Mets? Who Cares?

It’s hard to even discuss the Mets at all these hot dreary days but when other distractions are so much more fun than watching weak groundouts and strikeouts, it’s really impossible. Why concentrate on a minor league team?

Besides, football’s starting, the baseball races for playoff spots are heating up, there’s a hurricane coming and the U.S. Open is proceeding along without Serena just fine, thank you.

Fantasy Football dominates my attentions early on in the football season every year as my fan interest in the Giants and Jets isn’t revved up yet. My draft was this past Sunday and I’m as happy as the proverbial pig in the poke, as hopeful as Bob Baffert on Derby Day. With Drew Brees as my quarterback, all other considerations become secondary.

And Drew will have Miles Austin to throw to on my scrappy Dem Crabs team. That’s on one side, the other will be manned by another speedster with hands, a fellow named Percy Harvin, as in Favre to Harvin on a Vikings team missing Sidney Rice as a big secondary target. Will that help his numbers?

If Harvin can’t face all those double-teams, I can only throw in the likes of Bobby Meacham, whose numbers can only improve this year as he competes with Marques Colston and Devery Henderson for playing time. Or, if Bobby should falter, there’s Indi’s Austin Collie to steady those numbers, like one of those center horses on Ben Hur’s chariot team.

Running backs were hard to come by once again for me this year, having gone for a qb with my first pick, but Denver’s Knowshon Moreno is one of those young backs who figure to get even more carries in his second year for the Broncos. The Lions’ first round draft choice, Jahvid Best, looked terrific in one exhibition I’ve seen, and the Lions will put points on the board this year, having beefed up that offense to protect Calvin Johnson. Besides, if the Lions were so stuck on the likes of Kevin Smith as their main horse in the running game, they wouldn’t have wasted a first-rounder on good ol’ Mr. Best.

At tight end, it would be difficult to be happier. San Francisco’s Vernon Davis is one of the leaders of that Niners offense and Alex Smith seems to really like throwing his way, to the tune of 965 yards and 13 touchdowns last year. If he and wideout Michael Crabtree don’t kill each other on the practice field, they should both enjoy good seasons.

Managing to grab the Ravens as my defensive unit was fortuitous as that unit has been a top unit year after year for a lot of years. And the Bengals figure to continue to surprise in 2010 after showing up big last year.

If Brees should go down, and I hate to even think it could happen, I nabbed Donovan McNabb as his backup at quarterback. McNabb didn’t waste any time twisting his ankle but should return soon to an offense that has potential, what with Clinton Portis hitting the line hard and Santana Moss returning to prominence now that Jason Campbell is gone, along with his slow reactions to just about every situation. I feel for the Raiders who seem to think he’ll revive their game.

But one of the best features of this formidable fantasy squad of Crawlers is the reserve squad at running back. For a Giants fan, playing both Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs at running back sure seems like a relatively riskless running alternative, not to mention what positive effect it’ll have on my viewing pleasure on Sundays. Grabbing Lawrence Tynes as my kicker will just enhance the overall effect.

As for the G-Men’s chances this year, I can’t be that optimistic after watching the defense have trouble with the Ravens on third downs. While the pass rush shows every sign of improving, they weren’t quick enough to protect that linebacking and secondary crew. The offensive line hasn’t really clicked yet either and injuries along the front could just prolong their coming together as a unit.

They can’t possibly be as bad as they were last year, can they? With the return of Phillips and no more CC Brown , things have got to be better. But will they be good enough to beat a Panthers team in the opener, one that thrashed them late last year 41-9? Their QB, Matt Moore had a ridiculous 139.8 passer rating in that one, completing 15-20 and throwing 3 TD passes. Some pretty smart football folks think Carolina will be the most improved team in the NFL this year.

Oh, and Jonathan Stewart rushed for 206 yards in that one. The Giants stopped nothing that day. Can Antrel Rolle and Keith Bulluck make that much of a difference? The answer is “maybe”. A new defensive coordinator and scheme could make all the difference. But it’s the players that have to make the difference on the field. The depth chart still shows Phillips only backing up at safety and Jonathon Goff is the middle linebacker. I don’t expect the Giants to win that opener, or the one against the Colts after that. It’ll be all uphill for the G-Men this year.

The Jets are a different story. They’re a hard team to like, to be honest. Tannenbaum makes me sick. So does that Scott fella. On the other hand, it’s easy to like Sanchez at QB and Rex Ryan as the coach. But Darrell Revis was the star of the defense and Tannenbaum didn’t save any money to sign him. Yeah, you can say he was already under contract but as Michael Corleone once said, “C’mon Kaye, who’s being naïve now”?

The Jets were also incredibly lucky last year. That unprecedented luck of catching Indi and Cincinnati after they’d already wrapped up playoff spots won’t be repeated. And opening up against Baltimore and New England, and then to Miami, that’s no easy road either.

Mets? Who cares?