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

Playoff atmosphere city in deez parts, yo.

I watched the game at Strange's sick new pad, that him and his weirdo roommates have furnished with enough couches and seating to accommodate a sell-out crowd at Giants Stadium. Boys are so weird.

And yet, I'm sure when company comes over, they're much happier watching the games on the cloud-like sofas than the options at my place which include a piano bench and a Yankee Stadium chair, and a couch that came out of type casting for "For Asthetic Purposes Only."

Anyways.

This was a great game, and Ivan Nova was extremely impressive, although Strange and I both mused over whether he was a legitimately cut-above-the-rest pitcher...or whether he's been so effective on account of a league-wide inability to touch unseen pitchers.

Nova has been in the "shadow" if you can even call it that, of an investigation surrounding whether or not he and his buddies were injecting themselves with B12 shots.

A vitamin which, weirdly enough, doesn't make the list of MLB banned substances.

Along with riboflavin, potassium, and Vitamin C.

I seriously just don't understand MLB front offices sometimes. I mean, really? Is this the guy you wanna bring down? Yeah, I totally am all for the practice of nabbing wrong-doers not on case-by-case basis and all, but rather, in a black and white realm of I-don't-care-who-you-are-if-youre-breaking-the-law-youre-breaking-the-law.

But this is sort of like the guy on this season's Real World who called 911 IN NEW ORLEANS because his roommate peed on his toothbrush. Or the guy in Detroit who called the cops because Miguel Cabrera called him fat or something.

Seems like there's just a better use of these law enforcement officials' use of time, particularly in those arenas.

Similarly, why are they looking for sinister drug usage in this guy who bears no evidence of doing anything other than an innocuous vitamin? Who knows. Oh, wait. He's a Yankee.

He said he spoke to relatives on Saturday, and they told him to relax, to "pitch like I was in Triple-A."

"I said, 'OK,'" Nova said.

Apparently, he's also not one to waste words.

Or pitches.

In over 5 innings, he threw 88 pitches, struck out 7, and gave up just 1 run, 1 walk, 5 hits.

Logan, Wood, Joba, and Mo combined for the remainder of the game, giving up just 2 more hits, and keeping the Southsiders to 1 run, in what, indeed, felt like playoff air.

It was a great game to watch because it reminded me of the NCAA March Madness Tourney. Everyone complains that the NBA is lame, that college kids know the true meaning of hustle and competition and work. And that's why their games are exhilirating and rife with tension and spirit.

I agree.

I don't think the other side is really true of the MLB though. I don't think the vets are apathetic, as a rule. But I think by and large, the new comers know how good it feels to be in "the Show" and the fact they're playing for the New York Yankees is never lost on them.

If you need proof of this, just watch Cervelli's fist pump when he caught the final out of the game... (And then in sheer ridiculous fashion, did a complete 180 in temperament when he went to congratulate Mo on the game. It was like, "F#$& YEAH!! THATS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!! WHO WANTS SOME OF THIS?! YEAH DONT AX LIKE YOU KNOW, BITCHES!" to "Well done, Mr. Rivera. Best of luck to you and yours in the upcoming fiscal year. It was a pleasure to serve you this evening.")

I am starting to think Super Mario is a little crazy, come to think of it. I mean, his weirdo steal attempt? When Gavin was still holding the ball? He's on his own planet sometimes. Big time spaz. In a too-confusing-to-really-hold-it-against-him kind of way.

The top half of the lineup all pitched in with a hit a piece (save Jeter, sadly--cue the slump fire alarms), with GGBG bringing in the 1st run, and Timms knocking out a monster tie-breaking ding.

The best part about his hits isn't just the sheer power, but the possibility of him getting the post-game interview afterwards. They're pure gold. He looks like he's on the verge of tears, like a classroom of children just told him that he changed their lives and that they don't want him to retire from teaching 2nd grade.

Also gold? The routine Ozzie ejection. I swear, the ump was laughing afterwards.

"What'd he even get ejected for?"

Strange: "Um..I don't know. Flapping his arms and acting like a weirdo."

Sounds about right.