Over the River and Through the Woods...

Yes you know how the song goes. On Wednesday morning, Samantha, Jay and I will be heading over the river...welll a few...three large ones...the Connecticut, Hudson and Delaware to grandmothers house for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Our family is gathering at Grandma's house in Lancaster County for the Thanksgiving holiday. Originally, i was not going to attend, but my wonderful wife literally told me to go and take the kids to see the family. She will remain behind and pick up the workload in my absence.

It will be a nice time together. Some of my family have never met my children and I don't think we have all been together in a very long time. For that reason, Elaine pushed me to go.

It should be a fun trip in the car with two kids. We will play the alphabet game, point out landmarks as we cross the Hudson River at the Tappan Zee, and point out some lighthouses, etc along the way.

This will probably be my last entry until I return. There is no wireless internet at Grandma's house or the motel we are staying in, but thats okay spending time with family will be great. I just hope my kids are on their best behavior!

A-Rod is Back!

While it isn't official yet, it does appear that the greatest active player in all of baseball will remain a Yankee for the duration of his great career.

I must say, I was upset and angry at the 3rd baseman of the Yankees when his agent pulled that coup de tat during the clinching game of the World Series. My attitude was, "take the money and run."

There is a flip side to this story though. A-Rod since he was 16, has had his uber-agent, Scott Boras as a father figure, and that is not necessarily a good thing. Scott Boras has not been good for the business of baseball. He is manipulative to both team management and his clients.

On a recent show on 1050 AM New York, radio/tv host, Michael Kay asked Scott Boras what he would have to do if he hired Boras as an agent. Boras' answer was, "turn all control of your life to me."

It is clear that A-Rod was merely a puppet for Boras with Boras holding the strings. The good news is, for the first time in his career, Alex stood up to Boras and said, "I am making my own decision." Alex then reached out to the Yankee ownership through a third party intermediary. He expressed his desire to remain a Yankee. It appears that his sincereirty is genuine and that he negotiated his new deal with Boras strictly as an advisor not chief negotiator.

As a Yankee, Alex will have baseball immortality. When he breaks the home run record whoever happens to be the caretaker of that record at the time (Aaron or Bonds in light of recent events), he will do so as Yankee. His number will be retired, a monument will be erected and he will enter Cooperstown as a New York Yankee. He will be uttered in the same breath as Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle and other baseball greats.

I am looking forward to chanting his name during the Roll Call when I am indoctrinated into the Bleacher Creatures of the right field bleachers in Yankee Stadium this year. A-Rod, A-Rod, A-Rod!

A-Rod...its good to have you back!