ANOTHER YEAR WITHOUT A YANKEE WORLD SERIES

Obviously, it's impossible to watch any playoff game without SOMEBODY mentioning that it's been 108 years since the Cubs won a World Series. It's been 7 years since the Yankees won a WS. Now before you start telling me to go cry in my hat, think about this. In that same 108 years, the Yanks have appeared in 40 WS and won 27  of them. This means that Yankee fans are used to seeing a NYY Series win every 4 years. That 7 years is a long gap for a Yankee fan. While these numbers are all correct, this has all been kind of tongue-in-cheek. It's all a matter of perception.

Speaking of perception, the Yanks have announced that they are remodeling their 7 year-old stadium this winter. They're going to add what they call "Social Gathering Areas." They will even have a special  Children's Zone including a miniature baseball field and playground equipment. There will also be a new sports lounge and new drink rail locations. This will eliminate about 2100 seats, reducing the capacity from  49,500 to 47,400. Isn't it wonderful that the Yanks are willing to forego 2100 income-generating seats just for the enjoyment of their fans? Of course, 1100 seats of those eliminated are the bleacher obstructed view seats in the outfield, which are the only seats in the stadium that don't require a 2nd mortgage to purchase them. Another 600 seats are in the nose bleed section also in the outfield.
See? Perception.

Let's move to another sport. Which pro-football team has the highest average ticket? Is it the Dallas Cowboys, located in the heart of the "oil bidness?" No, but good guess. How about the NE Patriots, one or the most successful franchises in recent history? Nope, wrong again. The Steelers? The Packers? Sorry, all wrong. It's...wait for it...the New York Giants. Their average ticket is $123, $40 more than the 2nd highest.   You must also buy a "license" to reserve your season ticket seat, $30 for parking and the $15 for a hotdog & beer and you can see how a family of four could easily blow over $600 to take in a game. And as an added bonus, you get to go to New Jersey.  No. wait...
Annie-O and I spent less than $25 for all that watching the Lincoln, Nebraska, Salt Dogs play a doubleheader...from the front row by the dugout.

Congratulations to the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs for getting to the World Series. I haven't been able to watch the complete games. That drum in center field is giving me a headache.
I understand how the announcers are supposed to give us background on the players to make the event more personal, but do they have to repeat those items so many times? They also tell you how each player has fared during the playoffs: He's 1 for 9 with no RBIs, or so-and-so has four hits in the postseason. Then they'll tell you about small sample sizes that mean the numbers are not reliable. Then why bother with them? A guy will ultimately perform up to his season stats. Even if he's slumping the potential is obvious. Give us those numbers.

Finally, I get a kick out of the different styles of baseball uniforms, from the classy Yankee pinstripes to the old Chicago White Sox Bermuda shorts to the San Diego Padres' camouflage uniforms. I don't think I'll ever get used to the ski-mask accessory. Some of those players could have been escaped cons for all we know. Some of them hit like it.

From Brad Dickson's Bottom Ten:

2. Buffalo (1-6)

The Bulls lost to Northern Illinois 44-7 in a game played in front of no fans because of an influenza outbreak — wait, there was no influenza outbreak, that’s just how many people turned out.

6. Kansas (1-6)

Before the loss to Oklahoma State, the Cowboys’ mascot gave the Jayhawks until sundown to get out of town, and the team quickly complied.

7. Rice (1-6)

The Owls get their first win of the season over FCS foe Prairie View, which to me sounds like a retirement home.

10. New Mexico State (2-5)

The Aggies’ remaining games listed as “If necessary.”

***THEY SAID IT***
"I must admit I've had trouble rooting for some players on the 2016 Toronto Blue Jays. In fact, right now I'm typing only with my middle fingers."  -- RJ Currie
"Besides the obvious Skittles at Marshawn Lynch’s house, here’s some other can’t-miss stops on your trick-or-treating rounds this year:

• At Ryan Fitzpatrick’s: Butterfingers

• At Rex Ryan’s: Snickers

• At Tim Tebow’s: Life Savers

• At Eli Manning’s: Nerds

• At Ryan Lochte’s: Whoppers

--Dwight Perry

" I firmly believe Purdue has the best mascot that looks like a nuclear experiment gone wrong in all of college football."  -- Brad Dickson
" The NY Giants have released kicker Josh Brown, saying that “Our beliefs, our judgments and our decisions were misguided.” Translation, we never believed those documents would be made public."  -- Janice Hough
"Why NFL TV ratings are down 11 percent. Oh, I don’t know. How about how annoying it is to watch a ton of commercials followed by live features that are introduced as ‘The GEICO halftime update brought to you by Aflac’?"  -- Alex Kaseberg
"I do miss running into an outfield wall. I don’t miss what comes after running into an outfield wall."  -- Ken Griffey, Jr, on his playing career
" World Series tickets for games at Wrigley Field are going for as much as $6,000. Which isn’t that unreasonable, given that fans have had 108 years to save their money for it."  -- Jim Barach
"A petition is being circulated urging Fox to replace broadcaster Joe Buck with Bob Uecker for the World Series: “They had me at ‘replace Joe Buck.’"  -- Janice Hough

 "In answer to a question by Charlie Rose, Tiger Woods said he believes he can win more than 18 majors. I have a question: What colour is the sky in Tiger's world?"  -- RJ Currie

 CP-