The Sports Chick Blog

Dear Readers,

 I have decided to pull the sports chick blog off the cortland server. The new and improved sports chick blog will be available at:

www.thesportschickblog.com

For all users who already used thesportschickblog.com you will automatically be redirectd to the new site starting tomorrow. 

peace out

-The Chick!!

 The Chick didn’t write this, ESPN did …

… “Bullpen Blowup

The Yankees traded Kyle Farnsworth on July 31, thinking their bullpen would hold up without the right-hander. However, things have not quite gone as planned — including Aug. 1, the bullpen has allowed three-plus earned runs in four of nine games, including nine runs in Saturday’s game vs the Angels. Here’s a breakdown:

BRING BACK MY FARNSYYYYY!!!!

Also, some news outlets reported that the fan total at Jet Camp yesterday was anywhere from 7,000 to 10,500, but my aching, tired, worn-out, sunburned body will atest that the actual total was 11,523. Yes the media is always right

Basically my un-named day job is taking over my life, so here is one big, but kinda brief,  catch-up post!

• The Williams Sisters had another “who can grunt louder” match in Wimbledon on Saturday, and the modern day Wimbledon Queen, Venus, took Serena over.

• Also in Tennis, You know the swing-set playground saying, “first is the worst, second is the best, and third is the one with the hairy chest.”? Well, that proved true in the Gentlemen’s Singles Finals in Wimbledon yesterday as #2 Nadal beat #1 Federer. AND the match was the longest in history (4 hrs 48 minutes & 2 rain delays).

•  It was rivalry/Fourth of July weekend in MLB. You have Cubs-Cardinals, Dodgers-Giants, and of course Yankees-Red Sox, but the big story was the Brewers rental of C.C. Sabathia.

• The 2008 MLB All-Stars were announced:

  • Lonely A-Rod lead in overall numbers (3,934,518 votes), but his wife, Cynthia, wants no part of it!! C-ROD FILES FOR DIVORCE IN DADE COUNTY! 

  •  Jason Varitek (219 avg. 7 HR 27 RBI 19 assits) was voted in by the players and not AJ Pierzynski (299 avg 7 HR 32 RBI 29 assits) hmmmmmm Major League Diss?!?!

  • Mike Mussina (2nd in the AL with wins, 11) was cheated out of an All-Star game. But it’s OK, he rather be at the Lycoming County Fair in Hughesville, PA. Apparently the Moose loves their tractor pull!

  • THE STACHE’ & D-WRIGHT NEED YOUR VOTES … but don’t bother, the MLB will secretly find a way for Rays rookie, Evan “Don’t Call Me a Housewife” Longoria to win it!

  • 41 year old, Dara Torres, will make the US Olympic Swimming roster and Michael Phelps is a swim beast! US Sprinter, Tyson Gay, has a hamstring strain from an ugly fall, but will be OK for Beijing. Click here for ESPN’s US Olympic Trials coverage.

•  AND THE SPORTS CHICK HERSELF GOT A FOUL BALL AT HER LAST TRIP TO THE HOUSE THAT RUTH BUILT!!!!

check back later for more stuff that i can’t think of at the moment, and July’s 10 Questions w/ …

- Chick

 Many many moons ago my brother’s little league team went to a Yankee game. His coach at the time, George, got a box for the whole team and their fathers. At the last minute there was one extra ticket, and even back in the day I was the Sports Chick so I got to go to the game with the Hills Hawks. That game happened to be Jeff Weaver’s Yankee debut.

After arriving in the Bronx and seeing that Weaver was the pitcher I immediately told my Dad (& I quote), “This guy sucks!” My Dad responsed (quoting again because I will never forget this!), “You never know, he can be a great Hall of Famer and you can say you saw his first game!”

Oddly enough the Yankees beat Toronto that day 10-6, Weaver pitched 7 innings and gave up 6 runs. But still I truly believed that Jeff Weaver was the scum of the Earth … therefore my player I loved to hate!

Fast-foward to 2008 and you’ll see that Jeff Weaver was released, but not by the Milwaukee Brewers, by their AAA team in Nashville.

So good ridance Jeff Weaver! You suck and I called it 6 years ago!!!

 I love the Yankess (no shock there), and like any other New York based Yankee fan I watch the games on the YES Network. You see Jon Miller on ESPN makes me wanna pull every effing hair out of my head (mainly because he is a Yankee-hater), on Fox if it’s not Joe Buck it’s a no-name announcer, and radio?!? forget it! You can only listen to John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman squwak for so long. So like I said before I watch my Yankees on YES.

My only pet-peeve about YES games is Michael Kay. He is a great announcer, but there are a few Michael Kay catch phrases I can live without! When I was browsing through the internet the other day I came across a website that had a “Michael Kay Drinking Game.” Basically everytime Mr. Kay says certain phrases you take a drink, shot, swig, whatever you want! So I decided to come up with my own MKDG buzz words! Enjoy, and trust me you’ll get shloshed by the 5th inning!!

1. “Only on YES” - I know YES has to plug their own shows and their catch phrase, but is “only on YES” the best slogan they came up with?
2. “See Ya…” - Ahhhhh, the classic Michael Kay HR call! Every announcer has one, and apparently Kay’s “See Ya!” is so catchy that little Natasha Rodriguez repeats it over and over when her Daddy is up at bat! Ahhh youth!
3. “Those Maple bats splinter all the time” - a new one for the 2008 season! Mo’s cutter can break any bat and Johnny Damon splits more wood than a lumberjack, but Michael Kay’s maple wood bitch fest is getting old!
4. “Paul O’Neill is eating once again” - Paul O’Neill maybe works 3 games a month for YES, and every inning I have to hear about what the great number 21 is eating instead of a play-by-play of the actual game!
5. “You know Girardi trusts Farnsworth, because he caught him in Chicago” - For me it’s always nice to hear about the Farns, but for the 2903790235726596th time WE ALL KNOW THAT JOE CAUGHT FARNSY!!!! It’s not that exciting!
6. “Michael Kay hosts …” - This one only counts if Kenny Singleton, John Flahtery, Bobby Murcer, Al Leiter, Nancy Newman, Paul O’Neill, or Bob Lorenz says it. Does YES have anyone else to hosts shows?
7. “Jim Kaat used to say that …” - Jim Kaat retired. Apparently Michael Kay misses him alot! Awwwweee announcer lovin’!
8. “Ohhhhhhh What A Play …” - There are many great palys in baseball, and ESPN has there top 10 web gems every night. Michael Kay thinks their should be at least 25 plays from the Yankee games that are web gem worthy! It’s that exciting!!!
9. “That was a supercalifragilisticexpialidocious catch by Derek Jeter.” - Michael Kay went to Fordham, most of us did not. Therefore, we must hear about it often followed by some big ass nerdy word that we’ve never heard before! That is unless your studying the SATs. In that case watching the YES Broadcast is a great study tool!
10. “Generation Trey” - that refers to Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes, and Ian Kennedy. Probably the stupidest nickname I ever heard for a group of three people. And Oh lemme recap: Joba is now a starter, Hughes has a mysterious cracked rib, and Kennedy has not one win (and is now on the 15 day DL with a strained lat), Generation Trey indeed!

Thank God “Spiedi” wasn’t in the Bronx! They would’ve gotten their asses kicked! ps- foam fingers are for 3 year olds, not fake blonde bimbos!

(photo from people.com)

 It was a crazy day in sports today!

Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester threw a no hitter against the KC Royals at Fenway Park. Here are some interesting stats to the game:

1. Jason Varitek has now caught 4 no hitters, and is the only player in the MLB modern-era to do so (Nomo, Lowe, Bucholz, and Lester)
2. Jon Lester is the first lefty since 1956 to throw a no no at Fenway (Mel Parnell)
3. The Red Sox now have 18 no hitters in their history (Dodgers have 20 for the top spot on the list)
4. Lester never even pitched a complete game before tonight
5. most importantly, Jon Lester is a cancer survivor at 24

Also today the San Antonio Spurs became one of the few NBA teams to have a road win. They defeated the New Orleans Hornets 91-82 in the Game 7. San Antonio now faces the LA Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. Manu Ginobli lead the team in scoring with 26 and hit 4 critical free throws in the final minute.

The Stanlet Cup Finals are set, Pittsburgh vs. Detroit! The Red Wings defeated the Dallas Stars today in 6 games and with vengance! If there was any doubt the Detroit was lacking effort down the stretch they made sure to make fools out of the doubters tonight! Chris Osgood made 28 saves tonight and Detroit scored 3 in the first period to send the Stars packing with a final of 4-1.

And finally the Cubs defeated the Astros today 7-2, but Geovany Soto had an inside the park HR today for the Cubbies in top of the 4th. However, replays showed that it should’ve been an automatic HR because the ball bounced OFF the yellow line. With my love of the Yanks aside, it seems that Umps have a problem seeing proper HR lately! But great hustle by Soto! Also, Lance the Great went 0-4.

And I’m out of breath, Good Night! The Chick will be in the Bronx tomorrow for the Yanks v. Orioles because I like to torture myself and see this mess in person! Make sure you stop by, and maybe buy me a beer or two!

xxoo 

-The Chick

UPDATE: because it down poured last night and the town doesn’t put tarps on the field, the East - West Classic has been cancelled, and there will be NO make up game. Sooooooo …

 … I guess East is still the champs!  

Now normally I would write about my Yanks taking on the Mets in the Subway Series this weekend, because as you all know the Chick loves the rivalries. BUT tomorrow is also the East - West Classic.

What is the East - West Classic? Well it’s the annual baseball game that pins the Half Hollow Hills HS East T-Birds against the Half Hollow Hills HS West Colts, to shorten it : East v. West.

The HHH School District and the towns of Dix Hills, Huntington, Wheatley Heights, and Melville are split directly in half for just one game. Ask anyone around here and they’ll say this, “Hill West is athletics and Hills East is academics.” Which is true! I graduated Hills East in 2005 with Honors and I only witnessed one varsity football win. Hills West on the other hand dominated in all sports: fall, winter, and spring!

However this year is THE year to see the East- West Classic! Last year the underdog Hills East T-Birds (despite being crowned the League III Champs) beat the Hills West Colts in 11 innings. Since then, there has been banter between the coaches, players, parents, students, and alumni. Also, Hills West came with vengence in 2008 and are the number 2 team in Suffolk County and won the League IV title. Hills East failed to make the playoffs by 2 games. But here’s the thing…

 … Hills West is the smaller school, thus they play in a smaller less competitive division. Hills East has had to battle West Islip and North Babylon, Long Island powerhouse, in League III. Therefore the teams are actually as equal as can be.

Now I might be partial to Hills East because I am an HSE alumni, but I’m rooting for Hills East for two reasons:

1. I love the underdog. Hills East has nothing to lose and Hills West has everything to gain. Can the HSE T-Birds spoil the great Hills West season once again?

2. My brother, Mikey, is the lead-off man and starting Center Fielder for the Hills East T-Birds #3!!!!

So LET’S GO HILLS EAST AND DOWN WITH THOSE COCKY HILLS WEST COLTS!

The game starts at 7pm sharp on Saturday May 17th at the neutral site of Otsego Park in Dix Hills. So If you can’t make it to the Subway Series this year, take a drive to the Hills to see one heck of a rivalry! And remember…

… GO EAST!!!!!

http://hhheast.sectionxibaseball.com/

 Ok well, Joba Chamberlain will NOT BE ON one of my favorite shows, Gossip Girl, but he will be mentioned on it! ahhh!! Yet another example of my sports side and chick side meshing into one!

So according to Yankee Beat Writer, Pete Abraham, Nate on Gossip Girl will say this following line on Monday,

“The Yankees are on today. Joba’s been pitching lights out.”

And I couldn’t be more friggin’ excited! On another note, this is just another example of how mainstream the Yankees are. There was a debate awhile back about Yankees Universe v. Red Sox Nation, and which one was more “America’s team.” My answer? Who cares, Both names suck! Can’t we all just be labeled as FANS for a change? Also, I think the Yankees are more of a worldwide phenomenon, and the Red Sox are more of America right now. This is solely because you can see the interlocking NY more around the world then the Boston B. However, there are more Boston B’s around the US right now because the average fan with no alliance to a team is ALWAYS a front-runner. Do you honestly think the average Joe Schmo who grew up with no alliance to a team is currently rooting for the San Diego Padres, San Fransisco Giants, Colorado Rockies, or Seattle Mariners? No he is wearing that damn Boston B! 

 peace <3 

the chick

 UPDATE: I should’ve bet on my half birthday, hehe! The exacta win was 20 - 5: favorite Big Brown followed by filly Eight Belles. And sad news for Eight Belles. She wound up breaking both front ankles and was immediately euthanized after the race.

Today is another sports holiday, it’s the 134th Running of the Kentucky Derby! So here’s my pick, exacta 11-20. Now bear with me people, 11 is 30-1 underdog Z Humor and 20 is 3-1 heavy favorite Big Brown. The reason I picked 11-20 is simply because it is my birthday. Now don’t throw me under the bus and say that I know shit about horse racing. Here’s why you should listen to me …

… in 2005 we betted wrong. Everyone at my Dad’s shop pools their money every year for Kentucky Derby, and we always bet weird things: birthdays, yankee numbers, always #13 for my Dad’s lucky number, and other stupid stuff. In 2005 we placed all those crazy bets and usually somebody has a dumb request. That year my Dad wanted to place an exacta bet with 70-1 superlong shot Giacomo. And why Giacomo? Because hie grandmother’s something-or-anothers something called someone in our big ass Italian family Giacamina. When my Aunt went to the local OTB she beat the Giacomo exacta as a trifecta by accident and split the numbers in two (sorry I can’t remember the pole numbers, but for example if we said 15 for 2nd place, she bet 1 2nd place and 5 3rd place; get it?). So we all huddle in front of the teeny tiny TV in the workroom and watched the Derby.

Giacomo won and we lost all the bets we had, oh well! So I’m driving home and I get a frantic phone call on the Long Island Expressway, “we won! we won! we won! Auntie Margaret bet wrong and we hit the trifecta!” Yes you read this correctly, we HIT THE TRIFECTA WITH THE 2nd HIGHEST LONGSHOT IN KENTUCKY DERBY HISTORY!! The pay out? $23,000 on a $20 bet!

So listen to me today! Bet your birthday, your favorite baseball player’s number, the favorite, and whatever else you wanna do! Because it’s all luck!

ps- I didn’t save my earnings, we were allowed to spend however we pleased. So being the SPORTS - CHICK. I used the money I won on my sports side and purchased a Hermes Birkin bag with my chick side! The holy grail of handbags!! Also seen here, here, and here!

pss- Place your online Derby picks here and good luck!

-Chicky