Makes You Wonder

How ironic is it that the New York Jets are going to have to play their last game against exiled quarterback Chad Pennington and his resurgent Miami Dolphins? There is a very good possibility that the Jets season will come down to that game. So how do the Jets make sure that they don't end their season like the New York Mets did? First off, the Jets must not, I repeat, must not take the Seahawks lightly when they travel to Seattle this Sunday. It is Mike Holmgren's final home game as the Seahawks' coach and could be one of his last games all together. Even though the city of Seattle has become the laughing stock of professional sports, the fans still know how to get it up at Qwest Field, AKA "The 12th Man". The forecast for Sunday, calls for snow, and Brett Favre and his former coach, Holmgren, have way too much history involving big wins and cold weather. The reality of this game is that the Seahawks are a terrible team and the Jets should win. Although, that fact doesn't hold much weight for the Jets this season. After losing to Oakland and San Fransisco, both horrendous teams, the Jets haven't been able to put away the inferior teams. The Jets barely beat the Chiefs, who like the Raiders and 49ers, had under 3 wins at the time and they should have never won against the Bills three days ago. It is a mystery to fans where the Jets team, that won five straight games this season, has gone to, but regardless they need to win out the last two games. If the Jets do beat the Seahawks in Seattle, then they can stay focused, and put pressure on Miami and its wildcat offense, led by Pennington. The Dolphins could be the biggest surprise of this NFL season. They were 1-15 last year and after this 180 degree turnaround, are fighting for first place this year. If they somehow win their last two games and the division, then Tony Sparano should win coach of the year and Bill Parcells should be name ultimate NFL guru. The Jets did beat Miami on the road this season in week one, and they do have the advantage of playing at home, but again, the Jets struggled in that win as well, escaping with a game saving interception of Pennington in the last minutes of the fourth quarter. So what does this all mean for the Jets? It means that, like the New York Mets, the Jets control their own destiny and if they win their last two games it will result in a division crown and a home playoff game. If the Jets lose one or both of their last two games, they will join those Mets as a big market, big payroll, big name, underachieving franchise, that choked away a chance for a championship.

J E T S, Jets Jets Jets!

Has anyone noticed that the Jets have moved to the top of all of the NFL power rankings?? Most Jets fans are trying not to because they are afraid if they do, something bad will happen. For the past four seasons starting in 2004, the Jets have had the most inconsistent records causing more indigestion in the NYC area then a slice of pepperoni pizza. In 2004 they went 10-6, in 2005 4-12, in 2006 10-6 and in 2007 4-12. If someone were to draw a line graph it would like a heart monitor. Now in 2008, the Jets have put together a five game winning streak, during that streak they have beaten the big bad Patriots in New England and have knocked off the only undefeated team, the Titans, in Nashville. There shouldn't be any flights booked yet for Tampa in February, but it is hard not to notice these accomplishments. Jets fans have been waiting for this kind of season since 1998, when a 35 year old Vinny Testaverde, came out of nowhere to lead the Jets to the AFC Championship. Only John Elway was able to stop the Jets, it seemed that all his stars had lined up and he went on to win the Super Bowl. Could it be a coincidence that an older, veteran, Brett Favre, has come back to bring the Jets to the threshold of dominance? Could it also be a coincidence that the Jets will play the Broncos this weekend looking for their 9th win in 13 games? The Jets should get a lot of credit for playing balanced football every week. Aside from a Favre interception here and there, which was to be expected from him, the Jets offense has averaged more then 30 points a game in their 5 game winning streak and 29 per game overall for the season. Their defense has made other teams' running attack disappear, allowing only an average of 78 yeard per game and have gotten to almost every opposing quarterback sacking them 35 times already this season. To complete the triangle of a football teams identity, the Jets special teams has been dominant, missing only 4 field goals all season and averaging a league high 26 yards on kick off returns. All of these stats say something for the team, they say they can play sound football, but the swagger and the confidence the team has says so much more. Thomas Jones, the Jets running back, scored only once all of last season. Jones has now scored 9 times this year and is running behind an offensive line that is revamped and energized, opening up holes for him to have the chance to eclipse 1,000 yards this weekend. Everything is clicking and the Jets have the potential to really make a run at the big trophy. Jets fans should be excited and must cherish these times because as they all know, it may not last.

Why are they called “World Champions”?

In sports, teams work hard all season to get to the promise land, to the final championship series of their respective sport and when they win it all, gladly call themselves champions. In the US, when teams win their leagues and are handed the coveted trophy, they are deemed “World Champions”. Except there is one problem, they are not. How can they receive the title of best in the world, when they only play teams from other states in the US? Why are the New York Giants of the NFL (NATIONAL football league) called World Champions? They beat a team from Massachusetts, which is ironically from a region called New England, but not the European England. All the teams they beat to get to the Super Bowl were from one of the 50 states. Plus, outside the US, the real “football” players around the world or “Soccer” players to us, actually play other countries to win it all. In Canada, for example, there is the Canadian Football League, which has teams from all parts of Canada play, each other. When a team wins the Grey Cup, they are called CFL Champions. The champion defeated other teams within its countries borders and they got an award
Why are the Boston Celtics World Champions? It is a fact that they did beat a team from a city 3000 miles away, but Los Angeles is part of the United States. There is an organization called, FIBA. The abbreviation 'FIBA' derives from the French 'Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur'. A ton of countries are represented in FIBA, even the USA; and the winner could definitely declare itself the champion of the World. Boston did not get a chance to play Bosnia or Germany in the NBA finals, only LA. Yet we as American sports fans still call them the “World Champion Boston Celtics”.
What made the Boston Red Sox the best baseball team in the World? Did we miss the telecast of them defeating the Yomiuri Giants from Japan? They didn’t even play the one team outside the US in the playoffs, the Toronto Blue Jays, to have a slight argument for being World Champions. Also, just having teams from Canada, doesn’t mean it can represent the rest of the World in competitive sports. The name, the World Series, is even more confusing. It sounds like there will be a series of games where teams from all around the World will compete for a trophy, symbolizing their status as best on Earth. What it really sounds like, is that America is the embodiment of all things baseball and no other country would have a chance to challenge that, so Americans can then assume that as long as one team from the US beats another, they are the best in the world by default. There are plenty of international players in Major League Baseball. Countries like Cuba, Korea, Dominican Republic, Taiwan and many others are represented in baseball every game, even as recent as this years World Series. SO there is an international aspect to the Series, but no country alone wins anything, one of the States here in the US gets that honor.
Securing the title of “World Champion” in a sport played only by American teams is somewhat of a debatable topic. Some might say that because the sports played here are only played here, the team that wins is the best in the world. Others might say that it is unfair to deem yourself the worlds best until you beat an international team within the sport. Still, others don’t care either way. Imagine this, the Hamburg Sea Devils of NFL Europa win the league championship series or what is called the “World Bowl” and then parade around the streets of Germany as “World Champions”. They succeeded in defeating the Amsterdam Admirals and then the Frankfurt Galaxy en route to the trophy. Are they the real “World Champions”? Are the New York Giants the real champions? Should they play each other in a real world bowl to see who really is the best? We’ll never know because the NFL closed the book on its European league last year due to significant monetary losses. They replaced it with regular season games between NFL teams over seas in Europe. Maybe that would be the answer? Have American teams play over seas in other countries, so that when it comes time to crown a world champion, there will be no argument as to why or how. Major League Baseball did it this past year, with the Oakland A’s and the Boston Red Sox playing in Japan. The National Basketball Association did it as well, but not during the regular season, it was two pre season games where the Heat, Nets, Hornets and Wizards competed in four European cities. So the answer to why they are called world champions lies within the extension of American sports into other countries. By representing itself and presenting its product over seas, American sports as a whole is making a strong case for being able to say, “Our teams are the best in the world”. It also helps that the athletes who play these American sports are enormous celebrities worldwide and are more recognizable then most international politicians. The fan base has stretched so far for these athletes that other countries are willing to double some of their salaries to play overseas permanently. If that were to happen, organizations might follow their players and we all might see a change of scenery for sports, opening the door to a fully international field of play and creating a real World Champion.

Your New York Knicks!!

For years in NY, the Knicks have relied heavily on the big man and on the center position to be the focal point of their offense. Starting in the late 1970’s and right up until the end of last season, the Knicks’ offensive style of play has been a half court, post up type of offense. From Bill Cartwright, to Patrick Ewing, the team has always focused on them, getting things going through the biggest guy on the court. That type of play is a slower kind of offense, utilizing the clock and setting up a controlled situation. Now with the addition of a new coach, Mike D’antoni, that whole entire scheme is getting thrown out the window. D’antoni coached for four seasons in Phoenix, prior to coming to NY. There in Phoenix, the Suns averaged 110.07 points per game, that is good for third highest in the league over that span. D’antoni’s coaching stems from a run and gun philosophy, allowing any player who has an open shot to take it at will. He wants his teams to get the ball across the half court line under 7 seconds. He also wants his teams to play fast and aggressive, scoring as much as they can. When D’antoni has had the right players in his system, he has been very successful and it showed in the win column where he averaged 59 wins a season in Phoenix. After finally getting out from under the Isaiah Thomas fire blanket, the Knicks as an organization can start new in this upcoming 2008-2009 season. They have a new coach, as well as a new GM, Donnie Walsh, a New York City native. Walsh has come into a position of power with the future as bright as he wants it to be. Walsh can do no wrong this season due to the fact that he is following such an abysmal GM and President like Thomas. Isaiah left the team in turmoil, failing in all aspects of his job that resulted in a playoff draught and a significant drop in attendance never seen at Madison Square Garden. Walsh has tried desperately to separate himself from all of that and he has vowed to bring the Knicks back from the dead while he is in NY.
D’antoni has made it clear that every player on the team, regardless of contract and star power, is auditioning for their role. Nobody is a lock for a starting position or for playing time. He has said that whoever can get up and down the court the fastest, passing and scoring as much as they can, will see the most action. The Knicks, however, didn’t make that many changes to their roster to give D’antoni players ready to perform up to his standards. The Knicks acquired Chris Duhon; a point guard who didn’t play much in Chicago and was a pass first, shoot second guard at Duke University. He is really a back up and there are questions about whether he can lead a team and orchestrate the offense. With the 6th overall pick, they did draft a 19-year-old Forward from Italy, named Danillo Gallinari. Gallinari is a player who could flourish in D’antoni’s system when he’s healthy; unfortunately he has begun his American Basketball career on the disabled list with back problems. So, the Knicks haven’t really changed at all from last year to this year, leaving little room for the coach to maneuver his lineup into something he would like to see everyday. The Knicks predominantly have never been a team that consistently ran up and down the court, scoring at will. None of the players currently on the roster have been on a team like the one D’antoni wants to mold this one into. It really takes good team chemistry to create the mixture D’antoni wants to serve up to the league and the Knicks have not shown any signs of that in the last four years. So the question still remains, why D’antoni?
There is a lot of truth to what D’antoni preaches. He believes that any player that puts his best out on the court, game after game, will have the chance to do well under him. His approach, to coaching and to the game itself, is structured in a loose and relaxed manner. He smiles a lot on the sidelines and doesn’t get too tight about losses. That could be the reason for his hiring. Loosening things up at the Garden would be a real breathe of fresh of air, after all the tension during the Isaiah years. He does have a tough task though, in trying to turn the ship around in New York. Although, if he gains enough trust from the players and if they reciprocate with enough effort, things will only get better. There is another problem. This new situation can be a recipe for disaster if the team doesn’t win very much, early on in the season. Knicks fans have endured too many losing seasons, witnessing their team become the joke of the NBA and it can get real ugly if things don’t change. NY sports fans in general are very passionate about the teams they root for. Since the 1991-1992 season and up until the 2003-2004 season, the Knicks made the playoffs. But once Isaiah Thomas began his stay here in NYC that all came to an end and the Knicks have now failed to reach the postseason for five straight years. It is going to be hard to fill seats at the Garden, especially with the prices where they are and the economy where it is. Even though Thomas is gone, the damage he did still remains and Donnie Walsh and Mike D’antoni will have to try to fix it all, while hoping to lure fans back.

Hey, YOU SUCK!

In the last decade or so, fans of every sport in almost every country have come to use the screaming phrase, "You Suck!" as their battle cry towards their favorite teams rivals and opponents. In American sports, especially, fans in stadiums around the country have now gone past just yelling this intelligent put down, they have gotten more specific. "Jeter Sucks!" "Manny Sucks!" Favre Sucks!" Cincinnati Sucks!" and “Other Fans Suck!” These negative and obnoxious chants have made the people who blurt them out look and sound like morons. How much knowledge of a sport does someone have to have, to come up with the term, "BLANK Sucks!”? None. Any fan can attend a sporting event and randomly pick a player, choose one of the cities the two teams are from or just pick another fan and scream that he or she thinks they "Suck". The problem with that is usually what happens next. The evocations of others to either join in or disagree. This then creates the always-popular chaotic mob effect. One person screams, another one screams back and a chain reaction occurs and all the fans soon begin taking sides, turning the stands into an angry sea of drunken looters. While I was at a New York Mets game, sitting in the upper deck, I noticed in front of us, that a fan had told more then one person or player that they "Sucked". This fan was gradually getting intoxicated and he felt that everyone and everything around him "Sucked" and he let us all know very loudly. At first, I kind of laughed it off with my friend, with both of us agreeing that there is no place like New York. But then, as the game went on and this fan inhaled more and more beers, it started to get annoying. A person in a white hat would walk by and the fan would yell, "White hats suck!” Then a woman with a Polo shirt on would walk by and the fan would of course yell, "Polo shirts suck!" No one was safe around our upper deck section and neither were our attention spans. My friend and I began to lose focus on the game and could only hear what this creative individual was spewing. We both looked at each other and knew that if we reprimanded this guy, we too would "SUCK!" and since the stadium was sold out, we had nowhere else to move to. Everyone likes to get a "You suck!" chant in there somewhere during a game, but this fan in particular over stepped his boundaries and ruined the fun. The most interesting thing about this fan was that he was a Yankees fan, who wasn't there to cheer on the Mets, the Braves or anything concerning the games. He was just there to get drunk and yell, "You suck" to everything. The chants finally came to an end when this fan told the wrong woman that "She sucked" and ended up meeting her husband, who didn't agree. Security then escorted all three of them out of the stadium, with the innocent bystanders whom the fan thought "Sucked", missing out on a great ninth inning comeback from the Mets. How much did this fan accomplish when he declared that all things "SUCKED"?? Did he make a statement as a smart sports enthusiast?
When a referee or official like, Ed Hochuli, blows a huge call during a crucial time in a game, a fan has every right to tell him from the seats that “He Sucks!” When a player like, Sage Rosenfels, tries to hurdle two linemen instead of just laying down on the football to get his team a win, he too must be told, “He sucks!” There are so many rules and plays in sports, giving fans numerous choices to yell about. Telling another fan that they "Suck" because they have on a yellow windbreaker is not one of them. Sports have always been and always will be something for fans and non-athletes to argue, scream, fight and agree on. Sporting events are not outlets for people to insult others just for the heck of it. I have been to too many games where I am embarrassed by the way other humans act and sound. When someone clearly has no clue what they are talking about and just compensates for it by screaming profanities and “You Suck!” at random things, it takes away from the enjoyment of sports. Americans are prone to following the mob; this is ever so present at sporting events. But the mob can’t be led into the fire by someone with no regard for the aspects of intelligent heckling.

SHEA Goodbye: In A Parallel Universe

Bottom of the eighth inning, Jose Reyes on second base, Carlos Beltran on first, two outs and here comes the hot hitting Carlos Delgado to the plate. Delgado has a chance to right the wrongs of the top of this inning, when Scott Schoenweiss and Luis Ayala gave up back to back home runs to give the Florida Marlins the lead at 4-2. This is it. Right here. The New York Mets season and their beloved Shea stadium hang on for dear life, everyone hoping that Carlos Delgado can extend the season and give these 56,000 die hard fans and all of New York a chance to see the postseason. There hasn't a been a bigger at bat for Delgado in his career. He has come up clutch throughout this season, getting the big hits when the Mets needed them and all he has to do is get one more. So Arthur Rhodes, the journey man pitcher comes to his set stance and gets ready to pitch to Carlos here with the game on the line and the go ahead runs for the Mets on base. Rhodes is set, he delivers and its low and outside, ball one. Delgado steps off the plate for a second, fixes his batting gloves, you can see the determination in his eyes. Carlos steps back in the batters box and gets ready. Here's the second pitch from Rhodes. It's a called strike on the inside. Wow, that was close. So the count is even now at one ball and one strike. The crowd is getting increasingly louder as the pressure and tension mounts with every pitch. If Delgado can get his bat on one here and drive it out, then we are all going to be rejoicing and hugging. This Mets team has been through a lot this season and as you can see from last inning, they have had to endure a very shaky bull pen. But Carlos Delgado can make that all disappear right now with one swing. So, Reyes has a small lead at second, as does Beltran at first. Rhodes gets set and gets his sign from the catcher. Here comes the pitch....bam...its a deep, fly ball, going towards the warning track is the center fielder Maybin, going back, going back.....its...its....its OUTTA HERE!!!!! A three run home run for Carlos Delgado. He has done it again and the Mets have taken the lead here in the bottom of eighth inning 5-4. Can you believe it!?!? Delgado rifles one to deep left center and he has given this ball park a shot in the arm and everyone is going crazy. Oh my God! That was awesome! The scoreboard here at Shea stadium had just flashed the final score out at Milwaukee and the Mets and Carlos Delgado knew they had to win to force a one game playoff tomorrow back here at Shea Stadium and Delgado comes up in the clutch one more time. This place is rockin' and the Mets are 3 outs away from playing a significant game in September to see if they will get to the playoffs. What a way to send off Shea Stadium. All of the old timers here today and the legends that wore the Mets uniforms have witnessed the beauty of baseball and for one day the Mets can celebrate an astounding win.


That is how things would have happened if my mind could control the way the Universe goes. The Mets would have won the game and with their momentum sky rocketing, they would have beat the Brewers the next day and moved on to play the Chicago Cubs in the National League Division Series. Unfortunately, my mind control also would have had the Mets lose to the Cubs in four games, but it would have been back at Shea for a memorable last moment and the Cubs would go on to win the World Series against the Angels, overcoming their 100 year curse of not winning the World Series.

THANK YOU OHIO!

Once a year, a group of football loving friends from Brooklyn, New York get together and travel to another city away from the friendly confines of their home stadium to watch the New York Jets play an opponent as the visiting team. These buddies usually consist of the same crew, sometimes substituting one or two different guys here and there. They plan this trip based on what tickets are available at the other teams stadiums and when the travel plans all work out for the group. They know they must travel with at least four guys because it makes for easier sleeping arrangements in the hotel rooms and when the other teams fans start a fight they know they have a chance to get one guy out alive to tell all the families about what happened.
In 2004, one of the guys in the group came up with the plan for the annual "away" trip. He had played collegiate baseball for the Columbia University Lions and during his summers he would play baseball in the Ohio amateur leagues. During these summers, he befriended many fellow college students from the great state of Ohio, who were attending the Ohio State University and were playing on the universities baseball team. He kept in touch with these lads and maintained a friendship that, unbeknownst to them, would be the key component to this amazing trip. After securing the 4 tickets to the November 21st, Jets versus Browns game in Cleveland, the orchestrator of this memorable weekend somehow snagged 4 more tickets for the day prior to that, the November 20Th Ohio State/Michigan college football game in Columbus, Ohio. These tickets were not only for one of the greatest sports rivalries ever, they were also on the 50 yard line, which is basically the best seat in the house. And the house in which they were going to see this game is known as the "U". With its present seating capacity of 102,329, Ohio Stadium or the "U" (which describes its shape) is the fourth largest on-campus facility in the nation. Since the opening game against Ohio Wesleyan on Oct. 7, 1922, more than 36 million fans have streamed through the stadium's portals. To be able to see a game there is an experience, but to see a grudge match against the Michigan Wolverines there is something that cannot be duplicated.
So the tickets were gotten and the table was set for what was beginning to look like one of the greatest weekends for Football fans ever, all occurring in the wonderful state of Ohio. One phone call later, the summer baseball friendships that had been developed, came back to help them and lodging was set up. All the parts began to fit together and the trip was now a reality for these adventurous bunch of die-hard sports fans. They rented a car and left for Columbus on the morning of Friday, November 19Th 2004. After several stops for gas, food, bathroom breaks and driver changes, the crew arrived on Ohio State's campus just before 8:30pm local time. They pulled up to the apartment complex where the previously mentioned friends lived, with the rest of the Ohio State baseball team. Tired and somehow still hungry, the Brooklynites stumbled out of the car, stretching and complaining of sore backs and immediately were met with cheers from the already partying hosts. They told them to get their Buffalo-wing-eating-pants on and to get back in to the car to follow all of them to the local sports bar for beers and of course, Buffalo wings. The next thing to happen solidified this trip as one of the most unforgettable ones there ever could be. Just as they all got to the bar to order beers they noticed the pockets of people wearing blue sweatshirts with the stamped MICHIGAN in yellow on them and they also noticed that every ones jaws were dropped. It had been from watching the most brutal brawl in Professional Basketball history. Everyone, including the crew, had just witnessed the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers go punch for punch and blow for blow with each other on the court in Indianapolis. Ron Artest, Jermain O'Neal and Stephen Jackson were the main contributors of the fight, which resulted in numerous suspensions. There were fans getting punched square in their faces court side, there were beers and miscellaneous debris getting thrown onto the court from the stands and there were players off the court climbing up in the stands pummeling other fans on their way up. It was complete mayhem and it was happening right in front of their eyes, live on TV. What a way to start a fun filled football weekend! So they watched the brawl, ate some hot wings and drinks some beers and went back to the apartment complex to get geared up for the 6 am wake up call they were going to get the next morning for the tailgate.
Next morning, 8 am, the crew and the guys on the baseball team get down to the streets in front of the stadium and they did their tailgating. What a great time, mingling with Alumni, current students, parents and families. What a sight to see. All these supporters of a college football team, with such tradition and history. They will always have these fans, no matter how bad or how good they do because as it is with college sports, fans usually are alumni or family of alumni and that bond is stronger then it is with pro sports teams. These college fans were there to experience the atmosphere everyday. They were a part of the team, whether they played on them, supported them, had classes with them or payed for them to be there. College sports has so much heart and soul, nothing will ever change that. Each person that wears their schools colors has an unquestioned pride because they know that this school was a part of their life.
So these four friends from Brooklyn engulfed themselves in this phenomenon, which couldn't compare to nights at Madison Square Garden or afternoons at Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium. This crew that just drove nine and half hours west, walked into the Ohio Stadium and took their seats at the 50 yard line and as the rest of the fans filed in all they could do was look on in amazement at the sights and sounds of this enormous sporting event. The game itself was just awesome. The Ohio State Buckeyes upset the Number 7 Michigan Wolverines 37-21. The most memorable highlight for the crew was watching Teddy Ginn Jr. run back an 82-yard punt return for a score in the third quarter, which caused an eruption of thunderous cheers from the 103,000 fans at the "U". Never had any of these guys heard such a raucous before, especially at a football game. After the game the crew enjoyed the festivities of the campus wide parties celebrating the win over the hated Wolverines. The Ohio State experience was really only half the fun. The boys had another game to get to. They woke up the next morning, Sunday, with severe hangovers and piled back into the rental car and headed to the home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Indians and the Browns, Cleveland. They arrived just in time to get in some tailgating and do a couple of J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets chants. Then they made their way to their second stadium in the state of Ohio in as many days. They gazed upon this modern sports arena that sits on the shores of Lake Erie. Cleveland Browns Stadium, with its Dawg Pound in the bleachers on the east side of the stadium and its Kentucky blue grass field, is one of the nicest facilities these guys had ever seen, but it really didn't matter how nice it was, their beloved Jets were about to play and all they cared about was another win. The crew got just that. With a 10-7 win for the Jets, the boys from Brooklyn ended up with a perfect record for the weekend going 2 for 2 thanks to teams from "the birth place of Aviation".
When it comes to big sports weekend trips, this one is at the top of the list. Many men and women would give up a lot, to experience something like these friends did together, especially seeing so many different sports happenings. And being able to find one state in our great union that offers up a chance to experience all this in a span of three days just goes to show that fun times are out there where ever you live.

Stop Me If You've Heard This Before....

This might sound familiar. The Mets have 2 weeks left in their season, have a lead in their division and the teams they have left to play, except for one, are out of playoff contention. The Mets have full control of their destiny, they have the power to step up and put away sub par teams when it matters most. They need one or two good outings from their starting pitchers or they need that one big hit from their stars. For the most part, the Mets have more talent and bigger payrolls then the teams they will have to face down the stretch. At the most, they only have to win a couple games to ensure their playoff birth. Does this all sound too familiar? If it does, then you were watching baseball last year and you witnessed the Mets collapse and now, you are seeing the same thing happen all over again exactly the same way. It feels like the Twilight Zone. How is it that a team can end their season exactly the same way, with the same negativity and embarrassment two years in a row? In sports history, no team has collapsed in consecutive seasons. There has never been a team that with the lead in their division, gave it up the last two weeks of the season twice in two years. Although, if you watch closely, you might see history in the making. If the Mets continue to lose to below average teams this year, like the Washington Nationals and Atlanta Braves these last two weeks, then they will go down in sports history as the biggest choke artists ever assembled. Why is it so difficult for them to learn from their mistakes? What does it take to motivate a team to win? Could it be the thought of utter collapse again? Could be the sound of boos coming from your home stadium? Could it be your heart telling you to just push it a little farther? Could it be the desire to be a champion and to succeed? The Mets have one more chance tonight, September 17th, 2008, to show to their fans and quite frankly to themselves, that they are beyond the dark shadows they cast at last season's end. That they have the fire within, that will finally be let loose to burn down the images of the epic collapse that has been following them around for the last year. This is it. There are no more second chances. There is not another opportunity out there to try again. If the Mets lose and find a way to miss the playoffs again this year, the repercussions will be drastic. There is a dim light of hope still shining in New York that our wonderful city will be represented in the 2008 Major League Baseball postseason, but the energy that powers that light is quickly running out. Lets all hope that last year doesn't happen again.

Here We Go Again

As the 2008 major league baseball season comes to a close, a lot of attention will be payed to what the NY Mets will do compared to last year's epic collapse. Many players on the Mets have told the media, time and time again that last year is behind them and that this year is a different scenario. These players seem to be trying to convince themselves that this is not going to be the same as 2007. But there are some of the same things happening now that were happening last year. Pitching decisions and clutch hitting with players in scoring position are severe problems all over again. Jose Reyes for instance, is batting .211 in the month of September this year, he hit .205 in September of 2007. Without Reyes getting on and stealing bases at the top of the lineup, the Mets as a team will not succeed and it was one of the main reasons the Mets couldn't get wins last year. This year, although the team leads the league in runs scored the first three innings of the game, the big bats seem to disappear late in games when their are players in scoring position. Last year, the Mets failed to get guys on base, in to score when the game was on the line and now, this year, the same thing is happening. The pitching last season in September was just bad and guys like Glavine and Pedro looked as if they were dreaming of playing golf and attending cock fights. This year, the Mets bullpen can not secure any lead what so ever. No matter how big or how small the Mets lead is in the game, the bullpen has found a way to give it away and lose it. They have blown 28 saves this season, that is a horrendous statistic. Jerry Manuel is really just handcuffed by his options in the bullpen and it is hard to blame him entirely, but when situations like last night occur, as an observer, you have to scratch your head. Last night, the Mets were down 4-1 starting the 8th inning and Jerry Manuel brought in Rincon from the bullpen to pitch. Rincon immediately retired the first two batters he faced and he did it easily. Manuel then decided to bring in Duaner Sanchez to face the next guy, why? No one really will know, probably because of the match up situation. Of course, Sanchez then allows guys to get on and then gives up a three-run home run to Elijah Dukes to push the lead to 5 runs. Why did Manuel take out Rincon who seemed to be pitching well? It doesn't matter now, but fans have to hope that the Managers and players learn from all these mistakes. That's how you separate this year from last year, its learning from the mistakes. If the Mets don't do the same things and don't make some of the same mistakes as last year and if they are more in tune to the urgency of their predicament, then things won't end up like they did during that epic collapse. Get hits with players in scoring position, be careful with the choices of pitches thrown and the pitchers throwing them and be aware that any more losses this year will mirror last year and the Mets will be home once again while other baseball teams play in October.