Opening Day!

Well, as promised, Major League Baseball kicks off tonight on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, so here’s my blog, New York – your chance to tear The Movement apart or offer your support, converse with me or with other interested fans, and as time goes by, relate your experiences of participation in the project. I don’t know how this whole thing is going to play out over the course of the 2007 season, but let me say thank you, in advance, to all those who put forth their time and effort. In the end, hopefully A-Rod and our Yankees will realize number 27.

For all of you out there heading to Opening Day tomorrow, remember The Rise Campaign. No matter what time of game, no matter what the situation, stand up when Alex steps to the plate. This will be our symbol of support throughout the season, silent or otherwise, and with enough participants it could be quite a sight. To help in this effort, a good friend of mine will be waiting by The Bat around 12:00 noon tomorrow with 50 T-shirts to hand out, for free, on a first-come first-serve basis to all who ask. This is my gift to all of you who are willing, so wear your T-Shirt with pride!

Alright, now to address some of the common themes that were posted on other blogs in response to www.projectA13.com, which launched on March 13 (25,000+ hits so far; run a search for “projectA13” or “project A13” on www.bloglines.com to view a sample of sites).

One: looking back on the writing style, tone, and word choice from my three articles on the site, yes, I realize that they are “a bit” over the top! I was an English major in college, so please forgive the fact that I get carried away when I feel strongly about something – ask anyone familiar with my writing. However, I did in fact write these articles, and I did publish the site, so I am not going to go back and change anything – I will stand behind my work. I have to admit though, that once projectA13 started to get read, that scene from Jerry Maguire flashed through my head immediately (you know the one, where he realizes his “Mission Statement” has gone out to the entire firm… Boom!). Oh well – gotta live with it.

Two: no, A-Rod did not create the site, a PR Firm hired by A-Rod did not create the site (that one made me laugh), and so, no one should be blogging things like “Shut up and Play Ball” (although you have every right to blog whatever you want). The site was my idea, and mine alone, and it’s not meant to do anything else than present the argument that booing an athlete – whether it be A-Rod or anyone else – does not help that athlete’s performance, so maybe we should all try something new. That’s it.

Three: no, I do not believe that positive thoughts alone win world championships in sports, or for that matter, account for an individual player’s accomplishments – obviously athletic ability, instincts, and skill make up the lion’s share of this equation. My argument, again, is simply that positive thoughts from both the athlete and his fans help good things happen more often, as opposed to the constant negativity that comes from expectations and entitlement. I apologize a second time if my writing style overshadows this argument.

Four: no, the site is not a tounge-in-cheek joke or elaborate prank – how easy it would be for me now to avoid public ridicule by claiming that it is, but I will not. I know some of you out there (especially Red Sox fans) feel that it’s sad, or obssessive, or creepy/cultish for someone to spend the time, money, and effort to create the site, but I do not. What I think is sad is society’s obssession with negativity when it comes to news and entertainment – highlighted by the treatement of Alex Rodriguez in the media capital of the world – so I woke up one morning and decided to do something about it. For the third time, yes, my writing style and tone on the site is a little ridiculous at times, but it is simply the equal and opposite response of one Yankee fan to New York’s ridiculous treatment of A-Rod… action/reaction.

Five: my identity is irrelevant, but I saw a lot of posts wondering who I am or where I got the technical savvy to create the website. While I am assuming my identity will come out in due time (if the site really gets popular), I will protect it for as long as I can for general privacy reasons. And as for the savvy-ness/cost of the site, well, I know next to nothing about creating websites! Basically, I designed the logo on paper, had someone draw it in Illustrator, and then I wrote all the copy/articles/slogans for the site. After that, I licensed the three baseball pictures from Getty Images and bought a website template from www.TemplateMonster.com, then had another couple of friends tweak the code of the template to incorporate the pictures, graphics, copy, etc. And for the record, no, I did not choose the music – that came with the template as well!

Well, I guess I should rap it up here for my first post – whew! Future posts will be shorter, I promise. Basically, have fun rooting for the Yankees tomorrow, be positive (even if things don’t go A-Rod’s way), and enjoy all the anticipation and possibility that comes with the start of a new baseball season. Thank you again for your time and effort, and as this thing progresses throughout the month, I will add links to articles, my artwork, other blogs etc.

Let me know your thoughts, New York – whether positive or negative – by commenting below. For fun, check out this video clip from Yahoo TV’s show, The Nine, which highlights projectA13 under No. 5, “Boos Hound”. The word is definitely spreading…