June Wrap-up

BAMBINO:

Other than the Yankees tanking, Lewis Hamilton the F1 Rookie Phenom winning his first 2 GP's (Canada and USGP), and terror car bombs found in London, June has been rather quiet. As for me, I am enjoying the summer weather and loving everything Staten Island has to offer. It's pretty boring here in the winter, but when summer hits, my family and I enjoy the outdoors thoroughly.

THE YANKEES: It appears that this might be the end of the Joe Torre era. The team is doing it's best to have Joe fired. On paper the team is compared to the 1927 Yanks, but on the field, there's no continuity. They showed signs of snapping out of it when they won 9 in a row and then beat the Mets 2 out of 3 at the Stadium, but then came the 9 game roadtrip to play some bad teams (Rockies, Giants, and Orioles), and the Yankees really left an odor in those ballparks winning only one game with another suspended when they had the lead. They pretty much took themselves out of contention. I just hope George allows Torre to finish the year and let him leave with dignity, but if the team keeps losing, then I don't see how George can't cut him loose. That's the business we chose.

FORMULA ONE: Rookie McLaren-Mercedes Phenom Lewis Hamilton contiues a dream rookie season. He finished on the podium in every race this year including his brilliant win in the Canadian GP, and his mastery over Alonso at the USGP. They guy is the real deal at 22. Unbelievable. As for my boys at Ferrari, Felipe Massa is still hanging tough and took Pole for tomorrow's French GP, but he needs to start winning races if he wants to keep pace with Hamilton. As for Kimi Raikkonen, let's just say, he's lost. They guy is not pulling his weight for the Italian marque, and that's being kind.

See you in July!!!!!

THE HOTTEST BAND IN THE WORLD..........

KISS!!!!!!!!!

Let me just say that one of the best things in my childhood was the fact that I was heavily into KISS. I was a member of the KISS ARMY in 1976 and I never forgot the goodies that came with the five dollar membership (8x10's, discography, bios, stickers). I loved all the great rock bands of the era like Floyd, Zep, The Who, but no band had an influence on me like KISS did. I would air guitar to all of Ace Frehley's solos or I'd use my Mom's tennis racket and rip into the ending guitar assault in Deuce complete with KISS choreography. KISS made me want to be a rock star. Although I wound up playing bass later in life, Ace Frehley was one of my favorite rock stars of all time.

I know, I know, they are seriously milking it these days as they push 60, but I still hear they put on a helluva show. But one thing about KISS that was always overlooked (due to their gimmick and stageshow), was their music. KISS' music to me was the reason why I loved them. I saw KISS live 3 times. In 1977 at Nassau Coliseum during the Rock and Roll Over Tour, in 1979 at Madison Square Garden during the Dynasty Tour, and Nassau Mausoleum in 1984 during the Animalize Tour. All three times, they didn't fail to please.

Well, I didn't become a rock star, but I have a good life. But there are times when a KISS song comes into my head, I think back to those days in my living room with the tennis racket, acting out the entire KISS ALIVE album while blowing out my old man's speakers. Those were the days!!!!!

BLACK DIAMOND from 1975 (the Midnight Special)

DETROIT ROCK CITY from 1977 (Live in Japan)

WATCHIN YOU from 1974 (Black and White)

Thank God for youtube

Clete Boyer 1937-2007

BAMBINO: My heartfelt condolences go out to the Boyer family on their loss. The Yankee family and the baseball world lost a member. Cletis Leroy “Clete” Boyer broke into the Major Leagues in 1955 with the Kansas City Athletics without having any Minor League Experience. He was traded to the the Yankees in 1957 and played 3rd Base until 1967 where he finished his career with the Atlanta Braves before retiring after the 1971 season.

His career numbers weren't staggering (.242 AVG 162 HR 654 RBI) but he was the defensive anchor at 3rd base for those great Yankee teams of the late 50's early 60's and would have won Gold Gloves if Brooks Robinson didn't play in the AL. Only until Graig Nettles arrived on the scene in the early '70's did the Yanks have a hot corner guy of Boyer's caliber.

I never saw Clete play, but I always equated his name with baseball. I mean c'mon the name alone, Clete Boyer, says it all. It's a baseball name for sure. It seems like every season now, the Yankees are sporting the "black armband" on their uniform to honor the dearly departed Yanks. There are guys gettin' up there too like Yogi, Scooter, and Whitey. It will be sad days for sure when those greats leave us for Baseball Heaven. Anyway, Rest In Peace Clete. Say hello to the Bambino and the Boys for me!!!

Taking some time off

BAMBINO: I have been busy enjoying the phenomenal weather in NYC over the last week plus have been busy at work so I was not able to post. Since it is summer and I will be outdoors more, I will post like once per week unless events in the world require more.

Ciao for now!

Anti War Movement's Death Throes

BAMBINO: With the "retirement" of Mother Sheehan, the far left's anti America campaign is in a "quagmire". A friend of mine, let's call him Bill, who is a vitriolic anti war person, told me that the Anti War movement never really got off the ground for the Battle of Iraq.

He told me that back in the 60's, the entire movement was for one cause. Stopping the Vietnam War. Now he says, the message is convoluted. "There are too many factions" he tells me. "There's the Grannies Against The War, there's the PETA Nuts, Code Pink, Pro Gay, Anti Christian, Anti Israel, Communists Movements, on and on..." He says that the movement is all over the place and isn't taken seriously because of the mixed agendas.

He relived the days where millions showed up for an anti war protest in DC. Now he sees 20,000 at best and that's with trumped up numbers from the organizers. He sees too much talk and no action. "The Hollywood people aren't helping either." Bill says most Americans are turned off by celebrities spouting anti war stuff then retreating in their private jets to their billion dollar homes.

What to do? He says nothing. Not enough people are tuned in and never will be because of (Bill hates to admit this) American prosperity. Too many people have too many things to do and there's too many distractions to stay focused on one movement. "We didn't have internet, cellphones, cable TV, all we had was the Evening News and print media. We also had the draft. That alone was a rallying cry to the cause."

While Bill is sad that the movement never took hold, he is still proud of the job he did ending the Vietnam War. "Hey, we won one, and lost one. Hopefully next time there is a draft and we will get more numbers that way."

Paging Charles Rangel

McLaren 1-2 at Monaco

BAMBINO: Qualifying is everything at the tight Monaco street circuit. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton took the first two spots on the grid and finished that way. Alonso was hardly challenged other than by Hamilton who is still turning heads with his brilliant rookie start. Fernando cruised his McLaren to his consecutive GP win at the famed street circuit.

Ferrari never really had the grip they needed. Felipe Massa qualified third and finished third and Kimi Raikkonen's clipping of the wall near La Piscine in qualifying put him at the back of grid. Although Kimi did nail down the final points paying spot finishing 8th, he clearly is underacheiving at La Scuderia Ferrari.

One big story is American Scott Speed of Torro Rosso-Ferrari. Speed qualified 20th and finished 9th. He battled the factory Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen for 8th position which will further Ferrari's anxiety. Next up is the Canadian GP.

FINAL RESULTS:

1) Fernando Alonso - McLaren-Mercedes

2) Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes

3) Felipe Massa - Ferrari

4) Giancarlo Fisichella - Renault

5) Robert Kubica - BMW

6) Nick Heidfeld - BMW

7) Alexander Wurz - Williams-Toyota

8) Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari

Yankees 8, Red Sox 3

BAMBINO: While I like Curt Schilling as a Hall of Fame pitcher, as a loyal American, and as a crusader against ALS, I love to see him get tattoed by the Yankees. The Bronx Bombers had their Big Sticks out last night which pummeled Boston for 16 hits. They also got great starting pitching from Andy Pettitte who went 7 innings and gave up only 1 run. Hideki Matsui got them going with a three run blast in the 1st and they never looked back.

Derek Jeter who went 3 for 5, surpassed Joe DiMaggio on the Yankees all time hits list. The Captain is carving out one hell over a Hall of Fame career. The man is brilliant on and off the field. I am grateful as a Yankee fan to have him on my team. Another good sign for the Yanks is Doug Mientkiewicz and Robbie Cano are getting hot. But Bobby Abreu is continuing to struggle at the plate and steadily slipping down the lineup. Is the bench next? Also Kyle Farnsworth is continuing to pitch poorly when called on. He gave up 2 runs in one inning of work. Other than the Ortiz strikeout last year at Fenway where he buckled Big Papi's knees on a nasty slider, I can't recall any greatness from Farnsworth.

The big picture is that the Yanks won a series and have won 3 of 4 and have a bit of momentum. They will get hot soon. There's too much talent for them not to reel off 20 of 24 games even with the pitching woes. On the flipside, the Red Sox are due for a bad stretch and I no doubt believe the two teams will be fighting for the division in late August. Next up for the Yanks is the LA Angels. The Angels are a team that pretty much owned the Yanks over the last 10 years, in fact they are the only team to have a winning record over the Yanks in the Joe Torre era. So the Yanks have their work cut out for them. 2 out of 3 is all they need before heading to Toronto. LET'S GO YANKEES!!!

GAME WRAP:

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/wrap.jsp?ymd=20070523&content_id=1981444&vkey=wrapup2005&fext=.jsp&team=home