Entries from October 2005 ↓

The Yankees made two personnel annoucements today:

General Manager Brian Cashman has agreed to a 3-year $5 million dollar contract to remain GM of the New York Yankees.

Larry Bowa, most recently of ESPN, and formerly the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies, has joined the Yankees as 3rd base coach.

Carling Cup Round Three

Arsenal’s youngsters advanced to the fourth round of the Carling Cup today after defeating Sunderland 3-0 at the Stadium Of Light. Emanuel Eboue opened his Gunners account with the first goal of the game 60 minutes in. Robin VanPersie added a second when he converted a penalty seven minutes later. VanPersie then sealed the deal with a cool finish in the 86th minute to make it 3-0.

From Giants.com:

Wellington Mara, the Giants’ President and Co-Chief Executive Officer who was a vital member of the franchise for every one of its 81 years, a National Football League icon and one of the most beloved and respected figures in professional sports, died today.

Mara peacefully passed away at his home in Rye, N.Y., at 9:26 a.m. He was surrounded by his wife, Ann, his 11 children and their spouses, and many of his 40 grandchildren. He was 89.

Mara is a football legend, and the Giants will never be the same without him. It’s nice to think that the last game he got to see was that great last minute comeback over the Broncos.

Rest in Peace Mr. Mara.

I’m home sick today, and was awoken by the midi tones of U2’s “The Fly” - Wooly was calling. Apparently, 94 WYSP in Philadelphia, a rock station for as long as I can remember, has now become “FreeFM”, an all-talk station.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports:

David Lee Roth to replace Stern; Barsky back

By Michael Klein

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Rock-and-roller David Lee Roth will replace morning-radio giant Howard Stern on WYSP-FM (94.1) and at least six other cities, Infinity Broadcasting announced this morning as it also rehired Philly radio veteran Paul Barsky to host middays with Vinnie the Crumb.

Stern’s last live show will be Dec. 16 as he heads to Sirius Satellite Radio in January.

Roth will start at 6 a.m. Jan. 3.

With today’s announcement, WYSP and six other Infinity stations changed format to “Free FM,” a personality-based talk hybrid.

WYSP will be talk-based from 6 a.m. through 7 p.m. and will play rock at other times.

Today also marks the return to Philadelphia of Barsky, last heard here in November 2003 when the station at 96.5 FM changed format. His show will run from about 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sports guy Vinnie the Crumb, a Barsky protege who later was heard on WMMR-FM (93.3), will be part of the show.

Kidd Chris, a recent arrival at WYSP, will take the 3-to-7 p.m. slot.

Other veterans will remain in the rock portion of the schedule: Couzin Ed will move to 7 to 10 p.m. Matt and Huggy will move to 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Overnighter Rick Allen will keep 2 to 6 a.m.

WYSP also brought in as operations manager Tom Bigby, former program director at WIP-AM (610). Bigby had spent a year at a station in Dallas.

WYSP also promoted assistant program director Gil Edwards to program director.

Infinity, which carries Stern in 27 markets, will put Roth on the air at Stern affiliates in New York, Dallas, Boston, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and West Palm Beach, and Philadelphia.

Radio and television personality Adam Carolla (”The Man Show”) will take Stern’s slot in Los Angeles.

Now, admittedly, I don’t listen to much radio anymore, thanks to my iPod, but when I do, I’m much more likely to listen to the other rock station in Philly, 93.3 WMMR, or one of the public radio stations, 88.5 WXPN, or WHYY 91 FM.

While I haven’t listened to WYSP in years, I do find it sad that rock stations are a dying breed. I suppose with the rise of satellite radio, it’s all just a matter of time before FM goes the way of AM.

What a finish! With no time left on the clock, Eli Manning hit Amani Toomer on a 2-yard pass to score the winning touchdown over a very good Denver Bronco team.

Arsene Wenger can celebrate his 56th birthday with a win, but it was definitely a strange one, as Arsenal barely beat Man Citeh 1-0.

Even with Thierry Henry leading the side, the Gunners seemed to be misfiring as it were. Citeh were able to match them for the majority of the match. However, Arsenal earned two penalties during the second half, one which earned them the three points, and the second which will live on in infamy.

Having already converted a spot kick in the 60th minute to give the Gunners the lead, Robert Pires stepped up to the spot with about 12 minutes left after Dennis Bergkamp had been knocked down in the box.

What happened next has left many an observer scratching their heads. Pires kicked the ball with the lightest of touches, seemingly attempting to set up Thierry Henry with a pass that would send him in on goal. While techinically legal, it is highly irregular. To make matters worse - the ball didn’t move! Pires had touched it with such trepidition that the ball rolled ever-so-slightly before settling back into the divet created at the penalty spot. Referre Mike Riley awarded a free kick to Man City, and that was that.

Well, almost. City nearly made Pires and Henry pay for their cheek with what looked to be an equalizing goal just minutes from time. The goal was disallowed for offside, and I doubt that anyone breathed a bigger sigh of relief than the two Frenchman.

After the match, birthday boy Wenger tried to explain things:

“Disbelief. What is terrible is it will be interpreted as a lack of seriousness and respect but I think it is because he is too serious.

He decided to do that because he was a bit insecure about taking the second penalty because it has never happened to him and he was scared to miss it.

We got away with it because we won the game. I feel the intention of Robert was not a lack of seriousness. It was just a wrong and a bad decision.

If it had been 1-1…we’d have made a big mistake by not taking our second chance on the penalty.”

Well, I suppose I should be pleased with the three points earned, but it was hardly convincing. ManUre and Sp*rs drew 1-1 today, so that’s two points gained on both sets of scum.

Arsenal next take the pitch on Tuesday in a third-round Carling Cup match against Sunderland up at the Stadium of Light. Arsene will most likely field a team filled with youth players, which means that we’ll have a great opportunity to see the strike pairing of Arturo Lupoli and Nicholas Bendtner, who are showing more promise every day. Kickoff is @ 2:45 PM ET.