Lotte's Kobayashi Declares Free Agency

According to a report in the Mainichi Daily News of Tokyo, Chiba Lotte Marines Closer Hiroyuki Kobayashi has declared free agency and intends to fulfill his dreams of pitching in the Major Leagues. The 29 year old right handed closer is a two time Japan Series champion and ready for the next step.

The Yankees should take notice. With the inconsistencies of Joba Chamberlain and co., the departure of Kerry Wood and the eventual retirement of Mariano Rivera it might not be a bad idea to take a look at Kobayashi-san since he stated in the press that he would be willing to pitch in whatever role his potential Major League suitors envision him in.

David Meggett Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison

44 year old former New York Giant, New England Patriot and New York Jets player David Meggett can now look forward to recreating "The Longest Yard" in prison for the next 30 years. According to the Post and Courier, the former punt/kick returner, third down running back and sometimes receiver has been convicted of criminal sexual conduct and burglary in South Carolina.

He was charged of the crimes in January 2009 after a visit to the home of a college student during which he allegedly attacked her and then trashed her home.

This is not the first time Meggett has had trouble regarding his conduct with women, it finally caught up to him. He also faces charges that he forced a teenager to have sex with him in September 2008 according to the paper. There previously also various reports of him sexually assaulting an escort in Toronto in 1998 with a trial that ended in a hung jury.

Meggett was a member of the Giants Super Bowl XXV champion team, a two time pro-bowler and 1988 Walter Peyton Award winner. He played college football for Morgan State and Towson. His 3,708 punt return yards rank second all time in the NFL.

He is not eligible for parole until he is 69 years old and plans to appeal the verdict.

Greatest Trick Play in Football History?

Every once in a while a play comes along that defies logic and makes us all chuckle. A middle school in Texas has managed to do that for many people in the past few days.



Sometimes with all the pay for play scandals in college, steroids and drugs in the pros; it takes children to remind us of why we love this game and that any team can win on any given Friday/Saturday/Sunday.

Giants Look Forward to Cowboys

The 6-2 Giants are not taking their wounded opponent lightly. Though the Cowboys may only be 1-7, they are a division opponent and the Giants need to handle them as they did the last time they played. They will face a very different team than they faced a few weeks ago.

Gone is coach Wade Phillips, who Coughlin referred to as a good person and a very good coach and coordinator. He has been replaced by former Giants backup quarterback Jason Garrett, a long time offensive coordinator and QB coach. Gone is Tony Romo, who was knocked out of the game on a hit from linebacker Michael Boley. he has been replaced by 14 year veteran John Kitna. Even without Romo, Coughlin is making sure his team is focused on their division rival.

Posada to DH Next Year: Who Will Catch Cliff Lee?

According to a report in today's NY Post, GM Brian Cashman has informed Jorge Posada he will not catch next season on a full time basis. This decision was communicated to him face to face in Manhattan by the GM yesterday afternoon.

Posada is scheduled to have the same surgery CC Sabathia had a year ago to repair a torn meniscus in his knee. He has previously said he could catch through the pain, but his defensive skills have eroded to the point the Yankees are now looking elsewhere for a catcher and will look to use Posada as a DH for the final season of his 4 year, $52 million contract that owes him $13.1 million for the 2011 season.

Jeter, Teixeira and Cano Win Gold Gloves: The Debate Begins

The Yankees announced yesterday that three of their players won gold gloves. For Derek Jeter it was his fifth, Teixeira's fourth and Cano's first. Jeter and Teixeira have won the last two seasons in a row.


As a team, the Yankees led the major leagues in fielding percentage (.988) and had the fewest errors of any team in the major leagues. Both marks were franchise records.


Jeter's awards keep piling up as his career moves on into what most people view a player's inevitable decline. Though he hit a career low .270 with 10 home runs and 67 RBI, he commited only 6 errors for best among AL shortstops according to Elias Sports bureau. The announcement of Jeter winning caused an uproar all over the internet, especially on Twitter.

Yankees Contact Cliff Lee's Agent

According to a report on ESPN.com the Yankees have contacted Cliff Lee's agent Darek Braunecker. The most coveted pitcher on the free agent market has publicly stated that he'd love to remain a Ranger. Not being open to offers from other teams would be foolish when his team's President, Nolan Ryan, remarked "you'll have to ask those guys over there," when asked how much it would cost to re-sign him.


C.C. Sabathia signed the richest free agent contract of the off-season two years ago with the Yankees on the first official day of free agency. Given the Yankees pressing need to agree to terms with Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera it is not surprising to see them be less openly courting other team's free agents before announcing deals with three of the core four.


The 2008 Cy Young Award winner was 12-9 between the Mariners and rangers this year with a 3.18 ERA. He had 185 strikeouts and only 18 walks, good for better than a 10 to 1 ratio. In his playoff career he went 7-0 in his first 8 starts with the Phillies and Rangers before losing twice to the Giants in the World Series.


Other teams known to be interested in Lee are the Rangers and Nationals.


The first signing of the year was Johnny Peralta with the Detroit Lions for 2 years at $11.25 million. Expect bigger names to "come on down" as the next contestants in the Price is Right!


Source: ESPN

Giants Ground Seahawks

The New York Football Giants came into their game against the Seattle Seahawks at 5-2 on a 4 game winning streak in first in the NFC East. The Seahawks flew into their home stadium in first place at 4-3 hoping their 12th man could help them glide past an explosive opponent.

The Giants' defense came in having ended the season of one quarterback and putting major dents in the season of a number of others in their last few games. How to pour fuel on that fire? Put 5 year veteran Charlie Whitehurst as the starter for Seattle in his first NFL game, add 12 new players to the roster for good measure and roll the dice.

The first quarter did not go as planned for Seattle coach Pete Carrol. When the clock hit zero the Giants had scored 3 touchdowns and took a 21-0 lead, taking the normally raucous Seattle crowd out of the game almost completely. Ahmad Bradshaw, the NFL's fourth leading rusher after a bye week allowed 3 players to pass him, started the scoring with a 2 yard touchdown run for Big Blue. 

On the Giants' next possession Hakeem Nicks dove for a 44 yard touchdown reception made possible by third down penalty on the Seahawks defense. The Giants scored their third touchdown on Bradshaw's second of the game, a 4 yard run, to give them a 3 touchdown lead as the clock hit zero. The three touchdown lead put them well on to their first win in Seattle since 1981.

Yankees Have Plenty of Free Agent Questions to Answer

The Yankees have some huge names hitting the free agent market this year. Some will surely be back, some most certainly will not; then there are those who may or may not be back. There are also other free agents hitting the market that could be good fits for the Yankees. Let's take a quick look at where the team stands now.

Giants Readying for Monday Night Showdown in Dallas

The New York Giants roll into Dallas in a comfortable position atop the NFC East with a three game winning streak. They are playing a division rival with only one win and have a bye week afterwards. The Giants have returned to their roots running smash mouth football and knocking quarterbacks out of games at an alarming rate.


Tony Romo is on notice with his injured thumb. He should expect to spend the day running all over the place unless he wants to end up like Matt Moore, Jay Cutler, Todd Collins and Shaun Hill. "Yeah, we don’t like to see quarterbacks get knocked out," Cowboys' offensive line coach Hudson Houck told ESPN Dallas. "We faced some pretty good defenses the last three weeks. Tennessee was really good and last week [Minnesota] a really good pass rush." No disrespect to this teams, but they are not eating quarterbacks for lunch like the Giants have been. Injuries on the offensive line should make it an interesting afternoon for the Cowboys.

Rangers Outpitch, Outhit, Outplay Yankees to World Series

The Yankees took the field last night knowing that a loss meant the end of their season. Sending young Phil Hughes, an 18 game winner this season, to the mound seemed like a no-brainer. Though he was torched in game 2, he would surely come back and pitch his game with the season was on the line.


At time Hughes looked distracted and not into the moment. His eyes were not those of a focused, concentrated, 18 game winner. He didn't finish a few of his pitches, the Rangers made him pay. Starting in the bottom first inning when shortstop Elvis Andrus led off with a double, advanced to third on a single by center fielder Josh Hamilton and scored on a hit and run ground out by DH Vladimir Guerrero; the Rangers took advantage of every chance they had en route to a 6-1 victory.

Yankees vs Rangers ALCS Game 6 Preview

It's the second of 3 game 7s in a row for the Bombers in game 6 this ALCS, win or go home. Phil Hughes takes the mound for New York and Colby lewis takes the mound for Texas in what is a rematch of ALCS game starters. The Yankees lost game 2 7-2 to go down 2 games to 0 heading back to NY.

The first 5 games of this ALCS have been nailbiters or blowouts, it has been very lopsided. While the Yankees have scored a total of 18 runs, the Rangers have scored 32; yet the Yankees have somehow found a way to stay in the series. They pin all of their hopes on righty Phil Hughes tonight with the hope he will force a game 7 matchup between the Rangers Cliff lee and the Yankees Andy Pettitte.

FCC Joins Customers' Anger at Fox, Cablevision

According to published reports, the FCC has stuck it's long nose of inquiry into the ongoing dispute between the broadcaster and provider. In an attempt to not miss any more episodes of Glee, FCC Media Bureau Chief William Lake has inquired as to whether the two are actually trying to make peace or just spending time running attack ads like Cuomo and Paladino.

"I know that you are aware that both broadcasters and multichannel video programming distributors have a statutory duty to engage in 'good-faith' negotiations," the Los Angeles Times has reported Lake wrote, also going on to say that if either party is "aware of any conduct by the other side that you believe violates the good faith requirement, please so indicate and provide supporting evidence."

In a clear sign that the two sides are amicable, Fox advised customers unable to access their programming to "switch providers or purchase an over-the-air antenna now," also according to the LA Times.

What both these two fail to realize is that no one who watches Fox on Cablevision actually cares about this game of right and wrong. As far as all affected customers are concerned, both sides are equally wrong and need to resolve this dispute before the world series. Everyone in NY, NJ & CT knows the same family that owns the Knicks and Rangers also owns Cablevision. That bottom line is about to shrink if this problem doesn't disappear faster than Isiah Thomas.

NFL Safety Video Sent to Teams

The NFL sent the above video to all 32 teams illustrating which types of hits are unacceptable and which types of hits are good glean football.

More than any other team, the Giants appear to be victims of both the bad hits (Kevin Boss) and the good clean hits (Ramses Barden). ""I was watching the Sunday night game a little bit and I like what (former safety) Rodney Harrison had to say about how the only time they really got his attention was when they finally suspended him for a game," said Boss in a report on FanHouse.com. Boss has suffered multiple concussions in his career from being "blown up" by defensive players in the past.


One of those players is current teammate Antrelle Rolle, who blew Boss up when he was a member of the Arizona Cardinals last season: "A lot of times it's receivers or offensive guys that maybe are ducking their head or maybe they're running up high. Who's to say what? No one is at fault. Nothing's intentional." Rolle told FanHouse.com in the same report. ""A lot of times it's receivers or offensive guys that maybe are ducking their head or maybe they're running up high. Who's to say what? No one is at fault. Nothing's intentional."


James Harrison of the Pittsburgh Steelers threatened to retire over the new enforcement of these rules after being fined $75,000 of the millions he is to make this season over the hit in the above video, saying "I'm going to sit down and have a serious conversation with my coach tomorrow and see if I can actually play by NFL rules and still be effective. If not, I may have to give up playing football," in a report on NFL.com. 


He should ask Todd Heap, DeSean Jackson and Kevin Boss if they think they can actually play by the rules and be effective if that type of hitting is allowed. The league is doing the right thing, preventing head, neck and spinal cord injuries should be applauded. All one needs to do is follow Ray Lewis example of a good, clean, hard hit. As Sandy Alderson said "a great player making a great play."

Girardi's Future in the Bronx

Joe Girardi will be a Yankee next year, remember I said that today and feel free to quote these words in the not too distant future. How long he will remain a Yankee? That's a better question to ask. Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman wrote the following in an article on SI.com: "The Yankees plan to bring back manager Joe Girardi at a raise, no matter what some fans may say about his reliance on his ever-present binder. He is well-liked by Yankees honchos..."


Regarding the Cubs managerial situation, especially when someone already has the job, it wouldn't be surprising to see Micro Joe sign a 2 year deal with the Yankees to keep his options open. He's young (45), very well respected around the league, a world champion as a player and a manager, has won manager of the year; he can go just about anywhere he wants if he decides the pressure cooker environment in New York isn't for him long term.


Not that one could possibly imagine the pressure he would be under in Chicago would be any different or easier to deal with.

Cablevision-Fox Feud Now 5 Days Old

Each time the Yankees win FOX execs hear dollar signs. Should the Bombers make the World Series, they will be in a position to force Cablevision to take whatever deal they throw on the table because of the serious problems the cable company will have if 30% of the tri-state area misses the pinstripes' chase of a 28th and 2nd championship in a row.

Cablevision's Twitter account, @No_New_Fox_Fees, has gone from being an auto-tweeting propaganda machine to a magnet for anger from Cablevision subscribers. One user wrote: "Unfortunately, this issue is bigger than Fox to us subscribers. We're pretty sick of service issues. Fios looks pretty good." Another wrote: Will you allow Verizon FiOS, ATT U-Verse to carry MSG HD feeds and put MSG back on Dish pending binding arbitration?" Which is a reference to Cablevision not allowing it's proprietary sports channels broadcasting Knicks, Rangers (NHL), Sabres, Liberty and Red Bulls games on the above providers in HD or at all in the case of Dish Network.

Fox's twitter account, @KeepFoxOn, has also become a lightning rod, though it appears more people support Fox than support Cablevision; which might be due to the latter having had this issue with multiple providers recently. Most notably, ABC being blocked until 15 minutes through the most recent Oscars telecast. One user wrote: I really think it is time to bring this to an end one way ore another. Why don't you guys be the adults and break the logjam." Another said: "You know what would be useful? FOX 5 Investigations on why Cablevision really sucks & holds viewers, like me, hostage..."

The Dolan family, which owns Cablevision, also owns MSG, the Knicks and the Rangers. Having recently run the Knicks into the ground like a wagon train in Oregon Trail at breakneck speed on barebones rations, they don't have too many friends in the NYC area. This problem is just adding feul to what had become a smoldering fire. Should the Yankees make the world series and there not yet be a resolution to this issue I would not want to be Charles Dolan. If he doesn't yet have a personal security detail he might want to start considering one.

Giants Injury News

According to Big Blue's website, Keith Bullock's injured toe has healed sufficiently enough to allow him to practice today. He has missed the last 3 games.

Mathias Kiwanuka, who's bulging cervical disk has kept him out the last three games, does not appear he will be available this week. He had an MRI earlier this week and did not hear the answer he was looking for.

Finally, Keith Boothe will attend his first practice for the Giants this year. He has been on the PUP since the season began with a torn pectoral muscle from lifting weights. The Giants have 3 weeks to activate him.

(Giants.com)

Apparently the ALCS is on FOX, according to CNN

CNN=Politics but it sure doesn't = research. Anchor Tony Harris went on the air to mock Lance Berkman for his spill during yesterday's game. Nothing wrong with a good chuckle at someone falling down, we all do it. Where he loses us is when he goes on to laugh at New Yorkers for being unable to watch the Yanks' games versus the Rangers because Cablevision is in a dispute with FOX, despite a CNN-made on screen graphic crediting TBS for the footage and the TBS score bug being on the screen.

The funniest part about all this is that TBS is owned by Time Warner. Yes, Tony Harris works for the same company as Ernie Johnson. Remarkable.

Swisher, Cano, Granderson Power Bombers to Game 5 Win vs Rangers

With Aaron Boone and Bucky Dent throwing out the first pitch, one would think the Yankees were down 3 games to 1 to the Red Sox. They weren't though, the team currently tormenting them is the up until now woeful Texas Rangers. Up until this season the Rangers had not one a single playoff series in their entire existence, going back to their days as the Washington Senators. After dispatching the Tampa Bay Rays they set their sights on and have dominated the Yankees in every aspect of the game.

With clouds hanging over the Stadium as if to remind the Yankees of the potentially dark day ahead of them they took the field just before 4pm to half empty Stadium. C.C. Sabathia rewarded the fans who did show up by firing a first pitch strike over the plate. The Rangers leadoff hitter would single into center field before being out in a double play of Rangers' third baseman Michael Young's bat. Josh Hamilton, the Rangers' Paul Bunyan-like center fielder, reached first but was stranded by Guerrero to end the inning.

Aaron "$%&!ing" Boone and Bucky Dent to Throw First Pitches

In a move that makes you wonder if the Yankees forgot who they are playing against this afternoon, Aaron Boone and Bucky Dent are throwing out the first pitches before the game.

Instead of bringing back two guys who beat a team that didn't even make the playoffs this season, maybe they should bring back Shane Spencer or Mariano Duncan, guys ont he team when they owned the Rangers.

Bringing back Ronan Tynan to sing God Bless America wouldn't be a bad idea either, if Eliot Spitzer can make a come back why can't Tynan?