The Power of the Yankees Brand

I am a Yankees fan. That’s hardly news to anyone who knows me. That also doesn’t make me different than millions of people in the New York area and millions more throughout the US and around the world. However, I can humbly say I am far more knowledgeable about the game than the average fan. I understand the 40 man roster, Rule 5, free agency, arbitration and have an in-depth knowledge of players on every roster, particularly those in the American League. I know every one of the Championship years.

But what I understand best is that the Yankees are far more than the most successful major league baseball franchise; they are a worldwide brand. Furthermore, I appreciate that the Yankees brand is “Ruthian”. It stands above the current ownership, management, even its players. The brand is bigger than Derek Jeter, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig. Even bigger than the Babe, if that’s possible.

The Yankees Brand is American history, a worldwide phenomenon, and an international icon.

I am 23 years old so I’ve grown up in an era of Yankees excellence. My first game was in 1995 and I remember my dad telling me about the first baseman #23 ”Donnie Baseball”, a Yankees great, and how he would soon retire. I also remember him telling me that Yankees don’t have names on their uniforms. He told me that if I wanted to be a serious Yankees fan, it was my responsibility to know who the players are. He made me memorize the retired numbers in Monument Park (in order of retirement). And he made me appreciate that not every year was a great one. He explained that just a few years earlier the Yankees had a losing record, and that during most of the 80s, the late 60s and early 70s, the franchise had a long drought of non-post season appearances.

I understood that the Yankees were bigger than the record of a particular season—that the Yankees brand was, is and will always stand for greatness, regardless of their record that year. The Yankees stand for striving for the highest goal, without being satisfied with a “good job, good effort”.

Everything about the Yankees is special. Their nameless uniforms, Monument Park, the façade, pinstripes, the interlocking NY. There is nothing ordinary about the Yankees brand. That’s why I hate red hats and pink gear. Bastardizations of the logo and Yankees gear, while in keeping with MLB guidelines, are fine for the other 29 teams. Not for the Yankees, I believe.

So I will only wear a blue hat, pinstriped shirt with no name, and use the logos with respect. I apologize for using the logos in this blog post without permission. Though done with only respect, the logos are ones to be protected.

Because the Yankees Brand is special and like none other. And a true Yankees fan never forgets that, no matter what the pennant race situation may be.

Jorge Posada: A Yankee for Life

Today is an incredibly emotional day, a day where one of the greatest Yankees of all time officially said goodbye to the game of baseball. It is another mark of an ending era in Yankees baseball, and in my life. Jorge Posada was a staple of my childhood, one of the faces I remember from when I first started to understand and love the game of baseball and sports in general. It was those Yankee teams of the mid-late 90s that ignited my passion in sports, and it was that passion that eventually inspired my decision to pursue a career in sports, and I consider Jorge a huge part of that.

Watching Jorge in the press conference this morning was really tough and surreal for me. Watching him get emotional when speaking about his family, and his Yankee family and brotherhood with Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera, I could not help but cry (Luckily, my puppy Jeter was there to lick away my tears, he was sad too). But I was not at all surprised to see Jorge so emotional, because that's who Jorge is. He played with an unparalleled fire and passion and wore his emotions on his sleeve always. He was consistently real and honest with the media and the fans, one of the many reasons he is so loved and admired by all who followed his career.

Today I want to congratulate Jorge Posada on a phenomenal career worthy of heavy HOF consideration, and I want to thank him for all the moments: that bloop double in the 2003 ALCS, placing the tag on the flip play, talking smack to Pedro from the dugout, hitting the first homer in the new Yankee Stadium, to his final postseason where he was the only Yankee to show up for every last at-bat. Thank you Jorge for the countless number of wonderful Yankee memories that I will cherish forever, and thank you for being a true Yankee from beginning to end.

I love you Jorgie and I hope to see your name in Cooperstown one day.

HIP HIP, JORGE!

Back in the New York Groove

On September 13, 2011, I recapped the Giants' Week 1 loss to the Washington Redskins, noting how disappointed I was in the way the Giants played. My conclusion read as follows:

While the eventual returns of star defensive ends Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora should ignite the D, this performance from Big Blue making it very difficult for us Giants fans to be optimistic. Here's to hoping they'll prove me wrong!

Here we are, January 16, 2012, heading into Conference Championship week and the New York Football Giants are alive and better than ever.  The eventual returns of Tuck and Osi DID ignite the defense, though I never could have predicted back in September the kind of impact that youngsters Jason Pierre-Paul and Victor Cruz would have on this season. Both of them are so energetic with a unique ability and drive to make big plays, Cruz on the offensive side and JPP on the defensive side. And let's not forget about Eli Manning, who's having a career year and set an NFL record for touchdowns in the 4th Quarter, constantly rising to the challenge when the game is on the line.

With two big wins against crosstown rival Jets and division rival Cowboys to end the season, the Giants earned their first playoff berth since 2008. And with an impressive Wild Card week win at home against the Falcons (where the Giants defense allowed ZERO points), Big Blue steamrolled into Green Bay in an incredible upset where they flat-out dominated the 15-1 Packers, the reigning Super Bowl Champs.

So the red-hot Giants head to San Francisco next Sunday for a rematch at Candlestick against the 49ers. It will not be easy to beat the 49ers phenomenal defense that's coming off a big win against the New Orleans Saints. But I can't be anything but confident in this Giants team that has come together when it counts the most and is playing their best football since the 2008 Super Bowl.

After Week 1, I hoped the Giants would prove me wrong. Regardless of what happens next, the G-men have certainly exceeded all expectations and have made me proud to be a Giants fan.

LET'S GO BIG BLUE!

Movies, Chinese Food, and most importantly, BASKETBALL

This Christmas will be the best one ever.

Needless to say, I am THRILLED about the return of the NBA. The labor situation was really looking bleak and I was very nervous that basketball season was a lost cause. I remember the 2004-2005 NHL lockout and the dip in fan interest and league success that followed. It really would have been such a shame to lose the NBA season coming off such a phenomenal and exciting one (one of the most exciting seasons in years, in my opinion). To lose all that was gained this past year would not be good for the future of professional basketball. From a personal standpoint as a full-time sports fan, it's always tough when the baseball season ends since football games are only a few times a week. Basketball fills that void and provides the excitement, drama, and heartbreak that us sports fans live for. It would have been a sad, sad winter without the NBA.

Thankfully, owners and players learned to compromise, and did so with enough time to squeeze in a 66-game schedule. The market is as busy as ever right now as players, agents, and teams are frantically looking to make deals in this crunched period of time before the season. Can't think of a better way to hype up basketball fans for an great season soon to come.

Can't wait for 5 back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back basketball games starting with Celtics at the Garden. LET'S GO KNICKS!

My team's color isn't pink.

There are few things that bother me more than pink hats. Now, I'm not referring to the breast cancer awareness stuff or the Victoria's Secret clothes. I'm talking about the pink team logo hats scattered throughout the crowd at every sporting event in America. Coming from a woman's perspective, this clearly isn't a sexist knock on women at games, since, of course, I am one of them. HOWEVER, I am not one that will ever be found in a pink hat.

Wearing a pink hat is a red flag to the common sports fan, and the connotation is not positive. The highest rated definition of "pink hat" from urbandictionary reads as follows:

An overzealous, bandwagoner typically female fan of a recently successful local pro sports franchise. Characterized by the brand spanking new officially licensed pink team hat. Typically spends majority of game chatting on cell phone, waving to tv camera, asking idiotic questions & being a stupid annoying nuisance in general.

By wearing a pink hat, you're essentially acknowledging the fact that you are wearing it because your husband/boyfriend is a fan or because being a fan is "trendy" (something of that sort) and you don't actually know anything about the team.

Now, I understand why the pink hats are made. Most women like the color pink, a girl at a game would be drawn to the pink hat and a man would think of it as a nice gift for his wife/daughter/etc. There's no doubt that the items sell. However, I think the pink hats conflict with the brand. That might seem like a silly thing to say, but there's no doubting the role color plays in brand recognition. When you see a robins egg blue jewelry box, you know its from Tiffany's. It's so recognizable that the "Tiffany & Co" on the box is really unnecessary. Team colors are vital to the image and recognition of the team brand. When you see a shamrock green jersey, you can immediately identify it as a Celtics jersey without even seeing the logo. Picture that shamrock green jersey in your mind, and now make it pink. Taking away the team colors eliminates a very important aspect of a team's image and brand.

Personally, you will never find me wearing a pink hat. There's a reason my football team is often referred to as "Big Blue" and not "Big Pink". Pink is not a team color, so wearing it does not best represent the team.

You can color me a more serious fan.

MLB 2011: Epic Beyond Measurable Proportions

I've been sitting here for 20 minutes trying to write this blog post but I'm truly at a loss for words. I think that speechlessness accurately expresses what I witnessed last night. Mind blowing. The best night of baseball I've ever seen, and I don't think I'll see anything quite like it ever again.

The collapses of the Boston Red Sox and the Atlanta Braves are unprecedented. No team in MLB history has blown a 9-game lead in the month of September, and on September 28, 2011 TWO teams did just that. Now, it's no secret that I am a diehard Yankees fan to the maximum, you won't find a bigger fan. So needless to say, I wanted to the Red Sox to lose. In fact, I found myself in the interesting position of very badly wanting the Yankees to lose (if Mark Teixeira doesn't hit in the ALDS, I might lose my mind). But this is beyond just my own personal satisfaction with the epic demise of my least favorite team in sports. Objectively, as a baseball fan, this was the best night of baseball I have ever watched.

The Rays were down 7-0 and I'm thinking, the Orioles have to come back or the Sox are the AL Wild Card. As much as I wanted the Rays to come back, I didn't even consider that to be possible. Allow me to go on a tangent, but the Yankees by no means surrendered this game-- I WISH THEY DID! The criticism I've heard about the Yankees not playing their starters into extra-innings two days before the ALDS is simply unfair. The Yankees had a 7-0 lead in a game that meant nothing to them and were starting the playoffs two days later, not to mention they hadn't had a day off in two weeks. Girardi brought in two relievers, Luis Ayala and Cory Wade, with sub-2.00 ERA's going into last night's game, two relievers that will be on the postseason roster, and it was those two relievers who gave up the runs that put the Rays back in the game. So as much as the Yankees may dislike the Red Sox, this game was by no means thrown.

I can only imagine how the Red Sox felt, watching the Rays comeback just minutes before taking the field again after a rain delay in Baltimore, with a 3-2 Sox lead in the 7th inning. The rest goes something like this: Papelbon struck out the first two batters, followed by two doubles to tie the game, and a single by Robert Andino that Boston's $142 million dollar left fielder Carl Crawford couldn't come up with. Just minutes later the Red Sox, in their clubhouse, watched Evan Longoria's second home run of the game hook inside the left-field foul pole for the walk-off win that ended the Red Sox 2011 season and completed arguably the worst collapse in baseball history.

My final point of all this: MLB is seeking to add a second wild card to each league. With this addition, this night would have never happened. The Red Sox, Rays, Braves, and Cardinals would be lining their players up in preparation for a one-game playoff and the incredible 162nd games of the 2011 season would have been absolutely meaningless.

POSTSEASON BASEBALL HERE WE COME!

Football days are here again

After a long CBA-filled offseason, the NFL is finally back in action, and Week 1 certainly wasn't lacking in the drama department. While I love a good defensive battle, I think Thursday's opening game was exactly what us football fans were looking for. Super Bowl MVP Quarterback vs. Super Bowl MVP Quarterback.. is it really shocking that the score reached a 76 point total?! And with the final play at the goal line, you couldn't have written a much better script to launch the NFL season.

Unfortunately, Week 1 didn't leave me with much to smile about. I spent all offseason trying to forget about the Giants late season collapse, fighting to erase that ice cold December 19th game from my memory. The Giants floundered in the offseason, failing to resign TE Kevin Boss and WR Steve Smith--2 of Eli's favorite targets--not to mention the DELUGE of injuries during preseason that left the Giants looking rather limp. But the team still has many strong points, strong enough to beat the Redskins right? Wrong. The Giants depleted defense looked lost, making Rex Grossman look like a good quarterback (let's be real, he's not). And while the offense looked promising to start the game, they quickly declined as the Redskins defense simply owned them.

While the eventual returns of star defensive ends Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora should ignite the D, this performance from Big Blue making it very difficult for us Giants fans to be optimistic. Here's to hoping they'll prove me wrong!