New Boss in New York

New Boss in New York

The Boss is still named Steinbrenner but it is now Hank Steinbrenner, not George who is calling the shots for the New York Yankees. Over the years George Steinbrenner has said many times that he is ready to slow down and delegate some of the day to day duties of running the Yankees but this has never happened, until now.
As Steinbrenner has made fewer public appearances and granted very few interview request over the last few years many in baseball have questioned his health and who is actually running the Yankees. Through spokesman Howard Rubenstein the Yankees have released many statements from George to show that he was still in charge. Many baseball people have questioned whether it is even George who is writing the statements. During the 2007ALDS Ian O'Connor of USA Today tracked down George Steinbrenner and got him to give a statement saying that if the Yankees did not win the division series Joe Torre was going to be fired. As we later learned this was not the case since the Yankees lost and although it was an offer he deemed insulting, Joe Torre was given an offer to return as Yankee manager. This is not the first time in recent years that George has said something off the cuff and his words were proven to be untrue. Many in baseball saw this as the final straw, showing that George was not really in charge of the Yankees anymore. That's where Hank comes in.
As the oldest Steinbrenner son, it makes sense that Hank is the one to take over for George, but that was not always the plan. Over the years George Steinbrenner has announced a couple of other successors. The first was Joe Molloy who was married to his daughter Jessica but that plan ended when Molloy and Jessica Steinbrenner divorced. The second planned successor was Steve Swindal, the husband of George's other daughter Jennifer. In recent years Swindal had become one of the most influential voices in the Yankee organization. It was him who negotiated Joe Torre's last contract and it is also said to have been him who talked George out of firing Torre after the 2006 season ended in Detroit. Last year Swindal was arrested on DWI charges and soon after Jennifer Steinbrenner filed for divorce.
Hank Steinbrenner had not been with the Yankees for many years until he returned recently to help his father. The main reason for his absence was that he felt he could not work for his father. He has stated how demanding he was and he felt that it was best if he got involved in one of the family's other businesses. Hank had always had a love of horses and after leaving the Yankees he became heavily involved with the family's Thoroughbred business. He returned because he realized that his father needed his help and that this time he would be working with his dad, not for him.
Since he returned Hank has become a major face of the Yankees. It has been Hank, not GM Brian Cashman, who has been making most of the Yankees' public statements. Hank has changed the way that the Yankees have gone about doing business. In recent years there was a better chance of getting getting information out of Bill Belichick than the Yankees. This has been a policy of Brian Cashman. Cashman is known to dislike negotiating in the press and showing his cards. Hank has been the complete opposite, making threats and setting deadlines to complete negotiations. Cashman only returned a couple of years ago after he was promised full control by George Steinbrenner. Now with Hank in charge one has to wonder how Brian Cashman feels about this.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day, the day when I find out if I passed my portfolio. I really hope that I did and I think that I deserve to pass. I have failed this class before and in this past I was never as confident about passing the portfolio as I am this time. I could be wrong, but I think that I did a good job. One paper that I handed in received a B in class and the other one received a B+. I also went over these papers after they were graded and made more revisions. C- is supposed to be a passing grade on the portfolio so I think I have reason to be confident. I just don't trust the portfolio system. I hate it how random professors that don't even know me get to make a decision if I should pass or not. I think that my own professor, who has seen my work all semester, can make a more informed decision regarding my writing ability.

Stats

Its 2:35 in the morning and im sitting here trying to finish my stats project that I have to do a presentation for tomorrow. Obviously, im not getting much done. The main reason for this is that I hate statistics and I am not really sure what the hell I am doing. I have most of my presentation done but I have to put together a couple of charts for my powerpoint and I really don't know what I am doing. Ill probably be up for a few more hours doing this. If anybody has any idea how to do a test or set up charts in a powerpoint feel free to let me know.

Hank's In Charge

Over the last few years the Yankees have been overly secretive about their interest in trades or free agents. That has changed since Hank Steinbrenner has taken control of the team. When he re-signed with the Yankees a couple of years ago Brian Cashman was given full autonomy over the baseball operations of the Yankees. He was known to give as many no comments and evasive answers as any general manager in the game. Hank Steinbrenner has seemingly gone about doing business the complete opposite way than what Cashman would like. One has to wonder how Cashman feels about the current situation. One of the main reasons he returned to the Yankees was out of loyalty to George Steinbrenner, but now he finds himself working for his son. How does he feel about that??

Keep Away

The Yankees cannot let Johan Santana go to Boston under any circumstances. If they do they can get comfortable second place because they are going to be stuck there for the next few years. The combination of Josh Beckett and Johan Santana would be unbreathable. Right now the Yankees are saying that they will give up Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera, and a third second level prospect but will not include Ian Kennedy. I do not want the Yankees to give up Kennedy either but if it comes down to either giving up Kennedy or watching Boston trade for Santana the Yankees do not have a choice. Getting Santana is a must for the Yankees. Chien Min Wang showed in the playoffs that he is not an ace. The Yankees need someone to match up with Josh Beckett and Santana is that guy. They cannot let them become teammates.

Root Canal

My Thanksgiving break was going good until Sunday morning. I got home at about 2:00 and went right to sleep. At 4:30 I woke up in terrible pain. My tooth was killing me. I took a few Motrin and hoped that they would help but they didn't do anything. I couldn't sleep all night. My dentist wasn't open since it was a Sunday so I had to go to the hospital to get prescriptions for painkillers and penicillin. I spoke to my dentist on the phone and he told me to come in Monday. This was a problem since I had class early on Monday but I didn't have a choice. Yesterday when I finally went to the dentist I found out that I need a root canal. This really sucks because up until a couple of years ago I had never had a cavity and now I needed root canal for my first 2 cavities. The Vicodin that I'm taking is helping but its not helping enough. Right now my tooth is killing me.

End of Smester

I really hate school at this part of the semester. There is always a ton of work to do and I always feel like I'm going to run out of time to do it all. This happens to me every semester but this semester it has been even worse because I fell behind on so much work early when I had to keep going home. Ive been trying to get stuff done like crazy for the last week and I am almost caught up. On the other hand the semester is almost over and that is a good thing. I'm going home after class tomorrow and then by the time I get back I'm only here for another couple of weeks. I'm counting the days.

Get Mo

The Yankees have had a real busy few weeks. Just when it looked like there were going to be huge holes to fill they re-signed Jorge Posada and Alex Rodriguez. These are both good moves but they will not mean anything if the Yankees do not re-sign Mariano Rivera. The Yankees have offered him 3 years and he is now looking for four years after Hank Steninbrenner made stupid comments in the newspaper about how Rivera was getting a great deal for a guy his age. Hank is right but that does not mean he should have said anything. Rivera has been the greatest relief pitcher in the history of baseball and he has been a model citizen off the field since he came up to the Majors in 1995. Three years should definitely be enough for him but if it is not the Yankees should give him a 4th year anyway. They just gave a four year deal to Jorge Posada who is a 36 year old catcher and they are talking about giving four years to Mike Lowell who has never done anything for them. Rivera may not be as great as he was but there is still no replacement for him.

The Giants

The Giants lost to the Cowboys on Sunday for the second time this season. The final score was 31-20 but it wasn't really that close. I really never felt like the Giants were going to win the game. This was the game where the Giants could have made a big statement but instead they lost to a a good team in a ig game like they do pretty much every year. Ive been a a big supporter of Eli Manning since they drafted him but it's time for him to step it up. Hes still making the stupid mistakes that he was making his first couple of years in the league. I thought he would have stopped making stupid plays by now but I guess I was wrong. The Giants traded a ton to move up in the draft to get Manning and he is now being outplayed by Tony Romo, a guy who wasn't even drafted when he came out of college. It really does seem like the Giants never win a big game. I think the last big game they won was when they spanked the Vikings 41-0 in the NFC Championship game in 2000. Next week they have to play the Lions and thats not an easy game like it used to be. The Giants need to win this week.

Car

I went home again this past weekend. Ive gone home a bunch of times in the past few weeks and because of that Ive been putting a ton of miles on my car. This wouldn't be a problem if my car wasn't leased and I didn't have to return it in June. I really wasn't that far over the mileage until this semester but now I am 2000 miles over where I should be at this point. I live in Yonkers, which is right outside NYC, so every time I go home its about 450 miles. I don't even know how much I have to pay per mile if I go over but hopefully its not too much. Now i have to figure out what kind of car I want to get. I also have to decide if I want to lease or buy.

Can It Get Any Worse?

As a Yankee fan this is about as bad as it gets. Over a two day span, the Red Sox won the World Series, Alex Rodriguez opted out of his contract, and the Yankees basically ran my all time favorite player, Don Mattingly, right out of the organization. Over the last year they have lost Bernie Williams, Joe Torre, Ron Guidry, and now Don Mattingly. Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada are free agents and there is no guarantee that they are going to come back.

Alex Rodriguez is a phony, self absorbed piece of crap who couldn't care less about winning and only cares about the money. Anybody who blames Scott Boras for Rodriguez's choices are wrong. Boras is only doing his job. A-Rod should be able to make his own decisions. The Yankees have said numerous times that they will not re-sign A-Rod if he opts out of his contract. I will be totally disgusted if the Yankees go against what they said and make A-Rod an offer even though he opted out.

Halloween

I think I might go visit my friends in Albany this weekend. There are a lot of Halloween parties and when I went last year I had a lot of fun. My problem is that I have no idea what kind of costume I should get. I always hate going through this every year because I can never make up my mind. Every time I get a good idea it turns out to be impossible to pull off. I went as Hugh Hefner a couple of years ago and that worked out real good but I don't even remember what I went as last year. Ive only got a couple of days left so I'm gonna have to think of something quick.

Back

I just got back from home today. I planned to go home last Thursday but then on Tuesday I got a call from my dad saying that my grandmother was sick and she was in the hospital. I wasn't that surprised because she has been sick but then I found out that it wasn't the grandmother that I thought it was. My dad's mother was the one who was sick. This really surprised me because she had never been really sick before. My dad told me that she couldn't get out of bed and then she refused to try because she hates hospitals and she really didn't want to go to one. She actually said that she would rather die in her own bed than go to the hospital but finally when the ambulance got there my cousin and grandfather convinced her to let them take her to the hospital. If my cousin wasn't there I don't know what would have happened because I don't know if my grandfather would have ever called the ambulance. She is doing better now though and she should be alright.

It's Over

The Yankees just got knocked out of the playoffs and I am completely miserable. There are going to be a lot of repercussions from this. This could be A-Rod, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada's last game with the Yankees. It was almost definitely Joe Torre's last game. It shouldn't be though. Its not Joe Torre's fault Chien Min Wang got rocked twice. It's also not his fault that the best lineup in baseball barely hit the entire series. This time made a great comeback just to make the playoffs and overall Torre has done a great job since 1996. He shouldn't be fired based on his team playing a few bad days, but he probably will be.

playoff stress

Watching the Yankees in the playoffs is probably the most stressed out I ever get. This team drives me crazy. Going into the series I was confident we would win. After we lost game 1 I still thought the Yanks would win but things got crazy in game 2. The Yankees were winning until millions of insects swarmed the field and distracted the pitcher, Joba Chamberlain. They looked like they were in really bad shape after being down 3 runs early in game 3 but eventually the bats woke up and they pulled the game out. I am probably going to have a stroke before this is over.

Weekend

This was a pretty boring weekend. I didn't go out or do anything because i felt like crap. I basically just laid around watching tv and caught up on a bunch of work. I had a great time watching the Mets complete the biggest collapse in baseball history. Normally I don't care about the Mets. I focus my hatred on Boston. This year is different though just because of how much all the Met fans I know enjoyed how bad the Yankees played at the beginning of the year. They also had a great time telling me about it. I noticed a bunch of new Mets hats and jerseys on people that I had never seen in Met gear before but had suddenly become big Met fans over the last few months. I just wonder how many Met hats I'm going to see in the next few days.

Baseball

Baseball is great at this time of the year. There are a bunch of teams still playing for a couple of playoff spots and the season is down to a couple of days. This is mostly because of the wild card. When the wild card was first introduced in 1995 I didn't like it because baseball had never had wild cards and I liked baseball the way it was. It only took me one season to begin to like the wild card because the Yankees won the first American League Wild Card. It didn't end well for the Yankees though when they lost 3 games in a row after winning the first two to get knocked out of the playoffs. i was devastated because this was the first time I saw the Yankees in the playoffs and it was the last season of my favorite player Don Mattingly's career and it was the only time he made the playoffs. This year the Yankees are the American League Wild Card. Hopefully its good luck since wild card winners have been very succesful in the playoffs in recent years.

Whatever

I really can not think of a single thing that i want to write about so I'm just gonna type anything that comes into my head. Sitting here at 1:30 in the morning trying to think of something to type really isn't much fun, especially since I hate writing. Ive hated writing for as long as I can remember. That's probably why I always procrastinate when it comes to writing papers and things like that. I'll sit at the computer for hours and find stupid things to distract me from actually writing. I really don't even intend to do this it just always seems to happen. I actually want to get the work done. I really don't know what my problem is. Youtube is a great way to distract myself for a couple of hours. Ill go on the site intending to watch one specific video then three hours later I'll realize that I am watching something totally unrelated to what i went on the site for in the first place. Espn.com is another one of my favorite ways to kill time. I'm a huge sports fan so I can spend all day reading that stuff.

The Giants Suck

I've been a New York Giants fan my entire life and I have never seen their defense look as pathetic as it did during the first 2 games of this season. Everybody has been worried about losing Tiki Barber and how that was going to destroy the Giants but it has not really been an issue so far. Derek Ward has stepped up and has done a pretty good job. The defense has been a joke. They have set a franchise record by giving up 80 points over the first 2 games. This is sad being that the franchise has been in existence since 1925. Everybody always blames the coaches but this is the players fault. The Giants fired their Defensive Coordinator Tim Lewis in the off-season because the players didn't like him and replaced him with Steve Spagnualo who they have obviously not responded to. It's time for a complete overhaul of the entire team this off-season. The entire coaching staff and a lot of players, especially defensive players, should be let go. The team is only getting older and it is obviously not going to win as presentlly constructed. They seem to have a quarterback that they can build around and that's about it. Eli Manning has stepped up and looked like a different quarterback this season now that Tiki Barber and his big mouth is out of the locker room. Its time for the Giants to bring in a new coach and build the team around Manning.

First Time Blogging

This is my first time blogging, so I basically had no idea what i was going to write about. I figured I would just write about the first thing that came to my mind and that turned out to be the Yankees which wasn't a suprise since the Yankees are something that I think about a lot, especially this time of the year. The Yankees have won the division every year since 1998 and this is really starting to look like the year the streak ends. It sucks but its not as bad as it would be if there was no wild card in baseball. The Yankees are 5 games behind Boston for the division and they play them 3 more times so they still have a shot but its going to be really tough. They've built a 4 game lead over Detroit for the wild card. Normally I would be a lot more upset that they Yankees probably aren't going to win the division but the way that this season started its a miracle that Im even thinking about them making the playoffs.