Do you know anyone in this world who wears an actual nightcap? Grandparents maybe? What does it say about our culture that the drinking form of a nightcap is probably thousands of times more popular than the ridiculous thing you wear on your head to bed? Just thinking out loud here...
Joe Girardi has made some highly questionable moves this postseason, but to label him the "#1 October Disaster" like Jon Heyman did is indefensible. (via Craig)
That's all for now. We'll be back at it tomorrow with some historical perspective and other good stuff. In the meantime, feel free to root for neither of the teams playing in Monday Night Football.
I know some of you probably care deeply about the Subway Series. It's probably because you have annoying friends that are Mets fans who can't wait to rub it in your face when the Yankees lose. I just can't bring myself to get worked up over the intra-city rivalry. I'm not against interleague play, and I think Yanks and Mets should play every year, but trumping it up as a big rivalry is lost to me. There isn't really a whole lot of history to it. If the Dodgers or Giants were still in New York, sure, but the Mets aren't either of those teams, regardless of how much they try to be.
Since interleague play began in 1997, the Yankees lead the all-time match-up 37-29 (not including the 2000 World Series). The Yankees swept the series 6-0 in 2003, but since 2004, the Mets have the advantage 17-15. Maybe it's just this time around, since we are coming off a huge letdown against our actual rivals, but this upcoming series doesn't seem as big.
Well for those of you who do care about the Subway Series, here are some links to get you into the swing of things.
The New York Yankees will become the first MLB team to have its games streamed live online within its home market, thanks to a landmark carriage deal YES Network signed with Cablevision earlier this spring.
The streamed games will begin later this season and will be available via subscription to Cablevision’s TV and broadband customers who subscribe to a tier that carries the YES Network, according to several baseball and cable industry sources.
>8
The pact also marks the first major effort within baseball for in-market streaming — an issue that has troubled the industry for years. Several clubs that hold equity interest in regional sports networks, such as the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles, have pressed for in-market streaming to complement MLB.TV’s out-of-market online video package.
Even if you don't have Cablevision, this is interesting news. Although three-way negotiations are rarely simple, I've never understood why teams, networks and the MLB couldn't agree on a revenue split for streaming the games over the internet. It's a legitimate untapped resource. Especially during day games, there are lots of people trapped at work who would love to be able to watch the game but have no access to a TV. Provided the commercials are still present during the broadcast, more eyes means more money, right?
Kudos to the Yankees and Cablevision for finally ironing this out. It seems inevitable that this will move beyond just Cablevision and just NYC to larger cable companies and throughout the MLB.
StubHub spokesman Sean Pate said as of last week, the average resale price of a Yankees ticket was $79, down from $84 at this time last year despite the increase in face values.
So despite the fact that the prices of Yankees tickets had been uniformly increased (the best seats exponentially so), and it's a brand New Stadium with fewer seats, the resale price is down.
Does this mean the Yankees are actually making less money this year? Do the inflated prices on the tickets which are already sold counteract the fact that there are empty seats? During last season, you could have counted me among those who assumed that every seat to every game this year would have been sold. Aside from Opening Day, it hasn't even been close to that... What's going to happen if/when the New Stadium appeal wears out and Yanks continue to flounder?
Neil Best of Newsday has been on top of the Kellerman story since it broke (err, I tipped him off about it and was not attributed)
And yesterday afternoon he transcribed a portion of the B.S. Report (at the 45:09 mark) where Simmons addressed the story about Kellerman and the rumors concerning Francesa. (I'm just going to blockquote the whole thing):
Bill Simmons: "Max Kellerman left his ESPN Radio New York show today. Uh, I'm throwing our hat in the ring. Our collective hat." (Simmons' friend) JackO: "Fantastic. He left it? Why, he just gave it up?" Simmons: "I don't know. Details have not come out." JackO: "There was some ugliness?" Simmons: "Who knows? I had a reader email a month ago and say he was at a restaurant where Max and Mike Francesa were having dinner together." JackO: "Really? Uh, oh. The new Mad Dog, do you think?" Simmons: "Mike and the Max Dog?" JackO: "Mike and Max. It works." Simmons: "Mike and Max?" JackO: "Got the alliteration down." Simmons (with a Francesa accent): "We'll be back, 'Mike and Max,' after this. 'Mike and The Max,' maybe?" JackO: "Yeah, but that's his first name, he can't become The Max." Simmons: "Let's say, hypothetically, Francesa and Kellerman, does that show work, or not?" JackO: "You know, I've only seen Max Kellerman on TV. I've never listened to his radio show, so I don't know what he's like. It might be a case of too many lead dogs trying to be there, you know." Simmons: "It's like a Kobe-Shaq." JackO: "I'm not sure how it would work. One guy's got to be the second banana and know his role." Simmons: "2003 Kobe and Shaq, not 2000 Kobe and Shaq. It would be interesting. I could see the show being great for like three months and them like fighting to the death." JackO: "If you've already been the star of your own show it's tough to go back now and be the supporting actor." Simmons (with a Francesa accent): "Hey, Max, let me tell you something, you're in the big time now. This is my show. You are a second banana, my friend." JackO (with a Francesa accent): "You know, you don't bring a knife to a gunfight." Simmons (with a Francesa accent): "I'm Jordan, you're Pippen, got it?" Simmons: "But that would be interesting. Keep an eye on that."
The restaurant story is pretty interesting, but I would be curious to know if it came before or after Kellerman was notified that his air time was being cut back.
A Kellerman/Simmons show would be phenomenal, but obviously that's not going to happen because Kellerman can't go back to ESPN and Simmons can't leave. Even though I imagine he was kidding, I'd probably listen to a Simmons/JackO show. I give it a try at the very least. Too bad it would never happen because 1050 would never bring in such a personality so closely associated with Boston into the New York market, even if Simmons had JackO to balance him out.
Earlier today, I wrote a post detailing The Sports Guy's on-air complaints about ESPN's policy regarding what radio shows he was allowed to appear on. I was wrong about what he was referring to in his cloaked bitching to ESPN management.
I thought ESPN didn't want him to go on with Max Kellerman in favor of Colin Cowherd's National show. He has never been on The Herd, in no small part due to the feud that I brought up in the previous post.
Kevin (Chappaqua, NY): Bill, with the Mike and the Maddog show no longer on the airways and the classic radio 1, 2 combo having gone their separate ways, What do you think there interactions will be at their first Super Bowl apart? I'm sure they will be fighting for guests, giving evil snickers and stares across radio row, while Mike sips on his Diet Coke and Dog fidgets uncontrollably in his chair. My questionthough is if you were asked to go on both shows and only had time for one, who you going with?
Bill Simmons: I would go on Mike's show. There's a 85% chance that Dog has never read a single thing I've written. Mike and I have a love-hate relationship (mostly love) but at least he reads me... the last time I was on, they grabbed me on Media Row and I was sick... I want a second chance... sadly it can never happen because I am not allowed to go on non-ESPN shows ... even though the show that goes against Mike's (Michael Kay) has never asked me to come on. Yup, this is my company.
So as commenter JJV first pointed out, the show that he was talking about wanting to appear on was Mike Francesa's (Mike'd Up) and the show that hadn't invited him on was the Michael Kay Show on 1050, which is up against Mike'd Up.
I think my overall point still stands. Simmons is a bit of a drama queen and never misses an opportunity to publicly slam ESPN for any policy that he disagrees with. I find it hard to believe he's really that upset about not being ask to go on Michael Kay's show.
As The Big Lead pointed out, it's not a great match, seeing that Michael Kay is predominantly a Yankees guy and bringing Simmons on wouldn't really appeal to his audience. Has there been a good reason to bring him on? It's not like TSG has been promoting anything recently.
I would tend to think that Simmons is just bitching because he can't go on Francesa's show and is just using the fact that Michael Kay hasn't asked him to come on (without any incentive to do so) as an excuse to whine about ESPN management (again).
I respect what Simmons does, but ESPN pays him close to $1M, and I don't think anyone held a gun to his head when he agreed to the terms of the contract. He has a job that every blogger would trade for in a second, even if you had to take his annoying nasally voice and were consigned to writing 90% of your columns about Boston teams for the rest of your career. I just get the feeling that no matter what happens, he's going to be a malcontent.
Still, I was wrong, and thought the record should be set straight. An anonymous commenter on the last post really summed it up, though:
Anonymous said... Yeah dont be a dipshit, the show he wants to go on is Mike'd Up on WFAN (Formerly Mike and the Mad Dog)but he is not allowed by ESPN and he is not invited on the ESPN--1050 Michael Kay Show. Dont just spill diarhea [sic] from your mouth.
Buzz Bissinger, is that you? I believe in this case the "diarhea" would have been flowing from the tips of my fingers since these are the interwebnets and I actually had to type all of that up. Also, apostrophes are your friends, don't be afraid to use them. Thanks for your input, though. Feel free to share your sage and flawlessly written insights anytime, whoever the fuck you are.
Do you know anyone in this world who wears an actual nightcap? Grandparents maybe? What does it say about our culture that the drinking form of a nightcap is probably thousands of times more popular than the ridiculous thing you wear on your head to bed? Just thinking out loud here...
Posts
