Big Blue Huddle

https://x.com/EmpireStateBldg/status/1848192397114818697


I guess we will see how the Yankees do in the World Series

I wish I were a fan of Women's Basketball, but congrats to them, just the same.

If I were still a kid, I'd be going crazy that we'd be having another Yankees-Dodgers World Series. But all the strikes, lost seasons and greed killed my love for the game and that love isn't there anymore. I still yearn for my "Bronx is Burning" Yankees!

At least the Rangers are off to a good start as they play in Montreal tonight. Always a tough battle between these two, and a marathon ahead of them which I hope will lead them to the finals this season.

Peace!

My thoughts exactly on MLB. I'll admit, I have watched a few innings of both the Mets & Yanks respective series this past week, but that is more baseball than I have watched in decades. Like you, I used to love it, but for all the reasons you mentioned above, I've just lost interest. With that being said....Go Yankees!

Quote from: kartanoman on October 21, 2024, 04:04:56 PMI wish I were a fan of Women's Basketball, but congrats to them, just the same.

If I were still a kid, I'd be going crazy that we'd be having another Yankees-Dodgers World Series. But all the strikes, lost seasons and greed killed my love for the game and that love isn't there anymore. I still yearn for my "Bronx is Burning" Yankees!

At least the Rangers are off to a good start as they play in Montreal tonight. Always a tough battle between these two, and a marathon ahead of them which I hope will lead them to the finals this season.

Peace!

I've given up following baseball when the Mets traded Strawberry, I think to the LA Dodgers. It's been awhile, but go Yankees anyway...

I've pretty much gave up following New York football teams as well for years. They have been awful for number of years. Although admittedly, I like to see the Jets falling flat on their faces with all of the had been big stars joining them. Yes, I know, it is not nice, but it is what it is...

BTW... The Rangers are off today, they will play Montreal tomorrow....

Yankees are gonna get rolled in 5 games.ets go Knicks!!!

Quote from: kartanoman on October 21, 2024, 04:04:56 PMI wish I were a fan of Women's Basketball, but congrats to them, just the same.

If I were still a kid, I'd be going crazy that we'd be having another Yankees-Dodgers World Series. But all the strikes, lost seasons and greed killed my love for the game and that love isn't there anymore. I still yearn for my "Bronx is Burning" Yankees!

At least the Rangers are off to a good start as they play in Montreal tonight. Always a tough battle between these two, and a marathon ahead of them which I hope will lead them to the finals this season.

Peace!

You are contradicting yourself here. The NHL has lost far more games and even full season due to strikes/lockouts than MLB since 1981 so how can you still root for the Rangers who are one of the teams that caused the owners to lockout the players?

Quote from: Cr00zng on October 21, 2024, 05:08:25 PMI've given up following baseball when the Mets traded Strawberry, I think to the LA Dodgers. It's been awhile, but go Yankees anyway...

I've pretty much gave up following New York football teams as well for years. They have been awful for number of years. Although admittedly, I like to see the Jets falling flat on their faces with all of the had been big stars joining them. Yes, I know, it is not nice, but it is what it is...

BTW... The Rangers are off today, they will play Montreal tomorrow....

You have up on the Giants because of some awful years but now you follow an even more awful era of Giants football?  I am so confused. 

A WNBA title is nice but it doesn't end NYC title drought going back to the 2011 Giants. Sports historians only count the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA teams. So GO YANKEES!

Quote from: TDToomer on October 22, 2024, 09:01:37 AMYou are contradicting yourself here. The NHL has lost far more games and even full season due to strikes/lockouts than MLB since 1981 so how can you still root for the Rangers who are one of the teams that caused the owners to lockout the players?
You have up on the Giants because of some awful years but now you follow an even more awful era of Giants football?  I am so confused. 

A WNBA title is nice but it doesn't end NYC title drought going back to the 2011 Giants. Sports historians only count the NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA teams. So GO YANKEES!

Good day, my detail-oriented friend!

I am a man of many intricate emotions which, on the surface, make no damned sense whatsoever. However, dig deeper, there's more to the story. I didn't want to write a novel.

Let's start with the NHL. Yes, you are correct in that the lockouts, lost seasons and greed killed my interest in the sport around Y2K. My old man, before he passed away in 2015, kept egging me on to get over that and follow them again. I guess he was revved up about their finals appearance in 2014, but what helped me turn the corner was reading the Rangers thread on this site and how it built up to over 200+ pages a couple of years ago and the passion of everyone contributing caught my interest. So, I said what the heck and turned on Game Seven of the first round against the Penguins in 2021-22 that they won in overtime to advance. I guess I caught the fever because I kept watching and, before I knew it, they took out the Candy Canes and were in the semifinals up 2-0. Even though they faded from that point, I decided to honor my old man, six years after his passing, by getting back on the train again. Since then, I've come to love watching them play with their current brand. When we watched them last season when they came out here to Phoenix, not just myself but my wife and  youngest daughter loved seeing them live and now watch with me. That's why the Rangers are back in my life and, during that Phoenix game, I had the chance to meet Sam and Joe behind the mic and tell them they've been our welcomed house guests for a number of years and, for Sam, being this is his final season, going all the way back to 1984. Both were gracious and friendly up close and personal - all class!

The Giants right now are playing to their 1970s level and that falls in line with precisely where I started following them in the mid 1970s when I was about seven years old and my old man used to take me to Giants Stadium to watch the whoopins opposing teams put on them every week. I served my prison sentence back in the early Giants Stadium days when Randy Dean was running the option while the plane flew overhead with the "15 Years of Lousy Football - We've Had Enough!!!" banner which prompted a frozen, drunk, and boisterous crowd to start yelling profanities at John McVay, Andy Robustelli, Wellington Mara and most of the players playing that day. Not the family friendly environment to take a nine-year old to, but I did earn my wings a little early in life because of it. But I'll say this much. As magical as the Coughlin Super Bowls were, and as heart-stopping as Parcells' second Super Bowl, I treasure 1986 more than any of them because that victory was a rite of passage for all of us long, suffering fans who dealt with the hopeless times and wondered if the team was cursed or why God hated the Giants to damn them to eternity in this matter. No matter what happens today, tomorrow or the end of this season, 1986 was the cleansing of all of that eternal darkness. We'll have that for the rest of our lives; those of us who watched it unfold before our very eyes; either there in Pasadena or on TV. Before January 25, 1987, there was eternal darkness. Today, it is dark, but those four Lombardi trophies will always shine and bring light to times of glory. I can live with that, albeit in frustration, but I can live with that.

I've never gotten the groove back with the Yankees, though. Maybe I was spoiled as a youth because at around age seven, they were in the World Series. Then came my all-time favorite team, the 1977 "Bronx is Burning" Yankees with all their power. Reggie Jackson, Graig Nettles, Thurman Munson, Chris Chambliss, Cliff Johnson and Roy White all impacted the season with the long ball. Meanwhile, Ron Guidry, Ed Figeroa, Mike Torres and Don Gullett provided a reliable rotation with ace Sparky Lyle winning the Cy Young award, along with Dick Tidrow and Ken Clay in the bullpen, the Yankees were unstoppable, apart from nearly stopping themselves early on, but once Reggie was aligned, the team took off and never looked back. Spoiled as a kid, with the Bronx Bombers winning in 1977, 1978, cried my eyes out when Munson was killed in his plane crash in '79, smiles again winning the AL East in 1980 and the AL in 1981, it was good times again, almost. Even though they weren't making it to post-season, the Yanks had Winfield and Mattingly keeping up appearances to draw attendance until Donnie Baseball stood down and Jeter took his place while the mid-90s Yankees returned to the top of the heap. But time moved on and, for some reason, the sport was as well and the Yankees' appeal seemed to have less effect on me. Maybe I grew tired of the sport. Maybe I was into other things. But, somehow, the national pastime fell off my radar. Even as the legendary World Series matchup is about to take place, Yankees-Dodgers, as it rolls so perfectly off the tongue, I might glance at the final scores, but will I end up watching? I'll let you know if I do. It sounds sacrilegious, but I'm not the Yankee fan I used to be. This one I can't force-feed myself to make it exciting for myself. It's just not there. But I hope they win, for your sake, and other passionate Yankee fans such as yourself. My mind still wanders to the days of Billy Martin revving up the crowd as he rushes out of the dugout and gives the umpire a piece of his mind, his @$$ and whatever else he's offering that day. That's how I remember my love for the Bronx Bombers. May that spirit carry through for you for this World Series coming up.

Peace!