The Enigma That is Jared Ross

I was flipping through the channels the other week and found myself watching the American Hockey League (AHL) All-Star game. Unfortunately, I did not see any of the action as the game was over. However, I was able to see the presentation of the MVP Award (sponsered by some fast-food chain, I believe). The recipient of the 2009 AHL All-Star game MVP was a man named Jared Ross, a forward who plays for the Philadelphia Phantoms.  Jared had seven points in that game (an AHL all-star game record), six assists (another AHL all-star game record) and one goal (not so much a record). That’s a pretty good night. I thought to myself, “Alright! Jared Ross, sounds like a Jewish name. It’s nice to see a Jewish hockey player!” Now, I am strictly going by his name, I do not know for sure that Jared Ross is Jewish. I tried to google this, but could not come out with a definitive answer. If you are not Jewish, then I sincerely apologize, Jared.

Now, being a Jewish professional hockey player, Jared is in the minority. However, while watching the game I discovered another fact about Jared that puts him in another minority. He was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama! Seriously! So not only is Jared Ross a Jewish hockey, he is a Jewish hockey player from Alabama! According to an article on ahl.com, Jared played college hockey at the University of Alabama-Huntsville…who knew that the University of Alabama had a hockey team!? The article on ahl.com also stated that Jared ranks in the top three in school history in goals, assists and points. He led the team in scoring in each of his final three seasons, was a three-time College Hockey Association First-Team All-Star, and was the conference player of the year in 2003-04.

In the beginning of this season, Jared made his debut for the Philadelphia Flyers at their home opener against the Rangers of all teams (shows how observant I am). Jared became the first player born and trained in Alabama to play in the NHL. Congratulations, Jared! It’s about time someone broke that barrier. Was this the game where Sarah Palin was boo’ed when dropping the ceremonial puck?

I find this story quite interesting. Who knew Alabama was able to produce a NHL player? Who knew that there are Jews in Alabama (that is a GROSS generalization on my part…clearly there has to be a proud Jewish community in the state…just my attempt of being humorous…sorry if that offends any Alabama Jews). As Jack @ http://notaplumber.blogspot.com put it, what is more rare: a Jewish hockey player or a Jew in Alabama? I just wanted to share this to my readers as I think this is a random story and fun fact to learn. Maybe someone, one day, can win a bunch of money in a trivia game by knowing who the first Alabama-Native was in the NHL.

Ironically enough, according to the article on ahl.com, Jared was traded to Philadelphia for Niko Dimitrakos, A Greek-American hockey player. For those who know me, I am half-Jewish/half-Greek, so this intrigued me quite a bit. I bet this was the first time in professional sports history that a Jew was traded for a Greek.

Learn More About Jared Ross:

http://www.theahl.com/news/league/index.html?article_id=8957

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jared_Ross

We Want Manny!

Mets fans want Manny Ramirez…it’s no secret. Mannymania is all over WFAN, SNY and the blogs. Mets fans are not worried about his personality or “Manny being Manny” because he is one of the greatest hitters of this generation that comes through when it matters. As I have stated in a previous post, I too want Manny. His personality did not stop the Red Sox from winning two championships or the Dodgers from winning the division (two things the Mets have failed to do in the past two seasons). There was a rally last week at the SNY studios of about 40 or so people for the Mets to sign Manny and apparently there will be another rally at CitiField on Saturday (or whatever it will called by then). I hope this rally will have a bigger turnout, not that 40 people is a bad turnout, but the more people to get the message out the better.

If so many Mets fans are calling for Manny, the Mets should listen. Mets management owes something big, like Manny Ramirez, to Mets fans after the way the past two seasons ended. It is unacceptable for the Mets to be raising tickets prices at such an astronomical rate just to keep their team salary the same from 2008 to 2009 (Metsblog reported that this season’s team salary is around $145 million, the same as in 2008). Where is this money going? The new stadium is finished…they will not need anymore money to finance it. Citigroup is apparently not backing out of their deal, so the team is keeping around $400 million dollars. I understand that Bernie Madoff screwed the Wilpons out millions of dollars, but the Mets claim that that money had nothing to do with the Mets’ budget. And do not think to say that it’s a recession and Wilpons cannot afford another big name player, they have not adjusted ticket prices for their new stadium, they do not seem to care how the recession is affecting their fans. What’s wrong with another $25 million dollar investment for the 2009 and beyond? That money will be chump change compared to the money the team will make off Manny (merchandising, national television deals, etc.). Just look at how Woody Johnson milked every single dollar out of Brett Farve. What will bring more money to the Mets than a World Series Victory? Nobody will argue that Manny will make the Mets the favorite in the National League. The team fixed their bad bullpen and now needs to fix their poor clutch hitting from last season. Manny is the clutch hitter, hands down. I have no problem with giving him two years and an option for a third ($25 for the first two and $30 for the option). Honestly, although I am hesitant to guarantee a third year, I will do it at this point. Manny is a hitting machine, and has been a hitting machine for the past five years. There have been no signs of a dramatic drop off. How much worse will Manny be in three years? I do not think it will be a huge regression. Nobody else seems to be close to signing Manny; the Dodgers do not want to give him what he wants and the Giants are just claiming to be interested so the Dodgers will outbid themselves. The time is perfect for the Mets to jump in. Let’s do this, Omar, Jeff and Fred. It’s time to give to the fans a big thank you.

PS: The additions of Orlando Hudson (who is waiting for either NY team to call him) and Joe Beimel…as well as the subtraction of Luis Castillo will also be welcomed by me.

DO THE RIGHT THING TICKETMASTER!!!

I’m sick of Ticketmaster. As I have noted in a previous post, they are pure evil, but we have no choice but to use them as they are the only source to buy tickets at face value. The last straw came on Monday morning at 9am as I went into work early to make sure I was at my computer to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets. As many know, Bruce is my favorite musician, so I was very much looking forward to buying tickets to his concert at Nassau Coliseum after his kick-ass halftime show and his great album just being released.

So, at 9am I went to buy tickets and waited in the “internet line” for about 15-20 minutes. When my turn finally came around I received ths message:

	Our ticketing system is currently unavailable due to routine maintenance. Please check back at a later time.
	(0×200111)

Sucks, right? I tried buying tickets again even though I realized that the show was probably sold out at that point. After waiting in line for the second time, I again received the same message. I emailed Ticketmaster about my problem but have not heard back yet. I noticed today that I am not the only person who had this problem (http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/02/03/ticketmaster-admits-springsteen-sale-wasnt-our-finest-hour/) and (http://www.newsday.com/iphone/ny-nyspring0204,0,5620915.story). I am calling for Ticketmaster, the personification of greed to DO THE RIGHT THING FOR IT’S CUSTOMERS! How dare they try to advertise their “used to be illegal” TicketsNow website and scalp tickets for way over face value on their website.  If those are Ticketmaster’s tickets (which I am not sure they are), they should let people like us, who were online at 9am be able to buy at face value. SHAME ON YOU TICKETMASTER. According to Rolling Stone, there are 697 tickets available on TicketsNow, enough to satisfy a lot of angry customers. The article on Newsday noted that Ticketmaster claims that only a few people experienced this problem. Well, if only a few people had this problem, then it will not be a burden to your company to fix your mistake and let us buy the tickets we earned by logging on at 9am! I doubt that this will be rectified or that Ticketmaster will even respond to my email (I am still waiting). Ticketmaster has been nothing but a disappointment. But what else should I expect, they cannot be held accountable for their actions. However, US Rep Bill Pascrell is calling for a federal probe on a conflict of interest between TicketsNow and Ticketmaser. I have no clue what could come of that but no matter what, it looks like I am stuck here without Bruce Springsteen tickets and will have to resort to trying to buy them for way over face value. Unless Ticketmaster DOES THE RIGHT THING FOR ITS LOYAL CUSTOMERS INSTEAD OF THINKING WITH THEIR WALLET. If you are a loyal reader to Mattisblogging I urge you to email Ticketmaster about this matter on their website. Annoy @ http://ticketmasterus.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/ticketmasterus.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php