CARDRUNNERS

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So...last night I was pretty bored. Just hanging out in my apartment watching the NCAA tourney. I decided to hop on AIM, which I usually don't get on unless I'm working and need to talk to Trevor about a CR issue I don't know how to respond to. But I'm glad I got online last night because a friend of mine from college started talking to me and somehow we got on the topic of us sharing an affinity for the New York Yankees. Yes I like A-Rod, Jeter, Mussina, the pinstripes, the empire...I like the Yankees.

He went on to tell me that he would get me tickets to the Red Sox/Yankees games this summer if I wanted them. Of course I want tickets to see Red Sox vs.Yankees. He told me he could get me tickets in the Green Monster in late July or 4th row tickets in Yankee Stadium right behind the Yankees dugout for July 4-6.

Thats a tough choice for a few reasons....This is the last year for Yankee Stadium baseball. 4th row leaves high probability of being feet away from some of the best baseball players alive right now. July 4th weekend could be crazy in New York.

Buuut...how sweet would it be to sit in the Green Monster in my Yankees jersey? I mean...aside from perhaps some mean fans that may pour beer on my jersey or throw garbage at my head...AND they sing Sweet Caroline late game.

So if you had 4 free tickets to watch one of the best games in baseball...which would you pick?

I had a fairly low-key weekend. On Friday I met up to watch the Yankees/Red Sox game at a Red Sox bar. I could have been the obnoxious Yankee Fan amidst the crowd of Red Sox fans in the bar; but I kept the shit-talking to a minimum and just watched as Wang threw an awesome game and the Yankees won the only game out of three this weekend. Some broad pulled down her pants and showed the bar her Boston tattoo + ass. She was a real treasure...

Kevin has a thing for nice asses...so he was all about it. Red Sox fans....

I can think of plenty tattoos I would get before tattoo-ing a Red Sox emblem on my body.

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Saturday night I stayed in and watched Braveheart...because it is the greatest movie ever. It was sleeting and cold in Chicago...and about time I take a night off from drinking. And Sunday I made the most delicious cupcakes ever and lost the bet I made on the Yankees winning this series. (next time blue, next time).

Like I said, low-key (aside from Friday night)...I have a feeling this upcoming weekend might ring a different tune.

Question:

Is something cooler if its a secret? Like music the masses are yet to hear or a fashion trend that you take on before H&M? At what point of saturation does something become passe or not cool?

I’m just wondering.

Hey guys, long time no blog.  I guess I just haven't had a ton to talk about, certainly nothing as fun as going to Europe.  This upcoming week is my last week of classes for the semester.  I've been pretty busy with school, which has accounted for a good deal of my free time.  Here's a quick roundup of what else I've been doing:

• I went to the Yankees' home opener at the new Yankee Stadium.  It was a good game for 6 innings, then the Yankee bullpen took over for CC Sabathia and proceeded to give up 9 runs in the 7th and the Yanks lost 10-2.  I still had a blast though, the pregame ceremony was awesome.  It featured tons of former Yankee greats, Bernie Williams playing "Take Me Out to The Ball Game" on guitar (damn he's talented...), and an F-14 flyover after the national anthem, which was sung by Kelly Clarkson.  Really cool stuff.  The stadium itself is super nice, although our seats in the right-center field bleachers had an obstructed view of deep left.  There were flatscreen TVs that we could see the left field action on though.  The stadium has a wide open feel, so you can see the field when walking around the concourse.  We checked out an inning from behind home plate, just standing above the field level sections.  That was cool.  There have been lots of empty seats recently though because the Yankees priced many tickets way too high.  The good news is I'll be able to get some tickets at face value this summer, usually impossible.  Home runs have been flying out of the park at an alarming rate too, it's been a big news story lately and it'll be interesting to see how that gets sorted out.  It will also be interesting to see if Hank Steinbrenner can stop being a clown and just put Joba back in the bullpen already.  I'm not holding my breath, though.
• I've been rooting my Bulls on hard against the Celtics.  I'm biased but I think it's by far the most interesting first round series.  The Bulls really laid an egg in Game 3 but as I'm writing this they have the lead in the 2nd quarter of Game 4.  I'm confident in their chances, during the 4th quarter of game 1 I bet a friend that the Bulls would win the series, getting 2-1.  I like it a lot for that price.  The Powe injury provides additional help for us.  And D-Rose is the man (although Rondo has outplayed him in the last 2 games).
  
• I've been loving the nice weather!  It took forever to finally get warm in lovely old Ithaca but it feels so sweet now.  I'd be very curious to live in a warm weather place for a year and see if I still appreciated nice weather as much.  I think I very well might be a four seasons kind of guy.  Anyway, I've been taking advantage of the nice weather by playing a lot of golf and doing some daydrinking.  I'm really motivated to become a better golfer this year.  Getting into better shape since last year is paying off, I put a 4 iron on the green from 210 yards out the other day.  Last year I could only hit my 4 about 190.  Also, my roommate Shane used to be a 4 handicap in high school and still knows his shit pretty well, and he's been a big help with some adjustments.  I intend to play a bunch this summer and I'd love to get down to 15 handicap or so.  Another good use of the weather is my front porch.  Sitting out on the porch listening to music and either doing work or playing poker is much nicer than doing these things inside.  It's funny because when I was younger I'd often waste beautiful days inside playing video games and stuff.  Now I find it difficult to not go outside when it's nice out.  I guess I used to be kind of weird, I like it much more this way.
  
• Social life has been pretty good lately.  We've had some fun parties and mixers at the frat, as well as the aforementioned daydrinking.  We play a fun wiffleball variant in which the batter hits the ball and then immediately starts chugging from a pitcher instead of running, and he continues to chug until the fielding team hits him with the ball.  2 outs in an inning (only Ks or caught fly balls are outs), team scores a run if it gets down a full pitcher in an inning.  The pitcher is refilled each half inning.  It's a very fun game, I recommend giving it a shot.  Also, this coming Friday is Slope Day.  It's always a ton of fun, but I'm very disappointed with the musical selections this year.  The Pussycat Dolls are glorified strippers, but less attractive and with more clothes on.  And I'm not even a big fan of strippers in the first place.  Asher Roth is a guy who, to my knowledge, spent about half a semester in college, yet his hit song is about all these memories he has of it and stuff.  It's so fake and doesn't even make sense.  I'll probably end up going to the slope, but I don't even really want to.  We'll see...
  
• If you haven't been following Wiggins' blog, check out his last 2 entries.  Awesome trip reports from his Asia trip with lots of great pictures.  I'm very jealous of the water gun fight, among other things.

What are the most popular sports teams?    My friends and I debated this question while watching game 7 of the Bulls-Celtics series.  When I say, "debated," I mean "shouted vigorously."

The debate started when Phil claimed the Bears were the most popular team in America.  The rest of us agreed that the Cowboys were more popular, but that led to a longer discussion of who are the most well known in all sports.

Here are my guesses but a few rules first:
1) How many legitimate fans do they have?
2) Do people in another country know about them?
3) What kind of national exposure do they have?
3) How many people hate them more than any other team? (Weren't the popular kids in HS also the most hated)

MLB:  NY Yankees
           1) They're the favored team in NY, so they have a shit ton of fans.
           2) Go to an H&M in Europe and you'll see Yankees hats for sale, I have a feeling thats because people like the "N" "Y" for New York rather than the baseball team.
           3) iF its not every game they have against the Red Sox on ESPN, or the YES network, i have to read about A-Rod in the tabloids. (if I actually read the tabloids...)
           4) IF you don't love them you hate them.

NFL: Dallas Cowboys
          1) i assume alot based on how many kids bought their pull-over starter jacket in the 4th grade
          2) I'm not sure if anyone outside the US gives a shit about fOOtball
          3) They have more nationally televised games than any other team, and they didnt even make the playoff last year!
          4) If you don't love them you hate them

NHL:  haha, just kidding

NBA:  LA Lakers
          1) 8 million So Calers minus 37 Clippers' fans
          2) China gives this award to the Houston Rockets
          3) more than most
          4) I don't like them and who would ever disagree with me

Taking that flawed logic into account for each sport the winner is.... Tiger Woods... just kidding.  I'm going with the Yankees.  This answer is reasonable if the question is, "which US sports team is the most popular?"  Of course I ignored all the European soccer teams like Manchester United or Real Madrid that are more renowned worldwide than any US sports team.

What are your thoughts?

I love you,
-Matt