RETURN OF THE NEW YORK GIRL & THE BLACK CLOUD

I was told today that I am not allowed back in New York and that may be with good reason. Well, not really. At least, I don't think so. It really is just a giant coincidence. I don't have this kind of power but in less than 72 hours the Yankees changed drastically and I was right there.

I just got back from New York. I went home to visit family and friends and to see my Yankees in hopes to break my losing streak. It seems as though every time I go to Yankee stadium they lose! So I was already hoping for the Yankees to actually win for once before I even got there. I wanted to break my bad luck so bad but it looked like I brought some other form of bad luck.

I arrived in New York on the same day Mark Teixeira announced his retirement. I was jet lagged, hungry and just plain shocked. Sure, Teixeira was not having a great season and that made his future uncertain. The likelihood of that three or four year deal he wanted was impossible, even I knew that. I guess what I didn't think of was Teixeira retiring on his own. In the back of my mind I knew it would be best for him to just announce it and go out on his own terms but I still couldn't get past the reality of it. To hear him say "I gave you everything I had...it wasn't always enough" really tugged at my heart strings. That was true honesty and emotion. He knew everything that all of us have been thinking and feeling.....including me. Up until this season I was his dedicated cheerleader at BYB and even this season my frustration started to show up in my writing. It's one thing to admit how you feel to yourself, but it's even harder to say it out loud and in front of a large audience. The day I arrived was the beginning of goodbye, and not just goodbye to the Yankees.

To make matters worse, on Sunday I went to the Yankee game with a huge group of my closest friends. It was the day I was hoping would finally end with a Yankee victory. Even if we won though, it would still have a feeling of defeat. On this day, we were gathered and waiting for what the mysterious Alex Rodriguez announcement would be. As I watched dozens of reporters pass all of us flashing their fancy press passes I sat there wondering how bad it would be. On a scale of 1 to 10 with one being "ehhh" to ten being "apocalyptic" where would this fall? After Teixeira's announcement I was hoping it wouldn't be apocalyptic but in the back of my mind I knew better. As I sat in the Mohegan Sun sports bar and listened to the announcement I realized just how much drama had unfolded since I arrived but at the same time I felt like ARod said all of the right things as he spoke. It's true, he did trip and fall a lot as he put it. He made a lot of mistakes. Ones that he will continue to pay for in the years to come but he did continue to get back up. It is poetic and sad at the same time. For the first time, I sympathized with him.

So in recent days I have still proven that whenever I come back to my home in New York there is never a dull moment. In the past week I have had to come to terms of watching my favorite player admit his own shortcomings and get emotional about it. I have also watched the man I have often disagreed with forced off of the team. The Yankees dropped two bombshells on all of us while I was home. I would go so far as to say they gave me an anxiety attack. At least they gave me a win at home, right?

Times are changing, folks. Change can be hard and exciting. I refuse to believe that I am bad luck though. You can take the girl out of New York.....but you will never take New York out of this girl. I will be back and I handled all of this like a champ, so I know I can handle any bad luck voodoo that gets thrown my way.

 --Jeana Bellezza, BYB Senior Writer & Editor
  Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ