Why it must suck to be a Met fan during this World Series

Well after Sunday, watching the Yankees gain their 40th. Pennant, it got me thinking about the two teams playing. I have been a fan of the Yankees as soon as I was introduced to the sport by my parents. I loved watching Donnie baseball, and thanks to may dad Dimaggio, Munson, Mercer, Gerhig (I know before my time) until 96 when Derek Jeter came on the scene. I love the way the man played and my dad would always point out how he never takes a play off. He is always trying. Now growing up in the latter part of my youth in Hampton Roads area there was not much baseball other than high school or the Triple A team the Norfolk Tides who at the time were affiliates of the New York Mets. But even though being exposed to Mets players I never wavered from my love from the Yanks. But now living in NYC this is my first time experiencing the Yanks in the Big Show while living hear and there is one group in particular that despise this World Series...New York Mets fans. It hurts them to the heart to see their division rivals and their home city rivals playing each other.
New York Mets fans have a lot of reason to dislike the Yanks. I mean they are the team that you come in second to in everything. You aren't even the favorite team in your own city. You make a new stadium and the yanks have to make a grander one and have a grander opening then you do. You then try and bring in high priced talent having the 2nd highest payroll for the 2009 season (2nd again to the Yankees) and all the injuries cause you to come in dead last of your division. Your paying players to nurse their injuries instead of helping yall win a division. Plus the last time you made it to the big show, you lost to the Yanks.

Now yall may strongly dislike and have ring envy for the Yanks but what you feel for the Phillies is pure hatred. The Phillies have been a thorn in yalls side for years. They are in your division and have also war of words the past few years to go with being the reason yall are shut out of the playoffs. But the difference between you and Phillies is that the Phillies have backed their words on the field and have a ring to show for it and a few division titles to add. Let's take one player on the Mets that I do halfway like- David Wright. A Hampton Roads born and breed boy. Well his mouth recently has written a check that it can't cash. He posed the question about Rollins in '07, "What has Jimmy Rollins ever won?" Well Mr. Wright since your statement he has since won an MVP, and a championship ring to compliment that and now going for a 2nd ring. And since your Mets have had the biggest chokefest in '07, that the Phillies and Jimmy Rollins benefited from in the end. And now Mets fans get to watch Howard and Rollins mature while yall are still hoping for Wright and Reyes to.
But on Wednesday when the series opens up, gotta make a decision who to root for? But let's hope it’s for the hometown team going for #27 and think there is always next year but until then...

Reasons this weekend (10/16-10/18) ROCKED for me as a sportsfan!

Ok so all my friends who know me knows that last year was especially hard for me to be a fan of sports. My Yankees did not make the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. Closing out the old Yankee stadium watching the Rays make it all the way to the big show. The Cowboys who were expected to do big things in the post season ended up imploding and not even making the playoffs. Thanks Team Obliterater (T.O.) and Romo. Then after starting off so great my longhorns beat the sooners 45-35 on a neutral site only to see at the end beat the longhorns miss out of the Big 12 championship and National Championship game by a few hundreths of a point thanks to a computer. So needess to say I was due for a sports weekend to go my way. We'll this past weekend everything that I wanted to happen DID!

My family is split right down the middle when it comes to Oklahoma and Texas. So the Red River Rivalry game is a big deal! Much to my dad and cousins disappointment the Horns beat the Sooners again. And even though it wasn't as enjoyable with Bradford on the bench unable to finish the game, it was still a win. But the reigning Heisman should not of come back last year just to beat Texas. I feel bad the kid is hurt because I know he lost a lot of money coming back to college now creating the doubt for scouts on his durability. But a win is a win and HOOK EM HORNS BABY!

Next on my fabulous weekend, well Dallas did not play this week. It was our beloved bye week so we got a chance to rest up and get healthy for our game against the Falcons. Not to mention I didn't have to get disheartened by the Boys not playing up to their potential. So I wasn't expecting anything good to happen for us. But it was great to see all the teams in our division lose (Giants, Eagles, and Deadskins). Giants finally got a winning team to play and got exposed, Eagles got embarrassed by the Raiders and well the Redskins are just a flat out embarrassment. Then I won my fantasy match up thanks in part to the Packers DST. I ended my football weekend with the Jets looking horrible. Living in NYC its always nice to see the New York football teams lose.
The icing on the cake of why this weekend rocked the Yankees took the first 2 games of the ALCS. And as of right now they are up on the Angels 3-1. One win away from going to the World Series.

So all in all this weekend rocked for me as a sports fan, I just need a few more weekends like that.
~PyRHO's 22 cents

Reasons why I don't follow the NBA anymore and 10 reasons why I just might this year.

When I was a kid I used to follow the NBA very closely. I remember watching the great battles of the Lakers and Celtics, and even the Magic when Shaq first entered the league and had Penny Hardaway as his side kick. Recently I just have not gotten into following as many teams anymore. I might catch a highlight or two before I go to work but I can not remember a time that was not playoffs or one I had tickets for that I planned on sitting down to watch. Free agency and trades have taken away from the dynamics of teams. It’s rare for a team to maintain a team's nucleus for a long time which is far different from before the kids started coming out of high school straight to the pros. It’s all about the all mighty dollar which I can't blame them too much when they are waiving that much money in front of a player.

But let's be real how long if you are not a superstar, do other players stay in the league long? Not many stay over 5 years in the league. Then on top of that trades kill these players remaining with the team for long. Take for instance Shawn Marion, I used to love watching him play for the Suns. That teams was fun to watch when it was led by Steve Nash. Young and fun to watch, they didn't play much defense but their offense was pure teamwork. Then the team decided to go entirely away from the strength of that young team and bring in Shaq. Its not that I do not like Shaq but he did not compliment that teams fast style of play when he was overweight and slow. Since Marion has left the Suns he has been on the Heat, Raptors and now with the Mavs. I don't think Marion is a superstar or a bad player. But he is a starter and probably in the 2nd tier of players and would like to see him not traded so much. Another player this off-season who I would not want to be because GMs seem to be moving him as much as they change their drawers is Quentin Richardson. Just this off-season alone he has been traded from the Knicks to the Bobcats to the Clippers to T-Wolves and is now with the Heat. All this trading ruins a fan even following a team and causes I know for me I started following players not teams.

When Jordan, Magic, or Bird were playing also the thing that has escaped the NBA is teamwork and trying every game without taking a day off. It used to be how college players play now. I for one love watching college kids play Those kids not only play as a team with fundamentals but also play hard. Its hard for me to watch the pro players play it feels like a lot of them are trying to see who can break a rim shoot the longest three to make it on sportscenter. And they definitely are not trying to pass the ball or play as a team or hustling to even win the game.

But as much as I do not watch the NBA as much anymore there are 10 reasons that might just have me watch.
1. Cleveland Cavaliers-I have been a Shaq fan ever since he came out of LSU. I like that the Cavs have brought him in and look forward to seeing him and Lebron play together now that he is in shape (thanks to his Shaq vs. show but never let him wear a speedo again). Most of the same team that got them to the NBA Eastern Conference finals is back now just adding Shaq, Anthony Parker, and Leon Powe. This is going to be a fun team to watch.

2. Los Angeles Lakers- Most of the same cast that Kobe had last year is back but now they have brought in Ron Artest. The dynamics of just him alone are pure entertainment.
3. San Antonio Spurs- I love the way the Spurs play fundamental basketball. It will be interesting to see if their big 3 Duncan, Parker, and the always injured Manu Ginobili can stat healthy. Also this year they may have lost Bowen and Kurt Thomas but they added Richard Jefferson, Antonio McDyess, and Theo Ratliff. Good role players.
4. Phoenix Suns- The main reason I am going to watch this is because Shaq is not there. Will they return to a run and gun offense and keep it fairly slow for their previous liking. And with all the injuries with Staudamire and trade talks will he come out and play. Nash is still there so to me it will still be interesting.
5. Orlando Magic-Superman after the beat down they got in the Finals last year from what I heard is hungry and been working on his free throws. Lets see if that pays off. Plus Jameer Nelson is healthy. With the new add of Vince Carter and the still dangerous Rashard Lewis still there, this will be a fun team to watch.
6. Golden State Warriors- Dysfunctional written all over it. This team only for the pure fact that they do not get along and do not keep it in house is why I will watch. You have Jackson who thinks he is the greatest thing since sliced bread demanding support from the coach and GM that he feels a star should get. And because he is not he wants to be traded only problem he is just like T.O. in the NFL no one wants him. He is a head case and cancer for teams. Then you bring in the young show stopper Stephan Curry and of course now the starting point guard is mad about that. With Greg Nelson leading this team this just has reality show written all over it

7. Denver Nuggets- Now a veteran team with Melo, Billups, Nene, Martin, and Birdman this team to me looks like on paper like it can do something lets see if it comes out on the court.
8. Dallas Mavericks- Mark Cuban alone is entertaining on the sidelines of what he will say next. But Josh Howard is healthy and back, Kidd has resigned with the team too. With the new add of Shawn Marion with the still soft Dirk and Terry. Will be interesting to see how they mesh.
9. Boston Celtics- KG is back with Pierce and Allen. Rondo is making himself into a superstar. They brought in Rasheed Wallace this team is ready to contend and compete
10. Los Angeles Clippers-All the trades they made this year they have a young hungry team with Veteran Davis running the show. I really want to see what Griffin can do to maybe help this franchise which is the Oakland Raiders of the NBA, as big joke every year.

Maybe I will be checking out this years season to watch these teams :)

~PyRHO's 22 cents

Joba Chamberlain: Starter or Reliever? Do the Yanks even know?

The MLB playoffs are here, which I for one am ecstatic about. This is the first time since I moved to New York City that the Yankees have made the playoffs and are moving on to the next round after the sweep of the Minnesota. I love October baseball, but it got me thinking about the state of the Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain. I have watched 75% of the Yanks games this year and follow the team very closely which my boss calls almost to a dysfunctional level of following. But I just hope that Joba is ready to pitch. He hasn’t been pitching well lately, not that I can blame it entirely on him either.
The Yankees created these “Joba Rules” regarding innings pitch, days off between relief appearance depending on the amount of pitches pitched.My question is why have these rules? He is a 24 year old professional baseball pitcher, let the man pitch‬. This year in august they started to notice that he was raising his innings pitched too much. So they thought to make sure he doesn't go over the amount of innings he can pitch we have start skipping his starts. So instead of pitching every 5 days he was pitching every 10. When they saw how much he was struggling with that they decided to not skip starts but to only then pitch him 3-4 innings of his scheduled start. They think by limiting the amount of innings pitched this young in his career will prolong his professional career. Only problem the Yankees are in the hunt for a championship and we are concerned with innings pitched. Currently they are about to play the Angels in game 1 of the American League Championship Series. This man is like any other pitcher, he feeds off getting into a rhythm. By skipping his starts and then limiting his innings when he does start he is unable to get into a rhythm while also then depleting our bullpen. He is a big boy, let him pitch because now instead of going into the post season in a rhythm, he is going in stumbling.

He is a young guy and your messing now with his psyche having him out there getting booed, blowing games. This man already has enough in his personal life with his druggie drunkard mother and his ill father. His father is his rock and when his father got sick last year he was a wreck. God forbid something were to happen to his father his psyche would already be a mess. But now the man doesn't even know where his role with his team is. I hope for his sake that he has dusted all the cobwebs out of his head because he is a spark for the yanks and coming out of the bullpen he sparks the team when he comes in. He gives the team an added punch and is a momentum changer.
But in the future they need to figure out if he is a reliever or a starter fast because messing around trying to prolong his career and instead will be destroying it.

My beef with Brett Favre

You have to be living under a rock to not know the Brett Favre story over the past 3 years. I am going to get into how it came to be later on in this entry. I am not here to trash the man, his numbers are phenomenal. There is no question that they speak for themselves. He is a first ballot hall of famer. There has been a lot of talk lately on whether or not he is tarnishing his legacy. I for one do not believe that he is tarnishing his legacy. Numbers speak for themselves. I think he is not doing himself any favors winning fans over but when its all said its done its his body and if he feels he can still go then its his choice.

Some players like him just do not know when its time to hang them up. Like Michael Jordan, if you caught his hall of fame speech where he hinted around that he can still play. I fear though that he will have a career ending injury that will just play over and over. You never want to see a player not able to make the decision on his own like Michael Irvin and his neck injury. One picture that plays over and over in my mind is of a fellow New York Jet quarterback, Joe Namath on the bench in a then Los Angeles Rams uniform a broken man fully aware that his body just won’t let him play to the level he was once at. Sitting on the bench with 2 bags of ice on both knees. He didn’t know when to leave out when he was on top and instead of leaving the game when he was on top of his game on his own accord; he showed us over and over that he just didn’t have it anymore. I am scared that we will see Brett like that. I foresee him heading down that road. He is 40 years old and I don’t see him playing at this level for a full NFL season. His body I see breaking down on him similar to the last 8 games as a Jet. Granted he was injured and played through which it still leaves me wondering what was the medical staff thinking letting him play with a partially torn bicep.

Right now he is playing out of his mind. He still has a gun for an arm and the block he made on Patrick Willis was not a hit like most quarterbacks would make but who are we kidding most NFL quarterbacks would not be running down to make a block. You don’t want your quarterback doing that in open space because it leaves him open to get hammered by a huge lineman or linebacker. But Brett is not your average quarterback. He wants to win, and will do anything to win.

That is why he was God-like to so many Green Bay fans. My one bestie can attest to that. She is a die hard Cheese head. She literally bleeds green and gold. She went so far as to swear to name her first born after Brett Favre. She has now since retracted due to his now wearing a Minnesota Vikings uniform. She is completely heartbroken. I can totally understand how she feels, I would be devastated to see Derek Jeter in a Red Sox uniform or Jason Witten in a Redskin Uniform. Its hard to see him in a rivals uniform.

Now i totally do not blame him either for wanting to still continue to play and still competing at the highest level. I just do not think he will ever be happy unless he is carried off the field on a stretcher so that decision is not his own. Because we can clearly see that if the decision was left to him he would play forever and continue to strap up every Sunday.
My main issue with the man is how he treats the off season. I for one love this new Sears commercial.

It is right, the man can not make up his mind and kudos to Sears for marketing his indecisiveness. But as great a quarterback as the man is, his indecisiveness is my issue with him. This indecisiveness holds teams hostage, along with ESPN for that matter. We are forced to see on ESPN every other day his every move. How many times do we have to see Rachel Nichols on his lawn talking about his day to day activities and who he spoke to. he tells a team, I'm done, I am retiring and then a few months later oh wait i do want to play after all.
I commend the Packers for finally saying enough is enough. For 3 years prior to his first retirement, he held the organization hostage during the offseason. All they wanted was an answer so they could make needed personnel decisions related to the draft and free agents. But Brett always wants to mull it over and right before the preseason and training camp he will then decide yes i want to play. After his final game with the Packers he was told by the Coach Mike McCarthy and the GM Ted Thomson that "We want an answer before the draft whether or not you will retire or not. Two years prior I am sure it hurt Bretts feelings when they drafted Aaron Rogers to one day take over the job from him. But the Packers had to make plans for the future and Brett never very positive of whether or not he would play the next season they had to cover their butts. But he was giving 3 months almost 4 months to make his decision on whether to come back to Green Bay or to retire. He chose then to retire. So the entire offseason then for the Packers was to prepare Aaron Rogers as a starter. Then right before Preseason we start seeing Rachel Nichols pop up in Mississippi that Brett might want to come back. When he decides that he does the Packers told him that he would not be the named starter and would have to compete for the job. Obviously he did not like that idea and demanded a trade. He wanted then to play for the Vikings but why would the packers trade him to their rivals.
I think it was then that Brett and his agent devised this plan to get to Minnesota not to stick it to the fans but to stick it to McCarthy and Thompson. His plan almost got derailed at the end of the 2008 season when he got injured. But after all the mess of not to play or to play, whether the surgery and rehabilitation was a success, Brett Favre got his way and on Monday Night Football last week became the only quarterback to beat all the NFL teams by beating the Green Bay Packers. He had a great game. But i do not care what Favre says publicly this was entirely about revenge. Minnesota needed a top notch quarterback to get over the hump and Brett wanted to get back at the Packers management no matter the impact it would have on the fans. But it still remains to be seen whether or not he will bring a championship to Green Bay. They are off to a great start at 4-0. Time will tell how long Favre will play, i just hope he can walk away from the game and not carried off or leave the way Namath did.

Its not ALL Romo's fault

Ok as I have been watching the first quarter of the NFL season and watching my Cowboys play. Most of the season has had me yell and scream at the screen like a maniac like in fact they could hear what I have to say or even care. I hate watching them play below their potential and lose games that are winnable. Plus living in New York with both New york teams starting the season off so well. But as I watch the games and how instead of progressing offensively we are regressing. But after the game on sunday against the Denver Broncos it was a tale of two halfs. And for the second straight game Tony Romo not having a touchdown pass. Very surprising when Jerry Jones has placed so many weapons on this offense. Tony Romo definitely does not look comfortable out on the field, doesn't look like he is leading the team, and loses his focus so many times with the game on the line. Granted he holds the ball way too long, sometimes throws inaccurately, and throws into double coverage a lot. And unless he pulls it together it is going to get worse before it gets better. I do not envy his job. He is expected when he suits up with the star on his helmet to produce and win not just by the fans but by his owner. But as the season goes on and how he is getting progressively worse and it is actually expected for him to mess up in the game at least once. In fact a good friend of mine and I have even come up with our saying when people rag on us about the Boys of "that's our Romo." He is what he is and as much as we want to see a Staubach or Aikman type quarterback walk through the door and save day we just have to accept him and hopefully he can turn it around and regain his confidence and start protecting the ball.
But the same problems that we have had since Wade Phillips took over the team that do not have anything to do with Tony Romo's play are still there. The biggest one I see constantly is taking accountability for your play. Yes Romo's play has cost us 2 games this year. Now I would love the coaches to step in and say publically or even bench Romo and make him accountable for his play. He doesn't need to be caudled any more. And granted we don't have the most accurate backup in Kitna but maybe Romo needs a wake up call. He has done nothing to prove that he is a superstar in this league. He may be in the top 5 with quaterbacks in yards, 300 yard games, and touchdown passes in the past 3 years but that means nothing. He has not been able to finish strong in the big games late in the season and has yet to win a playoff game. And until he can show and prove he is a star then he will not be classified with the elite quarterbacks in the league. Jerry Jones has created a Romo friendly environment for him and he has yet to thrive in it. No T.O. no Jessica, no pacman =no excuses left. Its time to lead in big games and stop talking about why you didn't show up in the games.

But as much as its the sexy pick to just put all the blame on Romo, there are other factors that contribute to this dismal start for America's team. The biggest one is Jason Garrett, our offensive coordinator. I just can't get a grasp of his play calling. We start the game off well running the ball and then every 2nd half he seems to shy away from of it letting Romo throw all over the field. Typically Romo then likes to throw into double coverage or to the best corner back on the field like sunday when he threw 16 times in the direction of a shut down corner Champ Bailey. And then with the game on the line he throw to our #4 receiver Sam Hurd. No disrespect to Hurd but there is a reason that he is our #4 for a reason. The fact they throw so many times to their best corner instead of away from him just continues to puzzle me. Also, in the final minutes of the game they have our best hands on the team in Jason Witten instead of going out to catch a ball blocking for Romo. You eliminate our best weapons and take away one of our strengths in our tight ends which is creating mismatches. They create mismatches all over the field helping themselves and the rest of the receivers get open. They do not deserve to win when they do not use their players strengths and best weapons with the game on the line. A lot of that rest squarely on Garrett not Romo's shoulders.

At the end of the first quarter of the season, you are what your record is and right now the Cowboys are mediocre team with .500 record. They do not have a swagger about them with the want to win as a team. The cowboys of the 70's and 90's had the want to win and did not let the outside world take away from what they do on the field. Yes to be a Cowboy comes with a lot but its all with how you handle the additives. And right now these Cowboys of 2000 are about to go the entire decade without winning one playoff game. They show no sense of urgency to want to win. Its time for someone with the star on their helmet to take the bull by the horn and be a leader on the team. They desperately need it.
I am going to end this on a positive note though. The one bright spot has to be the ever improving Dallas D. They are starting to show signs of improvement. The touchdown that Brandon Marshall scored I don't even blame entirely on them. The fact that in the 2nd half our offense had so many 3 and outs they were noticeably tired. But they had so many big 3rd and 4th down stops that shows hope. Wade's play calling on the defensive side of the ball should be commended if any thing and our young secondary is showing signs of future greatness. But the season is not over but its time turn it around. The Boys need to get back to their bread and butter of running the ball with Flash, Bash, and Tash (felix jones, marion barber, and Choice) and live with our getting stronger defense and just dominate the game the way their talent warrants. So its not just Romo's fault!

~PyRHO's 22 cents

Allow me to introduce myself...

Ok I should probably introduce myself and how I came to the conclusion to write this blog. I am not the stereotypical female sports fan who picks winners based on team colors, mascots, uniforms or whether or not the star of the team is cute or not. I am a die hard sports fan who relies more on facts and figures to make my picks or select my fantasy players for my teams. But I am also very opinionated when it comes to sports, too. Most of my friends use me as their resident ESPN when they want to get updated on what is going on in the sports world or are curious to know my opinion about what is going on. One of my really good friends actually tells every guy that she dates that says he a huge sports fan that he may think he is but I know a girl who knows more than you. Then of course when the guy meets me he then tries to one up me. And maybe its just my competitive spirit but I then have to prove it to him when he tries to quiz me. I have met only one guy who can stand toe to toe with me who she has dated and believe me their have been quite a few who have tried. My dad used to tell me all the time as a kid you can know all the present facts but if you do not know that teams history then you really can not consider yourself a fan. I can remember my dad coming home from be away at sea since he is in the Navy and just watching old time games with him. So when I talk about Dimaggio, Roger Staubach or Lou Gehrig I do remember watching older games of them playing and older people then tell me oh that's before your 25 years on earth. Yes that may be but I love the old games before free agency where a player had loyalty for an organization and where they cared more about winning then padding their own individual stats. But I have finally got the urge to join the blogging world. I am going to try to update it once a week and this blog will be about all sports topics not just the major ones. But I am a die hard Dallas Cowboys, Texas Longhorns, and New York Yankees. But I hope you enjoy this blog and please remember it is just my opinion.