Bad Luck Blue Eyes Goodbye

We typically don't like to delve into the gossip pages around here, but it's the off-season and news is starting to dry up.

You've probably heard by now that A-Rod and Kate Hudson apparently have split. And well, if those two crazy kids can't make it then what hope is there for the rest of us?

Hudson was credited with helping Rodriguez find peace this year. So without her, he'll surely go back to being a self-centered, socially-awkward, post-season choke artist. It was fun while it lasted.

Don't feel bad A-Rod. You aren't the first one to lose out on this one.

That's it for today Fackers.

Thirsty Thursday

Honestly, I've been enjoying these Thursday off nights as of late. When the Yanks don't play, it means that I don't have to stay up late to write a recap of the game and instead can get a head start on content for the morning. Or not and just get drunk. Which is probably what I am going to do tonight since I have secured about a dozen different kinds of Oktoberfests, Autumn and Pumpkin ales. Possible review in the morning, but no promises.

In any event, this Thursday doesn't have a whole lot to offer. Had the Twins won last night, there might have been an intriguing baseball game to watch. But they didn't. (Damn you, Carl Pavano!) It would be nice if there was an entertaining college football game on TV, but Colorado vs. West Virginia most certainly isn't. It would be nice if I was a hockey fan, since the season begins tonight with a doubleheader on Versus, but I'm not. If I lived in Brooklyn I might go to the Joe Posnanski book signing at JLA Studios, but I don't.

A few more items from the "not so much" department:

OMG, Kate Hudson is pregnant! Except if she isn't. Her publicist denies said rumors but that doesn't stop the Post from reporting those two things in the same headline.

OMG, Joe Mauer is stealing signs! The Twins say he wasn't, but they obviously aren't going to cop to being nabbed by some couch vigilante. What I found enjoyable were some of the things the conspiracy theorist who uploaded the video to YouTube was trying to infer (1:54):

Very ironic statement by Bert about trusting your catcher... talking about Mauer?"

Yes, Bert Blyleven is dropping hints about sign stealing so cryptic that only you can pick up! Makes for a hell of a broadcast if you're listening from the Grassy Knoll. Rolemodel2008 also talks from the omnisicent viewpoint, dropping gems such as (3:30):

Verlander is pissed off and pretty much everyone IN the game knows what's happening...

and (4:00)...

You can tell the Twins know this happened... Cuddyer knows about it... Leyland knows about it...

I mean, do they really? You can tell by looking at the screen?

The guy seems to be going a bit overboard with his "insight", yet this has been addressed by everyone from Deadspin to the Bats blog on the New York Times' website. Did anyone bother to look at the last time Mauer was on second base? It's happened a lot of times this year, you know. Am I the only one with the MLB.tv package?

The clip is interesting, but I think the allegations merit further investigation, which no one (to my knowledge) has bothered to do. Welcome to the internet, where we just link and comment.

/dismounts soapbox

Okay, some other links...

More alleged cheating, but these accusations come without much evidence.

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who has the clutchiest bullpen, of them all?

Attendance is down at Yankee Stadium this year, but by how much?

The MLB Postseason announcing pairs have been, well, announced. Courtesy of, um, Awful Announcing.

A marathon interview with Joe Posnanski.

And we're probably the last Yankee blog to link to this, but here is Tom Verducci's piece on Mariano Rivera from the upcoming Sports Illustrated.

Good night and good luck. I'm out.

OMG OMG OMG OMG... Is Derek Jeter... ENGAGED...?!?!

Here's something to counterbalance the overt nerdiness in the last post...

Are Jeter an Minka Kelly going to get married after this season?!?!?!?111?!?1

Derek and Minka are secretly engaged," an insider told Page Six. The Yankee captain and the actress are telling close pals to "save the date" for nuptials in the fall. "The wedding is being planned and will take place after baseball season is over," said our source. A rep for Kelly said, "There is no fall wedding planned to Derek Jeter."

Well, that kind of sounds like a "no", but it's an awfully specific denial, don't you think? The kind where they could easily point to it afterwards and say, we didn't lie, it was a "ceremony". Or if it takes place in the Southern Hemisphere they could deny that it was during the fall. Page Six also breathlessly points out that Kelly denied that they were even dating when they were spotted together last year. Apparently she hasn't been spotted with a ring?

I've talked to several people sources this morning who thought Jeter might never get married and just continue to pluck women out of the top .000001% of society, like Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Gabrielle Union, Mariah Carey (before she went insane), and the other assorted women you've never heard of but are probably incomprehensibly hot, for the rest of his life. But the guy is 35 and is dating perhaps the most beautiful woman possible. Maybe he's thinking about starting a family and doesn't want to wait too long. He is building a gigantic new house, you know...

Sidenote: During the course of "researching" this post, I came across this slide show on the Post's website. Take a look. One would assume that since Minka Kelly plays a high school cheerleader on TV and Kate Hudson has been in romantic comedies for what seems like 10 years that they'd be fairly far apart in age. One would be wrong. Kelly is 29 and only a year younger than Hudson. Who knew?

Disclaimer: Fack Youk apologizes for the trashy, tabloid nature of this post, but we haven't used the "attractive females" tag since the beginning of May we were risking the loss of our status as a sports blog. And we'll probably get some pageviews from Google searches. We hope you understand.

Please Be True, Please Be True...

First saw this via River Ave. Blues yesterday...

According to reports, A-Rod and Kate [Hudson] enjoyed a 3-hour meal last week at Lure Fishbar in NYC with friends and were seen getting very cozy. Spies at Page Six confirmed that after dinner, they went to Rose Bar together where they met up with Kate's friend Ron Burkle.

I know almost nothing about Kate Hudson, but I'm gonna go out on a limb here: There is no way she is anywhere near as crazy as Madonna (don't click it...). The fact that A-Rod is dating a woman who is slightly younger than him and attractive is a cosmic step forward. He could still use a few pointers from the guy on his defensive left...

But I think we can agree that this is a whole lot better than him succumbing to a washed up, veiny diva who wanted nothing more than to enlighten his soul via Kabbalah. The last thing we need is for A-Rod to have more things running around in his fragile, frosted-tipped head.

When do pitchers and catchers report?

[UPDATE 5:15PM] Awwwwwww. Already? Should have known, Ms. Hudson neither strips, nor benches 200.