More Than Redemption

When the Yankees went down 0-8 to the Red Sox in the beginning of the season, no one would've ever guessed that they would end up splitting the season series. But if you look at the two teams' records, it was meant to happen. One team never really dominates the other in the big picture. Throughout history, the 2 clubs have had amazingly close records, which is why they're considered the greatest rivalry in all sports.

Game 1 on Friday was a nice comeback for Joba, who has been shaky of late. He got his 9th win and only gave up 3 runs... not great, but average. I don't know if that wins him a post season spot or not. Beyond CC, AJ & Pettitte, there really isn't anyone else, so he still has a good chance. The offense gave Joba a lot of run support with classic small ball. They ran on the Sox every time, stealing 7 bases!

Game 2 was a great team pitching performance as CC, Hughes & Rivera combined for a 2-hitter! The no-hitter ended in the 5th, but no one should really start paying attention until the 7th anyway. Damon got the game winning RBI in the 8th when he got a 2-run single of former Met, Billy Wagner.

Game 3 was another close game as the Yankees completed the sweep, obtained their 100th win and secure the best record in baseball and homefield advantage throughout the post-season with a 4-2 victory. This is the way it should be! Last year was such a bust when they got eliminated! Now they just need to staty on target and get past the "1st round curse." There have been several years where the Yankee finished strong and flopped in the first round... even when they had the so-called Murderer's Row! They've been eliminated from the playoffs when they had the 2nd best record in baseball as well. So getting in is just the first step... to get back to where they were 2 years ago. Now they need to go back to being the 2000 Yankees.

Friday Night Fights

Tech Deals of the Week (9/27-10/3)

Flash Sales
- 8 GB SanDisk @ BB for $24.99
- 4 GB Ativa @ OD for $7.99

Sony Blu-ray Player @ BB for $199.99
Remember not too long ago when these things were $500 and up? Prices dropped rapidly over the past year and are even lower now because of the lower PS3 prices. The PS3, which is one of the best Blu-ray players is just $299, so any non-gaming player must fall below that price.

Targus 15.4" Laptop Bag @ BB for $19.99
This is advertised as a sleeve, but one of my friends has this model and it's a lot more protective than a sleeve. It's nice and thin, but has just as much padding as a full bag. It's great for those new thinner laptops.

Gigaware Wireless Desktop @ RS for $29.99
This is a good basic model. It's sale price is the same as the basic Logitech one (@ OD this week), but this set both looks better and is more responsive.

Rosewill 802.11n Router @ NE for $29.99
This beats any wireless N model out there. The DLink one goes on sale often for $39.99. This beats it by $10 and there's no tax or shipping. It works well too. I have this one and don't have trouble connecting any devices. [click here]

Friday Night Fights Results

Last night's Friday Night Fights featured 10 muay thai matches with just 4 boxing "breaks," so it felt like and all-muay thai event. Here are the results...

Muay Thai
- Jeff Ciervo def Andy Hillstad (dec. - 3rd rd.)
- James Mahoney def Lou Gonzalez (dec. - 3rd rd.)
- Dwight Grant def Joshua Kasubaski (TKO - 2nd rd.)
- Andy Singh def Andrew Moy (dec. - 5th rd.)
- Dan Corchado def Etienne Stadwick (KO - 3rd rd.)
- Chris Kwiatkowski def Daryl Marin (TKO - 2nd rd.)
- Tim Amorim def Brandon Mickens (dec. - 5th rd.)
- Eric Utsch def Sascha Hijazi (dec. - 5th rd.)
- Sean Hinds def Doug Edwards (TKO - 3rd rd.)
- Justin Greskiewicz def Marc DeLuca (KO - 3rd rd.)

Boxing
- Peter Dobson def Justin Walker (dec. - 3rd rd.)
- Dave Thompson def Joel Shogreen (dec. - 3rd rd.)
- James Clark def Kevin McCormack (dec. - 3rd rd.)
- Angel Garcia def Tyrone Luckey (dec. - 3rd rd.)

Pictures and analysis coming soon!

October Baseball

It wasn't pretty, but the Yankees got past their toughest test... their arch nemesis, Angels. The dropped the first game despite an OK pitching performance from Pettitte. The offense only produced 2 runs off 7 hits. The 2nd game was close... one that would normally have been expected to be a loss. They had a 5-0 lead that quickly dwindled. Since it was against the team that has given them the most problems, it looked like they were on their way to a loss, but Gardner's speed and A-Rod's sac fly got the job done in the end. With the Texas loss, the Yankees actually clinched a playoff berth before their victory. But homefield advantage in the ALCS is still important, so the win against the Angels was a major turning point. A loss would've put them in a position to get swept and look bad going into the Boston series. The Yankees toughed out another win in the 3rd game, 3-2. So they'll go into Boston with a lot of confidence. They can't take their rivals lightly though because many of their players started coming back from injury and their starting rotation is a lot stronger than at the beginning of the season.

Don't Touch it Yet!

Earlier in the month, Apple updated all of their iPods. The weirdest thing about the whole update was the imbalance of features that went into the devices. The Nano got heavily upgraded with a video camera, FM radio, larger screen, microphone, speaker and pedometer. That made it a solid multi-functional device. The Touch got capacity upgrades as well as faster processor (which is everything it bragged), but it had none of the additional features that were added to the lower Nano model... most notably the camera, which would have sealed the deal for many potential buyers. The excuse was... Apple claimed everyone was using the Touch as a gaming device. The truth, which was uncovered bit by bit was that Apple ran into problems adding the camera to the Touch. There were several store ads floating around that printed "video camera" as one of the Touch features before the 9/9/9 launch date. It's highly expected that Apple is trying to correct the problem and will do another "soft" release shortly. So don't be one of those who rushes in a buys an Apple product only to feel screwed over a month later. Hold off on the Touch if that's the model you're looking at. If you were waiting for the Nano or Shuffle, go for them. Those 2 are excellent devices right now.

Making an Example

Today, Plaxico Burress, NY Giants player was sentenced to 2 years in jail for possession of a Glock and for accidentally shooting himself with it. What he did was absolutely wrong and he should be fined heavily for it, but a 2-year sentence is harsh. Burress, other than the bad decision is actually a clean cut good guy. And he shot HIMSELF... not someone else and with no intent of violence. Supposedly he got the sentence because an example needed to be made. I think that's the wrong reason because it means they're basing the decision on prevention of future incidents instead of the severity of what he did. I wouldn't be opposed to this if the law was a little more consistent in this country. I believe that if someone else did the same thing, the sentence would be lighter. 2-years is a lot heavier than what some violent criminals get. I wouldn't even classify Burress as a criminal. He's just a regular guy that made a mistake and got himself hurt in the process.

One argument is that Burress is a rich athlete and there should be no free passes for sports people and celebrities. This is true, but they also deserve to be judged fairly for their actions. Maybe fines should be a percentage of income rather than a fixed price. That would keep stars from thinking their above everyone else.

Making it Close

After tonight's game, the Yankees lost the series to Seattle 2-1. Seattle's not a good team, but the Yankees have always had trouble with them. I guess it's just they way they were built. By losing this series, they let Boston creep within 5 games. The series just get tougher with LA & Boston coming up. They have to at least break even in both series and then win the closer against KC (the bottom of the AL). They can't let a once 9 game lead come too close.

The first game on Friday was a shocker with Mariano Rivera blowing his first save on the longest time. At least it was to a worthy opponent. Ichiro slapped a homer to right for the walkoff. He's just like Jeter... he'll find a way to beat you. And like Jeter, he isn't known for homerun power, but can pull one out when most needed. I think players like Ichiro & Jeter are more feared than the power hitters because they can beat you in so many ways. A power hitter has one plan and a pitcher can work around it. Game 2 was another great pitching performance by CC Sabathia, backed up by Teixiera's RBI's and near-cycle. He needed a double in the 9th to complete it, but hit a homer instead. The dugout let him have it! Game 3 was a terrible pitching performance by Joba as he gave up 7 in the 7th inning. The most painful thing about this one was all the runs came with outs. That was pretty much the game right there.

Subway Tales: Littering Conductor

I sat down at a train that had an empty orange juice carton across from me... not a small drink... a half gallon box! First of all, someone must've been thirsty! How did I know it was empty? The conductor walked and an roller her eyes as she saw the obvious juice box right out in the open. She walked through the doors into the next car. Then she came back in a few minutes and kicked around the box. I thought she was going to kick it into the conductor area so she could dispose of it later. Instead, she opened the door and kicked it down to the tracks as she moved into the next car! That was surprising to see a conductor do. Kick it onto the tracks where it can start a fire. Real smart!

Audio Controls

One would think that everyone is computer literate these days in a typical office setting. But you can get an idea of who doesn't know the basics by the system sounds that go off around you. It's surprising how many people don't know how to mute their computers. The older systems had external speakers, so people would just turn the speakers off. The new ones have internal speakers though, so people have no idea how to switch them off. I hear the same systems going off all the time. The system sounds don't really bother me as much just because they're so common. The annoying thing is when these people do some personal surfing and hit intrusive ads... like that emoticon one that keeps saying "hellloooooooo" loudly. I'm in favor of us shutting off the audio before we give people computers, but was overruled because some departments actually need the sound for development.

State of the Yankees

Now that the US Open is over, I can concentrate on baseball as the season starts to wind down. The Yankees still have a 6.5 game lead on the Red Sox, but it's by no means a sure thing. The Sox have been playing better of late, winning their last 6, while the Yankees have been up and down. They actually lost a series to Baltimore, won a 1-game make up against Anaheim and then lost last night to Toronto. The Red Sox also have a solid pitching rotation while the Yankees are still experimenting. CC & Andy have been the most consistent. AJ has been off. They're still messing around with Joba and his ever-changing set of rules. Mitre had one good game and they don't really have a 5th guy yet. The only good thing is the bullpen where everyone but Bruney is solid.

The next couple of weeks are not only critical, but will also be tough. They have Seattle, Anaheim and Boston coming up... all teams that play well against them.

US Open Finals

Women's
It sucks when there's a rain delay in one of these tournaments because they always schedule the Women's Final for Saturday night and Men's for Sunday morning. So there's no room in the weekend for delays. Everything gets pushed to Monday. So I wasn't able to watch the Wozniacki/Clijsters Final. Clijsters won 7-5, 6-3. I kind of thought she'd win it. Both players had unbelievable runs, but Clijsters had a lot more experience. And by the way she played all tournament long, the fact that she took 2 years off because she had a baby did not come into play. She obviously trained hard and it showed... a a great US Open story!

Men's
The Men's Final was more exciting than I thought it would be. True... del Potro has given Federer trouble in the past, but I thought Roger would have him figured out in this one. Del Potro came in with great confidence thought, after defeating Nadal the day before. Federer came out and got a quick lead in the first set. The 2nd was close and could likely be considered the turning point of the match. Federer had several good chances to got up 2 sets to none, which would've changed the dynamics of the whole match. But there was a close play on the line that Hawk-eye rules in for del Potro. The camera angle I saw clearly showed it was out. I guess that's where a computer isn't perfect. Hawk-eye calculates the compression of the ball on the bounce based on speed and angle. Del Potro forced and won a tiebreak. Federer won the 3rd set convincingly, again shifting things around, but del Potro won another tiebreak in the 4th. Federer just made too many unforced errors and double faults to pull this one off. He was always playing from behind in the last set and really dug himself a hole. Congrats to 20 year old Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina!

US Open Semis

Women's
Only the Williams/Clijsters match was televised because they had to play Wozniacki/Wickmayer at the same time due to the weather delays. Both matches were lopsided, straight set victories with Clijsters & Wozniacki on top. But it was the televised match that was more interesting because of the way it was won on match point. Serena was called for a foot fault, which replays showed was not true. She was already frustrated by Clijster's great play, so she went ballistics on the line judge, threatening to shove the racket down her throat. The chair ump then asked the lineswoman what Serena said. She said that Serena was going to kill her. I think that was fair enough... I'm pretty sure she wouldn't survive having a racket stuffed down her throat! Anyway, this prompted the big shots to come out and evaluate to situation. They awarded a point to Clijsters... which happened to be match point. Clijsters was in shock as Serena walked up and congratulated her... not the way she wanted it to end. Serena was fined the next day... well-deserved as no tennis player should act that way. It made things worse that it was in the US Open... her own country acting as the host. On the other hand, the lineswoman should also get penalized for the bad call at a critical point in the match.

Men's
It looks like we'll have to wait another year for a Federer/Nadal US Open. Nadal hasn't had a lot of success in this slam and a lot of it has to do with bad luck. In the early rounds, he's gotten better each year, but this time around, the injuries started creeping in. He had a strained abdomen. While he was able to fight past it against Gonzalez, he really needed to be 100% to play the improved Juan Martin del Potro. Del Potro is a long, fast player. For Nadal to beat him, he needs to stretch and use his flexibility. Federer had a close semi against Djokovic, but it was one of those matches that really wasn't close if you watched it. Federer was in control the whole time, again, slamming aces whenever he needed to. When I write that, I'm not saying Federer tanks it. It's just that he's one of those players that inexplicably gets better as pressure mounts. The point before the match point was the highlight as Federer was beating on a rally, but chased it down and slammed it back between the legs. It was an awesome move. Many of the commentators got too excited though acting as if they had never seen it before. Agassi has pulled that one off several times.

Nadal vs Gonzalez

I kind of lost track of the days because of all the rain. It's funny that the US Open is more affected than Wimbledon this time around. Nadal's match actually started on Thursday night. Nadal won a close first set after a tiebreak. The second set was interrupted by rain towards the beginning of another tiebreak when the ref saw Gonzalez checking the slipperiness of the line. I kept checking all night to see if it would continue. Then it was announced that they would shoot for 12pm on Friday. That got pushed to 2... then 4... and then eventually to 12pm today! The rain held up and it actually happened!

Though Nadal must've been frustrated by the stoppage (because he was getting into rhythm), the rain seemed to work more in his favor. He won the tiebreak and then shut Gonzalez down in the 3rd set 6-0. Gonzalez just had no answer. It seemed like he showed up just to lose.

Players Win Games

Last night was an amazing night in sports with Jeter getting his 2,722nd hit to become the all-time hits leader in Yankees history. It the same time, Michael Jordan was being inducted into the Hall of Fame. I had to keep flipping the channels to catch my to favorite players making history. Jeter struck out in the first inning and then Jordan's speech started at about the same time. Towards the end of Jordan's speech, Jeter got the bit hit.

It was great to see Jordan again and have him tall about the Bulls years. What was also great was he got up there and ripped Reinsdorf and Krause... totally deserved. He's been very PC in interviews before, but in his book he was honest about how he felt. It's obvious to every Bulls fan that they would have had 8-10 championships if the team stayed intact and if they kept Jordan happy. He would've never retired for baseball, racked up the 2 additional championships in the middle. And it was well known that he wasn't physically ready to retire in 1998. They would've had 2 more championships after that. So last night, Jordan got up on stage and stressed that organizations put teams together, but players win the championships. Here's the excerpt...

"Jerry's not here. I don't know who'd invite him. I didn't. I hope he understands it goes a long way. He's a very competitive person. I was a very competitive person. He said organizations win championships. I said, 'I didn't see organizations playing with the flu in Utah. I didn't see it playing with a bad ankle.'Granted, I think organizations put together teams. But at the end of the day, the team's got to go out and play. I think the players win the championship, and the organization has something to do with it, don't get me wrong. But don't try to put the organization above the players."
- Michael Jordan (9/11/2009, Hall of Fame Induction)

Just look a the Bulls now. Reinsdorf is still a cheap ass and he broke apart any Bulls team that had potential... Elton Brand's Bulls, Jamal Crawford, Eddy Curry (he was good when he was on the Bulls), Ben Wallace and now Ben Gordon. Without a Jordan there to fight off the dumb decisions, management just has the freewill to trade away their best players and stop Chicago from ever winning a championship. I wish Jordan somehow ended up in the Bulls front office. He would've respected Gordon a lot more.

2722

Two nights ago, Derek Jeter broke out of a small slump to tie Lou Gherig for all time hits in Yankees history as the Yankees completed a 4-game sweep of the Rays. Just a few minutes ago, he became the sole owner of that record as he ripped a single down the right field line. The crowd gave him a nice 2-minute ovation. What a year he's having! Gherig's record was 72 years old and now Jeter is the greatest hitter in Yankees history!

This is just another year where he's earned the MVP... will they vote him in though? If this was gym class and I had first pick of every player in the MLB, I would choose Jeter without hesitation. He's a leader. He can win games with a homer, a blooper or a spectacular defensive play. I'd pick him during any year of his career. The voters have to get it right this year.

Walking and Texting

I'm against walking and texting as you know and ran into a perfect example today. I was on the down elevator at the end of the day. This guy, who came from a higher floor was texting on his phone. He walked out onto my floor (20), thinking he was on the ground level already. We both walked in. The elevator stopped on the next floor... 19. He walked out yet again. We were 19 floors from the bottom. How could we possibly be at 1 that quickly!?

People like to think they can multitask, but when they're texting, they don't realize the performance handicap to the other activity they're trying to do. I see it all the time on the streets. People whip out the phone and start texting... their speed drops. They start walking into the middle of the sidewalk, blocking other people from passing. Some idiots shutdown their attention to red lights even!

US Open Day 10

In the battle of the teens, experience won out last night as Caroline Wozniacki easily defeated Melanie Oudin 6-2, 6-2. I don't think Oudin ran out of gas or anything. She actually had more rest than her opponent. I just think Wozniacki came in very prepared, already knowing what Oudin did to her other opponents who may have taken her too lightly.

Federer and Soderling, facing for the 3rd time this year in a slam was an exciting match. I can't call it a rivalry because Soderling hasn't won anything yet, but he is putting on a great show. In last night's match, Federer came out strong and handed Soderling a quick goose egg in the opening set. Soderling showed some life in the 2nd, but still lost 6-3. Then it got interesting. In the 3rd set, Soderling won a close one 7-6. His serve was strong and he was hitting hard. More of the same came in the 4th set, but Federer just got better as the pressure built up. Whenever he got behind, he would just pull out 2 aces in a row. That's why he's the greatest of all time!

US Open Day 9

Andy Murray can't seem to get over the hump as he was eliminated yesterday by Marin Cilic, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2. Murray seems to be one of those players with all of the tools to be great, but has always been beaten in the early to middle rounds. The other tall guy, Gael Monfils was in the same boat. He was playing great tennis in the US Open so far... through a close opening set against Nadal. Then Nadal jusr won the next 3 easily to move on. The final score was 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 in favor of Nadal. Gonzalez and del Potro also won their matches.

For the women, Serena won easily again... 6-4, 6-3 against Flavia Pennetta. Kim Clijsters defeated Li Na. Both players were having good runs at the US Open. Li Na seems to be improving a lot. Clijsters hasn't lost a thing in her 2-year absence.

Apple Keynote

After a long absence, the Apple keynotes and Steve Jobs came back today. Jobs looked thin, but healthy after a liver transplant. He's back to work in the Apple office, which is good news for everyone. Going into the event, rumors indicated that we would see iPods equipped with cameras and a capacity upgrade (as always). The long rumored tablet/netbook was rumored not to be coming out quite yet. It's inevitable though. We all know Apple already purchased a bulk order of netbook sized LCDs from Taiwan. I'm going to concentrate on the hardware because that's what I think is the exciting thing about these events. Software is nice, but in the days of auto updates, I just don't think it's worth making an event out of.

Shuffle
Going in order of size, I'll start with the Shuffle. It didn't get a huge change. There are new colors available (pink, green, blue and exclusive stainless steel). The capacity is 2 or 4 GB... same. Price points are also the same... $59 & $79. The stainless steel is a ridiculous $99. The biggest upgrade for the shuffle is that it will include a 3rd party headphone with a built-in control pad. In my opinion, there's nothing about the Shuffle that's worth spending money on. For less than double the price, you can get more than double the power in the lowest Nano. That leads me to the next model up...

Nano
The Nano was the star of the show as it received the most drastic changes. It got the rumored video camera, FM radio, larger screen, microphone, speaker and pedometer. It's $149 for the 8 GB model and $179 for the 16 GB version. Both items are great buys. The camera is the biggest feature because no other MP3 player has it. It's about time Apple was the first to something. The other features were just catchup... features other MP3 players were offering for years.

Touch
Oddly enough, the larger Touch did not get all of the same features as the Nano. It seems like Apple is turning it into a gaming device as it got larger capacity and processing speed. The price points don't work out mathematically... the lowest model is an 8 GB for $199. That's more than the Nano with a lot less features! Then it jumps to 32 GB for $299... just $100 more. And then 64 GB for $399... the best buy of the three. The 32 & 64 GB models have the Open GL speed improvement (+50% claimed).

Classic
The classic stayed the same price ($249) and just got a hard drive upgrade from 120 to 160 GB. This model just isn't worth it any more. It's the most delicate one and doesn't have the multiple features of the others.

Back 2 School

Yesterday, Obama gave his "controversial" back-to-school speech. The criticism is that he was trying to impose his politics to the younger generation with the intention of brainwashing them to oppose their parents, which sounds very Mao-like. That's absolutely ridiculous. Education in this country is lacking. Exchange students come in all the time and blow away the American students in their own country... sometimes even their own language. Obama's speech was inspirational and it was very important for kids around the country hear him speak to them. It's just another example of him reaching out to regular people and making them feel comfortable with him. He's showing that he cares about everyone and wants everyone to feel that they have his support.

Click here for the full transcript.

If you read or heard it, you can see that there's no politics in it at all. If parents are so insecure to think Obama is brainwashing them and that their kids will turn on them... the problem here isn't the President.

Maria - Lunch @ ESPN

This is old, but I don't think I posted it yet:


I just thought the page could use some brightening up after so many text-only posts. I love how she puts ketchup on her burger.

US Open Day 8

Federer and Soderling both won and will face each other in the quarters. So Soderling has really established himself as a top player. He continues to make it deep into the slams. Unfortunately, he's lost to Federer each time so far. Maybe he's picked something up the last two times. We'll see how he adjusts, although the most likely outcome is another Federer win. Djokovic had an easy win over Stepanek 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.

The kids prevailed on the women's side. Melanie Oudin downed another top Russian in Nadia Petrova. It looked like it was going to be an easy one for Petrova as she took a 6-1 win in the first set. The second set was close, but Petrova had too many unforced errors. Oudin was just on a roll in the final. At night, 19 year old Caroline Wozniacki defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(3). Like Oudin's match, Kuznetsova looked like she would have a clear win after the first set. Both the 2nd & 3rd sets were close and could've gone either way. With that loss, Kuznetsova was the last Russian in the tournament. This will be the first tournament of the last 28 with no Russian in the quarters... amazing streak!

Split w/ the Jays

The 4-game series against the Blue Jays ended in a split yesterday. Thursday game was a nice offensive output as they won 10-5. Posada's homer gave the Yankees a franchise record of 7 players with 20 or more homers. There's a chance Jeter could become #8 if he hits 3 more. Michael was joking about that and said Jeter would probably laugh it off if asked about it. Records are fun, but the wins are more important. Jeter's going to play his game. If it comes, it comes. If not, the Yankees will still be in the playoffs.

Game 2 was all Toronto as Roy Halladay pitched 1-hit ball to win 6-0. Oddly enough, Ramiro Pena of all players was the only Yankee hit.

Game 3 wasn't another shutdown performance by Andy Pettitte, but still solid as they won 6-4. Hughes came in for the save and did a great job as Mariano was still out with an injured groin. Pettitte of course was hard on himself, calling it a struggle, but it was the type of game that he grinded it out and won. Not bad at all for a struggle!

Game 4 was a 14-8 rout, but it's the kind of year where you never know. I watched through the end thinking they were going to come back! I'm expecting every game to be a walkoff classic whenever they're down. Too bad it didn't work out this time! At least Jeter went 3-3 to come within 3 hits of Lou Gehrig's franchise record of 2,721 hits.

US Open Day 7

Taylor Dent didn't have the same kind of luck against the much better Andy Murray as he lost 6-3, 6-2, 6-2. Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. It was a more dominating match than the score indicates. Almagro really worked hard for his points while Nadal breezed through his. Ferrero, del Potro and Monfils also won theirs.

Serena Williams defeated Daniela Hantuchova easily 6-2, 6-0. Kim Clijsters defeated Venus Williams in a close match. Clijsters shutout Venus in the first set. Venus then returned the favor. The 3rd was close, but Clijsters was just a couple of steps ahead. Though she won't admit it, it looked as if her knee was finally giving in. She had trouble switching directions and getting to balls she would normally send back. The Williams sisters did win their double match, so that tournament is still alive.

Tech Deals of the Week (9/6-9/12)

Flash Sales
- 8 GB SanDisk @ BB for $19.99
- 16 GB SanDisk @ BB for $39.99
- 8 GB HP @ ST for $17.99
- 16 GB HP @ ST for $34.99

DVD Media Sales
It's rare to see good DVD prices in 2 stores at the same time. Hopefully this is a sign of a permanent price drop.
- 25 pack Gigaware DVD+R for $4.99
- 25 pack Memorex @ ST for $4.98

Gigaware Webcams (2) @ RS for $30
This is a perfect set for that out-of-town family member you want to keep in touch with. You can't go wrong for a webcam/mic set for $15 each.

Motorola H375 Bluetooth @ TG for $19.99
This is as low as it gets not including Black Friday for a good Bluetooth headset. The H375 is both clear to use and comfortable to wear.

US Open Day 6

The matches were fun to watch, but I wasn't happy with yesterday's results:

Melanie Oudin defeated Maria Sharapova. I know... I should be routing for the American, but I really wanted Maria to win. She looked good in this tournament... probably the most consistent she's been since her injuries. So I really wanted her to be in top form. It looked like she would have an easy time after the first set. She was able to change pace at will and the less experienced Oudin just couldn't adjust fast enough. In the second set, Maria's evil twin showed up as she double faulted too many times. I seriously think Sharapova's weakness is all in her head. When she's not overthinking, she's the best women's player out there... yes... better than the Willams sister! As I've said before, she needs hypnotic treatment!

Andt Roddick also lost his match against 55th seed John Isner. Roddick played the match of his life in the Wimbledon loss and he looks like he's in better shape for each tournament. So I really wanted him to have another shot at a Grand Slam. This one was close all the way througout. Roddick saved a match point, but didn't have enough magic to comeback in the 5th set.

Federer and Djokovic also won their matches, but it took them both 4 sets. It doesn't look like there's an invincible player in this tournament. Everyone has had their struggles. Soderling continues to win. He's worthy of being considered a contender now. The French & Wimbledon were no flukes. The Williams sisters won their doubles match in straights.

US Open Day 5

It was an exciting Friday at the US Open, highlighted by the close match between Taylor Dent and Ivan Navarro. It was a 4-hour match that went 5 sets with a tiebreak at the end. Dent was greeted with cheers as he won the epic marathon on his home soil. Dent is making a comeback from back surgery and gave it his all to get back into game shape. Nadal then came on to play Kiefer, which turned out to be somewhat of a marathon too... 4 sets and 3 hours. He had an easy time in the first set, but then it looked like Kiefer figured him out in the second. But Nadal stepped it up to win the next 2 and the game. From what I saw, he looks fully recovered.

Both Williams sister won in straight sets. Venus looked pretty good although the knee was still wrapped. Keep in mind that they're both also competing in the double tournament. They have reason to stick with it too as they already won Roland Garros & Wimbledon this year. I'm amazed whenever I hear that they enter both... and win both!

US Open Day 4

Djokovic, Roddick, Haas and Davydenko breezed through their 2nd round matches, but no match went faster than Robin Soderling's 1st set 2-0 victory over Marcel Granollers who withdrew. Blake is still in it as well. Yesterday's news from the US point of view was all around Melanie Oudin, the 17 year old, 70th seed who defeated 4th seeded Elena Dementieva straight up 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. There was no injury involved and both players were on target. Dementieva gave full credit to the potential rising star. Oudin, though at #70 is actually the 3rd best American in the tournament. Serena is #2 and Venus is #3. Then there's a huge gap with no Americans until you get to #70! Maybe this is Oudin's breakthrough game into stardom.

Safina survived another 3-setter... setting up more criticism. Sharapova was on target. She'll need to keep that mindset as she will face Oudin tomorrow. Jankovic was upset by Shvedova.

US Open Day 3

More 1st round formalities... Nadal, del Potro, Monfils, Ferrer and Ferrero all advanced fairly easily as they should. Federer and Hewitt each won their 2nd round matches in straight sets. For the women, both Williams sister won. Venus, who struggled in her first match looked in top shape despite the wrapped up knee.

"I'm still playing well and I feel I'll continue to play better as the rounds go on. I'm trying not to make this injury a factor at all."
-Venus Williams

That was spoken by a true athlete. Jordan once said that whenever he shows up on the court he's 100%... no excuses. He backed it up every day with his performance. Venus is going to play through it and play at 100%. She's not backing down from this or the doubles tournament.

Nadal looks fully recovered. He was moving very quickly and made short work of Gasquet 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. It would be some story if he makes it to the finals. Pretty much everything is against him this time. He's coming back from a long absence. Federer is burning with confidence as he won the last 2 Slams. Nadal has never really done as well in the US Open... We have yet to see Federer vs. Nadal here.

Sword of Azrael: 200908

Oh yeah... there's more from July! Here are a few shorts:

Slave Pit
- Bernie Madoff is already in the slave pit, but someone cane this guy every once in a while. He claimed he had cancer probably so he could get pampered and get sympathy.
- Manager Jerry Manuel has done a piss poor job with this team. The Mets should send Willie Randolph an engraved apology and beg him to come back and restore some honor to this laughing stock.

Excommunication
- Gov. Paterson for playing the race card. If you made it to Governor and suddenly people don't approve of you any more, it means you did a crappy job. It has nothing to do with your race.
- The air traffic controller who was multi-tasking a personal call on his cellphone could not have been giving 100% to his job at the time. It likely caused 9 deaths. Since there's some evidence that it wouldn't have made a difference, I didn't place this under Slave Pit.

O... Another Sweep!

The Yankees wrapped up another sweep with a win tonight. The Sox lost to the Rays, so we finally gained another game over them. As well as the Yankees have been playing, the Red Sox have been keeping up with an identical record after their 4-game sweep... until tonight.

Game 1
The Yankees ace at this point is Andy Pettitte. He's been the most consistent by far and was lights out again in game 1 as he toyed with a perfect game into the 7th inning. With 2 outs and 2 strikes, there was a Hairston error at 3rd and then a base hit right after. Often when a pitcher toys with a perfect game, he ends up losing that, the no-hitter and the shutout. Pettitte was able to finish the 7th and got out of the jam with still a shutout intact. He eventually lost it giving up a run in the 8th, but still a solid performance.

Game 2
Game 2 was a terribly pitched game. AJ Burnett's slump continued. He seemingly gave up hit after hit. But as bad as he was, the Orioles were worse. The Yankees slammed homer after homer and won the game 9-6. Cano, Swisher & Hinske went deep. Posada had a 2-homer night. This was the type of game they would lose last year, but this year, their offense is never out of the game. I like the variety of wins they've put up this year... walkoffs, pitcher's duels, blowouts, slugfests, etc.

Game 3
Speaking of blowouts... that's what tonight's game ended up being. It was close all throughout. The O's had the early lead in the first inning... 1-0. The Yankees tied it in the 3rd with a Hinske homer and it stayed that way for most of the game. In the 7th, A-Rod had a 2-run single. The O's scored one more in the 8th. The 9th inning just didn't end as the Yankees poured on 7 runs! Then Hughes came in to strike out the side!

Maria US Open 2009

US Open Day 2

Mostly Formalities
For the men, Murray, Djokovic, Tsonga, Gonzalez and Querry won. All were in straight sets. For the women, Safina, Dementieva, Jankovic, Kuznetsova, Sharapova and Peer won... also straight sets except Safina's match. She gave us a scare by dropping a close first set to 167th seed, Olivia Rogowska, but won 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. From her point of view, she was probably just a little rusty, but the annoying thing is everyone is questioning her skill because of the close match. She holds the #1 spot, but has been criticized because she doesn't have a Grand Slam under her belt. The #2, Serena has several and is expected to overtake her soon.

Shocker
Ana Ivanovic hasn't been 100% for quite some time. She was the #1 seed last year, but never really bounced back from a hand injury. Last year, she had an early exit in the 1st round of the US Open. It was worse this year as she lost in the first round yesterday 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7) to 52nd-ranked Kateryna Bondarenko.

Jay-Z is THE MAN

"You see, eventually your music will help put an end to war and poverty. It will align the planets and bring them into universal harmony. Allowing meaningful contact with all forms of life. From extra terrestrials to common household pets. And, it's excellent for dancing."
- Rufus (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures)

Could music really do something like that? If so, Jay-Z is on the right track. Just recently at a press conference, he announced a benefit concert at MSG for 9/11 to raise money for families who lost loved ones and to bring awareness to the younger generation. I don't listen to Jay-Z, but am amazed at the variety of people that do. Since I'm a big NBA fan, I really know him from his involvement with the Nets. I've watched a lot of Centerstage with Michael Kay and every athlete he interviews mentions Jay-Z as their favorite musician. His music truly bridges the gap between generations. As a part owner of the Nets and his involvement in relocating the franchise to Brooklyn, he's also a respected business man for the older crowd.

US Open Day 1

The defending champs, Federer and Serena Williams had their usual easy first matches. Roger defeated Devin Britton 6-1, 6-3, 7-5. Williams defeated Alexa Glatch 6-4, 6-1. Federer came into this tournament very confident having won both his home court of Wimbledon and a Nadal-less French Open. So much attention goes to Wimbledon, but he's also a master of the US Open.

Later, Monday evening, Venus survived a 1st round scare to defeat Vera Dushevina (who?) 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3. She was obviously injured and not playing her normal game, but she still fought back and won. Hopefully it's one of those 1-2 day knee injuries and not a long term one. I would like to see her make it deep into this tournament so she could even things out a bit more with her sister. Roddick had a late night match due to the long Williams one, but he had a quick straight set victory over Bjorn Phau, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2. From Roddick, I would love to see the guy that showed up at Wimbledon and at least make it to the semis.

"It's all part of it. Kind of the crazies that stay till 1 in the morning— there's something fun about that."
- Andy Roddick

Soderling has been doing well since he made a name for himself at this year's French. He's certainly one to keep an eye on. James Blake got past the first round w/ straight sets. The spotlight will be on him and his J-Block.

Office Lingo: Stakeholders

"Stakeholders" is another one of those terms that sounds more important than it really is. It refers to all parties involved in contributing to a decision. I've seen this term used on the smallest, most insignificant projects. Hearing people talk about it in the halls makes their conversation sound so important. Then later I'll find out it's a meeting to decide the title of a press release... or adding a page to the "about" section of one of our sites... worse yet... an intranet page!

I guess there is a positive to this. If terms like this make things feel more important, maybe the employees involved will do their jobs with more effort!