School uniforms

Back in black?

When I was younger, I used to think that the Yankees uniforms were ugly. This of course, was before I knew anything about baseball. Now I know that they’re the epitome of team tradition. Still, I’ve always been drawn to uniforms. If teams got new uniforms, I loved comparing them to the old ones. But now this uniform craze has taken on a life of its own, thanks to college football. It really gained traction with Oregon last year and its whole, ‘Let’s wear a different uniform every game!’ mantra. Fine. A little confusing, but its uniforms were admittedly cool. I’ve been ahead of the curve in talking about uniforms before everyone else crazily caught on. I praised the Wizards’ new unis last May. I’m a fan of going back to classic ways with a touch of new-school. I thought that was the ongoing trend. But that’s not really the case anymore. Now, flashy uniforms are “in.” When we look back in 10 years though, they’ll  be thought of as dumb. But not now. And everything came to the forefront with Maryland’s new football uniforms. Those are quite possibly the most outrageous unis I’ve ever seen—and the coolest. This is still too much fashion in sports, right? Now I’m left wondering what’s cool—traditional uniforms, old-school ones with a new twist, modern-day ones that aren’t flashy, or flashy ones.  Here’s my boring answer: it depends. Maryland’s were cool for the time being, Georgia’s were blocks of colors. Just weird. As for the Yankees? Still not a pinstripe fan. 

Seeing history

I’ve been to my fair share of sporting events throughout the years. Baseball, basketball, football, college. I’ve seen teams qualify for the NCAA tournament, record-crowds, Hall-of-Famers play, overtimes. I’ve had good seats, bad seats. Wins, losses, etc. But I’ve never seen anything as historic as I saw today at Yankee Stadium. Derek Jeter, Yankee captain and one of the greatest ever, came into the game two hits shy of 3,000, which is the magical, oh-so-hard number to reach in Major League baseball. I wasn’t expecting much. Boy was I wrong. In his first at-bat, Jeter laced a single into left field to give him hit No. 2,999. At that moment I thought, ‘Hey, this 3,000th hit could come today.’ As a Mets fan, I have little tolerance for the Yankees. But Derek Jeter is different. He’s easy to root for. And when he came up in his second at-bat and blasted a home run for his 3,000th hit, it was, for lack of a better word, awesome. It’s a plateau few have reached and to hit a home run made it even cooler. Jeter also finished 5-for-5 on the day, including the game-clinching hit. It’s rare that you have the opportunity to witness history. So when you do, it’s pretty unbelievable.

Hats off

A minor stir was caused recently when John Wall of the Washington Wizards was shown wearing a Philadelphia Flyers hat. Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post wondered why Wall would do that when he plays for the Wizards. You’re in D.C., man. Don’t rep Philly clothing. But at the same time, maybe Wall doesn’t know any better. As the comments section of the article brought up, young people nowadays wear sports hats not necessarily based on who they root for but based on what looks the best. And here’s where my opinion comes in: absolutely not. You only wear clothing and hats for the team you root for. The only exception is maybe wearing a hometown team’s gear even if you don’t particularly root for them, or possibly wearing, say, college gear of a school that somebody you know goes to. But to wear a Phillies hat if you’re a Mets fan? No. That is against sports unwritten laws. Don’t wear a Yankees hat to be cool. Just suck it up and wear the Blue Jays one, or whatever lamer team you root for.

Slick cuatro

The Mets' cliff is getting higher to climb for next season.

Cliff Lee signed with the Phillies. This means three things. One, the Mets are in trouble. Two, the Rangers and the Yankees went head to head and both failed. Three, Philly realized their mistake of giving up Lee just one year ago, and are lucky he is returning. But enough about the logistics. How about the fact that the Phillies rotation is like the Miami Heat’s “Big Three” but better. Roy Halladay (reigning Cy Young Winner), Cliff Lee (dominator, also has a Cy Young), Roy Oswalt (one of Houston’s best pitchers ever, perennial ace), and Cole Hamels (ace of the ’08 team). Damn. Now that’s a call to arms. The Mets counter with an injured Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese, R.A. Dickey, and a rookie. Now of course the Phillies have to prove their worth, but it would take a disaster for these guys to stink. Let’s face it, the Phillies just out-yankeed the Yankees.

“From California, to the New York Island”

What’s your rooting interest in the World Series? What, the World Series is about to start? Yes, it is. And I think I know who to root for. Here are our choices: the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants. The Texas Rangers were once the second incarnation of the Washington Senators, while the Giants were once famously located in New York. But that was a long time ago. I have no ties to either team. The closest I come to either team are my San Francisco Giants sweatpants. But I’ll be rooting for the Giants. They did beat the Phillies, they are the National League team, and they did carry the NL torch (with the Dodgers) for New York before the Mets arrived. The good thing about this series is that a fresh team will win it. No Yankees. No Phillies. Just the Giants or Rangers. So without further adieu, play ball. For New Yorkers, Washingtonians, San Franciscans and Texans.

The day the mighty ones fell

Ohio State. Yankees. Phillies. Syracuse. Okay, maybe not Syracuse. But on Saturday all of these teams lost. Ohio State, who in my opinion was not even worthy of the No.1 spot after Alabama lost last weekend, lost to Wisconsin. The Phillies and perfectionist Roy Halladay lost. So did the Yankees. And then we come to Syracuse. For some reason, because Syracuse beat USF last weekend, everyone thought that they were pretty good. I guess people forgot about their blowout loss to a 2-3 Washington team. Yes, they are better than last year. But not better than Pitt, even if Pitt was 2-3 going into the game. Hail to the underdogs.

A state of error

This is the state of my teams:

Another season on the outs for the Mets. It seems like another team is making the playoffs every second. But not the Mets.

The Nets aren’t getting Carmelo (surprise, surprise!) and now Devin Harris is unhappy about the whole thing. I thought you couldn’t get worse than 12 wins…

The Giants, meanwhile, are 1-2 and have a ton of issues to sort out. And they’ve been receiving press shedding them in a not-so-hot light.

SU Women’s Volleyball team lost the first game of the season against an inferior opponent.

Oh boy, there’s a lot of fixin’ to do. Why can’t I like the Yankees/Phillies, Heat/Lakers, Saints/Colts, and Alabama football? I guess if you win all the time it’s not that fun either…though I’d take it!

Two identities: So different, yet very much the same

Two icons worthy of a Sports Illustrated cover have died in the past month. First John Wooden, and more recently, George Steinbrenner. And they couldn’t be any more different. But the one characteristic that I’m sure they shared? Desire to win and the fact that winning is about all they did. Either rarely lost, and each presided over decades-long dynasties: UCLA basketball and the New York Yankees. These guys practically invented the term “dynasty.” And they haven’t let us down. Their memory lives through their teams. With that being said, I still dislike the Yankees. UCLA basketball, you’re not too bad. But maybe that’s because this past year you weren’t all that good on the court.

No Yankee Doodle Dandy here

Yankee fans, this is perhaps the only week where I will ever genuinely feel bad for you. First your beloved announcer, and now The Boss. Earlier this week, Bob Sheppard, a Yankees announcer since the 1950s, passed away. And today, George Steinbrenner died. I gasped out loud when I found out so late this afternoon. Steinbrenner was quite possibly the most polarizing owner ever in sports history. He was known for his personality just as much as he was known for building the Yankees’ dynasties from the 1970s until now. Sad week for the Yankee family, and I’m sure a lot of people will be honored at the All-Star game tonight.

Note to Heat: Superteams aren’t new. You’re not that original.

The New Big Three. Where's 'Melo?

I’m here to talk about the Cleveland Cavaliers. So this season, they’ve got some nice players. Antawn Jamison, Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Mo Williams. Decent team. I think they have a bright future.

Speaking of teams without LeBron, what people haven’t noticed is that the MLB has been full of superteams for generations. Now, MLB teams are larger and therefore the stars aren’t condensed. In fact, almost all good MLB teams have at least five stars, unlike NBA teams where they are lucky if they have two superstars, but often settle for four decent, all-star players. Look at the Yankees. A-Rod. Jeter. Cano. Posada. Rivera. Sabathia. Burnett. Even Swisher and Pettitte qualify. Still, they have more positions, and remember, they are the Yankees. But even the Rays, who aren’t crazy-rich, have Longoria, Peña, Crawford, Price, and Upton to name a few.

Just one more thing about LeBron. Remember when the Celtics Big Three graced the cover of every magazine with an NBA preview? Expect the same for the new Heat trifecta come fall. Unless, of course, they want to show us Mo Williams, Big Z, and Antawn Jamison. But I don’t think those guys would sell many magazines.