Every ROSE Has It's Thorn

For baseball teams searching for that one coach/manager to lead them to the World Series, searching for that one person who knows more about the game and about how it should be played, need not look further then Las Vegas. Nestled in the corner of a sports memorabilia shop, in the Forum of the Ceaser's Palace Casino and Hotel, in "Sin City", is a man who many believe committed the ultimate sin against the game of baseball. Pete Rose sits at a table strewn with his jerseys, with baseballs, helmets, and anything he can sign with a sharpie marker, from 12 in the afternoon until 6 in the evening twice a week, every week. Rose is the all time, hit king in baseball, who at one point hit in 44 consecutive games, challenging Joe DiMaggio's record 56-game hitting streak. Rose had a career .303 batting average, with 160 home runs to go with his 4,256 hits. He is living history of how the game was played and should be played now. Rose hustled on every play, even during the 1973 All Star game, barreling over Ray Fosse, catcher for the American League, separating Fosse's shoulder and scoring the winning run. Rose gave all he had physically and mentally to the game and is one of the smartest baseball gurus around. He knows how to hit, how to field and how to win. There is only one thing holding Rose back from getting in a dugout again since 1989. Rose has admitted to the public and to baseball that he gambled on the game and on his team, the Cincinnati Reds, while he was the manager. Rose is serving a lifetime ban from the game, which in my opinion is too harsh of a sentence. Why is it, that guys like Andy Pettite or Jason Giambi who have admitted to cheating the game and taking performance enhancing drugs, can continue to play and collect a paycheck just because they said that they were sorry and told the truth? To me, doing drugs that enhance your chances of exceeding your standard performance is far worse then betting on your team to win. Rose never did anything to alter his God given talent, he never cheated to give himself more of an edge over other players and he never did anything other then play as hard as he naturally could. Why has baseball forgiven these players and continued to let them play without any consequence? Why is Pete Rose stuck handing out baseballs to 9 year old kids instead of handing them to his starting pitchers before they take the mound? This is the hypocrisy of baseball. I think there should be a balanced set of rules for all players. We should not let a living legend sit in a Casino signing baseballs, when he really should be sitting in a dugout signing lineup cards. There are far too many teams in baseball with tons of talent, but no one to lead them and to guide them to winning. Young players would flourish if they had the opportunity to learn from a man like Rose. Players would learn what it is like to run out every ball you make contact with, and I think that if Rose were a manager, we would see a sweeping change in how the game is played. Pete Rose has more to offer baseball than Jason Giambi ever will and I think we are missing out by not giving him a second chance. If the current trend is for everyone to get an opportunity to right their wrongs, why can't Pete Rose?

What's Next?

Well Mets fans, the time has come. The team has sunk to a low only seen during last September's collapse. The Mets have found new ways to give games away and lose ones that even high school teams can hold on to win. Although Billy Wagner is the up in your face, clear cut scape goat and person responsible for the last string of losses, there is much more out there in Mets world to blame. Here is my take on why things have fallen so far down for the Mets. Age. The average age of the Mets is 29.65 years old. Basically 30. The main reason for that is because the General Manager, Omar Minaya has seriously lost control of himself when it comes to handing out contracts. Minaya was under some impression that Moises Alou, 43 years old, El Duque, 67 years old, Luis Castillo 32 years old, Damion Easley, 37 years old, Pedro Martinez, 37 years old and Carlos Delgado, 36 years old, all could push the Mets into the postseason. Any average sports fan knows that with these particular group of guys at their respective ages, they couldn't push a fruit cart down the street, let alone a team into the playoffs. Alou, Mr. DL, as recently as today (6/13/08) is looking like he is going to back on the disabled list. Right after coming off the DL four days ago. But how come I knew and everyone else knew that Alou was injury prone and too old to rely on? Why didn't Minaya know this? Minaya is supposed to be a "baseball guy" and is supposed to know more then the average fan. There is not much to say about El Duque, he hasn't even played this year so basically the owners of the team are paying for a dead body. Luis Castillo had surgery on his knees in the off season and Minaya knew about this, but gave him an extension anyway. Wasn't there anyone else out there who could play second base, that wasn't coming off knee surgery and turning 33? I guess not. Pedro was already in the middle of his contract, so there is no fault there because back when Minaya signed him, it was a smart move and Pedro is great clubhouse presence and if he does pitch it should be considered a bonus. Now, with that said, Minaya made the mistake of banking on Pedro being healthy and picthing 30 games this year. Obviously Minaya was wrong because Pedro's first game of the season in April, he only lasted 3 innings and immediately went on the disabled list for two months. I can't really say too much about Damion Easley, its not like his contract broke the back of the organization, it didn't, but did we really need to bring him back as one of the only options off the bench? Probably not. And now I come to a special case, the last of the players I previously mentioned, Carlos Delgado. I question the length of his initial contract and I also question his desire to actually win. Last year we as fans began to see the dark side of Carlos Delgado, where he hits for a .200 batting average, swings at everything out of the strike zone and when he does make contact he hits directly into the shift the other teams defense continually puts on for him. How can a major league slugger like Delgado not be able to go the opposite way when he hits? How is that a problem for someone who has almost 500 home runs? Again, you would think and hope Minaya was watching for this last year and would have made an adjustment for this year, like getting another first baseman to compete for the job. But, alas, Minaya didn't do any of that, he apparently hoped Delgado would get better with age like a fine red wine.
So, here we are, 65 games into the 2008 baseball season and the Mets are 31-34 and are coming off three straight games where they left thousands of men on base and in scoring postion and the closer Billy Wagner has blown 3 out of 3 saves during that span. In these three games the Mets' whole season can be summed up. They get decent, but inconsistent starting pitching. They haven't been able to rely on their bullpen. They strand too many runners and don't get the clutch hits to put away teams when they have the opportunity to. Their manager has no fire in him. They have bad luck when it comes to hitting balls directly at the other teams fielders. And last, but certainly not least, the Mets play with ZERO HEART. There is not one person on that team that cares about winning, about the team, about the other players, about losing or about anything but their paychecks. The Mets have so much potential and talent and yet they don't seem to care enough to tap into that and pick themselves up from the bottom of the whole they have dug. I am and always will be a fan of the New York Mets, but that doesn't mean I have to like the players and managers they currently have.

Average Collapse

So he we are, just over one quarter of the baseball season in the books and things don't look much different then they did at the end of last season for the Mets. The only differences are, Johan Santana is leading the pitching staff, Ryan Church is the leading offensive player on the team and Willie Randolph is finally coming under fire for the mediocrity and lack of intensity the NY Mets have displayed. What has remained from last year is, losing big games against lower tier teams, being dominated by the Braves, Aaron Heilman is still horrible out of the bullpen, Oliver Perez is still inconsistent, Pedro is hurt, Alou has just begun his second stay on the disabled list, El Duque (Orlando Hernandez) is nowhere to be found even though he is making a lot of money with an extended contract, Luis Castillo is not hitting much, Delgado is hitting a little, Beltran is hitting a little more and David Wright and Jose Reyes are still the only thing the team has to be proud of. What can fans in NYC expect from their favorite team, The Amazin's? I will take a hack at answering that question, but it might be a bit bias since I still have a glimmer of hope of winning. By the middle of this season, when the All-Star game comes to NYC at Yankee Stadium, the media will be focusing on all things New York and will throw Willie Randolph under the bus and the owners of the team, the Wilpons, will force GM Omar Minaya to look elsewhere for leadership in the dugout. When a team with a lot of talent and a large payroll like the Mets underachieves so much, the Manager of the team usually takes the blame. Its especially apparent when a team like the Mets collapsed at the end of the year last year, missing the playoffs and Willie really didn't show much emotion about it. Willie got another chance to take the reigns this year and to try to lead the team to victory, how he pulled off keeping his job is a mystery to me and to many fans. Other managers and head coaches have lost less then Willie did last year and were fired for it. The Mets need a manager who can evoke emotions from his players and the fans no matter what happens win or lose, so that people know he is actually there giving his all for the team and the city. Willie claims he is a "Joe Torre" type of manager, who is quiet, yet gets his message across. Joe Torre has won more championships then most managers have been involved in, he has the track record of being effective in the clubhouse and has also endured being fired by teams in the past, including the Mets. Willie needs to have his own way of managing, even though he was on the bench with Torre throughout the winning years with the Yankees, he has to separate himself from that and prove that he is his own type of manager. I wish that things were working out for Willie and the Mets, but its not and unfortunately the manager is liable for the record and state of the team and eventually he has to take the blame, it comes with the territory. The Mets are an average team right now and although they claim last years collapse is behind them, in reality it is still right in front of their faces.

Intsantly Relpaying Baseball

Last night (May 18Th) on ESPN Sunday night baseball, the New York Mets and New York Yankees played the last of their two-game Subway Series at Yankee Stadium. The Mets won the first of the two games on Saturday, behind a solid performance from their ace pitcher, Johan Santana and big HR's from Jose Reyes and David Wright. The Mets had to face the Yankees only star this season so far, pitcher Chen-Ming Wang. He has a 6-1 record this season and really is the only bright spot for the Yankees. The Mets faced the challenge and performed the way all Mets fans thought they would from day one. In the fourth inning of the game, the mets were leading 3-0 after Moises Alou hit a 2-RBI single to right field with one out, setting up a great situation for the next batter, Carlos Delgado. Delgado came up to bat with Alou on first base and Ryan Church on third base. Delgado hit a slicing fly ball to the left field corner of the stadium, the ball made its way over the wall and appeared to stay fair, resulting in a big three-run home run for Delgado. The umpire working the third base line, Mike Reilly, initially called it fair and signaled it a home run. That would have opened the game up for the Mets and would have given them a 6-0 lead. Then what happened next was something commissioner Bud Selig should be wary of. The Yankees short stop, Derek Jeter challenged the call, saying the ball was foul, prompting the officials to have a conference on the field. The home plate umpire, Bob Davidson, eventually overruled the call and said it was a foul ball. Mets bench coach, Jerry Manuel and head coach, Willie Randolph began arguing the call, knowing Davidson blew the call. Manuel, usually a soft spoken guy, was livid, screaming in defense of the initial home run call which was evidently the right call. Davidson ejected Manuel from the game and threatened Randolph he was next if he didn't stop arguing. What makes this whole situation frustrating, is that viewers like myself, watching the game at home got the opportunity to watch the replay over and over again. Getting to see the ball hit almost two feet fair inside the foul line and then seeing the umpire at home plate who is an older man and is almost 320 feet away decide it was foul was horrible. Just to make sure Mets fans had the right to be mad, Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, the ESPN Sunday night baseball commentators were stunned to see the umpires call this foul and did not stop talking about the incident for the rest of the game, making the case for Instant Replay. Viewers at home and Joe and Jon had the advantage of replay. But, why is this an advantage? Its not like instant replay is this amazing technological endeavor that only NASA can afford to have. Football, basketball and hockey all have inserted instant replay into their mainstream decision making and it has worked in favor of fairness for all teams involved. Baseball and Bud Selig are making it seem like Replay is something that will taint the "purity" of baseball and it's history. I thought steroids, HGH, free spending and astronomical ticket prices already did that? If a beer and a hot dog can cost $15, why can't baseball have instant replay? Last night, fortunately for the Mets, the botched call didn't affect the outcome of the game because the Mets creamed the Yankees and didn't even need the 3 runs missing from the Delgado foul ball home run. Other times, teams, including the Mets, have been on the other side of botched calls. For example, the Mets' Carlos Beltran hit a shot to left center during the teams third game of the season in Miami, it looked like a home run and was called that initially, but after the umpires conference, they overruled and said it was a double. That did affect the outcome of the game. I think Bud Selig should implement some sort of replay for baseball, especially with the playoffs coming in September and the umpires' calls being the last word in decision making. There should be one other tool available to back up the umpires and make sure they don't have to give statements like Bob Davidson had to do this morning. "I (expletive) it up. I'm the one who thought it was a (expletive) foul ball. I saw it on the replay. I'm the one who (expletive) it up so you can put that in your paper," Davidson said. "Bolts and nuts, I (expletive) up. You've just got to move on. No one feels worse about it than I do."

Obama/Edwards Ticket

I support and will vote for Barack Obama for President of the United States. I am tired of watching Senator Obama and Senator Clinton duke it out during their run for the Democratic nomination. Obama has the lead and seems to me, to be the clear cut winner, he just needs Hillary to back out, swallow her pride and help support her party. The Democratic Party as a whole is suffering while the two candidates fight over the one slot. Senator John McCain, the Republican candidate, is campaigning around the country like he is already the President. The Republican party has always been strong when it came to uniting as one party. The Dems need to come together and realize their goal of ousting the Republicans from the White House, form a unified party and point all their attention towards beating McCain, not each other. When Senator Obama does finally achieve the status of "Democratic Nominee", I believe he should ask Senator John Edwards to be his running mate as Vice Presidential Nominee. Senator Edwards was and still is a very popular speaker and Senator. He was widely popular around the country during his first run for office in 2004, running solo and then with Senator Kerry. He also had good numbers during this current election, but he gracefully bowed out, hoping his fellow Dems would follow suit once one of them came out ahead. He is very smart and is one of the most successful lawyers in North Carolina. He has always campaigned for ending poverty in America, he has also endorsed efforts to slow down Global Warming and amongst many other positions, is Pro-Choice. Although he has said he won't accept, if he is asked to run as VP, I think that if Obama calls and speaks to Edwards as eloquently as he does to the rest of America, Edwards would then change his mind and they can then change the world together.

God is Watching Us

Within the last two weeks, our world has seen the wrath of Nature and possibly God. In Burma, there was a Cyclone that already has killed 35,000 people and is on its way to killing an estimated 100,000. In China there was an Earth Quake that lasted for 3 minutes and was a record 7.8 on the Richter scale. This Quake has claimed 5,000 people and has trapped more the 3,000 students in around 900 school buildings that have collapsed. In Chile, a Volcano erupted killing thousands and here in our country Tornadoes and storms have ripped through the south, and mid-west, killing 50-100 people. Whether your are spiritual or not, you have to think to yourself that we are causing these catastrophes to occur because of our neglect for our environment and mother nature. There are people who believe the world will end in 2012, that God or whatever higher being you believe in will cast his spell on us and restart with a human race that cares about their world and that doesn't take advantage of what we were given. It goes back to the Adam and Eve story from the Christian religion. God gave Adam and Eve anything and everything that they wanted, the only thing he said was don't eat the apple from this particular tree. Of course, as all humans do, they didn't do what they were told, ignoring the advice and ate the apples and were punished dearly. Now I am not religious, although I do believe in God, I don't however believe in a church or the bible. The story of Adam and Eve has significance because it is an example of what is going on now, just on a much smaller scale. Humans have been given this amazing world, with vast amounts of resources and opportunities to live healthy, meaningful lives. Everyone has the capacity to save what is left of this planet and even help promote new growth for our future, it is only able to happen if you choose to do so. Most people choose not to, and continue to abuse our world and continue to think no matter what they do, the earth will keep on giving. Unfortunately that won't only affect those people, it will affect all of us. I hope that there are others out there that are seeing these global catastrophes occur and are thinking about what they can do to help. The problem, is that there are plenty of citizens out there that still believe Climate Change is a Liberal way of thinking. They also believe that God will save them as long as they went to church on Sunday. Thats fine, but when God strikes down upon us with furious anger and vengeance like he/she has started to with the natural disasters, going to church on Sundays will be a distant memory of wasted time. I am not saying that God is causing these natural disasters, I am not saying that he/she ISN'T. I am only saying that nature is acting in a way that makes it seem like it has had enough. It is the same concept of the bully/victim situation in High School. Eventually the victim can't take the abuse anymore, and repercussions follow. I wish our news sources (American Media Outlets) would make some sort of connection to these disasters and catastrophes happening around our globe. Because a lot of people in America, sadly, follow what is said on CNN and Fox News like a clock, instead of thinking for themselves. I say American news because BBC world and other International news channels offer more in depth investigations, leaving the ego-centric and ethno-centric reporting to us. That topic is a whole other blog post that I will get to soon enough, but for now, just watch Headline News and then watch BBC World News and you'll see what I mean.

Willie Immunity?

Being a manager/coach for a pro sports franchise here in NYC is a very tough job. You are under the microscope with it turned up 100x more then anywhere else and the media have no problem throwing you under the bus. It is a hostile atmosphere, especially if your losing. But, when you win as a manager/coach, there is no other place to be. You win here in NYC, you are a superstar. So understanding that when your good, your untouchable, it goes the other way when your bad in NYC. Coaches and managers here in NYC have seen the pink slip plenty of times. Mets, Knicks, Jets, Giants, Rangers, Islanders and even the Bills in Buffalo have all had their losing streaks and seasons and have seen their head coaches fired because of it. So you would think that when a pro baseball team (the Mets) give away their division lead of 7 games at the end of season (2007) and then proceed to lose so much they don't even make the playoffs, the manager would lose his job right? NOPE!!! Willie Randolph not only kept his job but amazingly was exempt from blame. Unbelievable. The Mets secured the biggest collapse in baseball history last year and no heads rolled. No one last their job, no one got traded, nothing like that. Not only did everyone stay put, the GM, Omar Minaya, gave contract extensions to some of the oldest players, who are eligible for the blame for the collapse. How is Willie Randolph still the manager of the NY Mets??? I am completely dumbfounded. He showed last year that he is clueless when it comes to managing pitchers and situations for pitchers during games. He also shows that he can not and will not take any responsible for anything when he is interviewed by the media. He never shows emotion after a loss, he never gives answers as to why he makes certain decisions. How has he held up here in NYC for so long? Does he know the secret age of Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez and is keeping it to himself? Does he know who really shot JFK? I mean come on, he now has continued to be a bobble head in the dugout this season, making decisions that have cost us games. As recent as last night (April 24th), against the Washington Nationals, Willie showed he is dumb when he's faced with game decisions. Oliver Perez, the starting Mets pitcher, had given some runs and allowed the Nationals to tie the game at 3-3. Perez had allowed a couple of baserunners, but it was early and he could have tried to fight his way out of the jam. The next batter was ex-Met Lastings Milledge, who is a righthanded batter. Big deal right? So what if he is a right handed batter. If your the manager and you know your bullpen has been horrible so far this year, you have try to get what you can out of you starter. But, alas, slick Willie makes a pitching decision and removes Perez for.....hold your breath...Aaron Heilman. Heilman could be the worst reliever in the majors. I think he has the talent to be good, but I think he wants to be a starting pitcher and the organization won't hear of it, so Heilman is in his own head making himself crazy. Of course you must know how this whole situation ended up. Heilman walked Milledge to load the bases and then gave up a Grand Slam, to give the lowly Nationals a 7-4 lead and eventually the win. Thanks Willie and Aaron. You guys are like George Bush and Dick Chaney, continually screwing the little guys. I am very upset as you can tell, and the only thing that can cure this is to get Bobby Valentine out of Japan and back as the manager of the NY Mets. Thats it, bring back Bobby V. Thanks folks.

Willie Randolph

So for people who don't know, I am a huge NY Mets fan, I love them. I love sports in general and I have my other teams, the NY Knicks and the NY Jets, but the Mets have a big hold on me and I live and die with them. My father is big fan as well and we usually agree on most aspects and topics of the Amazin's season. Here is the thing, the Mets hired Willie Randolph 4 years ago, with no prior head coaching experience (his only managerial experience was a bench coach/1st base/3rd base and assistant with the Yankees). The great thing for Willie, is that the Mets also hired Omar Minaya as their General Manager at the same time and Omar gave Willie the tools to win the World Series. Omar went out and did what every NY GM should be doing with his owners money, spending it for the top talent he can get for the most money he can spend. Omar lured Pedro Martinez away from Boston, Carlos Beltran was ready for a big pay day and Omar gave it to him. He then brought in Billy Wagner for the cheap price of $43 million....Carlos Delgado came over as well and those guys joined the Mets talented young twosome of Jose Reyes and David Wright to create a real contender of a team in Flushing, NY. In 2006, the Mets came as close as one strike to going to the World Series. They won the National League Eastern Division and made it the championship series against St.Louis and Carlos Beltran struck out with the bases loaded in the final game. The Mets, although they didn't win it all, were back on top and winning, which was something they hadn't done for a while. But fans and media people began to question Willie's decision making when it came to managing the pitchers during the game, removing and inserting relievers when need be. He has been getting worse in my eyes, he has made so many bad decisions that they have directly cost the team wins. This season, 2008, things have not changed. Willie again is struggling to pull the trigger when a pitcher is getting roasted on the mound and he again is picking the wrong reliever to come out of the bullpen during crucial times in the game. He also has a really, really bad habit of acting completely delusional when he speaks to the media about the concerns for the team. For instance, during the "memorable and forgettable collapse" of last year (2007) Willie was constantly quoted as saying things like, "I think we are going to be fine" and "There isn't anything to worry about yet"....when in reality, the team had lost complete control of first place at the time and they were laughing and acting oblivious to what was going on. The Mets went from first to out of the post season picture in two weeks and their free fall was never taken responsibility for by anyone, especially our wonderful manager. This year, throughout Spring Training, some of the highly paid, older, players began to get injured and fans were fearing the worst. That Omar Minaya had lost his edge with managing the talent and their contracts and he made vital mistakes handing out bloated, long term contracts to guys who were looking like short term options. So when the media, searching for any answer from Willie, asked him about the injuries, his answer was "It's a long Spring"...... Thanks a lot Willie. Look, NYC is the toughest place to win or lose if you are a sports franchise, the Mets will always be second place to the Yankees until they show they can dominate like the Bronx Bombers did. But Willie has played and managed now for both NY teams and you would think he would be accustomed to the way things go on here, but, unfortunately for us, the fans, he hasn't. My hope for the future of the NY Mets is that they get a guys who has some passion, some energy, some valor, some maturity when it comes to taking responsibility and some more baseball management skills so that we can finally bring the ring to Flushing.

Dave Chappelle

So last night (Saturday) my girlfriend and I went out for dinner at Gonzalez Y Gonzalez and enjoyed their great Margaritas and Guacamole. We ate and drank for about 3 hours and left when they began to blast the Dance music, preparing for another Saturday night of Bridge and Tunnel bar hoppers. So we left and decided to wander into the West Village, hoping to stop by our favorite wine bar, Shade, on West 3rd street and Sullivan street. Alas, Shade was filled to the brim with patrons and we were forced to march on. When we go out, we aren't into being at the bars and clubs where you bump into a million people trying buy drinks at the same time. In NYC you can, contrary to what people think, find a place to go out drink on a traditional night (Friday, Saturday) and not have to deal with crowds. So we moved on and suddenly passed by the Comedy Cellar on McDougal street where we went for my birthday and thought it would be a great idea to see some comedy. We needed a laugh. The next show at 11pm was sold out there, we then decided to go home. We were tired of walking around and the margaritas were settling nicely in our stomachs, so home seemed logical. As we were standing on the corner, looking for a cab, a guy standing there is yelling "Comedy, who likes comedy?". We do, I was thinking, so I told Christina lets see what hes talking about. He tells us about a comedy club up the street, Comedy Village. We go, get our tickets and wait for the 10:30 pm show. The lineup of comics were mostly unknowns, but we love comedy and were in for the long haul. The first comic that came out was beyond horrible and unfunny. His name is Dante Nero. He was so bad, he had no jokes, he was so racist that it was uncomfortable to be there. He just looked around the audience and made racist comments about what he thought people's nationalities were. I have been to a lot of comedy shows and I understand that race and gender are good tools for jokes, but you should have other material to use instead of just insulting the audience. There are people who are ignorant and enjoy that type of comedy, there were some of those people there last night. Anyway, he finally got the red light and left the stage. Next up was a comic who was so funny, he was creative and literally made us laugh through out his entire set. His name was Jason Good. Jason really had some great material. He obviously has things to talk about that are funny, other then race. We really enjoyed watching Jason, he is great comic. We were on the verge of leaving the club during the first comic, Dante's, set but Jason kept us there and set us up for whoever the next comic would be. Earlier, when we were outside the club, there were about 7 comics on the list for the evening. So we hoped the next 4 or 5 were as funny as Jason Good. Our MC for the night came out after Jason was finished and introduced the next comic. "Ladies and Gentleman, please give a warm welcome to our next comic....Dave Chappelle!!" . We looked at each other and didn't believe what we had heard. Out walked Dave with big headphones on, smoking a cigarette and a huge smile on his face. Christina and I are big Chappelle fans, from his old stand-up specials all the way to his amazing sketch comedy show on Comedy Central. The Dave Chappelle Show was one the funniest shows on TV. And Dave did not disappoint last night. He was on with all his jokes and we laughed for two hours straight. He interacted with all of us, Christina was busting his chops, I was talking to him about Plinko from The Price Is Right. He was great and the best part about it was that we had no idea he was coming out and we only paid $15 for it. That's whats great about NYC and Comedy clubs. You never who you'll see on any given night because NYC's stage is the place to be if you are a comic and the audiences here are the toughest. Thanks Dave Chappelle, you knocked them dead last night and turned our night into a memorable one.

Help the Pitbulls

My girlfriend and I adopted two Pitbull puppies, one three years ago and then another two years ago. Both of them were rescued from the Harlem, NYC Animal Control Center. Our first "baby", as my girlfriend would call them, is Argos. He is a 3 1/2 year old Pitbull with the nicest personality and he really is a big mush. He weighs 75 pounds, but its all mush and he is so good that we couldn't have been happier with him. Our second "baby" is a bit more of a handful then Argos. Her name is Xabina and she is this little, 45 pound, black, runt of the litter, mutt. She looks like a Pitbull, mixed with a black Labrador, mixed with the Devil. I say the Devil, because she is the naughtiest puppy alive and what makes it worse is that she is the cutest one ever. Her picture is my profile picture, so you can see what I mean. The reason I am talking about our dogs is because there is an abundant amount of stray dogs in America that need homes. These abandoned and stray dogs are just looking for love and care from people that will give it to them unconditionally. These dogs are so grateful for the attention and for the chance to live normally. They need our help to be rescued from the situations that other horrible humans have put them in. Some are malnurished, some are abused physically, some are left for dead after being made to fight other dogs and some are just presents that were discarded after they were unwanted. If you want to help and give an animal a chance, please visit your local animal shelter or ASPCA, and adopt a pet. Thanks.