The Final Score

Here's the link to Where-are-they-now: Jeffrey Maier.

In this post earlier today Anthony called for my NFL predictions. Does it matter that most of Week 1 is already over by the time I'm typing this? Oh well. Here goes...

Giants' record:12-3-1
Jets' record: 10-6
Another random team's record: Chiefs 3-13
AFC champ: Steelers
NFC champ: Eagles
Super Bowl champ: Eagles

No link yet. But for tomorrow's paper we catch up with Jeffrey Maier - who is now Jeff Maier. He's 24 years old, still very much a Yankee fan. He's living in the Boston area, engaged to a Red Sox fan, doing accounting work for a private bank while pursuing his MBA at night.

Why did we catch up with him?

To hear his thoughts on instant replay in baseball, of course.

Will post the link when I can.

Thanks to Ken Davidoff for helping me get in touch with Maier.

Here's my where-are-they-now on Cecil Fielder, which ran in Sunday's paper. I spent most of the story talking about his longing to reconnect with his estranged son, Prince, as well as his current gig as manager of the Atlantic City Surf.

What I didn't have room for was this:

-- Cecil says his son, Prince, is a first cousin of Ricky Williams of the Dolphins. Seriously.

-- The final game in Yankee Stadium history takes place on Cecil's 45th birthday, and he will be in attendance.

Jim called me and left a voice mail at 2 p.m. on Friday. I was in the car, heading away for the weekend.

Needless to say, I didn't call him back.

I called Jim Monday at around 7 p.m. as I was waiting at JFK for a flight to Tampa.

Needless to say, he didn't call me back.

That was the point of our little TFS Labor Day mental break.

No sports, no Baumbach, no Rieber, no Chicago Norm, no blogging, no 505, no Brooks, no Jim, no Islanders-bashing, no debates, no Jessica Simpson, no Caddyshack references, no shots at Best, no links to or from the Mets and Yankees blogs, no Brett Favre, no Chicago vs. NY pizza, no NASCAR.

But now we're back.

Stay tuned for all of the above. And more.

I'm looking to fill my notebook with names of former New York sports figures for upcoming where-are-they-nows. Any suggestions, please leave them in the comments section. If you're interested in who've found over the past year, click past the jump.

Continue reading "Seeking your help. Please suggest a where-are-they-now." »

Just finished writing this week's where-are-they-now, which is on Ron Blomberg.

(Sorry for the delay, but it's tough to type and hold an ice pack to your face at the same time. Okay, okay, I promise no more whining from me.)

Blomberg is a busy guy - does corporate speaking, motivational speaking, wine-and-dines in the Yankee Stadium suites, Yankee fantasy camps, and even some scouting. He also runs a camp for teenagers - “the largest Jewish sleep-away camp in country" - managed baseball in Israel last summer.

And, lastly, he still very much enjoys his place in baseball history as the first DH 35 years ago last April. Here's the story.

I am working on my where-are-they-now right now, and it's not Tim Bogar.

But I ran across this story about Bogar in the Daily Herald and figured it was too good to pass up.

Who knew Bogar is a coach with the Tampa Bay Rays? I didn't.

And who knew Bogar's title was 'quality assurance coach'? Again, not me.

Here's how Bogar explains his job:

"I don't think I've actually got it to the point where I know exactly what I'm doing yet. What Joe needs me to do to gain an advantage every day, that's what I do."

Hmmmmmmm.

Listen to Mark Spitz discuss Michael Phelps breaking his record for most gold medals in a single Olympics, then read Jim's column on Spitz's reaction to Phelps' achievement.

Ventured into Manhattan today to meet up with Mark Spitz, who was appearing at a promotional event for Hyatt Resorts outside Grand Central Station.

Had a nice chat with Spitz about losing his record to Phelps, the most recent SI cover in which Phelps emulates Spitz's infamous photo, where Spitz keeps his medals (a bank vault) and - of course - what he thought about not being in Beijing to witness his 36-year-old record go down.

Happy reading.

(And we'll have video of the interview online later today.)

(And, no, I haven't forgotten about the Q&A with Martin Truex Jr. I still need to transcribe it, which I will do soon.)

Jim caught up with former Jets QB Browning Nagle here. Nagle has some interesting things to say about Brett Favre.

Just spoke with this week's where-are-they-now subject. I didn't actually interview him. We just set up a time to talk tomorrow. However, that doesn't mean we can't start the guessing game. So here are a few hints: He's a former Met and Yankee, more known for his days with the Mets. He was traded five times in his career. He's no longer involved in baseball, but he's busy in another profession. So... start... your... guessing...