New York Yankees: How 2008 Sets Up To Be a More Fulfilling Season

Matthew Coyne — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:49:33 -0400

I've been a Yankees fan my entire life. Hell, the first picture ever taken of me I was wearing a Yankees hat. Sure, I really couldn't understand what I was wearing or why, but that put me well on the way to being a lifelong fan.

And the late-'90s Yankees dynasty marked the very start of my sports fandom.

I still maintain the 1998 Yankees are the greatest team of all time.

I was there when the Yankees clined the 1999 World Series Championship. I still remember all the flashbulbs that went off down the first baseline as Roger Clemens puffed out his chest mid-windup as he went to throw the first pitch.

Maybe it's caused by my youth, and with youth comes feelings of invincibility, but I felt almost as if the Yankees were supposed to win all those years in the 1990s and into the 2000s.

But, if the Yankees succeed in their yearly owner-demanded quest to bring a 27th World Series Championship to the Bronx, the 2008 title will be the most fulfilling one in a while.

The Yankees dugout began to resemble a black hole of veteran talent around 2001, and none of that veteran talent really gelled, proved by several early playoff exits. Most of the time, the solution quickly became get more expensive players. This theory was disproved with more early playoff exits.

But, now, much of that talent is gone or benched in favor of younger players.

The pitching staff is decidedly home-grown. Chien Mien-Wang is the opening-day starter. The team will have to rely on the likes of Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy for quality outings if they are to win games. Shelly Duncan looks like he's going to have a more important role this season.

They re-signed long-time, durable, defensively-strong catcher Jorge Posada instead of outright buying somebody else. Derek Jeter is back to lead the team, and Alex Rodriguez is back at the hot-corner for the Yanks.

The 2008 New York Yankees look more like the New York Yankees than the Hired Gun MLB All-Stars they resembled in earlier years.

If New York enjoys another championship this year, with the Yankees crashing the Giants championship party, 2008 will prove to be the most fulfilling baseball season the city has seen in a long time.

NCAA Tournament: Is Anything More Exciting than March Madness?

Matthew Coyne — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:10:39 -0400

As I sat on my couch this afternoon watching a ten seed in Davidson College take down highly touted No. 2 Georgetown, I asked myself if anything is as great as March Madness.

I cannot really put my finger on what makes it so great.

Maybe it's the selection process that sometimes makes you scratch your head. How could they let Arizona in when they were beaten by archrival Arizona State every time?

Maybe it's the parity that makes you watch a No. 16 play a No. 1. Maybe, just maybe, this could be the year.

Maybe it's the hours, or even days, of meticulous speculation that goes into each and every selection you make on your bracket. You put a great deal of into it all, only to have it shot to hell when Kansas State upsets USC and sends your Midwest Region into complete and utter turmoil.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say it's a little of all of that. Plus, there is the fact that the NCAA National Basketball Tournament pits the best 64 college teams against each other in an all-out, three week brawl for National Championship.

Nothing, not even a college football tournament, can provide that kind of excitement.

I'll be honest—I'm a sucker for an upset. The Final Four is markedly upset-laden, which makes this time of year even better.

What other tournament has a 1,700 student school battle a basketball powerhouse? And when does the little guy ever win?

As far as storylines go, the month of March is more than you could ever ask for.

I love sports, but no event can keep my eyes glued to my television for an entire afternoon like the Final Four. Nothing holds my attention like the games going on now or the matchups ahead.

Let's all step back and forget our screwed up pools and terrible picks, and appreciate the two 12 seeds and seven seed making their way into the Sweet 16.

Slow down and enjoy some of the best basketball in the world, because come April 8th we'll have crowned a National Champion, and us sports fans will be enthralled with something else completely.

At least until next year.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Matthew Coyne

New York Yankees: How 2008 Sets Up To Be a More Fulfilling Season

NCAA Tournament: Is Anything More Exciting than March Madness?