NBA and NCAA Basketball Are Here!

While those poor, cold, wet Englishmen were forced to watch what might have been the most boring NFL game of the 2007 season this far, there were some exciting things happen today. The biggest thing, of course, is that we now have NBA and NCAA Basketball live on FanYard!!

That is about the only thing that could make the NFL season even better for me, is having basketball ready to roll, too.

Man, we gotta start believing even more in those crazy Patriots. A 45-point win over the Redskins?? Wow! This upcoming Pats at Colts game will hopefully live up to even an ounce of the hype that has begun.

On another note, during the Red Sox win over the Rockies tonight (it is not over yet, but it may as well be), in the 8th inning, they are now reporting that Alex Rodriguez has decided to opt out of his contract with the Yankees. That means the Yankees do not receive the 21-million dollars that they would be due from the Texas Rangers. They have said they will not negotiate without that part of his contract, so it looks like A-Rod is going to be a free agent. With Boston winning this World Series, would they be willing to pay the quarter of a billion dollars or so it will take to bring in A-Rod next year. Hopefully he goes to Kansas City. That way, we a won’t have to hear the rumors anymore.

I am a Yankees Fan and I Don’t Care

This is a story for Babes (Who) Love Baseball:

It is true. I am a Yankees fan, and I’ll tell you why this fact does not make me an agent of Satan. (I know you all don’t think this way, but it makes me feel better to say it).

I grew up on the Eastern Coast. Not the East Coast that anyone west of Michigan might call East, but the real east. The East that borders on the Atlantic Ocean, for real. Anyway, there I was subjected to a constant dose of the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays…and Montreal Expos.

So, at the age of…I dunno…really young, I decided that I was an Expos fan. I think now that the reason was because I was chastised – even as a small, unsportsmandeveloped child – for cheering for any of the other teams my non-cable small town recieved coverage of. Much of the population of the town was pretty evenly divided between the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and the rest, who covered the Mets and Orioles.

There were, if I remember correctly, three Expos fans. But they were French and no one paid them any attention; they felt like they were still in Canada and it worked out well for everyone.

Anyhoo, I became an Expos fan because I like to be the rebel; the loner; the one your momma…Oh, never mind.

Alright, I’ll tell you: in the 1981 NLCS, the Expos were playing the LA Dodgers in the NLCS and were up 1-0 in the ninth inning in the fifth and deciding game. The manager of the Expos was Jim Fanning, and he decided to take out pitcher Jay Burris and replace him in the bottom of the ninth with Game Three winner and Expos favorite Steve Rogers. As we all know, Steve Rogers is the alter ego of one of my childhood-best-loved comic book heroes, Captain America.

OK, I thought he was the Bionic Man, too, but that was Steve Austin.

Rogers had two out and one on base with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Last man at bat was Rick Monday, who went to a full count…

Now, imagine being a small child with all your hopes and dreams for what you even then knew was a franchise destined for financial failure unless miracles were to occur, and then watching as Rick Monday hit a two-run, game-winning home run to beat your team.

You got it. I hated the Dodgers.

Oh. my. god.

In my mind, the Yankees had come back from three games down to beat my hated Dodgers. I just looked it up and, in fact…well…there, my friends, is a perfect example of why perception is reality. Wow! The Dodgers really did win the World Series that year; not the Yankees. Color me flabbergasted.

Still doesn’t change anything. Anything I gained as a young fan was lost the year they cancelled the World Series and I was supposed to have been able to watch the Expos play the Yankees. Now, the Expos are gone and I am still a Yankees fan. And now I don’t care if they win or lose.

Like most MLB fans, I suspect. Really. But I am still watching the playoffs!

Now, give me NFL!