Point/Counterpoint...

[BtownBeers]

Sadly...you are no longer the beacon of light we grew to know and embrace.

[Rusty27]

[BtownBeers]

LMAO well done!

[ssigman]

post it...i remember it being really good too

[BtownBeers]

He doesn't want it posted...i have to respect that...right?

[Rusty27]

If you both want it posted,go ahead.

[ssigman]

he wrote it and submitted it...its owned by the rant

[BtownBeers]

Actually HE is owned by the rant for participation in previously held PCP's...mikee says jump and he has to do it or face a possible fine.

I'll see if I can find them.

[ssigman]

don't summersault rusty..you'll get a 15 yard penalty

stupid football rules

[BtownJay]

Originally Posted by ssigman

don't summersault rusty..you'll get a 15 yard penalty

stupid football rules

How gay was that. They called it in one game that I saw (FSU i think), but I saw at least 2 others do it in different games yesterday and they were not called.

[Rusty27]

I was watching one guy taunt another player in the endzone yesterday after a TD and no call.

[ssigman]

they called it in the usc game against usc

[BtownBeers]

Best Sports Franchise of All Time
The New York Yankees

So much has changed in my life since I was a kid. I’ve grown physically, mentally, and spiritually into a mature, responsible, level headed adult. That is except for this one lingering, irritating, festering, vengeful, spiteful, thorn in my side emotion; I really hate the New York Yankees. That’s why, growing up in New England as a die hard Boston Red Sox fan, it’s oh so painful for me to say what I must say. The Yankees are the greatest sports franchise of all time. Please forgive me Red Sox fans. Come on now, Peter denied Christ 3 times and was forgiven, so this isn’t so bad is it? I could just follow my heart and ignore the facts and tell you the Boston Celtics were the greatest franchise. Or go with my love for hockey and tell you about the Montreal Canadiens. Unfortunately, the obvious stares me in the face; 26 World Series championships, 39 World Series appearances. Check please.Thank you for your time. Take a bow. End of story. Move along folks, nothing to look at here. Drive home safely.
Oh Crap! Alright Alright, I admit it, there’s more….much more. I mean, just the Yankee pinstripes alone with the most recognizable insignia in sports, the interlocking "NY", represent greatness. Yankee pride, history, tradition, and personalities, have made up part of the very fabric of society throughout the 20th century. While the championships alone make this the greatest franchise in sports, the fabled history of this team breaks the barriers of the sports page and transcends into mainstream society to influence and capture the interests of sports and non sports fans alike.
There’s the celebrity status of so many of the players and staff. For instance Babe Ruth’s heroics on the field and his off the field life style represented the spirit of the nation in the roaring twenties no matter what the ethnic background . Also, Hollywood movies such as “Pride of the Yankees”, “Safe at Home”and more recently “61*” to controversial books inside the lives of the Yankees such as Joe Pepitone’s “Joe,you could have made us proud” and Jim Bouton’s “Ball Four” have all contributed to immortalize this franchise. Even in a classic like Ernest Hemingway’s“The Old Man and the Sea”, Santiago says to Manolin “Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio...” There were the fueds between Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson including a dugout fight on national TV after Billy pulled Reggie from the outfield at Fenway Park. I was there that day as a youth and remember it like it was yesterday. For myself, it was the beginning of a life long rivalry which would break my heart more than I care to remember in the years that followed. I also remember a nation mourning upon hearing the news of Thurman Munson’s tragic death. There’s Derek Jeter’s love interests including romances with Mariah Carey and Jessica Alba. Yeah baby! Of course one of the most well known romances in all of not just Yankee history but the history of mankind would be that of Mr.Coffee himself, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe. There’s Phil Rizzuto’s dialogue in Meat Loafs hit song “Paradise by the dashboard light”. Televisions all time best sitcom “Seinfeld” features Yankee Stadium and a re-occuring caricature of George Steinbrenner.
No matter what the era since the 1920’s, expressions , phrases, and contoversial events have arisen from the Yankee organizaion .Babe Ruth, the“ Sultan of Swat”, with his unprecedented home run hitting (Babe Ruth hit more home runs (54) in 1920 than any other team in the league) led to the building of the first triple-deck stadium in baseball “The house the Ruth Built”. How about“The Bronx Bombers”, “Murderer’s Row”, “The “called shot”,“The Curse of the Bambino” which finally ended in 2004 with a Red Sox World Series win. His fame spread to mythic proportions around the world. to friend and foe alike. During World War II, when Japanese soldiers charged American troops, they would sometimes scream, “To hell with Babe Ruth.” Not “to hell with FDR” or “to hell with MacArthur,” but “to hell with Babe Ruth.” There was the “Iron Horse”Lou Gehrig’s “ Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth” speech. Yogi Berra, possibly the most quoted living American, with his “Yogi-isms” such as “It ain’t over till it’s over” which still appear on TV commercials and are used in conversation today, The Yankee Clipper, Joltin’Joe, immortalized in Simon and Garfunkel’s song “Mrs.Robinson” with the lyrics"Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio? A nation turns its lonely eyes to you”. Mickey Mantle “The Mick” an Icon in sports. Just check out this call from Mel Allen’s broadcast in 1953. "Here's the pitch. Mantle swings. There's a tremendous drive going into deep left field! It's going, going! It's over the bleachers...over the sign atop the bleachers...into the yards of houses across the street!” It was this Yankee broadcaster known as the “Voice of the Yankees” that introduced thehome run call, "It's going, going, gone!" in 1948.“There’s Don Larson’s “The perfect game” in the 1956 World Series and the memorable photo of Yogi Berra jumping into his arms. Maris’“61” and his race with Mickey Mantle for the single season home run record. Reggie Jackson “Mr. October” predicted he would have a candy bar named after him if he played in New York and that’s exactly what happened (the Reggie Bar). “The Boss” George Steinbrenner to this day still making the headlines, Ron Guidry “Louisiana Lightning”, Bucky Dent and his sudden death playoff “shot heard around the world” in 1978. These days, the Yankee payroll brings about the most debate as they continue to sign the best talent in baseball. Most recently, and what a great example of Yankee tradition, the Yankees obtain another Red Sox favorite in Johnny Damon who before he can put on the fabled pinstripes, has to cut off his long hair and beard. You want to be a Yankee, you have to look like a Yankee.
The Yankees are worth more than any team in baseball and are responsible for over a quarter of all MLB merchandise sales. The revenues of this team actually help subsidize less-profitable teams. The organizations commitment to winning speaks volumes when they are willing to pay
millions in luxury taxes which wind up in the hands of their competition just to get the players they want in pinstripes.
Oh yeah, the championships. Those came in every decade since the 1920’s with the exception of the 80’s and even then they had the most total wins out of any major league team and won a pennant. Today, the winning and championships continues including a three peat from 1998-2000. It was the third time in Yankee history that this feat was accomplished. The Oakland A’s were the only other team in MLB history to be able to do this. In 2001 following the 9/11 attacks, the nation once again turned it’s attention to New York and the Yankees who won two emotional series to make it to their fourth consecutive World Series. It was the fifth time in Yankee history that this feat was accomplished. Only one other MLB team has ever done it even once. The Yankees have had dozens of hall of famers play on the team and are the only team to have a player in the hall of fame at every posistion. They have held the most prestigious records in the sport including some considered unbreakable such as Jack Chesbro's 41 games won in a season (1904), Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak (1941), and Babe Ruth's lifetime slugging percentage of .690.

No sports franchise can match the winning ,the tradition or capture the interest of a people as the Yankees have done year after year making them the greatest sports franchise ever. Well, at least until the image of Don Zimmer charging the mound with him and his bald head falling to the ground with a little help from Pedro Martinez of the Red Sox in the 2003 ALCS. Zing! Of course we know how Pedro really feels about the Yankees: "I wish I'd never see them again. I wish they'd disappear from the league. Then we'd be winners."