New Gear: Converse Bag Collection

Soon you can find the all-too-familiar Chuck Taylor logo in an unfamiliar location courtesy of the Converse Bag Collection. The iconic shoe logo is proudly displayed in this range of canvas backpacks, dufflebags, and messenger bags in a variety of colors. Look for the drop this fall at Converse retailers. (CLICK HERE FOR LINK)

New Kicks: Nike Air Griffey Max 1 "Emerald"

The Nike Air Griffey Max 1 “Emerald” will release tomorrow, August 6, 2011, at select retailers including the Nice Kicks shop. Featuring a Seattle Mariners-esque color scheme, the Nike Air Griffey Max 1 “Emerald” possesses a Black and Emerald Green nubuck for the majority of its upper. White accents, such as the Ken Griffey Jr. branding and the laces, provide nice color contrast on this 1996 released classic. As stated earlier, the Nike Air Griffey Max 1 “Emerald” will release tomorrow for $140. (CLICK HERE FOR LINK)

New Article: Aziz Ansari On Complex's August / September 2011 Issue

If you've seen NBC's slept-on sitcom banger Parks & Recreation, then you know Aziz Ansari is basically the funniest guy on TV. After years of following his career, it's only right that the South Carolina-bred comedian get his own Complex cover, especially since his new movie, 30 Minutes or Less, is his biggest big-screen role yet. The August/September 2011 issue officially hits stands on August 9, but you can read the full cover story now, where Aziz talks about kicking it in the studio with Kanye and soaking up game from Judd Apatow.

We’re pretty sure it’s not totally racist to confuse Aziz Ansari with Tom Haverford, his hilariously cocky character from NBC’s Parks and Recreation. In our defense, they are both Indian guys from South Carolina. They both love Waka Flocka and Soulja Boy. They both wear sharp suits (although Aziz’s don’t appear to be from Brooks Brothers Boys). And come on, this guy just plays the hyperactive dickhead so well in movies and on TV (Funny People, Human Giant, Get Him to the Greek), you wanna believe he’s that guy for realsies.

Alas, Aziz is actually a pretty humble, self-effacing 28-year-old, even if he has a lot to feel cocky about right now. His new movie, 30 Minutes or Less, has the summer comedy game on lock, his Dangerously Delicious stand-up tour (filmed for DVD release, of course) just wrapped up, and he’s even voicing a rabbit in the next Ice Age movie. Oh, and in his spare time he’s been kicking it with Kanye in the studio and soaking up game from Judd Apatow. Basically, Aziz is the man Tom Haverford wishes he were. Can you blame him?

Thank you for helping us get Beyoncé on the cover. Word is that since she’s no longer being managed by her father she likes to clear all her major career decisions with you.
Yeah, I replaced Mathew Knowles. It’s kind of supposed to be under wraps.

Sorry, I had to put it out there. That’s a serious power move.
There’s a lot of heat between me and Mathew Knowles. [Laughs.]

You recently moved back to New York after being in L.A. for a few years. Do you still take the subway or are you “cabs only” famous now?
I still take the subway. I haven’t been stabbed or anything yet.

If you had never come to New York—
—I was lying about the subway thing. I travel by helicopter when I’m in Manhattan. It’s really tough, because there aren’t a lot of helipads in New York City. So, a lot of times I just have to ladder down to where I’m going.

[Laughs.] If you had stayed in South Carolina and not gone to school at NYU, would you still be living large?
I owe a lot to being in New York. That’s where I started doing stand-up. Those kinds of opportunities aren’t even there in most places. I remember when I started in comedy, I told a friend of mine who’s pretty funny too that he should start doing stand-up—“It’s pretty fun, just go to a comedy club.” He was like, “What comedy club? I’m in North Carolina, there is no comedy club here.”

When you were growing up, what posters did you have hanging on your bedroom wall?
In high school I had a big Metallica Master of Puppets poster. I was really into playing guitar.

Were you a metal head?
Yeah, I liked Nirvana and alternative rock stuff too. But for guitar playing, if you really wanna go at it with the solos, you eventually end up listening to Megadeth. [Laughs.]

Did you play in a band?
Again, South Carolina let me down there. There was no one else who really played instruments, or was into the same music. It was kind of tough, I would just play along with the records.

Did you have a childhood crush? Janet Jackson? Topanga?
I’m trying to think of what female celebrity I would have liked at that age... Oh, Martina Navratilova. [Laughs.] I was disappointed to find out she’s not into dudes.

Damn, sorry, man. Were you surprised to see your home state elect a Punjabi woman, Nikki Haley, as the governor?
They probably just thought she was white—the tone on the TV wasn’t quite right. “Nikki Haley! Yeah, sure! She sounds great!” [Laughs.] But no, that’s good to hear. I don’t think everyone there is racist. I encounter many nice, open-minded people from South Carolina.

It’s interesting that Tom Haverford is also from South Carolina. How similar are you to the character?
The only similarities are we’re both from South Carolina, we both like really silly hip-hop like Soulja Boy and Waka Flocka, and we both like suits. But he has slightly different taste. I try to make sure Tom dresses a little bit different from Aziz. Sometimes they’ll show me suits on Parks and I’ll be like, “That looks like an Aziz suit, not a Tom suit.” I’m usually like, “Give it a purple tie and that’ll make it a Tom suit.”

It seems like you only recently started wearing suits in real life. Is that Tom’s influence?
I like wearing suits when I perform. The last tour I did was in smaller rock clubs, and this time it was a theater tour, so it seems like I should be wearing a suit instead of just some jeans. But I do think Tom has a unique sense of style and it’s always fun to dress as that character. Early on, when they started talking about my character, I was like, “I think this guy should be really into his suits, because no one else in a small town like that would be into those brands.”

Do you feel like you have a Southern accent?
I used to have a super-strong Southern accent, but I’ve lost it over time. When I say certain words, it’ll come out. I remember watching a video of me in a spelling bee when I was in the third grade, and the guy tells me, “All right, come up here and tell me your name, what school you’re from, and what city you’re from.” And then you see me walk up, I’m this tiny little brown kid—way smaller than everybody else—and I’m like [speaks quickly with a Southern accent] “My name’s Aziz Ansari from Marlboro Academy in Bennettsville, South Carolina.” It was that strong, I’m not exaggerating.

And now you hang out with the biggest rappers in the world. I heard you were in the house when Kanye and Jay were recording Watch the Throne.
Yeah, a couple of times when they’ve been in New York, I’ve just stopped by to say hello and hear them record—that album’s gonna be amazing. I’m such a huge fan of those guys, I definitely feel lucky to see stuff like that every now and then.

Do you remember what they were recording?
Some stuff with Swizz, and it was so funny just hearing him do the Swizz Beatz ad-libs. Just like, [imitates Swizz] “Uh-huh, Goddamnit! 1-2, 1-2. Vroooom!” I was just sitting there dying, I thought that was the funniest thing in the world. I wanna be Swizz Beatz. I don’t want to do comedy anymore, I just want to do ad-libs. Just make noises before rappers start rapping. [Laughs.] That would be a great job.

When you’re around rappers like that, do you ever try to swag it out extra hard?
No, I just try to stay quiet and stand in the corner. Just be thankful I’m there and listen to the music. I’m not sitting there poppin’ bottles and dancing. [Laughs.]

So Kanye hasn’t given you any style advice?
No, he usually just makes fun of whatever I’m wearing. [Laughs.] One time I saw him and I had on a brown leather jacket. He was like, “Ha-ha—you look like a regular dude!” I was like, “Well, not everyone can wear a purple sequin jacket and have people not laugh at him.” He’s like, “Yeah, I know I look ridiculous, but I can pull it off.”

Kanye’s been known to surround himself with beautiful models. Have you had a chance to scoop up any of his leftovers?
Theoretically, if there’s a situation where there’s a bunch of models, me, Jay-Z, and Kanye, what model is gonna come up to me? [Laughs.] I think they would probably talk to their bodyguards before they come talk to me.

Bummer. It seems like you kind of created a monster with your character from Funny People. Do fans still come up to you and scream “RAAAAAAAANDY!!”?
In my experience, any time people see anyone they know from TV, they’ll just yell things at them. So, for me, whether it’s Randy or something I said on Parks and Rec, it’s just something that comes with the territory. It doesn’t bother me at all. Sure, I’d prefer that people didn’t yell stuff at me, but what are you gonna to do?

When we were doing Funny People, they were like, “You know, if you say ‘Randy’ like that, people are going to yell it at you.” So I asked Adam Sandler, “What do people yell at you? You must have done 100 movies, there must be a billion things.” He said “You know what people yell the most? ‘You can do eeeet!’ [from The Waterboy.]” And I was like, “You don’t even say that in the movie!” He’s like, “I know.” [Laughs.] With comedians, people just want to yell the thing that made them laugh.

In your new movie, 30 Minutes or Less, you help Jesse Eisenberg rob a bank. Is this the best bank robbery comedy since Bill Murray’s Quick Change?
You know, I’ve never seen Quick Change, but I’ve heard it was great. I have to see that. But there’s been a lot of great bank robbery movies—I like Heat and I like this Stanley Kubrick movie called The Killing. It has one of the coolest endings of any movie.

You spent three months in Grand Rapids with Jesse Eisenberg while shooting. Is he as much of a neurotic weirdo as people make him out to be?
He can be, but he has a shell that you can break through. He’s always a super-nice guy. Tremendously talented, just a little shy and a little nervous.

You’re also voicing a character in the next Ice Age movie?
Yeah, that’s so fun. I think he’s a prehistoric rabbit, and he’s a pirate, one of the bad guys. I’d never done a voice for animation before. I did one session where I did voice and then I went a second time and they showed me some animation and it was so cool. I think it’s cool to be able to do a kids’ movie, ’cause it’s nice to do things that aren’t 100% filthy that only people over 18 can enjoy. It’s fun to do stuff that anyone can watch. That’s why I like doing Parks, because it’s a show that my parents can watch, and I don’t have to worry about them being offended by graphic language or anything. The same with the Ice Age movie. They’ve got a lot of cool people in it.

Drake is also in this one, right?
Yeah, that’s pretty funny. I wish Drake was one of the pirates and he was just crooning, and they just gave him that Drake voice...I don’t know what the filter is he always puts on his voice, but it’s in like every Drake song, at some point the beat just drops out—

—You mean the “underwater” voice?
Yeah! The underwater voice! They should have just made him a fish, and had him sing his lines [imitates Drake] “What am I supposed to do, all of my friends are gone.”

[Laughs.] Are you still writing a script for Judd Apatow?
Yeah, me and my friend Jason Woliner—who’s a director that I worked with on Human Giant and have collaborated with since I started—we’re writing a script called Space Men for Judd. It’s about me and another guy—it hasn’t been cast yet—playing disgraced astronauts who have to go back to the moon to clear their names. It’s really funny, and we’ve just been developing it with Judd. He’s such a genius. We had a meeting with him the other day. You try to absorb as much knowledge as you can when you’re with him. It’s so hard to make one good movie or TV show, and he’s made dozens of amazing things. Clearly he knows what he’s doing.

How important is it for you to write and develop your own projects?
Super-important, because most things out there aren’t that funny. I have a pretty particular taste, I say no to a lot of stuff. I’m really picky about what I do and I wanna do stuff that I’m excited about. And if you don’t develop stuff yourself, it’s not always gonna be great. No one knows how to write for your voice better than you.

New Video: NBA's Kevin Durant Lights Up Rucker Park With 66 Points

While Kobe Bryant and other NBA All-Stars are barnstorming in the Far East, reigning scoring champ Kevin Durant was lighting up the East Coast Monday night at Harlem's famed Rucker Park.

The Oklahoma City Thunder star caught fire playing for the DC Power against the Sean Bell All-Stars in the Entertainers Basketball Classic, dropping 66 points. Video of his performance has spread across the Internet, including a clip of the 6-foot-9 forward draining four-straight threes. According to the EBC's Twitter account, Durant connected on 9-of-11 treys.

Durant's final points came on a three, and he was immediately mobbed by the fans who crowded around the court.

"No lie, jus [sic] had one of the best times of my life at Rucker park..wow! I love NY," Durant posted on his Twitter account after the game.

It's not unusual for NBA stars to play at Rucker during the offseason. In addition to native New Yorkers like Stephon Marbury and Lamar Odom, Bryant and LeBron James have also played at the 155th Street playground in recent years. In the past, it wasn't unusual to see the likes of Connie Hawkins and Nate "Tiny" Archibald there.

STORY BY BERNIE AUGUSTINE/ DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

New Tech: Sonos "The Play: 3"

Stream all the music on earth wirelessly in any room, Big Sonos sound in a compact size, Control wirelessly with Android smartphone, iPhone, iPad. (CLICK HERE FOR LINK)

New Video: Banned Skittles Commercial

This hilarious commercial is a MUST watch, LOL!!!!

New Gear: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshores Watches

Three new timepieces are joining the prestigious lineage of Royal Oak Offshore chronographs. Case size, design elements and the choice of materials represent a number of subtle touches that are forging a new path on which control meets strength. These timepieces that have now become a significant part of the collection are indeed distinguished by a perfect balance of forces. The collection’s signature codes are all there, since one simply cannot modify the identity of a legendary collection, the quintessential sports watch combining audacity and performance. The horological substance is also there, housed within a mechanical selfwinding movement with exceptional finishing representing the pinnacle of watchmaking hand craftsmanship. (CLICK HERE FOR LINK)

Rest In Peace Amy Winehouse....

Felt like posting the videos of three of my favorite Amy Winehouse songs. What a great unique voice, she will be missed......

Amy Jade Winehouse
(September 14, 1983 – July 23, 2011)

New Article: GQ Magazine Q & A With Mila Kunis

Not only does Mila Kunis look pretty decent in a bikini; she can also pratfall and convincingly call Jason Segel a pussy on-screen. Here she proves that the most talented straight man in Hollywood also happens to be the sexiest woman alive





Mila Kunis is eyeing the plate of cookies that's been placed on our table. "If we're sure there's no tomorrow," she says, "I'll go to town on these." We're having dinner on Manhattan's Upper East Side on a drizzly evening in late May, and according to some, the apocalypse is mere hours away. But before then, Kunis wants some clarity. "Are we dying on East Coast time or West Coast time? It's tomorrow somewhere in the world. Can we check if those people are dead already?" She giggles. "This is why I was put on earth, to ask these questions."

That's not the only reason. We need an actress like her. One who looks like a Disney cartoon with a dirty mind, who doesn't have that desperate theater-brat need to charm or wow, who doesn't try to be breezy or sexy but instead is able to just be—on-screen and off . She's clearly as comfortable arguing about the hierarchy of Star Trek spin-offs as she is mind-fucking Natalie Portman in Black Swan. She eats with her hands. She bear-hugs a little girl who asks for her picture during dinner. It's this utter lack of pretense that lets you convince yourself she'd be okay with being asked out.

···
GQ: Your new movie is called Friends with Benefits. Ever been in one of those relationships?

Mila Kunis: Oy. I haven't, but I can give you my stance on it: It's like communism—good in theory, in execution it fails. Friends of mine have done it, and it never ends well. Why do people put themselves through that torture?

GQ: It's because they enjoy sex.

Mila Kunis: But friends with benefits isn't a purely sexual relationship—it's two people who like each other having sex, not a random hookup. And when two people who like each other have sex, eventually someone catches feelings and everything is fucked. You might be able to treat our relationship as killing time. I might not. I may be in love with you.

GQ: Mila, it's just not going to work.

Mila Kunis: But I feel like I'm in love with you, okay? I love you.

GQ: So I went back and watched some of your earliest movies, and—

Mila Kunis: Oh Lord! I'm so sorry, buddy. How can I make it up to you?

GQ: By telling me what it was like to act with William Shatner [in American Psycho 2] and Hulk Hogan [in Santa with Muscles].

Mila Kunis: Jesus. You did not watch Santa with Muscles.

GQ: Fine. I watched the trailer on YouTube.

Mila Kunis: I was too young to fully understand the importance of working with Hulk Hogan. I just thought he was this huge man. Shatner was di fferent. I'm a massive Trekkie, so that was crazy. He's exactly what you think he is.

GQ: When did you get into Star Trek?

Mila Kunis: I got into it in my late teens—18, 19, 20. Something like that. I got into it later than most people. But let's not talk about it in the past tense. I'm still a Star Trek fan. You never stop being one. Let me give you my rundown of the series in order of most favorite to least favorite.

GQ: I definitely have my answer to this. Let's hear it.

Mila Kunis: Okay. You should know this list is an ongoing argument between Seth MacFarlane and myself. But I have it: The Next Generation; the original series; then Voyager—

GQ: Okay, you're already wrong.

Mila Kunis: Fuck. You and I are in trouble already. This always happens with Star Trek fans. After Voyager, then I have Deep Space Nine. Then last is Enterprise.

GQ: Did your Star Trek fandom extend further than just watching the show?

Mila Kunis: Uh, I went a little bit further.

GQ: How so?

Mila Kunis: I went to the Star Trek Experience in Vegas maybe five years ago. I hung out with a bunch of fake characters inside Quark's bar. [Ed note: Quark was the name of the Ferengi bartender on DS9.] There were all these actors there pretending to be the different characters from the different shows. Yes, I loved it.

GQ: Please tell me you didn't go by yourself.

Mila Kunis: No! I went with friends. I'm not that big of a loser. But I also have a signed Leonard Nimoy photo in a little frame that a girlfriend gave to me for my 21st birthday. And I've got a bunch of vintage Star Trek figurines given to me by Jason Segel. God, it's so embarrassing.

GQ: Who's the funniest person you know?

Mila Kunis: My father. He has such a dry sense of humor. He'd say something funny and then be like, "Kiddo, now's the part where you laugh."

GQ: What about someone you're not related to?

Mila Kunis: Lucille Ball is perfection—her timing and her commitment. Sarah Silverman is raunchy and brilliant, and people call her out for saying fucked-up stuff that they wouldn't have a problem with a man saying. How dare she? Who else? Tina Fey. She's a genius. I actually just finished reading Bossypants.

GQ: That was good, I thought.

Mila Kunis: No! Not good, brilliant. I love Tina Fey. So funny, but never shticky. She's not tripping over shit.

GQ: She's so clearly attractive and successful that I can't buy her self-deprecating stuff anymore.

Mila Kunis: I see your point. You want the attention to go to the joke itself rather than be distracted by who's delivering it. But look at Bridesmaids. That movie's full of beautiful women who are hysterical. I'm so proud of those ladies. You have no idea how hard it is for a woman in this business. A lot of people don't even think women are funny. It's fucked-up, but you have to deal with guys like that. I've learned to roll with it.

GQ: Do you have a personal experience of men in Hollywood not finding women funny?

Mila Kunis: I don't personally know of anybody, no. I could give you some bullshit excuse why I don't, but I just don't. The bottom line is if you're an attractive female in this industry, people just take you as that: attractive. People aren't getting the opportunity to move beyond being attractive. It's not only with comedy. It could be with drama or action or whatever. People are distracted by looks. It happens. I'm not saying it happened to me, but it happens.

GQ: I imagine working with people like Seth MacFarlane and Jason Segel ends up involving a lot of dick jokes.

Mila Kunis: Put me at a table with five guys making dick jokes and I will be right there with them. And, uh, I'm on Family Guy. I've been on that show for so long that I don't get grossed out by anything. But I've never had an experience where it's been a bunch of dudes making dick jokes and I was like, "Oh, there go the boys. I'm going to go get a pedicure and be back in an hour."

GQ: Is it harder to be funny when you're naked?

Mila Kunis: It's hard to be funny in general. I think I have a good sense of humor, but I'm not, like, a joke-teller. I get the jokes, which is sometimes half the battle. Believe me, I have no idea why anyone hires me....

GQ: For one, there's never a sense in your performances that you're worried about looking ridiculous.

Mila Kunis: Because I'm not. Image is not a priority for me. I have to think about how I'm going to word this.... A lot of times, people go into this industry with a grandiose idea of fame and think the only way to achieve that is to please everybody. Unfortunately, that can lead to very self-conscious on-screen choices. This industry scrutinizes you. It'll tear you apart.

GQ: Are you single?

Mila Kunis: I am. I wouldn't dare wish myself upon anybody at this point in my life! My shooting schedule is crazy. I'm a nomad till January.

GQ: You know, I'm single too...

Mila Kunis: Oh, my God! That's an amazing face you just made!

GQ: It's my puppy-dog face.

Mila Kunis: It's fantastic! Well, hey, you never know.

GQ: Seriously?

Mila Kunis: Aww, no. I was joking....

STORY BY BY DAVID MARCHESE / PHOTOGRAPHS BY TERRY RICHARDSON FOR (GQ MAGAZINE)

New Trailer: "The Dark Knight Rises" First Teaser Trailer

Every journey has an end... It's finally here, the first teaser trailer for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, the end of his epic Batman trilogy! This debuted in front of Deathly Hallows: Part 2 over the weekend, but Warner Bros waited to unveil it online until today via Facebook. As expected, it doesn't show much, but it is a great early tease for a movie that I know everyone is already ecstatic to watch, even though we've got a year to go and they're still shooting. Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne, with Gary Oldman as Gordon, plus Gotham newcomers Tom Hardy, Anne Hathway & Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

The Dark Knight Rises is once again directed by Oscar nominated British filmmaker Christopher Nolan, of Following, Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight and Inception previously. The script was co-written by Christopher & Jonathan Nolan (The Prestige, The Dark Knight), from a story by Chris Nolan & David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight). Warner Bros is bringing The Dark Knight Rises to regular and IMAX theaters everywhere on July 20th, 2012 next summer. The Fire Rises!

New Tech: I'm Watch

The most common operating system in the world with performances never seen before on such a small device. Intuitive interface, rock-solid stability and amazing functionalities.The operating system is the heart of i’mWatch. A surprising result that will leave you lost for words.It only takes a few steps to learn how to use it: it is simple and intuitive. Just touch, drag, swipe or pinch to use all the functionalities or open any of the apps, preinstalled or downloadable from i’mstore.

Incredible functions for the first smartwatch in the world.

With i’mWatch you can:

1) Visualize the watch both in the analogue and digital format: as you prefer.

2) Receive calls showing name and number of caller: and see who is calling you at a glance. You can decide whether to answer or decline a call. All this while keeping your smartphone silent in your pocket.

3) Call by entering the number or by using the address book: to make a call, all you need to do is enter a number or touch a name. As simple as that. And you can do it just about anywhere: simply touch a name in your address book.

4) Use speakerphone: that’s going hands free. For example, avoid distractions while driving.

5) Receive text messages with preview: from today, reading a text message is as easy as checking the time.

6) Receive emails showing the sender and the subject: your emails straight on your i'mWatch: sender and subject are sufficient to understand importance of the email and therefore decide whether to read it immediately or later on your smartphone.

7) Check the weather forecast of your city: you are updated in real time and wherever you go. Under any circumstance, weather forecast for the next hours is useful.

8) Receive notifications from Facebook™, Twitter™, Foursquare™, etc.: i'mWatch is more social than you can even imagine. Keep in touch with the world.

9) Download all the music you want from i’music: and then listen to it whenever. What about incoming calls? Music is paused when i’mWatch rings and to answer just click the button on your headphones.

10) Download apps from i’m store: each downloaded app offers new functions to your i'mWatch, making it more and more fun and capable of doing extraordinary things.

11) View the photo and image gallery: on i'mWatch your photos sparkle and shine in all their splendour With a touch you can enlarge them and with another restore them to their original size. Just swipe the display and you can slide through unforgettable moments and instants. Always with you, all on your wrist.

12) View stock market data and receive notifications: follow and keep up-to-date on all your interests, wherever you are. It is sufficient to personalise notifications you want to receive.

13) Receive appointment notifications and consult the same: with only a touch you can check on your next appointment and with a quick glance read a notification.

14) You can transform an idea into an app. There are no limits to your fantasy. The world of i’mWatch is open to all developers who, just like ourselves, believe that we are about to write the history of smartwatches.

15) Use the apps you prefer and pass from one to another in just seconds without slowing down performances of the app in the foreground or discharging the battery uselessly. i'mWatch is multitasking.

New Trailer: Entourage Season 8 Finale

New Video: Drake - Marvin's Room

Drake ~ Marvins Room (Official Video) from OctobersVeryOwn on Vimeo.

New Kicks: Nike Mogan Mid 2 By Nile

Check out these Egyptian inspired kicks. (CLICK HERE FOR LINK)

New Trailer: Entourage Season 8 Finale

Season 8 Extended Trailer

Catch the Final season of Entourage which premieres Sunday, July 24th. For more on Entourage Season 8, go to http://itsh.bo/eEEPi1.

Watch Entourage online at HBO GO® http://itsh.bo/g9z0AZ.

Connect with HBO on Facebook & Twitter:
http://www.facebook.com/hbo
http://www.twitter.com/hbo

New Article: Captain Derek Jeter Gets 3,000 Hits!

This was the Derek Jeter of the Mr. November home run swing in the Series Saturday. This was the Jeter of the flip to Jorge Posada that night against the A's in Oakland, the one who went headfirst into the stands to make that catch against the Red Sox one time. This was the Jeter who went over to Shea Stadium in the World Series and led off the game with a home run. You thought No. 3,000 would be a single for him, or a double, because he got here a single and double at a time. Only it wasn't a single or a double. It was a 3-2 pitch over the left field wall and into the hands of a kid named Christian Lopez.

The moment of Jeter's 3,000th was always going to be a great moment, especially if it came at the Stadium. And then Derek Jeter decided to knock the moment right out of the park, and then go 5-for-5 and knock in the winning run in the eighth inning on a day when the Yankees won, 5-4. And making a Saturday in July feel like October at Yankee Stadium. No. 3,000 went over the wall. No. 3,003 won the game.

Once more on this day Jeter, No. 2 of the Yankees, was the Yankee they all wanted to be. This was the flair for the dramatic that once seemed routine for him. This was part of the charmed baseball life he has led in pinstripes since he ran out to shortstop for good in 1996, the year when the Yankees became the Yankees again.

He is not Ruth or Gehrig or DiMaggio or the young Mickey Mantle, or Yogi or Mo Rivera. Just the Yankee of this time who will be remembered best. This was the kind of magic we always expected from him when he was young.

"What does 3,000 mean to me?" Reggie Jackson said Saturday near the Yankee dugout, a couple of hours before Jeter hit that pitch from David Price all the way to Christian Lopez. "It doesn't just mean you have talent. It means you have character, here or anywhere else."

Across the field, old Don Zimmer was talking about what it was like in the spring of 1996, when he and Joe Torre got their first good look at the kid from Kalamazoo, Mich.

"It was about two weeks into the spring and Joe looked out at Derek on the field one day and then looked at me and said, 'I think we found our shortstop,'" Zimmer said. "A couple of days later, though, Clyde King, who was the owner's right-hand man, said he didn't think the kid was ready. And Joe looked at Clyde and said, 'No, he goes to shortstop.'"

Saturday, Jeter went deeper into Yankee history because he went deep against Price to get to 3,000. He had just two home runs for the season. Hadn't hit a home run at the new Yankee Stadium, which sometimes seems as homer-friendly as the park where they play the Little League World Series in Williamsport, since last year. Was hitting .257 at the time. Unless you live under rocks, you know how hard people have been trying to get him out of the leadoff spot at Yankee Stadium, as if everybody has forgotten who and what he is.

But then with one swing of the bat, the Mr. November swing, the Subway Series swing from old Shea, he reminded the place Saturday of just who it was they were watching. It really wasn't supposed to be a home run. Really was supposed to be the kind of inside-out swing he used for his hit to right when he got to 4-for-4. Then Jeter showed you that he had one more swing in him like that, in this amazing Yankee life of his. He had one more moment.

"He's the professional," Johnny Damon of the Rays said outside the Tampa Bay clubhouse Saturday. Once Damon took championships away from Jeter, before joining with him to win one in 2009. "He has the respect of everybody who ever played with him, or against him. How many guys can you say that about?"

Jeter started the day at .257 and left it at .270. Five-for-five and two runs scored and two knocked in and a stolen base. Jeter was young Saturday. Nobody told him he was too old. They just came up the steps at Babe Ruth Plaza in the morning, all these No. 2 T-shirts and jerseys, white, blue and gray, to tell him what he had always meant to them and the Yankees. Maybe in a week, or two, or three, when he is struggling to get to 3,010, or 3,020, they will look to drop him in the order again.

Just not Saturday.

No, he hasn't been Ruth or Gehrig or DiMaggio. But in this time in New York, and with the Yankees, Jeter has been been something more: The Yankee brand. He has been class they sell with both hands, from the moment he did run out to shortstop for good in 1996, because Joe Torre knew in the spring he had found his shortstop, told Zimmy so. No athlete has ever had this kind of class run for this long in the big city.

And in the season when he has been doubted the most, when people talk about moving him out of the leadoff spot and away from shortstop someday, in the season when he turns 37, he turns back the clock this way at Yankee Stadium. He hits that home run and then runs around the bases and into a bear hug from Posada. Mo Rivera gets him next.

Then he won't stop hitting after that. A double. Another single. Finally the single up the middle in the bottom of the eighth that knocks in Eduardo Nuñez with the winning run. Sometimes you wonder who the biggest star is in baseball these days. Saturday it was Derek Jeter. One more day like this for No. 2 at the Stadium.

STORY BY: MIKE LUPICA / NY DAILY NEWS

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