I've often wondered if the stigma that surrounds the New York Yankees has more to do with its history or with its owner, George Steinbrenner. Honestly, how many professional team owners have the ability to overshadow their team, even if they have 26 World Championships. It seems as though Steinbrenner may have done such a good job of overshadowing his team, that he single handedly "managed" his team to an early exit in this year's playoffs. I wonder if the Yankees players felt any extra pressure to "win one for the skipper?" And I also wonder if Joe Torre felt any extra pressure, knowing his "Boss" had just gave him an ultimatum; either win the Series, or find another job.

New York fans have had more than just a baseball team to cheer for over the years. They've had the longest running soap opera in history. Who can ever forget the Babe Ruth "call", as he pointed to the sky, and promptly sent the next pitch into orbit. And who can ever forget the homerun chase between Micky Mantle and Roger Maris, which was ultimately won by the underdog Maris. The Yankee fans still weren't happy.

Now it's 1973. CBS, who owns the Yanks is selling to a couple of business gurus. Enter George Steinbrenner. This was the beginning of one of the most notorious love/hate relationships in professional sports. Who can ever forget the ongoing soap opera between Steinbrenner and Billy Martin. Billy Martin was either fired, or he resigned, on five different occasions under Steinbrenner. In 1990, George was banned from baseball "for life" following a gambling allegation. This came as a pleasant surprise to Yankee fans, who hadn't seen a competitive Yankee team in almost a decade. However, after only three years, he was reinstated under the condition that he would allow the Yankees farm system to work for them, rather than trading away younger talent for overly expensive veterans. In 1995, that young talent, got the Yanks to the playoffs for the first time in many years. That began a string of four World Championships and 13 straight trips to the playoffs, all under the direction of Joe Torre.

So you can imagine what Joe Torre must have felt when he "heard" that George Steinbrenner had told the media that the Yanks needed to win the World Series in order for him to keep his job. But that wasn't enough. Instead of firing Torre after their loss to the Indians, Steinbrenner decided to make Joe a one year offer, which would reduce his salary by more than $2,000,000. Yes, you heard me correctly. Rather than "man up" and just fire Torre, George decided to insult him by offering him something he knew he would reject. This is the thanks Joe Torre gets for bringing the Yankees from the depths and making them the most feared and successful team in baseball.

There are those who are just classless, and there are those who are just cowards. Well, George, you've managed to show us you can be both. And in the words of Kevin Costner in his film "For Love Of The Game", "I can't think of a better reason not to be a Yankee!" You got that right Kevin. Thanks George, you've just reminded us how truly messed up professional sports is today. Who will you jerk around next, COWARD!!!

I know I know.....haven't we heard enough about Mikey V and the dogfighting?  Well, it appears as though one prominent actress isn't quite finished "expressing her opinion" on the matter.  While a guest on "The View" yesterday, Whoopi Goldberg stated her support for Vick by saying, "He's from the South, from the Deep South ... This is part of his cultural upbringing,".....ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!  She also said, "For a lot of people, dogs are sport," Goldberg said on the show. "Instead of just saying (Vick) is a beast and he's a monster, this is a kid who comes from a culture where this is not questioned."

http://www.ktu.com/pages/WMVControversy.html?feed=213636&article=2599724

Hmmm...the deep south?  So Virginia is the deep south? 

Hmmm...so it's okay that Vick did what he did because it is a cultural thing?

Hmmm...I thought dogfighting was ILLEGAL!!! 

Hey Whoopi...wasn't racism once a cultural thing in the south...does that mean it's okay to be a racist too?

Hey Whoopi...attended any dog fights lately?  Hey Whoopi...ever heard the screams of dogs being tortured?

I wonder if Whoopi would have had the same to say if it were Peyton Manning who had been caught instead of Mikey V.  Just a thought!!

Really?  Is anyone surprised that the NAACP is just now getting involved?  I think everyone needs to read this article from CNN.  If you're not as appalled by what Mr. White had to say in this article than I am...then I give up. 

"White also said he didn't understand the uproar over dogfighting, when hunting deer and other animals is perfectly acceptable."

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

If you agree with Mr. White, I'm saddened by your obvious bias.  If you cannot see the difference in torturing dogs and hunting deer, you need to be examined for a loose lugnut, Mr. White included.  Not to mention the fact that Mr. White feels that Vick should not be treated any different than any other NFL player who has made mistakes.  Didn't I read somewhere where Vick lied to Mr. Goodell, the Falcons, and to a judge when he pleaded "not guilty"?  How is that not perjury, by the way?  That's about all I got to say about that.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/08/22/vick/index.html

I must preclude this post by saying the first four paragraphs, and the last paragraphs are my own.  The "Star Spangled Banner" and the supporting paragraphs in between are not to my credit.  I received that content in an email from a great friend of mine.  If you would like that email, please feel free to leave your email address in your comments here, or email me at mattfaw@gmail.com.  Thanks.

The playing of the Star Spangled Banner has long been a tradition at our American sporting events.  It is one of the few songs that bonds all Americans who cherish our freedom here in this great land.  We look forward to standing in unison, before our major sporting events, and singing along to those words that represent our freedoms and our culture.  It is one of the few times where Americans come together in mass, no matter what political party we are associated with, and agree in unison to sing the song that represents our great nation.

In recent times, we have been confronted with issues in this country, regarding "God" being used in our schools and in our public venues.  As a young boy growing up in North Carolina, we would stand in our classroom and recite the Pledge of Allegiance "one nation, under God" with no hesitation.  Songs such as "God Bless America" were sang at gatherings.  No one complained, and if anyone didn't want to join in the "festivities", they weren't persecuted.  Prayers were offered before high school games by a local minister.  No one kicked you out of the stadium if you decided not to join in the prayer, and you lived to see another day.  Well, it appears as though those days are over.

Our country is being picked apart by special interest groups who have taken their individualistic views and desires straight to the top.  It is becoming a nation where our Constitution is being twisted and turned into nothing more than a "I have rites" document.  Don't get me wrong, this country was set up in such a way that the intentions were to do away with religious persecution.  Our country is now a melting pot for all of the world's major religions.  However, it has also become a melting pot for the minorities.  And I'm not talking about race.  I'm talking about ideals and lifestyles.  Unfortunately, we are headed in a direction that is seeing the minority rule, as opposed to the majority.  Our legal system has been abused in such a way, that it makes it almost impossible for the majority to rule in many cases. 

This leads me to the idea behind my post.  Our National Anthem actually has four verses to it.  Although all we hear is the first verse, which doesn't mention God, God is mentioned in other verses.  When Francis Scott Key wrote these great words to this great song, he was watching on as the British Navy was bombarding Fort McHenry.  In the distance, Francis Scott Key could see the American Flag flying over the fort.  His song describes the bombardment, and the subsequent results.  Here are the words to this great song....

"  Oh say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
   What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
   Whose broad stripes and bright stars,through                the perilous fight,
   O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
   And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air ,
   Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
   Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
   O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

(Ramparts, in case you don't know, are the protective walls or other elevations that surround a fort.) The first stanza asks a question. The second gives an answer:

   On the shore, dimly seen thro' the mist of the deep
   Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
   What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep.
   As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
   Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
   In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream
   Tis the star-spangled banner. Oh! long may it wave
   O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

"The towering steep" is again, the ramparts. The bombardment has failed, and the British can do nothing more but sail away, their mission a failure.  In the third stanza I feel Key allows himself to gloat over the American triumph. In the aftermath of the bombardment, Key probably was in no mood to act otherwise? During World War I when the British were our staunchest allies, this third stanza was not sung.  However, I know it, so here it is:

   And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
   That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
   A home and a country should leave us no more?
   Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution.
   No refuge could save the hireling and slave
   From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave,
   And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
   O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

(The fourth stanza, a pious hope for the future, should be sung more slowly than the other three and with even deeper feeling):

   Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
   Between their loved homes and the war's desolation,
   Blest with victory and peace, may the Heaven - rescued land
   Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
   Then conquer we must, for our cause is just,
   And this be our motto --"In God is our trust."
   And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
   O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I hope you will look at the national anthem with new eyes. Listen to it, the next time you have a chance, with new ears. Pay attention to the words.  And don't let them ever take it away ... not even one word of it.

And oh yeah, if you don't want to be around when it is played, show up a few minutes late to the game, or wear your headphones.  And no, the majority should not be the one's wearing the headphones...after all, this country is set up to be ruled  by the majority...right? 

As I was driving home from a weekend of reserve duty at Camp Lejeune, NC, I had about five hours to reflect on my life, and the events that have shaped it over the past 15 years.  Life is a complicated thing.  From the time we enter this world, to the time we leave it, we are nothing but pawns in a chess game called life.  In fact, when you really sit back and think about your life, it is actually one gigantic illusion.  The present slips away in the blink of an eye, quickly becoming the past.  The only thing we have to hold on to are our memories of those moments. 

With this in mind, I felt it necessary to post a blog that might just give us some of those old memories to ponder.  And what better memories do we have here on the Fox Blogs...than those of sports.  I will be looking specifically at the years between 1993 and 1996...as those years will lead into the message of my blog.  However, don't be surprised if I don't throw some actual life experiences in there along with the sports. 

1993 was quite a year in my life.  As a teenager, I had attended a church camp on the coast of North Carolina during our summers off from school.  It had been my dream to one day be a "staffer" at this camp.  After all, those staffers were my heroes during those years.  Well, after applying in the spring of 93 for a summer job at this camp, I was accepted...yee haw!!!!  My Tar Heels had just won the NCAA Basketball National Championship, and Davey Allison was burning up NASCAR as an up and coming driver.  Little did we know that he would end up leaving us all too soon when his helicopter crashed that summer....and we may very well have lost one of the greatest NASCAR drivers of all time, if he only would have had the chance!!  With this being said, that was the best summer of my life...as you will see later.

1994 brought another summer as a "staffer"...and who could ever forget the OJ Simpson saga!!!! Although we wouldn't learn for another year what his fate would be, we all were left bewildered and appalled at what he had likely done.  Baseball ended early that summer, as the players went on strike.  Jeff Bagwell was on his way to a possible triple crown, until the almighty dollar reared its ugly head!!!

1995 brought, you guessed it, another summer as a "staffer".  Although it was a slightly shortened season, due to the strike, my Atlanta Braves won their one and only World Series that fall.  And I can't mention 1995 without remembering those who lost their lives in the Oklahoma City bombings.  And we will never forget the heroes who likely saved as many as died. 

1996...yes...okay, one last summer as a "staffer".  And who will ever forget Kerri Strug's heroics on the U.S. Women's Gymnastics team that took home the team gold.  She had sprained her ankle earlier in the competition, and yet was able to suffer through the pain, and pull off a miracle for U.S. again!!!  On a downer, however, my North Wilkesboro Speedway would lose its races after 1996.  It still sits there empty...with the ghosts of the past still being heard from time to time...if the wind is blowing just right!!

From there I would go on to get a Master's Degree at Campbell University.  I would then join the military during its most turbulent times in over 30 years.  I would see two combat tours and lose three of my buddies in the process. 

This all leads me back to 1993.  As I sat at the gate of the camp where I was working, I can remember feeling the warm coastal breeze in my face.  I remember a car pulling up to the gate, with a man and his wife, both in their 30's, wanting to make a round through the camp.  He was a former "staffer", who had worked there during the early 80's.  He said to me, "you better make the most of these days, for they will be the best of your life...and they will pass quickly."  And of course, being the cocky 20 year old that I was, I thought to myself...." Whatever dude...these days will last forever...and I will stay young forever!"  That was 14 years ago...and I'm now 34.

Next weekend, two of my old buddies and I will be taking a road trip to visit this old church camp.  They were two of my closest "staffer" buddies during those years.  We have since gone our separate ways, each of us choosing our own paths.  However, we have remained close over the years...and I can honestly call them my brothers.  I'm very excited about seeing this place again....which has a strong nostalgic pull.  And yet I find myself equally as excited about what the next 15 years will bring in my life. 

Sports is something that keeps us young.  It keeps us close.  And as heroes grow older, and eventually fade, young heroes will simply take their place, and keep sports on the tips of our tongues, and at our fingertips.  Keep blogging my brothers and sisters.  And remember, the NOW is already gone!!!