This time of the year there isn’t much to watch on the sports front. I have my Rangers, but other than that it’s the PBA, figure skating and college hoops…which normally have my full attention, but my beloved alma mater, Syracuse University, isn’t a great squad and are under a self imposed post season ban. Things are slow to say the least.
The bright flicker in the distance however is the return of Yankee baseball. Pitchers and catchers have reported and now all player are in Tampa and hope springs eternal…or something like that. As of late the news from Tampa has been lousy at best. Hal didn’t want to buck up from a Moncada and so he will now, “Pahk his cah in the Hahvad yahd.” ARod returned and it went over like a lead balloon. I feel for Alex. He broke the rules, paid the price and will go on paying the price. He is in a can’t win spot, and for a guy like that it has to be Hell on earth.
Aside from Rodriguez return to the diamond the other stories have been about CC’s weight, his deteriorating knee and whether he can actually pitch at all any longer. We are all concerned about Tanaka and his elbow. We worry that young Nate will be a hard throwing bust and if “Mikey Pine tar” will simply break like a three-week-old Christmas toy. Nova?
I don’t even want to guess. It’s not like he was a shut down ace before he went under the knife. Ivan is a serviceable, at times, 4th or 5th starter with a two-cent head…it’s just my call…I root for him, but haven’t been blown away.
Recently I caught a Rockumentary on the 80’s glam metal group Quiet Riot. They were never my cup of tea, but I am a sucker for these types of rock n roll hard luck stories. Anyway, in a nutshell “Quiet Riot: Well Now You’re Here, There’s No Way Back” chronicles the story of the band from it’s glory days playing arenas to now playing state fairs with only one original band member. These guys have had more members come and go then the Red Sox have had shortstops since Nomar. The group’s founder and lead singer died of an overdose leaving his drummer to pick up the pieces and try to make the band work again. It’s sad to be honest. They spend every waking moment trying to find a guy who can sing like their late front man…no dice. The fans turn out, but are utterly disappointed to see that the band they once loved is a struggling knockoff of the original. They are trying to bring back a sound and feeling that no longer exists…I started to see a glaring similarity between Quiet Riot and the New York Yankees.
The Yanks are doing the same thing. They are trying to put a new coat of polish on older players and work under the delusion that simply tweaking parts here and there will bring them back to the World Series. It’s a plan for failure.
CC, Tex, ARod…they were a part of the 2009 title…but it’s 2015!
And to be honest their prime was long ago at this point. I won’t believe Tex will be better. HE WON’T BE! CC is 300lbs and pitching on a knee that's held together like the Leg Lamp in “A Christmas Story”. And Alex…he’ll be 40, hasn’t played much in two years and…well, you know the truth. No juice, no numbers.
The Yankees signed Stephen Drew and Chis Capuano…there is 10 million right there. It was reported that Moncada wanted just 2 million more on the offer the Bombers presented. Hal, let me break it down. You DO NOT spend millions on stopgap players only to lose out on gifted, young stars that could become mainstays. Read WHAT'S RISKY ABOUT A 19 YEAR OLD STUD?
This Yankee team is playing state fairs with once great players who can’t remember their hit songs. One of my musical idols, Shane MacGowan of the Pogues, once said, “We weren’t the same band anymore and should have called it a day.” What he meant was it wasn’t the same. It was tired and old and had lost its way. He felt rather than put out second-rate records and sorry tours that they should have gone their separate ways and done something else.
I wish Shane O were running the Yankees. It’s time to let go of the past and build something new. Do you feel the noise, Yankee brass? That’s the fans banging their heads…they’ve heard enough and want a new sound with new players.
**Here are two for Hal and Cash…**
--Mike O'Hara
Senior "Features" Writer
Twitter: @mikeyoh21
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Quiet Riot? That is one strange comparison :) Also, PBA, figure skating & college hoops? What about the PGA? There are tournaments year round.
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