Jim Brown. Long Island’s greatest athlete of all time. Manhasset High School, Syracuse University. Often considered both the best football player and lacrosse player of all time.
Some of Long Island’s all time athletes, that your hear about, are Boomer Esiason, Ron Heller, Sue Bird, Willie Smith,…
You never hear about Kings Park’s Craig Biggio.
What about Craig Biggio?
Craig Biggio, the baseball player, is eligible to be inducted into the Hall Of Fame in 2013. He will be a first ballot inductee with 3,059 hits as a Houston Astro player and community leader.
He switched positions having played catcher, 2nd base, and outfield. He stole bases and is one of the all-time leaders having been hit by pitches. He was a 7 time all star, 4 time Gold Glove winner, and a Roberto Clemente Award winner.
Not just a professional and collegiate baseball player (All American at Seton Hall) New Yorkers may remember Craig as a great football player. He was the Hansen Award winner given to the best high school football player in Suffolk County. While attending Kings Park High School, he turned down many football scholarships to attend Seton Hall on a baseball scholarship.
There are still great athletes who are good citizens. Let’s remember and honor Long Island’s Craig Biggio.
In the same game, Austin Jackson went 4-for-5, hit his fourth homer in as many games [his se
(8:00:18 AM) Friend_of_TopOfTheThread:
and look up mark melancon-the next joba-is being moved to scranton
(8:00:57 AM) TopOfTheThread:
looks good
(8:01:02 AM) TopOfTheThread:
but what about 2008?
(8:01:26 AM) Friend_of_TopOfTheThread:
he’ll be up in 2008 melancon is the closer of the future
(8:03:14 AM) TopOfTheThread:
the yanks are only 5 out of 1st and 3.5 out of the wildcard. Make the playoffs and you never know
(8:05:03 AM) Friend_of_TopOfTheThread:
I don’t think the season could have worked out better to this point-the infusion of youth, conversion of joba, adversity of monstrous injuries, and now this close.
(8:06:37 AM) TopOfTheThread:
Agreed. And now Chien-Ming Wang goes down. Forces them to look harder at their youth. Psyched.
The NY Mets are in a horrendous place as a major league baseball team.
Lots of talent. Poor effort. Bad attitudes.
Unfortunately, Willie Randolph is not a “fit” for this team. He is a good baseball man, it is just the dynamic of the personalities of the players and Willie, does not work. He must go. Done.
Contributing to the problems is their oh-so-physically-talented shortstop Jose Reyes. He does not hustle and has a bad attitude. He is a cancer. He theoretically is their lead-off hitter, leader, and should be setting the tone of the game. He must go. The Mets can get some talent for him.
Carlos Delgado’s contributions to the team have declined dramatically. He has also exhibited a less than positive attitude. He must go. The Mets can get something for him. An American League team can use him.
These are the first steps to the Mets getting back on track. They will still have good talent and pitching. New fresh leadership. And less problems with attitudes.
*****************
Note: Willie Randolph was fired between the time this was written and posted. Best of luck Willie. The Mets were not a good fit for you.
I just put on the NY Yankees game against the Kansas City Royals. It was the 5th inning and the score was tied at 0-0. Within 5 minutes of my putting the game on, KC scored. I immediately thought to change the channel because I was bringing bad luck.Rasner (NYY) had been pitching well up until that point, so I changed from the YES Network to TNT where Cast Away (Tom Hanks) was on.
Sounds crazy? Irrational? In one way or another, most sports fans do it!
********************* Does this sound familiar, or similar, to you, or your favorite sports fan?
When we were in SUNY Albany, during football season, we watched the Jets every Sunday. Without fail, if they started to play well, no one was allowed to move, switch seats, go get a beer (yes, believe it) or go to the bathroom. Did it work? Sometimes. But it definitely would not have worked if we didn’t follow the ritual.
Duirng one Yankees season, I always sat on the floor at the foot of of my bed. Every game. The Yankees finished in 1st place and won the World Series. (I also wore out the carpet in the bedroom and had to pay to replace it.)
During Jets season, the Wayne Chrebet Bobble Head had to be on the mantle during the Jets game. (Obviously this only works so well in that the Jets haven’t won the Super Bowl since 1969.)
*********************
Another good one was, at school, we always drank Coors Light during football games.
There are more seemly sill superstitions or patterns, but that’s enough for now.
If you are a real sports fan, I am sure you have plenty of your own.
********************* BTW - I still have Cast Away on the TV and the Yankees lost 2-1… They would have probably lost 5-1 if I watched the game…
Followup to previous post — See post of May 22, 2008
*************************************************
Hopefully this (experiment, move, transition) works out better than Joba’s first start.
Now, Joba is shaky and the bullpen is shaky. The starting rotation is no better. The pen is worse.
If you move him back, you show you have lost confidence in him. He loses confidence in himself as a starter and then has additional pressure as a reliever.
The Yankees have hurt themselves and have painted Joba in a corner. Exactly what they did not want to do.
I Love ESPN SportsCenter and ESPNradio — but what is a sport?
I watch SportsCenter at least once a day. First thing in the morning. Religiously.
Their format is great. The stories are interesting. I am a perfect fit for their demographic.
I enjoy the major and less-than-major sports. American sports. European. Austrailian. You name it, I watch it.
Hey - The World Series Of Poker is not a sport. I enjoy the coverage and watch it. (Why is watching poker on TV interesting? The reason this is so popular is because of the voyeuristic aspect of seeing everyone’s cards. One of the other TV stations showed a few hands in which you could only one hand — not interesting — you can do that on your own with your buddies.)
Yes - I even watch some of the Spelling Bee. Entertaining. Yes. A sport? No.
Watch this video. How entertaining is it?
My questions are (1) What is a sport? and (2) What next will ESPN start broadcasting that is not a sport?
Does everyone agree that Bucky Dent, or as the it is said in Massachussetts, Bucky “F-in” Dent, is the most hated Yankee of all time in Boston? Is Derek Jeter a close second? I have seen a lot of good Jeter t-shirts on the side streets near Fenway…
ARod is back. Do you notice a difference in the Yankees? Now they are winning 6-5, 8-6 and the higher scores? He makes the entire lineup better. The Yankees simply need the starting pitchers to pitch OK. Keep Joba and Mariano healthy. And they’ll be OK….. Watch!!!
Willie - I am a Yankee fan. No matter what happens today and going forward, we will love you as a Yankee. Team player.Solid citizen. Good person. We would also welcome you back to Yankee Stadium.
***************
Just like in a court case, when something is said, even if the judge overrules the statement, it is heard…. And it’s too late.
When an individual is stressed, drunk, cocky, or in a too-relaxed state, their “true feelings” are expressed. Restraint is gone. Inhibitions disappear.
*************
This week, The Record of Hackensack, N.J. reported , Randolph brought up race when he questioned the way he has been presented by SNY, the team’s TV network.
“Is it racial?” Randolph was quoted in the story. “Huh? It smells a little bit. … I don’t know how to put my finger on it, but I think there’s something there.”
Willie did apologize the next day but it’s too late. You played the race card. It’s understandable. NY is a pressure-packed place. The media tries to lead you down certain paths.
But once it is out there, it is hard to forget. And unfortunately, it can create a permanent blemish or worse.
**************
Here are examples of a few people who played or discussed race and disappeared from the sports scene.(Willie did NOT say anything as bad as this group.)
Jimmy The Greek – J… makes comments to a Washington, D.C, television reporter about the physical abilities of black and white athletes… black athlete is “bred to be the better athlete because, this goes all the way to the Civil War when … the slave owner would breed his big woman…” Snyder apologized for the comments but his is over. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REFJxwQPQUY&feature=related
Fuzzy Zoeller – makes stereotypical black comments related to Tiger Woods. He has not gotten the visibility nor endorsements that would have previously been expected. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aWS0StFM5I
Howard Cosell - Cosell saying “look at that little monkey run” to describe black receiver Alvin Garrett in a Washington Redskins game. Loses his job and quietly vanishes from the sports scene.
Mel Gibson - Gibson makes anti Semitic remarks while being arrested and drunk. His true feelings come out while drunk. It makes you look at his reasoning for The Passion Of Christ. Gibson’s father is supposedly a Holocaust denier.I do not have first hand knowledge of this affect on his career, but he does not seem to be in the public eye.The reason Gibson, not a sports-related personality, is in this list is because of a great rant Denis Leary performed in the announcer’s booth at the Red Sox’ Fenway Park .(Denis Leary tells Mel Gibson to shove it. http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/40420/)
**************
Willie — You need to kick ass on that team of yours and WIN GAMES!Excuses and apologies won’t cut it! This will be forgotten (or at least lessened) if you win.
The main issue this year has been the lack of run production. ARod and Posada have been out. Many of the other players have been producing below average offensively.(As you may remember, last year ARod single-handedly carried the Yankees through April and part of May. He has already hit 2 home runs in 2 gams… Really 3 home runs but we’ll discuss that on a later date.)
The Yankees will hit this year.
The Yankees moving Joba Chamberlain to the starting rotation is a BIG mistake.
While the Yankees have had a bad year, their pitching strategy has been solid.
Get the starting pitcher through the 1st 6 inning. (Mussina is a good example of this.)
Have Kyle Farnsworth, Jose Veras, or Latroy Hawkins pitch the 7th inning
Have Joba Chamberlain pitch the 8th inning
And have Mariano Rivera pitch the 9th
This has worked well for Mike Mussina (until his last start)
This strategy lets Pettitte only concern himself about 6 innings. (He is getting older)
Chien-Ming Wang can pitch as many innings as he wants.
This allows the Yankees to also have “starting pitching by committee”.
Why not groom Joba to take over for Mariano?
Joe - Keep Joba in the ‘pen. Don’t move him to the starting rotation!
gue baseball team.
tied at 0-0. Within 5 minutes of my putting the game on, KC scored. 
Dent, is the most hated Yankee of all time in Boston? Is Derek Jeter a close second? I have seen a lot of good Jeter t-shirts on the side streets near Fenway…
scores? He makes the entire lineup better. The Yankees simply need the starting pitchers to pitch OK. Keep Joba and Mariano healthy. And they’ll be OK….. Watch!!!
as a Yankee. Team player.
