Greetings from Gate 26
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Aug 11, 2008 
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Here we are at the A.C. Green International Airport in Los Angeles waiting for a red-eye flight to Minneapolis.
The life of a beat writer is an exciting one, let me tell you. I’m sitting on the floor (so I can plug in my PowerBook and charge my iPod) and drinking a medium-sized Diet Coke that cost $3.13.
I’m also sitting about seven feet from a sign that says “This Area Contains Chemicals Known To The State of California To Cause Cancer And Birth Defects Or Other Reproductive Harm.”
So why don’t I move? Because the damn signs are posted every 10 feet or so. So you have two choices: take a train or risk cancer.
However, the drive to LAX was delightful. I hate traffic in New York but California traffic never bothers me for some reason. There’s always a nice breeze. Plus I had my iPod plugged and and was listening to my California playlist. It’s loaded up with NWA, Tupac, Dr. Dre, Warren Zevon and Tom Petty so I’m sure I lookeed like a complete moron driving along singing Let Me Ride and Desperados Under The Eaves.
I’ve driven in and out of LAX probably 50 times in my life for assorted reasons. It always reminds of the great 1995 Michael Mann film Heat when DeNiro’s character, Neil McCauley, stops at a hotel near LAX to pump a couple of bullets into Waingro, who had been a member of his crew before crossing him.
If you’ve never seen it, I highly recommend it. DeNiro, Al Pacino, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, a young Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd. Tremendous film. It was essentially the last time Pacino was any good. Now he’s the same character in every movie he makes, the guy who yells.
As for the Yankees, I’m fresh out of stuff to report to you. Your squad’s in trouble, but you knew that already. Unless they figure it out pretty soon, Sept. 21 will be closing time at Yankee Stadium.
Thanks for reading all weekend. Check back later reports from Minnesota.
Our team may stink, but we got the greatest beat writer/blogger in the league.
So we got that going for us.
HEY guys its mary mary from the bronx!
“It was essentially the last time Pacino was any good. Now he’s the same character in every movie he makes, the guy who yells.”
Really Pete? What about Donnie Brasco or Any Given Sunday?
And of course you are also forgetting Insomnia. Most people haven’t seen it, but Al is quite good along with Robin Williams. Not to mention it’s directed by Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight). I highly recommend it.
Tupac and Tom Petty should never be used in the same sentence. Not that either of them suck, but they are polar opposites.
Pacino was brilliant in The Insider which came after Heat.
donnie brasco and the insider.. both after heat and both great.. the rest are garbage.
Pacino’s been coasting since about 1978. Not a fan.
I hated Insomnia and Any Given Sunday
Pete, title for the next book…”Greetings from Gate 28…”
How about the old who’s the greatest of our generation, Pacino or DeNiro? to take our minds off these miserable schlubs?
The complete lack of any sense of urgency from this team is startling to me, and I think it comes from above.
I get no sense of urgency from Girardi OR the front office, and the team seems to feed on that.
That it looks now as if Darrell Rasner will get the start on Wednesday (unless he has to be used on Monday or Tuesday) is just the latest example of the laissez-faire approach.
Hughes is supposed to be ready to throw 85 pitches… The Yankees have been RAVING about his rehab work and his lost fastball appears to have been found… But we feel we’re better off giving Darrell freakin’ RASNER another go???
It’s the middle of AUGUST!
Joe Girardi keeps saying, “we have to start winning games.” But most of the moves he and the organization make suggests they could not give a damn whether they win or not.
Speaking of Girardi: How many more times does he plan on making the same mistake with Rivera in non-save situations before he recognizes the pattern???
And how many more times does he have to do it before one of the people covering this team finaly asks that question???
Northwest Airlines Pete ???? Saw you in the pressbox today..Notice you and your collegue mimicing that hump K-Rod….Don’t care for that dude’s act…..
This team is quite baffling. I am hoping we just kind of ‘blow it up’ this off-season, because this team won’t ever get anything done.
Pacino was also great in the movie of the year: 88 Minutes.
/sarcasm
Seriously, why did I waste 10 dollars on that….
Wait, pete, was the coke you were drinking diet or regular? I personally prefer regular. More sugar the better.
T-Mic, they won’t blow it up. We are getting rid of 88+ mil off the salary and we could add Tex and CC.
That sounds like fun, don’t get cancer. And nice playlist.
“Wait, pete, was the coke you were drinking diet or regular? I personally prefer regular. More sugar the better.”
Nah, Dr. Pepper > Coca Cola.
You guys are all showing your age. This is the Pepsi generation.
Besides, Moose was the Pepsi Clutch player of the month.
What’s your name?
Waingro.
Get in
“Any Given Sunday”? Maybe the worst movie of the past 10 years…
If the yanks can just “flip a switch”I right nowd be a good time.
Why is kevin long still an employee?
Pacino was the yelling guy in Heat too Pete.
His scene with Hank Azaria when he was talking about Ashley Judd’s rear end
His scene yelling at the black guy in the chop shop
His scene in the Long Beach scrap yard where Deniro was taking pictures of him from the roof.
Bob (The Original),
You said it. Pete is a champion day in, day out.
Now, if only our guys could pull it together. Better question is if they really want to — where’s the fire?
Wangawa,
Yep, that was a horrible film.
T-Mic, they won’t blow it up. We are getting rid of 88+ mil off the salary and we could add Tex and CC.
CC yes, Tex can take a hike
I agree Brandon.
CC should be top priority. Not a 1B when we’ve got Posada who probably won’t be able to catch until next July.
Perhaps the Yanks should consider moving Cano to the Dodgers in a deal that would get Matt Kemp in return.
It would take more than just Cano to get Kemp since his value has plummeted this season, but the Dodgers need a second baseman next season with the retiring Jeff Kent and they already have two outfielders too many.
Now it is true that Matt Kemp does strike out more than his share, but so does Grady Sizemore and there’s no Yankee fan who wouldn’t want him on this team.
Cano would have a change of scenery and be united with Torre and his mentor Larry Bowa.
Kemp could move to CF and let Nady play RF while letting Abreu walk. He could then move to RF when Austin Jackson is ready to take over in CF.
Seems like a deal that would make a lot of sense for both teams. I sure hope Cashman reads this blog.
Looks like it is stubhub for September 21….I was banking on a playoff game to attend…only question is how I am going to gather the money?
“It would take more than just Cano to get Kemp since his value has plummeted this season”
no, it wouldn’t.
pete,
couldn’t agree more with you about heat.
i love that movie so much that it’s gotten to the point that people around me watch it with an extra critical eye because i praise it so much.
to me, michael mann is one of the best directors going and he really shows it with this film, which is my all-time favorite along with apocalypse now.
hopefully, you’re not driving like pacino in that scene where he gets dropped off by the copter to chase down deniro.
my bet is that would net a hefty ticket.
anyway, all the best on the road trip. the yanks need it, but somehow, it doesn’t seem like our season.
Yankees need to fire Giradi.
I know injuries. And I like him. But the way the team is playing in the middle of August 8 1/2 games out makes being a die hard fan sickening.
What do you guys think ?
Pete, Pete, Pete, please…..I insist you toss out your I-POD and start new. That music alone could be given off some bad vibes.
does anyone think that maybe since Posada is getting his surgery and such that the Yankees will pick up Pudge for next year? And do you think they’d do what it takes to actually sign him? I’m sure he could command years and money from any number of teams.
Pete,
Heat was a great movie. As far as I know, the only movie with DeNiro and Pacino together since. I could not wait to see who would get top billing; DeNiro or Pacino? Mann solved that by placing their names side-by-side, if I recall correctly, in alphabetical order. Insomina was also good. Checkout The Professional w/Natalie Portmann…Gary Oldmann is an odd duck.
I’ve never gotten that “sense of urgency” thing… Knowledgeable baseball people will tell you that “trying harder” or being “fired up” doesn’t help — being in the right frame of mind, which might be different for each individual, improves play. Teams get fired up or have great “chemistry” or “loose clubhouses” when they win, not the other way around… I think what people hate is bad at-bats and bad pitching performances that give the impression that a team is not “trying hard enough” or not working hard. I still love this team and will root for them through the last out of the last game, but maybe it’s just not good enough to win this year…
There is nothing like that scene in the coffee shop with Deniro and Pacino sitting face to face. The meeting of the godfathers. One of my favorite movies ever!
Peter: I guess you’ve never watched the Showtime (HBO?) production of “Angels in America.”
Before you slam Al Pacino again, you ought to.
Guiseppe Franco
August 11th, 2008 at 3:41 am
Perhaps the Yanks should consider moving Cano to the Dodgers in a deal that would get Matt Kemp in return.
———————————————————————-
You have got to be kidding. If you’re not kidding, you’re just nuts.
Cano has been hitting at a .350 pace for, like, two months now. And he is not what’s been wrong with the Yankees this year. And Kemp wouldn’t fix the team.
Substitute healthy, productive Jorge Posada+Hideki Matsui for whoever they’ve gotten as replacements and you’d have seen a HUGE increase in offense. Find a healthy #3 and reliable #4 and #5 starters and you’d have seen a major improvement in the starting rotation. Put those two factors together and the yankees would have a .600+ winning percentage this year.
The team is too old. Trading away a 25 year-old doesn’t make any sense at all.
Oh, and one more thing, Peter. . .the chemicals those signs were referring to may well have been aspartame.
Those diet cokes are going to kill you. And it doesn’t look like drinking that crap is helping you lose weight, anyway.
Aspartame=neurotoxin=slow death. Consider yourself informed.
For the first time in as many years as I can remember, I’m about ready to throw in the towel. The only thing that stops me is that the Sawx sans the Manram, look almost as bad as we do, so the wildcard is really open….provided that Joe G. wakes up and realizes that some guys really do not know how to play, or if they do, just don’t give a damn. Joe G., whom I do like and believe is, or will be, n excellent manager, must come to recognize that each position on the field is distinct and instinctual, well-honed by each individual through years of experience….a man for all positions does not really do it other than in times of emergency. Betamit proved that yesterday. If Joe continues in the same fashion, look for the “Clueless Joe” moniker to be revived. Joe’s postgame comments(“I’d have to look at the replay to see what happened..”) was silly. It was clear to anyone that Betamit went to cover first on a ball that was clearly his…ask Mo….and Cano simply gave up..I would bet your last dollar that Pedroia would have been stretched out on a dive for it, as would most 2Bs worth a salt.
HEY PETE I HOPE YOU READ THIS. I JUST SAW YOU ON OTL FIRST REPORT. I APPRECIATE THE GREAT WORK YOU DO. THANKS FOR THE TIME DEDICATED TO THIS PATHETIC YANKEES TEAM OF 2008.
Heat was a great movie- in part because of everyone who was in it- you had Hank Azaria, Dennis Haysbert (aka President Palmer/aka Cerrano), Amy Brenneman as DeNiro’s squeeze, Ted Levine (Buffalo BIll from “Silence of the Lambs”), William Fichtner who has been in every conceivable film since 1993 (now on Prison Break), Henry Rollins, Tone Luc and Xander Berkley (he played George, the head of CTU in season 2 of 24).
Plus, some tunes by Moby (check out the cd- “I Like to Score” by Moby, best rendition of the James Bond theme, ever.
However, I think Collateral does a better job of catching LA- love the scene where Tom Cruise is walking to kill the guy in the apartment and the shot has Cruise on the left of the screen and the skyline to the right- Michael Mann is a master.
Speaking of ensemble casts- Copland.
Hate LAX, try Burbank, way better.
DIET COKE???? IT’S NOT WORKING FOR YOU PETE
Nobody drives from Burbank to Anaheim unless you’re high on crack.