Batting second, number 6...

It's funny that this topic was started by a Canadian, but the point has been made.

I was thinking how a site of four dedicated sports fans had posted so little about the sport I know we all love. I take this to mean the demise of the Yankees has kept mouths closed as we all wait for the eventual late-season run.

But to look to the future would be to ignore the past and since I'm all about that, Old School Wednesday and all, I will share thoughts I published six years ago that still hold true to this day.

THIS JUST IN: Independence, freedom and the pursuit of happiness. When I think of the Fourth of July, these aren’t the things that enter my mind. Maybe it’s because I think about these things everyday, therefore I don’t use the yearly reminder to reminisce.

I’m not a big fan of holidays. My sister was born on Halloween and I was born on Christmas Eve, so holidays have always had a different significance for me. I see them more as an opportunity for people to relax and take the day off. Some people use holidays as an excuse to drink, like St. Patrick’s Day, but I’m sure Patrick didn’t want people to throw up green in his name. Well, I don’t need an excuse to drink and I relax every day. So exactly what is the Fourth of July to me?

The last couple of years, it’s been a television treat, with baseball games from Philadelphia to Phoenix. They play in the afternoon, just like they used to before I was born; when baseball was like shooting fireworks on the Fourth. In my neighborhood, kids would fight with bottle rockets and M-80’s, then play on the same team the next day.

Maybe baseball was beaten into our heads. Maybe there were too many fathers/coaches in my town. Guys that made sure their son would win by teaching the other kids in the neighborhood, kids like me who’s father wasn’t there. But we would have played anyway, regardless of outside influences. Similar to the Dominican Republic, we didn’t need organized leagues to play in; the street was good enough.

When I think of the Fourth of July, I first think of baseball. Other thoughts might squeak in, but it’s only temporary…

Now my thoughts are how I can sneak away and listen to Mets games on my XM radio, or can I find enough of an excuse to sit at my computer and wait for updates on GameDay online. Yes, I think of my wife, my daughter and the other on the way, but it always comes back to baseball and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Underdogs in 5

I'll keep this short, mostly because I don't really care about this sport, especially during baseball season. But to be honest, gentlemen, I'm shocked.

Shocked and appalled for white people nationwide. I'm writing a blog with two Canadians, one guy who got really drunk in Montreal (Haven't we all?) and a third whose parents were born in Buffalo, NY.

Hey, if you consistently go 1-for-3, you'll be a Hall of Famer in 20 years.

Granted, I did go to a university that dropped football and now playing the first hockey game of the season for Homecoming, but how could none of you mention the fact that the Anaheim Ducks, no longer Mighty but strong enough to pry Lord Stanley's Cup away from its rightful owners to our north. And in five games no less?

Oh, is it because like everyone south of the International Boundary could give two squirts of piss about hockey.



I hate to be the rating harbinger but a major network 1.5 for anything is pathetic. In fact, it's the worst rating, to borrow an Ali voice, Of All Time!!!

That means Joey, repeats of Touched by an Angel and my personal favorite, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, got better numbers than Hockey Night in Anaheim on the big Peacock.

Tim Cowlishaw has a great column about the 10 things to save the NHL. I don't think it can be saved. They had their chance and blew it twice, first with a stupid strike that no one cared about, especially since the owners won, then the move that will eventually lead to their demise in this country, an item that Cowlishaw listed fourth but is the only one that matters in my book.

"Kiss up to ESPN. Make amends. There's still enough room for programming at the world-wide leader to get your games back there. Versus gives the NHL no presence at all. The studio show has Bill Clement, a great analyst, in the misguided role of host.

Get back to ESPN – even if it's ESPN2 – and get your highlights back on SportsCenter."