American Airlines Files for Bankruptcy Protection and I'm not shocked.

     Well one of the more widely known airlines has filed for bankruptcy protection. American Airlines filed for protection over last week, but the news didn't surprise me at all. In fact I saw this coming for a long long time. We all have a niche that we enjoy, and know all kinds of facts about that specific niche. My particular nerdy confession is my vast knowledge in airlines and their fleet of equipment they fly, as well as nerdy NASA stuff as well as trains. So what does all of this have to do with AA filing for protection?

     American Airlines flies some of the oldest planes around in the commercial airline industry. They still have intact a whole fleet of MD-80 jets. These jets were introduced in the 1980s and are fuel inefficient. Most other airlines fly more modern fleet, which include wingtips for added fuel efficiency. AA does have modifications on their boeing 737 and 757 aircraft but don't have any modifications on their MD-80 aircraft since this model can't support the modifications.

     Take a look at the airline industry leader here in the US. Southwest Airlines flies a modern 737 fleet and most of its fleet has the wing-lets for added efficiency. In addition, their ability to fly only one type of aircraft allows for better efficiency from a mechanical standpoint since inventory for only one type is needed whereas inventory of other aircraft parts is needed at American Airlines.

     Another airline company that I'm skeptical on based on the same theory is Delta. Now Delta Airlines in recent times went through its big acquisition of Northwest Airlines. But there's only one problem...both airlines also fly the same old MD-80 aircraft. Worst yet...Northwest Airlines even flies the DC-9 aircraft. Northwest had recently revamped their DC-9 fleet but still the aircraft are not fuel efficient. The only real efficient aircraft in the entire fleet are the airbus aircraft and boeing 757 aircraft they fly. Delta flies the newer 737 model as well as airbus equipment.

     So when will the airliners get it? But what can they really do? Not like they can sell the aircraft. Who would they be able to sell it to? Sell it for scrap? Perhaps...but what would that really cost? So there is sense in remaining to use the older fleet. But at some point, the operating costs will catch up to the airline company and that will penalize the consumers. Meanwhile, with it's leading customer service and the leaders in cost savings, Southwest continues to soar on fuel efficiency.

Yankees 2011 Season Preview -- Pre-Spring Training Edition

Well it has been quite the off-season for the Yankees! Going into this off-season, many believed the Yankees would sign Cliff Lee and be on their way towards an energized 2011. But that certainly has fallen short. The day Cliff Lee decided to sign with the Phillies was an upper-cut blast to the jaw of the Yankees for their future plans. 

They re-signed their captain/franchise in Derek Jeter, re-signed their HOF closer Mariano Rivera, signed Rafael Soriano, signed Pedro Feliciano, signed Russell Martin, AND THEN...signed Mark Prior, Bartolo Colon, and Freddy Garcia. 

As of this point, the Yankees certainly have a good lineup, and have a hell of a bullpen. But the starting rotation will either sink the Yankees very quickly or keep them afloat long enough for Brian Cashman to pull the trigger on a trade to grab a #1 or #2 quality arm. As of now I do not believe this is a playoff team. They still will be very competitive and be very good, but as of right this second the Red Sox are the leaders on paper out of the AL East. On a side note, after this off-season, Red Sox fans have NO right to pull the "Yankees buy championships" liner after the amount of money they just spent this off-season! They are just as guilty of pouring money out. 

So as of now, Yankees are JUST short of making the playoffs in my eyes. But they are one trade away, in my opinion, of being a real contender. 

If you want a neat little prediction from me, I can see the bombers going out and getting Josh Johnson! Why you ask? Well the Marlins traditionally do not keep and pay off their talent. I know the Marlins just signed him to a lengthy deal last season, but if another team will take that contract off their hands, I can see the Marlins allowing that to happen, especially if they still have Hanley Ramirez as a marketing tool for that organization. 

So there's my predictions and vision so far. I'll be posting more stuff as we move closer to opening day! Feel free to leave comments! GO YANKS!!!!

State of the Evil Empire -- ALCS, keys to winning and predictions

Alright so impressively, the Yankees dismantled the Minnesota Twins and swept them, even being on the road for the first two games! The only thing that concerns me is that CC Sabathia didn't have a strong performance at all. For his standards, it was pretty weak barely going 6 inning and giving up 4 runs. I think in a way it's good for CC to have that game to shake off and re-focus for this series against the Texas Rangers. Keep in mind people, Texas is a VERY sneaky good team! Here are some keys for the Texas Rangers:

1. "It can't be JUST Cliff Lee" : Alright we all know Cliff Lee is quite dominant and proved it in the ALDS with the Tampa Bay Rays. BUT....someone else has to be dominant in that Texas rotation along with Cliff Lee! Will it be C.J. Wilson? Will it be Tommy Hunter? Two of those three at minimum need to show up if they want any chance of knocking off the Yankees.
2. "Keep the power switch on": Texas seemed to be one step ahead of the Rays in the ALDS in games 1,2, and 5! They seemed to score early, maintain that lead, and tack on runs! This HAS to be done against the Yankees if they want ANY shot of moving onto the World Series!
3. "Run like hell": We all know Jorge Posada isn't good behind the plate! Texas baserunners need to test out Posada's arm and run on it often! Run often to get runners into scoring position and get those runners in! That's a good way to score runs on the Yankees is by the running game!

Here are the Yankees keys to success in the ALCS:

1. "The Ace needs a strong hand": Simply put, if CC loses game 1, the dominoes fall BADLY for the Yankees! IT IS all about game #1! A game 1 loss puts pressure on Hughes in game 2, which can put pressure on Pettitte in game 3, which leads to AJ, or CC on short rest, or some other bad combination in game 4! CC winning game 1 takes the pressure off of Hughes in game 2, which makes the rest of the rotation fall in line!
2. "Bring 'em home!": GET THE RUNNERS IN FROM SCORING POSITION! ESPECIALLY A RUNNER ON THIRD WITH LESS THAN 2 OUTS!! This was their Achilles Heel in September, BUT, was their strength in the ALDS with their better ability to get runs in from scoring position!
3. "Bullpen needs to be bullish": Kerry Wood has been outstanding for the Yankees since being acquired at the trade deadline, he may have had one bad game against the twins, but that to me was a work issue more than anything. A solid Kerry Wood and Mariano being Mariano is CRITICAL to the success of the Yankees! Boone Logan must continue his good work in getting lefties out! David Robertson needs to be sharp enough to get an out for Girardi, and Joba needs to keep his head on his shoulders and he'll be fine!
4. "DH slot": The DH slot produced BIG TIME in the ALDS with Berkman in game 1 and Thames in games 2 and 3! This position needs to step it up to get in hitters 4-6 in the Yankee lineup!
5. "AJ can't be a BJ": All kidding aside, here's the deal with Burnett....the report this week on AJ's 80-pitch side session reported a wild pitch on pitch #1, two hit batters, and other than that, his pitches were "mostly sharp". "Mostly sharp" may have two different meanings! Was he not sharp on his fastball but sharp on the breaking pitches? or vise versa? If AJ wants to have a good series, he better throw his fastball for strikes AND THEN mix in his breaking stuff. WITH AJ BURNETT, IT IS GAME, SET, MATCH IF HE CANNOT THROW HIS FASTBALL FOR A STRIKE! Also...IF THE YANKEES ARE DOWN 1-2 OR 0-3 IN THE ALCS, THERE IS NO WAY THE YANKEES SHOULD PITCH AJ BURNETT! AJ BURNETT WILL PITCH IF THE YANKEES ARE UP 2-1 OR 3-0! ANYTHING WORSE AND CC SABATHIA COMES BACK ON SHORT REST OR SOMEONE ELSE!

There are my keys to this American League Championship series! Should be a good one to watch! My official prediction is Yankees in 6 games! I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Yankees pull it off in 5 games and only lose to Cliff Lee, which means they win at home in front of their fans! But I'm giving the Rangers their much deserved respect and so 6 games is my prediction! Enjoy it! I'll keep you all updated as we move through this series! 

State of the Evil Empire -- ALDS update

Well tonight the Yankees took game #2 of their ALDS against the Minnesota Twins! Yankees are up 2-0 in the series AND get to play in the Bronx for the next two games! Andy Pettitte finally looked like the post-season version of Andy Pettitte us Yankee fans have grown up to love! GREAT to see major contributions from Lance Berkman, Curtis Granderson,  and the rest of the hits were pretty much evenly distributed! How about the evolution of Curtis Granderson people! Granderson has been a MUCH different hitter since he went to school with Kevin Long back in August! Now granted the Yanks aren't out of the woods quite yet as they have to see what they get from Phil Hughes! But so far, so good! 

Outside of the Yankees, there have been some really really interesting stories so far in this MLB post-season! How about Doc Halladay's no-hitter?! How about 14Ks by Tim Lincecum?! Unreal! But...with the good brought some bad! In game 1 of Yanks/Twins, we had an umpire blunder when the RF umpire, 1B umpire, 2B umpire, and the others involved DID NOT see Golson CATCH the ball but instead saw "a trap"! Now....in live play, I thought Golson did trap the ball! But...when I paused the TV and replayed it back to that frame, it was clear he caught the ball! One of these days....a play like this is going to SCREAM for more Instant Replay and cost a team BADLY! This is yet another red flag for MLB to get their act together! 

Yesterday, we had a record two ejections in the same day in post-season play! The first one was the first post-season ejection since 2005! Now a check-swing call is difficult and Joe Maddon was trying to fire up his lifeless team that failed to show up to the Trop like their fans! (yes I went there!) The other ejection later that day is bothersome. Reportedly Ron Gardenhire had a past history with HP umpire Hunter Wendlestadt, and Hunter blew a strike 3 call that was clearly a strike! Now that bothers me! It really wasn't "borderline" at all!

So far...It looks like we're moving closer to a Yankees/Rangers ALCS and a Giants/Phillies NLCS! We'll have to see how it all plays out! But with the Rays showing NO life AT HOME...tough for me to find them winning three straight! Same with the twins....they looked defeated! And they have to play in a place where they CANNOT seem to find wins! Phillies will continue to dominate a Reds team that beat up on a crappy NL Central and the Giants will beat up on a Braves team that doesn't have much left!

Stay tuned for more post-season updates!

The State of the Evil Empire -- The "Oy Vey" edition

Alright so September is wrapping up, and boy what a September it has been for the Yankees! The starting pitching has been HORRIBLE. The rotation has been more like a hodge-podge of starters during the month of September! It's nice that the Yankees were able to rest players, but having a 12-15 record just wasn't worth it! In fact, even if they went 13-14 they'd have an AL east lead! 


Now I don't want to be a conspiracy theorist, but having the Wild Card this year seems like a blessing in disguise! If the Yankees take the Wild Card, then they will face Minnesota in the ALDS, a team that they have a GREAT history against! Whereas, an AL East pennant and home field takes them to Texas, a team that has killed the Yankees during this season! Facing Texas also means the Yankees have to face future Yankee Cliff Lee, a Yankee playoff killer! Granted, the Wild Card option wouldn't give them home field and would force the Yankees to become well known with Target Field and beyond that the Trop, Yankees are comfortable at both venues! We just saw a few weeks ago that even though they in the past have played well in Arlington, Texas, this is A MUCH different Texas team this season! As for the rotation in the playoffs....all I have to say is "Oy Vey!" Yankees of course have CC...then after that....well you just hope Pettitte will be healthy and have the rest knocked off....Hughes has shown improvement this month....and after that....the 4th slot is a mystery! AJ has been a train wreck, a dumpster fire, a grease fire, a Shuttle Challenger like DISASTER! How he can get back on track in time for the playoffs is beyond me! But I suppose miracles can happen! 


So in my opinion Girardi is taking the "resting the players" route, which is a decent option to get the team healthy and perhaps give his team the better chance of succeeding in the playoffs! Basically, a sacrifice of the AL East crown would be worth it in the long run in order to obtain another American League pennant and more importantly World Series #28! 


One other quick thing outside of baseball........so ANOTHER Tour De France winner gets cited for doping! SHOCKER! Alberto Contador, when asked why he was tested positive responded with.......get this.........wait for it.........FOOD TAMPERING!!!! YES!!!! Contador believed his food was contaminated with whatever substance he was tested positive for! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! So we've heard every PED excuse from crazy Dominican Republic milkshakes, to needed PEDs for injuries, to "I was young and naive", to "my cousin injected it to me"....AND NOW WE GET THAT?! COME ON ALBERTO! BE A MAN! ADMIT THAT YOU AND NO OTHER CYCLIST CANNOT SUCCEED WITHOUT SOME SORT OF PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUG TO ENSURE THAT YOUR BODY WILL HAVE THE STAMINA! Holy crap! I guess I'm going to be scared now to go out and eat anywhere! Especially somewhere overseas! I could get my meal contaminated! YIKES! 


So there you go! Those are my feelings on the state of the Yankees and cycling! Keep reading and post a comment! See you next time!

The State of the Evil Empire -- Labor Day weekend edition!

            Happy Labor Day Weekend to all! How about them yanks?! Even with mediocre starting pitching, the yankees are on quite the win streak! Today made it eight straight wins in a row! They go for a sweet of TORONTO tomorrow before they welcome in the rejuvenated Orioles to the Bronx starting on Labor Day, a game in which I will be in attendance!
            Now here's the deal people....I understand the bullpen has been on a tear and the offense has been picking up the slack, but the wins have come against Toronto, Oakland, and Chicago. Does anyone out there REALLY think this lineup with Nunez, Pena, Thames, and Berkman is going to continue to pick up the slack in November?! The lone exception is Thames who has been sizzling! But still...the Yankees HAVE TO stay healthy down the stretch and maintain the lineup! 
              Yankee fans have a lot to look forward to down the stretch. Jeter has been cold, Cano has been cold, and A-Rod has been out! You HAVE TO imagine that Jeter will get on a streak along with Cano down the stretch! And you have to hope that A-Rod will contribute in October! Hopefully AJ will put together a good September to give him confidence for the post-season...BUT....this season AJ has had one good month followed by one bad one and alternating in that pattern! Hopefully he'll break the pattern in October! Yankees also have to give Hughes consistent work so he says consistent down the stretch! He HAS NOT been performing coming off of 6 days of rest! That's for sure! By the way...how about Ivan Nova?! He's been pretty good! Good enough where I can see him on the post-season roster as a long-man! Right now Nova is better than Javi and Mitre! Mitre is way too inconsistent! He's either good or bad! No middle ground! Gaudin has been good for the Yankees! Also in the bullpen, thank goodness "boom boom" Boone Logan has been outstanding or else the yanks wouldn't have a dependable left-hander out of the 'pen! The other lefty the yankees have is Marte who is NOT looking good to  be ready for the post-season! As of today he's not even throwing yet and working on strengthening his shoulder! 
             Coming up the Yankees will host the Orioles, then the yanks fly to Texas, Tampa, and Baltimore! The Orioles are a tougher out, but the Yankees SHOULD win that series, they also SHOULD win the Texas series since the rangers have been slumping as of late and the yanks like to play over there in the ballpark in Arlington, home of the Bobby Murcer Memorial Jetstream in right center field! True Yankee fans will understand that joke! The Tampa series will be THE series to watch! Those three games will have a playoff feel to them! Much more so then the remaining games with Boston (sorry sox fans! that team is done!). 
            We'll see what happens coming up! Keep on reading and leave a comment or two! I enjoy reading ALL feedback! Thanks!
      
    

The State of the Evil Empire

      Here we go! Time to give to you all my "State of the Evil Empire" monologue! As mentioned in my first post, I am a HUGE Yankees fan! I will frequently give you my thoughts on the New York Yankees. If you're a Yankees fan, a respectable fan from another team, a fan of baseball, and/or a fan of sports, then I hope you will enjoy my thoughts and opinions on the Bronx Bombers! Alright without further to do, lets dive in!
      Alright so the Yankees have been essentially floating around for the past couple of weeks. Granted they had a last good home stand against Seattle and Detroit going 5-2. But they just lost a series on the road in Toronto against the Blue Jays, a team that has the Yankees' number this season! Yankees are about to start a three game weekend set in Chicago against the very colorful Ozzie Guillen and his squad. White Sox are fighting for playoff contention in the AL Central while the Yanks are still deadlocked with the Rays at the top of the AL East. 
         This is a pretty big series for both teams, though I think there's more pressure on the White Sox to make up ground on the Twins and so this series means much more to the White Sox. But there are two very important games coming up for the Yanks. Friday night's (tonight's) game has AJ Burnett on the mound for the Yankees. Burnett HAS TO show the Yankees that they can trust him down the stretch here in the regular season but more importantly in the post season. A great start tonight can and I think will go a long way for AJ! 
           With A-Rod still on the shelf, the depth of the Yanks will again be tested. We'll certainly see Nunez get some time with "Rakin' Ramiro Pena" probably in there at some point. Quietly Marcus Thames has been on fire again for the Yankees and we'll see if he can continue his hot hitting. Guess who else is hot....I NEVER thought I'd be saying this...but Curtis Granderson has been on a tear ever since he went to school with "K-Long" (Kevin Long) on his new stroke. Austin Kearns as also showed some "Austin Power" as well! It's up to the faithful hands of Mr. Joe Girardi to shuffle up the deck and see what kind of hand he can make with this roster! 
             Speaking of Girardi, he is scheduled to make a media appearance before Friday night's game to discuss the Cubs' managerial decision. I'll be modestly surprised if he leaves the Yanks to go play for the Cubbies...but keep in mind that Girardi is a Chicago boy and played for the Cubs for all those years before coming to New York, so we'll see which way he leans! I don't anticipate Girardi saying anything earth-shattering Friday night. It'll probably be more of a "focusing on the remainder of this season and I will handle the other business after the conclusion of this season." I'll be 239% shocked if he drops some sort of bombshell tonight before the game! But then again, I've been surprised before.
             Sunday afternoon's game will be a BIG one for the Yankees. Yankees will send to the hill their young talent in Ivan Nova. Nova pitched a really good game up in Toronto on Tuesday night. Only mistake he made was to a guy who has been hitting A TON of mistakes this season, and that of course is the newest "friend" of the Yankees, Mr. Jose Bautista. Who by the way hit YET ANOTHER home run on Thursday to bring his total up to 41 HRs! Another good start on Sunday for Nova and we'll start talking about the potential impact Nova can bring to the rotation for the Yankees down the road. By the way....sunday is the 29th....and if Nova pitches very well against the White Sox, then I would not be surprised at all if Brian Cashman puts Javi Vazquez on waivers before the 31st waiver trade deadline! But with a lot of  $$$ left on the contract, I find it very doubtful that another team would take him. Only scenario I see is a NL contender taking him since Javi acts like a CY Young candidate in the NL! 
             Now I just mentioned about Mr. Jose Bautista a minute ago. People have been questioning the integrity of Bautista since he has been playing out of his mind so far this season. All I'm going to say is the following regarding these claims. I personally find it interesting that Bautista has been in the league for a few years now since 2004. His best numbers were in PIT when he hit 16 HRs one season and the following season had a career best 63 RBIs. In 2008 he was dealt to the Blue Jays. Last season in 2009, he hit 13 HRs and 40 RBIs in 113 games. NOW....ALL OF A SUDDEN...he bursts for 41 HRs up to this point AND has 96 RBIs, AND.....HE'S DOING ALL OF THIS IN THE AL EAST! It's not like he put these numbers up when he was in the NL Central! He's doing all of this in the best division in baseball! So I find it HIGHLY suspicious...that's all. But if he's clean, then I give him ALL the props for an amazing season. But he plays in a city and in a country that is known for doctors with access to HGH....so you have to think about that in the back of your minds!
            Alright so that's enough to absorb for one sitting. We'll see how the Yanks do this weekend! Again, I'll be looking at three things this weekend:

1. AJ's start on Friday night
2. The Yankee lineup and offensive production this weekend without A-Rod
3. Ivan Nova's start on Sunday

Thanks for taking the time to read this! Enjoy your weekend and Happy Labor Day to all coming up!