A pretty good John Sterling / Suzyn Waldman impersonation by a guy named Mike calling WFAN in New York last week. He nailed some aspects of both of them.
Suzyn Waldman
Shorter* Suzyn Waldman
Suzyn has outdone herself. Forget demanding that the Tampa Bay Devil Rays forfeit a game because they were late and the Yankees had already showered and dressed for the game. Forget her constant dismissal of Yankee opponents as not worthy of victories, and her constant attitude of Yankee entitlement (although that relates to this latest incident). No, on October 8th 2007, Suzyn Waldman took her awful performance as a color commentator to a ridiculously new low level. Following Joe Torre's post-game press conference at Jacobs Field in Cleveland (which followed the Yankee defeat in Game 4 of the ALDS, and subsequent elimination from the playoffs), Suzyn Waldman went on the air and cried.
Here is her full broadcast which you can download here (courtesy awfulannouncing.com)
You're going to have to bear with me here, cos' you know me, I cry at Cinderella, and I can't believe what's going on in there. Um....What's going on in that clubhouse and what Joe Torre is saying at the podium - John, this rivals that plane ride from Seattle [sniff], because everybody knows there's going to be a lot of changes here, and people are absolutely saying goodbye to each other. And it's very very tough place to be right now. [Sniff] Joe Torre is at the podium, and um, the first thing he said was that we wanted to congratulate Eric Wedge the way he turned his team around, and if you make a mistake they'll pummel you and that's exactly what they did. Um. Then obviously the first question was about his future. He didn't want to talk about that. He said, "I told the players I was so proud of what they did, they were in a hole, sometimes you get complacent, sometimes you forget how hard it is. We didn't forget.
And perhaps ironically, John Sterling settled Waldman down, by telling her, "all good things come to an end," and that Joe Torre will, "land on his feet," and be fine with his wife, daughter, brother, and his well-earned millions.
Now we know that most Yankee broadcasters are complete wingnuts. Michael Kay on YES TV believes that the Yankees have been the best team in baseball since 1995, facts be damned. John Sterling on WCBS 880 AM is a poor broadcaster because you can tell by his tone whether the Yankees are winning or losing. If he sounds disgusted, then you don't need to know the score. And then there is Suzyn Waldman, John Sterling's sidekick since 2005. They will be broadcasting together on WCBS 880 AM through the end of the 2011 regular season.
Suzyn is quick to pile praise or criticism on just about any player. It's as if John Sterling provokes her (or unleashes her). I have no transcripts, but a typical moment might sound like this.
Sterling: Andy deals....and there's a ground ball to center. Jeter runs to the ball, picks it up, tags second, throws to Giambi...a beautiful 6-3 double play, and Jeter made it look easy. He picked-up the ball bare-handed, tagged second, jumped over the sliding baserunner, and threw to first all in about 3 seconds.
Waldman: ONLY DEREK JETER COULD MAKE THAT PLAY!
Sterling: He has done it so many times. He makes it look easy. The captain showing some golden glove skills, and didn't use his glove.
Waldman: AMAZING, JOHN. THAT'S WHY HE'S THE BEST SHORTSTOP IN THE AMERICAN LEAGUE. THAT'S WHY HE'S CAPTAIN.
OK, I will try to ignore this duo. It's easy when the Red Sox are on their way to winning their seventh World Series.
Brian Bruney And Jeff Karstens Lose It For The Yankees
I think last night's loss was the first time since June that the Yankee bullpen blew a lead and lost a game on the road. An amazing run.
I also think that Brian Bruney and Jeff Karstens won't be on the Yankee postseason roster next month. Just my guess.
With Wang, Joba, and Mo available tonight, I expect the Yankees to win and secure the Wild Card spot.
But in just 48 hours, we have seen the Yankees' chances of winning the AL East slip from 40%, to 19%, to 6%. All Boston has to do is win 3 more games out of the remaining 5, and the AL East is theirs, regardless of what the Yankees do.
And if they blow that, then yes, Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, John Sterling, Suzyn Waldman, and Michael Kay can mention it all they want. But if the Sox win the AL East, I don't want to hear about them blowing a 14-game lead ever again.
The Red Sox magic number is 3. When they wake-up Saturday morning, the AL East title should already be theirs.
Huge Yankee Game This Afternoon
The Yankees have a game-in-hand over the Red Sox and it is being played this afternoon at 1pm. If they win, they will be just one game behind the Red Sox and both teams will each have 6 games left to play. Boston has two potential breaks - all of their 6 remaining games are at Fenway, and they won't be seeing the best pitchers from either Oakland or Minnesota. The Yankees have to go to Tampa Bay for 3 games, and then Baltimore for 4 games. I would expect both Tampa and Baltimore to win one game from the Yankees. I would also expect the Red Sox to lose 2 of their next 6.
And so this game today is very important for the AL East race. Toronto has been very effective in running-up the Yankee pitch counts and forcing the Yankees to work their bullpen. If Toronto should somehow win today, they will give the Red Sox the cushion they need to win the AL East title at the end of the week against the Twins.
If the Yankees win, then the Red Sox still have a 1-game lead. However, their margin for error will be very small. The Red Sox will have to win at least 4 of their remaining 6 games. They will need a lot of moral support from the home fans. It is crunch time.
Apparently Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling are acting as if the Yankees have already won this game. They are yapping away on WCBS-AM. They won't stop. Unfortunately there is no point in muting a radio. I might just keep an eye on the stoic and silent Gameday.
The late-breaking news that Blue Jay pitcher AJ Burnett had to miss his start only heightened Sterling's and Waldman's expectations for a victory.
"A game that means nothing for Toronto and everything for the Yanks." - John Sterling
Translation: The Blue Jays had better forfeit for their sake. The Yankees are entitled to the AL East!!!1!!!111
Toronto takes a 3-0 lead. I hope they win this one...
And how can there be only 20,000 fans in the seats? On an absolutely beautiful day, with this much at-stake, and with this game added to the schedule many weeks ago, the Yankee fans couldn't fill half the stadium today? This is the final September game at Yankee stadium! Even Sterling and Waldman are stunned.
Live Blogging The Sox-Yanks Finale
Retro Rocket
Clemens fuels Yankees past punchless SoxBy Gordon Edes
Boston Globe Staff | August 30, 2007NEW YORK -- The lead is down to a still-comfortable six games, and unless Curt Schilling can offer some vintage Schilling this afternoon the way Roger Clemens gave the Yankees some retro Rocket last night, it might be five before the Red Sox head home after their longest trip of the season.
A sweep by the Yankees, a plausible scenario after the Bombers made it two in a row with a 4-3 win last night, might be the least of the Sox' worries, although for fans with a masochistic bent, it may conjure flashbacks of '78, when the Sox also held a seven-game lead with 30 to go and saw it vanish in a span of 10 days.
Of even greater concern to the Sox than watching the Yankees beat their best two pitchers, Daisuke Matsuzaka and Josh Beckett, on successive nights is the absence of Manny Ramírez, who last night was diagnosed with a strained left oblique (side) muscle that is likely to sideline him for "multiple days," in the words of manager Terry Francona.
"That's one of your thunder [sic]," said David Ortiz, who interrupted a Clemens no-hitter in progress with a home run into the third deck with one out in the sixth inning. "So when your cleanup hitter goes down like that, it doesn't matter how much of a lead you have, it's hard to replace a cleanup hitter."
Ramírez, in a rare comment to a media member, was quoted in the Associated Press last night as saying "maybe a week" when asked how long he thought he might be out. "You watch that replay," catcher Jason Varitek said, referring to Ramírez's last at-bat Tuesday night when he aggravated the condition, "he buckles pretty good. We'll have to see. We're not going to panic before it happens."
The Sox were down two players when last night's game began, as outfielder Bobby Kielty was sent for X-rays and an MRI, then sent back to the hotel, his back still too sore to allow him to play even though the tests showed no structural damage, according to the manager. Kielty is listed as day to day, clearly an uncertain candidate to play this afternoon.
"That's not really an excuse," Varitek said. "We've found different ways to win all year. You can't replace Manny in the lineup, but that's no excuse."
Ramirez watched from the dugout, a welcome sight for Alex Rodriguez, whose seventh-inning home run off Beckett, his 44th of the season, gave the Yankees a 4-1 lead and ultimately furnished the margin of victory when Kevin Youkilis countered with a two-run home run off reliever Kyle Farnsworth in the eighth.
"I hope he's out for all of September," Rodriguez said playfully. "That would be great. Manny is a good friend, but it's kind of nice to see him sitting on the bench with a lot of my other good friends."
Some boffo Beckett, who was 9-1 with a 1.90 ERA on the road this season and bidding to add to his major league-leading total of 16 wins, would have gone a long way toward balancing the loss of Ramírez. But while the 45-year-old Clemens, who surprised the Sox by throwing, as Varitek noted, with "more power than we had seen on tape," danced around the five walks he issued by holding the Sox hitless until the sixth, Beckett was buffeted for a career-high 13 hits.
Four of those hits, all singles, plus a walk, came in the second, when the Yankees took a 3-0 lead. In the middle of the rally was Johnny Damon, who beat the Sox with a two-run home run Tuesday night and last night delivered a two-run single in what Varitek acknowledged was a "nice piece of hitting."
"Johnny has been hurt all summer," Ortiz said, "but everybody knows what kind of player Johnny is. Everybody knows Johnny is one player you want up there at the right time."
Beckett still has all the Clemens baseball cards he collected growing up in Spring, Texas, when he was known as "Kid Heat" and yearned to follow in the footsteps of his heroes, fellow Texans Nolan Ryan and the Rocket. "I have several pages of them," Beckett said. "My grandfather has them in a box at home."
Last night, Beckett faced Clemens for the first time, and while the grownup Kid showed as much heart as heat, avoiding major damage despite putting base runners on in every inning, in the end he was no match for the Rocket.
Try as they might, the Yankees could not crack Beckett. He gave up a triple to Hideki Matsui in the third, but struck out Jorge Posada and Jason Giambi to leave him at third. The Yankees loaded the bases in the sixth on three singles, but Beckett retired Damon on a roller to first, just beating Damon in a footrace to the bag.
The last Yankee hit off Beckett was the one that counted most, Rodriguez adding to his MVP résumé by lining a Beckett curveball into the left-field seats.
"He guessed right and hit it," Varitek said. "We knew that. He took a gamble and won that one."
And the Yankees creep ever closer.
"You know, this series doesn't make me worry about things," Ortiz said. "What makes me worry is how we keep on rolling this month. We've got to keep playing. We had a good road trip.
"We all knew what kind of players [the Yankees] are. Even when their guys were struggling, I knew it wasn't going to be like that year round. Dude, they got talent. They got talent all over the place."
And a 45-year-old wonder who somehow turned back the clock one more time.
"I'll tell you what," Ortiz said. "Man, at that age, I'll be cutting grass in my backyard."
© Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company
13:21 First hit of the ballgame. Derek Jeter singles off of Curt Schilling, who is 5-0 when starting after a Red Sox loss this season.
13:24 While Joe Girardi comments on the color of Manny's sunglasses (Manny is not playing for the next few games), Curt seems to be OK today. It's early, but he is not falling behind in the counts. 2 out.
13:27 A-Rod strikes out looking. End of the first.
13:32 Lowell grounds into a 5-4-3 double-play. How did Giambi stay on the bag for the second out? When Giambi is playing good defense, you know you are in for a tough game.
13:36 Bottom of the second. Johnny Damon's replacement catches a deep fly ball and makes it look easy.
13:40 Posada strikes out. Third strikeout for Schilling today.
13:42 Steroids flies out. End of the second. No wingnut moments from the YES broadcasting team so far. Just wait. Schilling's pitch count is on-pace to last 7 full innings. But the Sox need to score first in this game. Schilling needs runs to protect.
13:46 Wang walks Varitek. A good start. But last night, walks got us nowhere. And a walk last inning led to a double play.
13:48 A bad catch by Posada, but Varitek does not run to second.
13:50 Alex Cora flies out to Damon in left. Two gone.
13:53 Joe Girardi mentions that the 2006 Sox offense is not as deep as the 2004 team. Correct. He gives us respect for building the best pitching staff in the majors.
13:54 Dustin grounds out to a diving Giambi. Jeezus. Giambi is all over the ball today.
13:54 Glenhoffmania on Sons of Sam Horn: "Wisdom from [Michael] Kay: When you take Manny and Lugo out of the lineup, it's not as deep as it usually is."
13:55 TFisNEXT on SOSH: "that fat sweaty 'roided up fuckhead pulls another defensive play out of his ass."
13:57 Bottom of the third. Robinson Cano hits a solo HR off the center field wall. 1-0 Yankees. Dammit.
13:59 Coco makes a sliding catch after a running start. Beeeeeutiful. And he did it backhanded. Web gem.
14:00 The Sox have not had a lead in this series. They sure know how to make these games infuriating. They sweep Chicago and now they can't beat-up the Yankees. Just one win is all they need to keep the heat off them, and they are not winning.
14:03 A-Rod pops out to Dustin. Curt Schilling's pitch count is up to 39. He faced 6 batters this inning and threw just 10 pitches! Let's see if he remains calm and doesn't give-up another run through the next two innings. If he can do that, then this game is in the hands of our feeble offense.
14:14 Sox go in-order in the fourth. They still don't have a hit. My god.
14:20 Morassofnegativity on SOSH: "That's it! I can't do this shit anymore. They've become one of those pathetic teams that rolls over and dies against the Yankees. They don't deserve to win the division."
14:21 Yankees go in-order in the fourth. Good work, Curt. Just 11 more pitches! But he can't hold out much longer, can he?
14:22 This is scary. We can't hit against our arch rivals.
14:23 Top of the fifth. Drew grounds out. Yawn. Can't expect a damn thing from him.
14:27 Varitek walks again. The fourth walk issued by Wang. We need consecutive walks in order to score today.
14:29 Hinske strikes out. Should we be thankful it wasn't a double play? Two out.
14:31 Cora flies out. This game seems like a lost cause. Schilling, Varitek, and Coco have been doing their jobs. Everyone else has been awful.
14:35 Bottom of the fifth. Robinson Cano hits a second solo home run off of Curt Schilling. That's all folks. I will keep blogging, but this game is lost unless something wakes-up this Red Sox lineup.
14:38 As Damon grounds into a 5-3 DP, I see that Cano had a curtain call? If that is true then Yankee stadium really is hell. Curtain calls for mid-game solo home runs are just shit. Granted, it was Cano's 16th HR, his new career high. But think about that. A curtain call for Robinson Cano in the middle of a Yankee home game? What kinds of fans ARE these?
14:40 Derek Jeter singles for the third time this afternoon. They have all be bloopers.
14:42 Joe Girardi comments that Schilling should not be tired at this point. But he is.
14:43 Bobby Abreu flies deep to left, but Hinske catches it with his back to the wall. End of the fifth.
14::52 Ortiz strikes-out to end the top of the sixth. Still no hits for the Sox. Michael Kay tells YES viewers to call friends and family to alert them of a possible Yankee no-hitter. Someone sedate me.
14:55 Smiling Joe Hesketh on SOSH: "it's a no-hitter through 6. The thing about this team is that every time I think they've reached utter rock bottom with dogshit games, they go out and top it. Today is shaping up to be an epic kick in the balls."
14:59 Schilling cruises through the bottom of the sixth. As far as I'm concerned, the next frame is the last chance for the Sox. If they can't break the no-hitter now, then this will be a sad day in Red Sox history.
15:02 Top of the seventh. Wang is up to 90 pitches. Here is Kevin Youkilis at bat for the Sox...
15:04 Giambi misses the tag as Youkie grounds one in the infield and reaches the bag! Recorded as an error on Giambi.
15:05 Mike Lowell singles. The no-hitter is broken!
15:06 Now let's see how Wang can handle his first serious threat of the game. Oh wait, it's JD Drew at the plate.
15:08 Drew grounds one, but only he is out at first. Youkilis was not tagged on his way to third, although he ran on the grass infield. He should have been called out. Umpires discuss....
15:09 Youkilis is called out. It is the correct call.
15:11 Tito argues the reversal. He will probably be ejected...he's gone. Lowell remains on second. Two out.
15:14 Varitek strikes out. The Sox rally will not happen.
15:15 Drocca on SOSH: "We got a hit. Somehow I think that will be the only positive note from this game, maybe this entire series. 25 men will be corking champagne and slapping high fives after the game frantically screaming, "We got a hit, We got a hit". Congratulations guys."
15:18 Napkin on SOSH: "They still get to go for ice cream after the game though, right?"
15:24 Another 1-2-3 inning for Schilling. He has retired 7 Yankees in a row. What a waste.
15:26 Top of the eighth. Joba Chamberlain says a prayer and takes-over the mound for the Yankees. We have waited for this moment. Joba the Hut has arrived. The bleachers chant "Ja-ba...Ja-ba...Ja-ba."
15:29 Hinske flies out.
15:29 Alex Cora grounds out to A-Rod. This game is just about over.
15:31 Dustin Pedroia doubles with two outs.
15:31 Coco Crisp arrives at the plate. If he gets on, David Ortiz is next. This is the last chance for the Sox. This inning with two outs.
15:33 Coco hits a dribbler down the right field line. An easy out. That's it. That's all.
15:35 Caspir on SOSH: "Game's over, swept. How very embarrassing, yet familiar."
15:37 Bottom of the eighth. First wingnut comment from Michael Kay. A recycled sound byte that I think Suzyn Waldman first uttered earlier this season. "Many people in Boston thought that the only reason the Sox signed Okijima was for Daisuke Matzusaka to have someone to hang out with." Which people, Mike? Not in Boston.
15:39 Derek Jeter is 4-4. Yup. Another bloop single.
15:44 Bobby Abreu doubles. Jeter scores. The game was already out of reach. This is just sad to watch, regardless. Mariano Rivera is not warming-up. Joba is selected to close the game.
15:48 This is quite a week isn't it? We sweep the White Sox and think the AL East is secure. We go to the Crack House and both our home field advantage and our AL East lead fall back into question.
15:51 It just went from worse to catastrophic. A throwing error by Varitek to third leads to two Yankee runs. Abreu and A-Rod score. It is now 5-0 Yankees.
15:56 Kyle Snyder takes-over the mound for the Sox to get the final out of the top of the eighth. September 1st can't come soon enough.
16:03 Top of the ninth. One out. Joba throws two consecutive fastballs over Kevin Youkilis' head. And he's ejected! Wow. No warning. What the hell provoked that anyway? That was so weird.
16:03 "Joba you fucking cunt!" - Josh Beckett. Easy to read those lips.
16:07 Edwar Ramirez comes to the mound to get the final two outs. So Joba won't get his first save against the Sox. If the score were still 2-0, I'd say the Sox would have a chance to rally back.
16:13 JD Drew (how fitting) pops out. That's the ballgame. Wow. Just wow. The Red Sox were simply terrible. If they had won 1 of these 3 games, they would have held their big lead. Had they won 2 games, they would have locked the AL East. Now they have the Yankees just 5 games behind them again. And they only scored 5 runs in these games. Pathetic.
Someone at SOSH suggested giving this song a listen. Rod Stewart is a slimeball, but here goes anyway:
mother don't you recognize your soncoming home, yeah yeah
getting home, 'cause I failed you, motherI'll be there in the mornin'
if you have me back
the rent up here is much too high
for a room without a tap
a room without a tapI'll be early in the morning
and I'll find my way back home
back home bad 'n' ruin
with my tail between my legs
tail between my legs
and I'll be so tired
I'll be so tired, now listenI'll be early tomorrow morning
and I'll fall down off my plane
don't be embarrassed mother
by your ugly worn-out son
your ugly worn-out sonso just let me warn you
mother, you won't recognize me now
mother, you won't recognize me now
mother, you won't recognize me nowand I'll be down on Cannon street
passport in my hand
should you could not recognize me
I've heavily made-up eyesmomma, you won't recognize me now
brother, you won't recognize me now
hello there
sister, you won't recognize me now
mother, you won't recognize me nowso mother when you've seen me
don't forget I'm your boy too
I know my brother has done you proud
he's one foot in the grave
mother don't you recognize me nowI'm a burglar in the first degree
but it don't seem to worry me
I'll be so tired, so tired
I'll be so tired, so tired
so tired
Sox get Bronx broom treatment
08/30/2007 4:14 PM ET
By Ian Browne / MLB.comNEW YORK -- Even at the age of 40, Red Sox right-hander Curt Schilling still relishes the opportunity to play the role of stopper. A big-game pitcher throughout his career, Schilling again stepped up on Thursday afternoon against the Yankees. It just turns out that his fine effort wasn't quite enough.
Two mistakes -- both of which were put over the wall for solo homers by Robinson Cano -- were all it took for Schilling and the Red Sox to come up on the short end of a 5-0 loss. This is because Chien-Ming Wang was even better for the Yankees, holding the Red Sox hitless for six innings and allowing just one hit for the entirety of his seven innings.
By getting swept in this three-game series in the Bronx, Boston's lead in the American League East has been cut to five games by the Yankees. The teams meet again at Fenway Park for a three-game series that starts on Sept. 14.
Whether it is the loss of star cleanup man Manny Ramirez (strained left oblique) or simply running into hot Yankees pitchers, the Boston bats came up dry throughout this series. After scoring 46 runs in four games at Chicago, the Red Sox produced just six runs in New York.
Schilling held the Yankees to six hits and two runs over seven innings, walking one and striking out four. Both of Cano's homers -- one in the third and the other in the fifth -- were hit to left-center.
With Wang positively stifling the Red Sox, those long balls proved to be all the difference.
The Red Sox snapped the right-hander's no-hit bid when Mike Lowell rifled a single to right with one out in the seventh. Perhaps Wang's momentum was altered when Kevin Youkilis opened the inning by reaching on a Derek Jeter throwing error. J.D. Drew then tapped a grounder to third that wound up sparking controversy. Alex Rodriguez missed the tag on Youkilis and then narrowly threw Drew out at first.
Though Youkilis went out of the baseline, the umpires initially called him safe. After an argument by Yankees manager Joe Torre, the call was overturned. Red Sox manager Terry Francona was not pleased with the reversal and was ejected by crew chief Derryl Cousins. Jason Varitek struck out to end the first rally the Red Sox had all day.
Shorter Suzyn Waldman
____________________________________________________
‘Shorter’ concept created by Daniel Davies and perfected by Elton Beard.
____________________________________________________
We can count on Suzyn Waldman saying something ridiculous in every WCBS radio broadcast. She can mimic Michael Kay and say something like, "Only Derek Jeter could make that play," or she can say things are are pure Yankee wingnuttery.
Sunday May 6th brought us a classic Waldman moment:
"ROGER CLEMENS IS IN GEORGE'S BOX AND ROGER CLEMENS IS COMIN' BACK. OH MY GOOD--GOODNESS GRACIOUS! OF ALL THE DRAMATIC THINGS--OF ALL THE DRAMATIC THINGS I'VE EVER SEEN, ROGER CLEMENS STANDING RIGHT IN GEORGE STEINBRENNER'S BOX ANNOUNCING HE IS BACK! ROGER CLEMENS IS A NEW YORK YANKEE! AND THERE WE GO JOHN, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT WHO'S GOING TO TAKE THAT SPOT IN THE ROTATION. YOU SHOULD SEE WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE YANKEE DUGOUT! BIG GRIN ON JORGE POSADA'S FACE! ANDY PETITTE KNEW, BIG-SIZE ROGER CLEMENS IS NOW A YANKEE! ATTENTION FANS! HE IS HERE, AND NOW WE DON'T HAVE TO DISCUSS WHO TAKES THAT PLACE IN THE ROTATION."
Nope. No need to debate anything. Might as well put up the 2007 World Series championship banner now. Mission accomplished.
I will write more and more about this (and I hope others guest blog here as well on the topic - we need a mock transcript of John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman posted here for shits and giggles). But I will vent a little now.
Suzyn Waldman is part of the Yankee propaganda machine, which is the most shameless in all of North American sports (and if I have time to compile coverage of the India cricket team and maybe some South American football teams, it might prove to be the most shameless in the world). Waldman had the distinguished honor of being the on-field reporter for YES for several years, and she is currently the color commentator alongside John Sterling in the WCBS booth. The Sox have their own revenue-generating sports TV network, NESN. But as far as I know, it is not in-sync with their radio partner, WEEI. And while the Sox network is certainly friendly to the team, I have never heard a NESN commentator or anchor speak about the Red Sox as arrogant dominators of the league, or belittle or insult opponents or their fans. The New York Times Company, owners of the Times and the Boston Globe, do not participate in propaganda, even though the Globe does partner a bit with the Sox network.
The YES TV network (which Jim Caple calls Yank-Jazeera) and WCBS radio are totally in-sync. They share the same talking points, demonize opponents the same way, and spin Yankee bad news into good news. In some of their station IDs, both YES and WCBS repeat the Yankee mantra, "The New York Yankees...the most successful franchise in the history of sports." They painted Pedro Martinez as a hoodlum for hitting Derek Jeter on the hand in 2003, but recently suggested that a Yankee pitcher should hit David Ortiz (which would not make the Yankee a thug). They talk about how much classier the Yankee Fans are compared to Red Sox fans, but turned a blind eye to the night that storm troopers in riot gear had to be deployed along the foul lines in Game 6 of the 2004 ALCS, in the most fitting and yet unprecedented ending to a Yankee home playoff game ever.
They stay on-message and drive the Yankee narrative for the fans. People who have seen or heard Yankee broadcasts know the narrative: The Yankees are the greatest team ever. Their opponents are all inferior. The Red Sox, in particular, are a sorry team. Red Sox fans are depressed, and enjoy being depressed. Opponents should roll-over like the Washington Generals. Sometimes, the Yankee broadcasters throw a hissy fit if the reality on the field strays from the script. It's going to be interesting if the Yankees fall into a quiet era like they did between 1984 and 1994.
When it comes to wingnut moments, Waldman really took the cake in September 2004. The Devil Rays miscalculated their escape from hurricane-hit Florida, and the Yankees shamelessly demanded a forfeit in order to stay ahead of the Red Sox in the AL East. Waldman used a unique rationale for the Yankees' request: they had already showered and dressed for the game, only to later find out that Tampa was still in-flight. Oh, the humanity! Those showers must have hurt really bad, like there were needles or acid coming out of the shower heads or something.
And then there was this past Sunday. Waldman got really excited. Well, didn't we all? Colin Cowherd of ESPN radio reviews the moment and puts it into an interesting context. I think he nailed it:
The eighteen or so opponents left on the Yankee schedule should be warned: Forfeit all your games against the Yankees...or else. It would be the patriotic thing to do. Forfeit, or the terrorists win!
Wolfowitz's Girlfriend Says She's The Victim
Shaha Riza seems to think that the scandal revolves around her move to the US State Department. It doesn't. The scandal is her promotion at the World Bank and her remaining on the payroll long after she left. It isn't a US State Department scandal, it is a World Bank scandal.
It's as if she took a page out of the New York Yankees spin playbook (I'll explain in a sec). She's claiming victim status. But she is not claiming to be a victim of the World Bank promotion and pension. No, she is only talking about the fact that she was forced to take a position at the US State Department in order to lesson the appearance of a conflict of interest with Wolfowitz as the head of the World Bank. And as we now know, she was promoted just before her transfer to State, and given an excessive pay raise at the insistence of Wolfowitz. It was a raise that exceeded the Bank's annual salary increase limit. And she has remained on the payroll nearly 2 years after leaving the World Bank. That's the scandal. Focus on that, please. The tidbit about taking a job over at State is what we might call a 'hangout,' hence the name of this blog. She's no fool. At least she tries to spin us off the main issue, as she has a background in communications.
But for a moment, let's take her at face value. She is claiming that accepting a new job while collecting paychecks from the old job was more than a little inconvenience? She was mistreated and harmed? Awwwwww.
And I love this: No one can explain what she does for 'Federation for the Future.' Of course not. You think the girlfriend of the grand architect of the Iraq invasion would have a real job?
This is not an exact analogy, but -
Remember when the Yankees had a game postponed against Tampa Bay, because the Rays were delayed by a Florida hurricane in September 2004. They practically begged Major League Baseball to record the game as a forfeit by Tampa. And in their defense, Suzyn Waldman of the propaganda TV network known as YES exclaimed that the Yankees had suffered as a result of Tampa's no-show. They "had already showered," she yelled. Those showers must have hurt bad.
Just like that World bank "pension" of over $190K per year hurt Ms. Riza.