Over the past two weeks, USA soccer became all-consuming to me and I’m still reeling from that loss on Saturday. I can’t bring myself to post about sports right now. I tried. I found a hilarious picture of Diego Maradona celebrating Argentina’s win over Mexico yesterday, and all I could muster was: Looks like you got some gum on your sideline wingtip there, brother.

With that said and in the interest of pushing down that post about Donovan’s goal against Algeria from Friday, check out some videos from this past weekend’s Afro-Punk Festival at Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn, NY.

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Check out my thoughts on the first week of the 8KMA: World Cup 2010 /// NYC /// In Photos project

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My mission…

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Brief update on the gutting situation at the old Giants stadium – not in reference to Rotund Rex per say – as the Jets and Giants get set to move into an enormous new building next year.

FOUND ON EBAY: The X-Ray System from the old Giants stadium

According to the ad, the unit is in excellent shape and was used by both teams during games for injuries, physical exams for Giant players, World Cup Soccer, College football games and all other events which required diagnostic imaging services.

Not sure how old it is, but it looks old.

So if you know any lucrative radiologists – they want 4 Gs for this bad sally – who are looking to wow their patients with fun facts like, this is where Dave Meggett got screened after Bill Romanowski tried to rip his finger off, pass it along.

In related news, the aforementioned Rex Ryan would like all New York fans to know that the Jets are now the biggest show in town. And in other New Jersey news, Xanadu (this fully-erect, but not yet fully built building next to Meadowlands) might be the biggest real estate blunder in history.

Stadium photos via Flickr

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Depressed about the prevailing of evil last night? Suggesting cockamamie like: the Phillies should have pulled Pedro with an 0-2 count on Matsui in third? Well, it gets worse.

Before you go into your no-good Yankee-loving boss’s office and try to shatter him by asserting that rooting for that organization lowers him as a businessman, you should unfortunately know that the Yankees haven’t been operating under the commonly failed business practices that some of us assumed all along.

David Goldman, of CNNMoney.com and loyal Red Sox fan, reluctantly reports this morning that the Yankees ran one of the most efficient operations in the league this year:

Adding up the dollars and cents. Applying a Society of Baseball Research metric, the Yankees were actually more efficient with their payroll this past season than were the hapless cross-town Mets, Cleveland Indians and basement-dwelling Washington Nationals.

The World Champs were only slightly less thrifty with their salaries than the Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, and Kansas City Royals, all of whom missed the playoffs.

By those calculations, the Yankees paid $3.2 million per “marginal victory.” That’s nearly twice as efficient as the Mets, who only won 70 games despite their $149 million payroll and paid $5.8 million per marginal victory.

In addition, a rough estimate of the team’s revenue in 2009 shows the Yankees cashed in on their success more than any other team. Multiply the number of people coming to games by the average ticket price ($73),and the Yankees took in about $270 million this season, or $69 million more than they shelled out for their payroll.

Sigh. However, if you’re a New Yorker and a Yankee hater – the pinnacle of the unbiased majority in this debate, right? – take solace in an undeniable fact. What primarily helped the Yankees develop this business model are the ticket, food, and merch sales contained within that billion dollar stadium. And, if the stadium doesn’t get built, the Yankees wouldn’t be able to leverage the astronomical price mark up of those items. And if the government subsidies for the stadium that came down don’t, then the stadium don’t get built. Whether you’re a Yankee fan or not, if you’re a New Yorker you’re unwillingly paying down that grant money, and in turn fueling the stadium funds that helped pay player salaries and the luxury taxes attached to those salaries.

And, as Goldman points out, it’s a sad reality and it’s working – but on paper, in no less evil of a fashion than before.

Yankees got their money’s worth (CNN)

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I know it ended two days ago – possibly, when this guy finally crossed the finish line – but I had to follow up on Edward Norton’s running of the New York City Marathon – for I haven’t been this enthused about Norton since the first time I saw the final scene in Primal Fear.

I posted on Friday that Norton was running in his first ever marathon to raise money for Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust in East Africa. According to Ecorazzi, that little initiative raised $763,000 – with Norton pulling in over 300 K himself! He even brought these dudes – actual Maasai he met while on an excursion to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro – over from Africa to run the race with him.

That picture and the boku charity dollars don’t fully encapsulate Norton’s marathon badass however; he also murdered the course. 40-year-old Norton finished the 26.2 mile race in 3 hours 48 minutes and 1 second. That’s a sub 9 minute (about 8:42 by my estimation) pace. According to Eonline, that made him the top celebrity finisher this year.

Finally, not to be overlooked, he also realized one other marathon goal…

Note: Palin came in at 3:59:36 when she ran the 2005 Humpy’s Marathon in Anchorage, AK

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CC Sabathia is without question, undeniably overpaid overfed. No reasonable person would argue against calling CC a straight up fatso.

Plus, he’s not worth $161 million dollars. Plus, he recently bought a Giant Castle in New Jersey (astute observation by Deadspin commenter Business_Socks, “I see they’ve got the PVC for the fondue sprinklers. Fancy.” )

I’m having a really hard time dealing with this, and I’m sure you all are too. So, feel free to use any of these noms de om nom nom nom (30 in total, so far) when referring to CC…

1. Chimi Changa Sabathia
2. Cocoa Crisp Sabathia
3. Candy Corn Sabathia
4. Crab Casserole Sabathia
5. Crispy Chicken Sabathia
6. Corn Chowder Sabathia
7. Clam Chowdah Sabathia
8. Crowded Cafeteria Sabathia
9. Canned Cranberry Sabathia
10. Chester Cheetah Sabathia
11. Coffee Coolatta Sabathia
12. Campbell’s Chunky Sabathia
13. Captain Crunch Sabathia
14. Crusty Crouton Sabathia
15. Corn Chip Sabathia
16. Cajun Crawfish Sabathia
17. Clams Casino Sabathia
18. Con Carne Sabathia
19. Country Crock Sabathia
20. Corned Beef & Cabbage Sabathia
21. Cream Cheese Sabathia
22. Coca Cola Sabathia
23. Cous Cous Sabathia
24. Cheddar Cheese Sabathia
25. Cottage Cheese Sabathia
26. Cheese Curls Sabathia
27. Chocolate Cake Sabathia
28. Crab Cakes Sabathia
29. Coffee Cake Sabathia
30. Cup Cake Sabathia

I couldn’t seem to come up with any for Curry, Chives, Chutney, Canoli or Catsup. Feel free to leave those and others in the comments. Special thanks to @johnthedomingos for contributing to the list.

Note: It’s immaterial, but Fatty’s name is actually Carsten Charles Sabathia.

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The New York Times reports this week that the record for most wins by a Div. 1 baseball program is held, not by one of the Texas/Florida/California baseball factories, but the University of Fordham Rams of Bronx, NY with 4010 wins in the program’s 150 year history.

(The Fordham baseball field in 1902; photo credit: Fordham Library)

And get this. The next closest is Texas with 3,117 – a margin of 893 games.*

I crunched the numbers and, short of any hard data calculations to report, I’ve determined this record SUPREMELY UNBREAKABLE!!!

To honor the record and the 150 year Anniversary, Fordham will take on Williams College, also celebrating their team’s 150 year heritage, next Tuesday. Rev. Joseph M. McShane, Fordham’s president and the padre behind the game, will toss out the first pitch on Fordham’s Bronx campus. As sort of a backhanded complement, Hal Steinbrenner, a Williams grad. was invited to throw out the second pitch.

Check out the NYT story for all sorts of baseball almanac-type info. Like for instance, according to the article, Williams technically played the first NCAA baseball game. But they played using “Massachusetts rules,” which allows 14 players on the field, and no foul territory. Williams lost that game to Amherst 73-32.

*To be fair, Fordham baseball started 36 seasons earlier than Texas. Should have been a little less slow on the uptake, Quickdraw.

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Sometime between now and the next five years, Roller Derby is going to make its big splash on the sports landscape. It may be short lived ( remember Major League Roller Hockey? ) it may be sustained (see: the goddam X-Games, which refuse to relent). It also may happen sooner rather than later. Defending National Women’s Flat Track Derby Champs Gotham Girls Roller Derby kicked off their 2009 campaign with a throttling, a throuncing, a veritable beating down of the Boston Massacre All-Stars on Saturday, with a 188-44 victory in front of sizable crowd at LIU Brooklyn campus on Saturday (check out the full house here).

This is only the latest instance in the interest in Hell on Wheels heating up. ESPN aired a feature last year on the Roller Derby revival, and many media outlets have followed suit (Check out Metromix’s feature on the Gotham Girls). Not to mention, the movie that Drew Barrymore and Juno are making ( Whip It! set for release sometime in 2009).

In honor of Roller Derby’s return for what might be the sport’s break-out year, let’s do a comment contest…

(more…)

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The Daily News posted a list of the sports uniforms that they have found to be the most aesthetically objectionable over time. Of course, I had to check it out to see if there were any selections that I disagreed with…


I vehemently disagree with #14 on this so-called All-Time Ugliest list.

Not only does Dan Issel look handsome as hell in this get-up, but it’s common knowledge that the old school Nugs logo is coveted, and the attire sought after by true sports purists and fashionistas alike.

Disagree?

I suggest you take it up with Ebay user ladyoflaurel, who went through the trouble of stealing a dept. store mannequin to display the Nuggets Starter jacket she is selling on Ebay.

Or maybe, Ebay user 4all2envy, who’s selling an old school Nuggets crew neck sweatshirt for $143 bucks, would like to weigh in?

The rest of the list is pretty atrocious and more or less justified.

H/T to @matt knell for the first post on this.

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