Scarlet With Embarrassment

Losing to North Carolina by 32 points at home is embarrassing, but not all that unexpected. In basketball.

In football, it's a disgrace. Carolina has a good team, but 44-12 at home is unacceptable.

This has been a really bad year for me, in sports. All my teams have stunk up the joint. Rutgers is 0-2 and may not make another bowl game. The Yankees are having a year that many would love to have, but is unacceptable by Pinstripe standards. The Devils got embarrassed by their arch-rivals -- or, more accurately, they embarrassed themselves and let their rivals take advantage. The Nets... why do I even bother with them anymore? And just as I became an Arsenal supporter, they went and lost to... Fulham?

And tonight, Dear Old Alma Mater kicks off their season. East Brunswick celebrates the school's 50th Anniversary with the start of their 48th season of varsity football. We're now an old school, with the kind of history I used to envy in others.

They play at Sayreville. They're playing a neighboring school, just a mile and a half from my office. It'll be easier for me to get there straight from work than it would be if it was from home to our own field.

Our team is like the Democrats: We don't have a lot of experience, but we've got an interesting quarterback. Our opponents are like the Republicans: They've got plenty of experience, but their stadium is old and crumbling, and their cheerleaders ain't nearly as hot as they think they are, and their band sucks. And they've beaten us the last 3 seasons. (The difference, though, is that, unlike the Democrats against the Republicans, we beat these guys in 2004.)

We have to prove that more of the same isn't good enough.

*

Days until East Brunswick plays again: 7.

Days until Rutgers plays again: 8.

Days until the last regular-season game at Yankee Stadium: 9. (10 home games left, The Last Homestand.)

Days until the Yankees' season ends: 17. (Barring a miracle.)

Days until the Devils drop the puck: 28.

Fraud vs. Fraud

I've been saying all along that the Tampa Bay Rays, formerly the Devil Rays, would be proven to be "frauds." I used as evidence the 2-game series against the Yankees in July, where they played 19 innings and scored a whopping 1 run.

Yankees 7, Rays 2. So now, in their last 28 innings against the Yankees, the Deviled Eggs have scored 3 runs. That's a shade over 1 per game against the Yankee pitching staff, which, "as everybody knows," "isn't good enough."

Of course, it's probably too late. The Rays' remaining schedule is a killer that will likely allow the Boston Red Sox to repeat as American League Eastern Division Champions, and the Chicago White Sox-Minnesota Twins loser in the AL Central Division to be the AL Wild Card.

But it doesn't help the Yankees, even with Mike Mussina winning his 17th game (Number 267 for his career, surpassing Bob Feller, and notching career strikeout Number 2,786), and Joba Chamberlain and Dan Giese coming off the Disabled List to pitch solidly in relief of the Moose.

So now that the Yankees appear to be out of it, now is when they start playing like champions again. Swell. It's Fraud vs. Fraud.

Speaking of frauds, Alex Rodriguez hit home run Number 548 last night. That ties him with Mike Schmidt for 12th on the all-time list -- 8th if you take out steroid users. Then again, if you take out steroid users, then A-Rod gets taken off as well.

Schmidt was often booed by his home fans. But he also won a World Series. In fact, he won a World Series MVP award, a.k.a. the Babe Ruth Award. And he did that at age 30.

Ahead of A-Fraud on the home run list are Hank Aaron, who won a title at 23; Willie Mays, also 23; Frank Robinson, 31; and Reggie Jackson, 26. A-Fraud is title-less, and 33 and not getting any younger.

True, also ahead of him are Ken Griffey Jr, who's never won one (but has another decent shot now with the White Sox), and Harmon Killebrew, who never won one (although he got to Game 7 of a World Series). But if it's a late inning and there's 1 out and 2 men on and you're down by a run, who would you choose? If the pitcher is a righthander, I'm going with Junior. If it's a lefty, I'll take the Killer. A-Fraud? A-in't gonna happen.

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Another fraud was the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, losing their season opener at Rutgers Stadium to Fresno State University of California, 24-7.

Apparently, our order from the NCAA Bakery of a season-launching cupcake didn't arrive.

I'm not surprised Fresno State scored 24 points on the road. But RU should've done better than a measly 7 in Piscataway. I mean, now that Ray Rice is a Baltimore Raven, who's the top running back, Alex Rodriguez?

Next game, Thursday night, September 11, at home against North Carolina, a team not to be overlooked. September 11. Let's hope Rutgers doesn't go down in flames like the World Trade Center did that day in 2001. Of course, if it does, the difference will likely be that it's self-inflicted. Maybe Greg Schiano should've gotten out while he could. (No, that's just the frustration talking. Stay, Greg, stay.)

*

My Premier League picks didn't turn out any better. I got these right: Arsenal 3-0 over Newcastle, Portsmouth 3-0 over Everton (I guess the real Everton was the one that choked against Sunderland), Middlesbrough 2-1 over Stoke City, and West Ham 4-1 over Blackburn.

I got these wrong: Wigan 5-0 over Hull City and Manchester 3-0 over Sunderland. And while these were ties, I have to count them as losses. I haven't yet earned the right to say that a team that I picked to win on the road, and then managed a draw on the road, counts as a "win." So I have to count as losses the scoreless ties West Bromwich Albion managed against Bolton and Liverpool got against Aston Villa. Still, after losing David Gerrard to injury for at least this game, the Reds have to feel good about coming out of Birmingham with a point.

Then there was the real shocker: Chelsea 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur. Even though they're in the same city, it's got to be embarrassing for Chelski to not get a win at home against Spurs. Though an Arsenal fan would prefer to see Tottenham lose every game, such Gooners have to be realistic and accept that any game Chelski walks away with less than 3 points is good for the Gunners.

Manchester United and Fulham were not scheduled for the weekend.

Total for the week: 4-5. Total for the season: 14-15. For someone like me, who's never paid attention before, it's no disgrace. But it needs to get better.

And in Glasgow, at Celtic Park, Celtic 2-4 Rangers. Loss, though it doesn't count in the records above. I don't care: All teams called "Rangers" suck!

*

Days until Rutgers plays again: 8.

Days until East Brunswick kicks off: 9.

Days until the last regular-season game at Yankee Stadium: 18. (10 home games left.)

Days until the Yankees' season ends: 26. (Barring a miracle.)

Days until the Devils drop the puck: 37.

Double-Play-Rod: The Season In a Nutshell

There are people whose lives revolve around a sports team, and perhaps they care too much. But when you pay a player millions of dollars, they should care a bit more than Alex Rodriguez clearly does.

A-Rod is playing like he just doesn't care, like all that "Waaaah, waaaah, I wanna be a Yankee!" stuff after Hank Steinbrenner told him to take his Scott Boras and get lost last fall was just a ploy to get his moolah back. Moolah in, mojo out.

Really, one at-bat last night was the 2008 New York Yankees' season in a nutshell:

Bottom of the 7th at Yankee Stadium, against the arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, currently leading the American League Wild Card race. The 1st of a 3-game series we have to sweep in order to make a serious run at the Playoffs.

We were down 7-1. Now we're down 7-3. The bases are loaded. Johnny Damon on 3rd, Derek Jeter on 2nd, Bobby Abreu on 1st. All 3 of those have puzzled us at times this season, but on this occasion, they worked for us, and did their job. Which, basically, has come down to getting on base so we can score more than 1 run when A-Rod jacks one out of the park. Assuming, of course, he does his job.

Loaded up. Just 1 out. And "the best player in baseball" is batting. Against the Boston bullpen, and not Jonathan Papelbon, and not Hideki Okajima, either.

If A-Rod hits one out, that's a grand slam, a tie game, a completed comeback, and a big emotional lift -- in a game the Yankees have to win.

But even if all he does is hit a single, it's 7-5, and Abreu on 3rd and A-Rod on 1st, with Jason Giambi coming up, and still only 1 out, and, with 2 men on, the Sox can't go into the Giambi Shift.

If A-Rod works a walk, now it's 7-4, bases still loaded, still only 1 out, still Giambi coming up, with the shift a bad idea, and the short porch in right field.

If A-Rod so much as flies out, that's 7-2, with men on 1st and 2nd, and Giambi coming up with 2 out. Not a terrible situation.

Given any of these possibilities, you'd have to like the Yankees' chances.

Except A-Rod grounds into a double play to end the inning. Again.

And the Yankees don't mount another threat, and lose the most important game of the season, the one that was going to either likely get them back in the race, at least for the Wild Card, or doom them to their 1st postseason on the wrong side of the TV since 1993.

We trusted A-Rod.

A wise man once said, "Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." Another said, "Those who fail to learn it properly are simply doomed."

Having lived through 1982 to 1995, I've seen worse than this, and I can handle this. Even if I can't blame the Curse of Donnie Baseball anymore.

But the 2008 Yankees are doomed.

The only saving grace of this season: Our team disappointed... again... but the Mets are well into another choke. Last night, they blew a 7-0 lead over the team they're battling for the Division Title, the Phillies, and lost 8-7 in 13 innings.

We're still better off, even if you don't consider the 26 titles.

It doesn't make this season's performance any less disgusting. We were supposed to leave the one and only true Yankee Stadium with Title 27.

It won't happen. You can blame the injuries. But if A-Rod had done his job, the injuries would've been something the Yankees overcame.

You know what the difference is between Madonna and a Yankee Fan?

A-Rod has only been screwing Madonna for a few months. He's been screwing Yankee Fans for five years. And any pleasure we've gotten has been fleeting.

Prediction: In one of the seasons left on his $275 million contract, Alex Rodriguez will get hurt, and be out for the season. Then, in October, the Yankees will win the World Series without his help.

Then we can watch him pursue 756 (or 763) career home runs with a clear conscience.

UPDATE: A-Rod did get hurt at the start of the 2009 season, but returned about a quarter of the way through, and hit great, and sparked the Yankees in the postseason, and we won it all with him. Alas, a chase for the career home run record didn't happen.

*

Arsenal is leading FC Twente Enschede 3-0 late in the game as I type this, so they will move on to the next round of the UEFA Champions League. Not exactly making up for their debacle against Fulham last weekend, but it should have them better prepared for a home match against a tough Newcastle squad on Saturday.

*

Days until Rutgers kicks off: 5.

Days until East Brunswick kicks off: 16.

Days until the last regular-season game at Yankee Stadium: 25. (Sob... )

Days until the Yankees' season ends: 32. (Grumble... )

Days until the Devils drop the puck: 44. (Corrected from an earlier entry. Days until the Rangers suck: 0, always 0!)

Time for Yanks to Make Their Move

I'm getting concerned about Edwar Ramirez. He turned what should have been an easy Yankee win today into a typical Yankee-Oriole 4-hour slugfest. In the 1st half of the season, he looked like a potential Mariano successor. Now he's starting to look like Paul Quantrill.

And again, Darrell Rasner didn't get out of the 5th. So he won't be in the postseason rotation.

That's the bad news. The good news:

We swept on the road. Yes, it was Baltimore, or as Michael Kay calls it, "the Really South Bronx." But the O's have been a pain in the neck the last few years.

A-Rod, Giambi and Cano, all of whom have been rightfully ripped and needed to step it up, have. Cano was 3-for-4 today, with 2 doubles, and his homer in the 7th made the difference in the 8-7 game.

Xavier Nady continues to make the Mets look like fools for letting him go. And when it comes to looking like fools, the Mets don't need any help: They are quite capable of doing that for themselves.

And we gained a game on Tampa, finally. Thank you, White Sox.

Next up, the Dark Side. The Red Sox. Wonder if Lindsay has taken little Carla Yastrzemski Wrightman and left Ben with his real "life-partners," Troy, Gerard and The Bald Anesthesiologist?

This is the time to make the move. Especially since Josh Beckett won't be pitching in this series.

*

Speaking of whom: Beckett has been said to have "tingling" in his arm. That could be a lot worse than a mere baseball injury. David Cone had that in 1996, and it turned out to be an aneurysm. He came back and was a World Series hero -- not just that year, but four times. But it could have been the end of his career. Even his life.

The Sox doctors better be absolutely sure this is nothing like that before they send Beckett out there again. Especially since he's already won two World Series, one with them: Another isn't worth risking his life. The Red Sox will probably still be contenders next year if he's healthy (especially since he does much better in odd-numbered years, like Bret Saberhagen used to). No need to roll those dice, unless and until you know this is not a life-threatening condition.

(UPDATE: It wasn't something life-threatening.)

*

The Mets. Does anybody still think they're a postseason team? I mean, the Astros ain't that good. No way they should take 2 of 3 in Flushing. And they would have swept the Mets if Jerry Manuel hadn't let The Great Johan Santana throw a complete game Friday night. (Still, the Mets didn't pay for 12-7, did they?)

*

Shawn Merriman, the controversial linebacker for the San Diego Chargers, has a torn-up knee. He may be out for the season. If so, the Chargers, a lot of people's pick to be a serious Super Bowl contender, can forget about it.

Is this injury the result of his past... steroid use? Or has Bill Belichick hired Tonya Harding and her goons?

*

A baseball team losing 1-0 is disappointing, but usually not lousy. A soccer team losing 1-0 on the road, even to a crosstown rival, is disappointing, but this early in the season, it's hardly a crisis. But Arsenal did just that at Fulham yesterday.

The Gunners need midfield help, as soon as possible, if not sooner.

So why did they lose to an apparently inferior club? Maybe they were Tottenham in disguise.

No, I take that back! I'm sorry! That was over the line! (Too bad the Gunners didn't put 2 "footballs" over the line!)

Incidentally, the name of Fulham's home ground is misplaced. "Craven Cottage" more accurately describes the owner's box at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge.

UPDATE: Later in the season, Arsenal faced Fulham again, at the Emirates, and it was a turgid 0-0 draw. And the Arsenal fans booed their own players off the pitch.

This got their attention, and they played much better for the rest of the season, eventually reaching 3rd place, and the Semifinals of both the FA Cup and the Champions League.

*

(This was the first time I ever did the countdown on this blog.)

Days until Rutgers kicks off: 8.

Days until East Brunswick kicks off: 19.

Days until the last regular-season game at Yankee Stadium: 28. (Sob... )

Days until the Devils drop the puck: 45. (Days until the Rangers suck: 0, always 0!)

Days until the Nets' next-to-last season in New Jersey begins: I don't give a damn anymore. Let them move. There was never any point in rooting for them anyway. So who's my favorite NBA team now?

Do I have to have one? I don't know...

Sometimes it seems like I don't know anything anymore.

But I will always know more than Met fans, and Ranger fans, and Penn State fans, and Man U fans, and people from Old Bridge.

Come On, Baby, Light the Yanks' Fire

I'm taking the unprecedented step of two entries in this blog in one day.

So many Yankee Fans I know are saying that somebody needs to "light a fire under the Yankees."

So what would light a fire under this team? If a 2nd Red Sox title in 4 years didn't do it, what would? The Other Team winning one? Yeah, that's not gonna happen as long as the front office is dumb and the players are immature and/or injury-prone.

Sending down Melky Cabrera should have sent a message. So far, not received. Send down Robinson Cano? Bench somebody? Fire coaches?

Something has to be done, before it really is too late.

It's not, yet. We play Baltimore. Boston is in Toronto, although they won't face Halladay. (Thanks a lot, you useless hosers.) And Tampa is in Chicago to play the White Sox, a very good team. Games can be gained this weekend, and some hope can be restored. Mussina goes tonight, and he's been the best starting pitcher in New York this season.

So let's get some hits and runs, and do what we usually do in Baltimore: Turn Camden Yards into Yankee Stadium South.

(Like I said in the last entry, the John McCain analogy applies: We're not sure how many "houses" we have.)

Now Pitching for the Yankees... John McCain?

Blue Jays 14, Yankees 3. Sidney Ponson didn't get an out in the 3rd. Roy Halladay again made the Yank bats look pathetic.

I'm beginning to understand how John McCain feels. Every time it looks like we've turned a corner, I'm ready to "declare that victory is at hand" and tell anyone that says otherwise that they're "hurting the troops."

Then something happens like last night, the baseball equivalent of a car bomb in Baghdad taking out 70 people, and it proves we're no closer to "victory" than we were before the surge.

At least the Yankees know what "victory" means, which is more than McCain has told us.

Come to think of it, right now, the Yankees are aging, we're not sure who's really in charge, their economic plans are highly questionable, and we're aren't really sure how many "houses" they have.

Meanwhile, the big Red enemy is flexing its muscles again. And there's this upstart kid with no experience under pressure leading everybody, saying, "Yes we can, yes we can." (That's the Rays.)

Not sure who the Hillary equivalent would be, but then, was she ever really a Yankee Fan?

(The photo is from earlier in the year, when the Yanks played the Oakland Athletics. Both managers were former Yankee catchers: Joe Girardi and Bob Geren. I was at this game, and it was my last time inside the old Stadium.)

The Healing Begins

Yankees 15, Royals 6. Where were all these runs when we needed them in Minneapolis and Anaheim?

That's 16 wins for Mike Mussina. Who would've thought at the beginning of the season, after all the hype about The Great Johan Santana, that the best starting pitcher in New York this season would be the Moose?

A-Rod hit Number 544. Only 219 more to go. Not that this matters as much as any hits he may get between now and October 30 (which is when Game 7 of the World Series would be played, if it goes that far).

Hideki Matsui may be back tomorrow night as the Yankees begin a three-game set at the SkyDome -- excuse me, the Rogers Centre -- in Toronto. Joe Girardi says he'll limit Matsui to DH duty to save wear and tear on his knee. Man, I would love to see him come back and smack some horsehide around.

Phil Hughes and -- gasp, this is the big one, I'm coming, Elizabeth -- Carl Pavano both pitched yesterday. One or the other may start on Saturday night in Baltimore. If we can get anything out of either one the rest of the way, it's a plus. Much more so with Pavano, because Hughes is young and can bounce back more easily.

With Boston and Tampa dealing with their own injuries, there's still a chance. This old buzzard ain't givin' up on the 2008 Yankees.

*

A lot of slobbering in the Tri-State media over Brett Favre's debut with the Jets. I guess they forgot that, A, the Jets lost; B, it was an exhibition game and didn't count anyway; C, there was a season a few years back where the Jets went 5-0 in the preseason and started the regular season off 1-4; and D, it's the Jets -- if the quarterback doesn't get hurt, his linemen will.

Favre may have made Jet fans hopeful, but he hasn't made the Jets relevant.

And the regular-season opener? Against the Miami Dolphins, with Bill Parcells as GM and the newly-signed Chad Pennington as starting quarterback. Uh-oh...

*

The Olympics in Beijing have been everything the Chinese government wanted: Splashy, successful for their own athletes, and without major controversy.

Literally splashy, in the case of American swimmer Michael Phelps: Having won 6 Gold Medals in Athens, Greece in 2004, he has achieved his goal of winning a record 8 this time, surpassing the 7 won by another American swimmer, Mark Spitz, in Munich, Germany in 1972.

*

The Great Premiership Experiment continues:

Newcastle United 1, Manchester United 1. At Old Trafford. That's an embarrassment for the defending chumps.

Chelsea 4, Portsmouth 0. As the saying goes, my "upset special" turned into an upset stomach.

Aston Villa 4, Manchester City 2. Not a surprise.

So my first-ever weekend of picking Premiership games ends 5 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie, counting Newcastle's tie of Man U as a loss.

Still, if "A tie is like kissing your sister," then Newcastle must feel like they kissed their sister's really hot best friend, while Man U must feel like they kissed their mother-in-law.