"It's great to be young and a Yankee."

So that capped off an overall abysmal weekend in NY sports. The fates were really gunning for me these past few days. First they give me 80 degree sunny skies ALL WEEKEND, as if to say, "Here ya go, NY! Oooh, wait, sorry did you want to go play football in the park? Oh um, yeah sucks about the fact you're limited by the fact you can only walk like a kid on the beach who got sand stuck in his bathing suit crotch."

How did the Yankees lose this series? Gradually and then suddenly. By Sunday, I was so numbed by the Rangers loss, the heat, and the unrelenting frustration over not being able to play outside, that I could barely register what was going on in the game. I'm confused about how we only scored 1 run. It looked like there were a lot of shots being roped all over the field. Oh that's right. The Yankees go into anaphylactic shock if they don't leave at least 82 runners on base in the course of a game.

At the beginning of the season I was kinda interested to see what the team would look like ARod-less. So...I think we can prematurely abort this experiment, as the control in this trial (Cody Ransom/Angel Berroa) has demonstrated statistical lack of efficacy. I'm sure no one wants A-Rod back more than Teix though, who not only has to perform Cirque de Soleil-like contortions to grab the throws from the Useless 3B d'jour, but also has yet to see a pitch he likes. The league can dismiss A-Rod as overrated as much as it wants, but when it comes down to it, the guy's swing is magical and when he's batting as the 3-4 tandem with Teix (or 3-4-5 with Cano...), it's gonna sink that the NY lineup is a little scarier.

It's crazy how little credit people are giving A-Rod (for his baseball skills). He'll be scrutinized of course to no end the second he comes back and strikes out once.. ("SEE?! HA! IT WAS THE STEROIDS THE WHOLE TIME, THAT'S THE ONLY REASON HE COULD HIT AND NOW HE SUCKS!") But I think he's going to shut naysayers up pretty awesomely. Which would suggest, ironically, that A-Rod is far from the most overrated player in the game. He's actually on the underrated end of the spectrum.

Speaking of all stars that need to remind everyone how they're immortal in the world of sports...Henrik Lundqvist needs to put the kabosh on the sloppiness. I'll go ahead and say that he lost those games for the Rangers. The whole team looked like shit on Friday, but in Game 6 they were playing infinitely harder. Callahan, particularly. Drury could stand to be more aggressive, and is Gomez still on the team? I feel like I'm watching the Giants-Eagles playoff game from last year, aka playing "Where's Waldo?" with Jacobs. Your most agile threat and you're burying him under a mishmash of strategy-devoid plays?

I don't know how I feel about Tuesday's Game 7 game. Sometimes optimistic out of general habit ("In all things, it's better to hope than despair."), but sometimes pessimistic (losing a 3-1 lead that's going to Washington for a Game 7 with the momentum krazy glued to the Caps? I have a little bit of experience in that arena.)

I spent most of today in the office, so I think having to listen to both games on the radio diluted some of the disappointment. Plus, the difference between staying inside to watch a game at a Union Square office vs an Upper East Side apt is that the NYU students and arty folks and hipsters populating downtown NYC aren't whooping it up right outside the window. In the UES, however, I've learned that I can effectively turn the tv off and pretty much call the game based on the noise erupting outside (or lack thereof).

It's actually entirely more useful and informative that watching the game with Joe Morgan and Jon Miller. I think 2 would be a safe estimate for how many times they articulately reference the fact there's a baseball game going on. They sound like pretty much any given Family Guy clip of 2 people having a laughably meaningless dialogue.

Only JM and JM aren't laughable.

Additionally, a Red Sox fan took the chair out from my under last night. Out from under my leg. What the f is wrong with them????