Dear Fred Wilpon,
Let me begin by saying that I am one of the nine Mets fans on the planet, actually in the galaxy. While your ownership has brought us the Amazins' of 1986, it has also brought us a slew of bad free agent signings, bad trades, and unprecedented end of season meltdowns. But there is hope and you have a tremendous opportunity to hold on to the continued loyalty of all nine of us.
RESIGN JOSE REYES!!
Despite your best efforts to alienate what is your best player with asinine comments in an SI article, he has still expressed interest in spending his entire career with one franchise, yours! You were right he should not get "Carl Crawford" money when he becomes a free agent, he should get more. Reyes has become what we all thought he was... the most electrifying position player in Major League Baseball.
Check the stats:
.349 batting average
.394 on base percentage
.528 slugging percentage
117 hits
21 doubles
15 triples
3 homeruns
64 runs
29 stolen bases
The guy is doing everything for the team short of selling hot dogs and beer in Citi Field. Give your GM one mission this off season, since you ruined any chance of signing him during the season, and mandate that he keep Reyes a Met. Give him the money! This is different than your other free agent blunders in that Reyes is only 28 years old. Not some aging veteran whose best years were had before you paid him.
Doing this will give us a small ray of hope of the franchise recovering from the free fall it has been in since losing game seven of the NLCS to the Cardinals in 2006. If not than please go ahead and just give the team to Bernie Madoff, like you did the rest of your money.
Sincerely,
Met Fan #7 of 9
P.S. - Or you could just sell the team to a competent owner.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Alley Ooop
I hope Coach Valvano is drawing up a play for Lorenzo Charles. May they both R.I.P. My heart goes out to the Wolfpack Nation and to the Charles family.
Thursday, June 16, 2011
YankeESPN
Now that the NBA and Stanley Cup finals have both come to a close we can now begin to focus on America's past time. Yes people I am talking about baseball. While I often feel like I am one of only seven people who still love baseball, I am well aware that there is still a large portion of the population who does indeed still enjoy it. Nothing beats being at the ballpark with friends and/or family and taking in a game. The beer, the hot dogs, the peanuts, the cotton candy, and all the other things we love about it that have been put into song numerous times over.
Getting to the ballpark to see our favorite teams is rarely an option for many of us and we rely heavily on viewing "national broadcasts" to catch a look at them. Black out rules can make this challenging but that is a discussion for another time. Today's focus will be on ESPN and the MLB network. Between the two stations there are roughly 7 games televised nationally a week. You would think with that number there would be ample opportunity to catch your favorite team and you would be right. If your favorite team was the Yankees.
Yes I am a Yankee hater but this has nothing to do with my personal feelings. Many of my friends know that I will actually watch any game that is televised whether my team is playing or not. But seriously the programmers for these two networks have to know that not everyone in the country is a Yankee fan, they also should know the Yankees have their own network that is also available in most markets in the country. It really has come to the point where I actually just have to guess who the Yankees are playing when I pull up the guide and I see "MLB Baseball" in the time slot. This was a fun game for the first 2.5 months of the season but even I have grown tired of it. There are actually some pretty intriguing stories going on in the rest of the baseball world, it's just too bad that unless it involves the Yankees, most of the country will have no idea what those stories are.
Getting to the ballpark to see our favorite teams is rarely an option for many of us and we rely heavily on viewing "national broadcasts" to catch a look at them. Black out rules can make this challenging but that is a discussion for another time. Today's focus will be on ESPN and the MLB network. Between the two stations there are roughly 7 games televised nationally a week. You would think with that number there would be ample opportunity to catch your favorite team and you would be right. If your favorite team was the Yankees.
Yes I am a Yankee hater but this has nothing to do with my personal feelings. Many of my friends know that I will actually watch any game that is televised whether my team is playing or not. But seriously the programmers for these two networks have to know that not everyone in the country is a Yankee fan, they also should know the Yankees have their own network that is also available in most markets in the country. It really has come to the point where I actually just have to guess who the Yankees are playing when I pull up the guide and I see "MLB Baseball" in the time slot. This was a fun game for the first 2.5 months of the season but even I have grown tired of it. There are actually some pretty intriguing stories going on in the rest of the baseball world, it's just too bad that unless it involves the Yankees, most of the country will have no idea what those stories are.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
All Apologies
I'm sorry. I apologize. I hope you can forgive me.
Over the past couple of days we have heard both Terrelle Pryor and Lebron James offer up apologies for their words and actions. And while they both seemed to be sincere the question is do we really care?
Pryor apologized to OSU and it's fans but mostly to Jim Tressel, the coach and mentor whose job was lost due in part to Pryor's activities. I don't know Pryor but I do believe that he is truly sorry and he probably did owe Tressel an apology. But where is the public apology that Tressel owes Pryor? The apology for not being a good enough father figure to Pryor. For not stressing right and wrong not only to Pryor but to many of his players. For enabling them to commit such acts that the University is in a PR mess. For "protecting" the players when really he was protecting the preseason #1 ranking and chance at a national title that would have gone away had he reported the violations. We always want to hear from the players when violations occur and we want them to be remorseful. We rarely bat an eye at the coaches who are either ignorant or apathetic to the actions of the players off the field as long as they help them to victories on it. Players are held accountable and called bad kids, coaches are held accountable and are paid millions to go away or in the case of Pete Carroll at USC you take a better paying NFL job before the shit hits the fan. How is this fair?
And Lebron or is it King James or as many are now calling you Mr. I play 3/4 of a game! While your apology was the right thing to do no one actually believes you. What they do believe is what you said that required you to apologize in the first place. You are right, at the end of the day all the haters who were happy you and your team lost will still have to go back to their lives. And you will continue to live your life and do the things that you want to do. And they do believe that you think you are better than them and frankly, you do. It's okay to feel that way, part of your success comes from you feeling that way. Part of your shortcomings come from it too my friend. Instead of reminding the public you are better than them you should consider using that energy in the gym. Work on a post game, a mid range jump shot, moving without the basketball, and late game free throw shooting. That way they will know that you are at least a better basketball player than them, and maybe just maybe you'll prove you are a better clutch player than DeShawn Stevenson too.
Over the past couple of days we have heard both Terrelle Pryor and Lebron James offer up apologies for their words and actions. And while they both seemed to be sincere the question is do we really care?
Pryor apologized to OSU and it's fans but mostly to Jim Tressel, the coach and mentor whose job was lost due in part to Pryor's activities. I don't know Pryor but I do believe that he is truly sorry and he probably did owe Tressel an apology. But where is the public apology that Tressel owes Pryor? The apology for not being a good enough father figure to Pryor. For not stressing right and wrong not only to Pryor but to many of his players. For enabling them to commit such acts that the University is in a PR mess. For "protecting" the players when really he was protecting the preseason #1 ranking and chance at a national title that would have gone away had he reported the violations. We always want to hear from the players when violations occur and we want them to be remorseful. We rarely bat an eye at the coaches who are either ignorant or apathetic to the actions of the players off the field as long as they help them to victories on it. Players are held accountable and called bad kids, coaches are held accountable and are paid millions to go away or in the case of Pete Carroll at USC you take a better paying NFL job before the shit hits the fan. How is this fair?
And Lebron or is it King James or as many are now calling you Mr. I play 3/4 of a game! While your apology was the right thing to do no one actually believes you. What they do believe is what you said that required you to apologize in the first place. You are right, at the end of the day all the haters who were happy you and your team lost will still have to go back to their lives. And you will continue to live your life and do the things that you want to do. And they do believe that you think you are better than them and frankly, you do. It's okay to feel that way, part of your success comes from you feeling that way. Part of your shortcomings come from it too my friend. Instead of reminding the public you are better than them you should consider using that energy in the gym. Work on a post game, a mid range jump shot, moving without the basketball, and late game free throw shooting. That way they will know that you are at least a better basketball player than them, and maybe just maybe you'll prove you are a better clutch player than DeShawn Stevenson too.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
You can spell heart without the HEAT!
Things we have learned from this years NBA finals.
1. Not only is Lebron James not better than Michael Jordan, he isn't even better than Dwyane Wade. I actually feel terrible about mentioning Jordan in the same blog as either of them.
2. Dirk Nowitski is indeed a great player. Easily the best European player to ever play in the league. But let's slow down this talk about top 10 ever. 1 title does not an all time great make. Remember this wasn't the first NBA Finals he has played in and things didn't go so well the 1st time.
3. Quiet as it's kept, coaching actually does matter in the NBA. See Rick Carlisle using that zone defense which seemed to completely stifle the Heat offense and see Erik Spoelstra's inability to make any coaching change to attack it.
4. Three super talented and athletically gifted players will not win against 8-10 guys who not only can play but can think basketball in a 7 game series if none of the three is a killer.
5. The NBA playoffs still can't touch March Madness.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Deep IS the heart of Texas.
It's a pretty common occurrence in the world of sports. Two teammates brought together by chance, bound together by their love for a game. But sometimes tragedy happens and the two are tied together for reasons that neither of them wants. That is the story of Johnathan Taylor and Zach Cone. Taylor was a star player for the University of Georgia who was paralyzed in an outfield collision with his teammate Zach Cone, who is also one of his best friends. Taylor is paralyzed from the waist down and though his doctors say he is making progress is probably never going to walk again, let alone ever play baseball. Cone, uninjured, kept himself focused and played well enough to be drafted number 37 overall in this weeks first year players draft by the Texas Rangers.
While this began as a sports story it now turns into just a feel good human story. In an unprecedented and classy move, those same Texas Rangers drafted Johnathan Taylor in the 33th round of the draft. Rangers director of amateur scouting Kip Fagg saying "He's a great kid and he's going through a terrible time in his life and we thought this would be something to uplift him, I've seen the kid play since high school, he was a great player at Georgia." You can read the entire story here http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=6641490.
Quite often the subject matter of this blog will be something negative or controversial or even a huge breaking news story from the world of sports because that is what is drilled into our heads in this day of the 24 hours a day sports news cycle. But it is stories like this that remind us of the good that can come from sports. A good I'm sad to say that we, myself included, just don't seem to embrace enough.
While this began as a sports story it now turns into just a feel good human story. In an unprecedented and classy move, those same Texas Rangers drafted Johnathan Taylor in the 33th round of the draft. Rangers director of amateur scouting Kip Fagg saying "He's a great kid and he's going through a terrible time in his life and we thought this would be something to uplift him, I've seen the kid play since high school, he was a great player at Georgia." You can read the entire story here http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=6641490.
Quite often the subject matter of this blog will be something negative or controversial or even a huge breaking news story from the world of sports because that is what is drilled into our heads in this day of the 24 hours a day sports news cycle. But it is stories like this that remind us of the good that can come from sports. A good I'm sad to say that we, myself included, just don't seem to embrace enough.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
The Ohio State University's Pryor-ities
Terrelle Pryor's time at Ohio State University has come to an end. This is not really news. I believe anyone in the know, or anyone with a tv, saw this coming the moment it was announced that Jim Tressel was "resigning". Both Tressel and the university have received a share of the blame for what has happened at the school. Terrell Pryor it seems to me is being blamed far to much.
Let's review. Jim Tressel was alerted to possible rules violations being committed by a number of players. Instead of reporting to the university he emailed one of Pryor's mentors about said violations. When finally questioned about this by the NCAA months later Tressel denied knowing anything and the players were suspended for 5 games next season. Then it was revealed Tressel did in fact know and was suspended by the school for 2 games and eventually he asked that it be 5 games to match the players. Now this is where it gets good. After further investigation, particularly an article written in SI, it is found that during Tressel's tenure as coach nearly 30 players had received improper benefits. Upon hearing this from SI the university had no comment and referred all questions to Tressel's lawyer, effectively putting him out on the ledge by himself. The next day Tressel resigns.
Now since then many things have happened. There have been radio and print interviews with former players who all admit that they had in fact committed violations and that it was common knowledge. No surprise as Tressel had the same things occur at his previous job and turned what could best be described as a blind eye to it. Many have continued to support Tressel, both fans as well as current and former players. This is what happens when you have a successful coach. No one has supported or even come to the defense of the players, particularly Pryor.
Terrelle Pryor was 31-4 as a starting QB and 3-0 versus Michigan, very respectable numbers. He has also accomplished something that we only see on television or read about in comic books. He has somehow managed to make himself into at least 28 different people. That's the number of players speculated to have committed violations. Even more impressive is that by doing so he was able to be eligible to play for almost 9 seasons which is unheard of. I say all this because Pryor is the only name that you hear that had anything to do with bringing down this "respected" coach. He and only he is being blamed for ending Tressel's collegiate coaching career and tarnishing the image of the Ohio State University.
That's a lot for a 21 year old to have already accomplished, especially since he apparently begin selling memorabilia when he was 12. That's how old he would have been in 2002 when this all started.
Let's review. Jim Tressel was alerted to possible rules violations being committed by a number of players. Instead of reporting to the university he emailed one of Pryor's mentors about said violations. When finally questioned about this by the NCAA months later Tressel denied knowing anything and the players were suspended for 5 games next season. Then it was revealed Tressel did in fact know and was suspended by the school for 2 games and eventually he asked that it be 5 games to match the players. Now this is where it gets good. After further investigation, particularly an article written in SI, it is found that during Tressel's tenure as coach nearly 30 players had received improper benefits. Upon hearing this from SI the university had no comment and referred all questions to Tressel's lawyer, effectively putting him out on the ledge by himself. The next day Tressel resigns.
Now since then many things have happened. There have been radio and print interviews with former players who all admit that they had in fact committed violations and that it was common knowledge. No surprise as Tressel had the same things occur at his previous job and turned what could best be described as a blind eye to it. Many have continued to support Tressel, both fans as well as current and former players. This is what happens when you have a successful coach. No one has supported or even come to the defense of the players, particularly Pryor.
Terrelle Pryor was 31-4 as a starting QB and 3-0 versus Michigan, very respectable numbers. He has also accomplished something that we only see on television or read about in comic books. He has somehow managed to make himself into at least 28 different people. That's the number of players speculated to have committed violations. Even more impressive is that by doing so he was able to be eligible to play for almost 9 seasons which is unheard of. I say all this because Pryor is the only name that you hear that had anything to do with bringing down this "respected" coach. He and only he is being blamed for ending Tressel's collegiate coaching career and tarnishing the image of the Ohio State University.
That's a lot for a 21 year old to have already accomplished, especially since he apparently begin selling memorabilia when he was 12. That's how old he would have been in 2002 when this all started.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
The Bryce Is Wrong!
At the encouragement of many friends, family, and people so important you wouldn't actually know who they are, I have finally started a sports blog. This is not going to be written like I spent years learning how to be a writer. In fact I am a very poor writer but I will make up for it with good humor and impeccable spelling. I want to personally thank Bryce Harper for providing me with inspiration for this first submission. Let's face it bloggers are only as good as their subject matter and his blowing a kiss at an opposing player is just the sort of thing that grabs the attention of sports fans.
Harper, apparently still upset from being hit by a pitch the day before, posed like he was Barry Bonds hitting #756 after hitting a home run. Then proceeded to dog it around the bases and after the opposing pitcher, who took offense to this and yelled something at him, Harper blew a kiss at the pitcher. I have heard many opinions about his actions today. Some say give him a break he's 18 years old. Some say he's a cocky and arrogant bonus baby.
I don't know Bryce Harper but I know he was on the cover of SI at age 16. I know he left high school early got his GED and enrolled in a junior college all in an effort to speed up his eligibility for the draft. I know he was the #1 pick in last year's draft and received a 9.9 million dollar contract, the highest ever for a 1st year position player. Knowing all that and seeing his actions last night I would not be shocked to see him take one in the ribs and/or above in the next few games. He accelerated his path to becoming a professional and he needs to act like one. Being 18 years old does not excuse not knowing how to conduct yourself on the diamond. Yes I know this was a minor league game but anyone who has played or watched baseball knows the rules and the code of conduct. You do not show up your opponent, period. Perhaps the guy who should have been the most upset at Harper's actions was David Freitas. He followed Harper in the batting order in this game and Harper's actions put him in danger. We shall see what comes of this over the next few days. I would be surprised if he made it through the week without a cracked helmet or an imprint of the stitches from the baseball in his rib cage after it "kisses" him.
Harper, apparently still upset from being hit by a pitch the day before, posed like he was Barry Bonds hitting #756 after hitting a home run. Then proceeded to dog it around the bases and after the opposing pitcher, who took offense to this and yelled something at him, Harper blew a kiss at the pitcher. I have heard many opinions about his actions today. Some say give him a break he's 18 years old. Some say he's a cocky and arrogant bonus baby.
I don't know Bryce Harper but I know he was on the cover of SI at age 16. I know he left high school early got his GED and enrolled in a junior college all in an effort to speed up his eligibility for the draft. I know he was the #1 pick in last year's draft and received a 9.9 million dollar contract, the highest ever for a 1st year position player. Knowing all that and seeing his actions last night I would not be shocked to see him take one in the ribs and/or above in the next few games. He accelerated his path to becoming a professional and he needs to act like one. Being 18 years old does not excuse not knowing how to conduct yourself on the diamond. Yes I know this was a minor league game but anyone who has played or watched baseball knows the rules and the code of conduct. You do not show up your opponent, period. Perhaps the guy who should have been the most upset at Harper's actions was David Freitas. He followed Harper in the batting order in this game and Harper's actions put him in danger. We shall see what comes of this over the next few days. I would be surprised if he made it through the week without a cracked helmet or an imprint of the stitches from the baseball in his rib cage after it "kisses" him.
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