Derek Jeter & The Yankees "SCREW" Christian Lopez

UPDATE: Topps says it will produce a trading card featuring Christian Lopez that will be included in sets later this year. Also memorabilia dealer Brandon Steiner and sporting goods CEO Mitch Modell said they will make sure Lopez gets at least $50,000 toward his outstanding student loans of $150,000. Steiner set up an auction of memorabilia that eventually will include baseballs signed by both Lopez and Jeter and said Modell is pledging five percent from the sale of Yankees-related merchandise at the Modell's chain during what will be called ''Christian Lopez Week.''
NOW IF ONLY DEREK JETER AND THE NEW YORK YANKEES WOULD STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND COVER THE REMAINING $100,000! What about it guys!

UPDATE: 7/12/11-The four season tickets he was rewarded with could carry a tax burden of up to $14,000 alone, and that's before the signed shirts, balls and bats are taken into account. Should the Yankees give Lopez a hand with his tax bill?
This keeps getting worse & worse!

Question: What would YOU do with Jeter's 3,000th Home Run Hit?

Christian Lopez

On July 9, 2011, at 2pm at New York's Yankee stadium in the bronx, Derek Sanderson Jeter, on a 3-2 slow breaking curve ball,  launched a Home Run into the left field bleachers. Thus becoming the 28th Major League Baseball player to have 3,000 hits in his career.

A true milestone in A baseball players career.

Sitting out in the left field bleachers that hot summer's day in Section 236 was Christian Lopez. WHO? Let me tell you about Christian. This 23 year old Highland Mills, New Yorker works for Verizon Cellular in a store, was there with his dad, Raul "Chico" Lopez, with tickets brought by his girlfriend as a birthday present on StubHub for $65. per. He also ha over $100,000. dollars in student loan debt.

So what did HE do with the ball? He said, "He deserves this, he's worked hard for this ... I'm not the type of person to take this away from him." He just gave it back!

CRAZY!

He did ask to meet Derek and get some memorabilia, but that's all he wanted!


The New York Yankees quickly took advantage of there fans again, giving him only  four tickets for the uber-pricey Legend section for one game, worth a total of $6,000, then four tickets for each of the rest of the games in the stadium's Championship section this year, where seats go for $350. Plus tickets to any playoffs/world series games this year the yankees would play.

Derek & Minka

The captain himself, Derek Jeter, gave Lopez three signed bats, three signed balls and three signed jerseys and a meet-and-great.

AND THAT'S IT!  I'll say it again, CRAZY!

Oh sure he's been on the Yess Network and other TV stations. Local newspapers and radio. He was supposed to be on ESPN, but he said he had to turn it down cause he has to get back to work.

Minka

I was talking about this for several days before this happened with friends and family asking them what they would ask for if his 3,000th hit would've been a home run.
Two girls said they would ask Jeter for a date. To be taken out in New York City to a five star restaurant and wined and dined, maybe go dancing, limo the whole thing!

Now I don't know how Derek's girlfriend, Minka Kelly, would like that?

Others said they would give it back, while some said they would have to think about it.
One said they would ask for six figures!

Steiner Sports, the BIG sports memorabilia company, and themselves who will make a fortune selling Jeter 3,000th hit collectables, said he initially pegged the 3,000-hit ball itself at $100,000. "But there's something about this day, that's taking a life on itself," he said. "I now say it's worth $200,000 to $250,000."

I had thought about this before and since and here's what I would ask for or I would take MY ball and go home:

1. Multiple signed Jerseys, bats, balls, batting gloves, hats etc. All coming with a signed letter of authenticity that it was from Derek Jeter and happened on that day.
2. A meeting with Derek, Pictures etc.
3. A signed "TEAM" ball of ALL the 2011 Yankees
4. Some commemorative 3,000th hit merchandise
5. BUT this one would be the clincher, 4-Box Seats to either the Legend or Championship section of Yankees stadium, including playoff's and world series, for the rest of my life......PERIOD! And I want "ACTUAL" tickets, not the ones they use to give out as freebee's. NO actual tickets they would have normally sold, sent to me each year for the rest of my life.

For me, number five, would break or seal the deal. I figure I could sell most of those tickets on StubHub each year, giving me a guaranteed income for the rest of my life!

Listen players don't care about the fans. If you think they do, your CRAZY! There in it for the MONEY, PERIOD. This was Christian Lopez's chance to get something for himself, his family, his future. Ball players have agents to squeeze every last dime out of the team, which they will pass it along to us, squeezing us as much as they can. This was OUR turn to do it to them and Christian blew it!

WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE!

Casey Anthony - Now What?

NOT GUILTY.

That is what the court clerk read to the three major murder and manslaughter charges against Casey Anthony and the death of her daughter Caylee.

NOT GUILTY!

Lawson Lamar, the state attorney for Orange and Osceola Counties, said he never criticizes a jury verdict. Caylee’s body was not discovered until six months after her death, much of the evidence had decomposed or degraded. “This was a bare bones case, very, very difficult to prove,” he said. “The condition of the remains worked to our significant disadvantage.”

NOT GUILTY!

UNTHINKABLE: Why would a mother wait for 31 days before mentioning to her family, friends, or the police that her young child was missing?
PROVE THE MOTIVE: Prosecutors said Anthony killed her daughter, Caylee, in June 2008 because she was tired of being a mother and wanted to live the life of a single, carefree 22-year-old.
They said she drugged the toddler with chloroform and then pressed duct tape against her mouth and nose to suffocate the child. She then hid the body in her car for several days, they said, then dumped it in a wooded area a quarter mile from the family home. Prosecutors focused on the lies told by Casey Anthony in the 31 days after Caylee was last seen alive. They also heavily focused on an odor in the trunk of Casey Anthony's car, which the prosecution's forensics experts said was consistent with the smell of human decomposition. Very minute trraces of chloroform was found in the car trunk, but the levals were constant with any cleaning product.

DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY: Defense attorneys said Caylee accidentally drowned in the family’s swimming pool and that Casey went into denial about the tragedy. They said Casey’s father, George, helped dispose of the body and cover up the death and that her seemingly carefree mother in fact was hiding emotional distress caused by sexual abuse from her father.
Caylee was last seen alive on June 16, 2008. Authorities recovered her skeletal remains six months later in the wooded area.

OVERCHARGING: No direct physical evidence proved the mother caused her daughter’s death. But prosecutors encouraged the jury to view the case as a whole and consider strong circumstantial evidence. Going for the DEATH PENALTY, MURDER 1....WHY? on a case of  circumstantial evidence.

  

Anthony's boyfriend, testified that just hours after her lawyers claim that Caylee drowned, they both went to their local Blockbuster video store to rent a film. 'She was the way she was every day – happy. Happy to see me. Having a grand old time.'

 Casey Anthony showed no signs of grief parading in a 'hot body' contest at a Florida nightclub four days after her two-year-old daughter went missing, the court heard during her sensational murder trial.

 First, the Judge, The Honorable Belvin Perry, Chief Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida, did a FABULOUS job!

 

The defense was all over the place but Jose Baez got the job done.

Lawyers for the prosecution: Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton (r.) handles evidence with attorneys Linda Drane Burdick relied too much on circumstantial evidence and couldn't tie Casey with the death of Caylee.

She was found GUILTY of 4 lesser counts, misdemeanors, of  giving false information to police. False information about what?
She will be sentenced Thursday, July 7, 2011. She will probably get time served, as she has already served over three years and these convictions carry only a year or probation.

Now there is talk of book deals, TV interviews, movies all for Casey Anthony.  

Was justice served?

Cell Phone Data Plans: Verizon vs AT&T OR SPRINT?

 UPDATE:9/28/11-Word has it that Sprint will be offering the iphone & unlimited data plans that Verizon or AT&T don't offer anymore

Every heard the Phrase, "There are NO more free rides".! Of course you have. One, not free, but discounted ride is about to expire as well.

Verizon Wireless is said to announce the end of unlimited data plans for all it's smart phones starting on July 7, 2011. Going the way of AT&T, it will introduce, according to reports a tired pricing plan some what comparable with AT&T.

The question I've been getting asked, and I wonder myself, if your a Verizon Wireless customer, do you get the iphone 4 NOW and get locked in to the unlimited data knowing according to reports that the iphone 5 is just months away?

Do you switch to AT&T or Verizon?

Which plan is better?

Let it be stated that each plan does NOT count Wi_Fi usage.

Verizon Indirect Dealer Memo

Here is a complete summary of everything:

• As of this morning we have been given the green light to start training on the data changes Verizon Wireless is making effective 7/7/11.

• $29.99 unlimited data will be discontinued effective 7/7/11

• EXISTING CUSTOMERS- That have our $29.99 unlimited data plan WILL BE GRANDFATHERED IN, they will keep their unlimited plan after 7/7/11

• EXISTING CUSTOMERS- That current have the unlimited data WILL BE ABLE TO UPGRADE AND KEEP the unlimited data feature (No known end date on this as of this moment)

• EXISTING CUSTOMERS- That add lines post 7/7/2011, will NOT be able to choose the $29.99 unlimited data feature

• NEW CUSTOMERS- Any customer that sets up service from now, until 7/7/2011 WILL BE ON, AND WILL BE GRANDFATHERED into our $29.99 unlimited data package

• NEW CUSTOMERS- Any new customer that set up service AFTER 7/7/2011, WILL NOT be able to choose the $29.99 unlimited plan

• BUSINESS DISCOUNTS- Currently our business discounts apply to the $29.99 data plan on the primary line only. Most discounts are 20% despite whatever monthly access discount they have

• BUSINESS DISCOUNTS- After 7/7/2011 data discounts will only apply to the $50 and higher data packages on the primary line.

• Discount break down ex. of customers with a 20% feature discount on their primary line. ($50-20%=$40/month for 5GB and includes the business e-mail feature)

• – ($20/GB vs. $40/GB+ Business e-mail )

New data pricing for smart phones is as follows:

• $10 a month for 75 megabytes of data usage

• $30 for 2GB with $10/GB overage

• $50 for 5GB (this also includes business e-mail at no additional charge) with $10/GB overage

• $80 for 10GB (this also includes business e-mail at no additional charge) with $10/GB overage

• So all changes effective July 7th, 2011.

• Existing customer KEEP their $29.99 unlimited data plan

• If an existing customer upgrades from a feature phone to a smart phone after 7/7/11, they will NOT be able to add on the unlimited data package. They must choose from the new data plans.

• Anyone who sets up new service with unlimited data, upgrades from a feature phone to a smart phone with unlimited data, or customer currently on the $29.99 before July, 7, 2011 will be grandfathered in.

• These changes also apply to employee plans as well (personal accounts w/work discounts applied)

• SO, This is a huge time for us to set our customers up with the right package for them! We only have 14 DAYS remaining for unlimited data, and until the new data pricing takes effect. (14 days to setup new customers w/unlimited data, and customers upgrading from a feature phone to a smart phone)

PLEASE, PLEASE make sure we take advantage of this heads up and get our heavy data users set up on these unlimited plans before they change.

AT&T Data Plans:

• $15/month for the DataPlus plan which includes 200MB of data transfer. If customers exceed 200MB in a monthly billing cycle, they receive an additional 200MB of data for $15 until the end of that billing cycle.

• $25/month for a 2GB data plan. If subscribers exceed 2GB during a billing cycle, they will be charged $10 for an additional 1GB of data.

Also remember it's also which carrier has better coverage, fewer drop calls, faster customer service, etc....

I would LOVE to get your feed back on the great Data Cell Phone Debate to help us ALL DECIDE!

Summer Movie Guide - 2011

"Summertime and the living is easy"  With the official start of summer June 21 that line from the song rings true as we all plan vacations, kids readying for the end of school and two months off and the HOT, HUMID days are lining up. That's NOT the only line we will be in this summer. Yes it's "BLOCKBUSTER" movie time. Get your popcorn and pick your favorite's. WHICH ONES WILL YOU GO SEE?

JUNE 17 
"Green Lantern" (PG-13): It wouldn't be summer without a slew of superhero movies. Ryan Reynolds dons the green ring in director Martin Campbell's take on the comic-book hero. Mark Strong plays Senestro - a perfect role for him.Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard.('Green Lantern' took the lead in Friday June17 box office with an estimated $21.6 million)

"Mr. Popper's Penguins" (PG):
 Jim Carrey stars as a man who inherits six penguins. Because, well . . . why not? Carla Gugino co-stars, which is a good thing, along with, presumably, a half-dozen flightless birds.Starring: Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Madeline Carroll.

JUNE 24

"Bad Teacher" (R):Cameron Diaz is the teacher of the title (think Billy Bob Thornton's take on Santa), who's on the hunt for substitute Justin Timberlake. Jason Segel also stars. Fingers crossed.
Starring: Cameron Diaz, Lucy Punch, Jason Segel.

"Cars 2" (G): Pixar trots out a sequel to the first "Cars" movie - five years later? Why the wait? Let's hope perfection takes time. (The original often is considered one of the studio's rare less-than-great efforts.) Owen Wilson is back as sports car Lightning McQueen, this time going against international competition.Starring: Bruce Campbell, Owen Wilson, Jason Isaacs.

JULY 1 
"Larry Crowne" (PG-13):Tom Hanks gets downsized, his house is underwater, he can't figure out what to do with himself. So he goes back to school and falls for   his public-speaking teacher, played by JuliaRoberts. Hanks also co-wrote and directed. So the economic-troubles bit might have been a stretch for him.Starring: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, George Takei     

         
                                 "Monte Carlo" (PG):Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy are on vacation in Paris when one is mistaken for a British heiress, and the whole bunch is taken to Monte Carlo. Probably makes the what-I-did-this-summer essay more interesting come fall. Starring: Leighton Meester, Selena Gomez, Andie MacDowell.   

"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" (PG-13):Director Michael Bay and star Shia LaBeouf return, but Megan Fox does not in this latest installment of the noisy franchise. Stuff dies in these movies, but nothing so quickly as Fox's career after she dissed Bay over the previous one. Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel.

                                           JULY 8  

Rosie 

"Horrible Bosses"(R):What can you do when your boss is a psycho, a man-eater or a total tool?  Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis decide that their  bosses are holding them back. How to fix? A visit to HR? No. They decide to kill them. Great cast, but Jennifer Aniston's in there, too, and she can be a comedy killjoy. Starring: Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Charlie Day.

"One Day" (PG-13): Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess After spending the night together on the night of their college graduation Dexter and Em are revisited each year on the same date to see where they are in their lives. They are sometimes together, sometimes not, on that day. Based on David Nicholls' book (he also wrote the screenplay). Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Patricia Clarkson

"Zookeeper" (PG):
The animals at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo decide to talk so they can help Kevin James' romantic life in order to help their lovable zookeeper gain the attention of one particular woman. So that's what it would take . . .Starring: Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb.

 JULY 15
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two" ():The end is finally upon us. All those books, all those movies - what will we do without Harry? Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint take their final bows as they try to find and destroy Voldemort's horcruxes, and him, too, while they're at it.Starring: Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Ralph Fiennes.

"Winnie the Pooh" (not yet rated):
Yet another take on the honey-loving bear and friend of Christopher Robin. The voice cast includes Jim Cummings, John Cleese and Craig Ferguson.Starring: Jim Cummings, John Cleese, Craig Ferguson  
JULY 22
"Captain America: The First Avenger" (not yet rated):
Puny Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) can't fight in World War II - until he's chosen for a secret project that pumps him up and then some, turns him into Captain America and helps the Allies defeat Hitler. The trailer has fanboys abuzz. With Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull, which is just fun to say. Starring: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Richard Armitage.
 

"Friends With Benefits" (not yet rated):
Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake try to keep their sexual relationship nothing more than that, but it's not easy. You might have seen this earlier this year when it was called "No Strings Attached" and starred Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. Starring: Emma Stone, Mila Kunis, Justin Timberlake.

                                                       JULY 29
                                        "Cowboys & Aliens" (not yet rated):
Jon Favreau directs Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde in this story of a spaceship landing in Arizona in 1873, with aliens aboard who want to take over the world. Only a band of cowboys can stop them. This and "Super 8" are the most geek-worthy films of the summer, as far as anticipation goes.
Starring: Olivia Wilde, Harrison Ford, Daniel Craig.

"Crazy, Stupid, Love" (PG-13):
A father's life unravels while he deals with a marital crisis and tries to manage his relationship with his children. Steve Carell's marriage goes sour; ladies' man Ryan Gosling is there to help, after a fashion. Also starring Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei, Julianne Moore. What? Was Kevin Bacon busy? Oh, guess not. He's here, too.
Starring: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell.
   
 "The Smurfs" (not yet rated):

Pretty much what it sounds like, a movie version of the cartoon. With Jonathan Winters as Papa Smurf, Alan Cumming as Gutsy Smurf and Paul Reubens - Pee-wee! - as Jokey Smurf, along with Neil Patrick Harris and Hank Azaria in live-action roles.
Starring: Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Hank Azaria. 

AUG. 5
"The Change-Up" (not yet rated):
Jason Bateman and Ryan Reynolds switch bodies in an attempt to win Olivia Wilde. Seems like Bateman is getting the better deal, no?

Starring: Olivia Wilde, Ryan Reynolds, Leslie Mann.

"The Darkest Hour" (not yet rated): Emile Hirsch and Olivia Thirlby star as . . . well, we'll let the description speak for itself: "In Russia, a group of kids struggle to survive after an alien invasion." Huh? I thought aliens invaded only America. Live and learn. Starring: Emile Hirsch, Joel Kinnaman, Rachael Taylor.

"Rise of the Apes" (not yet rated):
Every few years, someone decides to have another go at the "Planet of the Apes." This time it's director Rupert Wyatt, whose prequel stars James Franco. There's a joke about how even an ape could have hosted the Oscars better than Franco, but we won't go there.
Starring: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Tom Felton.

                                      AUG. 19
"Conan the Barbarian" (R):
It has been 29 years since Arnold Schwarzenegger first played Conan. Now it's Jason Momoa's turn to avenge the savage destruction of his village. Ron Perlman and Rose McGowan also star. Starring: Jason Momoa, Rachel Nichols, Stephen Lang.

"Fright Night" (not yet rated):
It has been 26 years since Chris Sarandon . . . you get the idea. A teenager suspects that his new neighbor is a vampire. A remake of the surprisingly good (and scary) 1985 film about a teenager who realizes his neighbor is a vampire. Anton Yelchin and Colin Farrell star.
Starring: David Tennant, Colin Farrell, Anton Yelchin.

"Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World" (PG):
It has been 10 years since Alexa Vega . . . this is getting ridiculous. A mother returns to her old profession -- she's a retired spy -- in order to prevent a villain bent on stopping time. Robert Rodriguez returns as the director and writer of the popular kids franchise. With Jessica Alba, Jeremy Piven and Joel McHale.
Starring: Jessica Alba, Danny Trejo, Alexa Vega.


AUG. 26

"Final Destination 5" (not yet rated): If the first one was final, how can there be five of them? Whatever the case, people survive a bridge collapse, but things get weird (weirder) after that. Steven Quale directs Nicholas D'Agosto, Emma Bell and Arlen Escarpeta, among others.
Starring: Nicholas D'Agosto, Emma Bell, David Koechner.

"Our Idiot Brother" (not yet rated):
A comedy centered on an idealist who barges into the lives of his three sisters. Paul Rudd plays the brother in question, intruding upon the lives of his sisters in Jesse Peretz's comedy. Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer also star.
Starring: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel.


AUG. 31

"The Debt" (R):
Helen Mirren, Sam Worthington and Tom Wilkinson star in this oft-delayed story of Mossad agents trying to find and kill a Nazi war criminal.
Starring: Sam Worthington, Helen Mirren, Jessica Chastain.