Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Welcome Back Javy Vazquez


Welcome back,
Your second half 2004 was your ticket out.
Welcome back,
To that same old place that you laughed about.
Well the names have all changed since you hung around,
But those dreams have remained and they're turned around.
Who'd have thought they'd lead ya (Who'd have thought they'd lead ya)
Here where we need ya (Here where we need ya)
Yeah we tease him a lot cause he got rocked in the A.L.C.S. loss to Boston, welcome back,
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

What Was A-Rod Thinking?

when he gave this up:

Yankee Fans


The news of Kate and A-Rod's break up caused a record 2197 hits over at Knickerbocker Village

Monday, December 14, 2009

RIP Gene Barry


see more about gene at knickerbockervillage

The Hanukkah Homeboy

Happy Hanukkah: Jason Hirsh A Possible 2010 Yankee


from the yankee lohud blog
from wikipedia
The Astros drafted and signed his younger brother Matt (6' 5"; 235 lbs.), another Cal Lutheran right-handed pitcher, in the 30th round in 2005. Matt went 1-2, 5.61, in 2005 at Rookie-level Greeneville. Released by the Astrons on June 12, 2006, Matt signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in September 2006.
Hirsh is Jewish. He didn't find that to be an issue with the 2007 Rockies, even though as The New York Times put it, "Christianity rocks in Colorado's clubhouse." Hirsh said, "There are guys who are religious, sure, but they don’t impress it upon anybody. It’s not like they hung a cross in my locker or anything. They’ve accepted me for who I am, and what I believe in." Hirsh was featured in the 2008 Hank Greenberg 75th Anniversary edition of Jewish Major Leaguers Baseball Cards, licensed by Major League Baseball and published in affiliation with Fleer Trading Cards and the American Jewish Historical Society, commemorating the Jewish Major Leaguers from 1871 through 2008.[47] He joined, among other Jewish major leaguers, Brad Ausmus, Kevin Youkilis, Ian Kinsler, Ryan Braun, Gabe Kapler, Jason Marquis, John Grabow, Craig Breslow, and Scott Schoeneweis.
He married Pamela Clark in 2007, and as a wedding present bought her a new Jeep Grand Cherokee. In July 2009 the couple was expecting their first child.
Hirsh makes his offseason home in Burbank, California.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Claudette Colvin: The "Real" Rosa Parks 2


Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Author Phillip Hoose
On March 2, 1955, an impassioned teenager, fed up with the daily injustices of Jim Crow segregation, refused to give her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Instead of being celebrated as Rosa Parks would be just nine months later, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin found herself shunned by her classmates and dismissed by community leaders.
Undaunted, a year later she dared to challenge segregation again as a key plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle, the landmark case that struck down the bus segregation laws of Montgomery and swept away the legal underpinnings of the Jim Crow South.
Based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others, Phillip Hoose presents the first in-depth account of an important yet largely unknown civil rights figure, skillfully weaving her dramatic story into the fabric of the historic Montgomery bus boycott and court case that would change the course of American history.

Claudette Colvin: The "Real" Rosa Parks

claudette-colvin
The images above feature Claudette Colvin. The images of her taken on a bus was part of a municipal bus decoration project done in her honor by school children of Portland, Maine.
an excerpt from the nytimes
From Footnote to Fame in Civil Rights History, By BROOKS BARNES
On that supercharged day in 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Ala., she rode her way into history books, credited with helping to ignite the civil rights movement.
But there was another woman, named Claudette Colvin, who refused to be treated like a substandard citizen on one of those Montgomery buses — and she did it nine months before Mrs. Parks. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made his political debut fighting her arrest. Moreover, she was the star witness in the legal case that eventually forced bus desegregation.
Yet instead of being celebrated, Ms. Colvin has lived unheralded in the Bronx for decades, initially cast off by black leaders who feared she was not the right face for their battle, according to a new book that has plucked her from obscurity.
Last week Phillip Hoose won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature for “Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice,” published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux. The honor sent the little-selling title shooting up 500 spots on Amazon.com’s sales list and immediately thrust Ms. Colvin, 70, back into the cultural conversation.
“Young people think Rosa Parks just sat down on a bus and ended segregation, but that wasn’t the case at all,” Ms. Colvin said in an animated interview at a diner near her apartment in the Parkchester section of the Bronx. “Maybe by telling my story — something I was afraid to do for a long time — kids will have a better understanding about what the civil rights movement was about.”
Ms. Colvin made her stand on March 2, 1955, and Mrs. Parks made hers on Dec. 1 that same year. Somehow, as Mrs. Parks became one of Time Magazine’s 100 most important people of the 20th century, and streets and schools were named after her, Ms. Colvin managed to let go of any bitterness. After Ms. Colvin was arrested, Mrs. Parks, a seasoned N.A.A.C.P. official, sometimes let her spend the night at her apartment. Ms. Colvin remembers her as a reserved but kindly woman who fixed her snacks of peanut butter on Ritz crackers.
“My mother told me to be quiet about what I did,” Ms. Colvin recalled. “She told me: ‘Let Rosa be the one. White people aren’t going to bother Rosa — her skin is lighter than yours and they like her.’ ”
Ms. Colvin said she came to terms with her “raw feelings” a long time ago. “I know in my heart that she was the right person,” she said of Mrs. Parks.
Unlike Mrs. Parks, whose protest was carefully planned, Ms. Colvin was just a 15-year-old who couldn’t stomach the Jim Crow segregation laws one second longer.
Ms. Colvin was riding the bus home from school when the driver demanded that she give up her seat for a middle-age white woman, even though three other seats in the row were empty, one beside Ms. Colvin and two across the aisle.
“If she sat down in the same row as me, it meant I was as good as her,” Ms. Colvin said.
Two police officers, one of them kicking her, dragged her backward off the bus and handcuffed her, according to the book. On the way to the police station, they took turns trying to guess her bra size.
At the time, the arrest was big news. Black leaders, among them Dr. King, jumped at the opportunity to use her case to fight segregation laws in court. “Negro Girl Found Guilty of Segregation Violation” was the headline in The Alabama Journal. The article said that Ms. Colvin, “a bespectacled, studious looking high school student,” accepted the ruling “with the same cool aloofness she had maintained” during the hearing.
As chronicled by Mr. Hoose, more than 100 letters of support arrived for Ms. Colvin — sent in care of Mrs. Rosa Parks, secretary of the Montgomery branch of the N.A.A.C.P.
But Ms. Colvin was ultimately passed over.
“They worried they couldn’t win with her,” Mr. Hoose said in an interview from his home in Portland, Me. “Words like ‘mouthy,’ ‘emotional’ and ‘feisty’ were used to describe her.”

Isn't it embarrassing the schoolchildren of Portland, Maine honor Bronx native Claudette and nothing has been done in Bloomberg and Klein's Broad Prize Award Winning public school system of New York. Social Studies and history is paid short shrift in the so-called greatest city. It is only done well by inspired and brave leaders and teachers in far few schools that risk side-stepping the all day, every day test prep mantra.
for more on Phil Hoose's award winning book

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

David By Nellie Mckay


a great new singer who I just heard about. (It takes a while for the generation gap to be bridged)
Look at you you're young
Havin' so much fun
Gonna be a star
Blah blah blah
And click there goes the phone
I don't wanna know
What my
Horoscope's predicting
Just pour me a drink
Cuz I need a kick
I don't wanna think
I just wanna sip
[chorus]
David don't you hear me at all
David won't you give me a call
Waitin' here not makin' a sound
David come around
Mister bushie says
I'm your president
I have lots to say
Hey hey hey
And click goes the remote
There you have my vote
Catchin' the next boat out of here
Just pour me a drink
Cuz I need a lie
I don't wanna think
I just wanna die
[chorus]
David don't you hear me at all
David don't you hear through the wall
Waitin' here not makin' a sound
David come around
[bridge]
Chaos pervades the world outside
Days offer spades of hurled outcries
Gone is the fair and five and dime
But he is there
He's so fine
Listen to her play
Has somethin' to say
Even has a rap
Clap clap clap
But click there goes the lid
Sorry 'bout the fib
I ain't got a grip on nothin'
Just pour me a drink
Right outta the can
I don't wanna think
I just want my man
[chorus]
David don't you hear me at all
David dear I'm just down the hall
Waitin' here not makin' a sound
David come around

Friday, November 20, 2009

That Touch Of Minka 2


Minka is able to work her charm to elicit a rare public laugh out of Derek.

That Touch Of Minka


soon at a theater near you

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Friday, November 13, 2009

No Mas Presents: Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No by James Blagden

from nomas
Inn celebration of the greatest athletic achievement by a man on a psychedelic journey, No Mas and artist James Blagden proudly present the animated tale of Dock Ellis' legendary LSD no-hitter. In the past few years weve heard all too much about performance enhancing drugs from greenies to tetrahydrogestrinone, and not enough about performance inhibiting drugs. If our evaluation of the records of athletes like Mark McGwire, Roger Clemens, Marion Jones, and Barry Bonds needs to be revised downwards with an asterisk, we submit that that Dock Ellis record deserves a giant exclamation point. Of the 263 no-hitters ever thrown in the Big Leagues, we can only guess how many were aided by steroids, but we can say without question that only one was ever thrown on acid.
Sadly, the great Dock Ellis died last December at 63. A year before, radio producers Donnell Alexander and Neille Ilel, had recorded an interview with Ellis in which the former Pirate right hander gave a moment by moment account of June 12, 1970, the day he no-hit the San Diego Padres. Alexander and Ilels original four minute piece appeared March 29, 2008 on NPRs Weekend America. When we stumbled across that piece this past June, Blagden and Isenberg were inspired to create a short animated film around the original audio.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

A Former Fourth Warder At The Yankee Parade

Those Whacky Yankee Fans


At least you won't get killed like you would in Philly.

John Sterling Joins Jayz At Yankee Celebration


truly a moment of inspiration from it is high, it is far, it is caught
I just wonder who the "genius" was who picked out that song that was played as the keys were given out.

Mike Whoops It Up At Post Game Celebration


image from the brilliant IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS caught

Joba Learns About The Key To The City

The Boss At The Awards' Ceremony At City Hall

Hideki Is Offered Another Prize At City Hall

Tweed Utilizes New Age Cost-Savings Techniques


from the nyc public school parents blog
Every time you think that things couldn’t possibly get worse in terms of the wacky and wasteful use of funds at the NYC Department of Education -- it does.
If the DOE were a Wall St. firm it would have crashed years ago. See what high-priced consultant George Rabb, late of the bankrupt Bear Stearns brought to Tweed last year, ostensibly "to save money" and to improve employees' "ability to adapt to change."
Though Rabb has since left DOE, this is further confirmation that lunatics have been running the asylum at Tweed.

Gary Babad at nyc public school parents blog has his own unique take on this story.
And people are shocked that Bloomberg almost lost?

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Tim I Am


Tim McCarver singing one of his hits, evidently a very personal one, from his new album.

Tim And Joe On Halloween


After they were obviously disappointed by the Yankee win last night Joe and Buck were discussing their Halloween costumes.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Exclusive Interview With George Steinbrenner


Steve Serby of the nypost had an exclusive interview with the Boss yesterday. I think some of the answers may have been a little embellished by his publicist Howard Rubinstein.
e.g.
Q: The players want to win the Yankees’ 27th world championship for you — how does that make you feel?
A: It’s a nice sentiment, and I appreciate it. But as far as I’m concerned, we always want to win it for the fans. If we win it, I’ll dedicate it to them. And that’s the main motivation I want for our entire organization.
Q: How badly do you burn to win that 27th championship?
A: It’s a fire that’s always there, and it burns hotter the closer you get. I know our fans are consumed with it and that makes me want even more.
Q: If you were to give these Yankees a pregame pep talk — what would you tell them?
A: You had a great year, now finish like Yankees. Think of those 50,000 people in the stands and everybody watching on TV. They are the most loyal and dedicated
fans in sports. We built you guys a beautiful new stadium. We are counting on you to break it in the right way — by making it the home of the 2009 world champions. It’s a long off season, so leave it all on the field and give it your best.

If I could ask a few, this is how I imagine it would go
Q: Who are you supporting for mayor
A: Even though Thompson can be bought, that little twerp, Bloomberg, will give anything to just hang out in the locker room.
Q: Do you fool around with interns like Letterman?
A: I would if I could but at my age I'm lucky if I can find it when I pee.
Q: Who was the hottest babe of any athlete you ever saw? Was it Marilyn Monroe
A: No, Vikki LaMotta
Q: Why has Brian Cashman lasted as long as your GM?
A: I know I can always depend on Brian to do anything I ask, including changing my depends.
Q: In your lifetime who has been the biggest a-hole you've met in sports? Mike Lupica?
A: No, Tim McCarver

Friday, October 30, 2009

Now That I've Found You


A portfolio of the work done in the teaching of map skills to first graders on the lower east side
Baby,
now that I've found you
I won't let you go
I built my world around you
I need you so,
baby even though
You don't need me
now
Baby,
now that I've found you
I won't let you go
I built my world around you
I need you so
Baby even though
You don't need me,
You don't need me oh, no
Baby, baby,
when first we met
I knew in this heart of mine
That you were someone I couldn't forget.
I said right,
and abide my time
Spent my life looking
for that somebody
to make me feel like new
Now you tell me that you want to leave me
But darling, I just can't let you
Baby, baby,
when first we met
I knew in this heart of mine
That you were someone I couldn't forget.
I said right,
and abide my time
Spent my life looking
for that somebody
to make me feel like new
Now you tell me that you want to leave me
But darling, I just can't let you
Now that I found you
I built my world around you
I need you so, baby even though
You don't need me now
Baby, now that I've found you
I won't let you go
I built my world around you
I need you so
Baby even though
You don't need me
You don't need me no, no

The Way You Move: A Transportation Unit With First Graders


The culmination of a neighborhood transportation unit with first graders

Did You Know


The culmination of a unit on non-fiction narrative account writing with first graders on the lower east side
Springer/Leigh)
How little we know
How much to discover
What chemical forces flow
From lover to lover
How little we understand - what touches of that tingle
That sudden explosion - when two tingles intermingle
Who cares to define
What chemistry this is
Who cares with your lips on mine
How ignorant bliss is
So long as you kiss me - (and) the world around us shatters
How little it matters - how little we know
(How little we know, how little we know,...)

7.27 Win Warble For John Sterling Last Night

There's No Crying In Baseball

Yankees React To Alicia Keyes Performance At World Series 2

Yankees React To Alicia Keyes Performance At World Series

Brian Explains It All 2

Mutual Admiration Society

Tim Enjoys Philly Game 1 Win In World Series

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Timmy's In Love


"That was just an exhilarating performance by Cliff Lee tonight"

Brian Explains It All


with a h/t to the John Sterling Blog

Cruisin For Votes


thanks to Dr Love for an explanation

Let's Send The Phillies Back Where They Belong

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Ok, so the Yanks have a player named Chad Gaudin, but what kind of name is Cole Hamels or Chase Utley?

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Friday, October 23, 2009

Why The Angels Shouldn't Go To The World Series

The fans are spelling out a secret swastika message with the thunderstix. Yankee fans would never wave stupid bats like that.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

French Foreign Legion


If you turn me down once more, I'll join the French Foreign Legion
Bet you, they would welcome me, with open arms
First you love me, yes; then you love me, no
I don't know where I stand
Do we march together down the isle
Or do I march that desert sand
If you think I won't find romance, in the French Foreign Legion
Think about that uniform with all its charm
Just one more time are you gonna be mine, or au revoir cheri
It's the French Foreign Legion for me

the previous post was just a set up as an excuse to use Sinatra here.

French Foreign Legion Honors NYC Principals

Over at the nyc public school parents blog one of my satiric idols, Gary Babad, may have uncovered the true story of the knighting of 4 NYC school principals. His take
Purportedly a recognition of the dual French-English language programs at the principals’ schools, the titles are actually being conferred to reward the principals for their role in recruiting students for the French Foreign Legion, sources told GBN News.
The dual language programs were reportedly designed to give students the communication skills needed to function in the Foreign Legion environment, and would facilitate the ability of the Legion to recruit them once they reach the required age. Legion service will be considered “seat time” for credit recovery purposes, and will enable any student who joins to automatically graduate.

I have another theory. I think the principals are being recognized for their military like precision in utilizing test prep materials. Evidently the foreign legion will be modeling their practices

The Manchurian Candidate Lives



My friend Norm "commissioned" a Manchurian/Randi graphic for this story. The original film dialogue for the top graphic (for those who are film buffs) is
Mrs. Iselin: It has been decided that you will be dressed as a priest, to help you get away in the pandemonium afterwards. Chunjin will give you a two-piece Soviet Army sniper's rifle that fits nicely into a special bag. There's a spotlight booth that won't be in use. It's up under the roof on the Eighth Avenue side of the Garden. You will have absolutely clear, protected shooting. You are to shoot the presidential nominee through the head. And Johnny will rise gallantly to his feet and lift Ben Arthur's body in his arms, stand in front of the microphones and begin to speak. The speech is short. But it's the most rousing speech I've ever read. It's been worked on, here and in Russia, on and off, for over eight years. I shall force someone to take the body away from him and Johnny will really hit those microphones and those cameras with blood all over him, fighting off anyone who tries to help him, defending America even if it means his own death, rallying a nation of television viewers to hysteria, to sweep us up into the White House with powers that will make martial law seem like anarchy! Now, this is very important. I want the nominee to be dead two minutes after he begins his acceptance speech - depending on his reading time under pressure. You are to hit him right at the point that he finishes the phrase, "Nor would I ask of any fellow American in defense of his freedom that which I would not gladly give myself - my life before my liberty." Is that absolutely clear?

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Another Screw Up Named Tim



In addition to having to suffer the biased reporting of Tim McCarver, fans had to be subjected to inadequacies of ump Tim McClelland. What's with that guy, I thought he was a long gone Civil War screw up general?

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Thank You Kate, Thank You Angels' Infield


great graphics from yankee nomass blog

Happy Birthday Tim McCarver, You Big...


It was Tim's birthday this weekend.
from thejohnsterling blog
THE WHOLE WORLD'S WATCHING! THE WHOLE WORLD'S WATCHING! THE WHOLE WORLD'S WATCHING. Except for Tim McCarver
Usually, to see bias so vividly displayed on the international stage, you need Hugo Chavez addressing the United Nations.
Now, we’ve got Fox Sports.
Last night, everybody in baseball what Tim McCarver refused to acknowledge: the umps getting a call right for a change. As usual, he only saw the Yankees getting away with something.
Let's turn up the Wayback: Eleventh inning. Angels shortstop Aybar sidesteps second base, missing the bag on a routine double play ball, so the ump calls the runner safe.
McCarver nearly spits his teeth. At various moments, he claims that:
1. Aybar touched second.
2. Aybar hasn’t touched second base all night, so the umps are wrong to start calling it.
3. Nobody ever touches second, so the umps shouldn't call it.
4. His foot grazed second, inconclusive on replay.
5. OK, replays show he missed the bag, but the runner should still be out, based on a the Unwritten Rule of the Game.
6. If umps start calling this, shortstops and second basemen will face needless injuries.
7. On a night like this, it's especially wrong for an ump to make that call. Someone could be hurt.
8. The game will be forever disputed if the Yankees win on this play.
9. The Angels were wronged, and everybody in the world will agree on this.
10. (Later, after the inning is over.) Thank God that call didn’t influence the outcome. It would have wrecked a great game.
Insert sigh here.
Folks, this is madness. This is "The-earth-is-flat-and-I-can-prove-it-with-these-photos" insanity. Is McCarver a birther? Does he have any 9-11 conspiracies he should be sharing?
NOTE: Later, he says the video crew checked and found Aybar always touching the bag on other DP plays in the game. He he never apologizes to an ump that got it right.
Listen: We all know what Fox is doing. With the Yankees and Angels playing, they automatically have the two largest TV markets in America on speed-dial. But to gin up interest elsewhere, they need a villain. So everything is geared to: Hey, everybody, let's watch the big bad Yankees lose!
OK, fine. But McCarver is getting to be like Sterling's analysis of Teixeira: Every game, he does something to amaze. Is there no other announcer out there who can talk about players not changing underwear in winning streaks? This guy is watching on a different channel.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Sinatra And The Yankees


from the sinatra.com site
To celebrate the upcoming release of the SINATRA: NEW YORK box, we're proud to present this special video featuring Sal Scognamillo, of Patsy's Italian Restaurant, recalling the time Billy Martin and the World Series champs met Frank Sinatra

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Derek Jeter: The Emperor Of The Empire


A true story from my friend Joe Bruno:
About 6-8 years ago, my 3 friends from NY City came down to Sarasota for spring training, like they did every year since 1996, when the Yankees moved to Tampa. We usually go to 2, or three games in different stadium near Sarasota.
I got my friends seats in Sarasota against the Reds, second row, just to the left of the Yankee (visitors) dugout.
Before the game, Jeter was stretching right in front of us. About 30 feet away. A little kid kept screaming next to us in the aisle, "Mr. Jeter! Mr. Jeter! Please, Mr. Jeter."
The kid had things he wanted autographed.
Jeter ignored him.
So, being from NY City and, obnoxious to start with, we started abusing Jeter.
"Hey you, Jeter! What are you a big shot? Ignoring a little kid? Yeah, Jeter , you think you're a big shot!"
Jeter stood up, looked us in the eye, and walked right toward us. Right in our faces. Two feet away from us. Paul O'Neil was following him and I did not like the look in O'Neil's eye.
"The kid is working for somebody," Jeter told us. "I see that kid in every spring training park. We autograph things, and whoever he's working for, sells them."
We didn't know what to say.
But that shows you what type of a guy Jeter is. Another player would have ignored us, or told us to go eff ourselves. I know that's what I would have done.
But he wanted to make it clear to us four jerkoffs, that he was not ignoring the kid without good reason.
That's the difference between Derek Jeter and 99% of the athletes in America. He really cares what people think about him personally. He doesn't cash his multi-million dollar paychecks and tell the rest of the world to go eff themselves.
Jeter will always be aces in my book.

Oh What A Beautiful Day: The Red Sox Are Going Away

All Star Brooklyn Brown Noser Steps Up To The Plate


from the mayor's press release
I truly believe this Mayor’s innovative approach and superb management style have placed him in the realm of what sports fans call ‘one of the greats,’” said Mr. Markowitz. “Regarding Brooklyn’s future, the Mayor and I are working together on many projects -- from the development of Downtown Brooklyn, to the revitalization of our waterfront, to the creation of a stunning Brooklyn Bridge Park, to progress on the Coney Island Plan, to building and preserving affordable housing, to keeping our environment sustainable and to transforming education in this city. As a lifelong Democrat and Brooklynite, I am proud today to give my endorsement to a man whose ideas, vision, skill and dedication are truly befitting of both our city’s grand history and its bright future -- Mike Bloomberg.”

Marty is uniquely suited for this task. Being shorter than the mayor he can really burrow in