Yesterday, I attended what will be my last game at Yankee Stadium.  For those who do not know, after this season, they will be tearing down 'The House that Ruth Built' and next season they will be playing in a new stadum right next door.

First, let me say that this is kind of bittersweet for me.  As a kid, we would go to Yankee games several times a year and I have fond memories of beign there with my entire family.  But, if we are being honest, Yankee Stadium is a dump.  It outgrew its usefulness long before I even knew it existed.  I have been to baseball games at Coors Field in Denver and Camden Yards in Baltimore adn those stadiums are simply amazing. That being said, the new stadium looks like it will be absolutely astounding.

As I said this was the last game I will see at Yankee Stadium, but it was also the first time my kids have seen the Yankees play a home game.  They seemed to enjoy the experience, but, what made it best was that at one point during the game, the kids were shown on the 'Jumbo-tron' at the stadium as part of what they call 'fan-cam'.  Unfortunately, I was unable to get a picture of them on the screen.

All in all, it was a great day (the Yankees wound up winning in extra innings).  I got to take my kids to a place from which I have such wonderful memories and they seemed to enjoy it as much as I remember enjoying it. Here are some pictures I snapped before and during the game.

These are the kids, pretty good looking if I do say so myself.

Here is a picture of Joba Chamberlain throwing a 101 MPH fastball. If you look closely at the umpire, you can see the ball.

Here is a picture of Brett Gardner about to get caught in a rundown.  He was trying to steal second, put the pitcher threw the ball to first base.  You can see the ball on its way

As I mentioned here, I am speaking at Scotch on the Rocks this year.  I also mentioned that my dad and my brother will be flying over after the conference to play golf.  I was unable to get a tee time at St. Andrew's, but this evening I was able to book a tee time at Carnoustie on the Championship course.  For those who may not know, The Open Championship (The British Open) was played at Carnoustie last year.

I am hoping to add one or two more well-known courses to the list, but to be playing golf with my dad and my brother in the birthplace of golf, I'd play anywhere. 

Once again, if anyone knows of good courses that might not be well known to tourists, please let me know.

I do not think there has even been a more satisfying win as a Giants fan (though, the Cowboys game a few weeks ago is close).  No one gave the Giants a shot, all the hype was about 19-0 and Tom Brady.  Today, during the pre-game, I heard several times that in order to win, the Giants had to play a perfect game, and they did just that. Holding the Pats to less than 50 yards rushing and 14 points (note, they did not even score the 17 Plaxico Buress said they would) was a phenomenal showing. The play where Eli got away from trouble and then connected with David Tyree was awesome, and should be one of the most memorable in Super Bowl history.

After the Minnesota game and the 4 interceptions, I jumped off the Eli bus.  I would like this post to stand as my official request for permission to get back on.

What a great win!!!

I came across this link for a book being offered on Amazon. The book is about how the New England Patriots went 19-0 during the 2007 NFL season.  There is one issue though, they have not gone 19-0.  In order to do that, they must beat the New York Giants this Sunday in the Super Bowl.

Now, I am a Giants fan, so this is more of a slap in the face, but this is by far one of the most insulting things, towards a team, I have seen in professional sports.  Even worse than Jerry Jones putting 2 tickets in each of the Cowboys' lockers before the Giants beat them 2 weeks ago.

Seeing that Amazon is taking pre-orders for that book would make me cheer for anyone who would be playing the Patriots this week, even, dare I say, the Cowboys.

Go Big Blue!!

As many who know me are aware, I am a big fan of the New York Giants (An American football team for those readers outside the US who may not be familiar with the name).  Tonight, the Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game to make it to the Super Bowl. In the process, the Giants set an NFL record by winning 10 road games in a row.

When we made it to the playoffs, not many gave us a chance to beat Tampa Bay, few gave us a chance to beat Dallas and even fewer picked us to beat Green Bay.  To all the sports columnists, TV analysts and anyone else who makes a living offering their opinions about the NFL, I have one simple favor to ask.  Please, please, don't pick us to win the Super Bowl.  I want every one of you to pick New England.  It seems to motivate the G-Men when you think they are not worthy of beating the 'better team'.

Win or lose in Phoenix, the Giants have given me much more than I could have hoped for during this season. Now, if we can just find a way to ruin prefection.....

I have always wanted a job related to golf, or blowing things up.  This is about as close as I think I would ever get to both.  

I soooo want that job.

This past Saturday marked the first of many weekends where we spent a few hours with our kids watching them play organized sports.  My older son started his second season of soccer (football to any readers outside the US) and my younger son started his first.

My older son suffers from a mild form of Cerebral Palsy and has been fortunate enough to be with a coach who is understanding of my sons abilities, patient and a very good coach.  My younger son is not so lucky.  His coach can be loud, impatient and sometimes, expect too much form the kids.  You see, my younger son's coach is me.

I agreed to coach because the league was in need of coaches as there were a lot of kids who signed up.  My son loves that I am his coach, but it scares the sh*t out of me.  Why? Because its one thing to screw up your own kids with sports, but when its other people's kids, the pressure is almost unbearable.

Anyway, in the 'U6' ('under 6) division, the coaches are the referees.  While I was out there for my half of the game, my younger son scored his first goal!!!  It was kind of bittersweet because I wasn't really able to celebrate because I was the 'ref' and it would have been poor sportsmanship on my part. But I will never forget the look of joy on his face when the ball went in, the sense of pride you could see on his face, the fact that the first thing he did after scoring his first ever goal was to come over to me and give me a hug and say, 'Thank you so much for being my coach, daddy.' 

I was away on vacation last week in Ocean City, MD.  As you might have guessed by the header image above, I am an avid golfer.  Ocean City has some fantastic golf courses, with some great deals if you scour through the Sunny Day Guide coupon book.  One such course is River Run Golf Club in Berlin, MD (just outside Ocean City).  The normal greens fee is $95.00 before 9:00 AM, but with a coupon from Sunny Day, it was lowered to $49.00.

It was a decent course, nice layout, somewhat short, not worth $95.00, but well worth $49.00.  However the reason I am writing about this course is the friendliness of the staff.  One policy River Run has is that 'junior' golfers play for free.  That's right, you read that correctly, FREE.  

I have been trying to get my kids involved in the game and at the course I live on, Locust Hill Golf Club, they often let me bring my sons with me.  They haven't started playing yet, but are getting a feel for other aspects of the game, such as course etiquette. Both boys asked if they would be able to come with me when I played and to my surprise, River Run not only allowed this, but encouraged it.

As it wound up, only my oldest son came with me, but when we arrived at the course, everyone was friendly and made both my son and I feel welcome.  He seemed to enjoy the time more than I did and we would have gone back again, but the course wasn't open for public play the day we wanted to go back.

There are courses that are 'better' courses in and around Ocean City, there are even better values, but I have never played a course in a resort area where the staff was so friendly.  I would definitely add River Run to your must play list if you are ever in Ocean City, MD.

I am in a quandary.  As most people who know me are aware, I am a huge New York Giants fan.  If you follow football, you know that the Giants started this season pretty strong, but have played absolutely miserably in the last half of the season.

At one point this season, the Giants were 6-2 and were seriously being considered a legitimate chance at playing in the Super Bowl.  Since then, they have gone 1-6 and are barely alive in the playoff race.

Here's the reason for my confusion.  I loathe Tom Coughlin, the Giants head coach, and would love it if he was let go after this season.  The only problem is, if the Giants make the playoffs, it will be the two years in a row they made the playoffs, which makes it difficult to rationalize firing the guy.  So, if the Giants make the playoffs (which will probably end like their playoff run did last year, with an embarrassing loss) odds are Coughlin will be around another year.

To really muddy the waters, I have tickets for the Giants game this weekend in Washington (the first time I am going to a Giants game since we left New Jersey over 3 years ago) which will also be my wife's first time at a professional football game.

So, what would you do?  Live in the 'here and now', and hope they win and make the playoffs which pretty much guarantees you get another year with a less than stellar coach , or hope they lose and miss the playoffs, which pretty much guarantees a new coach (who may also be less than stellar).  I think the Giants currently have more talent than any Giants team since the mid to late 80's, but think this talent is being wasted with the current coaching staff.

In the last few weeks, I have tried to blog more frequently.  That pattern will stop for a while next week.  My wife and I are taking our kids on a well deserved vacation to Ocean City, MD.  I plan on doing a lot of lounging and drinking a lot of beer. 

Ocean City, and the surrounding area has some great golf.  I have already made arrangements to play with Tony Weeg on Sunday, and hope to be able to squeeze another round in towards the end of the week.