BTB MINUTE

JUST ANOTHER REASON TO HATE THE METS

Several MLB teams have their own ticket service or exclusive arrangement with a ticket service. The New York Metropolitans are one of them. OK, so the Mets do not sell through Ticketmaster. So they created a service to sell both Mets and Brooklyn Cyclone Tickets called 507TIXX.com.

This was fine for both the Mets and their fans, mainly because the for said tickets were not a high demand item. But along comes the wrecking ball and the news of the demise of Shea Stadium and that's when it gets interesting.

Billy Joel has decided that he wanted to be the last musical act at the toilet in Flushing. As a matter of fact he will be the last two acts there. Well as you may have guess the Mets ticket service handled the event (and quite poorly I may add). Whether it is phone lines and/or bandwidth 507TIXX.com was not equipped to handle the demand.

Many of the complaints were as follows:

1. Could not get on the site at all.
2. Was set watching the countdown time cycle for an hour.
3. System crapped out before I could get in my information.
4. Everything locked on me and I had to reboot.
5. I know first hand that I was watching that 60 second timer cycle for 45 minutes and someone who was talking to me via AIM was kicked off line and had to reboot got tickets before I ever saw a choice to get tickets.
6. Around 9:50 all the server was overloaded and everyone got an error screen.
7. Of course the phone was overloaded as well.

It made me appreciate Ticketmaster all the more. Grant it with Ticketmaster I may have been shut out as well but it probably would have been in 10 minutes instead of 50. Good luck getting tickets for the final game Mets fans. 507TIXX just got overwhelmed.

Bob Sheppard May Miss the Final Season at Yankee Stadium

SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER JOHN MONACO

Legendary Yankees public address announcer Bob Sheppard has had some health issues over the last two seasons, limiting his appearances at Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately, the 97-year-old Sheppard may not see any time at the Stadium in 2008. Bob Sheppard, who has been the public-address announcer at Yankee Stadium since 1951, may not be able to resume his duties this season. "He's struggling to regain his health," Yankees spokesman Howard Rubenstein said. "He's in poor health.

He and the Yankees both hope he's back in the booth. For now he's not."Sheppard missed the final homestand of last season and the playoffs with what the team called laryngitis. Rubenstein said Sheppard's son, Chris, will "try out" for a spot as a substitute by working some spring-training games. You might have known that Sheppard was also the PA announcer for the New York Giants for many seasons.

What you may not have known unless you were there (or if you check Sheppard's Wikipedia page) is that Sheppard also did the public address announcing for St. John's basketball and football games (he was a professor at the school as well). It always amazed me that the same voice known the world over for announcing names like Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, and Reggie Jackson in front of crowds of over 50,000 was the same voice that announced Division III football in front of crowds of 800. But whatever the sport, whatever the crowd size, he brought the same professionalism to every game he worked. Hopefully, there will be more announcements from Sheppard at some point in '08.

Thank You Jints!!!

Hey guys I want to personally thank you guys on behalf of Yankee fans everywhere. As you might remember when the Patriots won their first Superbowl way before the Sox won the series in 2004 one of the Pats players, who shall remain nameless started a "Yankees Suck" chant during their victory celebration.

Well the Giants paid them back big time yesterday when they prevented their perfect season. So any of you going to the Canyon of Heroes tomorrow remember "Boston Sucks"...

A few thoughts/predictions on the upcoming march to 27:

SPECIAL GUEST BLOGGER BARRY SPENCER


1. Led by the youthful exhuberance, energy and enthusiasm of Joe Girardi, the Yankees will come screaming out of the gate at a .650 win clip through April.

2. Feeding off the enthusiasm of the teams youngsters, Andy Pettitte and Chien Ming Wang will be leading the charge. Pettitte opens the season with a three hit complete game shutout.

3. Alex Rodriguez will be the center of a triple crown bid the sportsworld will be talking about in September.

4. Robbie Cano starts the all-star game at 2nd base.

5. The Yankee dugout will be full of exhuberance and vitality as Melky Cabrera and Shelley Duncan invent new and outrageous handshakes. Melky gets a bruised knee cap and sits for 2 games as a result.

6. Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are dubbed the "Kids from K'ville". When Ian pitches photos of Ted Kennedy will appear after each K. When Hughes pitches photos of an airplane will be displayed after strikouts.

7. Joba Chamberlain becomes the greatest setup man since Mariano Rivera. Shedding the "Joba Rules" his ERA stays around 1.00 and that's because of a dropped ball by an overwieght Johnny Damon that's ruled a hit.

8. Derek Jeter is heard to say, "Mr. Girardi, I haven't had this much fun since 2000."

9. The Baseball world marvels at the perfect mix of youth and experience.

10. Kyle Farnsworth, rejuvenated by a few Joe Girardi suggestions, is late game lights out.

11. David Wells pitched a perfect game on May 17. David Cone had his on July 18. Mike Mussina will pitch a perfect game this coming season on the 19th day of a month. (has to be a day where his stars were in perfect aligianment) Not sure which one.

12. The Yankees face the Dodgers in the World Series. With the NL winning the all-star game the Yankees take the first two in LA. Exasperated Dogers owner Frank McCourt confronts Joe Torre who tells him not to worry, they'll win three in New York and rap it up back in LA. The Dodgers inspired by Torre's confidence promptly drop the next two, and the Yankees celebrate the elusive 27th championship trophy.

And all becomes right with the world.