A Light Is Turned Off In The Bronx

I don't like baseball. It is long, it is boring, it is made up of overpaid babies who rarely play every game in a season, even though the actual work that they do in a game is minimal. And thus I rarely pay attention to the sport and certainly don't waste my team reading blogs about it. However, glancing at Deadspin today, I saw that they offered their condolences to those that knew and were close to a Yankee blogger who passed away, Todd Drew.

Drew, a 42 year old diehard fan of the pinstripes, lost his battle with cancer Wednesday night.

He maintained Yankees for Justice which seems like a solid blog. But what I really would love for you to read is this piece he guest-wrote over at the Journal News site just over a year ago. It was truly a brilliant article about baseball and the Bronx but it really shows how sports and our society are intertwined, and wonderfully so.

RIP Mr. Drew.

What?!?!?

You know, the NHL has some gall. The league's new jerseys are far more expensive than the current designs. The Rangers just put up on their website that replica's of the new designs will cost $145 - (check it out here). That is almost twice what a replica costs now. That is insane. First the league takes a year off to ensure team cost certainty, then they increase ticket prices this offseason and redesign the jerseys, doubling their costs???



I could tolerate the third jerseys - no matter how ugly so many were - because the teams still had the same primary uniforms. Now you change it (thanks RBK) and force fans to buy an entire new kit? Its just more proof that Gary (Scrooge McDuck) and the rest of the owners just don't care about the fans, just their wallets.

I am an obsessive fan of the Rangers and own nine of their jerseys but you had better believe that I won't shell out $145 for a new one. My customized jerseys even cost far less than that. And as I have mentioned many times, I already work six, seven days to pay for the escalating cost of my season tickets ... there aren't enough days in the week for me to afford a new jersey. Sooner or later the league's merchandising will face maximum saturation among the diehard fans and what will they do then? It scares me to imagine what they will come up with then ...