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

It takes me a long time to get on board with technology trends. I'm always 2 notches behind, ie I'm still listening to mix casettes when the rest of the world has moved on to CDs. I resisted the VHS --> DVD movement for so long that it wasn't until mp3s came around that I finally acquiesed. Same goes for digital cameras, ebooks, etc.

I usually catch up eventually, but not with the iphone. I don't care how many people say "You get used to the touch screen"...I still prefer the tactile joys of pressing keys.

HOWEVAH, now I may have a reason to convert.

This.

FANATIC=FANTASTIC.

I've been saying for YEARS that I wish there was an app, or a suite of apps, that basically help me avoid situations where I walk into a bar, survey the scene, and then have to pretend to get a phone call or pretend to use the bathroom just so I don't look like I'm walking in and out.

For example, when bouncers check IDs, the ages should be logged and then there should be an app that allows you to check the average age of patrons, so I'm not walking into a bar full of people who either are comparing drink prices to those of the Roaring 20's...or people who actually are still in their roaring 20's.

My coworker just told me about the FANATIC APP. Which is GENIUS.

Fanatic is a new social sports app that connects millions of fans and venues all over the world. Fanatic helps you follow your teams, find the best places to watch every big game and share the fan activity with your friends. Wear your colors proud!

Every check-in, plan and share earns you points, whether you’re at a sports bar, the stadium or even at home. Compete against your friends and fellow Fanatics for top ranking in your area.

•EXPLORE: Browse a list of local venues to see which games are being shown and where local fans are gathered. Fanatic ranks every venue by team affiliation so you know exactly the hot spots for your favorite team. For example, you can locate the #1-rated Real Madrid bar in New York City or the #1-rated New England Patriots bar in San Francisco.

•PLAN: Invite friends to watch with you, and share those invitations across social media. We will help you organize and track the best watch parties!

•COMPETE: Compare your points, ranking and fan activity with your friends. It’s all about winning!

It's like foursquare for sports venues!!! I mean, if I'm watching a game, I have NO TIME to mess around with bars, no time to explore the city, and no time to venture into a place only to discover they're showing cricket instead of the NBA playoffs, or--worse--they have a giant plasma tv that's used to just show animated fractals or something, and not Sportcenter.

I'm serious. These exist. It's like meeting a blisteringly hot, charming doctor who turns out to be gay--a stunning specimen but one that you will never be able to fully take advantage of.

Anyways, I need this to be available in noniphone-format asap. (The app. Not the hypothetical gay doctor.) Until that happens, I refuse to deviate from form. I will spend the rest of my sports-watching-days at Dorrians until someone proves otherwise that a better Yankee-support venue exists.

I'm okay with that. But I still want the Fanatic app. It's just really, really cool.