Talk Bronx New York

It’s the dead of winter, it turns dark by 5 o’clock, the temperature is sliding way below zero again and the economy is in shambles.

But fear not, baseball fans, all is right with the world.

Why? Because it’s OK to hate the Yankees again. In fact, I encourage it.

While I must point out that some of my best friends are Yankees fans, I submit that it’s our patriotic duty to hate the Bronx Bombers. It’s part of our heritage.

More than 50 years ago, when the Yankee Dynasty really was a dynasty, a wise old sage summed it up nicely, famously saying, “Rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for U.S. Steel.”

Famed sports writer Jimmy Cannon once wrote: “I imagine rooting for the Yankees is like owning a yacht.” Read more..

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post

To call Fred Caprista’s first season as the George Washington football coach a rocky start would be putting it mildly.

The varsity program was forced to forfeit the entire season because Caprista, who was interviewed for the job six months earlier, was hired late and there were no medical forms completed or parental consent releases signed. He instead coached the JV team, which went 0-8.

“We got a lot of work to do,” he thought.

The third-seeded Trojans have caught up in a hurry. They won their final eight regular-season games and shocked No. 2 South Bronx, 24-8, on Sunday afternoon to advance to the Cup Division championship where they will meet No. 1 Far Rockaway, the only team to have beaten Washington back in Week 1.

“It’s been gradual,” said Caprista, who had coached at Peekskill and McKee/Staten Island Tech previously, of the team’s improvement. “It’s been a slow but steady process.” Read more..

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post

The Yankees are engaging in a monumental quest that had never been considered in all their years as baseball’s baddest boys from the Bronx.

The Babe, Iron Horse and Joltin’ Joe never imagined this far-out mission. Neither did Yogi, Whitey nor the Mick. Ditto for Thurm, Mr. October and Donnie Baseball.

The Yankees’ new goal, as wacky as it sounds: keeping up with a team from St. Petersburg, Fla., the mighty Rays.

Even Joe Torre never could have dreamed up something so goofy.

Not surprisingly, the Yankees are convinced the best way to dig themselves out of third place, after missing the playoffs for the first time since 1993, is to throw the biggest money at the biggest free agent, and their focus is CC Sabathia, the pitching jewel of the open market. Read more..

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post

Bronx native Omari Lawrence committed to St. John’s in August. Photo by Damion Reid

Omari Lawrence made it official Thursday night. In front of family, friends and members of the media, the former St. Raymond HS and current South Kent School guard signed a National Letter of Intent to play basketball at St. John’s University inside the Mullally Park Recreation Center in the Bronx.

But, according to Lawrence brother, Abebe, a former Division I athlete himself, Omari attending St. John’s was a foregone conclusion.

“I’ve known he wanted to be a local kid since freshman year of high school,” the former defensive end at the University of Maine said. “At the end, it was a no-brainer. It was St. John’s all along.”

Lawrence, the basketball player, stated differently numerous times. He took visits to UConn, Marquette, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, Georgetown and North Carolina State. But visiting those places made him realize one thing: New York City was where he wanted to be.

Abebe said when they got off the plane in Wisconsin for a visit with Marquette, his brother let out a sigh.

“I can’t believe I’m out here, man,” Omari said, according to Abebe.

“I just wanted to stay home with my family (for college),” Omari said Thursday night. Read more..

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post

Crew from ‘98 teams up with area kids in symbolic ceremony

NEW YORK — Paul O’Neill strode down a flight of concourse stairs at the new Yankee Stadium on Saturday, set his feet on the warning track — a rough, dirt expanse, still studded with rocks and a few small puddles — and took an exhaustive look around.

“Look at this joint, huh?” he said.

Out before him lay a baseball field, albeit an incomplete one, properly proportioned to match the dimensions of the old Yankee Stadium. Sod, with seams still showing, filled much of the area, and a large blue sign shouted the words “YANKEE STADIUM” from above center field. Waves of dark blue seats down the left-field line dumped into a still-unfinished section behind home plate, where metal supports hinted at where more seats are still to come.

And on the mound, roughly 60 area children helped cram some dirt from the old Yankee Stadium into the new one. Read more..

(No Ratings Yet)
 Loading ...
 Email This Post