My Corner of the Interweb

Everybody Dance Now!

Mood: Still ill. (No, not the Smiths song.)
Music: Everybody Dance Now, C+C Music Factory.

Where to start...?

I'll start with this: I think Jim Caple is a moron. Who is Jim Caple? Jim Caple is a writer for ESPN.com. Why is he a moron? Because he has a completely irrational loathing for the Yankees that clouds his judgement and biases everything he writes.

Now, you're entitled to loathe whomsoever you choose. However, you should at least make a feeble attempt at objectivity when writing articles on how much the Yankees suck.

Let's say that I am not exactly a Yankees fan. Mainly because I dislike baseball in general, and I am a rabid hockey fan. But, in the interest of solidarity with my fellow New Yorkers, I root for the Yankees and Mets when playing other teams, and I root for the Yankees over the Mets when they play each other. It's pretty easily understood. I'm not a bandwagon fan...I like the Yankees win or lose...and I don't really much care when they lose.

What is really ticking me off is espn.com's utter bias against the Yankees, and their irrational support of the Red Sox. Newsflash: If the Red Sox actually win a World Series (which is mighty unlikely in MY lifetime,) they will still need about 25 more to even TIE the number of World Series the Yankees have. In short, the Red Sox will NEVER be the franchise that the Yankees are. Caple spends the entire season pointing out every last little perceived flaw that the Yankees have, pointing out why this year is the Red Sox' year, and at the end of the season, the Yankees ceremoniously rape the Red Sox.

If you look back, you'll see me ranting about how the fact that the Red Sox swept the Yankees to start the season meant exactly NOTHING. And, as it turns out, I was right. Golly. How did I know? I knew because it happens every year. The Yankees are making the playoffs, and if Boston's in it, they will be beaten in heartbreaking fashion by the Yankees. One of those laws.

Now, the Yankees, after losing game 1 to Minnesota, were universally pounced upon...how they looked horrible. How the Twins were going to sweep them. And then, three games in a row, the Yankees erased a deficit (tonight, a 3 run deficit in the 8th inning...) and proceeded to beat the Twins like the family mule.

You can't plan such things. You can't expect them. Except the Yankees ALWAYS do this. They refuse to give up. Whine about the payroll, complain about Steinbrenner, whatever you like. The Yankees absolutely, with no reservation or hesitation, refuse to surrender. Joe Torre is a smart manager, yes. But his real genius? Instilling in multi-millionaires with the requirement that they show up every night and they play, and they NEVER EVER give up. And, as a result, if you bet against the Yankees in the playoffs, you're a fool.

So, back to Caple: He insisted that the Twins were going to beat the Yankees. And provided reasons. And I'm sure they were all sound...save for the fact that he was wrong. The Twins got beaten. And not just beaten...they were WINNING ALL THREE GAMES. And the Yankees turned on "Playoff Baseball" and bingo, the Yankees are meeting the Red Sox next week in the formality of beating the shit out of them on the way to playing in the World Series. To be honest, once the Yankees beat the Red Sox, and ensure that they go yet another brutal winter whining about curses, Yankees fans will probably not watch the World Series...because frankly, we've won enough of them. At this point, it's about keeping Boston from winning one.

Enough of that. Let's grumble about hockey...or the lack of it. It's now over a month, and it is guaranteed 30 days more of no hockey. In fact, it's probably guaranteed a lot more than that, because, to be fair, they aren't even talking. It's been a month, and they haven't even considered talking.

But hey, it's OK...because the owners have put aside a 300 million dollar warchest to help them through this trying period.

300 million dollars put aside last year. Hm. How much did the league lose, all told last year? Well...they're claiming...wait for it...300 million dollars. Coincidence? I think not. You mean to tell me that they lost 300 million dollars last year, which is the key argument for locking out the players, and somehow, they managed to set aside 300 million dollars in case of a lockout.

Is anyone else bothered by this? If you go to the NHL's CBA homepage, you'll find all sorts of propaganda, some of it letters supposedly written by fans, calling players greedy, and demanding that they fall prey to a salary cap or some other form of hard revenue cap. I have YET to meet a fan who believes that a hard salary cap or cost certainty is required by the league.

It's ridiculous! The owners want cost certainty...but I am willing to bet any amount of money that ticket prices will continue to rise, and beers will still be 7.50 at MSG. What the owners want is a limit to how much they're required to spend...but no limit on how much they can charge. This, my friends, is bullshit.

I do not blame the owners for raising their hands and saying "OK, enough. We're not paying guys like Bobby Holik 40 million dollars any more." Hell, I wouldn't pay that kind of money for him, either. And 90 million dollars for Alexei Yashin? Insanity. But no one held a gun to anyone's head and said "Pay stupid money or else." Players ask for it, because they get it. If they didn't keep getting dumb money, they'd stop asking for it. But no. The owners can't trust each other to be sane, so they want to collude to prevent their fellow owners from spending whatever they want. Sounds like price fixing to me. But what do I know. I'm just a fan.

Anyway, 9 flavors of sorbet are all set. Most of 'em are pretty yummy. Some of them are a little too sweet...but can't have everything. Party tomorrow at 3pm at my place. Come on over if you're in the neighborhood!