Binghamton Goes Dancing!

As a proud graduate of Binghamton University, I did what every other graduate of a school that has never been to the big dance does: I went back to school for the conference championship game.

I went up on Friday night for the 11:00 am Saturday game and was surprised to see the enthusiasm of the students in preparation for the game.  At about midnight, me and a couple friends journeyed to campus and saw a line of tents from the door of the Events Center stretching back a good distance.  Binghamton has never been a place where school spirit is in full swing, so to see the excitement was awesome.

For a little background, Binghamton has never been to the NCAA tournament in basketball.  When the school hosted the conference tournament my junior year, a bunch of friends and I tailgated in an empty parking lot in front of the Events Center at about 9am for our noon or 1pm game.  Empty.  When the coach came in, he even came over to tell us he was impressed by our little shindig.  To go from there to a line of tents was a great thing for the school.

Students would brave the below freezing temperatures that night to get on line to be in front row of the student section, the “BU Zoo” with a chance to be on TV (the game was broadcast on ESPN2 for probably the first nationally televised game in school history).

The game itself was awesome and as time ran down my friends and I stormed the court with hundreds of other people.  I watched the team cut the nets down at the Events Center (along with the President of the school and the mayor of Binghamton, who was outside his jurisdiction since the school is actually in Vestal).  That was one of the coolest sporting events I have ever seen in person.

What I will take away from this weekend, aside from the big win and the school’s first ever NCAA tournament appearance, is the dramatic rise in school spirit.  Binghamton is now a national name (the game was available in 110 million homes) and the students couldn’t be more proud to call Binghamton their home.  I have always hung my diploma with pride and I hope this causes more students, past, present, and future, to appreciate their school.

Sunday night, the Binghamton Bearcats drew a #15 seed and will face Duke in North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Top 10 Players I Want on the Yanks

So because of the controversy over Alex Rodriguez’s latest compliment of another player, I’ve decided to list the top 10 players I would like to have on the Yankees.

The media should note that I am not taking any shots at any current Yankees, just window-shopping.

• Hanley Ramirez, SS, Marlins
• David Wright, 3B, Mets
• Grady Sizemore, CF, Indians
• Chase Utley, 2B, Phillies
• David Price, SP, Rays
• Albert Pujols, 1B, Cardinals
• Tim Lincecum, SP, Giants
• Cole Hamels, SP, Phillies
• Evan Longoria, 3B Rays
• Nick Markakis, RF, Orioles

If you take note, all of these players are on the young side.  In fact, I think Utley is the oldest, having just turned 30 in December.  I tried to pick someone for every position, but couldn’t get a catcher onto this list above any of the guys already here.  Russell Martin or Brian McCann would be my choices for catchers.  I took three pitchers and Lincecum is the only righty among them.  Price, while unproven, is a very young lefty who pitched well in the big games he appeared in last year.  Time will tell what he does this year in a full year in the bigs.  Longoria is the same way, but I think these guys are can’t miss.  I’d be thrilled to have any of these 10 players on the Yanks just because I think they’re very talented and very good.  If I had to take one… that’s a good question.  You can build a team around any one of these guys, but I think I’d take David Wright.  He does it all and he does it all pretty well.

No Yankee occupying one of these positions should take offense to this list.  Just like A-Rod.

Manny Finally Signs… for the Original Offer

On November 14, 2008, just as baseball’s hot stove was about to heat up, the Dodgers offered Manny Ramirez a two-year deal with $45 million with an option for a third year.  Manny’s agent, Scott Boras, responded by saying “on behalf of Manny Ramirez, we will, for the first time, begin accepting serious financial offers on Friday.”

While Boras and Ramirez had visions of a four-year $100 million contract, the market for outfielders (specifically 36 year old outfielders) wasn’t really fertile enough where teams ran to Manny’s door.  While teams like the Angels and Yankees flirted with the idea of Ramirez wearing their uniform, offers from other clubs never materialized, despite Boras’ assurances that there were a number of clubs interested in Ramirez.  For the Yanks, once they signed Mark Teixeira, there was no chance Manny was coming to the Bronx.

So for the second year in a row, it looks like Boras overplayed his hand and tried to have one team outbid itself.  The same thing happened with A-Rod, as he opted out of his contract during the 2007 World Series.  This year, as Manny re-signs with LA for their original “not serious” financial offer, how effective is Boras in getting his top clients more money?  Has he lost his edge and how does this effect his reputation?