How Sweep It Is!

Well, they definitely televised last night's game and what a game it was, Dear Roxy. I know you don't think so but trust me! Roger Clemens with his no-hitter through five! He lost it but who cares... Clemens doesn't need to over do it anyway! We need him.

As for today's game, (play by play here) Chien-Ming Wang had a no-hitter through six innings! He lost it in the seventh but no worries (AGAIN) as the Yankees pulled off another win! We are back to a 5 game difference. And only for today, I can brag!!!!

The Mariners were swept by the Angels last night so we're officially in first place in the wild card standings with today's win. At least the Angels helped us out on that one... especially after that disastrous road trip the Yankees had against them.

In other news, I know that you don't follow soccer but I just wanted to mention Antonio Puerta, the midfielder for Sevilla, who passed away three days later after collapsing on the field. May he rest in peace. At only 22, he leaves a pregnant girlfriend. Very sad.

And as if that wasn't enough, I just read of another soccer player that passed away. Chaswe Nsofwa, a forward who played for Zambia at the 2002 African Cup of Nations, collapsed during practice and passed away a little while after in the hospital. May he rest in peace too.

College football kicks off tonight! I hope the Canes kick some a** this year.

And one week from today, NFL!!!

Have a safe and fun Labor Day weekend :)

-Criss

Photo: AP, Bill Kostroun

White Sweep, What's Next?

So before I get into the whole Red Sox-Yankees thing, Dear Criss, let me just say strong work to the guys for effectively, stupendously sweeping the White Sox, for playing like they meant it, for acting as if they wanted to be on the field to win. It was incredible. And Cash? Seriously, it was as if he had played with Wakey 100 times before - well, maybe not 100, but he did better than Varitek catching Timmy! (Not being mean here, still love Varitek, but it's hard work catching crazy man) No one has been close to Mirabelli in patience and skills when catching Mr. Knuckleball. I thought the art was lost after Belli. I don't know much about Kielty and Cash, but I like 'em. And Pedroia? Keep it coming, kid.

AND STOP HITTING MY PLAYERS!

Okay, they're not showing the game, and it's kinda good 'cause I have some stuff to do, but now I gotta be checking the ticker every 15 minutes.

Let's sweep again!
Roxy

Photo: Mike Carlson, AP

Some Catalogs Know How to Market

Yeah, to you, Dear Criss, Gagne is good because he's been struggling. Are we watching the same SportsCenter? And don't get me started about the lack of run support for Matsuzaka. We could've picked up another game! DO NOT TOUCH MY PEDROIA!!! Some one's gonna pay for hitting him in the elbow, and either Schilling or Beckett will take care of the matter next time we play Tampa Bay. You just wait.

So check this out, I go to the J.Crew Web site, and what do I see on the home page? Two folks wearing Red Sox hats. I'm ready to make a purchase now. See if it's still up.

Roxy

J.Crew.com

I managed to open my big mouth and what happens? Well, the Yankees found themselved 2 1/2 out of the wild card and 6 games out of first place, Dear Roxy! I think I'm gonna have to watch what I say from now on! Luckily, we got one back when we managed to win one against the Angels while your team and the Mariners lost.

Talking about wins, did you watch the massacre in Baltimore? 30 runs by one team in one game! That hasn't happened in over 100 years. I guess it wasn't too funny for the Os. But funny was listening to Tim Kurkjian from ESPN talk about it... Tim was hilarious!

What are you talking about, Gagne is doing a great job!

Santana from the Twins was amazing the other night with his 17 strikeouts. Talk about dominating!

And Miami will finally say bye to the Orange Bowl. As much as I like football, the Orange Bowl is not my favorite stadium. It's a dump! I'm glad to see UM is moving, although further away, to a better stadium. The Marlins are happy too... who knows, they might finally get that stadium they've been wanting.

Counting down to September 6th and the start of football season!!!

-Criss

Stay Focused!

Dear Yankees,

Keep losing. Please. Thanks.

Well, listen up - y'all are still behind, so hold on to your britches, Dear Criss. Lester is pitching tonight, and it's great to say that again. I wish SportsCenter spent an extra second or two on his return to Fenway. Caught last night's game against the Rays, and let me tell ya, Wakefield was en fuego, a la Dan Patrick. The guys gave him run support and all was well. How 'bout Big Papi's grand slam the other day? Nice! So no more Wily Mo. We got this Chris Carter kid. As much as I say I would've been happy with Arroyo, I think I had some frustration with him, so I will not speak at this time. I would, however, have been happy keeping GABBARD. WHY ON EARTH DID WE TRADE FOR GAGNE WHEN GABBARD WAS JUST FINE?! But, I will send some positive Gagne vibes/thoughts his way now, after that venting. Gagne needs to sit in a yoga position and just do some deep breathing while visualizing strikes. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES is anyone to touch Mike Lowell (ahem, Theo).

Alright, my friend. Until next time.

And yes, I am looking forward to some football! The American kind!

Roxy

AP Photo, Elise Amendola

Young guns

After a 3-game skid, I was happy to see the Yankees take 3 out 4 from the Tigers, Dear Roxy.

And so I watched last night's game. I was happy to see what everyone was talking about... our young pitcher Phil Hughes. He was pretty good I must add and he's only 21! The Yanks, however, lost in the 10th inning after 4 + hours.

Needless to say, I am not too happy today. I mustered a little over 5 hours of sleep! Damn west coast games!

Our young pitching staff (I know, young!) is surprisingly good. Joba Chamberlain has been great… and with that name, wow! Henn and Ramirez… I’m just happy to see our bullpen get it together.

And I can’t forget Shelley Duncan… a young guy with lots of power.

BTW, Happy belated Birthday to Jorge Posada!!!

Did you see Easley from the Mets twist his ankle? Ouch!

I haven’t gotten into football yet, but it’s only preseason… who cares?!

Vick, Vick, Vick. Enough said.

Oh, the Yankees are not too far behind, Rox… It seemed like yesterday we were 14 ½ behind. Not anymore!

-Criss

Just Win!!!! Please!!! No More Begging!!!

Well, all I have to say is that if I have to hear the stinkin' Yankees security guard at work nag me about the four-games situation, I will have to take an Alka-Seltzer real fast, Dear Criss. Need I remind him every time not to get too excited? Actually, need I remind my darling Sox that they need to play as if they care to win?!

PULL IT TOGETHER!!!!

I don't know if you saw the Tampa Bay game yesterday (which resulted in a win, gasp), but I thorougly enjoyed Papi's push-up antics after he almost got smacked by the ball. I guess you had to see it. The crowd and I loved it. Speaking of love, I love Millar, but man, does he have to hurt us with walk-off homeruns? As of right now, looking at the score, he's a Yankee killer adding an HR to the mix (BringbackMillarCOUGH). Wouldn't it be nice to gain 1/2 game tonight? After all, it is Lester's first time pitching in Boston since he's been back.

Sigh.

Roxy

Photo: Love it. The Tampa Bay gang did this for flower power night. Johnny for jason-varitek.com

Phil Rizzuto 1917-2007

Phil "The Scooter" Rizzuto

Hall of Fame shortstop and broadcaster for the New York Yankees

has died. He was 89.

May he rest in peace.

Photo: Kathy Willens, AP

Football is almost here... I can smell it!

You mean this David, Dear Roxy? Him and Derek are now BFF! JK.

Speaking of which, Beckham made his official MLS debut as a replacement in yesterday's game. Good to know he's getting all better. And I still like Victoria! I wanna see another show of hers!

And what's with the stupid Blue Jays? Can't get over the fact that A-Rod yelled something TWO MONTHS AGO!!! Get on with it and stop throwing to hit him already! And I don't blame Roger for trying to protect his teammate! I would've done the same thing! And now he gets a nice 5-day vacation for it :)

Going back to the Bonds thing, how about a Mets fan catching the infamous ball? hahaha... I couldn't stop laughing at that one! He and his friend, in full Yankee gear, bought the tickets last minute. Talk about luck!

Football is here!!!! So exciting. Although the Colts lost last night, which I didn't watch, I think they'll be just fine.

Any exciting Dolphins news? I was disappointed to see they don't play the Colts. WTF?!@#%

-Criss

Above photo: Anthony J. Causi, MLB
Barry's photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP

Congrats, Barry

Congratulations to the new home run king.

Winning 101

I would rather watch Barry Bonds, followed by going to a Barry Bonds Buffet Blowout Barbeque than watch anything A-Fraud related, Dear Criss. Then I will go to a Cowboys game, followed by a Packers game, followed by lunch with Keyshawn, then some soccer with Beckham. Those are all things I'd rather be doing.

Anyway, you need to lay off of Michael Irvin. As much as I couldn't stand him and the Cowboys, I know he realizes he's done stupid things, and I'm happy for him to have changed his course. He's our local boy! Come on! Do you cheer for the U, or what?!

I saw some of the dirt bike tricks during the X games. It's really ridiculous. However, I missed the crazy fall. You have to be out of your mind. How many times do you practice nearly killing yourself before you get it down? Speaking of nearly killing yourself, that Mariners moose better learn how to stay on its side of the field before Big Papi - or Tito - hurts it. I nearly lost my mind when I saw that highlight (and when I heard Kason Gabbard was gone, and when I saw SI only did a two-pager on Bill Walsh and when I saw 6 1/2).

So, do me a favor and lose a few games. Realize, before you flaunt it, that you are playing some easy games. ... Although we blew a few easy one with the Royals.

Hey Red Sox: WIN!

Roxy

AP photo: Ted S. Warren

Milestone Weekend

It happened! A-Rod finally hit is 500th homerun... at home!!! He couldn't have scripted it any better, Dear Roxy. I got goose bumps when I saw the replay over and over again on ESPN. Fantastic!

Glavine finally won his 300th game!! Congrats to Glavine. Who knows... he might be the last one to win 300. Randy Johnson is pretty close but he's out for the year and is getting pretty old. Mike Mussina has 244 wins. Let's see...

Oh, And Barry has tied Hank Aaron. Let's see when his record breaking homerun comes.*****

What's with the Mariner's Moose running over Coco Crisp? Pretty funny I must admit. I'm just glad he wasn't injured.

Sorry to see Alfonso Soriano get injured at yesterday's Cubs game. You could definitely see he was in a lot of pain.

Oh, man. Did you see the X Games' Jake Brown 50-foot fall while skateboarding? That was the sickest and scariest fall I've seen in a while. And he only had a broken wrist and bruised a lung after that fall! Unbelievable. If you haven't seen it, and have a strong stomach, you must watch it!

Congrats to the NFL Hall of Fame inductees. Michael Irvin crying. lol.

-Criss

Photos: Chip East and Ray Stubblebine, Reuters.

Milestones... Still waiting

The truth of the matter is that this waiting game is driving me insane, Dear Roxy. Not to mention Arod's previously 0-17 skid. I suppose his 2 hits on yesterday's game is a good sign.

And what's with ESPN televising all of the Giants game? Oh, the Barry thing :\

Glavine has to wait... again!

The 3 milestones (that didn't happen) would've been fun to watch. Can you imagine if Arod, Bonds and Glavine would've done it in one day?

The Yankees didn't make a lot of noise during the trade deadline. I suppose they like what they have. I would've prefer a trade for a pitcher; middle reliever. I think they need one to make a final run towards the end but hopefully I will be proven wrong.

Hard to imagine but the Yankees are hanging on :)

Don't wanna talk about Gagne or the Celtics... Argh!

Football season is coming! I can't wait for football-filled Sundays.

-Criss