Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Onebadinningitis

The Yankees began a series in Tampa Bay last night, and I didn't do a 2013 update for "How to Be a Yankee Fan in Tampa Bay."

According to the schedule I've laid out, that entry isn't due until May 19, in anticipation of a series down there that begins on May 24.

I must've taken the directive of Woody Paige, of the Denver Post and ESPN's Around the Horn, to "Look at the sched-u-le!" and read it wrong, thinking this to be a home series.  Sorry.

But when I have one bad inning, it only causes my blog to lose, not the Yankees.

CC Sabathia came down with a case of onebadinningitis against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field last night. In innings 2 through 7, he allowed 1 run on 3 hits. And if that was all you knew -- 6 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 2 walks, plus 8 strikeouts -- you'd think he'd done a good job.

But in the bottom of the 1st, he allowed a single to Evan Longoria, a triple to Sean Rodriguez, and home runs to Ryan Roberts and Yunel Escobar. (It dropped his record to 3-2.)

It was 4-0 Rays, and aside from a Robinson Cano homer (his 6th of the young season) in the top of the 4th, the Yanks got no runs and just 1 hit off Matt Moore (4-0). Even the introduction of Kerosene Kyle Farnsworth in the 9th didn't lead to Yankee runs, and the Strays beat us, 5-1.

Attendance at the Trop was 15,331. I've been to Nets, Islanders and Red Bulls home games with more people than that. (Not a Liberty home game with more, though.) And I'll bet at least half of that (7,666) was rooting for the Yankees.

Shame on you, Tampa Bay. You don't deserve a team.

You also don't deserve Darrelle Revis. The former Jet cornerback, traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because the Jets screwed up again, threw out the ceremonial first pitch last night. Rubbing it in, much?

Let's see: Tampa Bay, 2 World Championships (Bucs won 2002-03 Super Bowl, Lightning won 2004 Stanley Cup), 1 other appearance in a Finals (Rays lost 2008 World Series). Hell, the Mets can top that all by themselves.

The series continues tonight. Phil Hughes, probably our least effective starter at the moment, takes the hill against David Price, who should be the most effective starter they have left, although he's off to a start every bit as bad as Hughes'.

*

Hours until the Devils play again: 9, tonight, home to the Montreal Canadiens. Not that it matters to us, but the Habs are still playing for Playoff position.

Days until the Red Bulls play again: 4, this Saturday night, away to the imaginatively-named Toronto FC. This past Saturday, they played the New England Revolution in a show-of-solidarity game, and won, 4-1.

Days until the Devils play another local rival: 4, this coming Saturday, April 27, against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden. This past Sunday, The Scum beat us, eliminating us from the Playoff race on our own home ice. Theoretically, we can do the same to them.  nd, besides, it took us 18 years to cancel out Stephane Matteau, let's see how long it takes them to cancel out Adam Henrique.

Days until Arsenal play another competitive match: 5, this Sunday, home to Manchester United. The Fergiebastards beat Aston Villa of Birmingham last night, 3-0. All 3 goals were offside, and they damn well know it. All 3 goals were scored by Robin van Persie, the clubhouse cancer who didn't seem to grasp that it would be a lot easier for Arsenal to win trophies if he had stayed. Instead, he punked out, and instead of going for the money at Manchester City, he went to ManUre, where the manager lets his players do whatever the hell they want, legal or otherwise, on the field or off, so long as they obey him and win. The thought of the Arsenal players giving the Fergies a "guard of honour" as they come onto the pitch is sickening. Why give a guard of honour to the most dishonourable sports team on the planet?

Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby," against either the New England Revolution, the Philadelphia Union or D.C. United: 18, on Saturday night, May 11, away to New England.

Days until the U.S. National Soccer Team plays again: 36, on Wednesday, May 29, in a friendly against Belgium, featuring Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen. That game will be played at FirstEnergy Stadium, formerly Cleveland Browns Stadium. It, and the subsequent Sunday afternoon game against Germany at RFK Stadium in Washington, will be warmups for our next game in the last, "Hexagonal" round of CONCACAF World Cup Qualifiers, for the region that encompasses North America, Central America, and the Caribbean nations.

Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 38, on Friday, May 31, at home. A little over 5 weeks. The first Yanks-Sox series of the year at Fenway Park won't begin until Friday, July 19. Then another series begins at Fenway on Friday, August 16. Then another in The Bronx on Thursday, September 5, and another at Fenway on Friday, September 13. Oh yeah, if you're a Red Sox fan, that's a day you want to play the Yankees: Friday the 13th!

Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, since next season's schedule won't be released until mid-June. The season will most likely open on the 3rd Saturday in August, in this case August 17, but it's been a long time since Arsenal vs. Tottenham was an early game (possibly 1988-89). But even if it is that early, that's 118 days.

Days until Rutgers plays football again: 128, on Thursday night, August 29, away to Fresno State University in California. A little over 4 months. The first home game of the 2013 season will be on Saturday, September 7, vs. Norfolk State. The schedule is now complete, with all opponents and locations set in this, Rutgers' last season in the Big East, before starting Big Ten play in 2014. The only thing that hasn't been set is the kickoff times, with TV in mind.

Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Uncertain, since the 2013 schedule has not been released.  But if the usual pattern holds, it will be on the 2nd Friday in September... which, next year, just so happens to be a Friday the 13th. Oy vey. Anyway, if that's the way it works out, then it's 143 days.  Under 5 months. And when it does happen, it will be the first game they play without Marcus Borden as head coach since Thanksgiving Day 1982 (a loss to Colonia High of Woodbridge), as he has left the program. (Did he jump, or was he pushed? I don't know.) A new coach has been named: Bob Molarz, who turned nearby Carteret High School, which couldn't buy a win while I was at EBHS, into a team that made the Playoffs 9 seasons in a row and won 3 Central Jersey Group II Championships. He comes to us from the head job at one of our rivals, St. Joseph's of Metuchen, where he coached their first 2 seasons of varsity ball. A great hire.

Days until the next East Brunswick-Old Bridge Thanksgiving clash: 219. About 8 months.

Days until Super Bowl XLVIII at the Meadowlands: 285 (February 2, 2014). A little over 9 months.  Of course, we have no idea who the opposing teams will be. The possibility exists that either the Giants or the Jets could be in it -- or both. To this day, no team has ever played a Super Bowl in its own stadium -- in spite of multiple hostings by Miami, New Orleans and various California teams. Only 2 have done so in their home metro area: The 1979-80 Los Angeles Rams, whose home field was then the L.A. Coliseum, and they lost to Pittsburgh at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena; and the 1984-85 San Francisco 49ers, whose home field, then as now, was Candlestick Park, and they beat Miami at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, which had a much larger capacity than Candlestick.

Days until the next Winter Olympics, in Sochi, Russia: 290 (February 7, 2014).

Days until the next World Cup, in Brazil: 415 (June 12, 2014). Under 14 months.

Days until the next Summer Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 1,200 (August 5, 2016). Under 3 1/2 years.

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