Upon Boredom

Perpetual brain lock, boredom stopping cognitive functions,
8 daily hours of ennui, occasionally broken up by luncheons,
and conversations with others, stuck and trapped in a similar state,
hurling aimlessly toward oblivion, 'til we meet our ultimate fate,

but a new day may dawn, and a hopeful sun may be rising,
as the rays of a different way slowly peek across the horizon,
further education, open new career paths and avenues,
and start catering to my wants, not in thrall of what I have to do,

change is around the corner, and I'm ready to take a stand,
meet the future with hope in my heart, as I weild a pen in my hand,
so stay tuned as i come up, and my my way writing things,
cause the future is open, and as always, the Geier is widening

Upon Yankee stuff

It is hard to believe that as he matures into one of the Yankees most indespensible pitchers, Chien Ming-Wang could have been had for a bag of balls as a throw-in to the Randy Johnson deal. For all the moves to acquire Pavano, Javier Vasquez, Esteban Loaiza, Kevin Brown, and on and on and on, the most successful pitcher acquired in recent memory was a minor league bidding war pick-up.

For all the crap the Yankees' farm and scouts take from purported "insiders", three home growns have been crucial components to the Yankees success. For every Terrence Long/Aaron Guile, you can only hope a Melky Cabrera emerges. Each time you pick up Tony Womack, you hope he becomes what Robinson Cano has for this team. Too many knee-jerk, "we need a veteran presence" moves have held the Yankees back in recent years. Losing one of the aforementioned players to grab Greg Maddux or another name-outweighs-ability guy would have been boneheaded.

Yes, I do realize that most teams would have been crippled by making some of the moves described above; hamstrung financially while trying to pay off 30 million to Kevin Brown while he sits at home punching walls. And yes, when you grab All-Star Bobby Abreu to replace fallen All-Star Gary Sheffield, things do not necessarily look bleak. To all the payroll mavericks out there I say this, point to one place in the rule book that precludes other BILLIONAIRE owners from doing what Geroge Steinbrenner does. Money creates money; cash into the team puts fans in the seats and generally the team in the playoffs, which increases revenue, which is put back into the team (and shared with other "poor" owners who accept hundreds of millions from corporate sponsors to create partypoker.com stadium).

Mussina has now been placed on the DL, Jason Giambi has a barking hamstring, and Alex is out sick. Fortune is smiling on the Yankees in that the Sox are running into the same West Coast swing that they are, but with an additional 3 games, and no off day (Yankees are off Monday).

Randy Johnson goes tonight, and needs to continue the 5-6 inning no-hit stuff he has been showing recently, minus the several run blow-up.

Upon the Gathering Storm

The Yankees have 3 games this week against Baltimore, a sub-par team who they should beat up on. The Red Sox are in the midst of a tilt with the Central leading Detroit Tigers, looking to even up the series tonight after a loss last night. They currently sit 2 games behind the Yankees for the lead in the AL East (with the all important 3 game defecit in the loss column). However, both teams can be forgiven for looking forward to Friday.

Beginning with a day/night doubleheader, the Yankees and Red Sox will play a 5-game in 4 day series which should determine playoff destiny for each team. Assuming things hold as they are, the Sox will have to win consecutive games at some point, and then avoid losing consecutive games to gain ground on the Yankees. Given the teams' almost dead even record against each other during the past several years, this is not the most likely of prospects. (yes, yes, neither was the Sox winning 4 straight in 2004. thanks dick). The wounded Sox will be at home, where they excel, especially Ortiz and Manny. This twosome are as benefitting of "excuse-me" homeruns as any Yankee player, what with the asenine constrction of Fenway Park.

The Yankee fan in me would love to see a 4 or 5 game domination of the Red Sox, and it may not be as unlikely as it seems. I can give the reader many reasons why I believe the Yankees have the matchups in their favor, but I will instead appeal to that friend of sportswriters the world over, the "intangible".

I spent 4 years in Massachusetts as a college student, and during that time I was witness to many Red Sox games and seasons. I got a certain feeling when the Sox were dead, and most of it came from the fans. 2004 was an abberation, as the Sox faithful stopped expecting the worst, and started hoping for the best. While I am not suggesting that the fans can affect the player performance, I am suggesting that such rabidly devoted fans can serve as an accurate barometer of where the team is headed. All but the best players are battered, including the heart-and-soul Vartiek. Ortiz is on a heat streak that seems destined for a crushing strike-out in one of those situations in which he has recently come up with a winning moment so often. the pitchers are not the Schilling, Pedro, Timmy junk-ball (who on his day can baffle the best lineup) squad who got them deep in games, and the pen is a'shambles.

I am not predicting a Yankee sweep. But I will not be surprised if one occurs.

Upon months passing rapidly

So wow, another month between posts on the old blog. Whoops.

In one of the first pieces of Widening Geier-related career news, I have recently been accepted into the Hofstra University, to pursue a Masters Degree in Journalism. Perhaps this will hone my somewhat amateurish efforts on this and other sites into successful and possibly professional writings. So I have that going for me, which is nice.

Lets pause for a nice group chant "FIRST PLACE YANKEES -clapclap, clapclapclap".

The Yankees begin a run of 21 games in 20 days which should decide the season and shake out the playoffs in the AL. Tonight starts off a 3 game set with the White Sox, who are seemingly resigned to the Wild Card, as Detroit simply will not come back to Earth. Contending with the White Sox for this spot are the Sox of a darker hue from Boston. The Yankees have been on a charge since the break, and have built themselves a 2 game cushion in the AL East, with a 3 game lead in the loss column. Trading deadline acquisitions of Bobby Abreu, Craig Wilson, and Cory Lidle have bolstered a steadily improving Bomber squad, and with the return of Cano expected tonight, and Pavano, Sheffield, Matsui and Dotel all due back in a month or so, the Yankees may soon find themselves with a preponderence of productive talent. Teams at this point in the season usually look to trades to give them a shot in the arm. However, not many can add 5 players who have been All-Stars at one point or another to a roster that already has 8 former All-Stars currently playing.

To add to this divisional help, Boston sees Wells, Timmy Junk Ball, Trot Nixon, and Jason Varitek claimed by injury. The next few series should help shake things out, and Boston will hope that their 5 man team of Ortiz, Manny, Shill, Papelbon and Beckett can help them make-up ground in their games against Baltimore and KC.