soupcan

Only time anyone ever said anything anti-Semetic to my face was a highway patrolman in northern Florida. My car had broken down on the side of the road and he pulled over to see what was up. He called for a tow-truck and then told me that the guy that was coming was 'a black guy but he's okay and he won't Jew you none on the price.'

Granted everybody is different and have different sensibilities - but in what world is saying something like that to a complete stranger acceptable behavior? It was a joke? Insensitive, arrogant jerk.

Yanks Bench Tenor After Jewish "Joke" Tynan: "I was too stupid with my mouth" By TOM LLAMAS and MICHAEL CLANCY Updated 8:39 AM EDT, Fri, Oct 16, 2009 Irish tenor Ronan Tynan is belting out red-faced apologies today for alleged anti-Semitic remarks he made to a Jewish doctor looking at an apartment in his East Side building -- comments, he said, that were merely a joke. Famous for singing "God Bless America" at Yankee stadium, "Ave Maria" at the funeral of Ronald Reagan and songs for Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Tynan is now striking a chord of penitence and reconciliation. "It was stupid of me to be so callous, and I would never want to hurt anybody's feelings," Tynan told NBC New York. But the damage may already be done as the Yankees have silenced the tenor -- canceling his scheduled Friday night appearance during the 7th-inning stretch of Game 1 of the League Championship Series, according to a team spokesman. The trouble began on Thursday when the 49-year-old Tynan bumped into a Halstead Property real estate agent showing an apartment on his floor to a potential buyer, a pediatrician from NYU Medical Center. The real estate agent said to the tenor, famous for his association with Yankees, �Don�t worry they are not Red Sox fans,� according to the apartment-hunter, Dr. Gabrielle Gold-von Simson. To which Tynan replied, "I don�t care about that, as long as they are not Jewish," Gabrielle Gold-von Simson told NBC New York. �Why is that?� asked a flabbergasted Gold-von Simson of the singer. And Tynan responded that Jewish ladies had been looking at the apartment before and they were "scary," according to Gold-von Simson. The singer now claims he was joking, but the good doctor didn't see it that way. "I didn't know him at all so how could I take it as a joke," said Gold-von Simson. Tynan for his part said it was just a �big misunderstanding.� �I�m not anti-Semitic and I have never been in my life,� Tynan told NBC New York. �There are three members of my band that are Jewish. And I love them like brothers. I call them my brothers from another mother.� The real estate broker Richard Rosenthal did not want to comment for this article, but Halstead Properties issued a statement about the incident. �We are shocked that this happened to our agent and their customer, "said Robyn Kammerer, Halstead�s vice president of communications. "It was truly an appalling statement and it saddens us that this type of behavior still occurs in today�s society.� Tynan admitted to making the comment but said it was all in jest, Howard Rubenstein, the Yankees publicist told NBC New York. The Yankees reached out to Tynan and Gold-von Simson to confirm the story and canceled Tynan�s appearance at Friday�s night league championship opener. Tynan then called Gold-von Simson immediately to apologize and has agreed to make a donation to the NYU pediatric center where she works, Rubenstein said. "A lot of my friends are Jewish," said Tynan. "It's something misfortunate, I was too stupid with my mouth." Gold-von Simson said she accepted the Irishman's mea culpa. "Absolutely," she said. "It was a sincere apology." The incident appears to be an ugly stain on life celebrated as an inspiration. His legs were amputated in his twenties due to a childhood disability but he went on to become a medical doctor, international recording star and motivational speaker, according to his website. Tynan rose to great fame in New York after 9/11 performing at many benefits and memorials for fallen members of the NYPD and FDNY. His performance at the Yankee games in those dark months cemented his legend. He sang also at the wedding of friend former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his third wife Judith Nathan, and at the 80th birthday party of former President George H.W. Bush.

I agree with you but that's her schtick, man. It appears to have served her well.

Saw it, dug it as well. Gave it 8 elbows. Fallon was good in a small part, the guy who played the team's coach was also very funny.

Los Doyers.

Agitator.

Also - people I know that have dealings with the Wilpons and Sterling, state affirmatively that the fact that they lost close to a billion dollars absolutely, without a doubt has affected the day-to-day operations of every single entity that falls under the Sterling umbrella. I can't imagine that a parent company could lose that kind of money and not have it affect the entire organization.

Sterling Equities believed (and were shown by brokerage statements issued by Madoff's firm) that they had assets of approximately $700 million as a result of returns on monies they invested with Madoff. Picard (the Trustee, not the spaceship captain) states that the $700 million figure was a fantasy and that the $50 million that they took out of their statements over the years represented more total dollars than they actually put in. Sterling had been putting money into Madoff's hands for about 20 years so while they may have actually put in less than they took out, they probably kept reinvesting the returns they were told they were making, so their account value kept growing. This, coupled with Madoff's stated spectacular return rate doesn't make the total of $700 million sound beyond belief. It would be an excellent return but still, together with those aforementioned factors - believable. So while the $700 million may have been 'fictitious', Sterling operated on the belief that it had those assets. Banks made loans to them, projects were funded, companies owned by Sterling (the Mets) were budgeted based probably in large part on that belief. The whole thing then falls apart and Sterlings accounts are wiped out. Well, no they didn't actually lose $700 million because they never really had it, but the fact that they had loans and the like outstanding based on those numbers makes it like they did lose the actual dollars.

If the Mets don't go outside the organization for next year's LF, I have a hard time believing they'd just hand it to Martinez. I would think that at the least they'd have him and Pagan split time out there. My 12-yr old has Carl Crawford slated as the Mets starting LF next year anyways.

Full article and video here Just before the first pitch of Tuesday's game at Fenway Park, I saw someone in the front row behind the backstop screen also put on an umpire's mask. He and his friend were often out of the TV frame, but when right-handed hitters were batting, you could sometimes see them, mimicking (or shadowing) the home plate umpire's every move and utterance -- every strike call and foul tip, putting up fingers to indicate the count to the pitcher, checking with the foul line umps on checked swings, even reaching into their pockets for a new baseball.

Yeah - I've got a soft spot for the guy too.

The thread comes full circle with Rico Brogna - For Brogna, Road Back to Majors Runs Through Football Rico Brogna expects the next step to be his first minor league managerial job. By BRIAN HEYMAN MIDDLETOWN, Conn. � As one of Wesleyan University�s receivers ran a one-on-none post pattern under the fading sun at practice on Wednesday, Rico Brogna spotted choppy footwork on his fake and his break toward the middle of the field. �Just keep running it with speed,� Brogna told Paulie Lowther as the team prepared for its home opener Saturday against Tufts. �Keep running it with speed.� Yes, this Rico Brogna, who volunteers as a receivers coach at this Division III college, is also that Rico Brogna, the former first baseman for the Mets, the Philadelphia Phillies and three other teams. And, as it turns out, Brogna�s decision to coach receivers, kickers and punters here at age 39 is part of his master plan to become a successful major league manager. Brogna, once a major-college football recruit, has been driving toward that goal since 2001, when his playing days ended at age 31. He expects the next step to be his first minor league managerial job. After talking with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who used him as a pro scout and minor league field coordinator this season, he said he was expecting to be named manager of their Class AA affiliate in Mobile, Ala., for next season. That team would be getting a leader so fluent in and enamored of football that he plans to carry some of its preparation principles over to baseball. At Wesleyan, Brogna has watched how Frank Hauser, the Cardinals� 18th-year head coach, handles his program. �What I�ve learned from Coach Hauser is attention to detail, the organizational part, and leadership,� Brogna said. �The model part of it is the way you organize all the different parts of a team and organization, to coach each part of it as best as it can be coached, whether it�s meetings for positional groups, how to study film, how to study scouting reports. I want to bring more of a football team mentality, revolve everything more around teamwork, team planning.� Hauser said Brogna has the temperament to coach baseball or football. �He knows how to deal with people,� Hauser said. �That�s what coaching really comes down to, because the most important thing in coaching is to get the guys to play for you. That�s true in any sport. He�s mild-mannered, but he also makes guys toe the line.� Brogna signed with Clemson as a lefty-throwing quarterback for Watertown High School in Connecticut. But the Detroit Tigers also drafted him in the first round in 1988, and he chose baseball. Brogna made his debut with the Tigers in 1992 and was traded to the Mets in 1994. When he was called up that June, Brogna became an immediate hit. He took over for an injured David Segui at first base and batted .351 before a strike in August ended the season. Injuries derailed his progress over the next two seasons, although he hit .289 and had 22 homers in 1995, and the Mets traded him to Philadelphia after the 1996 season. He said he was sad to leave. �It was home,� Brogna said. �I�d grown close to the fan base.� Brogna, a .269 hitter over his nine-year career, had his best seasons in Philadelphia, with three seasons of at least 20 homers and two with 100-plus runs batted in. After stops in Boston and Atlanta, Brogna retired in 2001. He battled a form of spinal arthritis his whole career. Brogna started working toward his managerial goal, earning a degree in business management at Post University in Waterbury, Conn., and coaching the baseball team there one year. He evaluated talent as a pro scout for Colorado and then Arizona, and coached high school football and basketball in Connecticut before taking the job at Wesleyan. �He�s helped out a lot with how to deal with the pressures of the sport,� said Kyle Weiss, a sophomore flanker and punter from Connecticut. �He�s been the farthest you can possibly be in his sport. I enjoy him. He�s a great guy. He�s a player�s coach.� Perhaps these players will someday say they were coached by a future major league manager. �It would be great to tell my kids or grandkids when I get older, to be able to have the personal experience with him here as well,� said Steve Hauser, a junior receiver from Rhode Island and a nephew of the head coach, who once heard Brogna speak at a high school camp. �It just puts the myth to light, to actually meet that kind of person that you idolize.�

This amused me...

At Shea our tickets were right in the thick of things so a lot of the VIPs would have to walk right by us or be right near us. Led to a few good stories and incidents - Rick Lazio's goon squad manhandling and cursing my pregnant wife, Hilary Swank rendering me motionless with a movie-star smile, a few mayoral encounters - but now at Citi, while the seats are absolutely comparable, the VIP section is now seperated by a wrought-iron fence and there is better/more private access to seats for the celebs. We're still close but it hasn't been as interestin' thus far.

Last year my wife and I were at a game at Shea, sitting close to the field on the first base side near home plate. We see Mayor Mike and his lady friend walk down to their seats in the first row behind home plate. Followed closely by deputy Mayor Skyler (didn't know it was him at the time) and....my wife's cousin Amy! The missus and I do a double-take and give each other a 'that's Amy, right?' look. She sits down next to Mayor Mike and we are just dumbfounded. Amy's a private sector chick and as far as we know has no professional governmental relationships. So we start screaming 'AMY! AMY! AMY!' She doesn't hear us but Mayor Mike does. He looks at us and turns his palms upward giving us 'what are you saying? kind of look. So we point to Amy and motion for him to tap her and show her that we are screaming at her. He does, she turns, sees us. She came over, told us she was on a date with Skyler, etc. It was funny at the time.

You know - I do watch them every night. Its just too depressing to then come here and commiserate. I'm with irish though - enough already, can't wait for it be over with. Oh, and coupled with all this Jeter/Gehrig shit its just downright fucking torture.

That Signature Does Not Belong To... Marv Throneberry!

Liked it - gave it 3. Tarantino has a lot to live up to every time he makes a movie. 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Pulp Fiction' are a difficult standard by which to be judged. I thought the first scene and the scene in the basement bar were fantastic.

Skip Lockwood's wife?