Random Thoughts On A Sunday Morning Updated To 7-28

**Jim825** · May 6, 2013

That explains it. I figured you just made a typo.......

**Yankee4Life** · May 12, 2013

Random Thoughts this week temporarily postponed until I am able to post the complete entry in here. Sorry.

**Yankee4Life** · May 13, 2013

Updated to 5-12

...Some of the nuttiest stories that I see week after week have to deal with something that happens in schools or what goes on around them. This one here is no different. In fact it fits in perfectly. During a high school track and field competition in Texas the anchor runner of the winning relay team was penalized by officials for excessive celebrating after his team's victory which he and his entire team paid a very high price for. Once this kid knew that his school had won he pointed his index finger up at the sky to thank God for it. Not even before he lowered his finger school officials cried foul and said he "violated the excessive celebration rules" and his entire team was disqualified and because of this his school is eliminated and now unable to compete in the state championships later on this month. We've all seen over-the-top celebrations in sports before; hell, just watch an NFL game and wait for someone to score a touchdown. There you go. But this? A kid points up to heaven and that's it. He didn't break into a dance or give high-fives to the first ten people he saw. It's amazing how intolerant people are of those expressing their religious freedom and it also does not surprise me that this happened in Texas where God ranks a distant second in popularity behind all high school football coaches.

...No one would have blamed this kid at all had he given the officials another finger once he found out his team was eliminated like that.

...Has anyone ever noticed that the media just loves to use the word "alleged"? According to them Bin Laden was the alleged mastermind of the 9-11 attacks right up until the day he died and we threw him overboard in the ocean and just like Adam Lanza is still the alleged shooter at Sandy Hook. The two SOB's in Boston are the alleged bombers of the Boston Marathon and one of the brothers is allegedly dead. It goes on. By using this word does this protect them legally because if that's the case it makes them look less credible then they already are.

...It was nice to hear about former Yankee Hideki Matsui receiving the People's Honor Award in Japan last week. This is an award that the Japanese give to those who have made significant achievements in their careers and are beloved by the public and this describes Matsui perfectly. Alex Rodriguez by the way should not hold his breath in anticipation of receiving a similar award from the Dominican Republic any time soon.

...When Clay Buchholz was pitching up in Toronto the other week he was accused of doctoring the baseball because there was a substance that the Blue Jay announcers saw on his left arm. According to Major League Baseball (translation: Lord Selig) he was not cheating at all because they said he was using sunscreen on his arm and that's allowed and besides, he's not the only one who does it. If that's true then why didn't the Red Sox explain this the next day after it happened instead of waiting ten days?

seanzarelli · May 13, 2013

Updated to 5-12
...Some of the nuttiest stories that I see week after week have to deal with something that happens in schools or what goes on around them. This one here is no different. In fact it fits in perfectly. During a high school track and field competition in Texas the anchor runner of the winning relay team was penalized by officials for excessive celebrating after his team's victory which he and his entire team paid a very high price for. Once this kid knew that his school had won he pointed his index finger up at the sky to thank God for it. Not even before he lowered his finger school officials cried foul and said he "violated the excessive celebration rules" and his entire team was disqualified and because of this his school is eliminated and now unable to compete in the state championships later on this month. We've all seen over-the-top celebrations in sports before; hell, just watch an NFL game and wait for someone to score a touchdown. There you go. But this? A kid points up to heaven and that's it. He didn't break into a dance or give high-fives to the first ten people he saw. It's amazing how intolerant people are of those expressing their religious freedom and it also does not surprise me that this happened in Texas where God ranks a distant second in popularity behind all high school football coaches.
...No one would have blamed this kid at all had he given the officials another finger once he found out his team was eliminated like that.

Not here to start any arguments, but, it was later revealed that the runner was in fact penalized for "excessive" celebration due to the fact that he was throwing his hands out in front of him celebrating after he crossed the line. When that happened, the official raised the red flag. It was after the red flag that the runner pounded his chest and pointed up in the sky. It was also mentioned in the competition meeting between all athletes, their coaches, and officials that any form of celebrating would be an instant disqualification.

It was just the media jumping the gun and reporting about something before any actual news came out about it. The runner and his family were embarrassed by the way everything was portrayed. Especially since the official that rose the red flag is an active church member and someone the family knows very well.

**Yankee4Life** · May 16, 2013

Very odd I can post in here but not cut and paste something.

**Yankee4Life** · May 16, 2013

I'm at a loss here. I am trying to post the rest of my weekly thread from May 12th and it won't accept it. It is like after a certain number of lines it won't accept your post. I don't know what I can do.

**Kccitystar** · May 16, 2013

I'm at a loss here. I am trying to post the rest of my weekly thread from May 12th and it won't accept it. It is like after a certain number of lines it won't accept your post. I don't know what I can do.

Split it in half and double-post lol.

I know double posting is frowned upon but this thread has gone on forever

**Yankee4Life** · May 17, 2013

Trying to post the entire entry for May 12th. Please ignore the first few posts since you've seen them before but I am going to try again to post this in it's entirety.

Updated to 5-12

...Some of the nuttiest stories that I see week after week have to deal with something that happens in schools or what goes on around them. This one here is no different. In fact it fits in perfectly. During a high school track and field competition in Texas the anchor runner of the winning relay team was penalized by officials for excessive celebrating after his team's victory which he and his entire team paid a very high price for. Once this kid knew that his school had won he pointed his index finger up at the sky to thank God for it. Not even before he lowered his finger school officials cried foul and said he "violated the excessive celebration rules" and his entire team was disqualified and because of this his school is eliminated and now unable to compete in the state championships later on this month. We've all seen over-the-top celebrations in sports before; hell, just watch an NFL game and wait for someone to score a touchdown. There you go. But this? A kid points up to heaven and that's it. He didn't break into a dance or give high-fives to the first ten people he saw. It's amazing how intolerant people are of those expressing their religious freedom and it also does not surprise me that this happened in Texas where God ranks a distant second in popularity behind all high school football coaches.

...No one would have blamed this kid at all had he given the officials another finger once he found out his team was eliminated like that.

...Has anyone ever noticed that the media just loves to use the word "alleged"? According to them Bin Laden was the alleged mastermind of the 9-11 attacks right up until the day he died and we threw him overboard in the ocean and just like Adam Lanza is still the alleged shooter at Sandy Hook. The two SOB's in Boston are the alleged bombers of the Boston Marathon and one of the brothers is allegedly dead. It goes on. By using this word does this protect them legally because if that's the case it makes them look less credible then they already are.

...It was nice to hear about former Yankee Hideki Matsui receiving the People's Honor Award in Japan last week. This is an award that the Japanese give to those who have made significant achievements in their careers and are beloved by the public and this describes Matsui perfectly. Alex Rodriguez by the way should not hold his breath in anticipation of receiving a similar award from the Dominican Republic any time soon.

...When Clay Buchholz was pitching up in Toronto the other week he was accused of doctoring the baseball because there was a substance that the Blue Jay announcers saw on his left arm. According to Major League Baseball (translation: Lord Selig) he was not cheating at all because they said he was using sunscreen on his arm and that's allowed and besides, he's not the only one who does it. If that's true then why didn't the Red Sox explain this the next day after it happened instead of waiting ten days?

...Mommy and Daddy Boo-Boo from the Honey Boo-Boo show decided to get married last week in front of their closest family friends and some cows and chickens that happened to be in the area at the time. With all the money they've been making from the show stopped the welfare checks from coming the two eldest Boo-Boo's looked at each other one night and said "what the hell, let's make it legal, besides this could be the highest rated show of our new season." The bride originally had plans to wear a white wedding dress but a few days before the knot-tying was to take place she tried it on and she accidentally got pizza sauce all over the neckline of the dress. Since it is almost impossible to remove that kind of stain from a wedding gown, both the bride and groom ended up wearing camouflage, which for them was the next best thing if not better. TLC, the network that airs the Boo-Boo show declined to go into any further detail about this event and told viewers to wait until the show aired later this year to see for themselves. That's when they will find out if Daddy Boo-Boo sobered up on time to back out of the wedding at the last minute.

...Remember Boo Boo bear, Yogi's loyal sidekick? Yeah he was just a cartoon and yet he had more common sense then this entire family put together.

...Pfizer Inc. announced that it would begin selling Viagra online soon for those customers who are uncomfortable about going to their local pharmacy to get their prescription filled. The other reason for offering the online option is because the company has been aware of counterfeit versions of Viagra for quite some time and they feel by doing this it will help fight this problem. While the knock-off pills are much cheaper than the steep twenty-five-dollar-a-pill price that Pfizer has set for the "little blue pill" as it is commonly called, these imitation pills do not include the right amount of the active ingredient in the medicine. For example, Mexico sells a copycat Viagra pill for a dollar and one of the side effects is as soon as you are done you have the urge for a taco.

...No, I did not order this online and no I do not have/want/or am getting a prescription for this. I can read some of your minds right now.

...I have no trouble understanding why people want to spend their time climbing up mountains because that's something they enjoy doing and for them it's a good way to get exercise and pass the time. What I don't understand is why they want to do it on an active volcano like the one in the Philippines last week that decided it was a perfect time to explode, killing five and injuring many others. This wasn't no Joe vs. The Volcano because this time the volcano won. They should have done something safer--like swim with sharks for instance.

...A Michigan woman is in hot water with authorities after she told police that the current girlfriend of her ex-boyfriend had set up a facebook account in order to harass and stalk her. After the police checked out her story they found out that the account that was used to do this was set up by the woman herself because she was unable to let go of her relationship with her former boyfriend. She's now being charged with falsely reporting a felony which could mean jail time and if I were that guy I'd move the hell out of town once she is locked up. And to think, all Trues has to worry about on this site is kids creating a duplicate account just to get some extra downloads per day.

...There is a high school in the state of Washington that has borrowed the idea of the NCAA's March Madness and instead of basketball every May for the past five years or so they have been holding a “hotness tournament” where the girls dress up for school so the boys can vote on who is the hottest member of the student body. The actual tournament is held off school grounds so that means there is really nothing the school can do about it. After reading about this I was upset and disappointed that no one in my high school class, including myself, thought of this.

...When you think of celebrities that are nothing but loudmouthed, obnoxious attention seekers you need to look no further than Nicki Minaj.

...Wow, I don't believe it. Jodi Arias was found guilty of first-degree murder for the brutal slaying of her ex-boyfriend five years ago. I had my doubts especially when she came to court each day giving off the appearance of a scared, timid woman who wouldn't hurt a fly. Hell, they let Casey Anthony walk. Finding this woman not guilty wouldn't have surprised me at all. But when you stab someone twenty-seven times and then shoot them and slit their throat there is no way you can say you did it out of self defense. She probably thought her gender excluded her from prosecution. This time the system actually worked.

...A choreographer named Wade Robson accused the late Michael Jackson of molesting him last week, inexplicably coming out with these accusations so long after Jackson died. If he is trying to get money out of the Jackson estate he is going to have a difficult time in doing so because back in 2005 when Jackson was going through his famous molestation trial, Robson testified under oath that nothing inappropriate ever happened between the two of them. Since everyone it seems is suing the Jackson estate for something which sadly includes his own family Robson figures that accusing a man who's been dead for almost four years now about something like this would garner sympathy, especially when Jackson isn't around to answer for himself. All he's really doing is getting in line with the rest of them with his hand out hoping to get a check with a lot of zeros on it.

...I may as well jump on this bandwagon too. Can't hurt to try, right? I'm suing Michael Jackson because when I was growing up my sister would play his songs over and over and it drove me nuts. Naturally I'll gladly settle out of court.

...You got to love Kate Upton. During an interview she did right after she made the cover of Vogue magazine for the first time she said that she loved her body and that she was "so proud" of her chest. That makes two of us.

...Stephen Strasburg's sporting a 1 - 5 record so far this year. And I thought all he had to do was throw his glove out on the mound and win.

..It was no surprise to me that Angel Hernandez was the umpire in Cleveland last Wednesday when the home run hit by Oakland's Adam Rosales was ruled a double despite replays clearly showing it to be a home run. It was so obvious even the Indians thought it was gone and the game was tied. This guy is probably the most well known umpire in baseball today and all for the wrong reasons because chances are when there is a blown call Hernandez is somewhere in the vicinity.

...Oh wait--one more. Laz Diaz. He's another one that thinks the fans go to the games just to see him.

...And the goof up by Hernandez in Cleveland last Wednesday is what I believe got Fieldin Culbreth suspended for two games for what he did in Houston the very next night and only because Hernandez' screw up was so blatantly missed. When the Astros changed relief pitchers in the same inning without having the first reliever pitch to anyone, Angel manager Mike Scioscia popped out of his dugout as fast as if someone gave him a hotfoot to protest this obvious mistake on Houston's part. Incredibly the umpires allowed this pitching change to take place and the Angels played the game under protest but then withdrew the protest after the game because they managed to win the game 6 - 5. Joe Torre, who always seems to look like he only got three hours of sleep the night before, put his mug in front of the camera and said all the right things like the game demands accountability from everyone and that includes not just the players but the umpires too, etc, etc until he made you as tired as he looked just by listening to him. Had the umpires not blown that call the night before Culbreth would not have been suspended and the other three umpires fined. This was Budball at its finest hour.

...Google, which owns Youtube unveiled subscription services for some of their channels in order to cash in on the one billion users per month that visit the website because they feel that the advertising that is already in place there is not enough. This is what Youtube has been after all along ever since they dumped the "broadcast yourself" slogan. Right now only a small number of channels have a subscription fee but that is sure to increase as the weeks and months go on. Provided you are still given the choice to go to that particular channel to view for free and suffer through the ads this should be fine. Again, as long as we still have this choice.

...The body of the deceased Boston Marathon bomber was buried secretly last Thursday in Virginia by the man's uncle and a faith coalition group. The uncle went on to say that his nephew was buried in an undisclosed location but then added that he was buried in a cemetery in Doswell, Virginia which is near Richmond. Now does this make any sense to anyone? If someone really wanted to take the time to find out where this guy is buried they already have a good head start because now they know where to begin. How many cemeteries are there in Doswell? How many recent burials? Just wait and see. Someone will find where Tamerlan Tsarnaev is laid to rest and when they do there's going to be a long line of people just waiting to **** on his grave.

...Finally, happy Mother's Day to all your mothers out there wherever they are!

**Yankee4Life** · May 19, 2013

Updated to 5-19

...We had a little trouble here in this thread last week when I was unable to post the complete May 12th entry until five days later on the 17th. That's because every once in awhile when site upgrades are done things happen during it that you are not prepared for. It's like that shocked look on Joe Girardi's face when he knows he made it through an entire game without someone else getting hurt--it happens but you're never ready for it. That's what happened here last week to Trues. While he was installing the upgrades for the website he was also given a few glitches free of charge during the installation that he had to detect and fix once everything was done. I am not sure if these software developers are unaware of the problems that arise when a site owner upgrades or that they don't care but you have to feel for him every time he tries to improve the board here because when he's doing it he has to be saying to himself what the hell's going to happen next?

...If you have not heard this already this might be a little hard to believe but then again maybe it won't be. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surving member of the Boston Marathon bombing incident has suddenly developed a cult following among teenage girls. They've set up special Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr pages in his honor and have been declaring his innocence because they say his is "beautiful" and "too pretty to be guilty." How Federal prosecutors overlooked this during their investigations is beyond my understanding and it is pretty fair to assume that the girls who are turning this kid into a hearthrob were no where near Boston that day when the bomb went off. After this any more questions regarding the decision making abilities of teenagers should never be raised again.

...This isn't new of course. In 2011 when she was found not guilty teenage boys and twenty-something men went nuts over Casey Anthony because she was "hot" and I'll never forget one picture of a guy holding a sign that said "Marry me Casey" because to him she was just an available single woman and not someone who got away with killing her child. Last I heard she was still available today but maybe that guy moved on to someone else, like Amanda Knox.

...Seventy mentally ill patients escaped from a psychiatric facility in Kenya last week after they got together and overpowered the guards. Forty of the inmates were able to get away while the others were recaptured by the hospital personnel. It was a perfect plan on the inmates part because as soon as they got out they hid in plain sight at a soccer match because they knew they'd fit right in with everyone else there. And here comes our next batch of immigrants.

...These patients must have got the idea for this by watching flash mobs from the U.S.

...I don't know why some people seem to be surprised about that scandal going on now at the Internal Revenue Service. Any taxpayer will tell you that they already knew they were a bunch of crooks.

...Wait a second. Now Kris Jenner is getting a talk show? How did the mother of all Kardashians manage this? This might be the first show to be cancelled half way through the first episode.

...Then again, maybe not. Factoring in the intelligence of the American public this could do quite well.

...Good news for fans of FOX's TV show 24. The network will be bringing back the popular series beginning next May. This is a good move by FOX since they've been unable to come up with any good new shows they just went backwards to revive an old one to draw fans back into a show that they already know and in this way wouldn't have to churn out another clunker that would have aired for for five or six episodes.

...I had to laugh a little last week after reading about the Mother's Day parade shooting in New Orleans. Not because of what happened of course but rather what the police said when it was over. They wanted the public to be on the look out for a black male, approximately 18 to 22 years-old wearing a white T-shirt and shorts. All of a sudden I pictured a police lineup with 100,000 suspects lined up.

...I am hoping that none of have a week that former Lions receiver Titus Young had last week when he was arrested a total of three times for drunk driving, burglary, assaulting a police officer, and resisting arrest. For everything that Pacman Jones and Plaxico Burress did they were never able to achieve a hat trick that Young was able to pull off.

...It's been a pleasure watching the Yankees play so well this year without all those multi-millionaires in the lineup. I don't miss Rodriguez and Teixeira at all. Third base is being held down very well and Lyle Overbay does a hell of a job at first base. I'd even go as far as saying that I don't miss Captain Twenty-Million either because there's no guarantee of him coming back this year. Hopefully the Yankees realize that in the future they can field a competitive team without having to stock it with overpriced long term contracts.

...I haven't been paying attention to the Phillies this year but things must be pretty bad if they had to go out and sign Carlos Zambrano even if it was only to a minor league contract.

...I got to give Boston Globe writer Dan Shaughnessy a lot of credit for publicly questioning if David Ortiz' strong start this year was helped by using steroids. Shaughnessy went on to say in the article that Ortiz fit all the criteria of a steroid user in that he is from the Dominican Republic and he is an older player who has had injuries consistent of steroid use and that his name was on that famous list of 100 players back in 2003 that were named for steroid use. Ortiz did the predictable thing as soon as the article was published by playing the race card as he complained that he was singled out because he was Dominican. Anyone who's watched this guy play for the past ten years -not counting Red Sox fans- knows he has been juicing it up since 2002 and for this writer to actually confront him about this without the fear of Ortiz going into a steroid rage is impressive.

...By the way Poopi, Dominican is not a race. It's a nationality.

...Did you hear about the prostitution ring that the cops busted up in a New Jersey nursing home? From what I read the senior citizens had a pretty good operation going for them but I think what did them in was when one old timer's grandson began visiting him twice a day and the entire football team insisted on going with him.

...One more about prostitution and that's it and this one is just as unbelievable as the one in New Jersey. A couple from Illinois were down in Orlando, Florida celebrating their honeymoon when the groom left his new wife in their hotel room to hook up with a hooker that was advertising on an online website. The hooker turned out to be an undercover sting operation that the Orlando police were running and instead of hooking up with the call girl of his dreams this guy was arrested along with ninety-one other men. While all this was going on the brand new bride began to worry about her husband because he was gone longer than he said he was going to be and after not being able to wait anymore she called the police to report him missing. The cops then told her he wasn't and that they knew exactly where he was. I'd have given anything to be a fly on the wall to hear what this woman said to her husband once he finally got back to the hotel.

...Ravens linebacker Rolando McClain, formally of the Raiders, retired last Wednesday from the NFL at the age of twenty-three, less than one month after signing a one-year contract with the team. This might work out well for McClain because now he can devote all his time into assaulting police officers and getting arrested. Football it seemed just got in the way of what he does best.

...Cheers to AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile for working together on an advertising campaign against texting while driving which will begin airing on TV and radio this summer. If the money spent on this can save a few lives then it will be worth it.

...The dependency on these phones is getting worse and worse and wherever I go I see people walking around with their phone firmly in their hand staring at it almost like they are waiting for the phone to give them instructions on what to do next. At restaurants I see people with their phones snuggled close to them just in case someone comments on a Facebook post. I went to the doctor two weeks ago and their were five people in the waiting room besides me and they all had their faces buried in their phones. The doctor may as well thrown his magazines out because those people didn't even know they were there. And my wife is just as bad. I've had talks with her about texting while driving and how dangerous it is and she says she understands but who the hell knows what she does when she's in the car alone? She's so hooked on that thing that she dragged me out to Best Buy last Tuesday (well, I let her think she did that. I love browsing through Best Buy.) because they were accepting pre-orders for the Galaxy S4 which is going to be released at the end of the month. By the time we got home she convinced herself that the Galaxy S4 was the eighth wonder of the world. All I know is that when she gets this damned thing in a few weeks I got to have that texting talk with her one more time just because I have to.

...Try as I might I can not pronounce Zach Galifianakis' last name.

...Hell is when you have a movie night with your wife and you let her choose the double feature and she picks two Elvis movies.

...For any of you that are as afraid of the dentist as I am the ending of NCIS: Los Angeles last week will stay burned in your mind forever.

...A nude painting of the late Bea Arthur (the star of Maude and The Golden Girls) from the waist up sold last week at an auction for $1.9 million. The funny thing is that Arthur did not pose nude. The artist based the painting on a 1991 photograph of her with her clothes on and Christie's, the auction house, is declining to say who purchased the item. I just hope that this artist doesn't decide to do Joan Rivers next.

...A flight last week from Los Angeles to New York had to be diverted to Kansas City because a passenger, for reasons known only to her, insisted on singing the song "I Will Always Love You" over and over again. Besides aggravating those around her by doing this she also spent her time fighting with other passengers and swearing loudly presumably because they were fed up with listening to the same song again and again. And to think all this time I thought the most annoying thing on a flight was a crying baby.

...A man named Shaun Winkler recently ran an unsuccessful bid for sheriff in a small town in northern Idaho despite the fact that he is a member of the KKK, that close-knit fraternity of fun loving good ole boys who still haven't figured out that bed sheets are for sleeping on. Winkler pulled out all the stops in his bid to become sheriff and even went as far to hold an old fashioned cross burning at an intersection near town to commemorate the spot where two years ago a black family on their way out west had their car break down and Winkler and his boys got their car fixed and got them all out of town before nightfall. The cross burning was his way of showing voters that he was more than qualified to be their sheriff because of the quick way he responded to this "threat on the community." Unfortunately only 182 voters agreed with him.

...I can just imagine the trouble that I would get myself into if I had a pair of Google Glass in my possession. For $1,500 it had better work a hell of a lot better than the $1.99 I spent for that pair of X-Ray glasses I bought when I was a kid from the back of one of my comic books.

**Kccitystar** · May 20, 2013

I think Ortiz shed some weight this offseason and as a result he can turn on pitches better than seasons past. While he was on 'roids in 2002, I'm sure now that he's pretty much one of the faces of the franchise in recent history, I don't think he'd risk wanting to take supplements unless there was a foolproof scheme in doing so. The amount of backlash and sh*tstorm getting busted with PEDs would cause would be crazy. Boston would never want him back again.

**Yankee4Life** · May 26, 2013

Updated to 5-26

...Yahoo made a big acquisition last week when the purchased Tumblr for 1.1 billion dollars and the first thing they said to the users of that blogging and social network site is that they will "promise not to screw it up," which immediately makes you wonder how they are going to screw it up.

...Fans of Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, who is getting married in July, went online to purchase all the items that he and his future wife picked out on their wedding registry at Bed, Bath and Beyond in order to help out the couple as they start their lives together as husband and wife. This is a sure sign that the economy is doing much better when people are spending their money buying wedding gifts for millionaire strangers.

...I'll tell you what, you can count me in to send something to Bill Gates if he ever gets re-married.

...Last week the I.R.S. notified singer Mary J. Blige to let her know that she owes $3.4 million to them because she failed to pay her income taxes for the past several years. And to think when I owed them $250 a few years back I was in a bad mood for days.

...Nice move by Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade to surprise a fan of his who asked him to her senior prom a few months ago. Wade never responded and everyone assumed that the girl's request was unsuccessful but Wade surprised the girl at her prom and his appearance was the highlight of the evening not only for the girl who asked him but for everyone there. Good thing she wasn't a Ben Roethlisberger fan because he would have really given her a night not to forget.

...Again another senseless and violent act by lunatics, this time in London, and all because they were Muslim and that alone gave them enough of an excuse to brutally murder a British soldier in broad daylight. Violence is to those people as breathing is to us. You don't think about it at all and also can't live without it.

...Just about every time Phil Hughes pitches he ruins a perfectly good evening of watching Yankee baseball.

...When I read that Washington Nationals reliever Ryan Mattheus broke his hand after punching a locker because he gave up five runs in one inning against the Giants it made me think back to 2004 when Kevin Brown of the Yankees did almost the same thing. In Brown's case he punched a wall but the wall saw him coming and Brown had no chance. Let's hope for Washington's benefit that Mattheus is a better teammate than Brown was even though he is just as dumb.

...A guy in Chicago rode a Ferris wheel 384 times, up and around to set a brand new Guinness World Record for the longest ride on one. That's 384 times then I care to do. In order for him to stay awake to set the record he played hours of video games and watched a lot of movies. Big deal. I know some unemployed people that have been doing this every day for years and they are a lot more comfortable then this guy was strapped inside a seat on the way to his record.

...A Georgia man suffering from an acute case of lawn rage set fire to his neighbor's house last week because the grass in his backyard had grown too high. After repeated requests to trim the lawn went unanswered, the man smashed the kitchen window at his neighbor's home and poured two cans of gasoline in and lit a match, setting the house on fire. Firefighters were able to stop the blaze but the home was gutted and unable to be saved. Immediately after starting the fire the man took off and hid from police for a short while but later turned himself in to U.S. marshals and will be facing felony charges. He'll have a lot of time to think about what motivated him to do something like this but what really is going to drive him nuts is that with all the damage he caused the lawn remained the same--untouched.

...A couple traveling from their home in Los Angeles to the African country of Senegal had their boarding passes accidentally misrouted and were sent to Bangladesh which is 7,000 miles and another continent away. Usually the way this goes is the bags end up on a different continent and not the people. It could have been worse for these people. They could have landed in North Korea and their return trip back home would have been in fifteen to twenty years.

...And this is why Amanda Knox should never fly out of this country. Can you imagine if she ever took a trip to a place like Syracuse, New York and end up in Syracuse, Sicily? The Italians will have her in shackles two seconds after the plane comes to a stop.

...Bravery is that guy who wrestled that eighteen-foot Burmese python down in Florida. Wimpiness is me who could not even watch the video of him doing it all the way through to the end.

...Nate McLouth of the Orioles made a fantastic grab against the Blue Jays in Toronto last week, catching the ball on the run and falling into the stands. As a reward he had a cup of beer thrown at him but the fan's aim was a offline as it fell a little short, falling a few feet behind him. Had this been Philadelphia he would not have been so lucky because there are courses taught in schools and at adult education centers there that teach people the proper techniques to score direct hits on opposing players with flying objects.

...Microsoft unveiled the specs of their new console system named Xbox One last Tuesday. While some of the features seem impressive (8 times the computing power of the Xbox 360, a 500 GB Hard Drive and 8 GB of memory with a built in blu-ray player) this system will not be backwards compatible with any game made for the 360. You got to applaud Microsoft. They always have the consumer in mind first and foremost when they think of ways to put the screws to them.

...Alex Rodriguez made a huge profit on the sale of his house in Miami last Tuesday as he accepted a $30 million offer for the home he purchased for $7.4 million just three years ago. I can remember the days when he was that successful on the baseball field too.

...R.I.P. to Doors keyboard player Ray Manzarek, who died last Monday in Germany at the age of 74 from cancer. While Jim Morrison was the face of the Doors Manzarek was the backbone of it.

...After the game when TV cameras caught Miami Marlins pitcher Alex Sanabia spitting on a baseball he insisted that he did not know what he was doing was illegal. Funny, but that was the exact same thing Gaylord Perry said when he finally got busted for loading up the ball in 1982.

...The New York Yankees announced last week that they reached a $100 million partnership with Premier League club Manchester City to create a Major League Soccer team called New York City FC. Part of this deal could mean the chance of the Yankees playing a Major League game in England in the near future which could make Yankee management very happy because at least they will probably sell out the game there.

...Bud Selig's promotional department came up with a brand new way to bilk money out of fans during a press conference last week when they said that every team will wear camouflage jerseys and caps tomorrow for Memorial Day and those same jerseys will be for sale right now on your favorite team's website. I love how us fans are included especially when we're the bait. Remember how this all started? For Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day the teams would wear their regular game day hats on but on these days an American flag was sewn on the cap. This special cap was offered for sale to thanks to the grace and generosity of our boy Bud. Then they decided to get a bit colorful with the caps. For example, teams like the Red Sox and the Royals would wear special white caps on this day. Fortunately we were able to buy these caps too. And now this. I have a pretty good idea how this promotion started. Someone from the MLB Separate-the-fan-from-his money department saw the Padres play a game when they were wearing their camouflage uniforms and they said to themselves that it would be a hell of an idea if every team wore that on Memorial Day despite how tacky and ugly it would look.

...So I got curious and went to a few random team home pages and checked the prices for this latest got-to-have-it offered by Major League Baseball. The caps are $37.99 and it is the only price that is the same for all teams. These hats are ugly. They look like they've been dropped in the mud and a truck ran over them. T-shirts are between twenty-two and twenty-five dollars. The team camouflage jerseys that do not have a number on the back are between $175 to $200 but for some reason the Tampa Bay one is $261. That's the highest price of all the teams. If you want a camouflage jersey of a well-known player you are going to part with $225 to $260 on average. The most expensive jersey being sold is Evan Longoria's for $319 followed by Ryan Braun's for $303. The jersey for Bryce Harper is almost a bargain at $256 compared to those two. The strangest one I saw was the asking price for a Nick Swisher jersey. They want $282 for a player who had to beg fans to vote him onto an All-Star team but Justin Verlander's authentic jersey can be purchased for $219. And all this guy's done is win a Cy Young and MVP award.

...Went to a surprise 50th birthday party last Thursday night and had funny conversation with the guest of honor.
ME: Happy Birthday. Say, weren't you 50 three years ago?
HIM: Shut up.

...Driving home afterwards it made me realize how quickly the years can blend into each other and before you know it twenty years goes by as fast as a long weekend. For instance, can it be that the greatest comeback I've ever seen in sports--the '78 Yankees--happened thirty-five years ago? How can that be? Five minutes after all the interviews and highlights from game six were concluded and NBC had signed off for the night I went outside to celebrate the Yankee championship with a friend of mine. Picture in your mind two kids that lived on opposite ends of the street running towards each other laughing, cheering, dancing and jumping up and down like maniacs. We did the same thing at the end of the 1977 World Series because we were so happy and we didn't want the night to end. I can remember the last thing that was said to me right before we went our separate ways that night. "See you in the same place next year." There wasn't a next year and there never was a meeting like we had in those two years again because in the early eighties I joined the service and while I was gone my friend's family moved away and by the time the Yanks had won again in 1996 he had moved out of town. And this happened thirty-five years ago? It can't be. There was a fiftieth surprise birthday party for my cousin? It just seemed like the other day when he woke us all up to tell us he got his learner's permit. Sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks this way.

...Curtis Granderson fractured the knuckle on his left pinkie when he was hit by a pitch last Friday in a game down in Tampa. The very next day I read some articles that said this was a "huge blow for the Yankees" and a "major injury." How? The Yankees were doing just fine without him and during the short time he's been back (eight games, .250 average, 1 HR and 1 RBI) he hasn't exactly set the world on fire, so how this can be described as a huge blow for the team is hilarious. As soon as this guy is someone else's concern the better off the Yankees will be.

...Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

**Yankee4Life** · June 2, 2013

Updated to 6-2

...Everett Golson, the starting quarterback for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish was suspended from the university for at least the fall semester for what is being called "poor academic judgment." You have to admit when they put it that way it sounds a whole lot better if they came out and said we caught this guy cheating and told him to get lost.

...Wait, there's a guy on the PGA tour named Boo Weekley? I wonder how many times he watched To Kill a Mockingbird to get that nickname?

...I wouldn't want to be Adrian Peterson right now. The Vikings star running back said in an interview last week that gay marriage was something that he did not believe in and when you make a statement like that that goes against what the media says you better be prepared to be treated like there's something wrong with you. People will always defend your right to state your opinion provided that what you say goes along with theirs.

...By the way I happen to agree with the guy. I think marriage should be between a man and a woman because it takes a woman to truly make a man miserable. All kidding aside that's just how I feel and I realize I could be mistaken here and if I am it will not be the first or last time I will have been wrong.

...Speaking of weddings, my wife and I got word that we might have to attend one next year. We're not sure yet but the way my luck runs this wedding will take place and on the hottest day of the year. When I was a kid and my parents would get invited to go to weddings I would beg to go because I loved the excitement of it watching people have a good time and dance and be dressed up. At least those were the memories I had of the few weddings that the kids were invited to. Now that I'm older I don't want to be invited to any weddings ever since the one I was dragged to in Pennsylvania where the DJ's insisted on blasting Who let the dogs out at full blast over an unsuspecting audience, many of whom had never heard that song before and had no idea that the dogs had been let out. I can still recall my late father-in-law leaning over to me asking me what the hell they were saying so I told him a few dogs escaped from a dog shelter and they were looking for the guy who forgot to close the gate.

...Strange move by the Kansas City Royals by hiring George Brett as interim hitting coach and sending the two hitting coaches they already have down to the minor leagues instead of the hitters who haven't been doing anything. Brett shouldn't get too comfortable since there is nothing he can do to make anyone from that bunch hit like him.

...Meghan McCain, John McCain's daughter, is the only person I know that could convert me to becoming a Republican just by posing in a bikini.

...Muslims in England have been complaining to anyone that would listen to them that they have become victims of anti-Muslim sentiment in London and all around Great Britain because two of their own decided to take a walk last week and just because they had nothing else to do they hacked to death an off-duty soldier who was minding his own business. They don't understand why the Brits are getting so upset since this kind of stuff happens back home in the desert all the time. I'm with the people of Great Britain. These Muslim fanatics need to go back to where they came from so they can be cruel and inhumane to each other and no one thinks twice about it. I' not promoting violence but what the hell, wherever these people go and whatever they do something vicious and brutal happens. Enough of this.

...These people are incredible. A British soldier gets run over by a car and then chopped up like a cucumber and the Muslims are crying about being verbally abused, head scarves being pulled off women and an attack on a mosque. Can you imagine if this were the other way around and a Christian butchered those two Muslims instead? All of England would have been set on fire or blown up. They like doing stuff like that. It makes them happy.

...This time Amanda Bynes isn't fooling around. She's suing everyone after she was caught smoking from a bong and then throwing it out her window when the cops came to arrest her. She's going after her apartment complex for calling the cops on her, the New York Police Department for arresting her after they saw her throw her stash out the window, a New York cop for allegedly "touching her inappropriately" (when asked about this later the cop told internal affairs that he was just trying to get some of the flies off her before putting the handcuffs on) and the street vendor she went to earlier in the day who forgot to put relish on her hot dog. This woman is the only person that can make Lindsay Lohan look normal and rational.

...When I read about the teenager who defaced an ancient temple in Egypt by writing his name on it I was relieved to find out the kid was Chinese and not American. It's kind of comforting to know that this country doesn't have all the idiots. But it was what the kid's parents said afterwards that really impressed me. They took full responsibility for what their kid did and they apologized for not supervising and teaching him well. An American parent would blame it on someone else, file a lawsuit while insisting that their child would never do such a thing.

...Usually whatever Justin Bieber says or does is of no importance to me. The little that I do know about him is that he has a lot of little kids that like him and everyone over fifteen can't stand him. The Canadians gave him to us as a gift with a strict no return policy and it immediately made me wonder what we did to them to get them so mad in order for them to do this since Celine Dion was quite enough. Well, it seemed that during the Memorial Day holiday he was driving his Ferrari very fast through his neighborhood when he happened to fly past former NFL player Keyshawn Johnson and that did not make him happy at all. Johnson then got in his car and caught up to Bieber and when he got out of his car to talk to him about his driving, Bieber got out of his car and ran in his house and wouldn't come out. Not counting airport attendants who handle his luggage this was probably the closest he has been to a black person and his bladder just could not handle the excitement.

...A six-year-old little boy on his way to school last week was holding a plastic Lego G.I. Joe gun - a toy that is roughly the size of quarter- and before he knew it this little kindergartner found himself labeled public enemy number one in his school district. Because schools all over the country insist on acting like Barney Fife when it comes to situations like these when they overreact instead of using their head, things like this happen. Now because this little boy had this plastic toy in his hand he was forced to serve detention at school and there is a possibility of him having a temporary suspension from riding the bus. They really nipped it in the bud with this kid. If they would have looked the other way here this boy would have progressed to jaywalking by the first grade and then after that who knows? It's a good thing that these schools want to keep these kids safe and have a zero tolerance rule about guns and weapons but this also should not mean that they should exhibit zero common sense at the same time.

...And what the heck, one more since this school year is rapidly coming to a close. An eight-year-old boy was suspended from his elementary school because he chewed a Pop-Tart that he was eating into the shape of a gun. In other words he ate his Pop-Tart in the shape of an "L" and school officials were concerned that the said Pop-Tart the boy had was loaded. Ballistic tests on the toaster pastry later showed the Pop-Tart to be heavily loaded with blueberry and blueberry flavoring and based on that the school decided they had more than enough grounds to suspend him. Incredibly the school also told parents it would give counseling to any child that felt they needed it after the Pop-Tart incident. So far only one child has felt the need for it and it was a fat kid who complained that he was hungry and he wanted to eat the kid's other Pop-Tart and he was denied.

...I got to wonder what the hell these people had done if the kid had some Rice Krispies? Snap..Crackle..Pop! The National Guard would have been called.

...An Oregon man with apparently nothing better to do walked into a state office last Wednesday with a pressure cooker and told the receptionist there that he had a bomb and he was going to blow up the sign outside their office because a word on it was misspelled. Isn't that something? At least you got to give the guy credit here for being original. He went on to explain to the frightened receptionist that he was unable to carry out his bomb plot because the instructions he downloaded from the internet to make the device also were misspelled. Imagine the damage he could have done to that innocent sign had he just used a spell checker.

...I'm no Tampa Bay Rays fan but I really have to respect the way they handle issues within their organization because these guys don't mess around at all. Just last week they indefinitely suspended their 2010 first-round draft pick, a guy named Josh Sale, for getting kicked out of a strip club and bragging about it on his Facebook account. Sale just finished serving a fifty game suspension after testing positive for amphetamines. And now this. The Rays don't play games with people like this as they have shown in the past with characters like Delmon Young, Elijah Dukes and Josh Hamilton, all problem guys who cared more about themselves than the organization. The next time this guy's name pops up he'll be wearing a different uniform as soon as Tampa can dump him off on someone else.

...Although it is not official yet, Texas governor Rick Perry is expected to sign legislation that will allow public schools to celebrate Christmas and other winter holidays without fear of lawsuits. Can you believe this? They actually need a law for this. When this bill takes effect it will allow students and teachers to say out loud and to each other such things as “Merry Christmas,” “Happy Hanukkah," and --hold on tight now-- “happy holidays.” This is a good bill, a common sense one, and I hope it gets passed even though I don't live in Texas and I think it will make the kids feel a lot better. I'm sure a lot of them were wondering why "Merry Christmas" was treated like a dirty word at school that they couldn't say. And it's pretty sad that a bill has to be made in order for this to take place to allow children and their teachers at school to wish each other a happy holiday.

...Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has recovered enough to walk around now without the aid of a wheelchair and in a phone conversation he had with his mother he insisted that he and his brother were innocent of what they have been accused of and has no idea why he is locked up in a prison hospital. What else was he going to say, that he was guilty? His mother wouldn't believe it anyway. Have you ever seen any of those true crime shows when they bring the camera crew inside a prison to interview a guy who is serving his time and they always end up asking this same question all the time. Did you commit this crime? And every single time they look straight at the camera and say "no." That's what Tsarnaev did when he talked to his mother over the phone, which was the next best thing.

...I am suddenly pulling for the San Diego Padres to get many more come-from-behind wins this season after watching them drench super-hot sideline reporter Kelly Crull with two Gatorade baths this week.

sabugo · June 2, 2013

George Brett is walking into a no-win situation. Those young hitters need something more than a different hitting coach. By all accounts the potential is there, but they haven't been able to put it together. The Royals have done a lot of right things, but whether it is the park they play, the hitting coach or just bad luck, they haven't put it together. I see a lot of trades in their future..

That Amanda Bynes girl is definitely someone to keep track of in the next couple of years. She will do a lot more dumb stuff in no time. It's as much of a sure thing as there is. For her future I see...well, a lot of John Stewart jokes.

Muslims are not all the same, nor all evil. However, they do need to get with the program and respect the rules of wherever they decide to travel and live. You're absolutely right when you say that if someone pulled this kind of crap in a muslim country, all kinds of trouble would arise from it. I don't know why but there seems to be this mentality of "that's just the way they are", and I think that's a load of crap. They disrespect traditions and local costumes wherever they go and they get away with it 99% of the times. This happens in the UK, in France, in the US, in a lot of other places.
They have to understand this: My house, my rules. Don't like it, fine. Leave.

Poor Justin Bimbo...He must have been terrified. Have you ever heard the kid talk? First time I've seen a brain dead person talk. And sing. And dance. I understand that teenage girls love him, but anything more than that It's beyond comprehensible.

You guys in the US need to relax, take a deep breath and just let kids be kids. IMO this is one of the reasons why everybody sues each other once they grow up.

And I just love the way the Rays run their organization. One of the few sports teams that truly holds their athletes to a higher standard, and don't just slap them on the wrist whenever they do something stupid.

Do you think the Yankees could get that reporter along with Chase Headly for next season????

**Yankee4Life** · June 3, 2013

Sabugo said:

You guys in the US need to relax, take a deep breath and just let kids be kids. IMO this is one of the reasons why everybody sues each other once they grow up.

I can't argue with that.

**Yankee4Life** · June 3, 2013

Sabugo said:

Muslims are not all the same, nor all evil. However, they do need to get with the program and respect the rules of wherever they decide to travel and live. You're absolutely right when you say that if someone pulled this kind of crap in a muslim country, all kinds of trouble would arise from it. I don't know why but there seems to be this mentality of "that's just the way they are", and I think that's a load of crap. They disrespect traditions and local costumes wherever they go and they get away with it 99% of the times. This happens in the UK, in France, in the US, in a lot of other places.
They have to understand this: My house, my rules. Don't like it, fine. Leave.

Yes, you are right and I'll go as far as saying that most of the Muslims in the world have no interest in participating in these kind of acts but at the same time there are many of them that do. Take this last one when they butchered an off duty soldier. In their mind only they thought they had a good reason for doing this. And wherever they go, if it is here in the U.S or in Europe, as soon as they settle down they start to dictate how they want things run. You put it good sabugo when you said your house, your rules. Don't like it? Leave. The trouble is they don't and that is when trouble starts.

**Yankee4Life** · June 9, 2013

Updated to 6-9

...While a recent kindergarten graduation ceremony was being held in Cleveland, a minor accident occurred that ended up with eight people being arrested in what should have been a very happy day for a group of young kids. It all started when one girl accidentally spilled punch on another girl and that was all that was needed to get this fight going since saying "excuse me" was never an option. Ten squad cars of police arrived at the school to break up the fight and the cops confiscated a hammer and a pipe that were being used during it. That's the part I don't understand. Why would anyone want to bring these things to something like this? I'm kind of curious to see what these people are going to do when their kids graduate from high school.

...The JCPenney company recently had a teapot for sale that for all intents and purposes is just like any other teapot. It heats up your water, lets you know when it's done and then you pour the water in a cup so you can enjoy your hot tea. Unfortunately someone decided that this particular teapot looked like Adolph Hitler because that's the first thing you think of when you think of Hitler, a hot cup of tea. Penney's apologized (for what I don't know) and removed this teapot from their online order catalog, although you still can get it by going into any one of their stores. Despite all the backlash and complaints this teapot sold out online and some people are selling it for $200 and up on eBay. And before you knew it the clamor about the appearance of this product became overshadowed by the people who couldn't get their hands one, whether they thought it looked like Hitler or not.

...During the latest Red Sox-Yankees series that was held in the Bronx, viewers nationwide got to see them play on Saturday night on FOX and the very next night on ESPN, proving once again that these two networks have no idea that there are twenty-eight additional teams in Major League Baseball.

...A Sacramento, California man got a package from FedEx last week which he thought was kind of strange since he did not recall ordering anything and when he opened it he saw that the box contained eleven pounds of marijuana. His first reaction was to say hallelujah but then he realized that the people that sent it to him did not mean for him to keep it on a permanent basis so he called police and turned the package over to them, which they valued it to be worth $24,000. Whomever sent this to him is going to learn the hard way to double check the address label before sending it off to be shipped.

...Yankee owner Hal Steinbrenner admitted in an interview last Monday that he has been disappointed in Alex Rodriguez' behavior at times during his tenure with the Yankees. No kidding? What took you so long? Yankee fans have been saying this for years now.

...But to be truthful, no matter how much Yankee fans lash out at Rodriguez and dislike him, they have to blame the Yankees for giving him that foolish ten-year contract after the 2007 season. It's easy to see now that they took a losing gamble with him whereas they couldn't predict that he needed two hip surgeries that turned him into the game's most expensive singles hitter along with becoming involved in two steroid scandals in a matter of four years. If there is one good thing that can be said about this ten-year marriage is that other teams have avoided getting in the same confinement that the Yankees now find themselves in. And the one team that did, the Angels, probably wish now that they didn't give Albert Pujols that huge deal after the 2011 season. And even though he only got a five-year contract the way he's playing it looks like the Angels gave Josh Hamilton five years too much. He's been doing nothing for them and he looks like a left-handed version of Alex Rodriguez where his name and contract are bigger than his results. This guy won't start hitting until he pours enough scotch in him to fill a kiddie pool.

...With Anthony Bosch finally agreeing to talk to Major League Baseball about what he knows about Biogenesis and more significantly what players were clients of his, this will arguably be the major story that will define the 2013 season. Forget who wins the batting titles or Cy Young awards. I even think this is going to overshadow whomever wins it all this year. This is going to drag on for months and it is going to be very interesting to see who gets named and what kind of proof Bosch can provide and what baseball will do with this information.

...I honestly don't care if Alex Rodriguez gets nailed to the wall here. A fifty or a one hundred game suspension will really hurt him because he then will be unable to try and pick up girls in the dugout while the game is going on. But if Rodriguez is the only one who is brought to light here then this thing is going to prove to be a farce and a witch hunt. Every player on that list should be made public and if proven guilty they should be punished too.

...I actually mistrust baseball so much now that I am starting to think that with all the recent calls that the umpires have been missing that they've been doing it on purpose just so Buddy Boy can push for more instant replay to be used.

...Indians reliever Chris Perez and his wife have been charged with fourth-degree misdemeanor marijuana possession after police, postal inspectors and a narcotics unit searched their rental home last Friday after they seized a package of marijuana that was addressed to their dog Brody, which just shows how much mischief your dog can get into when they get their own laptop. Police later said a "significant amount" of marijuana was confiscated from the raid on Perez's home. When it was said and done they ended up only walking away with a little over nine ounces. Hardly anything significant about that. How's Brody going to have a decent party with the other dogs in the neighborhood when everyone's out of the house with just nine ounces? May as well not even show up and stay home and bark at cars and do the usual things. When Buddy Boy was notified of this he immediately asked if any HGH was also included in the package and when he was told that there wasn't he said don't worry about it, boys will be boys or in this case, dogs will be dogs.

...I don't like hecklers. I don't care for people who interrupt when someone is trying to make a speech or answer questions. Usually this happens in the political field like it did last week when Michelle Obama was interrupted when she was addressing people at a private Democratic Party fundraiser. My feeling is that she's the first lady and you got to respect her for that and it should not matter if you agree with what she is saying or not. And it also should not matter if the person up there talking is Democrat or Republican. They are the ones that the crowd came to see and hear and not someone in the back trying to talk over them. About the only politician in recent years that has not had to go through this has been Sarah Palin, which did make sense if you stop and think about it because no one wanted to miss it when she said something stupid.

...An eighteen year old high school cheerleader from Minneapolis has been arrested for prostituting a younger student in her school by creating an online ad and taking her to see potential customers. For her troubles she is facing felony charges of sex trafficking and promoting prostitution and is free on $50,000 bail. Maybe the next time she wants to earn money for college in the fall she should try something else like getting a job.

...For the past five years Amazon has been testing a new product line in Seattle called AmazonFresh, which is an online grocery business that will deliver fresh produce to your door such as eggs, fruit and meat with their own fleet of trucks. The good news for those interested is that Amazon is planning on branching out to other areas of the country next week starting in Los Angeles and later in San Francisco. I'm not sure about this. I would rather go to my own grocery store to get what I need. If the shipping costs for these items are the same for the other things people usually order from them (like books, games, movies, etc) then I don't see the point of looking forward to this new service from them. I can go to my supermarket right now and buy a dozen eggs for around $1.59, give or take. I order the same dozen eggs from Amazon for the same price and they'll tack on an eight dollar shipping and handling fee. I'll pass.

...The other week I wrote about how there are some mixed-up teenage girls who have started a Facebook page that insist that mad bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was innocent because they thought he was good looking. Now someone has opened up an account for him and people have been sending him money totaling up to $1,000 so far. Tsarnaev's mother has received $8,000 from people pledging their support for her son. I don't know what they plan on doing with all that money but if all of a sudden Walmart sells out of pressure cookers we all know why.

...I saw a picture of Steven Seagal the other day. He looks like an adult version of Eddie Munster.

...Cheers to the airline that kicked those one hundred kids off the plane after they refused to sit down and turn their cell phones off as the plane was about to make departure preparations. The crew made several requests to the students asking them to prepare for takeoff and the flight's captain even made a similar request over the intercom that was also ignored and that is when they were kicked off the plane. These kids didn't realize that the airlines are not forced to put up with the behavior that their teachers are compelled to tolerate. Once they got off the plane the kids had to come up with a reason why their flight got cut short before it left the ground so they played the race card and told everyone that was listening that the reason why they got booted off was because they were Jewish. All I can say about that is Oy Vey.

...Taco Bell last week fired the employee that had his picture taken when he was licking those thirty taco shells and they also canned the person who took the photo because they figured his tongue was guilty too by association. No wonder why it always took so long in the drive-thru every time I went there.

...The officials at the Miss World contest that will be held in Indonesia in September are not going to allow the contestants to wear bikinis at this year's competition because of mounting protests from Muslim groups who believe it is disgraceful for a woman to wear them because presumably if a Muslim sees a woman wearing a bikini they end up getting turned on so much that they have to kill her so their thoughts become pure again. What will replace the bikinis will be a one-piece long sarong, which is an item that is traditionally worn as beachwear. These people really are a piece of work. If they don't like something they make sure they ruin it for everyone else. It's funny that it's ok for them to gang rape and kill women but if they happen to see their navel they think it's a sin. Got to keep them happy, right? If not they always got another bomb to set off.

...I have never understood why people insist on mowing their lawn during a bad rainstorm.

...Welcome back Burn Notice this week, which airs on the USA Network. It's the last season for this show and it's going to be hard to say goodbye to one of the best action shows on TV.

...Since 2006 there have been literally thousands of missing person cases in Mexico which has led Amnesty International to comment that it has become a national scandal for the country and a systematic failure by police to investigate these cases properly to give relatives answers about what happened to their missing loved ones. Truth be told, all they need to do is look to their neighbors in the north and start in Los Angeles. Half of the people that they are looking for are gainfully employed at the airport and at various hotels in the city. The rest of them are in Texas.

Jaxen · June 10, 2013

"...During the latest Red Sox-Yankees series that was held in the Bronx, viewers nationwide got to see them play on Saturday night on FOX and the very next night on ESPN, proving once again that these two networks have no idea that there are twenty-eight additional teams in Major League Baseball."

You forgot that MLB Network had their Friday game, meaning every game of the series was nationally televised.

If Buddy Boy could arrange it, he'd have those 2 teams play each other 162 times a year.

**Yankee4Life** · June 10, 2013

"...During the latest Red Sox-Yankees series that was held in the Bronx, viewers nationwide got to see them play on Saturday night on FOX and the very next night on ESPN, proving once again that these two networks have no idea that there are twenty-eight additional teams in Major League Baseball."

You forgot that MLB Network had their Friday game, meaning every game of the series was nationally televised.

If Buddy Boy could arrange it, he'd have those 2 teams play each other 162 times a year.

You're right, I did forget that. I'm sorry about that. And that right there, having that entire three-game series televised by three different networks should explain perfectly why people all across the country hate both the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Hell, I'm a Yankee fan and I want to see different teams each week because I am someone that does not have the MLB package on DirectV.

Jaxen · June 11, 2013

Since I'm not employed by them, I have no desire to watch the Phillies every night of the season anyway. I could if I still lived up there, but the few nights they're on ESPN plus when they play the Marlins on Fox Florida is plenty for me. It's a long damn year. I end up watching 6 or 7 Eagles games and that's way too much. Last 2-3 years once has been enough anyway.

I will say MLB Network does a nice job mixing up the matchups. That network's one of the few things the league has gotten right in years.

sabugo · June 11, 2013

How is it possible that a tea pot can look like hitler? Or anyone else for that matter. That one left me curious!

It generally takes me one plate appearance to be disappointed in A-Roid. ONE. Steinbrenner must be doing something else when the Yankees play.

Hecklers are just people who didn't listen when their parents said: 'Don't interrupt!'
You should blame the parents as much as the hecklers themselves.

You mentioned Steven Seagal and I have to say something, I just do. OK, the man does know a lot about martial arts and fighting and all, but he thinks he's THE BEST and THE ONLY ONE that knows that stuff. That is obviously no true, as shown when he urinated on his pants while getting choked out by a Judo master.

If you wanna talk about someone who pulled the race card on a very unfortunate situation you should google the name 'Lloyd Irvin'. And this is the last time I'll ever type his name or remember that he is associated with Jiu-Jitsu. I sincerelly believe that hell would be too good for someone like him.

Muslim fundamentalists and women's rights...Yeah, right...

Burn Notice is going to end? Man, I love that show... I read somewhere that most of the gadgets Mike uses in the show were previously tested by the special effects/props guy and that to a degree they all work. (Would love to see that 'making of')

The situation in Mexico is just terrible...People are missing because cartels are killing them by the dozen.

sabugo · June 11, 2013

I forgot to say something that I've been meaning to share with you guys for a while.

In Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu we have something called 'The Baseball Choke'. It is called like that because you grip the other person's Gi like you would a baseball bat.

Check it out:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26fV60MJsvc

**Yankee4Life** · June 16, 2013

Updated to 6-16

...In Berlin, Germany, police arrested three topless protesters from a feminist group that were pleading for Angela Merkel, who is the Chancellor of Germany to arrange for the release of one of their activists that is currently jailed in Tunisia. Because the crowd of people that watched the women stage their complaints grew considerably as they marched on it took ninety minutes for the one dozen policemen that were there to handcuff and take them away because the crowd would not let them leave until they finished taking all the close-up pictures that they were able to get of the three.

...It's worth noting here that these three topless protesters in Germany were very easy on the eye. When we have women doing this here in America they all tend to look like Chaz Bono.

...There's been a lot of talk lately about some government agencies collecting phone data to see who you have been talking to and monitoring the online activities of some popular online services such as Google and Yahoo. All I can say is that if they are tracking me I have to be boring the hell out of them.

...Remember outfielder Milton Bradley? He is facing up to 7 1/2 years behind bars for abusing his wife five times during a two year period which includes assaulting her with a deadly weapon and spousal battery. Kind of surprising what goes on behind closed doors at times because he was always such a laid back guy when he was playing ball

...I love listening to audio clips of Ken Harrelson fall apart and act like someone stole his last nickel when a play goes against the White Sox.

... Down in Tampa last week Derek Jeter was taking grounders and swinging again for the first time since he reinjured his ankle in his attempt to re-join the Yankees sometime after the All-Star break. I'll give it ten days before another setback happens.

...Speaking of Captain Twenty-Million, would anyone care to believe that Jeter is fifth in voting for starting shortstop in next month's All-Star game? FIFTH! And this is from someone that has not played one inning yet all year so far. And if this does not proves that once again fans have no business voting for the All-Stars, nothing will.

...Great news about Curtis Granderson. The Yankees don't expect him back until after the All-Star break. That means the Yankees are stuck with him and his strikeouts for the second half of the season only before he leaves for free agency.

...Later on this month Japanese troops will converge on California's southern coast as part of a military exercise with U.S. troops that will be aimed at improving Japan's amphibious attack abilities. It took them sixty-eight years to do it but the Japanese are finally landing in California. However if they want to get some real practice in strengthening their ground defense skills they should go to the Mexican border.

...Now that Tim Tebow has signed with the New England Patriots I wonder if he will come up with a Christian way of saying that he wants to kick the *&#% out of the Jets when the Pats face them next season?

...I have never been a fan of Chad Johnson or Chad Ochocinco, whatever his name is but I don't have to be to see that this guy got screwed bad during his court hearing for a domestic violence case because of a playful gesture he did to his lawyer when the case was about to wrap up. Johnson was about to receive a plea deal that would have resulted in no jail time for him in exchange for his probation being extended three months along with twice a week counseling and community service. After the judge asked him if he had any questions he responded no and she then added that he shouldn't since he had a very good lawyer. And as soon as those words came out of her mouth that is when Johnson made his mistake that ended up sending him behind bars for thirty days. He turned to his lawyer and gave him a slap on his backside which for anyone who's watched any sporting event it is the symbol of an athlete telling a teammate "good job" or "way to go." For some reason the people in the courtroom thought this was funny and were unable to contain themselves and when the judge heard all the laughter she revoked Johnson's plea deal before the ink was dry. She accused Johnson of not taking the court proceedings seriously even though he was not among the crowd in the courtroom laughing at what he did. How and why is what Johnson did offensive to a female judge? If this ruling doesn't get overturned nothing ever will.

...It was a proud week to be a Muslim last week as the Religion of Peace was busy doing the things that they do all so well. First in Santa Monica, California a twenty-three year old worshiper of the faith shot and killed five people because, well really do these people actually need a reason now? Do we question why the sky is blue? Of course we don't. So we shouldn't be shocked to find out again that another Muslim is behind another shooting here in this country. Meanwhile over in Afghanistan Taliban sources are furious about reports that have some of their militants linked to beheading two children in Kabul last week. They want everyone to know that they knocked off four kids and not two.

...Microsoft has announced a $499 asking price when the XboxOne is released this coming November and this is already starting to make some people grumble, but take that for what it's worth because the same people that are crying about the asking price for it now will suddenly find an extra five hundred dollars five months from now.

...From what I have read about this system I am going to avoid it like I avoid going to Massachusetts. Microsoft is not going to allow you to lend or rent your games out and if you want to trade a game with one of your friends you had better think again because Microsoft is saying no to that. If you want to sell your game to someone else you have to be friends with the other person for over thirty days and once that person buys that game he owns it forever which means that if he wants to sell it six months down the road he can't. All these combined are reasons enough to wonder what Microsoft was thinking but the worst (or best reason not to get one) is that you can not play your games unless you connect to the internet every twenty-four hours. How did they come up with this? What if you go on vacation? Do you got to have someone come over your house once a day to turn your TV on so you don't get locked out of your own stuff? And what happens when you happen to have a day that has you so busy that you have no time to play a game? Sony must be loving this.

...Last week in here I wrote about how police raided the rental house of Chris Perez because nine ounces of marijuana were mailed to the residence addressed to the family dog resulting in Perez and his wife both being charged with misdemeanor possession charges. The Perez' have pleaded not guilty to these charges and will both appear in court later on this month. Hours after leaving court their dog Brody was designated for assignment and if he accepts will be living at Perez' sister's home for the remainder of the season.

...Oprah Winfrey is donating twelve million dollars to a museum that is being built in Washington that will document African-American history. With an endowment like that she should be able to get a parking spot every time she decides to visit there once it's completed.

...While I wish Paris Jackson all the best as she recovers after taking twenty Motrin pills and cutting herself with a kitchen knife a week or so ago I could not help to think that this behavior is just characteristic of anyone from that whacked out family.

...Brenda Heist, the Pennsylvania woman who resurfaced last month after missing for eleven years and letting her family think she was deceased, has been sentenced to nearly a year in a Florida county jail for violating probation. I bet right about now she has to be kicking herself for coming out of hiding after all these years. What was she expecting, a parade?

...Best of luck to Gerrit Cole, the new rookie pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates who had a very impressive major league debut last Tuesday against the Giants. With Cole joining a roster that is already holding its own very well this year Pittsburgh may be able to finish on the plus side this year for the first time since 1992. This of course won't rest completely on his shoulders. And I think that one of the biggest ways the Pirates can help in his maturity as a pitcher is to look and see how Washington handled Stephen Strasburg when he first came up and then do the exact opposite. A pitcher can not learn how to pitch on the major league level when you are afraid to send him out on the mound.

...Final thing on Gerrit Cole. He should be grateful he wasn't drafted by the Yankees because if he didn't pitch a complete game shutout in his first game there would have been internal discussions on whether he would be best as a starter or reliever. Just as Joba Chamberlain.

...Zack Greinke has a face where you punch first and ask questions later.

...For the remaining three Saturdays of this month I am going to be booked up by either attending a high school graduation (my niece) or making myself present at one of the three graduation parties that have been planned one on top of the other. One of these parties is one I can't get out of and I really don't want to because it's for my niece, who also happens to be my Godchild and I wouldn't miss that one for anything. The problem I am having is with the other two. They're for kids I do not know at all and even though I am related to them I can count on one hand how many times I have seen them since they were small. Basically what I'm going to be there for is to stuff some money in an envelope and have a smile on my face when I pass it over. I'm sure that their parents had no sleepless nights when they did not include my wife and I in their children's lives as they grew up. I just wish that sentiment continued now.

...Probably because her bank account has been slowly shrinking down to nothing Sarah Palin has agreed to return to FOX news as a contributor beginning tomorrow on the 17th of June. The difference between a contributor and a journalist is that a journalist is someone who is responsible for the content of the story whether they are investigating or reporting it. A contributor is just someone who is paid to sit there and tell everyone how things ought to be according to them. Based on this Palin should do very well in this job. Now all FOX needs to do is to get people to watch her.

...This is all the Republicans need. Give them credit because they are doing the best they can to improve their overall imagine but having this woman front and center again will be as helpful as throwing a drowning man both ends of a rope.

...What bothers me the most about the pictures being posted from the fast food restaurants that were showing employees doing unsanitary things to the food that in time would be in the hands of a customer is that we have no idea how many times this has happened in the past with no one recording it. Just thinking about this has sworn me off of fast food places forever. This is mostly a generation of entitled kids -the Facebook generation- that encourage each other to do stupid and disgusting things just so they can post it on the Internet for all to see so they can share a laugh and take no responsibility for what they did. What these fast food places need to do is to start paying more than minimum wage to their employees and put a stop to hiring America's worthless teenagers.

...Happy Father's Day to all the Dads in here. Enjoy your day!

**Yankee4Life** · June 23, 2013

Updated to 6-23

...With the excuse of improving security at all the stadiums, the National Football League has revised its policies for what fans can bring into stadiums from now on beginning with the pre-season games starting in August. Bags will not be permitted unless they are made of clear plastic and purses are now forbidden except for hand sized wallet ones. Also prohibited are backpacks, fanny packs, seat cushions and camera bags, among other things. All the NFL really wants is for you to show up empty handed with money in your pocket that they want you to leave behind once you leave the game. For some reason I don't think this rule is going to extend to the people who have luxury boxes.

...This is just another example of something being done for "security reasons" to help explain an unpopular change in rules or policies that are going to upset the public in general. The only thing that the NFL is trying to keep safe is their license to price gouge.

...Now isn't this something? After months of daily threats and warnings from North Korea they are now proposing high-level talks with the United States to ease tensions in the Korean peninsula. Funny that they seem to forget now that the strained relations that exist are strictly of their own doing.

...A Canadian couple from the province on Ontario discovered a four hundred year old skeleton in their backyard when they were digging postholes. When the man's wife encouraged him to keep digging to see if he could unearth the rest of the skeleton she had no idea that it would end up costing them one huge bill in the process. The police came and they sealed off the area and then they called a forensic anthropologist to examine the site. He in turn told the couple that they would have to hire an archeologist to examine the rest of the backyard and the cost of this would have to come out of their own pocket and soon after they were stuck with a $5,000 bill to basically let some stranger to come in their backyard and dig it up, look for bones and then leave. The dismayed couple is appealing to the mayor of their town to get the government to pay for the huge archeological bill but so far they have heard nothing, which is not surprising. In a way it is almost a relief to learn that inefficient bureaucracy is not confined to U.S. borders.

...Now had there been a treasure buried under the skeleton or right near it, Ontario would have been pleased to foot the bill and claim ownership of the find.

...My niece graduated from high school last week and when I informed her that I graduated in the same building ( the Eastman Theatre) she said to me "yeah, but that was in another century." How do you like that? And I'm her Godfather. I couldn't be more proud of that kid if she was mine.

...Even though her baby was born premature Kim Kardashian was still able to deliver a healthy baby girl and love her or hate her, that is all that mattered here. But now that childbirth is out of the way I have to wonder if this will be the first baby to get her own reality show.

...Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is upset that news about his proposed 300 million dollar contract negotiations with the team has leaked out to the press because the news was released before a deal was put into place. I'm not. I hope this ends up putting more pressure on the Dodgers to sign this guy now so they can be the ones stuck with a pitcher with a huge price tag who so far has never lead the Dodgers to anything, unlike Justin Verlander who has helped the Tigers win two American League pennants since 2006.

...More bad news for the Yankees as they sink lower in the standings. Kevin Youkilis is going to miss ten to twelve weeks because he is having back surgery to repair a herniated disk and it probably means he is going to miss the rest of the season and Mark Teixeira is facing fifteen days on the disabled list when an MRI he took showed inflammation in his wrist that he originally hurt back in the beginning of March. Teixeira hasn't done anything for the Yankees since his return to the lineup except contribute his usual high number of strikeouts (19 in fifteen games) and a .151 average. He did have one game against the Indians on June 3rd where he must have been suffering from temporary amnesia because in that game he drove in four runs. These injuries seem worse for the Yankees then they appear to be. Lyle Overbay is more than capable of taking over first base again and he actually does make contact and that alone will make Yankee fans forget Teixeira. Youkilis, because of his bad back, never really gave the Yankees a chance to miss him.

...Wait - another NFL player in trouble? That hasn't happened in a long time, like a few months.

...Last Tuesday in Budapest, Hungarian prosecutors charged a 98-year-old man with war crimes that they said he committed during World War II and sentenced him to live in prison. What the hell for? At his age he's probably not counting on seeing the new year come in whether he was behind bars or not.

...Immigration Custom Enforcement officials arrested twenty illegal workers during a raid of some 7-11 franchises in Long Island and Virginia last Tuesday and also arrested the store managers that were harboring the illegal immigrants by providing them with stolen identities and not paying them minimum wage to work at their stores. If they keep this up 7-11's across the country are going to lose 95% of their work force.

...Now if these guys really want to surprise the hell out of a lot of people they should pay Dunkin Donuts a visit next.

...The folks at Oreo cookies are coming out with a new watermelon flavored cookie and I can't imagine how much sugar that thing's going to be packing. No thanks. I prefer having my watermelon on a hot summer day, sliced up and ready to eat.

...After all these years I still believe that Tesla's Five Man Acoustical Jam is one of the best live albums ever made.

...Microsoft did some considerable back stepping last week when they announced some major changes with their upcoming Xbox One console system that will be sold later this year. The twenty-four hour connection requirement that they originally said was required to play your games has now been scrapped and as far as trading, lending, renting and reselling your games Microsoft is now telling gamers not to worry about that either because there now be no limitations to using and sharing games. Microsoft claims this change in policy is a result from "listening to feedback" from customers and if they expect anyone to believe this statement has any truth to it they are only fooling themselves because when it comes to paying attention to what the customer is saying these people don't know the first thing about it.

...I'm curious to know how much money it cost the FBI to go digging for Jimmy Hoffa this time?

...A sixty-seven year old man in Alberta, Canada was pulled over by the Canadian Mounties because he was driving his car at 112 miles per hour and when he was asked why he was driving so fast he told the Mountie that he had just washed his car and he was driving that fast because he wanted to dry it. Every once in awhile you hear an excuse that is so out there that it makes you stop what you are doing and laugh. That's what this one did to me. The judge though did not see any humor in this as he fined the guy $800 and suspended him from driving for 45 days. Maybe the next time he washes his car he'll grab a few towels when he's done. This way didn't work out so well.

...Nice to see Jose Valverde get designated for assignment by the Detroit Tigers this past Friday. It couldn't have happened to a better person.

...Forgive my lack of enthusiasm last week when the Dodgers came to Yankee Stadium for a two game series because to me it just did not seem right watching these two teams play in the middle of June instead in October during World Series time. I'm dating myself here but I'll never forget the excitement I felt when I saw my first Yankee - Dodger World Series in 1977 and seeing these two teams match up in mid October is more thrilling than watching them play in the middle of June.

...I understand that change is inevitable but I have always felt that by introducing interleague play in 1997 was more because Bud Selig wanted it and less about if baseball really needed it.

...I found out who Paula Deen was a few days ago. The name was kind of familiar before because I heard it a few times in passing on TV but at the same time I never really gave it second thought. Now I've learned that she's a chef and has her own cooking show (or at least she did) and that right there told me why I never paid her no mind in the past because cooking shows to me are just as boring as watching the 700 club. I love Rachael Ray and I think she's hot but I'm still not going to watch her bake some lasagna. Deen last week made headlines when she admitted using racial epithets in the past in reference to black people, which was irresponsible of her. I understand and agree that it is not a nice thing to say for any reason but what I do not like is people pointing fingers at her and acting like it was the first time ever that they've heard this word spoken.. With the media being what they are they have done their best to keep this story front and center as long as they can even after the woman was genuinely apologetic about her comments. This word, no matter how much people are encouraged and taught not to use it is still too commonly said and if anyone does not think that is the case they are only fooling themselves.. Turn your TV on or go to the movies, or go to Youtube and watch some videos they have hosted there. You'll get an overdose of the "N" word. Again, I am not excusing her but if you want to go after her for what she said you had better go after everyone else. She has apologized for it many times now and that's enough for me because if these people that are going to continue to go after her had better make sure no one accuses them of saying the same thing.

...I am sorry to admit that in my not so finest moments I have been guilty of using this word too. In my case it was yelling it out at the TV when I saw David Ortiz walk up to home plate during a Yankee game. I dislike Ortiz because of the team he plays for and not the color of his skin and what I said wasn't sensible at all and it made me feel guilty even though I was only talking to a TV set alone in my own home. I wouldn't think twice about saying that word in public or even on the Internet, where it seems you can say whatever you want. Oh, I still scream at Ortiz. I do that a lot. Now I just call him a son of a *&^#%.

...Aw hell, I missed the NBA Finals. For like the twentieth year in a row.

...Finally, R.I.P. to James Gandolfini, who left this world way too soon.

**Yankee4Life** · June 30, 2013

Updated to 6-30

...Beginning on July 15th after a seven month hiatus thanks to greed and poor management, Hostess Twinkies will be back on store shelves and for some people that has been a long time coming. I had no problem not seeing this sold at my local 7-11 because I always felt that these things were too sweet to begin with. I always compared eating one of these things to swallowing five tablespoons of sugar. I'll pass.

...One dozen Islamic militants wearing police uniforms shot to death nine foreign tourists last week when they were visiting Nanga Parbat in northern Pakistan, which is one of the highest mountains in the world. The local Taliban office of tourism and terror is claiming responsibility for the killings because one of their own was killed in a drone attack last month. Pakistani authorities have promised to do their best to find the people responsible for these actions and that means they'll probably devote two or three hours at the most looking for them and then quietly give up. Many foreign tourists stay away from Pakistan because of the danger they believe in visiting a country that is home to the Taliban and Al-Qaida, two Muslim terrorist groups that have an ongoing competition to see if they can pile up more kills than the other. It's pretty rare when a tourist season opens and closes in the same week, but there you go.

...By now it's well known to everyone that cares and doesn't care that Kim Kardashian named her little publicity machine --I mean baby girl--North West. I feel bad for her because I can imagine what she'll have to go through when she gets older with parents like that although Kanye will probably take off before the kid is six months old.

...I would love to be there the first time this little girl asks her mother how she became famous and who Ray J was.

...Let's see. Manny Ramirez is an ex-Red Sox player, he got busted for steroids and he is all washed up. No wonder why people are saying he'd be a perfect fit for the Yankees.

...As good as Serena Williams is at playing tennis that is how bad she is at everything else.

...What was the big deal when Phillies manager Charlie Manuel told a reporter that he was "going to knock him out?" Billy Martin used to say the same thing all the time and this is when he was talking to the people he liked.

...Who says courtesy is dead, Dept: In Atlanta, a group of people were standing in line waiting to go into a local clothing and shoe store to purchase a pair of limited edition Lebron James shoes when a robber came by and tried to get money off of some of them. One guy in line apparently only had money for the shoes and nothing else and was unwilling to hand over some of it to the pickpocket. So after the usual exchange of pleasantries, the guy got out of line and shot the would-be crook dead. As of now the police are charging no one as they are considering the shooting to be self-defense. That still doesn't answer the question as to why someone would bring a gun with them as they were waiting in line to buy a pair of over priced sneakers and that he just got back in line to get them right after killing someone. Has killing become this commonplace now?

...Like last year when he walked across Niagara Falls, I did not watch Nik Wallenda do his daredevil act across the Little Colorado River Gorge because watching stuff like that makes me nervous. I'd rather be in a room full of women listening to them talk about the shoes that they just bought instead of sitting and watching this guy do his walk on the tightrope. I respect the talent it takes to do this and God knows I'd never be able to but I still wish he'd find something else to do in the future because I'm sure that no one that watches him wants to see him get into a scary situation out there.

...Independence Day, the 1996 blockbuster action movie that starred Will Smith is getting a sequel after all these years. It's going to be released in 2015 and although nearly half of the sequel's cast is from the original film, Smith will not be a part of it because his asking price to do a movie has become too expensive in recent years. You'd think it would be the exact opposite with the way his last few movies have turned out. Has anyone seen After Earth? It's not really the fact that Smith is too expensive. It's just that once you hire him these days you have to hire the rest of the family whether you want to or not. That's when it becomes expensive.

...The great thing about being a sports fan is that it gives you something to involve yourself in away from your every day life whether it's at home, work or whatever else you got going on. Sometimes when I'm not feeling well I turn on a Yankee game and if I'm lucky Phil Hughes is on the mound and after a couple of innings of cursing him out (because that's how long he stays in the game) I feel a lot better. This is why it is easy for me to separate my feelings towards the city of Boston at the time when the Merry Muslims decided to ruin the Boston Marathon and my opinions towards the same people when sports are concerned, which is all the time. I was happy to support Boston in its most difficult time but there was no way I wasn't going to not cheer when their hockey team choked at the worst possible moment. All we needed was to have another one of their teams win a championship and they'd throw that in our faces for another year. The only thing better about the Bruins losing the cup was them losing it at home.

...Besides, with the Red Sox being in first place that is more than enough to take as it is.

...It got worse for New England sports fans a few days later when Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez was arrested and held without bail for the murder of Odin Lloyd, a man that Hernandez knew since the man happened to be dating the sister of his fiancee. On the same day he was arrested the Patriots wasted no time in cutting him from the team. Now instead of catching passes from Tom Brady in the fall Hernandez is going to be fighting off passes in the showers in whatever prison he gets sent to. It is hard to have sympathy for someone who is twenty-three years old and a millionaire many times over who resorts to do something like this.

...In the possibility that Hernandez gets convicted of this crime I have money on some Patriots fans starting a petition to get him back on the team on a work-release program every Sunday so he can keep playing.

...It would be hilarious if ESPN had their newest NFL commentator Ray Lewis put his two cents in and let everyone know what he thinks of Hernandez' arrest.

...In a move that is sure to pay immediate results, the Chicago Cubs designated Carlos Marmol for assignment last Tuesday. Marmol was so bad the other teams would cheer his name as soon as he was announced into the game.

...Just keep this guy away from the Yankees. We already have Hughes and Chamberlain.

...But not Mark Teixeira. He's gone for the rest of the season because he needs wrist surgery. That means he is getting 23 million dollars this year for doing nothing. I'm not too worried about this one though because Lyle Overbay has done a great job and he plays first base just as well as Teixeira. Of all the things wrong with the Yankees this year and of all the injuries that they've had they'll survive this one without thinking twice about it. I hope he comes back next year healthy and pain free but if he doesn't that's just how it is. The days of me worrying about the health and well-being of multi- millionaire Yankee ballplayers are over and done with.

...The bad luck the Yankees have had with long term million dollar contracts (Rodriguez and Teixeira) should be a factor this fall when Robinson Cano wants his eight year, thirty million a year (give or take a million) from the team.

...Consider me just as surprised as anyone else was last week when Yankee GM Brian Cashman told Alex Rodriguez to "shut the *#&% up." It's about time somebody did.

...Just for fun this summer when you are out and about try and see how many Pirate hats you see. I've already seen a couple. It's nice to see that the loyal fans of the Bucs from way back in April of this year are faithfully backing their team.

...I'm sure that by now we have all heard about the dangers of drinking too much soda or when it comes down to it, any soda at all. And diet soda, for all the hype it gets about fewer calories and just as good a taste is supposed to be even worse for you. Something about what is put into the drinks to give them their taste. It's too bad a thirty-one year old woman from Monaco didn't know this because for half her life she has been drinking nothing but soda and now because of this she has developed a condition called long QT syndrome, which can cause erratic heart beats. Since she was fifteen she told her doctors that she did not drink any water and soda (mostly cola) were the only liquids she drank. Talk about a coke habit. I bet this woman never failed one of those Coke-Pepsi challenges. The good news for her is that after she cut out soda for one week her potassium and heart electrical activity returned to normal. All I want to know now is if she has any of her original teeth left.

...While I can understand the anger that the parents of a seventh grade special needs student are having especially after finding out their kid was raped by another male student at gym class in a Los Angeles school, I would concentrate more of my anger towards the kid that did it then the school itself because if kids who commit crimes like that want to do it they will find a way to get it done. The parents knee-jerk reaction is to sue the school but they should go right after the family of the junior varsity rapist. The kid that committed this crime is under eighteen years of age but I don't understand why someone under that age is considered a minor by our court systems because they obviously know how to commit adult crimes. Let them have the adult punishments that go with them.

...Bad news for the lady who was forcibly removed from a U.S. Airways flight for refusing to comply with flight crew instructions when they asked her to turn off her cell phone. Aside from being arrested on three counts, including battery, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest with violence, any chance of her trying to spin what happened to make her seem like a victim in this went right out the window thanks to a passenger that recorded the entire profanity filled tantrum for the world to see on Youtube. Man that sucks. Here's someone who's just trying to get by and sue an airline and some pain in the a$$ has to go an record it and ruin everything. [/sarcasm off]

...Miley Cyrus was in such a hurry to go on Jimmy Kimmel's show last week that she forgot to wear pants. It seems as the weeks go on this girl becomes trashier and trashier and at the age of twenty she is only getting started. I wonder what she won't be wearing five years from now? Her parents must be so proud.

...Anyone get to see that new show that aired last Monday night called Under the Dome? This is going to be a fun show to watch this summer!

...I'm going to finish up this week's random thoughts in a slightly different way with a little story. I hope you all enjoy it.

Mr. and Mrs. Y4L go out to dinner.

Over the past few years every time my wife saw the Golden Corral restaurant commercials air on TBS she somehow convinced herself that it was a fun place to go to and since we didn't have any of them around here it made her want to go to one even more. It was just another case of the grass always being greener, etc, etc. Well, earlier this month the first Golden Coral opened up here in our city and the only thing that surprised me about this was that she waited a few weeks until we had to go. For any of you who have never been there it is a buffet style place and I can take or leave these kind of places, usually the latter. I don't eat a lot and whatever I do get fills me up really fast. The management must love me. Everyone else must have had the same idea as my wife had that night because the wait to get in the place was out the door and it took us fifteen minutes to get through the line and be escorted to a table. I told her after we sat down that if she gave me five minutes at home I could have made a couple of sandwiches and called it a night but you can't argue common sense with a woman because you'll lose every time.

Finally we got up to see what they had to offer in this place and at first glance it looked like any other buffet place except for the Asian ones where they throw a lot more fish and vegetables at you to just to be different. My wife exclaimed that "everything looks wonderful" but what she said did not match the look on her face. As soon as she finished saying that I leaned over and whispered to her and said that is exactly how she looks every time her mother makes her something.

To their credit this place does have a lot to choose from and you can always tell what item is a big hit amongst the customers because when you go to grab some all you get is a face to face meeting with an empty serving pan. This is why I can tell you that they serve macaroni and cheese and popcorn shrimp but I can't tell you if I liked it or not because every time a new batch was brought out from the back people swarmed on it so fast that if vultures saw what they did they'd be so depressed they'd choose a new profession.

But I was able to get some nice stuff like a cup of soup and a couple pieces of chicken that the guy ahead of me in line had his eye on but wasn't able to claim for himself since there wasn't enough room on his plate for it so I figured I better get it while I had the chance because out of the corner of my eye I saw him go back and grab another plate. Before I forget some of these people at these places are real pros in that they can balance two heaping plates of food in one hand without any chance of them falling. I was uncontested in the fruit section and I was able to get as much watermelon slices that I wanted without worrying about sets of arms on the right and left of me.

My wife got a lot of stuff that I didn't even bother to look at like meatloaf and tacos and a huge salad. She even waited in line to get a steak from one of the cooks that they have there. When she came back with her plate I took a look at her steak and I swear it was the size of a hockey puck. She asked me why I didn't get one for myself and I told her that the season was over.

The oddest thing I saw when I was there was a couple sitting a few tables to the left of us in a booth. They had a portable DVD player with them and when one went to fill up their plate the other put the movie on pause and visa versa. I don't know how long those people were there but they were there before we arrived and they were still there when we left. They sure as hell must have got their dollars worth along with four or five other people too.

Driving home I asked her if the Golden Coral was all that she expected it to be and she tried to downplay her initial excitement about the place when she admitted it was just a buffet place. I said I could have told you that and come to think of it, I did. Then she said it really didn't matter because we tried something new. And then she sprung something else on me. "Did you know that they are building a Sonic here in 2014?"

Goodnight!

**Yankee4Life** · July 7, 2013

Updated to 7-7

...The New England Patriots this weekend are allowing fans that purchased Aaron Hernandez jerseys the opportunity to exchange them online and at their stadium team store. Nice move by the team to distance themselves even more from their former tight end by trying to collect back as many sold Hernandez jerseys as they can. By this time next year the Patriots will deny even knowing this guy.

...Just when you think the Dodgers were getting nice and comfortable in last place they bring up Yasiel Puig and since his call up all he's done is hit everything that's been pitched to him as he woke up a Dodger team that seemed to be going through the motions before he got there. Good news always seems to beget more good news and this was the case for Los Angeles when they found out that Josh Beckett (0-5, 5.19 ERA) will be missing the rest of the season as he will undergo surgery on a nerve in the neck area. And just like that the Dodgers could be the team to watch in the N.L. West after the All Star break because of this rookie phenom who is tearing up the league and getting rid of a pitcher who can't decide if he likes KFC or Popeye's the best.

...Then again wait a minute. Hold that post.

...The Cubs managed to unload Carlos Marmol on somebody and that somebody was the Dodgers. Who says all the luck the Cubs have is bad? I'm sure that the Dodgers are hoping for good things from Marmol after he gets himself straightened out in AAA ball. If not, Jose Valverde is only a phone call away.

...Last week I finished my graduation party obligations and after my wife and I arrived home I thought I was freed up for the rest of the summer because we had nothing else scheduled that we had to attend. I was wrong. I got a call last Sunday that informed us that a baby shower was going to take place on August 4th. Sure, I told my mother and then I told her I would let my wife know all about it when she woke up. And then she sprung it on me. "This baby shower is going to be different. It's going to be a group baby shower where the men are invited!" I was going to ask her if she was kidding but since I know her so well I knew she wasn't. I asked her who's bright idea it was to have it like this and she told me that a lot of showers were being done this way now and it is a lot of fun. You got to hand it to women. They think of new ways to stick it to you and then with a straight face they tell you that you'll enjoy it.

...I got a feeling how this group baby shower thing started. There must have been some woman out there who was invited to a lot of these things and went to all of them and while she was away her husband stayed at home watching a football or a baseball game and maybe even took a nap and when she found this out she decided to start this custom just to drag him with her.

...The heat situation from Las Vegas down to Arizona has been crazy lately and I have to admire the people that have been living through this intense heat since it began. I've always been able to work pretty well outside in the heat but never in temperatures that went over 120 degrees. I believe the worst I ever had to work in was in 102 degree heat and that was hell. You don't need anyone to tell you it's too hot when your sneakers start to melt, and that's exactly what has been happening there. I just wish them a lot of luck and I hope that they get a nice rainstorm very soon.

...The most interesting part about Serena Williams being eliminated from this year's Wimbledon tournament is that after she lost she didn't blame it on someone else or an injury excuse that she just happened to come up with.

...Manny Ramirez is back in America and not a moment too soon. Thanks to the Texas Rangers, who signed him to a minor league contract and assigned him to their AAA Round Rock, Texas farm team, his return to the major leagues can only be a short time away if he hits as well as he did when he was in Taiwan. This is good for baseball fans everywhere since it gets boring putting down Alex Rodriguez all the time and it's good for Manny because he is down to his last eight or nine million and when that happens you really have to learn to budget your money.

...Now who didn't see this coming? Fighting between supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy and their opponents broke out last week as rock throwing, tear gas launching and gunshots were exchanged with both sides reporting that they had a very good time. Meanwhile in Israel daily activity has slowed to a crawl as most of the country is watching what is going on in Egypt and there have been three reports of people with bad hearts that were laughing so hard that it killed them.

...In probably one of the worst cases of animal cruelty I have read about in quite some time, a Florida man has been arrested for strangling his family's puppy, chopping it into pieces and cooking its ribs on the stove. The guy got busted because a family member called the cops on him and when the police came they found the dog's ribs cooking in a pot on the stove and the head thrown in the garbage. I'm having a hard time typing this piece out because it's making me sick. The man was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty. Suspicion? How much more proof do they need? The sad part is because this guy killed a puppy the punishment he will be facing will be no where as severe as if he hurt a child instead and for any dog owners out they would agree without a second's hesitation.

...An Indian airline called GoAir announced last week that from now on in order to save fuel they would only be hiring female flight attendants based on the reason that women are usually lighter than men. The pilots from this airline have unanimously approved of this change because when it was time to hit the mile high club again they didn't want to do it with someone named Vijay.

...Cuba has not aired a Major League Baseball game in their country since 1961 and all that changed last week when they showed a Braves-Nationals game that was played back on the second of May. There was no explanation as to why a game that was played two months ago was shown to the Cuban audiences. If they keep this up they won't find out who won the World Series until Christmas.

...Usually when Jonathan Papelbon says something I only partially listen to it but last week he actually said something that made so much sense I had to double check just to make sure he was the guilty party. He said that it would be a joke if Yasiel Puig got included on the National League's All Star team only because he had a good first month in the majors. Like him or not, Papelbon makes a very good point. I don't think there would be any doubt about Puig being included had he been called up in early April and put up comparable numbers.

...Curtis Granderson, trying to come back from his second major injury this year after breaking his left pinkie, started taking swings in a pool last week with a pipe to build up his strength in his non throwing hand. So far there's been no reports of any setbacks but the way this guy's luck has been going this year it is only a matter of time he gets water in his ear and develops an ear infection.

...It's pretty rare that a major league umpire gets fired for any reason. I may be mistaken here but the last time this happened had to be when a group of umpires lead by Ken Kaiser resigned as a ploy to get a new contract from Baseball. That ended up being a big mistake for the umpires who signed those letters of resignation because after union negotiations with baseball they were not rehired. Now last week Brian Runge, a fourteen year veteran, was let go due to a drug violation. I won't debate Baseball's stand on this topic but I think an umpire should be given the chance to get help and earn his way back or if not Commissioner Do-Nothing should apply this same policy towards the players.

...Last Wednesday (July 3rd) was the 42nd anniversary of Jim Morrison's death. The Doors are one of my favorite bands of all time and Morrison was without question one of the best frontman any band could hope to have. My only regret is that I never saw them perform because they were a little before my time. R.I.P. Mr. Mojo Risin'.

...I went to go see Man of Steel on Independence Day and unfortunately I have to go and see it again because I missed some parts of it. You see, the movie place we usually go to was being remodeled these past few months and in every theater they put in these soft recliner chairs that allow you to put your feet up and enjoy the show in extra comfort. Well it was a little to much extra comfort for me as I proceeded to fall fast asleep halfway into the movie. My wife tried waking me up a few times but gave up after the third time. She said it was a good thing I had those 3D glasses on because that made it hard for people to see if I was asleep or not.

...I just find it astounding that every year there's one guy who eats an amazing amount of hot dogs and does not get a stomach ache that lasts until Labor Day. A vacuum named Joey Chestnut ate 69 hot dogs (including the buns) in ten minutes to win his seventh straight contest. You would think that someone who can put away all food would be tipping the scales at over three hundred pounds but you'd be mistaken. He's a pretty thin guy considering he'd be the last person you'd want to invite over to your house for dinner.

...At the supermarket last Friday I heard an old person use the word "dude." It just sounded funny coming from someone who looked like an octogenarian. I can remember when I was a young kid when some people that age still used the word whippersnapper.

...Same supermarket, same day. While I was in the checkout I took a look at the cashier and noticed that there was a hole in her earlobes big enough to push a pen all the way through without having to force it. As I was paying for my things I was looking at it closer without trying to be conspicuous about it and I saw that there was a piece of plastic in the middle of her ear where the hole was and then I figured out that the hole she had there was no accident. I don't know if there is a name for this or not or if this is just something else to do to yourself instead of getting a tattoo. Maybe not, since she had enough of those. I swear if there was a way to drill a hole in your head and live to tell about it people like this would be standing in line to have it done.

Random Thoughts On A Sunday Morning Updated To 7-28

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