Category: Sports

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Battle of Wits and Brawn

From the NY Post:

A baseball executive says former Yankees outfielder Johnny Damon “is going to be lucky to get whatever he gets,” if he signs somewhere.

The AL exec told MLive.com that Damon and agent Scott Boras misjudged the market for the 36-year-old outfielder.
…

“Sometimes, we ask for too much,” the source, requesting anonymity, told writer Steve Kornacki. “Then, the smoke clears and you ask, ‘Where am I?’ And now, I can’t believe anybody is going to offer Damon more than the $14 million and $6 million the Yankees did.

“If you turn them down for that, you deserve one year for $3 million or whatever he is going to get. In February, teams have got guys in place. My feeling is that now he is going to be lucky to get whatever he gets. It’s still supply and demand in this game. And Johnny’s arrow is in the middle or going down.”

photo365_2010_036

Well, maybe not all wit. Sorry Damon, you’ve now lost it all….

Face to Face – Lost
[audio:https://austinvegas.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Lost.mp3]

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This is not Detroit, man, this is the Super Bowl!

I watched both the Jets-Colts and Vikings-Saints game on Sunday. The Jets made it close in the first half, until Manning decided to step up and stop playing games with the Jets D line. The more exciting and excruciatingly painful game was the Vikings-Saints.

The Viks had every opportunity to win that game as a team with 4 turnovers going driving down the field the last few minutes of the 4th quarter, and a tied score on the field – the miracle was about to happen. Even the stupid 12 man penalty was forgotten when a field goal for the win was looking to be in reach. When Farve stepped up to throw what might be his last pass of his career:

Paul Allen of KFAN Radio in Minneapolis-St. Paul said it best, Brett could have taken a knee or ran up the field a few yards but did not need to force the throw. Toni Monkovic of NY Times notes the irony of both the blown play and one of the greatest of the season, held by Bret Farve this season.

With the 2010 game being the first Saints Superbowl, I’m on the side of Drew Brees to take the Gold and Black to the title.

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Delgado & Mets take out the Pirates with 1-2-3 shots in 8th

I had an opportunity to check out “Citi Field”, one of two new stadiums in New York, this weekend. Per the normal game day migration, we took the 7 train out to Shea (some fist pumping fans immortalize their love via plaques in front of the stadium suggesting it will always be Shea).

Like a Wal-mart, the entire front entrance management strategically placed greeters and ushers for the fans to find their way in to the new concrete playground. Once inside the park, it’s like you’re 12 again, going to the ball park for the first time: less concerned about where your seats are first, just looking around and taking it all in. As we’ve all heard, there’s much more dedication to corporate and VIP seating but with that comes exceptional food stands from tacos, to lobster rolls, sushi and a Shake Shack.

There’s definitely more viewable areas in the walk areas to catch the action. The stadium is built up, rather than out, so there’s really no bad seat, just a higher vantage point to watch the game. Our seats were up in the 500s first base side, close enough to touch the air traffic coming over from La Guardia. Both the Mets and the stadium food services have up’ed their game this year – me enjoying the steak tacos and micro brews behind the center field screen.

Added with the new Shea experience are much more fan participation actives, as every inning a camera crew with corporate shill in tow, create a game, give-away, trivia or contest (pizza box relay) for a free sample from the represented sponsor. The food sellers in the seats are few and far between, but the beer guy is everywhere, this time with Brooklyn lager along with the prerequisite American piss beer.

On the field the battle was intense as Pirates took the lead early and not until the 8th inning when the Met’s “erupted” with a Delgado HR and 2 additional runs, taking the game in fantastic baseball sportsmanship.

With not a bad seat in the house, and preferable to me at times, I might purchase the cheapest seats, and spend most of my time at the “beer garden” areas behind the outfield this summer. The full set is in the gallery pics I took are here but here are a few highlights: