First Win!

The Bulls got their first win last night against the Central rival Pistons. It certainly didn't look like it was going to turn out OK after a 20 point deficit in the 2nd quarter. Ben Gordon was on fire and burning his old team in the first half. He didn't miss a shot as he went 10 for 10. The amazing comeback came from mostly the bench as they got off to a quick start in the 4th with a 19-4 run. Rose provided most of the overall offense, tying a career high 39. He also filled up his stat sheet pretty good with 6 rebs, 7 asts, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Noah had his usual double-double... 15 pts and 17 rebs. This game could've used a little more from Deng and Gibson though. They were lucky to have the bench on fire last night.

Detroit is not as bad as they were last year, so this was a respectable win. They added McGrady and Gordon is healthy. They still have Wallace, Prince and Hamilton from the championship days. In my opinion, they didn't win this game because Gordon played only 27 min. If he went 10-10 with 21 in just the first half, doesn't that earn him more minutes? As long as the Pistons misuse Gordon, they won't unlock their full potential.

The Answer

When James, Wade and Bosh assembled in Miami over the Summer, one of the questions was... can this team beat Orlando? While they had all the scoring power in the league with the big 3, there was still no center position to match up with Dwight Howard. Well, that was answered with last night's 96-70 victory. Wade led the way with 26pts. James had 15 pts, 6 rebs and 7 asts. It wasn't really a big night for anyone... just good teamwork. Dwight Howard was contained to 19 pts and they didn't get much else from anyone else... 4 from Carter? So the depth of the Magic team just didn't show last night. I don't expect them to be this bad each time, but the Heat made their statement with that game.

Manager... Check

Joe Ghirardi was resigned yesterday on a 3-year, $9 million contract with incentives up to $500,000. So one major component is all set and off the todo list. Ghirardi has been a good manager overall. The Yankees had the best record this season and continued to play OK through some tough injuries. They got their record with bad pitching too. Many of the pitching changes and juggling of various batters were tough gametime decisions. Ghirardi proved he could handle it with all of the come-from-behind victories this year. Also, we can look at this another way. Let's say the Yankees don't resign him. Who's left to go after? Anyone else they bring in can be a risk just because they don't know them as well. With Ghirardi, they know what they're going to get and the players already know the system. This years losses for the most part can't be blamed on the manager. Most of the time, pitchers fell behind early in the game or the bats fell asleep.

At least one item is crossed off the list. No more Chicago Cub rumors. Now on to Jeter & Mo...

RE: Subject Line

Today, I was searching for an old email someone was referencing from 2 years ago. Every search I ran was pulling up 0 results in Outlook. While Outlook's search isn't the greatest, it wasn't to blame in this case. I eventually found it the old fashioned way of looking through everything sent by that user. It turned out to be the typical case where a colleague got lazy with email and replied to an unrelated message just to get my email address. No one should ever do that because it throws things out of sync. The thread was a series of 15 messages by 5 people and then there's one message in there that doesn't even talk about the original subject. It's really not that hard to type someone's address or username in corporate email. All programs allow shortcuts so that you don't have to type everything. Yet some non-techies think you need to type out the whole address with domain. So they get lazy and just reply an existing message even though it's not related. This could be a future subject for corporate training... or new employee orientation!

Opening Night

The Bulls started their season last night against the Thunder without Boozer, who is on the injured list. It was a good game because the two teams were separated by no more than 5 points until the 4th quarter. The 2 teams were close in level last year... both had similar records and were 1st round playoff teams. Last night, Rose lead the team in scoring with a number of spectacular inside plays and reverse layups. Noah and Deng had double-doubles. That normally sounds like a winning formula, but the Bulls just didn't have enough offense to go through 4 quarters. This is a very different team than last year, with only 5 guys returning. The core from several years ago is gone except for Deng really. At this point in time, I don't think it's a better team than 2 years ago... the team that took the Celtics to 7 games.

In last night's game, Rose, Noah and Deng did what they were supposed to. Rose's minutes were limited due to foul trouble, but he still made an impact. I would've liked to see more minutes given to Korver. They need him to get hot because there's a scoring handicap with Boozer on the DL.

Overrated?

Overrated!? That was the chant in Boston last night as the powered up Miami Heat opened their season against the Boston Celtics. The Heat had a 9 point first quarter (beating a season low from last year) and just a 30 point 1st half. Still, they stayed in the game and made a threat in the 4th. While it's only the first game of the season, one would expect 3 of the best scorers to put together something better. The Celtics just had better teamwork. Remember, they are the blueprint team for what the Heat stringed together over the Summer, a union of star players that got together instead of playing against each other.

After that game, the Lakers defeated the Rockets. Yao Ming returned after a year off and will be on limited minutes until he eases back into full time. They're starting him off on 24 min. He started out slow offensively, but ended up with 9 pts, 11 rebs and 2 blocks... not bad for half a game. The Rockets still have some good role players, but I think they lack an additional superstar to contend with the rest of the West. They added Kevin Martin, who can potentially fill that role.

Rebuilding for 2011

The Yankees have a lot to address this Winter. I don't think this team is that far off from being a championship team, but the more important issue is all of the expiring contracts... Jeter, Rivera, Ghirardi, Pettitte and some of the short term guys.

The Captain
The news about Jeter has been around his off-year this year. People keep talking about his .270 batting average, whether or not he can play SS anymore. I think this year is a fluke. It's not a sign of him getting old because he was just one year younger last year. And yes... he can play SS. He's still the best at it. They Yankees infield is all gold glove and have given up the least # of errors in MLB. Jeter needs to come back at all costs. He's the face of the franchise and is a great leader. He's up there as one of the greatest Yankees of all time. The fans would never forgive the organization if he went and played for the Red Sox.

Bullpen
Rivera is 40 years old, but doesn't seem to be losing anything. He's still the best closer in the game, throws 90 mph and faces the toughest batters in the lineup with a 1.* ERA. Resigning him is a no-brainer. If the Yankees fall short on money, Kerry Wood might be the guy to go, although I think they should keep him as much as possible. They should also hold on to Joba despite the off year. Everyone else is expendable.

Pitching
Obviously, CC is still on contract. Unfortunately, so is Burnett. Pettitte is still a question mark as he decides year-by-year whether he's going to retire or not. He had an 11-2 season because of injury and ended with a strong ALCS performance. Those aren't signs of someone who should retire... but then again, Mike Mussina went out on a 2-win season, the best of his career. Many say Pettitte will return if the Yankees are able to sign Cliff Lee. Besides CC, Andy, Mo and Wood, the rest of the pitchers on the roster had bad years. Hughes had the record, but not the ERA. Some players took steps back this year, like AJ and Joba. Let's not forget Chan Ho Park in the first half! So it wasn't a surprise that coach, Dave Eiland was fired yesterday.

Catching
Posada is still on contract, but people keep bringing up what position he will play. I think he's still fine as catcher. There has been no one to hand the torch over. Cervelli is close, but doesn't have the offense and is not as experienced with the entire pitching staff. Like this year, he'll probably see limited minutes as catcher. Hopefully Cervelli can really improve soon though.

Manager
When the Yankees fail to get to the World Series, the immediate reaction is to fire the manager. Every move he makes gets second-guessed the next day... if he's wrong. People forget that the Yankees have the best record in the AL, despite the terrible bullpen and injuries to key players. So I think Ghirardi should come back as well. I believe in keeping the team together for the most part. Failing in the ALCS is no reason to start from scratch.

No 28

The Yankees' season ended over the weekend. They were able to force a Game 6 in Texas behind a solid start by CC last week. That was also the only game where the team was in control for 9 innings. The offense was what it was suppose to be all series long. Unfortunately, it didn't last for the return to Texas. Game 6 was another game where they fell behind and couldn't get runners in. Hughes was shaky, but getting out of trouble in the early innings. CC was available to come out of the pen, but Ghirardi likely left Hughes in too long and never got to the ace. What I don't get is if you're in a do-or-die situation, you should have everyone ready to go. The moment Hughes was in trouble, CC should've come in... or even Pettitte... or both. There was no tomorrow, but still, the Yankees went to their usual routine of the bullpen regulars.

But it wasn't game 7 that was the fatal error. I look back at Game 3 and wasting Pettite's great pitching performance to an almost guaranteed Lee win. If that had been Burnett's game, the Yankee's would surely have had another win under their belt. AJ would've lost Game 3, with a slight chance of winning. Pettitte would've had Game 4... and the Yankees won Game 5 already.

Anyway... it's basketball season now!

Subway Tales: Leaner

Like I said before... what they don't see behind them does not exist!

Apple Update

Lion
The new OS was expected and there's only one name left... Lion. That has to be the last OSX before 11. It's the king after all! The catch is it's going to be released in Summer of 2011 even though it was announced today. Lion, as expected will adopt a lot of iOS features that were introduced with the iPad. The dock will expand to a grid much like the iOS home screen. There's also going to be an app store for Mac. Facetime will go to the Mac right away... before Lion.

Macbook Air
They came out with the 11.6" version as rumors claimed and they also updated the 13.3" model. Price points are more reasonable this time. You're paying for portability like before, but this time you won't feel as ripped off. The 11.6" model starts at $999 and comes with a 1.4 Ghz Core 2 Duo, 2 GB RAM, 64 GB SSD & NVidia 320M. Another $200 and you get a 128 GB SSD. The 13.3" starts at $1299 for a 1.86 Ghz Core 2 Duo... all other specs are the same. $300 more gets you a 256 GB SSD. My recommended system would be the lower 13.3". SSDs are overpriced still, so there's no need to overspend for the 256 GB one. Instead, take the $1299 model and spend $100 for the 4 GB RAM option. You can even get the external DVD drive for $79. Another neat feature is the systems come with a flash drive for OS reinstallation... more manufacturers should do the same.

Burned

AJ Burnett almost proved me wrong last night as he started out strong and was on his way to winning a 3-2 ball game. But he couldn't go the distance as he gave up a 2-run homer in the 6th. The bullpen that was great in the first game gave up 2 more in relief (1 from Logan, 1 from Chamberlain). 5-2 was still manageable at the time, but the bullpen kept making the hole deeper. And the offense wasn't quite there except for Cano and Jeter. The Yankees were able to threaten, including a based loaded 8th, but couldn't hit with RISP. The Yankees, a strong home team couldn't pick up a game at Yankee Stadium and the Rangers, a weak road team has won all of its playoff away games.

So the Yankees are down 3-1 and the Phillies are also down 3-1. More than likely, we're going to see a pretty boring World Series between the Rangers and Giants!

Mac Rumors

There's an Apple event coming up tomorrow and a bunch of rumors floating around as usual. Here's a quick summary of some of the rumors and my take on tomorrow's release.

New OSX
This is due for an update, so there's likely going to be a major release. Apple has learned a lot from tweaking iPhone and iPad. So the new OSX will probably add some iOS components to it.

Air
The biggest rumor out there is likely the 11.6" Macbook Air. This move makes all the sense in the world... if there's a fat price drop to go along with it. The problem with the Air now is it's the same size as the Macbook Pro and not that much lighter. So taking 2 steps down to 11.6" really makes it a separate ultraportable platform. I don't expect a powerful processor though. If they couldn't get the Core i3 into the 13" Pro, there's no way it'll be in the Air. At most, it'll be an older Core 2 Duo.

7" iPad
This one has been in the new the past couple of week. It's already developed... actually it was at the same time as the 9" model in the market. I don't think this will be released tomorrow for 2 reasons. They haven't milked the 9" model to its fullest yet. And I know all the Apple nerds who bought the 9" would still buy a 7" one. The other reason is the other companies haven't released their 7" models. yet. Apple might study the reception first.

Verizon iPhone
This is all over the rumor sites and blogs too, but it won't be released tomorrow. This will be in 2011 or never.

HR Reviews

I'm watching Game 4 right now, but wanted to write about the 2nd inning homers immediately because the TBS announcers keep talking about the Cano one. Cano hit a solo into the front row in right field. They replayed it several times and the TBS announcers keep saying there was interference and that Nelson Cruz could've robbed it. There was NO WAY! The ball arced over Cruz's glove. It was clearly in the stands. A fan did touch Cruz's glove, but after the ball was already over. He had no chance of robbing it. So the umpires made the right call. It was a homer all the way.

Right after that, Lance Berkmann hit one down the right field line. It was initially ruled a homerun, but the umpires had to review it because it was so close to the pole. Video replays showed that it did go foul by inches. After a short break, the umpires made the right call.

We're in the top of the 5th and it's a 3-2 lead right now. Burnett's actually looking good so far.

Scrambled Rotation

It happened just as I said it would yesterday. Andy Pettitte pitched a good game... well enough to win against any pitcher except Cliff Lee. Pettitte just made 1 mistake in the 1st inning, giving up a 2-run homer. From then on, he was solid and did not give up a run through 7. Cliff Lee pitched another gem... just 2 hits through 8. So the way the Yankees setup their rotation cost them a game. Had Pettitte gone #2, they would've won game 2 and be up 2-0 entering last night's game. Last night's game should've gone to AJ Burnett. Since no one knows which Burnett shows up each night, it's best to take the chance of going up against Lee. Lee is almost a guaranteed win anyway. Then Hughes would go 4th unless the Yankees are losing the series.

Now, the Yankees are down 2-1 in a series they should really be leading, after the amazing comeback in Game 1. AJ Burnett is scheduled to pitch Game 4, but there's a chance Ghirardi might send out CC Sabathia on short rest and have Burnett come out of the pen in case of early trouble.

In the postseason thus far, Andy Pettite has pitched the best. CC has been shaky, but was able to work through his 2 outings. Hughes had one good game and one very bad one. Burnett is untested. The bullpen was great in game 1 , but sucked last night.

Weekend Sports Wrapup

ALCS
The Yankees came out of the weekend with a split. After they had that exciting comeback in CC's game, Phil Hughes blew his game early and the team couldn't recover from 5-0 deficit through 3 innings. I still think it was a successful weekend because any time you split while being away in the playoffs, it's a good thing. The Yankees erased the Rangers' homecourt advantage with the Game 1 win. I have to question the rotation order though. I feel like Game 2 should have been Andy Pettitte's game. That was the order they went in before. While Hughes had the strong ALDS start, he has not been as consistent as Pettitte during the season and during playoff baseball time. Based on that, I would have to think Hughes' ALDS start was a lucky one. Yesterday's loss kind of confirmed that. Now, Pettitte will be facing Ranger's ace, Cliff Lee tonight. Lee is almost a guarenteed win for the Ranger. So the smart thing to do is throw the wildcard, Burnett against him. Instead, the Yankees are sending their 2nd best (or best) against Lee, which could cost them an unnecessary loss.

Bulls Pre-Season
It's hard to tell what the pre-season record means for the regular season, but the Bulls aren't looking good overall. Boozer is injured and won't be able to play for a while. He's going to miss a few weeks at the beginning of the season. He's one of the major players in the team's strategy, so that kind of puts a question mark on how well this team can play. The good news is Rose and Deng have been playing well in each game. Rose has been consistent since entering the league, but Deng had a quiet season last year. I'd like to see him perform like he did 2-3 years ago.

JWP vs Yodsaenklai
John Wayne Parr and Yodsaenklai Fairtex squared off for the 3rd time over the weekend. Both guys entered in great shape. It's amazing how JWP keeps getting more fit as he gets older. Yod also looked more cut than usual. Both guys were coming off of tough losses. Parr had that very controversial loss to Preacher last month. Yod lost to the much weaker Artem Levin in a rematch. This weekend's fight was a close one, but JWP finally got the win on points.

Joe, Mo & Taco Bell

This commercial is pretty funny because they got the very serious Joe Ghirardi and Mariano Rivera for this funny commercial. Rivera plays his usual closer role to relieve a rookie from something he can't do!

Instant Classic

The Yankees went into last nights game after a nice long rest and were able to reset their rotation, while the Rangers went the full distance and couldn't send their ace, Cliff Lee up against CC Sabathia. So the Yankees were expected to win the game. If the Rangers took it, it would be a steal to have a lower pitcher in the rotation beat the Yankees' ace. Well... it almost happened. CC was out of control from the first inning as he quickly gave up 3 runs. But even with a bad start, he still kept his head in the game as he ended the first inning jam by making a diving tag on the runner heading home.

Wilson, the Rangers pitcher was lights out and probably pitched the best game of his career up to the 7th inning. He had a solid 5-0 lead and the Yankees couldn't put a rally together. Cano homered in the 7th, but that was it. Then the 8th inning opened with a hustle play by Gardner. He ran full speed as always on what should've been a ground out, but bad positioning by the defense and a last ditch slide got him on base. Jeter doubled to score Gardner. Then the bases were loaded on walks. A-Rod doubled 2 more runs in. The Yankees batted around and the Rangers depleted their bullpen. After the 8th, the Yankees were up 6-5 in an amazing rally. Texas completely collapsed. Their pitchers kept throwing meatballs and their outfielders couldn't field cleanly.

Kerry Wood walked the first batter at the top of the 8th, so the Rangers were set to start a rally. Then all of a sudden, Wood made a snap throw to first to pick off the runner. Instead, it was one out and Wood's mind was cleared and went for the attack. Rivera gave up a leadoff base hit in the 9th, but nothing came of that.

So the Rangers had their chance. They had CC beat with the lower end of their rotation and the still blew the game. Michael Kay said "the series is over" because of that. I agree.

Auto Shutdown

This morning, as I shutdown my home PC to go off to work, it started installing a windows update... 13 items. So it was going to take a while and it made me appreciate the auto shutdown feature. I just turned off the monitor and headed right out to work. I remember when Windows Update first started out. If it started installing, you had to wait for it... no auto shutdown. I remember one time at work, I got a call from my colleague Jack, telling me he was going to be late for work because his PC was stuck doing an update in the morning. He had to stay home and wait. The other alternatives were... force shutdown and risk OS damage or leave the computer on all day. Windows Update has come a long way!

Subway Sandwich

Nope... not that kind! This is what you get when there are 2 backpackers opposite each other...


They should really start giving tickets for this. It's very rude on a crowded train. The human upper body is usually larger than the leg area. That's part of the reason for removing backpacks while riding the train. Also, people tend to swing them around with no regard for what they don't see behind them.

Unextended Holiday

Monday's commute was nice and comfortable with all bank, gov't and financial jobs observing Columbus Day. Every time I took the subway, I was able to get a seat... pretty much everyone did. I'd say about half of NYers get this day off. I'm sure some people take the day off to coordinate with friends that automatically get it. One thing I noticed about the Columbus Day weekend is no one extends it like they do with Labor Day, Memorial Day and others. On those holidays, I'll notice a comfortable commute all week long. With Columbus Day being a bank holiday that 50% of commuters get, I figured the Tuesday after would have a 75% attendance, but it was just a normal 100% day.

Rangers It Will Be

The Yankees will face Texas this Friday as Cliff Lee was the ace of Game 5. As expected, it was a pitcher's duel for most of the game. The final score was 5-1, but 2 of those runs came in the 9th inning as insurance runs. It was pretty tight until then. Cliff Lee was amazing, going for the complete game and striking everyone out along the way. It'll be interesting to see how the Yankees prepare for this. They have to finish the series as quickly as possible or face Lee twice... which would almost surely guarantee the Rangers 2 wins.

Ultimate Matchup

I don't watch a whole lot of Yankees games, but I made sure to catch the Rangers vs Rays game tonight. Texas took the first 2 games in the series in Tampa Bay and looked like they were going to upset the Rays. Then the Rays came back and took the next 2 in Texas. So this game 5 has a World Series like feel... last game of the series... tie break. Each team sent their best pitcher out for the ultimate matchup... Cliff Lee for Texas and David Price for Tampa Bay. They're also 2 of the best pitchers in the AL (behind CC Sabathia).

Besides the exciting game, this means that whichever team wins messed up their rotation for the ALCS against the Yankees. Both aces are out there right now, so they likely won't get sent out on Friday. So the Yankees have the option to keep their rotation intact and send out CC first against a weaker pitcher in the opposing rotation. Or they could save CC for when Price or Lee get sent out. Each option has it's advantages and things would probably cancel each other out.

Sweep

The other question was answered in last night's closing game of the ALDS. Phil Hughes, who has had a a bad 2nd half except for maybe 1 game gave his best outing of the year in a 6-1 win to clinch the 1st round. He went 7 innings and only gave up 4 hits. His last couple of batters took it deep, but were all flyouts. The only taint in last night's game was Kerry Wood loaded the bases and allowed a run in the 8th. Logan came in and retired one and then Robertson did the same to get out of the jam. Rivera closed out the 9th easily.

The Rays just won their game this afternoon to force a Game 5 against the Rangers. So the Yankees will get maximum rest while the winner of the other ALDS series will go the full 5 games. This will certainly benefit the older Yankees pitching staff. Pettitte and CC won't have to go out on short rest. Going into the ALDS, the Yankees looked like they only had one pitcher that was a sure thing, but now there's more confidence after Pettitte and Hughes won their games. Pettitte is fully recovered and Hughes got rid of his postseason butterflies. The next game is all the way @ next Friday.

Soda Ban

The city is still looking for creative ways to penalize its people in order to make money appear out of thin air. There was the proposed soda tax and now, the sugary drinks are taking another hit. They want to ban sodas from food stamp users. The excuse is that it's to combat diabetes and make people more health conscious. I'm in favor of all of that. But the other step the city needs to do if they were truly concerned about health is they need to lower the prices on something else... like bottled water, juice or milk. The other side of it is they need to make it easier for people to get the healthier items. Bottled water costs the same or more as soda, which doesn't make any sense. So I agree with promoting health, but I just don't think that's the city is sincerely doing that.

How it's Done

Many people were uncertain about the Yankees pitching rotation beyond CC Sabathia. One of the questions was whether or not Andy Pettitte was fully recovered from his groin injury. His last 3 starts at the end of the season were shaky, although the last one showed signs of improvement. It seemed like he got the rest he needed though because the guy that showed up on the mound was the guy who started the season 11-2... the same guy that has the most postseason wins in the history of baseball. Pettitte gave up 2 runs in 7 strong innings, only getting into trouble in the 2nd. He was in a based loaded jam with only 1 out, but got out of it with only 1 earned run. With more postseason experience than any pitcher out there, he was calm and collected the whole time.

The offense was mostly provided by Lance Berkmann, who ended the regular season on fire. Since coming back from injury, he was refreshed and put on his all-star, homerun derby champ suit again. This wasn't the retired out of shape guy we say when he first joined.

The Yankees now have a comfortable 2-0 lead and can finish things off at home tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Rays are struggling as they fell behind 0-2. It just shows that the best regular season team doesn't necessarily make the best playoff team.

Game 1 Action

Game 1 opened up the ALDS with an exciting first game. Fans on both sides must have been rolling their eyes and cheering every other inning as the Yankees and Twins traded punches. Francisco Liriano had a great pitching performance through the first 5 innings, only giving up 2 hits. CC Sabathia was struggling, but worked himself out of trouble most of the time. He didn't look great, but his experience allowed him to grind through it. The Twins got off to an early start with a 3-run homer. Through 5 innings, I felt like the Yankees were continuing their end-of-season slump where they would lose the lead early and never fight back. No one was hitting Liriano and many were getting into 0-2 counts to start. But the Yankees did battle back to get a 4-3 lead. CC then got into trouble right away and ended up walking in the tying run on bases loaded. He recovered by striking out the next batter to end the inning. Teixiera had a 2-run homer for the game winning RBI. The Twins did threaten in the 7th and 8th, but the bullpen held things down, including a 4-out save (actually 5) by Rivera. I say 5 outs because in the 9th inning, what should have been the 3rd out was called a base hit by the umpires. Young hit a flyball to right. Golson hustled and made an amazing catch. The umpires ruled that it touched the ground and he cradled it. The replay shows a clean out as did a stainless ball. It was all politics though. The umpires couldn't let the game end in Minnesota on a decision even if it went against the integrity of the game. It didn't matter though. Mo got Thome to popout with the next pitch.

On a side note, earlier in the day, the Phillies' Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter against the Reds in their Game 1. That's the first no-no since the 1956 World Series between the NY Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers. It's also Halladay's 2nd no-no of the year, with a perfect game during the regular season. Amazing!

ALDS Preview

The Yankees have chosen their 25-man roster and are going with a 3-man rotation for pitching. AJ Burnett is still part of the team, but will not start... at least in the first 3 games. They're going with CC, Pettitte and Hughes. If there's a Game 4, CC will pitch on short rest, which he has always done well. AJ will come out of the pen and may get a start if the Yankees win the first 2. I think this is the right setup. Pettitte isn't 100% and Hughes hasn't been that reliable because of his ERA and HRs. So the Yankees may need long relief. AJ can always reinvent himself by being the hero out of the pen just like Hughes of last year. Also, covering long relief will be Mosely and Mitre. Obviously, if all goes well, we shouldn't see either of them. The starter just needs to make it through 6 or 7, then there's Joba, Wood and Rivera and sometimes Robertson. Vasquez didn't make the roster at all because of his ineffectiveness towards the end of the season. It must have been a tough decision because if you look at the entire season, he's better than AJ. So the Yankees are banking on AJ's postseason of last year.

As for the position players, everyone's healthy and most players have been pretty good in the last few weeks. A-Rod and Texare hot. Jeter is out of his slump. The 2nd half Granderson has been very reliable. Even Berkmann is going back to his vintage all-star ways. The concerns are the slumping Posada and Kearns, who kind of switched stats with Berkmann. Out of the kids, Golson beat Nunez for the last spot in the roster. It makes sense for the ALDS because they will need Golson's arm and coverage in Target Field's spacious outfield. With that walkoff throw to 3rd a couple of weeks ago, he gunned himself into his first playoff series.

Let October baseball begin!

Undisputed III: Redemption

The Undisputed series is now a far departure from the original that starred Wesley Snipes and Ving Rhames. Undisputed II featured a switch from boxing to MMA. It went from a regular boxing movie to a fancy martial arts straight-to-DVD movie with awesome moves by Michael Jai White and Scott Adkins. The 3rd installment got even more interesting because the protagonist is Scott Adkin's character, Boyka, who was the villain in Undisputed II. I actually got the 2nd movie because I wanted to see some of Michael Jai White's fancy moves. But his part was that of a boxer learning MMA. Scott Adkins actually stole the show with his fast paced extreme martial arts. So it was great that they gave him center stage in the 3rd film.


The story was clean and simple... no holes, but nothing sophisticated either. It's just a prison tournament with no back story... no undercover agents, politics or terrorism. The highlight is the martial arts action and stunts. Te choreography and camera work is very nice. There were 8 fighters in the tournament and about only half of them were actually good, but the camera certainly helped out the ones that weren't true fighters. Obviously, the main character, Boyka is very good. Also, keep an eye out for the Korean fighter, played by Ilram Choi and the Capoeira fighter, played by Lateef Crowder. My only complaint is the villain of the movie wasn't intimidating enough. He was taller than Scott Adkins, but that was about it. He wasn't that muscular and his moves were enhanced by the video editing. If he wasn't using steroids, the Korean fighter would've taken him out in the first round. They did the same with the American fighter who only knew how to punch. He didn't deserve his name above the title because he didn't really do anything but be annoying. The only reason he was probably there is because it's an American movie and they had to get some presence in there.

The acting was pretty good. There weren't any dramatic parts or anything difficult on the acting side other than doing accents and being angry, but this is a pure fighting movie. So I didn't really care about that or the simple story. The fights were great and the movie was entertaining.

Related Links: Undisputed III Official Site, IMDB

Table Set

It's all set. The season is over and the Yankees will begin the postseason on Wednesday as the wildcard against the Twins. They dropped the last 2 series of the season. This weekend, they lost to the rival Red Sox, but I think it was a worthy sacrifice and well played. The Yankees sent out their first team for the position players, for a chance to win, but they didn't mess with their pitching rotation. It was all to setup CC Sabathia for the first postseason game. They got Pettitte in to get warmed up and have a regular rest before the postseason. He did OK in his game... the only win in the Sox series. AJ was given a chance for redemption and it didn't work out well for him. But the table is set for the rotation. There are no injuries right now, so the Yankees are looking good and have no excuses.

All By Itself

For office use, the average PC is a lot more powerful than the tasks it actually gets used for. For example, systems we purchased last year have 160-200 GB of hard drive space. About 10 GB of that goes to the OS and office software. Most users only deal with Word and Excel files, so their total "My Documents" space is a few hundred MB. Some users have a lot of personal files like music and photos... maybe a few GB.

Today, a user with a computer purchased last year somehow filled up his hard drive. We got a ticket that his "hard drive somehow got full." He thought it was a virus because he couldn't find out what was taking up all the space. He claimed he didn't do anything. So that means the computer filled up all by itself? It turns out he was burning a lot of DVDs and the copying program wasn't set to clear the temp files!

As in most cases, the computer is innocent. It almost always takes a human to mess things up. The computer never does it all by itself. They're not THAT good yet.