The Yankees are many things to many people. But they are not “Rocky” to anybody. And so when the Bombers insist on showing trite movie clips of Rocky or Rudy on the videoboard, it just doesn’t work – even when they’re trying to overcome a five-run deficit, as they nearly did on Tuesday night against the Rangers.
You can’t have a $200 million-plus payroll and be Rocky. In fact, you’re more like Apollo Creed or the killer Russian guy, Drago.
Instead of adopting such nonsense, the Yanks should revel in their overdog image. They should embrace the bully within. I suggest a very different piece for the scoreboard: an old short by Marv Newland, “Bambi versus Godzilla.” It works even better if Hideki Matsui is at bat.
I’m greatly disheartened to discover the U.S. Tennis Association still insists on investigating the journalists who apply to cover a simple two-week tournament. Although I have never signed a waiver allowing such an investigation, other reporters have been forced to do so or forfeit accreditation (which is what happened to me back in 2002).
Here is the waiver that reporters are supposed to sign:
“I, the undersigned, hereby authorize the release to the United States criminal justice ageny(ies) conducting the security clearance process… any and all records, whether public, private or confidential, concerning me and/or my background with respect to my driver’s history, criminal history, or warrant or arrest history (including any complaints or charges against me), which may be in the possession of any local, state, federal or national entity…”
It goes on, in Dick Cheney fashion, to demand military service, personnel and employment records. This is all ridiculous stuff. No other sports event – not the Olympics or the World Cup – demands such permission for access to personal files. And while writers are being investigated, hundreds of thousands of anonymous fans simply walk through the gates in Flushing Meadows and get just as close to the players as do the reporters. That, more than anything, is what renders the whole process irrational and punitive.
What’s next for us? Waterboarding?
