"Fall Of An Empire"

Well, almost an empire. Although, at $207 million, the New York Yankees are by far the most overwhelming team in the game today. When they come into town the other team automatically goes into defensive mode. "If we can just hold them to minimal damage, maybe we can avoid being swept." Right there, the psychological damage has been done. No team can beliee in themselves when they've already conceded defeat. And with good reason. When your number nine hitter (Robinson Canoe, who will be a future AL MVP) winds up 3rd in the batting race, you know you've got firepower. A while back I listed the salaries of the 2005 Yankee lineup plus their starting pitching. Their rotation is more then some people's entire payroll. And it was shaky all year. But they muddled through and wound up with the most wins in the AL. And Mr. Steinbrenner wouldn't have it any other way. It was never "Are we going to make the playoffs?" but "When do we receive our World Series rings?". When the owner expects that from day one it puts a lot of pressure on the other players. Most of them have stepped up and thrived in the role, including team captain Derek Jeter. But there's one player who just cannot seem to come through in RBI situations. And we all know who he is. Number 252.

Alex Rodriguez...is he the greatest player in the game today? Numbers wise he just might be. Everyone expects Barry Bonds to break Hank Aaron's record of 755 dingers but Rodriguez will most certainly surpass Aaron sometime in the next 7 or 8 years, barring unforseen injuries. And he won't even be 40! Every year he has a great year...on paper. But he just can't drive em in when it counts. Only when the game isn't on the line does he deliver. And this just doesn't fly in the Bronx. Currently he is 1 for 11 in the series against Detroit who are up 2-1 and need just one win to shut down the Yanks and go on to Oakland, who just swept Minnesota and what had to be the surprise of the year. If the Yankees lose this series (and a chance at the World Series for the 3rd straight year), expect A-Rod to be with another team by the winter. Expect it. Combine his awful post-season numbers with his constant remarks about his teammates making him feel bad (gaw, grow a pair already) and that spells out da door.


Found these guys at Big Lots about a year ago. Was going to use them in my live action comic book which some day I will get off the ground. $2.99! A bargain! Maybe Zach will get more use out of them then I will. But I will open them one day.


Zach: "Dad, can I go into the garage and start opening your irreplacable toy collection?"
Dad: "I...HAVE...NO...SON..."

Just kidding brutha man! You and your sister will never wonder if your mom and dad love you. Ever.

Me and Emmy had a great day off yesterday. Once we got the errands out of the way, we went to the mall and walked around for a bit. Had some lunch at Wendy's, which, by the way, why is Northeast Mall the only one that has a Wendy's? Although, Hulen Mall is the only one around that has a Corn Dog On a Stick and an Orange Julius, but that's neither here nor there. Then we went to Toys "R" Us and checked out the toys. She's so funny when we go there. She makes a beeline for the bikes and finds one and rides it around while I chase her. Then she sneaks upon me and plows right into me! My knee still hurts lol. Got her some scribble pads so there's not piles of loose paper all over the house. I hate to stifle her creativity so I let her do it but it sure does get messy fast! Then we went to Petco and checked out the...you know, pets. They had three ferrets in a glass enclosure and all they did while we were there was wrestle. One of them I think just wanted to be left alone but kept getting sucked into the "melee". Came home and chilled until it was time to pick up Zach. We never got a Starbucks, or "coffee Slurpee" as Emmy calls them lol. But we will...soon...