The last time Lower Manhattan witnessed a ticker tape parade, it was a different era. Bill Clinton was closing out his presidency, and in the buildup to a hotly-contested election, the Yankees had just beaten the Mets in a Subway Series. The parade through the Canyon of Heroes ran in the shadows of the city’s tallest buildings.
Now, here we are in 2008 and finally — finally — another parade. Yet again, we’re on the precipice of an election day — and if you live in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut or any other Super Tuesday state, go vote. The towers are gone, but the spirit of the city will be out in full force later today when Eli Manning, David Tyree, Plaxico Burress, Justin Tuck, Amani Toomer, Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora and the rest of the Giants will nail Tom Brady for a decisive ten-yard sack bask in the glow of an unlikely Super Bowl win.
Once the parade ends and after the Giants receive their praise from the lips of Mayor and potential presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, New York’s attention will turn to baseball. Forget the Rangers and the 14-34 Knicks. In nine days, pitchers and catchers officially report to Tampa. Most of them are already enjoying the Florida sun, and a lot of the Yankee youngsters have taken three bullpen sessions. But still we fixate on Feb. 14 when life starts the six-week march to its rebirth on Opening Day.
And that, my friends, is where you come in. With ten days to go before camp opens and a few more weeks before the games begin, the baseball news cycle is drawing to a close. A whole group of mediocre free agents and Barry Bonds remain unsigned, but after the Eric Bedard trade is mercifully completed tomorrow and Brian Roberts heads to Chicago this weekend, the wheeling and dealing will be through. That still leaves us with some time before we start obsessing over every move Joe Girardi makes and bemoaning Kyle Farnsworth’s very existence.
So here’s my challenge: Throw out some ideas of what you would like to see as season preview material here on RAB. We could do the ever-clichéd position-by-position analysis, but we already know the Yankees’ areas of concern — young pitchers, bullpen, first base. We’ve been tossing around a few ideas but give us yours. It’s all about that give-and-take.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.