Return of Jews For Jeter
In t-shirt form, at least. After sitting shiva (electronically) for Jewish Fashion Conspiracy, the company that originated the “Jews For Jeter” t-shirt I was faced with a quandry about my favorite Yankees t-shirt: wear it and risk Premio sausage stains rendering it unfit for a trip outside, or retire it like an out-of-print Beanie Baby? [...]
Refinancing Citi Field
Citibank has a plate full of worry right now: limited bonuses, no corporate jet deal, and a $20M/year naming rights agreement with the Mets. No matter what, I think this one ends badly for the fans, and that’s where MLB should draw the line and start enforcing some sanity around player contracts, the stadiums that [...]
1961 Twins Bobblehead History
I am appealing to the Interwebs for help in solving what has become a family mystery. Unlike most Jewish family stories, this doesn’t involve food, potential injury or Florida; this is about a bobblehead doll. The very first bobblehead doll, in particular. During 1960 and 1961, a series of 15 bobble heads were made representing [...]
Traceroute For A Bobble
I am appealing to the ‘net for help in solving what has become a family mystery. Cross-posted to my sports blog as well, because I’m looking for any reasonable clues. And yes, I got the idea from Clay Shirkey’s Here Comes Everybody. Not as exciting as a misappropriated cell phone, but perhaps of more interest [...]
Billy Martin Inverted
Billy Martin, the late manager of various 1970s Yankees teams, whose career arc had more loops, detours, and sideways movement than the emotional rollercoaster it described, once said: “When you’re running horseshit, you’re horseshit.” Those are true Billy clubs of words, captured with the eloquence I’d expect out of baseball’s disco era. Like a good [...]
Going For Joe
I find myself in a strange position this first week of October: There’s baseball on TV, and I am only counting the days until hockey coverage begins. In every fall since I’ve been able to carve out sports-watching time (read: after the great sleeplessness of having two toddlers), I’ve been able to cheer for some [...]
Persistence of Memory
A family trip to Cincinnati was punctuated with a trip to see Reds game. Their relatively new stadium is a wonderful place to see a baseball game on a spring afternoon. On the plus side: parking was easy an hour before the first pitch. Entrance was eased by plenty of security and ticket scanners. Large-bore [...]
180 Feet on 5 Legs
Whenever we teach “teamwork” to our kids or employees, we always imply that it’s intra-team work. And when we teach players to establish goals, far too often we imply winning or awards, rather than simple objectives that demonstrate improvement in any aspect of the game. This video segment from ESPN shows what happens when team [...]
Goat Rodeo
One of my co-workers refers to anything that involves confusion, lack of leadership, conflicting goals, and mild amounts of directionless meandering as a “goat rodeo.” That’s the best metaphor for the New York Yankees right now. A-Rod and Posada are hurt (hey, A-Rod, for $275 million dollars, try staying in shape in the off-season); the [...]
One Shining Moment, Every Season
My friend Claire always wonders what makes us love sports so much. By “us”, of course, she means guys who have severe Claire-attention deficit problems when a game of even minor interest is broadcast over television, radio, internet, or via grunts and hand signals nearby. I’ve thought about her question for close to four years, [...]