R.I.P. Bill Gallo... My Newspaper Reading Will Never Be The Same

Legendary NY Daily News cartoonist Bill Gallo has passed on at the age of 88, and the newspaper world is worse off for it. Gallo was a 70 year employee of the NY Daily News (That is amazing, just amazing) and also a World War II veteran. His cartoons tackled all types of subjects over the years, and his style and structure is often copied but never quite duplicated. He created many memorable (and recognizable)characters over the years: Yuchie the ball playing child, Basement Bertha, and General Von Steingrabber (Yankee owner George Steinbrenner's alter ego).

I always looked forward to seeing his comic illustrations, or reading the columns he wrote about his beloved sport, Boxing. Even though he was 88 years old and battling breathing problems for the last year and a half, he still contributed to the News as much as he could. He would draw his columns from his hospital bed and send them to the News via messenger. This is the mark of a true hero. Here is what the Daily News legendary sportswriter Mike Lupica (Click here to read Lupica's whole tribute) had to say about Bill:

He was a friend to anybody who ever opened this newspaper and cared about it. And so today, one last time, you open the paper and there is Bill Gallo. There is Bertha and old Steingrabber, and Yuchie and Thurman Munson the day after he died. There is the work of those pens and pencils and brushes. The right hand reaches out one last time, across all the years, and the business is alive and so is he.

Gallo's good friend Joe DiMaggio

Basement Bertha's First Appearance

Goose Gossage for MVP

Zip it  Muhammed Ali!!!

R.I.P. Thurman Munson... One of Gallo's most famous drawings

The Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra

General Von Steingrabber

Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame... at least Gallo thought so.

My dad's all-time favorite player, Roy Campanella

9/11 Tribute

Joe Torre was often in Gallo's cartoons

Yankee's In Heaven!!!

You will be missed Bill... Here are a few of his cartoons that I have loved over the years. Click here to see many more over at The Daily News website.

It's Opening Day For My Yankees... The Quest For #28 Begins Now!!!

OK... time for some baseball!!! I am not going to get into a long rant about how superior the Yankees are (clearly they are) or how much I want to see them win another title (I do...). Instead I am just going to wish Derek and the gang good luck on the 162 game journey that starts against the Tigers tonight. Lets go CC... time to get big!!! I'll check back with you guys in September. Hopefully we will be playoff bound!

Commercially Acclaimed #12 - Nike - Boom!!!!!

TV commercials are a part of our everyday lives as TV viewers. Even though Tivo and DVR have allowed us to "skip through" the commercials, the advertising companies a still trying to peak our interests by coming up with creative commercials. To me, great commercials are an art form and are under appreciated by a society that is always trying to speed through things. Think about it... how many times did you see a great commercial that made you laugh hysterically or want to go out and purchase the advertised product??? And how many times has the best part of the Super Bowl been the commercials during a blow out game??? Whether you want to admit it or not, commercials are cool as shit... and here are some of my favorites.

Todays entry comes from Nike, and its fitting considering the MLB playoffs are about to start. Boom!!! features all time MLB & NFL great Bo Jackson taunting stud Yankee 2nd baseman Robbie Cano, and then digresses into an allstar clip featuring everybody from Lebron & Kobe, Serena Williams, Rapper Rick Ross, Tim Tebow, Nick Saban, and Manny Pacqaio... and a bunch of high school athaletes. Very cool commercial... BOOM!!! 



The Best "Situation" Met Fans Will Be In All Season

The NY Mets are the other MLB team that play their games in NYC. Their big brothers, The NY Yankees, have won 27 world championships and are looking to repeat off of last years World Series title. The Mets, or The Mutts as they have been known at times, have a rocky history to say the least. When you play sports in NY, you are expected to win... no questions asked. You gotta get it done. And even though they won 2 titles in 1969 and 1986, the bad times have far outweighed the good ones for the kids from Queens. Over the last 3 seasons expectations have been really high... but whether it was choking away a huge division lead in 2008 or the crazy freak injuries of 2009, they could not make the postseason. With everyone back healthy and ready to go, the Mets looked hungry. Then the season started, and the old losing ways came back... they are currently 2-4 and they look like they are back to their losing ways.

Anyway, I saw this commercial the other day and thought it was hysterical. It features Mike "The Situation" from The Jersey Shore and NY Mets 3rd Baseman David Wright training for the upcoming season. David is trying to turn the corner after a rough 2009, and "The Situation" has some new tactics for him to try out. Check it out, and if you are a NY Met fan, take solace in this cool ass commercial... cause you got no shot this season on the field!!! Oooohhhhh... sick burn. 

Opening Day Is Here... And The Quest For 28 Begins!!!

Spring is here, the weather is getting warmer... It must be baseball time!!! I'm a big fan of MLB, and this season is gonna be awesome. In order to offer full disclosure, I am also a die hard NY Yankee fan. If you lke that, great. If not... fuck you. This is my blog. I'll write about the Yankees as much as I want... ok,ok. I'm just kidding. I do love the Yankees, and the expecatations are high for the defending champs. This season will be challenging acroos the board, and the best part about the beginning of the season is simply this: Everybody is in 1st place on Opening Day. Thats the way it is kids. Hope everyone has fun rooting for their teams this year, and we will see who is hoisting that championship trophy above their heads come October. Go get Yanks... (and anybody you guys might root for).

Here is a link to Major League Baseball's official site. Everything you need to know about your favorite team, it's all here. Stats, scores, schedules... a treasure trove of baseball information at your fingertips. Plus, you can even order merchandise to prove you are the greatest fan of all time. Enjoy the season. See you at the ballpark!!!

MLB.com

This Is Sportscenter: The Ultimate Betrayal

For all you people who live under a rock, or just are not sport fans, Sportscenter is a highlight show that airs at various times throughout the day on ESPN, the biggest sports cable network in the country. Most sportsfans watch the show at least once a day, but people obsessed with sports like me find ourselves watching the show multiple times a day for constant updates. The show features a rotating cast of anchors, both men and women, who all have their distinct brands of humor and catch phrases that make the show so great. But the best part about Sportscenter, or ESPN for that matter, are the series of commercials that they use to promote the show. Throughout the years there have been hundreds of these commercials, starring athletes, mascots, anchors and celebrities to illustrate what life must be like at the ESPN studios in Bristol, Conneticut. They are usually quite hilarious and make you appreciate good advertising as well as offering you a new prespective on atheletes you usually only see performing in their particular sport. For all you non sports fans out there, this is an oppurtunity for you to see great commercials you probably have never seen because you don't watch ESPN. You may not start liking sports because you watch these clips, but you will enjoy some funny stuff. It's a win-win for everybody.

This week we find David Ortiz from the Boston Red Sox & Jorge Posada from the NY Yankees in a board meeting at the ESPN offices when they notice how clean Posada's hat is... What follows may make it a little bit tough for Big Papi to play at Feneway this season. Hysterical as usual, and in perfect time for the start of another great season of AL East Baseball. Let's Go Yanks!!!