Rotten to the Core

More later but for any regular readers, I'd just like to outline the crux of my last Mets story of the year:

1. Core - as constructed by Omar Minaya, the "core" of the team was poorly conceived as evidenced by Moises Alou, Luis Castillo, Marlon Anderson, etc. Even better contributors such as Ryan Church and Brian Schneider were flawed for one reason or another. I love Pedro but he really wasn't that hot. The irregulars were much better than the core. Murphy, Evans, Argenis Reyes, Easley, Tatis etc. outshone the regulars.

2. Cubs game - symbolic of everything wrrong with the Mets - Lou Piniella pitched to Wright, walked Beltran and Delgado and then got thru the rest of the lineup

3. Pitching - Relief REAL BAD, I mean what can you say...REAL BAD, did I say REAL BAD??

4. Amazing They Went As Far As They Did - Credit Jerry Manuel

5. Bad Luck - Losing Tatis and Church's concussion really screwed up the works. Castillo's return from the DL was awful as he was awful, the good chemistry of Argenis Reyes, the Reyes to Reyes doubleplay combo, was ruined. Wagner's injury may have been the nail in the coffin (except Ayala wasn't really that bad).

6. Next Year's Team Should Be:
catcher- delete Schneider - he has trade value but just doesn't get it done - what's wrong with Cancel and Castro?
1B - Keep Delgado - but not if he demands a long-term contract
2B - Give Argenis Reyes a chance, for pete's sake
3b - Wright - but he really needs to calm down in pressure situations - a shrink would be good
ss - Jose Reyes - what a player ! He'll improve with age
lf - platoon Murphy and Evans - why the heck not?
cf - Beltran - to me, he's the co-MVP with Delgado but less replaceable than Delgado
rf - Church and Tatis - platoon, Church just isn't good enough vs lefties, if he can be traded for some relief pitching, I wouldn't be disappointed. He was terrific before his injury though.

Bench - Endy Chavez, Damien Easley, delete Anderson, Alou, Castillo, get another first baseman to relieve Delgado if necessary.

Miscellaneous - get rid of the electronic garbage at the stadium - "Everybody Clap Your Hands" and all the other crap. Get rid of the organist too. To hear all that garbage when the Mets were losing the final game of the year was disgusting and offensive.

Thanks No Matter What

It's the bottom of the 6th at Shea, and the Mets are still down 3-1 to the Marlins and who knows how this thing will turn out. But as I've watched, I realize I'm thankful I've had the opportunity to watch certain players all season long. Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado....they've really given us their all, at the plate and in the field. This occurred to me as I watched Beltran run hard to catch up to one of those Texas Leaguers and make the sliding underhanded grass-skimming catch, the kind of play that can spark a team. That catch brought to mind other Beltran highlight-reel catches, his run into the wall the other day, pictured above, his over the shoulder hill-climbing grab in deepest centerrfield last year in Houston, and his face-smashing run into Mike Cameron. Jose, what can you say about Jose? Night in and night out, he does it all, at the plate, in the field, even in the dugout, and certainly on the basepaths. Tonight, I watched him charge to his left to snag a softly-hit ground ball, then fire to Delgado, who made a beautiful scoop of Jose's hurried throw to nail another Marlins baserunner. And that play brought to mind other plays only Jose could make, all those triples, Jose charging with that high-kicking gallop of his around second and on his way to third. Yeah, and Jose and his high-jumping pirouette to celebrate, well, just about everything. Delgado too, he's been the big guy at the plate, all those timely homers and doubles, sure, but pretty nifty around the bag too this year, at least in the second half. Where would this team be without Delgado? But, alas, there aren't really enough of these guys on this Mets team. You could argue that Wright belongs in this upper- echelon too, I guess, and it's true that he's been pretty steady all year. And he has a knack for making the spectacular play at third, but too often he misses the easy ones. And too often he doesn't hit when you need him the most. My point is .... this team's been a lot of fun to watch, whether or not it makes the playoffs. But there just isn't enough balance. There are the superstars I've mentioned and then a bunch of guys who try hard; sometimes they'll come through but more often they won't. I cringe when I see some of them. I won't name names, we know who they are. Yeah, it's 4-1 now and Feliciano has failed again, and Heilman is on his way to ruining any chance the Mets will have to come back in this thing. How often have we seen that? A lot. Wright just made a great stop of a hard line drive to keep the Mets in it but here's Willingham to face Heilman with the bases loaded. Advantage Willingham, at least in this situation. It's hard to think of a batter who wouldn't have the advantage against Heilman. Heilman steps off the bag, he's afraid to let it go. I don't blame him. He misses outside, it's 3 and 2 now in another excruciating Mets moment. Now he forces in the 5th run with a ball thrown not only into the dirt but into the dirt about four feet in front of the plate. And here comes Manuel. Again. So...does this team deserve to make the playoffs? Not really. There just aren't enough good players. I won't harp on the relief staff again, but really.....and what could this team accomplish in the playoffs anyway? But they're fun to watch. There can be no doubt about that. Thanks, Carlos and Carlos and Jose. Oh, and Johan too. Too bad there aren't more like you.

A Time For Heroes

It's that time of the year when a team needs its heroes to take it over the top. The Mets have two or three right now, Johan Santana, Carlos Delgado and Daniel Murphy. I would say not for David Wright. Swinging at a pitch a foot out of the strike zone with the winning run on third base automatically disqualified him. I guess he was going for the RBI record. Well, that's cool, David, but there was a ball game to be won.

The Mets lost again tonight and I'm sick about it. I've stood by this team through all the thick and thin of this season, the drought under Willie Randolph, the totally foreseeable injuries to ancient Latinos, and the horrible relief pitching. But tonight's loss was so excruciating that I think I'm done. I can't root for a team that plays the game the way the Mets played it tonight.

The Mets needed a hero tonight. Carlos Delgado tried to be the man again by smacking a grand slam. Daniel Murphy certainly tried his best to win with his triple to lead off the bottom of the ninth. The score was tied. They just needed one run, 90 feet. But Wright was either going for the Mets RBI record or was just plain over-anxious. He foolishly struck out. On a pitch about as close to the strike zone as the dugout.

I mean....things aren't bad enough. The ridiculous President wants to spend 700 billion dollars we don't have to bail out the financial industry. The economy's in danger. Well, HELLO, the economy's been in danger ever since you took the reins. The Governor wants to double the tolls on our Parkway and Turnpike to help the construction industry. Well, guys, what about us? What about the poor saps who've been working all their lives to try to make ends meet?

And now this. My principal diversion in life, the Mets, can't make a fire with a box of matches and a can of gasoline. A squeeze would have brought the runner home. You've got about 20 speedsters on the roster. All they had to do was pinch-run for Murphy and lay one down. Pinch-hit for Wright if he's not able. (But not Castillo, that would be asking too much).

So it wasn't the relief pitching tonight. It was just bad baseball. Stupid baseball, the kind they played for three months under Willie. I'm tired of it. This team doesn't deserve to win, plain and simple. They just don't get it. They just don't get it done. They don't deserve to win anything, not the World Series, not the NL East and not a wildcard. They just deserve whatever record they wind up with, and second place is even more than they deserve.

Look around at the other teams in the various races around the league. Look at the Brewers. They had C.C. Sabathia pitching on three days rest tonight and he was great. Prince Fielder has been playing his heart out in these money games, reminding me of his Dad in his glory days.

Look at the Red Sox. Big Papi played half the season with a wrist that wasn't working right. A little fella named Dustin Pedroia was batting cleanup and doing a bang-up job of it. They lost Manny and didn't miss a beat. Players stepped up (oh no, did I really say that)?

The Dodgers won something like nine in a row once they replaced Jeff Kent as second base. Joe Torre just keeps on rolling. The White Sox, the Twins, they have guys who come to play. They try hard every day and look pretty consistent every day. Not like these Mets.

If only the Phillies hadn't lost again and revived my hopes. If only they hadn't had so many chances that they may as well have thrown away. If only I hadn't been looking for a hero who never materialized. After all, the Mets just have early-inning heroes.

Yes, the Mets are still in the race, I realize that. But, after last night,I think it's just a mathematical anomaly. The heroes are all in Milwaukee.

The Harder They Fall, or Not

It can go wrong sometimes. The big bully on the block picks on the wrong guy, on the wrong day. And gets his head handed to him. The bully gets surprised and then disheartened. The underdog feeds on success. One thing works, then another. Everybody plays harder. The vision of success is realized.

So it was for the Patriots yesterday as they were pounded to the tune of 38-13 by the Miami Dolphins at their home in Foxboro. It was their first regular season loss at home since December 10, 2006. After 21 straight regular season wins at home, the mighty Patriots were beaten by a team that had gone 1-15 last year and had lost its first two games this season.

As is often the case in humongous upsets, the upstarts used a trick to get on top. In David vs. Goliath, it was a sling and a rock. In the Giants upset of the Pats in the Super Bowl, it was some new blitzes. The Dolphins used something called the "direct snap" .

It would hardly qualify as magic, one would think. The center snaps the ball directly to the running back instead of the quarterback. But in six direct snaps yesterday, the Fish scored four huge touchdowns, all of them featuring Ronnie Brown.

My personal favorite was the fake reverse to Ricky Williams off the direct snap, the one that had all 11 Pats defenders follow Ricky one way while Brown jogged the other way for the score. Believe me, nothing is quite the same for a defense after looking ridiculous on a play like that. The Pats became the patsies.

That the touchdown drives were led by Chad Pennington made the victory that much sweeter. That Chad had been the last quarterback to beat the Pats in Foxboro was perhaps forgotten at the outset. After all, the Pats were coming off two easy wins while the Dolphins were coming off two straight losses, to teams not nearly as exalted as the Patriots.

Chad had been unceremoniously released by the Jets just a few weeks earlier as the Jets had just acquired the great Bret Favre, the same great one who lost to this same Patriots team just last week. But the Jets were as mundane and unimaginative in their offense last week as the Dolphins were resourceful in yesterday’s game. And they weren’t smart enough to use the golden arm of Favre.

But the Patriots weren’t the only heavy favorites to lose yesterday. There were a few others. The U.S Ryder Cup team beat those Europeans, my Mets lost another tough one to the Braves and my Giants almost lost one to the lowly Bengals.

What’s the common denominator when a huge underdog topples a favorite? It’s not just a bunch of people that are tired of losing. It’s what happens when that bunch gets inspired, when they have enough confidence not only in themselves but in their plan to get it done.

It’s total buy-in, to themselves and to a plan, and maybe helped along by some inspiration.

In the Dolphins case, was it Jerry Porter’s seemingly brash pronunciations that fired them up? Or was it the time their coaching staff spent on devising and perfecting the “direct snap”? I think it was a little bit of both, but the main ingredient was the plan and the practice. And it didn’t hurt to have a quarterback who had beaten the Pats before.

In the case of the Braves beating the Mets, it was just the Braves fully realizing the frustration of having a horrible relief corps and waiting patiently to capitalize on that Mets weakness. Hadn’t the Braves lost seemingly countless games this season in the late innings? And hadn’t they found an answer while the Mets had not?

They just had to hang tough, to stay close, to do the best they could against Pelfrey and play strong defensively. Eventually, they knew Pelfrey would tire. Eventually, they’d get to Heilman and Schoeneweis and that tired bunch of weak arms with the uninspiring stuff.

They had a plan and it worked to perfection. They knew they could wait for strikes and work the count against Pelfrey, thus virtually assuring themselves of seeing those hapless Mets relievers for at least three innings. It worked of course and they won by one run.

The Bengals were another bunch of guys who had under-performed for two weeks but who believed in themselves and their talent, even when matched against the reigning Super Bowl Champions.

Didn’t they have Carson Palmer, the number one pick in the entire draft back in 2003, the QB who threw for 86 touchdowns in the last three years? Didn’t Number 85 even shut up for a few days? Didn’t they have T.J. Houshmanzadeh? Couldn’t they score against anyone ? And weren’t the G-Men missing their two finest defensive linemen?

They only had to run the ball enough to keep that defense honest and play some spirited defense themselves. Which is what they did. They played the Giants even through four quarters, only to lose in overtime to a team that refused to quit, a team that wasn’t yet ready to lose this season. And, who knows what may have happened if the Bengals had pulled a couple of trick plays out of their hats?

But the Giants hadn’t forgotten what had made them champs. They matched those tough Bengals score for score. They even pulled Kevin Boss off the shelf to score late in the game. And when Amani streaked down the left sideline, Eli hadn’t forgotten how to lay that ball right on his fingertips. And Amani hadn’t forgotten how to drag those feet on his way out of bounds.

So the G-Men hung on. It didn’t matter how much talent and determination those Bengals showed up with. The Giants had some surprising stuff of their own. They had a plan of their own.

Better late than never, they executed it to perfection.

From Nine to Five

It was an old-fashioned shootout. Just as you'd want on Monday Night Football, there was Number 9, young Tony Romo firing bullets to the infamous T.O. But there was Number 5 Donovan McNabb on the other side, looking like the quarterback of yesteryear, finding his new favorite target, one DeSean Jackson.

Two great quarterbacks, massive offensive lines, inventive defenses, funny commentators, this game had it all. It had Romo showing his best and worst, opening with a 70-yard bomb to Owens but also fumbling in the end zone to give the Eagles a free touchdown.

It had McNabb, skillfully carving up the Boys defense, dumping off to Westbrook, shooting bullets right, left and center. The Cowboys emerged victorious by a 41-37 count, but there were several lead changes and the result was in doubt until the final whistle.

Both qb's are mobile, accurate and enjoy playing the game. What more could you want from a football game? Two offenses moving the ball down the field against tenacious defenses, two offensive lines neutralizing pass rushes and enabling their teams to run the ball. Close at the half and close at the end.

The Cowboys emerged with the win, of course, after a couple of tough possessions by the Birds, one that ended with an overthrown lob to Westbrook and one with the old hook and ladder. The real end for the Eagles, though, was Demarcus Ware's sack of a scrambling McNabb on 3rd down.

In the final analysis, though, the Cowboys had too many weapons for the Birds. While McNabb had the indefatigable Westbrook and the mercurial DeSean, Romo had Owens and Crayton, Barber and Witten. But he also got a huge assist in the scoring department from Felix Jones, who exploded through a wedge for a touchdown on a kickoff return.

The game also had more than its share of zaniness. DeSean Jackson almost lost his TD for tossing the ball away as he was crossing the goal line. Romo also had an interception that was the result of his trying to make something from nothing. As good as Romo was for most of the game, he could have been the goat after making two critical errors, both resulting in Philadelphia scores.

All this impressive football coming from the NFC East must give the Giants pause. It looks like it will be another tough season. As well as the Giants have played thus far, they’ll have to play even better to get by either of these two juggernauts. The Redskins will be no pushover the next time either, judging by their impressive victory over the Saints on Sunday.

Our G-Men looked solid in their opener against the Redskins, but it was tough after one game to gain much perspective, especially since the Skins looked pathetic at times. Their new coach, Jim Zorn, looked as if he was coaching his first game. And, although the Giants wound up with a clear victory over the Rams on Sunday, it was really a pretty close game for three quarters.

Let’s face it….the Giants can look pretty pedestrian at times. I suppose you could call it workmanlike. With Brandon Jacobs pounding the ball, the Giants bread and butter, it’s almost like an old Ohio State offense, three yards and a cloud of dust.

If it weren’t for Eli’s finding Plaxico and Amani early and often, it’d be easy to fall asleep. And, with Strahan gone and Umenyiora hurt, the defense isn’t quite as impressive as it had been at year’s end. In fact, the Giants didn’t start looking really impressive until they inserted the fellows who got them so far last year, Ahmad Bradshaw and Steve Smith.

Not that I’m complaining, but the Giants haven’t looked as good as the Eagles and Cowboys have so far. Of course, that could change really easily, especially with that offensive line. And Justin Tuck. But I do think that calling the Giants three running backs “earth, wind and fire” is a bit premature (and stupid).

I’ve been trying to ignore the Jets this year but it’s been awfully tough, what with all the nonsense surrounding Mr. Favre. In truth, I find it impossible to root for them anymore. Mangini really doesn’t send me. Neither does Tannenbaum. And I hope everybody noticed Mr. Favre made no difference whatsoever against the Pats on Sunday.

Aaron Rodgers, Mr. Favre’s replacement at Green Bay, has looked very good though. It’ll be a pleasure rooting for him and Green Bay this year, as much fun as rooting for the Bills and Miami in the AFC East. And, while I’m thrilled that the Pats soundly thrashed the boys in green on Sunday, it’ll be difficult to root for them going forward. After all, Belichick doesn’t really evoke much sympathy.

Aside from the Giants, who I picked to win every playoff game last year, and the Super Bowl, this football year, for me, will be all about guys like Kurt Warner, who is easy to root for, throwing dart after dart to Fitzgerald and Boldin for Arizona.

Then, of course, there are the new quarterbacks, not just Rodgers but also guys like Jerseyan Flacco for the Ravens, and B.C.’s own Matt Ryan, who impressed in his opener before somewhat of a relapse on Sunday when his running game abandoned him. And there’s Chad Henne in Miami playing for the Tuna, along with one of my favorite people in all the world, a fella named Chad Pennington.

Yeah, this year will be all about young quarterbacks, Cutler in Denver and Garrard in Jacksonville, and let’s not forget Trent Edwards in Buffalo, who lofted a beautiful pass to his new receiver, James Hardy, in the corner of the end zone. And Matt Cassell in New England hasn’t been too shabby either, has he?

But, unless you count Eli, the finest young QB of them all may be Number 9 in Big D. And the finest veteran might be wearing Number 5 in Philly, making Eagles fly.

All About the Leaders

t’s tough to think about sports with any degree of seriousness on September 11^th. I’m always taken back to my living room, watching a newscast with some morning coffee. They first said it appeared a private plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Then they discovered it wasn’t a private plane at all but a commercial airliner.

And, as I watch, already horrified, another jet crashes into the tower. Three people from my town were killed, including a good friend of my daughter. And there is no World Trade Center.

In the aftermath, our leader vowed to get the people responsible. Then he assigned the responsibility to a country he hated, and, what a coincidence, Cheney was a key figure in the mistaken notion that Iraq was producing weapons of mass destruction. So off we went to war for no reason, killing Iraqis and a lot of Americans too.

Seven years later, we have no clue as to the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden. We’re assured people are looking though. The economy is horrible, nobody can sell their house, and the dollar is doing its best impression of a peso. Oh, it’s pretty tough to get a job too. Maybe that’ll curtail the flow of illegal immigrants.

We have only two “legitimate” candidates for President. And, once again, the prospective Vice Presidents are far and away more impressive than the Presidential candidates. There’s something wrong with our picture.

Leaders determine a great deal in life, and in the sports world too. We of course have seen the Mets take on new life since Jerry Manuel took the reins. Willie Randolph was a great sportsman and a nice man. Some say our President shares those traits. Wasn’t he reading a story to a class of children during the attack on New York City? Wasn’t he addressing a nice group of Republicans when Katrina slammed into New Orleans?

How does this tie in with the world of sports, you may ask? Well, the only bridge I can construct is leadership. Bad leaders accumulate losses and good ones rack up the wins. And teams tend to take on the character of the leader. Our country seems arrogant and hurtful and even stupid to the world right now. We must hope….. no, pray, that either candidate will be better….. much better.

As much of an influence, though, as a good solid leader can have on a baseball game, and a baseball team, that influence pales in significance compared to that of the head coach in professional football, and major college football too, for that matter.

The days when a quarterback could call his own plays are gone, of course, almost beyond recall. (Not for me but for many of you, I’m sure). The head coach puts together the game plan and usually calls each play. But, beyond that enormous influence, he also determines the type of players a team will acquire and dictates their behavior on the field.

It’s the worst thing that ever happened to football. A team can have a great passing quarterback such as Kurt Warner, for example, and he’ll be forced to run the football until his team is almost hopelessly behind.

Conversely, there are countless stories of the great running quarterbacks, such as Michael Vick and Vince Young, who are shackled to the pocket by coaches more interested in their system than winning, or, too limited mentally to figure out that the system that worked with their previous team won’t necessarily work with the team they have now.

The best coaches adapt their styles to their personnel. That is why Bill Belichick can win with overpowering defense, or win with an overwhelming passing attack, or win with a hard-hitting running attack. He adapts his style to his personnel, unlike Mike Martz and the new genius in Arizona.

Another mark of good leaders is that they can adapt to changing styles of play and new ideas that work. That is why we are seeing a lot more emphasis already this year on rushing the passer. The Giants’ convincing win over the supposed team of the century was accomplished by maintaining a constant stream of pressure on Tom Brady. The better teams with the better coaches will copy that style this year. And already this young season, we’ve seen Tom Brady get hurt and Peyton Manning fail to beat the Bears.

It seems to me that this new philosophy will prove a very dangerous one indeed for the quarterback population. Vince Young is hurt too, and maybe mentally as well as physically, if Coach Fischer can be believed. Fantasy footballers especially will feel the pinch when the better quarterbacks go down. Will Romo be next?

But the better coaches will already have been thinking about adaptations. More screens and draws maybe, more quick releases; the running backs who can catch the ball should see an increase in their usefulness and productivity, as will the Wes Welkers of the world. Especially against teams with the big pass rush, those quick hitters will be the only way to survive.

We might see teams loading up on quarterbacks, or see them feature better backups or perhaps younger backups. We’ve certainly seen already an adaptation to the injury factor with the almost universal switch to dual running backs. We’ve already seen the better teams, and smarter teams, put a more pronounced emphasis on the offensive line, at least if their increasing salaries is any indication.

Whatever changes are incorporated into the game, though, it’ll be the head coaches with smarts and imagination who will carry the day, and the season, as Belichick has, and Parcells, and a few others, if perhaps to a lesser extent. In a way, Parcells’s style or system already incorporates the injury risk factor, calling not only for big linemen but also for big linebackers and even a big secondary.

Sports emulates life and it’ll be a different type of season. Leadership will determine the winners, and the losers too

Of Real Men and Weakness

Shawn Merriman had some big trouble with his knees. ACL, MCL, whatever….it was serious. Merriman had been feeling pain in his knees since 2006. Yet the man still wanted to play. He was panned far and wide for his decision, by players, coaches, former coaches, TV analysts, doctors….the whole gamut of people and professions who’d have anything to say on the matter. I say “Good for you, Shawn”. At least you tried to keep playing.

Billy Wagner, upon being questioned as to how his son Will felt about his Dad not playing ball anymore, broke down a bit, trying to hold back the tears for not being able to provide that same cool Dad he had always been, at least not for a while.

Jerry Manuel confronted Jose Reyes in his coaching debut, he changes ineffective pitchers, he threatens established players with “rest”, he plays the guys who produce while giving everybody every opportunity that he can to do just that.

Carlos Delgado refused another curtain call for another two homer day, saying it’s not the right time, this after smacking about a bazillion home runs since the middle of July, not to mention the singles and doubles he’s had with the game on the line.

Carlos Beltran worried about his knee but still played on in centerfield. David Wright worked with his batting coach when his production fell off and went 2 for 4. Ryan Church shook off his concussion and his slow start after his return by smacking a home run.

LaDainian Tomlinson had the nerve in last year’s playoffs to sit when he knew his knee would not allow him to be an effective player in the biggest game of the year, this despite knowing the heat he’d take for sitting.

Jake Delhomme came back from his injury to throw a dart for a TD pass with zero seconds on the clock. Willie Parker came back from his injury to wipe out the Texans in his first game back. Larry Fitzgerald practiced his blocking to make way for his running backs.

Okay…enough. But these are real men. They try as hard as they can. They try to get better. They have the courage to take the big hit. They have the humility to turn down any unseemly adulation. They use their brains to the fullest. They maximize their resources. They motivate. They have human feelings. They also have human failings but overcome them.

What they don’t do is whine. What they don’t do is say, “look at me, please look at me some more, let every camera be focused on me”. They either don’t brag or, in very few cases, they back up a brag. They play hurt if they think they can be effective, or they sit if they know they can’t produce, damn the consequences. They have the confidence through practice to produce when the game is on the line.

Then there are the weaknesses in men and organizations, only too easy to pick out.

Chad Johnson is a perfect example, a borderline lunatic…. I don’t really care that he changed his name, but the reason was bad. Muhammad Ali had his reason. Anthony Dorsett had a reason too, even if it was specious reasoning. Any reason other than focusing all eyes on himself would have suited me. And yes, I know the team ignored his contract demands.

Then there are group weaknesses, specifically team weaknesses, that persist year after year. It’s frustrating as a fan of football to watch the Detroit Lions fail year after year to do anything to improve their situation, and not just the Lions, but also the Oakland Raiders, the Houston Texans, and those Chad-full Cincinnati Bengals.

It has to be assumed that for these teams that consistently fail, there is a group lack of character, and it is easy to infer from this that the weakness is right at the top of the organization.

In the Lions’ case, it’s the Ford family, stubbornly refusing to change an obviously blundering joke of a General Manager, who for years drafted only wide receivers, then changed coaches on both sides of the ball. Never though has he thought to pick up any offensive linemen.

Then of course there is Al Davis, who drafts skill players year after year and has a penchant for glitz, more glitz and cornerbacks. Lately they’ve drafted the best quarterback and then the best halfback in the draft. But Al’s team has been an embarrassment for a few years now. This team couldn’t block the Rutgers Newark boys choir. (I don’t know that there is one. If there is, there may be some tough singers on it).

They say the game has passed Al by. I’d have to agree. Gene Upshaw’s death reminded me that the Raiduhs used to have a GREAT offensive line. Former long-time Raider coach and current TV personality John Madden has consistently expounded on the significance of the offensive line in books and on the air. C’mon Al, take a hint.

Then there are the Houston Texans. They made a veritable basket case out of David Carr. Only now as the Giants backup QB are we able to see what Carr could have been if he hadn’t developed the happiest feet since Fred Astaire. A number of prognosticators actually like their chances this year. But after their frightfully inept performance against the Steelers, it’s hard to see them contending for anything. Ever.

All may not be lost though. I mean, look at the Chicago Cubs. They haven’t won the pennant since 1945! But now, led by sweet Lou Piniella, they’ve got some real men of their own. Derrek Lee, Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano and others almost too numerous to mention. All that and pitching too.

I think we’ll all be seeing the Chicago real men meet the Mets real men in October. These are two teams that shucked the obstacles standing in their way. If they can just get there, they’ll both be ready to go.

Just Too Much..

It was just too much, way too much to absorb...a full schedule of football games, a Mets doubleheader against the hated Phillies, Brett Favre vs. Chad Pennington. Who could even think about Serena winning another U.S. Open?

Sunday certainly didn't disappoint, if you were a Mets fan, a Jets fan, or a football fan in general. The Mets salvaged the third game of their series against the Phillies behind Johan Santana and still more heroics from Carlos Delgado.

The Jets pulled a tough one out against a surprisingly tough Miami team and, for those who just love football, NFL style, Tom Brady hurt his knee, not a happy circumstance, surely, but one that seemed to open up new vistas for teams in the AFC East. That could mean the Bills, who looked ridiculously strong against the Seahawks, will battle it out with the Jets and Pats for the division title.

The great Peyton Manning and his Colts couldn't beat the Bears! And da Bears looked like the old Bears, all defense and just enough offense. And, oh yeah, Serena Williams beat Jelena Jankovic for the U.S. Open title.

Of course, that Mets win was the best for this writer. Not only did Carlos Delgado rip two loooong home runs, not only did Johan Santana baffle Phillies hitters into the eighth inning, but Luis Ayala gave Mets fans hope that he may be a legitimate closer, no matter what happens with Billy Wagner's elbow.

It was a channel-flippers delight. From my perspective in Toms River, there were two football games of particular interest, Eagles-Rams and Jets-Dolphins. Maybe it was fortuitous that the Eagles and Number 5, Donovan McNabb, pulled away rather early from the lowly Rams, allowing that much more attention to be paid to Chad Pennington’s comeback against the Jets.

Chad came within a couple of inches of bringing the Fish all the way back from a 13-point deficit versus the Florham Park boys in green, foiled in the end only by the quick and sure hands of cornerback Darelle Revis.

Of course, all that action afforded very little time to catch Pedro Martinez and the Mets endure an old-fashioned wuppin’ by the Phils. Just as well, I guess….who wants to watch a favorite pitcher get whacked?

Other surprises abounded around the league. There was Jake Delhomme threading the needle to one of his more obscure wideouts with zero seconds on the clock to break the Chargers’ hearts and signal the return of John Fox and his Carolina Panthers.

There were the horrid Detroit Lions lying down against the Falcons and letting LaDainian Tomlinson’s former backup in San Diego, Michael Turner, light them up for TD after TD. And B.C.’s own Matt Ryan’s first career pass went for a TD for 62 yards!

The Cowboys seemed to be having a field day vs. the Browns until Tony Romo got bent, folded and mutilated by three giant bodies in brown. But not before he hit Terrell Owens for a vintage touchdown.

There was another new QB in Baltimore too, a really tall fellow named Joe Flacco who ran one in from about 40 yards out. And there was Ray Rice from Rutgers making some nice runs too. That all this occurred against the Bengals of Cincinnati and their whacko wideout Ocho Cinco made it all the more enjoyable.

Expectations of a great game between the Saints and Buccaneers materialized as Reggie Bush wowed the Bucs secondary with moves they’d never seen and a stiff arm too. Drew Brees hit Devery Henderson for about 85 yards. But old veteran Tampa QB Jeff Garcia wasn’t able to bring the Bucs all the way back this time.

In some quarters, they said the Eagles would be tough, but nobody said it with conviction except those rabid fans last seen shrieking “Fly Eagles Fly” into the night. But a rook named DeSean Jackson seemed all they said he might be. And little Brian Westbrook was pretty huge once again. Oh, and did I mention the 90-yarder to a fellow named Baskett?

After the totally uneventful Giants win over the hapless Redskins on Thursday night, not much was expected in the way of excitement this first Sunday in September. Surely there would be the same stories this year, New England, San Diego and the Colts would dominate the AFC action. Jaguars and Titans would threaten but weaken down the stretch. The Cowboys would once again rule the NFC, and the same Giants and Packers would threaten once again The Bears would be terrible once again.

In one fell swoop though, the Pats lost the best QB in either league, maybe for the season. The Chargers lost with no time on the clock, the Colts lost to the Bears. And Ben Roethlisberger and his boys in black and gold lit up the scoreboard, with cameos by Hines Ward and the return of Willie Parker.

Hmm, maybe things will be different this year.

Maybe anything is possible. Rookie quarterbacks can excel in this league, and wide receivers too, if just given the opportunity. Old QB’s can still return from injuries to wow the crowd, big defense and heart can still win games, and old-fashioned power football can still be overwhelming.

And it’s not over yet, this first NFL week. There is still a contest between those formidable Vikings and Favre-less Pack coming up, those same Vikings accused of tampering with good ol’ Bret. It should be a war.

Despite all the strange pigskin happenings though, the highlight of the day was still that Mets game. Delgado’s first homer dented the scoreboard at Shea, impressive enough, but his second seemed to soar over the stadium’s upper deck. And those two dingers followed a two-run single in the first that put the Mets on top for once in this series.

Thanks to Santana, the Mets wouldn’t need anybody but Delgado on this night. Howard, no problem. Utley, who’s he? Jayson Werth, fuhgeddaboutit.

The Mets are still up by two. WOOHOO!

Arms and Feet.....and Inches

Every time I looked up, it was a Mets arm making a big play. Carlos Beltran cutting down a runner at the plate, Endy Chavez doing the same but to second baseman Damion Easley, David Wright diving to his right to snare a hard ground ball, springing to his feet and gunning to Delgado. And relievers....there were relievers everywhere, and all doing their job.

Yes, the Mets cemented their hold on first place in the NL East by edging the tough Brewers in Milwaukee last night by a score of 6-5 in ten innings. But it wasn't easy. And they didn't do it with starting pitching either, although rookie Jonathan Niese did just enough to keep his team in the game.

But Jonathan, who looked so very good in the first three innings, came apart in the fourth. Five straight hits sent him to the dugout without retiring a single batter. But no worries, out came Nelson Figueroa to put out the fire in the fourth. Just to show it wasn't a fluke, Nelson pitched a scoreless fifth as well.

Figueroa would be the first of a veritable parade of Mets relievers, six of them to be exact. Duaner Sanchez followed with a scoreless sixth, Brian Stokes gave up only one hit in the seventh and eighth. Then on came the specialists to pitch the ninth, Feliciano to handle the big guy, Prince Fielder and another lefty, and Smith to handle the right side.

Of course, the Mets weren't doing anything either against the Brewers relievers either. In fact, after the third inning, the Mets bats were virtually silenced by Manny Parra, the starter, and then Guillermo Mota, the slowest relief pitcher in the world, not his velocity, but the duration between one pitch and another. Then fireballing Eric Gagne retired the Mets in the eighth before Salomon Torres survived the ninth but not the tenth.

In the tenth, David Murphy came through once again with a pinch hit single to center, and he moved to third base on a very strange play. Jose Reyes's bunt was fielded nicely by catcher Jason Kendall but his hurried throw to first was to the inside of the bag and arrived at exactly the same time as Jose did, thus enabling Reyes to dislodge the ball from Fielder's mitt.

Endy Chavez then hit a sacrifice fly ball to right field that scored Murphy with what would become the deciding run. But not before some more cardiac arrest for Mets fans in the bottom of the tenth. Ayala looked brilliant in striking out former Met Mike Cameron and was somewhat less imposing when Bill Hall just got under one for a long fly ball out to Tatis in right.

Then the real fun started. The Brewers had still one more gigantic guy on their bench, a fellow named Nelson who creamed an Ayala delivery to right field for a 2-out double. The very scary Gabe Kapler then walked, making this reporter very happy indeed.

This brought up Rickie Weeks, who had homered in the first, had hit 3 more singles throughout the course of the game and who had scored two of the Brewers runs.

Rickie appeared to have done it one more time when he stroked a hard liner to Wright's right that was foul by about an inch. Big sigh for Mets fans. Rickie couldn’t come through one more time as Ayala struck him out on a ball that just dropped a foot into the dirt. The Mets had escaped once again.

Although the Mets made all the plays they had to last night, I have to say the Mets were lucky last night too. Lucky because of the baserunning blunders of the Brewers. Both runners thrown out didn’t use their feet to slide, opting for the ridiculous arm slide to the side of the bag. It may work sometimes but it didn’t last night, and, as Keith Hernandez pointed out, it should be put on the shelf.

So there were the arms the Mets threw at them all night long, the feet the Brewers could have used, and the inches by which the possible game-winning hit was foul. Taken together, it seems as if that’s quite a lot of good fortune to befall our locals on one night.

But the Mets keep rolling. They don’t hit half the night and come up roses. In the first game against the Brewers, Reyes made a silly attempt to steal third and was thrown out. That was the kind of play that signaled the end for the Mets under Willie Randolph.

Not so for Jerry Manuel. Not so far anyway. He keeps making all the right moves. It’s bordering on eerie already. He has nurtured and cajoled and made seemingly countless trips to the mound these past few weeks and somehow keeps coming up roses. But I’ll take it.

I’ll take the trips to the mound along with the miraculous fielding turnaround, and the hot hitting from Delgado and now Beltran. I’ll take the platoon in left of the kids Murphy and Evans too. And the defensive replacement of Chavez in left field. And the better pitching from Oliver Perez, and the same for Pelfrey and even Santana.

I’ll take it all because we Mets fans had to experience the excruciating losses under Willie. You’ll never convince me that this improved play in all aspects of the game by this Mets team is just good fortune finally finding its way into the Mets dugout. No, these successful moves are all too calculated. The will to win is right out there for everybody to see. Manuel will make the moves he has to.

Tomorrow, this passion play resumes with Perez going against a Brewer pitcher who has been “lights out” for the last month, a fellow named Dave Bush. It should be very interesting, but if there’s a rabbit waiting to be pulled out of a hat, I’ve got to think the hat’ll be blue.

Ten Four ...Joba... Over?

Although I’m a Mets fan through and through, and would love to wax poetic today about Jerry Manuel’s relief-pitcher shuffling, or Jose Reyes’s diving stop on that hard line drive today to end the game, or even Beltran’s newly regained power at the plate, let me today turn my thoughts to those other locals, those Yankees, who, after all, have been written off by even their most loyal followers. But there is still hope.

Playing 2-4 baseball at home in their last six, losing all kinds of different ways over that stretch, and facing ten games in four different and distant cities in the next ten days, one might think the Yankees were done. I'm sure we've all heard it these last few days, "Stick a fork in 'em, they're done". Well, I'm here to tell you, it ain't necessarily so.

The Yanks are now 72-64; the Red Sox are at 79-57. Over in Minnesota, the Twins are 77-60, just 1/2 game behind the White Sox in the Central. So the American League wildcard will be decided among these four teams. I'm conceding the AL East to the astounding Tampa Bay Rays, who nobody thought would do anything different this year, except my little brother, of course, who will remind me of this at the drop of a hat.

If the Yanks can take the Tigers tomorrow in a makeup game in Detroit, then fly to Tampa and take two of three, then fly to Seattle and sweep, and then fly to LA, drive over to Anaheim and take 2 of 3 from their old nemeses Angels, they'll be at 80-66 in ten days.

The Red Sox seemingly have an easier time over the same ten days, traveling to only one city over this same time period to face the Texas Rangers. Sandwiching that series will be six at Fenway - three against the lowly Orioles but then three versus those Tampa Bay rascals. Even if the Red Sox take both series against the Orioles and Rangers, if they lose 2 of 3 to the Rays, they’ll be 84-61 in ten days. The Yanks at 80-66 would then be just 4 ½ games out for the wildcard with 13 games still to play before playing the Red Sox at Fenway for the last three.

The Red Sox will then play 14, featuring Toronto for half those games. Toronto has the best starting pitching in the league, in both leagues maybe. The other seven are versus those pesky Rays again, and the Cleveland Indians, who have seemingly risen from the dead. If the Red Sox were to falter just a little, going just 6-8 over that stretch, they’ll be at 90-69.

The Yanks would have just 13 games versus the Rays, White Sox, Orioles and Blue Jays. If the Yanks can go 10-3 over that stretch, they’ll be at 90-69 too. And they’d still have to take 2 out of 3 at Boston to take the wildcard. But it’s certainly still do-able. The wildcard winner Yanks would then be 92-70.

I won't bore you with the details of the schedules for the Twins and White Sox over the same time period but, after only a cursory inspection, it looks pretty easy for them But my point is that this game is baseball, and just go ask the Colorado Rockies what can happen in this strangest of national pastimes. Or the Mets for that matter.

The Twins and White Sox are, after all, just, well, the Twins and White Sox. It’s entirely possible for them to falter too. In fact, for the Twins, who have been doing rather well as of late, it’s almost a sure thing. So, for the purposes of this exercise, I’m assuming the Twins will fold and the White Sox will take the Central. The Twins, now at 77-60, would just have to lose 11 of their remaining 25 to finish at 91-71.

That may be a little too complicated for most people not totally obsessed by numbers and the vagaries of baseball. Let me simplify it for those folks. Remember me saying the Twins are the Twins? Well, the Yanks are the Yanks. But they have not really been the Yanks for most of this year. And they soon will be.

You can see that Hideki Matsui has rejoined the team after his knee problems. And, while he hasn’t been hitting for average yet, he’s already been knocking in some runs and you can see his affect on the team.

And Joba Chamberlain will be coming back too. But not as a starter, where he did not seem as formidable over five to seven innings as he did for just one. I must say that seeing Joba almost every day for just one inning beats seeing him for six or seven innings every five days. Just think of it, five amazing Joba sightings every single week. WOOHOO!

Arod showed some life yesterday and Giambi continued his little hot streak too. With Matsui back, the boys are all in line, so to speak, with the whole team back except for Posada. And the pitching hasn’t been that bad. Incredible as it may have seemed, Pavano was great in his two appearances, Ponson could have been a lot worse and Rasner is credible too. Mussina has been great. Pettite hasn’t been but there’s no reason he can’t come back to form either.

If the Red Sox were not showing signs of weakness, it would be a lot more difficult to predict a close finish. But really, they’re getting very little from Big Papi and they let Manny go. How long can they really expect Pedroia to go 10 for 10? How long before Youkilis reverts to the late-season Youkilis of old?

Beckett’s a little banged up too. The Red Sox are really not the Red Sox who won the World Series. And the Yankees could soon be the team that made the playoffs those thirteen years in a row.