Damn Yankees

Living where I live, it's dangerous to come right out and say you hate the Yankees - but I really hate the Yankees! And even worse than the Yankees themselves is Yankee fans, who think they know everything about all of baseball. And I'm surrounded by them!! So I particularly enjoyed this Newsday online article about how the Indians (and maybe the Athletics) could beat the Yankees out of a wildcard playoff spot. How sweet would that be!! At the present time, the Indians are just a half game ahead of the Yanks for the wildcard spot - but at least they're in striking distance.

Quoting from the article:
"What's most humiliating, you could argue, is that the Yankees - baseball's ultimate bullies - are fighting for their lives against a couple of pip-squeaks. If they fail to make the playoffs this season, it will be either the Indians ($41.5 million payroll) or the Athletics ($55.4 million) who knock out their sorry, $208-million behinds. And if you had to choose poisons for George Steinbrenner, there's little doubt that an Indians' triumph would irk him the most."

The only Yankee I admire is Joe Torre, and here's what he's got to say about it:
"The Indians, they're right there and they stay there," Joe Torre told reporters in St. Petersburgh, Fla., yesterday. "... And they don't know they're not supposed to be there, right? It doesn't really matter. This time of year, it's how good you think you are."

Right on, Joe! Go Tribe!

12 Angry Men

Well, today I had to go in for jury duty, which has never happened to me before. Usually I just get dismissed the night before. Don has been on this thing about Ecuadorean volleyball games in Danbury, so we were thinking I might get one of those. But no, lucky me, wouldn't it be the day they are starting a murder trial, for the 2003 killing of a woman in our town of Ridgefield, which is not exactly a place that you expect people to get murdered with any regularity.

There were about 24 of us called - about 2/3 of us women, I noted with interest. They told us there were two trials scheduled for the day - one civil and one criminal. I guess everyone feels pretty ambivalent about jury duty - on the one hand, it's your civic duty, and it could be kind of interesting, I guess. But the idea that you have to disrupt your life for what could be an awfully long time is also unsettling. I sat there feeling kind of guilty that I was hoping to get out of it, while knowing that if I were the defendant, I'd want some smart people on my jury (assuming, of course, I didn't do it!). Anyway, we sat there all morning after hearing from a judge and watching a short video of instructions, and I did email. At 10:30 the clerk told us the civil suit had been settled, but that we'd all have to go into the courtroom in just a bit for the criminal case. Time dragged on. And at 1:00, just when you get to go to lunch, the clerk told us the defendant had taken a plea bargain ('copped a plea', if you watch too much TV!!). Don't know what he got, but we're looking at a case where the man didn't want to pay child support so he hit his ex-wife with a baseball bat, then strangled her to death. You know, I love police procedurals and mystery novels, but this one was a little too close for comfort. Anyway, I carried out my obligation, and I feel good about it - no moral ambivalence about jury duty for 3 more years!

Homeland Security

Homeland Security

I was on the train last Thursday – Amtrak to Philadelphia – and in Penn Station, we heard the following announcement in a heavy NY accent:

‘Ladies and gentlemen, this is the New York City Police. Although we have no knowledge of an immediate threat in New York, based on the recent attacks in London on transportation systems, we ask you to be particularly mindful during your trip today. Do not leave bags unattended and if you see an unattended bag do not touch it - report it to a train official. And if you see a suspicious person, a person with an unseasonably heavy coat, with large bulges and wires coming out of the pockets – report that person to the train official. Thanks and have a nice day!”

I love NY!