Mets Make The Playoffs As They Exorcise Atlanta Demons

 

Francisco Lindor points the way Monday afternoon. @Mets.

The Mets conquered the demons in Atlanta, and they earned one of the most thrilling victories in their history, 8-7, over the Braves, on Monday afternoon.

College Football: FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll - Week 5

 

In the FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll for Week 5 of the 2024 college football season, Alabama has taken the top spot for the first time this season after their wild 41-34 win over Georgia on Saturday night.

NYCFC Rolls Over Red Bulls, Clinches Playoff Spot

 

Maxi Moralez. @NYCFC.

New York City Football Club rolled to a 5-1 win over the Red Bulls in the Hudson River Derby in Harrison, NJ, on Saturday night.

Possible Rookies Of The Year Battled At The Stadium

 

Paul Skene striking out Juan Soto in the first inning. Photo by Jason Schott.

On Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium, there was a matchup between two of the best young pitchers in baseball - Luis Gil of the Yankees and Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Yankees, Led By Cole, Clinch AL East

 

Gerrit Cole fires one in on clinch night. @Yankees.

The Yankees clinched the American League East on Thursday night, with a stirring 10-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Thursday night at Yankee Stadium, powered by big performances from Gerrit Cole and Giancarlo Stanton.

Books: "Inverting The Pyramid" By Jonathan Wilson

 

Inverting The Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics

By Jonathan Wilson

Bold Type Books; paperback, 528 pages; $24.99

Jonathan Wilson has authored eight books, including this one, which was named the NSC Football Book of the Year in 2009 and won the Premio Antonio Ghirelli prize as Italian soccer book of the year in 2013. He is the founder and editor of the soccer quarterly the Blizzard, and he writes for the Guardian, FoxSoccer, and Sports Illustrated, as well as being a columnist for World Soccer.

Yankees Have To Wait Another Day To Clinch

Aaron Judge touches home plate after rounding the bases on home run #57. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Yankees are on the verge of clinching the American League East, and they nearly did it in incredible fashion on Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium, as they mounted a massive comeback late - which included Aaron Judge's 57th home run of the season - against the Baltimore Orioles, only to lose 9-7.

Books: A Pair Of Jane Smith Thrillers From James Patterson & Mike Lupica

 James Patterson is one of the greatest storytellers of this era who has created characters that people can't get enough of, from Alex Cross to the Women's Murder Club and Maximum Ride, as well as his captivating true stories of the Kennedys, John Lennon, and Tiger Woods. Patterson is also known for collaborations with leading people such as former President Bill Clinton and singer Dolly Parton.

Mets Finish Off Phillies In Citi Regular Season Send-Off

Brandon Nimmo touching home plate on his sixth inning home run off Phillies starter Zack Wheeler. Photo by Jason Schott.

 

The Mets closed out the Citi Field portion of the regular season in rousing fashion, as they beat the Phillies, 2-1, to take three out of four games in the weekend series. 

Messi Mania Takes Over Yankee Stadium, But NYCFC Finishes With Late Frenzy

 

Lionel Messi lining up a free kick in the fifth minute. Photo by Jason Schott.

Lionel Messi is the latest major sports star to have graced the field at Yankee Stadium, as he brought his Inter Miami CF into The Bronx for a match with New York City FC on Saturday afternoon.

College Football: FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll - Week 4

 

In the FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll for Week 4 of the 2024 college football season, Texas took the top spot for the second straight week after Arch Manning led them to a 51-3 win over UL-Monroe.

NYCFC Falls To Philadelphia In Return To Yankee Stadium

 

Philadelphia moving up field looking for a fifth goal, which they eventually got to seal the win. Photo by Jason Schott.

In their first game in nearly two months at Yankee Stadium, New York City Football Club fell to the Philadelphia Union, 5-1, on Wednesday night.

Books: "Precipice" By Robert Harris, Set In World War I London

Precipice

By Robert Harris 

Harper/HarperCollins Publishers; hardcover, 464 pages; $30.00; available today, Tuesday, September 17th

Robert Harris has been a television correspondent with the BBC and a newspaper columnist for London's Sunday Times and Daily Telegraph. He is the author of Act of Oblivion, Pompeii, Enigma, and Fatherland. Most of his fifteen cinematic thrillers have been made into films, including Conclave, starring Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini, Stanley Tucci, and John Lithgow, and it is set to be released this fall. His novels have sold over ten million copies, and have been translated into thirty languages.

College Football: FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll - Week 3

 

In the FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll for Week 3 of the 2024 college football season, Texas took the top spot for the first time in the poll's history.

Boston Gave Yanks Fitts Early Before Judge Issued Late Ruling

 

Aaron Judge watching the path of his grand slam in the seventh inning. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Yankees had one of their most thrilling seasons wins of the season on Friday night at a raucous Yankee Stadium, as they stormed back to beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4, on a game-winning grand slam by Aaron Judge.

Books: On Unique Sports That Are Growing In Popularity

It is September, a wonderful time to be a sports fan, and in this review, we will look at three new books that capture the wide variety of sports that people enjoy: SEC Football: How a Regional League Became a National Obsession, by Colby Newton; F1 Racing Confidential: Inside Stories from the World of Formula One, by Giles Richards; and The Promise of Women's Boxing: A Momentous New Era for the Sweet Science, by Malissa Smith.

Yankees Run Past Royals To Take Series Finale In Extra Innings

 

There was a pregame tribute on the 23rd anniversary of the September 11th attacks. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Yankees won a thriller against the Kansas City Royals, 4-3, in 11 innings on Wednesday night, as they took two out of three in this series that felt like a possible playoff preview right out of the '70s.

Yankees To Offer Prostate Cancer Screening Thursday Night

Yankee Stadium's famous facade. Photo by Jason Schott.

 

On Thursday night, fans attending the Yankees' game against the Boston Red Sox can take a free pregame prostate cancer screening, hosted by the Yankees, Fans for the Cure, and Montefiore Einstein.

Books: "Confronting the Presidents" By Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard

 

Confronting the Presidents: No Spin Assessments from Washington to Biden

By Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard

St. Martin's Press; hardcover, 304 pages; $32.00; available today, Tuesday, September 10th

Iconic television news journalist and radio host Bill O'Reilly hosts "No Spin News," weeknights at 8 PM and 11 p.m. on The First TV, a new media network on many digital platforms, including Roku, Amazon Fire, and Apple TV. He also hosts "The O'Reilly Update" on the radio, and that can he heard on the Pandora app and 225 stations across the country. He has been a broadcaster for over 49 years, and he has won three Emmys and numerous other journalism accolades. Before his long tenure with Fox News when he anchored the top-ranked "The O'Reilly Factor, he was a national correspondent for CBS News and ABC News, as well as a reporter-anchor for WCBS-TV here in New York.

O'Reilly is also a prominent author, with 18 number-one ranked non-fiction books. That includes his renowned Killing series, which he has written with Dugard is the most popular series of narrative histories in the world, with 19 million copies in print and a remarkable run of #1 New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestsellers. There have been 13 books in the Killing series to this point. Recent releases include Killing the Killers (please click here for our review), which focused on the War on Terror and became a #1 New York Times and national bestseller, and Killing the Legends, on Elvis Presley, John Lennon, and Muhammad Ali. (click here for our review).

Martin Dugard, who has authored several New York Times bestselling books of history, including Taking London: Winston Churchill and the Fight to Save Civilization, Taking Paris and Taking Berlin.

In O'Reilly and Dugard's new book, Confronting the Presidents, they present a unique look at the 45 men privileged enough to hold the most office in the world. After all, while Joe Biden is our 46th President, it's 45 because Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms, something former President Donald J. Trump is trying to match at the moment. 

From the United States' first President, George Washington, up to Biden, fresh stories and tantalizing facts are weaved together in the lively, informative style readers are used to in their prior books, especially the many legends from across all walks of life who were subjects of the Killing series.

The measure of each President is taken, as each one has left a lasting legacy and impact on America, some of which are powerfully relevant today, some best left in the dustbin of history. Many presidential reputations evolved over time, but regardless of their shifting political fortunes or how historians view them, all shaped the country in important and unexpected ways.

There are many never-before-seen historical facts that are uncovered in this book, ascertained from private correspondence and newly discovered documentation. There are 45 portraits of each president, which will include a look at who served the country's needs best, which ones undermined the Founding Fathers' ideals, what rivalries and controversies shaped their presidencies, the surprising roles many First Ladies played in history, and in O'Reilly fashion, a No Spin Assessment of who was the best, the worst, and who had little impact.

This book does not solely view them from a political lens, as the authors delve into these leaders' lives. What did they like to eat, drink, and do for recreation when not working? How well did they make decisions under pressure? What are their lasting legacies?

Each chapter goes along with the number of their Presidency, starting with George Washington being 1 right up through Barack Obama's 44. Since the stories of our last two Presidents are still active, there are individual essays by O'Reilly and Dugard in a very thoughtful Afterword chapter. 

"The legacies of President Trump and President Biden are not complete, so it is impossible for any historian to fairly and fully evaluate their service at this point," O'Reilly and Dugard write. "American is bitterly divided over the two, often forming impressions based on distorted data put forth by an ideological media. The authors of this book are not interested in advancing false narratives of promoting fallacious conspiracy theories. We are a fact-based duo that strives for accuracy and insight."

The profiles of their two most immediate predecessors - George W. Bush and Barack Obama - provide some of the best context for what brought us here.

The chapter on Bush is done artfully, as it emphasizes how much the attacks of September 11, 2001, shaped his presidency, and brought the country together after the contested 2000 election. There also is plenty about his relationship with his wife, Laura Bush, whose approval rating was an astonishing 85 percent at one point, and how they would start each day having coffee together. As with all their examinations of our Commanders-in-Chief, their assessment is a balanced one, that while Bush showed tremendous leadership in the days after 9/11 and produced notable legislation such as the No Child Left Behind Act, his second term went downhill fast, marked by an inept response to Hurricane Katrina and the financial crisis in his last year. The authors also note that, as they write, that "it is during Bush's presidency that Americans frequently begin speaking of themselves as living in conservative 'red' states of liberal 'blue' states. The rising influence of cable television adds to this division. Networks tilt their points of view toward liberal or conservative audiences."

Obama's chapter starts with a look at his personality, and how he had little time for frivolity, and a focus on how he selected Biden to be his Vice President so he could deal with Congress, which Obama had little interest in doing himself. Obama's main achievement was the Affordable Care Act, which also colloquially known as "ObamaCare," and that shaped the first year of his presidency until it was signed into legislation on March 23, 2010. It was so unpopular at the time that the Republicans, driven by the Tea Party movement, romped in the 2010 midterm elections. Shortly after that, Donald Trump, then still a television personality and businessman, starts questioning whether Obama was born in the United States. This leads to Obama mercifully having fun at his expense at the White House Correspondents' Dinner in late April 2011 (won't tell you what major event happened soon after), the first time the two engaged in battle.

"There is no question that Barack Obama changed the country dramatically. Not because of what he did with policy but rather because the chain reaction that develops after the nation's first black president takes office spirals in many directions. And one of those destinations is Donald Trump," O'Reilly and Dugard write.

"Both Obama and Trump are larger-than-life figures. Both engender loyalty and loathing. But without the administration of Barack Obama, Trump would likely not have been president. The backlash against the big government policies Obama embraced directly leads to the success of the populist Trump."

One highlight of the book is that there are the official portraits of all Presidents and First Ladies collected in two photo galleries.

In this excerpt, O'Reilly and Dugard write of the magnitude of this job that shapes not just their current moment, but far longer: "Imagine being the most powerful person in the world. All your daily needs taken care of, full-time luxury, the ability to change the lives of millions of people, for better or worse.

There have been forty-five male presidents of the United States. One woman, Hillary Clinton, came close. But who are these people, really? The answer to that seemingly simple question  is the quest of this book. And the answer is complicated because so many different circumstances are involved.

There have been bad people elected to the highest office of the land as well as noble ones. It's sometimes difficult to make the judgment. But we, the authors, will decide based on the facts we have uncovered.

Some presidents were drunks. Some corrupt. A few outright racist. Almost all had hidden eccentricities that may startle you. All endured heartbreak.

And each president has affected you by the way they conducted themselves in office. Decisions made hundreds of years ago resonate today.

Thus, our history book series switches from the "killing" concept to the "confronting" arena. But the style is the same. No fussing around, right to the point. Different eras, strange occurrences, dubious behavior. These will be vividly chronicled as we assess the leaders who made the United States what it is today.

For better or, in more than a few cases, worse.

The decision of 2024 is looming as we write this book. As in 1860, we are an intensely divided nation - one that could descend into social chaos. Political bitterness is in the air.

However, the country has been through this before and emerged stronger for it. What will happen this time? Impossible to predict.

Books: "Punishing Putin" By Stephanie Baker

 

Punishing Putin: Inside the Global Economic War to Bring Down Russia

By Stephanie Baker

Scribner; hardcover, 368 pages; $29.99; available today, Tuesday, September 10th

Stephanie Baker is a veteran journalist who is an award-winning investigative reporter at Bloomberg News. She began her career reporting from Moscow during the 1990s, which was an unpredictable period of social optimism, economic opportunism, and chaos that sent Russia into disarray in the wake of the end of the Cold War. Since 2018, Baker has chronicled the rise and fall of Russian billionaires and written extensively about the sanctions placed on Russia. 

Books: "Mademoiselle Eiffel" By Aimie K. Runyan

 

Mademoiselle Eiffel: A Novel

By Aimie K. Runyan

William Morrow Paperbacks; paperback, $18.99; eBook, $12.99; Digital Audio, $27.99; available today, Tuesday, September 10th

Aimie K. Runyan is a multi-published and bestselling author of historical and contemporary fiction, whose books include A Bakery in Paris (please click here for our review from August 2023) and The School for German Brides. She is an adjunct instructor for the Drexel University MFA in Creative Writing program, and seeks to be active in the literary community in Colorado and beyond. She has received a nomination for a Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers Writer of the Year Award, a Historical Novel Society's Editor's Choice selection, and a four-time finalist for the Colorado Book Awards.

Mademoiselle Eiffel is Runyan's new novel, and it is set in nineteenth century Paris. She tells the little-known story of Clair Eiffel, and her significant contributions to the city of Paris, which were overlooked at the time. 

Claire is the beautiful, brilliant eldest daughter of Gustave Eiffel, who it doesn't take much to figure what he is known for. She is doted upon with an education that's the envy of many sons of the upper classes, and entirely out of reach of most daughters. 

The idyllic childhood that Claire had was torn asunder when her mother passed away. She is just fourteen years old at the time of this tragedy, and Gustave makes clear that he expects Claire to fill her mother's place as caregiver to the younger children and manager of the family home. 

Claire proves her competence, and with that, her importance to her her father grows. Eventually, she accompanies him on his travels and becomes his confidante and private secretary. She learns his father's architectural trade and becomes indispensable to his work - that is until Gustave's bright young protege, Adolphe Salles, takes up more of his time. Though Claire at first resents being pushed aside, she begins to form a friendship with Adolphe, which turns into something more. 

In 1885, Claire marries Adolphe, and the Eiffel legacy is preserved. Soon after, they are privileged by the biggest commission of Eiffel's career, a giant tower to dominate the 1889 World's Fair to showcase Paris' leading role in the worlds of art and architecture. 

Claire becomes a hostess to the scientific elite, which includes Thomas Edison, and this puts her under not just the watchful eye of her family and father's circle, but the world.

When Gustave Eiffel becomes involved in an endeavor to build a canal in Paris that turns into a disaster, it ends with him in prison. It is up to Claire to secure his father's freedom, and also preserve the hard-won family legacy.

This story is about love, devotion, and commitment to a family legacy, while also, filled with plenty of historical information about Paris at that time, which is a specialty of Runyan's books.

In this excerpt, Runyan writes of a critical moment for Claire and Gustave: 

September 7, 1891

1, rue Rabelais, Paris

"Damn the brutes," Papa muttered an uncharacteristic curse as he surveyed the wreckage of his office. He lingered over a pile of white plaster shards that had once been a likeness of some Greek goddess of another, shaking his head. "That statue belonged to my mother."

My lips turned up at the memory of my grandmother, the great Bonne Maman Eiffel. Were she still with us, I liked to imagine she would have fended off the intruders with the power of her steely gaze alone. Where lesser mortals might have needed a blade or a firearm, her fittingly Gorgon-esque stare would have been enough to terrify a workaday thief into a life so virtuous they'd be fit for the Vatican.

"She gave it to you and Maman because she hated it, it it's any consolation." She'd muttered as much one day when she'd seen it in Papa's office and didn't realize I could overhear. She thought the neoclassical phase, with all the scantily clad Greek deities, was an unmistakable sign that civilization had irrevocably teetered over the precipice of decline. The statue must have been a gift from someone significant enough that it couldn't be disposed of, no matter how discreetly, but passed along to young newlyweds who so desperately needed to feather their new nest.

She was always a clever one, especially when it served her own interests.

Or those of the Eiffel family name.

"Have the brigands taken anything?" Adolphe stepped gingerly around some strewn papers; sketches of a bridge in some remote corner of the Orient that Papa had been engaged to build some years back. There were dozens of detailed plans for the ambitious projects of the company papering the floor so that the thick Turkish rug was hardly visible beneath them. "Was there anything of value in here?"

My hand fluttered to the ruby collar at my throat. Another expensive token of Papa's affection and appreciation. And there were many others in the case upstairs. The cool bands of metal felt as though they might constrict around my windpipe. As extravagant as the bespoke silk gown I wore for an evening at the opera and a decadent meal beforehand at the Cafe de la Paix.

'"hese weren't robbers coming after my diamond ear bobs, Adolphe." My husband crossed his arms, awaiting my explanation. I went to the sideboard for a sniffer of cognac before saying his curiosity. "They were looking for evidence to use against Papa and the company."

With my free hand I gestured to the forest of ledgers that covered the entire surface of Papa's mammoth desk, all of them open, though nothing ripped or damaged. Those documents were treated with a modicum of care. The looters had been reading them and searching for the evidence to prove their case against the Compagnie Eiffel.

I sipped my cognac. "I'd wager Maman's rosary that there are several volumes of ledgers missing: 1886 to 1889, when the canal project folded. Even those since then, if they wanted to be thorough."

Adolphe crossed to the desk and examined the leather tomes for himself. "Every ledger since 1886 up through last year. They didn't get this year's because it's locked up in my desk upstairs. For trained police, they treated your father's property with no more respect than common thieves, whatever you say."

I nodded. "They acted like thugs, I won't deny it. The staff were scared out of their wits. I'm only glad they didn't try to interfere with the search and get themselves in trouble to protect us. The police had their warrant and I'm certain they planned it deliberately for an evening we'd be away so we wouldn't have the chance to hide anything."

"I can only imagine how they must have felt. A miserable business, the lot of it." Papa flung himself into his chair and rubbed his eyes in exhaustion.

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "You'll have to speak to them all in the morning. Don't just assure them that you in no way hold them responsible for the actions of a few zealous detectives, but rather thank them for their cooperation with the authorities in a manner that corroborates the innocence of the Eiffel name and your company."

Original Met, Who Also Was On '69 Champs, Ed Kranepool Passes Away

Provided by the Mets.

If there was someone who was the real-life embodiment of Mr. Met, no doubt it would be Ed Kranepool, who passed away on Sunday in Boca Raton, Florida, after he suffered a cardiac arrest at the age of 79.

Battle of the Badges Thursday Night At Citi Field

 

The Battle of the Badges - the third annual charity baseball game between the New York City Police and Fire Departments - will take place at Citi Field this Thursday, September 12 at 7:10 p.m.

College Football: FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll - Week 2

 

In the FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll for Week 2 of the 2024 college football season, Georgia once again claimed the top spot after they beat Tennessee Tech, 48-3 at home.

Nine Is Fine For Mets As They Roll By Reds

 

Jose Quintana fires one in early in his outing on Saturday evening. Photo by Jason Schott.

The Mets shutout the Cincinnati Reds, 4-0, on Saturday evening at Citi Field, their ninth straight victory as they close in on a Wild Card berth.

Books: "The Early Days of ESPN" By Peter Fox

 

The Early Days of ESPN: 300 Daydreams and Nightmares 

By Peter Fox

Globe Pequot / Lyons Press; 200 pages; hardback, $29.95; eBook, $28.50

Peter Fox was the founding executive producer of ESPN, after he established himself with an advertising agency that he sold in the 1970s before he became an independent television producer who won Clio, Addy, and Golden Pen Awards. He then went on to become a producer, director, and writer of corporate communications materials for Lloyds of London Correspondent, DuPont, United Technologies, and PPG Industries. Currently, Fox is the Editor in Chief of SportsEdTV, the leader in online sports instruction, and managing director of its Learn to Win peak performance training, powered by HeartMath research and technology.

Books: "Chicago Cubs Firsts" By Al Yellon

 

Chicago Cubs Firsts: The Players, Moments, and Records That Were First in Team History

By Al Yellon; foreword by Pat Hughes

Globe Pequot/Lyons Press; 226 pages; paperback, $22.95; eBook, $21.50

With the Yankees taking on the Chicago Cubs this weekend, it is a perfect opportunity to take a look at some of the illustrious history of the team that calls Wrigley Field home.

Books: "I Curse You With Joy" By Tiffany Haddish

 

I Curse You With Joy

By Tiffany Haddish

Diversion Books; hardcover, 248 pages; $28.99

Tiffany Haddish is one of the freshest voices in comedy, with her meteoric rise starting with her first book, The Last Black Unicorn. Then, she was the breakout star of the smash hit "Girls Trip," which she co-starred with Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, and Regina Hall. The actress, producer, and comedian's additional credits include "The Last O.G.," with Tracy Morgan; "Night School," and as host of the 2018 MTV Movie and TV Awards.

College Football: FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll - Week 1

 

In the first FWAA-NFF Super 16 Poll for the 2024 college football season, Georgia claimed the top spot after they beat Clemson, 34-3.

Books: "You Belong With Me" By Mhairi McFarlane

 

You Belong With Me 

By Mhairi McFarlane

Avon; paperback, 352 pages; 18.99; available today, Tuesday, September 3rd

Mhairi McFarlane is a Sunday Times bestselling author who hails from Scotland, and her unique name is pronounced Vah-Ree. She started her career in journalism, but found her calling writing fiction. Her first book, You Has Me At Hello, was an instant success, and she has now written ten novels. Her work straddles the line between being a romantic comedy, which has a humorous voice and a strong romantic hook at its core, and a women's fiction novel about complex relationships, self-discovery, friendship, family drama, coping with trauma and loss, and learning to love oneself. Her novels have earned Best of the Year recognition by Amazon, OprahMag, Insider, Cosmo, and BookPage.