Thoughts

Random thoughts pop up in my head like an AIM window. I like to think about things other than sports but usually my best thoughts flow when it comes to thinking about something related to the sporting world.

So as I was riding the train, doing my best to stay awake long enough for my stop, I started doing one of those mischevous laughs. I tried best to hide it and had a smile on my face. I didnt want people to automatically just assume I was crazy (I'd rather people get to know me and come to that conclusion by themself). So I did my best to hide it.

I was thinking about Alex Rodriguez admitting to getting together with Derek Jeter and having sleepovers.

The guy actually said "sleepovers". COME ON A-ROD. We know you're a bit wound up, with this season probably being the most nervous you've been in a while. We understand the frustration of having to deal with the question of Jeter every single day.

We understand having the Esquire magazine article from 2000 brought up every single time, in which you said Derek Jeter could never be a leader, is a bit much.

But COME ON A-Rod. You told the press that you had a sleepover. What I want to know more than anything is who told him to say that? Did his psychiatrist advise him to say sleepover? I mean this is proof that the there were three men having sleepovers over the age of 20 in the 90's, Jeter, A-Rod, and Michael Jackson.

Now Mike, we understand he's a bit of an...umm...yeah, there's not a word in the dictionary for what Michael Jackson is anymore. But now A-Rod is in that group. Not only that, he included Jeter in that group.

Imagine what Jeter was thinking when he read the quote about the sleepover. He must've rolled his eyes and thought to himself "come on A-Rod." He probably broke some expensive vases and glasses and then calmed himself down.

No way do you get to be Derek Jeter, king of cool, the best known ladies man since James Bond, multiple World Series Rings on his finger, with sleepovers on your resume.

The point I guess I'm making is that A-Rod's head was in the right place. But think about it, couldn't he have taken the macho stance and said "I crashed at his place for a few days and we'd chill."

No, there is no pencil-neck geek way of saying that so he said "sleep-over". I guess that is what they actually did. They played scrabble, talked about the girls they liked (jeter taking that list seriously and crossing off each name like an assasin), saying what they would do when they would grow up (Arod say be the greatest player, Jeter say winning championships), and do it all in sweats, eating ice cream while watching the Color Purple.

I suppose none of that happened (i'm betting on 2/3) but hey, A-Rod did say it happened.

Its nice to know that their relationship has deteriorated now where they are just teammates and root for each other.

Jeter meanwhile gave his cool, calculated response by saying "I root for him just as hard as anyone else". All while gritting his teeth and wanting to say how absolutely fourth grader-like A-Rod sounded.

Some like to assume that A-Rod was right to just put his relationship with Jeter out there for everyone to see instead of continuing to lie about it, but in many ways, this probably cracked that exit door for A-Rod just a bit wider. He never fit in here at NY. He is still a great player, but almost 7 years after that Esquire article, Jeter has become the leader that A-Rod can't be. Jeter is the guy with the championship rings and the toast of New York that A-Rod might've been had he signed with New York.

But in the city where he has not proven himself, A-Rod chose to have the New York Yankee faithful suffer him while this, his final year with the Yankees (unless a miraculous shift happens) plays out.

Beyond all this, where is A-Rod's head at? Is that what he needed to get his mind clear? To unlock Pandora's box and reveal things about his life? He tried and look what he told us? Do we really want to know more?

Needless to say, the year in the Bronx should be mighty interesting.

Silly Philly

It was bound to happen. It was definitely bound to happen. We hear it all the time. As a matter of fact, we were doing it prior to last season.
What is "it" you may ask? "It" refers to the proclamation of one teams yet to be determined success.
And who opened their big mouth this spring training? Jimmy Rollins, shortstop, Philadelphia Phillies. This from the guy who plays on a team in a city that has not had a major championship since the Sixers in '83.
So it should come as no surprise that for cities like Philadelphia the term "hope springs eternal" has more than just a metaphorical meaning, it has a literal meaning as well. Apparently delusions spring eternal there as well.
Granted, I applaud Jimmy Rollins for standing up and making a bold proclamation there are only two outcomes that can result from his statement:
1. They rally around him and go on a tear.
2. They hide their heads in shame and revert to their old ways.

Now Jimmy, I know where you are coming from. I've been a Met fan since 92 and we've been chasing the Braves for so long that we still havent gotten used to the fact that we are the defending division champs heading into 2007. Every year we all made bold statements and talked about how big and bad we were too, only to hear the snickers of Braves fans and their team waiting to shove it in our faces.
But for the first time in a while, the Braves are looking up at the Mets and so is everyone else. Not only do the Mets sport an AL type of offense, their team has a very good bullpen and a ::cough:: experienced ::cough:: rotation. No matter what you may believe of the Mets pitching woes, they sport a very good group of relievers that will allow Willie to put his pitchers into better spots and in more limited duty.
While the postseason may be won by pitching, the regular season is won by offense. The Mets are clearly ahead of the Phillies in that respect.
The Phillies sport a very good and deep pitching rotation but their bullpen has more questions surrounding it than Anna Nicole's death. Cole Hamels is a superstar in waiting but is too inconsistent and must turn it around. Brett Myers is the type of guy that can win 20 games but he plays in a hitters park and barring any sidetracks this season can fullfill some of that potential people see in him. Freddy Garcia is an innings eater and nothing more. He has excellent stuff but has never put it together for a lengthy stretch for teams to invest the big dollars in him. But as we all know from Gil Meche's deal, sometimes potential is enough to warrant millions of dollars.
Their offense is good from 1-4, probably number 2 to the Mets, but no matter what, Pat Burrel is a superstar fading faster than Charles Barkley's chips at a casino. The back end of the lineup can be had and exploited. The Mets don't offer that luxury to opposing teams.
I might sound a bit bias, but let's not forget, we're talking about Philly here. This is sorry sports town number 2 just behind Chicago in the annals of sorry sports towns. They live for preseason hype and getting caught up in it, just enough to buy tickets. But by the trading deadline they will be sellers. Mets will get a rejuvenated Pedro and won't force their rotation to carry them through the regular season. By October those 40 something year old arms will still be fresh whereas Philly and everyone else's rotation will be running on fumes.
I dont possess the ability to read the future. But from what Jimmy Rollins is saying, you can be assured that it is a whole lot of nothing but talk. That is until he shuts up everyone. But we won't know a thing until October.

ALL STAAAAAAAAA

Ok, so the NBA trading deadline is here and the names that are going to be traded read like a whos- who of the NBA.
JASON KIDD, KEVIN GARNETT, PAU GASOL, RAY ALLEN, RASHARD LEWIS, VINCE CARTER, and MIKE BIBBY.
This group of six could probably make one hell of a team but unfortunately, these six players are trying to get in to better teams.

They seem to believe that their team can no longer offer them the right situation so they want out. And fast.

A few days removed from what was one of the laziest ALL STAR GAMES (I turned the game off by the second quarter), it seems that the NBA is lulling itself along till the playoffs which should be great. I dont want to say the obvious but come on, Sunday, there were probably more hangovers than a college frat house after a kegger.

Putting the NBA All Star Game in Las Vegas is like expecting an alcoholic to go the Johnny Walker factory and not sample the goods. You know its going to be about as pure as the nightclub down there.

Few observations from what I DID see:
- Players need to stop doing the off the backboard dunk. Lebron's attempt looked like it was going to end up ugly by the way he ran into Amare Stoudemire. Everyone in Cleveland must've started closing their eyes and having their knees knock in nervousness.
- NBA took a major risk by bringing the All Star Game to Vegas. The mood is very laid back and relaxed and pretty much everything is legal out there. So two things must happen: let the Maloofs bring the Kings over to Las Vegas OR just make the NBA All Star game there permanently. I agree with only one opinion about Vegas: that place, with all its pending situations that can occur is a goldmine for whatever sport lands its flag!
- Craig Sager's suits are enough to convince me NOT to upgrade to HD. Somethings should be seen in regular or dim lighting.
- Nate Robinson needs to have a limit on attempts, but man when he completes a dunk it is spectacular. He's like that little kid that you want to see do the dunk just because of the effort he gives.
- The best thing to happen in that weekend aside from Charles Barkley's race with a 60 year old referee was Dwight Howard's dunk. The crowd had the same puzzled reaction after Vince Carter's elbow in the rim dunk back when he won it. I think in my generation, Vince Carter had the best array of dunks to win a contest.
- There is no legitemate shooting threat anymore. Remember how Larry Bird used to enter a 3 point shooting contest and you just knew that he was going to win it? Unfortunately, Dirk doesnt live up to the promise in those contests.


Ok, in the annals of sporting All Star festivities, I think baseball's All star game is the best, followoed by the NBA's and then third is the NFL.

The MLB's game is interesting because there are a good number of guys actually trying to play hard to let his league get home field advantage in the World Series. It ups the ante for the players to rise up to the occasion. The NFL's regular and post season are the best but their All Star Game is without a doubt the worst. There's no blitzing, no real competition, and its like the NBA being in Vegas. Who wants to play a serious game of football when you would rather catch a tan in sunny Hawaii?

The NBA's overall weekend is number two because of all the pre All Star Game festivities, but its game is soo horrible that it brings it down to number 2.

Thats all, I'm freezing. Time to catch some sleep.

Welcome to Tampa

Dear Tampa brass,

I am writing this letter to you, to put you all on notice. I might have slowed down over the last few months but that doesn't mean I've been blind to our present situation. Our Titanic has just hit an iceberg.
Against my better judgement, I have allowed Joe Torre to stay and Brian Cashman to trade away some major stars so we can have some "cap relief." Well we're not the stinking Kansas City Royals, we're the New York Yankees.
This team is chock full of over-priced stars and suddenly we get a conscience and trade away some names for some young guys that haven't had their career years.
Some may say guys were using us to get the max deals for years that they put in that were more anomalys than results based on actual skill. But we earned that right.
Who doesn't want to play for the Yankees? Now I got some issues with this team and here they are in importance:
A-Rod- We pay him a lot of money to play baseball and well at that. Not to cry to the press about his falling out with DJ. We knew way back when that he couldnt compare to what DJ brings to us, but we decided to take his contract and his bad postseason stats just to spite those Red Sox. But that came back to haunt us that year.
I want him to know that this year will be either his last as a Yankee, or the last contract he'll sign with a big league team ever! I refuse to believe that paying him all that money is ridiculous.

DJ (Derek Jeter)- You bang so many hot girls that your phone book must read like the Yellow Pages. Slow down kid. I know your the hottest thing out since sliced bread for these girls, but since you started showing up in page 6 we've slowly been getting away from the back pages for the right reasons! I want you to dump the broad ASAP and concentrate on baseball you hear me?

Bernie (Williams)- Nothing personal Bernie but we all know this is a business. You knew that you weren't going to be Yankee forever, right? I mean sure your a loveable guy and everybody enjoys your presence but come on, what do you want us to do retire you on the bench just cuz you were a Yankee lifer? We know that's not possible. So how about returning our phone calls and stop being like that little high school girl that gets dumped.

Joe (Torre)- Let me make one thing clear: I dont care how long you want to coach, if you can't get it done this year, I'll never forgive myself or those clowns around me that managed to keep you here in pinstripes for another year to see Piniella on another team. You have got to realize that the team is not only depending on a championship, we're expecting it. I make the final call and I think its clear what my decision is: No ring on finger for this year, no ring on telephone for next year!

Brian (Cashman)- I let you cut my cap because you got this little hunch that Roger Clemens will be wearing pinstripes in June. Apparently he's 80-20 sure he's retiring. If you dont get his ass off the unemployment line and deliver me a stud Ace or a great year, your going to be sitting next to Roger and i'll find someone who DOES know how to spend my money!

finally, to all my Yankee fans, be patient. I realize those bums in Queens are getting really talented and young, but we're not sitting idly by. I've been told by Brian that we got a lot of high cieling guys in those trades, whatever the hell that means!

What am I saying, potential never won championships! Lets start spending again like the carefree days!

Sincerely,
George Steinbrenner

In a few hours, the minds of thousands of sportsfans will be averted to one truth that not even Puxatawny Bill can tell us: Spring is truly here. Pitchers and catchers report tomorrow and for many that means baseball season is here.
This is the time that the days become hotter and the sun gets brighter. This is where all the dreams happen. Florida and Arizona become the two hotspots for vacationers and baseball buffs alike.
Where else can you see the stars of today and tomorrow performing under one roof. Ready to see the next David Wright? Show up to Port St. Lucie.
As the days get longer and the sun beams down harder, the world's landscape will start changing as summer begets us yet another chance for us to root for our team.
Something else crazy happens: HOPE.
Four letters can mean so much to all. Here are my top ten hopes for this coming season:
1. I hope that Roger Clemens goes to Boston or Houston.
2. I hope that the Mets pitchers realize their potential.
3. I hope that Barry gets booed when he hits number 755.
4. I hope that Sammy Sosa will vanish into thin air.
5. I hope that every team is healthy and that injuries do not kill a team's season.
6. I hope that Randy Johnson flourishes in Arizona.
7. I hope that the MVP of the NL will be playing in Shea.
8. I hope that the Cubs do well this year.
9. I hope that the Yankees lose in heartbreaking fashion.
10. AND OF COURSE I HOPE THAT THE METS WIN THE THE WORLD SERIES!

Drab, I know, but still you have to contain ur excitement on paper, somehow!

Can it

Recently I was recommended a book by a Phillies fan about the 1986 Mets (put that one together). They were notorious for their off field antics as they were for their on field dominance. The book was called "The Bad Guys Won" by Jeff Pearlman.

First off, I'm not much of a book reviewer and I've not had any experience dealing with that to know what it entails or how I should go about it, so I'm going to just throw my opinion out there. As my friend said "you don't have to be a Met fan to like this book." Which is very true.

I told one of my friends who happens to be a girl that they should read this book. She did what most girls do and started complaining and giving me reasons why she would hate this book before even reading a single word. I told her that she did not have to be a fan of baseball to enjoy this book and could find this book very entertaining on the long subway rides that us New Yorkers have to suffer through.

The book is more about the hijinx and the crazy cast of characters that embodied the 1986 Mets more than it is about the actual games they competed in. Of course, you can't have a book about 1986 without mentioning Mike Scott (who nearly ended their season by himself) and of course the infamous Red Sox series immortalized by the ball going through Bill Buckner's legs.

The writing is great and it keeps you thoroughly satisfied. It uses some great quotes. Now, here is where my opinion comes in about the 1986 Mets. I came to this country when I was four so I was a year and change removed from that historic Met team that went on to win the World Series. I didnt appreciate baseball until the early 90's and that was because my older cousins would watch it.

For immigrants who are not used to baseball and football, it was hard for us to have long standing ties to any sport. Especially when India's major competitive championships are in Miss Universe pageants and they refuse to field a decently competitive team in any other sport other than field hockey. That gets about as much press coverage as regular ice hockey does in the states.

So I grew up in Queens and I took to my local team because I could claim them as my own. Sure the Yankees were around, but even in my feeble and weak minded nature as a kid, I could cheer for the Yankees but I could not love them like I did the Mets. The Mets just seemed to embody something that I could not put my finger on, even to this day. So I favored the Mets more than the Yankees, though even then, my friends tried to get me to switch allegiances. I was stubborn by nature and so I decided that if society were to demand I pick a certain team, I was going to make my decision and stick by it. I was ten at the time.

In High School I got more and more flack for being a Met fan because I entered high school in 1997, just as the dynasty was getting its legs. I admittedly rooted for the '96 Yankees because the Braves had made the life of the Mets miserable and I wanted the Yankees to beat them, and so when they came back to win it, I was ecstatic, yet still, I was a Met fan.

In 1999 when Kenny Rogers threw what is still to this day the worst pitch in baseball history, I decided that the Yankees had to beat the Braves. I could not stand the Braves. I can still not make up my mind as to who I hate more, the Yankees or the Braves.

In 2000, I was in heaven when the Mets fianlly reached the promised land. I was convinced our team could beat that Yankee team. Of course, that fell right on our face. It ended up being one of those 5 game sweeps.

I really liked those Mets teams because of its wild manager and its cast of characters. But then I read this book and I was upset. I realized that this team would've made me go baseball crazy. They were the right team for the era. They were a team with an arrogance and an attitude that made fans go crazy for them. They had just enough guys with their screws loose that you could make a case that some belonged in mental institutions.

The camraderie and things that they did together made you feel like that old cliche of "I would go to war with these guys" was actually true.

Reading this book though made me realize that the '86 team would've drove me insane. The swift dismantling of the team, the unfulfilled promise of Doc and Straw, and the breaking down of its veterans just made you think of what could be.

While the Mets are about 50 years and a monumental trade (even though the jury is still out on the Scott Kazmir trade) from being branded with a "curse", or even deemed a sorry franchise, the 86 team holds such a huge shadow over any team that is to come for the Mets. No team will ever be like those group of guys. This book truly captured what it was like to be on that team with those group of players.

This book pissed me off, because I could have told Yankee fans that we won more than just two championships. That we had our dynasty already.

That team had a stacked farm system, had a great core of young guys and that we had money to pay for the cycle of veterans to fill out the clubhouse. Davey Johnson managed to be the pre-Moneyball era manager by computing matchups and playing line ups accordingly.

I truly thought of GM Frank Cashen's glassy eye retelling, when asked in 2002, about that Met team he had helped build when he said "they should have won championships." I just realize that the Mets are one of those teams that will inevitably break your hearts more than they will make you happy. They are that girlfriend who all your friends tell you to stay away from but you can think of alot of happy moments, albeit on one hand, and thats enough for you to hang on to. The Mets in the long run will upset you by making boneheaded trades (Kazmir) and just make you want to kick yourself in the 'nads by your star $100 million plus CF strike out looking to end the 7th game of the NLCS.

That team made you understand that winning a World Series is tougher than you think. That there are unforseen circumstances that make teams lose all the time. But the Mets make you upset because they had it. They had it and they lost it.

Just to complete this here are the top 5 reasons the 86 Mets didnt last:

5. Mel Stottlemeyer- How does a former Yankee ruin everything all the time? He thought that it would be good for Doc Gooden to learn a change up. He figured there was fixing needed for his mechanics. What once was an effortless dominant stretch, Doc began to think and pitching didn't feel natural anymore. He was not the same pitcher in 1986 as he was in 1985. Although they won, Doc was a shell of his former self EVEN in 1986.

4. Destruction of the Farm System- Years before the Yankees were the pimps selling their young goods to other teams for broken down veterans, the Mets perfected that art and ended up giving away what was a stacked farm system for veterans on their way down. Its always a dicey proposition mortgaging your future for immediate success, but the Mets proved that even in the 80's they were Kazmir-ing their way along.

3. Preferential Treatment- Davey Johnson was not a babysitter and to his credit, no manager should ever be blamed for another man's mistakes. But Davey allowed Doc and Straw and the rest of the stars to play while their lives were falling apart.

2. Trading away everyone- Does this not explain everything? Keith Hernandez, Nails (Dykstra), Wally Backman, Kevin Mitchell, Ray Knight, Ron Darling were all victims.

1. Cocaine- Its one hell of a drug and it did in both Straw and Doc. What i found pretty incredible was the snitching done by both about each other when both had a problem. I blame this single dumb mistake by both for doing them in. You can win around young talent, and had they remained drug free, they could've continued on paths of dominance.

Enough about the Mets. I need sleep.