Rick's blog

Starting a long road trip, the Yankees are firing on all cylinders. Although bruised from a dominating home stand, the Yankees arrived in Seattle for the first stop in what will be the longest road trip of the year. The game started at Ten PM eastern time on the Interactive YES Netwok.

After being hit by pitches both Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Jorge Posada were question marks until game time for the Yanks. Holding a 5.5 game lead in the AL East, and wanting to keep it that way at first glance looked like according to a lot of people may not be possible.

To those people with the lack of confidence, how do you like us now? A-Rod, and Posada both got the night off, for those of you keeping score that is two big offensive threats out of the lineup. Well guess what not only did the usual people step up like Derek Jeter 2 for 4 with a solo HR, but Matsui connected not once but twice for HR’s and drove in 5 runs. Oh and the deadline acquisition Hairston, which some people laughed at has been a contributor each time he has taken the field. This night he went 2 for 5 with 2 RBI’s. Sabathia once again has earned his paycheck with 8 innings pitched 3 hits, and only 1 run.

Now with the Red Sox’s early afternoon loss, that puts the mark at 6.5 games up in first place for the Yankees. The Yankees have an amazing team, and are having fun playing the game right now. Each player is stepping up when they need to, and the pitching has been great for the most part. There is still a lot of baseball to play and anything can happen, but right now the Red Sox’s might want to focus on the Wild Card because Texas is only a half game out right now.

The New York Yankees, Pride, Power and Pinstripes

There is a huge benefit to

MLB Extra Innings

with directv, you get to see all the games and what all the fuss is about when someone gets hit by a pitch.

This year for some reason it seems as though batters are being targeted more so then in previous years. Is it that the pitchers are trying to make hitters uncomfortable at the plate? In doing so they come in a little too far. Maybe the pitchers are trying to send a message and do target some batters to do so. There is the unwritten rule if you hit our guys we are going to hit yours that teams have. Most of the time this happens in close games between rivals like Boston and New York.

This year though it seems like this is a wide spread occurrence. You have Ozzie Guillen who last week put the warning to other teams. “If you hit one of our guys, we are going to hit two of yours”. MLB is looking into his comments. Ozzie first rule of fight club is you don’t talk about fight club. Second rule of fight club, is YOU DON’T TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB… Now with your comments, you’re all over the radar.

That was our first indication that there may be some rise in hit batters. Then the usually calm Kevin Youkilis (except with maybe Manny in the dug out) was hit by a pitch and out of form for him, he charged the mound. Well Kevin, maybe you should not ever charge the mound again, Ever ! You ran out with the look of a deranged ape, and then proceeded to throw your helmet at the pitcher who seemed to be scared at first. Now at this point you were in total control of the situation, until you were thrown to the ground by a 23-year-old 130-pound pitcher. You ended up on the bottom of the pile. Next Time just take your base. Now your serving a 5 game suspension does not seem worth it now does it?

Last night pitches hit not one Yankee, but two. Derek Jeter was hit on the foot by a breaking ball, and A-Rod was beamed in the elbow by a fastball. Both of them took their base and the game continued. No suspensions, no fights game proceeds. These are the most recent in a long list of players hit this year. Were any of them targeted probably, but with the exception of the White Sox’s pitchers we will never know for sure.

Here is a quick suggestion, if you cannot pitch the inside, don’t. These are peoples careers your messing with. If you have the ability to pitch effectively inside and not near the head and neck area, then you can. That being said, if you are targeting players then you are going to get one of your players hit and possibly hurt. If you are in the post-season race hitting batters is not a good idea. You are risking a possible suspension, which means you team will have to find a way to win without a starting pitcher.

Think about it next time you are on the mound, is it worth it?

Well Bobby Flay has his Throw down show in HD on the Food Network why not put Shaq in the mix. The 7 foot 2 Inch NBA star is now working with ABC for a show where he is challenging other athletes in their sports.

The series is going to premiere on August 18th when Shaq is going to play football against Ben Roethlisberger in his back yard. This series is going to be hosted by none other then Mike Goldberg the play-by-play man from the UFC. He will have a front row seat to what may shape up to be a bigger mistake then his rapping career.

Right now Shaq is looking at playing Ben in Football at Ambridge High School, Serena Williams in tennis, Misty May and Kerry Walsh In Volleyball, Michael Phelps in Swimming, and Albert Pujols in baseball. There is even talk about him wanting to try Boxing or MMA. Shaq, check out the You Tube videos of Jose Canseco.

Now I know what your saying if Bobby Flay can challenge the best cooks in a Throw down at what their specialty dish is, and win why not Shaq. Well Bobby Flay is a professional Chef. His Throw down show is about cooking not about challenging Ty Pennington to a build off on Extreme home make over.

Shaq we love you for what you are, a great basketball player. Can we focus on maybe helping Lebron win a Championship rather the worrying about the other athletes in different sports? I know I am going to watch the first episode just so I can say I gave it a chance, but I am not really expecting to be really intrigued enough to watch the second.

If anyone else wants to watch with, and give your feed back I will be on ABC in HD channel 005 on DIRECTV. This ought to be good.

Tonight starts the new season of Hard Knocks On HBO. The HBO crew will be following The Cincinnati Bengals 5 week training camp this year. Each year Hard Knocks follows a different team during their training camp as they gear up for their quest to the Super Bowl.

Weather you’re a Bengals fan or not, this series gives us all an in depth look at what these athletes have to endure before the season even starts. Directv brings HBO to you in HD, and complements this series with the best sports programming available. Every Wednesday night at 10:00 pm a new episode will air. I am not a Bengals fan, but this is one of the best shows hbo has. You get a first hand look at your teams players, their strengths and weakness’ what Veterans have returned and what rookies have been added.

Also airing this month on HBO in case you missed it in July is the Sports documentary Breaking the Huddle: the integration of college football. On September 12, 1970, the fully integrated USC football team soundly defeated the all-white Alabama Crimson Tide--and landed a deathblow to a shameful era in American history. HBO Sports presents this documentary that chronicles the integration of college football in the South, focusing on the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s and its profound effect on the racial status quo of college athletics. The film tells the personal stories of some of those who helped achieve equality on the field, looks at the impact of segregation on black high-school stars forced to travel to integrated schools, and culminates with the September 1970 game between the University of Southern California, featuring star running back Sam "Bam" Cunningham, and the University of Alabama team led by legendary head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.

With the NFL Season right around the corner HBO is giving us the programming we need to get us pumped up for Football. If you have directv not only can you watch the Hard Knocks show, but you can also follow the preseason wins and loses of your favorite teams with the NFL Sunday Ticket.

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL !!!!!

Out of all the toys our kids play with, how is it that the Barbie Dolls have survived this long? I mean they do not do anything; they cannot be fun to play with so I do not see the attraction.

The bigger question is why is this news of the day? There are so much more important things we can be reporting about other then Barbie Twilight dolls. So why is it that this has to take up some of my morning when I am trying to catch up on real news?

Even worse, I am so aggravated that I feel the need to waste more time writing this blog about it. I just wish we could focus on the real news and problems we are all facing right now, not pimping out the latest toy from Barbie. Great a new doll to buy for your daughter to dress up throw around and forget about in a week, awesome now can we come back to reality and focus on the real and important news. Thanks.

It is only August and maybe premature, but all indications are putting the Yankees Mark Teixiera in the running for the AL MVP race. Don't think so, watch him play with every game on YES or MLB Extra Innings

Nine times out of ten, great players come to the Bronx, and we all hope that the skills they have showed on their previous teams come with them. However, we all know that this happens fewer times then we like to admit. There have been many trades over the years that on paper looked like a great fit for the Yankees. Then the season starts, and sure enough the big stage in the Bronx get to a lot of top-notch guys. Weather it be the unforgiving crowd that demands perfection. Or the history itself surrounding one the biggest stages in MLB History.

Either way, there are few players that can come here and just fit from day one. We have had the likes of Randy Johnson, well he could not make the transition and did pitch to the potential we thought he had. Then there is Alex Rodriguez, who came in okay but could not come through when it was needed most. The fans here will let you know when your not playing to their standards, and will not let up until you do.

This year the Yankees have added three more stars to the team, Sabathia, Burnett, and Teixeira. The things that are making this group of players different from so many others, is their performance has been top level, there has been a very small acclamation period to the Bronx.

All of them have stepped into their rolls with minimal problems. One of them has been a difference maker in more ways then one. Mark Teixeira not only has he contributed with his offense, but his defense is among the best in the league. Teixiera is tide for the lead in the AL in Homeruns with 29, has 83 RBI’s, which puts him in Third over all and is 5th in slugging Percentage. His defense is amazing; he has 1 error in 108 games. Now anyone who does not watch him play everyday may not know what that means to this team. Teixeira stands at first base, and catches anything that is thrown to him. That means all you have to do is get the ball in the vicinity and he will make the play. In previous years, hits up the first base line usually past Giambi for base hits do not happen this year.

Teixeira has made a smooth transition to playing here in New York, and has brought an above average infield to an incredible infield. With Teixeira at first, Cano at Second, Jeter at Short, and A-Rod at third I don’t know that you can ask for a better group behind your pitching staff.

So Teixeira you keep on doing what your doing, and you may not only have an MVP title for 09 but it is looking good for a World Series bid as well.

In the on going saga that is Rodger Clemens there is yet another law suit being filed. A former Gym owner is now suing the authors of the book “American Icon: The Fall of Rodger Clemens and the rise of steroids in America’s Pastime.

Apparently the book has accused him of being a steroid dealer, using his 1-on-1 Elite Personal Fitness gym as a front. Now granted this has nothing to do directly with Clemens, however could this all have been eliminated had Rodger taken the high road like all the other players?

Just think if when the news was released Rodger stood in front of the nation and just said Yes, I made a big mistake. It was the wrong thing to do I’m sorry. The story would have ended there, but no he had to go the way of Barry Bonds and deny it and now find himself in a world of crap. The fans that would have supported you Rodger now are laughing at you. We will support those athletes who have made this mistake, owned up to it and move forward with better judgment.

The gym owner named in this book now has a lawsuit against not only the publishers of the book, but also one of the books sources which accused him of preparing drugs for shipments to major league players including Clemens, and Pettitte.

This is going to get ridiculous, Clemens be a man admit it and move on. Bonds, who cares you made your bed. To A-Rod, Papi, Pettitte, Giambi, and any other player that will admit your mistakes and take responsibility Thank You.

Fact is, it happened. Who cares who did steroids at this point? MLB has identified the problem and is working to rid the sport of the substances. Let’s all move forward from this and just enjoy the game again.

Oh and on a side note, Jose Canseco as much as you say it was never about the players, look who your affecting more the players or MLB. What goes around comes around rat, and that’s why we love seeing the clips of your attempt at Boxing and MMA when you get knocked around. Now that’s entertainment.

There are not many movies from my child hood that can be brought back by remakes and stand up to the original. Case in point Friday the 13th which can be seen on Directv,and The Amityville Horror. the Original Amityville version scared you with basic special effects and some gore. The Remake, not a bad movie, but the added special effects made it over the top.

When the baby sitter is locked n the closet, maybe it is just me, but to hear her screaming and not know what’s going on in the closet was scarier in the original version because you had to use your imagination. The new version in theory seeing the murdered little girl would scare you more. Did not work that way.

However, Halloween probably one of the scariest movies I have seen was remade by Rob Zombie. Now the original was great, so when the news came out that there was going to be a remake I was skeptical. I watched the remake, and was blown away. Finally a remake worth watching, Rob Zombie did an amazing job with this movie. From developing Michael Meyers character to give us more of an inside look as to why he was so messed up, right down to casting the little girl in Halloween 5 to play Lori’s Friend.

Needless to say on August 28th Rob Zombie once again will remake Halloween 2, BUT it will not be a remake of the original (which maybe a good thing) but a sequel to his remake of this first film. Now I have not seen many trailer for this movie so far, however I have watched them online and I cannot wait to see this film. Hopefully Zombie can do for this film what he had done for the first, and make it even better then the first Halloween 2.

One word of advice, Rob please what ever you do PLEASE do not remake the Halloween 3 Season of the witch movie with the mask’s that eat your head. Not even you could make this POS worth watching. Thank you.

Remember, August 28th Michael Meyers returns, and if Rob Zombie stays true to form, then this will prove to be another great movie that will creep you out more then most of the so called horror movies being made today that do not even carry an R Rating. How the hell can you be scary at PG 13? I am still trying to figure that one out. Wait there is one exception, The Exorcism Of Emily Rose. No over the top special effects, no horror make up just one creepy girl contorting her body and locking it that way for a while. I bet anyone who has seen that movie, when you wake up in the middle of the night you check the clock to see what time it is, and hope that it is not 3:33 am

I was watching Cartoon Network on Direct TV over the weekend, and I started to think "what ever happened to the good old days of cartoons? The days of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Fog Horn Leg Horn seemed to be gone for new cartoons like Sponge Bob Square Pants?"

I remember growing up watching Saturday morning cartoons, when they were all about having fun. Granted maybe in today’s uptight society they may seem a little violent, like when Elmer Fudd is constantly trying to shoot bugs bunny. Or when Wiley Coyote is always trying to get the Road Runner with different weapons from ACME. These cartoons were all in good fun.

Now you have Sponge Bob, Fairly Odd Parents, Tutenstien, and so many more that are just annoying rather then entertaining. Although I will not have Barney on in my house or even the Teletubies, actually there is one worse then both of the Hoobs, Complete Garbage. Gone are the days of Merrie Melodies and all the fun they gave us over the years. Now our kids grow up watching strange cartoons that are not fun at all.

Please someone start to carry the torch for Fritz Freling, and Mel Blanc we need some good old fashion cartoons again.

Tell me your favorite episodes, I know they were all good but what ones do you remember the most?

One of my top episodes would be, What’s Opera Doc, with Elmer Fudd singing Kill the Wabbit.

Thank you Directv, Saturday was great television starting with the Yankees Red Sox’s. On the Interactive YES Network, then right to UFC 101 on pay per view.

I was able to watch the Yankees, beat the Red Sox’s in HD and with my remote check all the scores form around the league to see which teams in the division were winning or losing. Right after that game there was a bit of a pause in the action when I got to check in on the NFL preseason with the NFL Sunday Ticket package.

Then it was fight time. Now this was not the most amazing card that I have seen, but BJ Penn was fighting, and so was Anderson Silva. So we rented the pay per view event, and I must say were very happy we did once Forrest Griffin and Anderson Silva Squared off. Silva displayed why he is considered the best pound for pound fighter in MMA. He barely broke a sweat knocking out Forrest Griffin with a straight right while backing up. Now he also knocked him down once or twice before that, but the punch did not even seem that hard. Maybe because we are all used to seeing Griffin in all out brawls where it takes seven or eight hard shots, and a bleeding forehead to even get his attention.

Well Silva got his attention quick with a first round TKO and sent Forrest out of the ring running for the locker rooms. I am wondering if his jaw was broken, I did not expect Forrest Griffin to run out of the ring without waiting for the announcement of Silva as the winner, it was just weird for me.

Next up was BJ Penn, how could you not love this guy. He is laid back, does not talk a lot of junk and when he does it is usually backed up. Kenny Florian has proved himself a good fighter in the UFC, no one can take that away from him, but Your talking trash about quite possibly the best 155-pound fighter in the UFC, not a good idea. BJ Penn, looked like he was possessed from the minute he stepped into the octagon. He was on a mission and I do not think it would have mattered who was in front of him, he was not going to lose. Well the fight did go 4 rounds, and K Flo did do his best to wear Penn out but when the fight finally go to the ground, Penn locked in a rear naked coke to end the fight and K Flos chance at a belt. I am sure Kenny Florrian will not stop fighting because of this, he is to good and will have another shot. Right now is the time for BJ Penn to shine, and it seems that is exactly what he is going to do.

Great fight, great Sports, great TV damn I love my Directv.