DAILY RANT: 11/29/2010

Has anyone noticed that there is only one game separating the NY Knicks and the "big 3" Miami Heat?
With all the hype and news surrounding them, so far, Miami is just "an average" NBA team with a record of 9-8. So Stoudamire and Felton have worked out better then Bosh and Lebron?
Is anyone surprised that the Heat have all but alienated their young inexperienced head coach Spoelstra? How long do fans think it will take for Pat Riley to come back to the bench and demote Spoelstra back to water boy?
Most NBA fans outside the Miami area, are just fine watching this expensive experiment fail. It was such an unpopular and greedy choice for Lebron James and Chris Bosh to join the Heat, so watching that come back to bite them has been a delightful holiday gift. Does the saying, "too many cooks in the kitchen" sound familiar?

How long will it take for the NY Jets to gain some respect around the NFL? Unfortunately, it will take exactly one week for the real haters/lovers of gang green to make their minds up. Because exactly one week from today, in misspelled Foxboro (Foxborough), the Boston Patriots will host the New York/New Joisy Jets. A battle of the two best records in the NFL, the two best in the AFC and a battle for first place in the AFC East. How much bigger can one game get? Not much!

A lot of uneducated NFL fans (Jet-haters) have screamed and complained that the Jets have gotten "lucky". Try telling that to the undefeated Miami Dolphins of 1972. The 2010 Jets are no 1972 Dolphins, but they do have high rankings in almost every category. And when the game is on the line, the Jets have made the right play and have put themselves in position to win the game. Mark Sanchez has flourished as a bona-fied starting NFL quarterback. He has shown tremendous athletic ability, evading would-be defensive players going for the sack. He has thrown far less interceptions then last year. He is going deep, while recognizing the true talent that he has around him (Santonio Holmes, LaDanian Tomlinson, Braylon Edwards and Dustin Keller). Most importantly, he has grown as a player and a person, making more mature decisions, effectively keeping his team in the game.

Rex Ryan is a big personality, trimmed down from last year in stature, but still big enough to take on the brunt of the scrutiny or attention the team gets. He is just that smart. He knows that if he can do anything, it's keep the pressure off his team as much as possible. And if that means making a fool of himself, or saying loud and controversial things, then so be it. Rex Ryan is the type of coach that loves his players. He hand picked all of them for a reason, because he knows which kind of guy will be there for the other one. Some people outside of the organization might look at some of the personnel and say that they are trouble makers, but the reality is that each player on the roster has a role to fill and Rex has carefully cast those roles in the hopes of putting together a super bowl team. People can say anything they want, but when it comes down to what matters in the NFL, its records. And at 9-2, the NY Jets so far, are at the top.

Terry Collins.....anyone know who he is? Wrong, he is not a mixture of Gin, Club Soda and Sour Mix, garnished with a lemon and cherry. He is the new manager of the NY Metropolitans (Mets). So, Tom "er" Terry Collins has not managed since 1999 (Anaheim) and his reign with the Angels ended abruptly with his resignation, due to player unrest and dissatisfaction of his managerial skills. He has worked with the Houston Astros and a Chinese Team in Japan??? Oh yeah, he was hired by the Mets new General Manager, Sandy Alderson. A California guy, previously with the San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics. Alderson's track record is paved with much more gold then Collins' is.  He is seen as a quiet, behind the scenes guy with good eye for talent, but more unwilling to spend on big names. There is no doubt that Alderson has had much success in Baseball, but will that laid back, west coast swagger translate well here on the east coast in NYC?? He has a lot of work to do with the current roster of misfits and the bleak free agent market. Alderson probably will take the approach that the Mets need 2 years before they can be relevant again and if the fans will just bear with it, things will start to look brighter by 2013. Realistically, the NY media and fan base will give him 6 months before they look for a new GM call for his head on a stick. Sorry Sandy, but that's just they way it is here. Unfortunately, the NY Mets are a complex and cursed organization, thanks to horrendous contracts, horrible free agent signings and one Adam Wainwright fastball that made it's way past a sleeping Carlos Beltran, into the glove of Yadier Molina, closing the book on a great season with World Series written all over it and essentially sending the organization into a downward spiral ever since.