2009 - New Homes for New York Baseball

So I was sitting in one of my television production classes last night, and we were having a roundtable discussion of story ideas for our next show. I, of course, had the brilliant idea of a piece about this year’s farewell to both Yankee AND Shea Stadium. Although some chick decided to steal my idea when it came time to assign stories, I got to thinkin’ about how monumental this is for the state of New York.

Since we’re all living on Long Island, if only temporarily, I guess I’ll start in our backyard. Shea Stadium, home to the 2007 Choke Artists of the year....I mean the Mets....is located in Flushing, Queens - a chip shot from Hofstra’s campus. Formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, it has been the home of the Mets since April of 1964, and has since hosted some pretty exciting happenings other than the blunders of the Mets.

Shea hosted one of the most significant concerts in music history back in August of ’65, when The Beatles began their North American tour, playing to a record crowd of 55,600. In addition to the Fab 4, other notable concerts at Shea include: Jethro Tull, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Who, Simon & Garfunkel, The Police, Elton John, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, among many others. But most importantly for this writer, my hero Billy Joel will be playing the final show at Shea this July in a concert series aptly titled “The Last Play at Shea.”

Citi Field, the soon-to-be new home for the Mets, is already under construction in Willets Point, Queens, and is set to open for the 2009 season.

Now lets head over to the Boogey-Down Bronx, home of the greatest sports team EVER. Located at East 161st Street and River Avenue, Yankee Stadium has been home to the Bronx Bombers since 1923, with exception to 1974-75 seasons, when the stadium was under construction.

“The House that Ruth Built” as it came to be known, thanks to this guy named Babe Ruth, has hosted a record-26 championship seasons for the Yanks, by far the best by any franchise ever in the MLB, and a total of 37 out of the 84 World Series played since the opening of the stadium. However, after the 2008 season, the vast majority of this history-filled stadium will be demolished to make way for parking for the new stadium, which will also be named Yankee Stadium.

My man Billy Joel has a historic tie with Yankee Stadium too, having played the first rock concert ever in the venue in June of 1990, leading the way for other great acts such as Pink Floyd.

New Yankee Stadium, which has been under construction since 2006 in a lot adjacent to old Yankee Stadium, is also set to open up in 2009. I wonder how much tickets will cost come September and October if the Yanks overcome the adversity at hand and take a stab at the Fall Classic....

THE BEATLES - LIVE AT SHEA, "Twist and Shout" - August 1965: (listen to that crowd! and I wish I could make girls cry like that.)


BILLY JOEL - LIVE AT YANKEE STADIUM, "Miami 2017" - July 1990: (one of his best)

Twenty and Counting....

Well I'll be damned, T-Mac and the Rockets have made it all the way to 20-straight victories over the course of the last month and a half. Their 20th win, which came Wednesday night on the road against the Atlanta Hawks, puts them in a tie with the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks for the second-longest win streak ever recorded in the NBA.

One of the more interesting facets of Houston's streak is the fact that they've maintained their momentum despite losing their 7-foot-6 superstar Yao Ming to a season-ending foot injury in late February. Not to mention the fact that this is Head Coach Rick Adelman's first year with the Rockets.

But perhaps one of the craziest things about this streak is the fact that, despite Houston's domination since late-January, it hasn't even been enough to put them in first place. The Western Conference as a whole has been so wet this year, that the Rockets (44-20), who have gone from 10th to 2nd during their streak, are still a full game behind the Lakers (45-19) for the top spot in the west.

Another tasty tidbit for you statisticians out there - only three teams other than the 2007-08 Rockets have mustered up 19- or more game win streaks in NBA history, the 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers (19), the 1970-71 Bucks (20), and the 1971-72 Lakers, who set the NBA all-time record with an astounding 33-game win streak. And not only did these teams make it their respective year's Finals.....all three won. Looks like the Rockets have a lot to live up to....

Houston will have a chance to stretch their streak to 21 games Friday night against the Charlotte Bobcats.


Houston Rockets 4th Quarter Highlights (3/12):

BrettCenter

Brett Favre. Brett Favre. Brett Favre.

It's hard to turn on ESPN these past couple days without hearing that name at least once every minute or two.

OK, so I understand that he's one of the best quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen, but enough already with the round-the-clock coverage of all things Brett Favre.

Please note: the key clause in the above paragraph is one of the best. I know it has a lot to do with the offense you're playing behind, but for me, Favre isn't even top 5 all-time.

Sure, he was the iron man of football, much like Cal Ripken Jr. was for baseball, going an amazing 15 some-odd seasons without missing a game, but to me, a legendary quarterback is one who leads their team all the way to the big show consistently; and more importantly, brings the Lombardi trophy home. Unfortunately, earning only one championship on two trips to the Super Bowl, Favre lacks that leadership success that many other QB greats have enjoyed; i.e. - Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana at a whopping four Super Bowl Rings each, and Troy Aikmen and - as much as this PAINS me to write - Tom Brady are right behind with three each.

I watched the majority of Sportscenter the night #4 announced his retirement - at least as much Favre-facts as I could handle - and I would have to say about 40 of the 60 minutes was devoted to his coverage.

But despite their overkill, at least ESPN found the time to make fun of itself by opening up their 11 p.m. broadcast of Sportscenter with "Welcome to Brettcenter."

Finally, out of all the coverage and opinion and analysis that I've seen so far about Favre's career, I think the best job was done by Stephen Colbert last night on his eponymously titled fake news program. "Just to give you an idea of the impact of this man's career, OK, 61,655.......Wow. That is a lot.....of something.....very impressive."


Farewell to Brett Favre on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report: