Derek Jeter

At big-money Yankee Stadium, satisfaction hardly guaranteed

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Opulence on full display

After being impressed with Yankee Stadium during the Cotto-Foreman fight last week, I wanted to see it for its designed purpose: a baseball game. So I made my way to the Bronx for my first Yankees game at the new Stadium in a World Series rematch against the Phillies on Wednesday.

Unsurprisingly, my opinion was much the same as it was for Citi Field, which I found to have none of the soul of Shea but 10 times the commerce, and therein lies the flaw in the “event” culture they’ve created:

You can sell the experience, but you can’t control the outcome of the game.

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Rearview mirror: The coolest, and un-coolest, athletes of the 2000’s

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Top: Coolest. Bottom: Least coolest. (Like I have to tell you) Note Reggie in bottom left holding hands with a referee

Another set of lists as part of our friends at Trumbull Island’s Year/Decade-ending Top 10 list hysteria. Here are the Top 10 coolest athletes of the decade, and the Top 10 least coolest athletes. I’m sure I’m missing some, but I think it’s a pretty good primer. I think you’ll see Nas is generally a good barometer here. Feel free to let me know some other guys I missed.

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Driven to survive: SI’s choice of Jeter all about their bottom line

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dj Now don’t get this twisted, I actually very much respect Derek Jeter. He’s an excellent baseball player, keeps his name off Page 6, does a lot of charity work and has a work ethic I admire.

But Jeter as Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year? Either it was a slow year, or that “award” is a sham.

And it wasn’t a slow year.

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Kings of New York? Jay-Z the wrong choice for Yanks’ pregame anthem

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Jay keeping it gangsta with his sweater and Kate HudsonIf you’ve been reading, you know SportsAngle is largely in tune with the hip-hop community. (As recently as this month, I shook hands with the great Ghostface Killah) So I watched with keen interest as the Yankees announced that Jay-Z – who has carved out more and more of a presence in sports lately as part-owner of the Nets and celebrity friend of LeBron James – would perform his new song, Empire State of Mind, at Game 1 of the World Series.

And I’m here to tell you the Yankees made a lousy pick.

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Perspectives on Jordan, Jeter and Ichiro take a back seat

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Suffice it to say, I look up to Michael Jordan. I have a poster with the words he speaks in that ad above hanging as the centerpiece of my living room – along with a framed picture of the Twin Towers.

And I have my own perspective to share on the man as he enters the Hall of Fame. But not on 9/11. I believe they should have moved the induction out of respect for the remembrance of this day, but I guess eight years after the fact, maybe it’s time to just let this be something of just another day.

That said, I want to let the Piazza/9-11 post breathe up there. Look for my thoughts on Jordan sometime during or maybe after the weekend; Derek Jeter and Ichiro for their milestones, too. As great as all three athletes are, I personally still believe they should take a back seat today. Others agree with me; Mike Francesa on WFAN had Ari Fleischer on today and is mostly taking calls about 9/11.

So congratulations to Jordan, Jeter and Ichiro. I’ll get back to you guys in a few days.