Just out in my car for lunch...Mike Francesa will be interviewing Steve Crist and others about the whole NYRA mess today.
He said \"in the middle of the show.\" Show goes from 1 till after 6, so I\'d guess around 3-4, but if you\'re interested tune in so you don\'t miss it. Personally I can\'t tune in so I\'m hoping others can post on what he says. Francesa likes horse racing but to my ears does not offer much in the way of insight, but he is one of the few mainstream talk show guys to even discuss it, let along have something major on in the middle of his act. He just said Gov. Cuomo is no fan of horse racing. In my opinion, no governor I\'ve ever seen in NY could qualify as a fan of horse racing. Their only interest in horse racing is how many positions they can hand out to reward campaign contributors, and this is a big part of the mess. It\'s never about getting guys that know racing, and always about paying off a pal. Cuomo is no different than the rest, except like Christie in NJ (who for my money is MUCH worse) he likes to play tough a little more by whipping on the industry when it suits him.
In and around NYC Francesa\'s show is on WFAN...660 AM. If you are not in the area I think you can get it streaming online via their website.
HP
His show is also broadcast on the YES Network. I\'m assuming its the same show.
It is the same show. The Yankees network.
Hopefully his interview with Crist will not be as fawning as his last one with Andy Pettitte. Amazing to me that everyone can villify Barry Bonds but Andy Pettitte imitates Gomer Pyle and is almost universally seen as a \"nice guy,\" and this is helped along by asskissing Yankee fans like Francesa.
Yankees fans like Francesa bloviate about their championships and don\'t seem the least bit disturbed that they win those titles with rosters full of overpaid cheaters. As long as the Yankees win, it\'s okay. I hope Pettitte gets SHELLED so he can go home and pray some more.
Hopefully he\'ll push Crist, at least a little.
HP
Spoken like a true Mets fan.
Learn something every day. Didn\'t know the Yankees 27 Championships were full of dopers like Ruth,Gerhig,Ford, Rizzuto, Maris, Mantle,Berra,Jackson, Winfield, Rivera,Jeter and dozens more.
Ruth, Ford and Mantle were on the opposite of PEDs.
Of course I\'m not talking about Babe Ruth. And it has nothing to do with being a Mets fan.
The Yankees have a \"win at all costs\" culture, complete with George Steinbrenner giving Douglas MacArthur-inspired speeches that insulted veterans everywhere. It is no accident that this \"winning is the only thing\" culture coincides with an inordinate amount of cheaters. As long as they win. And most of these guys had \"trainers\" or other \"assistants\" around who were known to, and sometimes paid by, the Yankees.
Knoblauch
Giambi
Sheffield
Rodriguez
Clemens
Pettitte
Grimsley
Canseco played for the Yankees too.
And these are just the ones we know about. How many other teams outside the A\'s of the \"bash brothers\" era have this many steroid guys? Go ahead and let me know. This doesn\'t diminish the accomplishments of the great Yankees teams of the past, just the recent ones with these guys. Sorry if Yankee fans can\'t accept the facts, but there it is. INDISPUTABLE. And talking about Yogi doesn\'t change anything.
HP
And yes, this applies to lots of people in horse racing who can justify their nonsense with this \"winning is the only thing\" mentality as well. In case you were wondering.
HP
HP Wrote:
- Cuomo is no
> different than the rest, except like Christie in
> NJ (who for my money is MUCH worse) he likes to
> play tough a little more by whipping on the
> industry when it suits him.
There was a small flap, recently, about the NY Lt. Governor, Bob Duffy, having reported a $2,600+ trifecta hit on his 2011 return. Turns out he had been invited to Saratoga, the first time he had ever been to the track, and just played a $2 ticket, probably boxed, picking horses by their names, including \"Right to Vote\" and \"Loves to Run\". Says he looks forward to going back. The best part is that he meant to play it as an exacta, but misspoke.
HP, if you would ever like to sit around and trash Steinbrenner all night long, I\'m buying. He is the reason I stopped being a Yankee fan. If I ever get the chance, I would like to do to his grave what Chip Wooley did to that slot machine. That big blowhard used to spout on about wanting guys who wanted to be Yankees, and the first chance he had he traded the guy who loved being a Yankee more than anybody for that jerk Clemens. In general, I can\'t quibble with any of the above.
If you missed it here in a link to the interview.
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/category/sports/mike-francesa/#
Essentially Crist repeated his 5/1 DRF post. Charlie Hayward would have fixed this problem -- a \"giant, honest mistake\" -- the next day if he was aware of it. Charlie did not get a fair hearing, was terminated unfairly, etc. And Crist summarized the email from the reader as stating \"NYRA is eligible to apply for a takeout reduction\", without mentioning the bombshell allegation from the reader that NYRA had illegally been taking out 26% from the exotics for almost a year.
HP Wrote:
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> How many other teams outside the A\'s of the \"bash
> brothers\" era have this many steroid guys? Go
> ahead and let me know. This doesn\'t diminish the
> accomplishments of the great Yankees teams of the
> past, just the recent ones with these guys. Sorry
> if Yankee fans can\'t accept the facts, but there
> it is. INDISPUTABLE. And talking about Yogi
> doesn\'t change anything.
>
> HP
The A\'s didn\'t have that many, at least what we know of. McGwire, Canseco, who else??
Don\'t tell me Eck.
And if you say Rickey, you\'re banished from the board.
And I don\'t care if every last one of them did. They beat the Giants in 1989.
Thank the Lord for that.
The INDISPUTIBLE fact remains. 27 World titles and the greatest organization in sports. Last i checked, there was no \'buts\' on the trophies and the rings. The rings and the trophies say \"world champions\' They do NOT say \"world champions but..\"
Typical. This is the Yankees fan retort to everything. We won. Don\'t address the cheating. That\'s cool.
Hey you know I think the Yankees lead the league (both leagues?) in players and former players called before Congress for lying about performance enhancing drugs? You can polish that trophy with pride.
HP
P-Dub - not really going after the A\'s, but your post made me think, can anyone name a team, IN ANY SPORT, with a worse record than the Yankees on this issue? Oh I left one out before -
\"On December 20, 2007 Glenallen Hill was also named in Jason Grimsley\'s unsealed affidavit as a user of steroids. Hill and Grimsley were teammates on the 2000 New York Yankees.\"
What an organization indeed! Here they are second to none. Name another team that had a revolving cast of 6-8 confirmed performance enhancing dopers playing in a 5-10 year period. Football, baseketball, anything. Any team in any sport that so consistently had the cheaters playing. I\'ll wait.
HP
HP Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> P-Dub - not really going after the A\'s, but your
> post made me think, can anyone name a team, IN ANY
> SPORT, with a worse record than the Yankees on
> this issue? Oh I left one out before -
>
> \"On December 20, 2007 Glenallen Hill was also
> named in Jason Grimsley\'s unsealed affidavit as a
> user of steroids. Hill and Grimsley were teammates
> on the 2000 New York Yankees.\"
>
> What an organization indeed! Here they are second
> to none. Name another team that had a revolving
> cast of 6-8 confirmed performance enhancing dopers
> playing in a 5-10 year period. Football,
> baseketball, anything. Any team in any sport that
> so consistently had the cheaters playing. I\'ll
> wait.
>
> HP
I know you weren\'t. Brought back good memories though.
Why should the fans have to address the cheating. That\'s up to the baseball company who\'s putting on the show. IF you bet on a horse and cash a bet and that horse comes up positive and gets DQd from purse money, do YOU the bettor/fan have to address the connections cheating? No, you cash your ticket and you\'re happy you won....you can even gloat if you want!
As far as the Yanks cheating, what HAS already been addressed was that the person who made the \'report\' that outed the cheaters was an employee of the Boston Red Sox. (which is why certain players were probably not on the list, but, after they left the Red Sox they got \'caught\' cheating.)
Plenty of teams who\'ve won World Serieses in the steroid era had a ton of guys on their team who were gaining an edge....im not sure what that has to specifically do with Yankees fans not being able to enjoy THEIR titles. Should Yankee fans hide their heads in the sand and feel remorseful at winning?
Listen, it was the steroid ERA, that means lots of people did something to get an edge. At least every team had a player who was using some type of performance enhancer....the league turned the other cheek, remember the Sosa-McGuire HR \'chase\' that \'saved\' baseball? Yep, those guys were doing steroids. And the league looked the other way. So, in other words, the league said \"its ok, do what you need to do\".
plasticman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The INDISPUTIBLE fact remains. 27 World titles and
> the greatest organization in sports. Last i
> checked, there was no \'buts\' on the trophies and
> the rings. The rings and the trophies say \"world
> champions\' They do NOT say \"world champions but..\"
Given the aging, overpaid current collection, no MR, and the younger Steingrubbers actually not buying every available star in sight . . . don\'t hold your breath waiting for the next one.
Plasticman - If you can\'t name even one team yes, start hiding your head in the sand. For shame. I\'ll look for you at the beach!
Best,
HP
I hear you, this current Yankee team is pretty average. They\'ll win more games than they lose just on \'backclass\' but they\'re not in the same stratosphere as the Texas Rangers.