On the Yankees radio network...

From the NY Daily News : Right now their future is up in the air. The Yankees contract with WCBS-AM, worth about $12 million per year, expires at the end of the 2011 season, so do Sterling and Waldman's pacts. Sterling has been the radio voice of the Yankees since 1989. Waldman joined him in 2005.


There has yet to be any serious negotiations between the Yankees and WCBS. The job status of Ma and Pa cannot be resolved until a new radio-rights deal is cut. Industry moles say other outlets have chatted informally with Bombers brass. These potential suitors are looking to get a sense of which direction the club wants to go with its radio rights.


Outside of WCBS, which probably wants to keep the Yankees, it's highly likely ESPN will - if it hasn't already - stick its beak into the mix. For ESPN-1050, the process of trying to chip away at WFAN, longtime Mets rights holder, has not been easy.


Adding Yankees radiocasts to the mix of Jets, Knicks and Rangers would help change the equation - drastically. But how much would ESPN be willing to pay for the radio rights to Yankees baseball? And would pinstripe honchos be satisfied having their games go out over ESPN-1050's weak signal? That situation could be corrected if ESPN ever purchases another station with stronger reach.


There also has been talk about the Yankees buying a radio station. With the radio biz in the toilet, and in the current lousy economic climate, that is not likely to happen. "

Let me start of by saying that I don't hate Sterling or Waldman as much as some Yankees fan, although I liked Waldman better when she was the on field reporter for YES. But if the Yankees wanted to switch commentators and stuff I don't have a huge issue, although I would hope they keep Sterling since his calls are classic and he is the voice of the Yankees for the past twenty plus years.

I don't not want the Yankees to even think about switching to ESPN radio. The signal is so bad, that there are times just driving around on Long Island it has an issue coming in. I know that the Yankees may get offered more money by them, but at least with WCBS they know what they are going to get. WCBS has such a strong signal it can be heard as far as Kentucky and North Carolina on a clear night.

As for the Yanks owning their own radio station, that would be very interesting since I have not a clue what other type of programing they could have on. They could make it another sports talk radio, but they area already has WFAN and ESPN radio, so it would be tough to compete.

Who stole the captains razor ?

First off Stuart Scott looks ripped dude must be working out with the althletes that do these commercials. The other thing is that this commercial has so much potential and doesnt come close to my expectations, although I did find it funny (and creepy) when the Philly Phanatic walks by in the towel and then takes it off.

The House of Steinbrenner : Review

Two years ago yesterday the Yankees closed out the old Yankee Stadium with a 7-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. At the end of the game Derek Jeter gave an emotional speech about how things wouldn't change the next season at the new ball park. That old stadium, where Yankee icons had played for 85 seasons was always called "The house that Ruth built", but in 2009 the Yankees would be playing across the street in "The house that George built".

When George Steinbrenner passed away in mid-July, I remembered reading that ESPN was going to have a documentary about his life later this year. I had forgotten about it completely until this past week, when again it was mentioned in a newspaper article this time talking about the monument Steinbrenner received Monday.

My first complaint about the documentary which was an ESPN 30:30 presentation , was that it aired the same night as the Yankees played the Rays. Most Yankees fans I know would rather watch the two teams face off then to watch the documentary. Lucky for myself the show aired again on ESPN2 at 11pm, after the Yanks had beaten the Rays.

The show starts with the 2009 Yankees championship parade down the canyon of hero's in New York City. It shows the joy of the fans and players, along with some footage of how the 2009 championship was for the boss. But before it gets too in depth about the Yankees championship run it flashes back to September 21st,2008 , the last game ever at the old Yankee Stadium.

Barbara Kopple gets great footage of fans visibly upset that the old building is coming to a close and talks to many sad fans who are sad to see the old park go. During the entire time that the show was being filmed the Yankees gave Kopple complete media access to the players along with access to the old stadium while it was being torn down.

So far most of this review has been about the stadium, and that's because most of the show seemed to be about the old and new Yankee stadiums. Sure they mentioned George Steinbrenner and had the chance to talk with Hal Steinbrenner, but when it came to footage on George , Kopple does a poor job. Most of the interviews seen during this documentary are old interviews that I had seen clips of in the past , nothing that was original or not seen before.

The most enjoyable part of this film was seeing the workers taking down the old Yankee Stadium and how many of them were also Yankee fans who were sad to see the place come down. When it came to footage about the old ballpark Kopple did a great job of talking to fans and filming various parts of the ballpark being dismantled.

Towards the end of the film, Kopple is outside the new Yankee Stadium before the first regular season game interviewing fans. The fans react in different ways, some saying how they love the new park and they thank George for it, while other fans hate the new park and miss the old stadium. A few fans even say that although George wanted to build the new park , that if he was still around and healthy enough the prices would be lower and it would have been more fan friendly.

If you have an extra hour in your life that you want to spare I would recommend watching this. The film does a nice job of getting footage about the two ballparks, including the death of the old one and the birth of the new one. But if you plan to watch this in hopes of learning a little bit more about George and the Steinbrenner family, well then your looking in the wrong area. Kopple had a good idea trying to blend the two together, but for me it didn't work well.

I found a few clips from the show on youtube interviewing Hal Steinbrenner :

Yankee Stadium : Home of the Day Games

Ever realize how many day games the Yankees play at Yankee Stadium ? I noticed it once on a Saturday when the Yankees were the only team playing at 1:05pm compared to other teams playing at 7:05pm or later. While most teams hold night games for different reasons, the biggest is to get a larger revenue and have more fans in the stadium. In the south they hold night games, so fans aren't roasting in the sun. But the Yankees don't need to worry about losing revenue from day games, because they know that regardless of the team it will be a sell out.

Since July till the end of the season the Yankees will have played 23 day games at home. During that time the Yanks will have played a total of 44 games at home, so more then 50% of them have been during the day. I am including the FOX 4pm games as day games.

So how can the Yankees hold so many day games ? While I mentioned above that most teams hold Saturday night games because they get more revenue, the Yanks sell so many tickets in advance through season ticket plans, and advance ticket purchases they know that the game will sell out regardless. Ive also noticed that over the years the Yanks, don't play many Sunday night ESPN  games at home. Sure they play a few against the Red Sox or Mets, but most of the time the Yankees are the team on the road. It could just be a coincidence but maybe the organization prefers the day games.

Although some players may complain about day games after night games because of lack of rest. Many enjoy the opportunity to either go out that night or spend time with their family. Day games are also great when the team has a game the next day and need to travel to get there.

Looking at pictures of the new Yankee Stadium during the day it looks very grand and majestic, something that the Yanks would have like to hear. It fits in with the Yankees tradition, also with the long tradition of baseball being played during the day. So while other teams are playing at night to create higher revenues at the park and on TV, the Yanks don't have to worry about that. It seems that the Yankees like day games this year too, since the start of July they are 11-4 at home.