A NOT-SO-HAPPY RECAP

My Aunt JoJo was never one to mince words. She spoke her mind on a number of subjects, and lately I've been thinking a lot about her views on my obsession with sports.

"Why do you care so much?" she'd yell at me. (She wasn't angry. She just spoke loudly and passionately.) "You think they care about you? You think [insert athlete here] cares about what you're doing?"

The athlete in the above statement could have been anyone, though I remember references to Patrick Ewing and Boomer Esiason specifically.

Believe it or not, I was much more obsessive of a sports fan back then than I am now. And in the early 1990s it was the Knicks that were the object of my obsessiveness (probably a result of a combination of their [relative] success, the Mets' and Jets [very] lean years, and the baseball strike).

I remember the day I quit the Knicks, and took Aunt JoJo's words to heart. It was 1995 - Game 7 between the Indiana Pacers and Knicks, and Patrick Ewing missed a layup that would have sent the game into overtime. I still haven't seen this layup, my break with the NBA was so complete. After living and dying through the 1994 season, I saw most of the 1995 season, but I was working right outside Madison Square Garden the night of Game 7. We were listening to the game on the radio. (I tried looking up the video of the play on youtube, and found nothing. I think I'm happy saying I still haven't seen the missed layup after 14 years.)

Anyway, I watched people pouring out of the Garden with my head laying on the display counter feeling like someone had punched me in the gut. I watched those people, and they didn't look terribly disappointed. Or at least anywhere close to as disappointed as I was.

And I decided that probably felt better than the way I felt.

I resolved to take other things in life more seriously. Over the next few years, the NBA lockout and Patrick Ewing's involvement in the Atlanta strip club scandal helped me fully separate myself from the NBA, but I just couldn't cut ties with the Jets and Mets. (I get into the Rangers when I watch them, but I find hockey just doesn't stick in my gut like the other sports.)

But the point here is, I'm starting to feel that way about the Mets and Jets. I'd like to think it's not so much the losing as it is the way the team is (teams are, really) losing. I'm not getting the feeling anyone cares.

Dropped pop-ups, baserunning errors...these are the types of basics that are supposed to be givens with Major League teams.

I still love baseball. I love watching a random game on a summer night. I still love football. I still want the Mets and Jets to do well. I'm just feeling a lot less angst when they don't.

I'm also feeling a lot less inspired to write about these teams. So I think I'm shutting down the blog. Something happened after I hit five years - maybe it was the way the 2009 season was heading, but I don't think so. It started even in the early part of this year. I guess there were just other things on my mind.

That said, those other things on my mind might become my new writing passion - and therefore I might spend my time writing about things like family life, sports in general...maybe just some kind of humor about day-to-day life. So stay tuned, if you don't mind, for information about a new blog that I'm thinking about starting up. And thank you for five years of reading what I have to say.

This is not a good-bye forever, just a see you later for now. Because, as Aunt JoJo might say, "Why do you care about how many doubles David Wright hits? Do you think he is writing about how many diapers you change?"

Or, to answer her question, "Why do you care so much?", I might now answer, "I don't think I do." And if that's the case, I can't justify having you come back to this space every day.

NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT

Major League Baseball has been reading '200 Miles From the Citi' and has finally gotten the message:

A full slate of games, both afternoon and evening, on Memorial Day.

I've been commenting on this for years (see bottom paragraph).

Thank you, baseball.

UPDATE: I'm kind of liking these red Memorial Day hats around baseball today, especially on teams for whom red is not a primary uniform color. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Mets' logo looks like on the red. If it looks good, I might buy it. (Thanks to Phil Hughes for modeling the look.)

STILL GOING STRONG

Some Mets number 5s help me recognize 5 years of blogging:

I distinctly remember how the blog started. I was sitting with The Wife (then the fiancee - I've been blogging longer than I've been married), surfing the net on her laptop, saying, "I want to write about the Mets. How do I start my own website?" She said, "You can start a blog." So I did. That happened on April 11, 2004. The site has come a long way, I think, since those mini-game recaps.

In 5 years we've seen the rise of David Wright, the closing of Shea and opening of a new stadium, Carlos and Pedro* and Johan, and disappointment after disappointment after disappointment. (Not to mention the Jets' share of disappointments...as well as the birth of two children.)

Hopefully the enthusiasm with which I've started off this year stays with me until late October.

A World Series championship would be a nice way to celebrate the end of our fifth season.

2008 - YEAR OF THE GAG?

Looking back at the 2008 NFL regular season, I think the one theme that stands out is the fact that a lot of teams blew a lot of chances this year. Sure, there were teams that pounced on opportunity: the Arizona Cardinals took advantage of being in the worst division in football to win said division, the Miami Dolphins took advantage of their schedule to be good enough to win the AFC East, and the San Diego Chargers took care of their business to put themselves in a position to win and get in in the final week of the season.

But the Chargers were only able to do that because the Denver Broncos wasted their (very good) chance. And the Dolphins wouldn't have won had the Jets held their ground. And they were joined by the likes of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chicago Bears, who at one point controlled their destiny, only to let those opportunities slip away. Throw in teams like the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys, and it seems like there was an inordinate amount of teams this year who had a chance to make things happen for themselves, and blew it. (Teams like the Bills don't count - though they got off to a really hot start, they faded too far too fast.)

I noticed a couple of patterns with these teams - the Jets, Broncos, Bucs, Redskins, and Cowboys. The first is, other than the Jets, who lost too many games to beatable teams, the teams really beat up on their weaker opponents - meaning maybe they didn't really deserve to be in the positions they were in because they didn't have the most difficult schedules. (I noted how easy the Broncos' schedule was way back in August.)

But the other thing is a lot of these teams had a big win, followed by a big collapse. Look:

1) The Jets beat the Patriots and Titans in back-to-back weeks on the road, improving to 8-3, then went 1-4 the rest of the way.

2) The Broncos started the Jets on that downward spiral, but that was their high water mark - after beating the Jets, Denver beat Kansas City, then lost their final three, all with an opportunity to clinch the division.

3) The Buccaneers were 9-3, coming off a win that pretty much buried the Saints, then lost to Carolina in a big divisional matchup as part of their 0-4 finish to the season.

4) The Redskins started hot, became everyone's favorite darkhorse, were sitting pretty at 7-4, and then finished 1-4 - including a loss to Cincinnati - to finish the season.

5) The Cowboys' chokes have been well-documented, but they fit this pattern, too - after regaining some hope by beating the Giants, they lost their final two games of the season with everything on the line.


I guess this is all just to point out that as horrible as the Jets season was, they had plenty of company this year. It's just hard to notice that other teams and their fans are sharing your plight in the heat of the moment.

ON THE OTHER HAND, MY YEAR WAS PRETTY GOOD: I have to admit, on this last day of 2008, that I got really caught up in my number of posts this year. When I changed format sometime last year, the new page kept track of posts per month and year. And I decided I wanted to try to post as much as I could in 2008, watching those numbers very closely.

I ended up posting a record 284 times in 2008. Of course, it was a leap year, so you have to subtract from 366 to see how many days I missed instead of 365, but still...I'm impressed.


April and May were tough - a busy time at school. October, a month into having the new baby, was also sporadic. But I wrote this year more days than ever before - by a long shot.

And the reason I did it was because people were reading. I was picked up a couple of times this summer by other blogs, which was a first. And I have my small, small circle of loyal readers, who I really appreciate taking a couple of minutes out of their day to read what I have to say, and either comment on it in writing or in person. Thank you, because I'd like to think I'd do this in a vacuum, but I'm not sure I'd continue if no one read it.

I'm proud of the fact that I was able to keep the writing up this year. And I doubt that I'll be able to match that output in 2009. But I'll try. And I'll have help. I'm excited to announce that in 2009, as I floated out as a possibility in early August, the Southern Bureau will become a regular contributor - I've officially handed over a set of keys. Maybe I can get The Wife to do some more contributing in 2009 as well.

But just like a year ago, there's a lot to look forward to in the coming year. And I will write about it. And who knows, it might just turn out to be more often than in 2008.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION

This week marks the last week before the "overlap" season. Although school meetings begin (not to mention two fantasy football drafts in the evenings this week...and the possible birth of my second-born), I should have time to write this week, and the writing will be mostly about the Mets.

Next week, with the NFL season looming as of Thursday and the following weekend, will be Jets Week. I'll have Jets previews on the offense, defense, a division preview, and an overall look at the NFL standings. That'll start probably on Tuesday the 2nd, going through Friday the 6th.

After that, I'll try to balance between the Jets regular season and the Mets regular and (hopefully) post-season. I've also liked doing the bi-weekly MLB updates - I'll try to do some variation on that weekly with the NFL. And if I can get some folks to share their picks each week, maybe we'll get back to some sort of picks competition - I always like that.

And to reward you for sticking through the boring updates above, here's a look at where David Wright stands in his hunt for the doubles records, entering Sunday's play. Wright had two doubles the game where Carlos Delgado had the cheapest five hit-game in history (the first baseman threw way wide of first to the pitcher covering on one 'base hit', and the game-winner was a dropped fly ball by the left-fielder. Someone explain to me how that's a hit. But I digress.).

WRIGHT (2008): 36 Doubles
TEAM RECORD: 44
WRIGHT (career): 177
ALL-TIME RECORD: 792

BOOK REVIEW

Haunted Baseball:
Ghosts, Curses, Legends, and Eerie Events
By Mickey Bradley and Dan Gordon

I'm not much of a ghost-story guy. I scare easily, and frankly, there are other things that interest me more. Like things that don't scare me. So this isn't the type of book that I would have gone out and bought. But that's the neat thing about gifts - you'll get exposed to something you might not have otherwise read.

And this book (a birthday gift) was enjoyable, for the most part. You can read it cover-to-cover in a couple of days, or just leave it out and pick and choose sections that interest you - it's a quick read either way.

As for the content, I'm about 50-50 on whether or not I believe it. I think I believe in ghosts - at least, I find some of these stories about hauntings at ballparks and hotels pretty believable. But there's some obvious bull in this book, too - so much so that it makes you wonder why the authors bothered giving credence to the storytellers (like the guy who claims Buck Weaver, of the 1919 Chicago White Sox scandal, speaks to him asking him to "clear my name". I liked your story better when it was called Field of Dreams.).

Some of the very believable stuff centers on old ballplayers haunting fields they used to call home. Like groundskeepers in St. Petersburg (at Huggins-Stengel Field, specifically) claiming that on the day Joe DiMaggio died, they painted a 5 on the field where DiMaggio used to play in spring training. That day, the lawnmower died each time it hit center, and it wouldn't mow the 5. Same thing with the number 7 when Mickey Mantle died. That's weird, and I believe it. Not sure why, but I do. And countless ballplayers talking about haunted hotels.

One cool story in the book centered on a plaque the New York Giants made to memorialize a player named Eddie Grant, who died a hero in World War I. The plaque was in play in deep center at the Polo Grounds, but became lost when the Giants moved to San Francisco. I don't believe the Giants became cursed because of the lost plaque (they haven't won a World Series since the plaque was lost), but I did enjoy learning something new about baseball history.

The question I wonder when I hear these ghost stories, though, is why are these ghosts so benign? Johnny Damon claims he had a ghost in his house once and it just pinned him to the ground for 15 minutes (strangely, another ballplayer claimed he had a similar ghost experience once. Why have I never heard of these types of ghost "attacks" before?). How come the ghosts don't do something terrible? Why are they so playful? Just walking past, being spotted? Why don't they do something? That's the question I'm left with.

There are a few mentions of the Mets (they, too, trained at the alleged haunted Huggins-Stengel Field), and it's a fairly new book, so a lot of current ballplayers are mentioned. A nice summer, casual read.

A NEW ADDITION: I've been working on this for a while now, and finally figured out how to do it - please note the addition of the standings on the right-hand side of the page. If possible, I'll add NFL standings when that season starts as well. Hopefully the NL East standings have the Mets on top from this day forward...

A SUNDAY WITH NOTHING TO PLAY FOR

Strange Sunday. The final week of the NFL season, which means the fantasy league is over (for me, without playoffs, it's been long since over), and after the Giants lost to the Pats on Saturday night, I had no chance of winning anything in the confidence pool I'm in (I had been doing so badly that the past few weeks I just picked against the Patriots because everyone was picking them, just hoping their loss might benefit me financially). So that left me with nothing but 'the love of the game' on Sunday for the final day of the NFL season.

I watched much of the Jets-Chiefs game, knowing it would be the last time I saw the Jets play for months. I also hoped Chad Pennington would make an appearance in what was likely his last game in a Jets uniform (more on that later in the week). That didn't happen, but I think by watching the game, I have made my peace with Kellen Clemens. If he is the Jets' quarterback in 2008, so be it. I'll never love him...I don't know that I'll ever get very attached to a single Jet ever again...but I'll live with him. Amazingly, in a game just about everyone just wanted to go out and get it over with, the Jets and Chiefs went to overtime. The Jets did win, hurting their draft position a little, but I really don't know enough about this year's draft crop to judge whether or not that's a horrible thing. The way I see it, they should trade the pick and build up a stockpile of picks...unless there's one great player out there.

I want to spend a bit of time, though, talking about the Saturday night game, because that was the best game of the weekend.

I want to reiterate my claim - I do not think the Patriots will go 19-0. If they do, then yes, they can be considered the greatest team of all time. I don't think you can argue that. But they're starting to slip. They're beatable. And I just think 19-0 will be an incredibly hard thing to do. I don't know who it is that will beat them - and I think you can make the argument against me that they will go 19-0, just having to win 3 more games, after a bye week. But those three games won't come easy...and I think the game plan to beat them is out there. It just needs to be executed.

The Giants looked like they had that game plan in place and all but had the Patriots beat Saturday night. But Eli Manning did them in. I've never seen a player go from having a great game to an awful one quicker. Eli looked like Peyton in the first half and on the first drive of the second half, when the Giants took a 28-16 lead. Then it's like he suddenly realized he was on the verge of the biggest win of his career, got nervous, and played horribly, when all the Giants needed was a few first downs to keep the Patriots' offense off the field.

That's not to take the credit away from the Patriots. Tom Brady has the opposite gift of Eli -nothing rattles him. He knew he'd win that game, and went out and did it. The Patriots' defense sensed Eli was getting rattled, and rattled him some more. Brady to Moss didn't work once, so they went right back to it. That's why they're 16-0.

But I still don't think they'll go 19-0. Part of this rationale is my studid heart getting in the way of my head...I just don't like this team. At least with the past few Patriots championship teams they had players you could respect and, in spite of yourself, root for. Those players drowned out the Bill Belichicks and Rodney Harrisons, at least in my view, and made the team tolerable. But this year it seems like the Patriots have suddenly gotten classless, and there are more Rodney Harrison-types than not. There's a lot more "me" guys there...and I'm surprised it's working for them so well. But that's another part of the reason I think their season will end with a loss.

AROUND THE LEAGUE
1) A couple of years ago I was all over the Jaguars, and how, at 12-4, I thought they were fakers. I think I called them the 'worst 12-4 team of all time'. Well, this year they're 11-5, and I think they're better than the 12-4 team. I am buying into David Garrard - I think the Jaguars made a great decision going with him over Byron Leftwich. I've been anti-Fred Taylor the past few years, thinking he's washed up. I take it all back. He's had a fantastic year, and he's splitting time with Maurice Jones-Drew. I think the Jaguars could be dangerous in the playoffs - but it hurts them that they have to go on the road.

2) For you die-hards out there, Anthony Becht is still playing with the Buccaneers. He gets decent playing time (I think, because I haven't spent much time watching Tampa this season), but he is mainly a blocking tight end. He finished the season with 5 catches for 20 yards, but two of those catches were for touchdowns, and another two for first downs. Watch for him next week against the Giants - he always came up big for the Jets in big games.

SITE UPDATE: I think I'll make my playoff picks by Friday night, and you are free to post comments with your picks. I'll pick against the spread, and using the over/under. I urge you to do the same.

Also, please note that I have transferred all of the Jets content to this site, and the Jets site is effectively no more. Thanks.

MOVING WRIGHT WOULD BE WRONG MOVE

Allow me a word or two on baseball: Quite a treat this morning on my way to work - David Wright on Mike & Mike in the Morning. It was as brief a radio interview as you're going to get, in which free agency, the Mets' collapse, and Wright's charity work were all touched on.

The biggest deal was made over the Mets' likely involvement in the Alex Rodriguez chase in free agency, and how if the Mets made a play for A-Rod, would Wright be willing to change positions. His short answer was that he would. If that happens, I think the Mets would be making a tremendous mistake. David Wright is a third baseman, not a second baseman. I'm sure he'd do fine there, his offense wouldn't suffer, that's for sure - but it would take a long adjustment period for him. It would not equal success for the Mets, and worst case scenario, Wright gets taken out on a slide in an attempted double-play breakup at second base, and suffers a knee injury that threatens the rest of his career. The Mets are opening themselves up to that if they make him move for A-Rod.

I've been feeling negatively about baseball lately, but listening to David Wright makes me think that as long as he's a Met, I'll root for them, if for no other reason than to root for him alone to succeed. Wright is a class act. He says exactly what you want to hear, and if he doesn't mean it, at least he sounds sincere about it. He talked about how the team was just waiting for things to turn around at the end of the season, and how that just didn't happen, and how disappointed he was. And then he talked about how watching other teams (in this case the Red Sox) celebrate just makes him even hungrier for a title. It makes you think that somehow he will be involved with the Mets winning a world championship...and that there are some ballplayers who do care as much as some of us stupid fans.

I just hope that David Wright always stays as level-headed as he has been these past 3+ years he has been in the Majors.

AWARDS TIME: Dustin Pedroia, Ryan Braun, C.C. Sabathia.....Who are three people I didn't pick at the beginning of the year to win post-season awards? If you care to check out exactly how off I was with my picks, go back in the archives - I made my predictions on March 21. Here's a hint at how badly I did - I'm not even going to link to them, I'll just let you go find them if you want.

PREDICTION: Cubs made another under-the-radar deal today. Craig Monroe to the Twins for a player-to-be-named. Current leader in the clubhouse - Cubs versus Twins for the 2008 title. That's just the under-the-radar connection that everyone is bound to overlook. I bet I can get good odds on that matchup.

NEW LOOK: So the white background is back...and probably will stay. Any thoughts on the colors at the top of the screen? The Jets postings transfer is going slow...but sure. Thanks for all the feedback so far.

GOOD BYE

Sad times in Jets land when we can break out that time-honored joke that we all love: At least the Jets couldn't lose this week! They had a bye!! I think I broke that one out in the 4th grade - hasn't failed me since.

It's also sad for me to go through all of these old postings, as I move the Jets site to its new permanent home here (more on the changes here below). The Jets have had a really good recent history, and it's all falling apart this year. I can't stand the losing...I really can't. I wish I could go back and live through the 2004 playoffs again...and maybe, if the outcome was the same, kill Doug Brien. Those were such good times as a Jets fan - even last year was exciting each week. The sad thing is, as a Jets fan, the good times don't even end in a Super Bowl win - they usually end in playoff losses.

FANTASY TEAM TAKES A HIT, TOO
The one redeeming factor this year for my football season was the rebirth of my fantasy football team, which after an 0-3 start was sitting at 5-4 this week. I'm in the midst of a loss, so that hurts, but even worse is what I had found in Adrian Peterson (a possible new LaDainian Tomlinson?) I have now lost for a few weeks to injury. That's a big blow to my fantasy team's playoff hopes.

ON BASEBALL
The Tigers dealt Omar Infante to the Cubs for Jacque Jones, making the Tigers a possible frontrunner for the 2008 American League championship in my new prediction strategy...they are possibly going to play the Cubs or the Braves now in the World Series. I don't even know if the moves they made are quality (they seem pretty good), but the fact that they've been involved in deals with two National League teams makes them a front-runner in my eyes.

NEW LOOK
I have again changed the look of the blog - I'm looking for something pretty permanent so I don't have to keep doing this. I went with a couple of different things - I am hoping the black background looks sharp, and the different colors show a melding of the Mets and Jets. I've also changed the title to be all-inclusive, because this is no longer a Mets-only blog. It refers to where I live in relation to New York City, and specifically, the Mets' new ballpark. (I know, technically it's only about 188 miles, but 200 is catchier.) I welcome your feedback, and Southern Bureau, consider this your notification - please let me know what you think.

(Update: Just took my first look at the site as a reader - I'm not crazy about the black background. Please let me know if you think you have a better idea....maybe I'll just go back to white.)

MORE CHANGES ON THE WAY...JUST LIKE THE JETS QB SITUATION

In an effort to streamline my resources, I'm going to combine the Jets and Mets sites into one. There is no real efficient way to do this (dorkier people have tried, and rule it, I quote, "impossible" to merge two blogs into one [from a Blogger Help Forum], so I'll just have to cut and paste my Jets entries onto the Mets site), so please bear with me as new postings pop up, backdated to appear at the time they originally appeared. This will also mean a new name for the blog - I welcome your help with that.

I've been thinking about the Jets a lot recently, which you might not have been able to guess due to my lack of posting on them (it's been about two months, in case you haven't been checking the Jets site, which I don't think you have been doing). Obviously, hard times have hit my football team...and the man who has taken the main hit is none other than Chad Pennington. I like Pennington a lot. Next to Bill Parcells, he's the number one reason that such a horrid franchise as the Jets has had some relative success in recent years. And he's not the only reason they have stunk it up this season - so I don't think it's fair that he should lose his job.

Chad Pennington will not play another game as a member of the New York Jets, barring injuries. That just bothers me to no end. As a result, I'm not going to root for the Jets for the rest of this season. This benefits me in a few ways:

• I will be able to root for the Jets to get a high draft pick (although I have no idea if there is anyone worth getting)
• I get to re-visit my roots as a young Jets fan, when the Jets always stunk, and I had to pick a backup team to root for. This team was often the Green Bay Packers, so guess who I've had fun rooting for this year? Brett Favre is playing well, they're playing great football, the Jets are horrible...it's like 1996 all over again.
• Although he never did anything to me, and it wasn't his decision, I get to exact revenge on Kellen Clemens for taking Pennington's job. Every time Clemens throws an interception, or an incompletion, or gets sacked, I get to say, "Chad could have done better than that." And if he throws a touchdown, I can say, "Chad could have done that." It's a no-lose situation for me!

There are a lot of people out there who are happy Chad Pennington is no longer the quarterback of the Jets. These are the same people who hoped the Jets drafted Matt Leinart when Pennington went through "Hard Times, Round 2" (the shoulder injury, following the wrist injury), before he came back and won those fakers all back. (Looking your way, Mike Greenberg.) Now, they say they always loved Pennington, but are glad he's benched. Hypocrites. It was never Pennington - it was always the game plan (why go away from a deep attack when you're killing Cincinnati that way, and then go conservative? Stupid!).

Chad Pennington deserved better. I deserve better. So, go Packers! At least for this year.

PLAYOFF BOUND?

10:35am - I've always wanted to try a live blog, and I think today's the day to do it. It's the final day of the regular season, with everything on the line. Also, the Jets are playing the Bills, and with the Patriots playing the Bengals on Monday night, I have the Jets on free TV. So I've set up the regular TV next to the DirecTV, on which I can watch the Mets live, and have the Phillies on the second tuner (meaning I can always rewind to see anything I might miss). That'll cover three pretty big games. Might as well mix in some live-blogging to that.

If you're new to live blogs, first of all, keep checking back throughout the day - I'll try to keep doing this until at least 4 o'clock...I imagine there will be a lot to say today. And also, you're going to have to read from the bottom up...only the newest posts will appear towards the top.

Enjoy the day - I hope I will.

10:40 am - This is a test. Actually, I think I will just keep adding to the same post, so that you don't have to read bottom-to-top. My service to you. This way also won't screw up my total number of blog entries. I would hate to mess with statistics.

11:25am - Bad news - the Mets are not on SNY today. They are on Sun Sports in Florida, so I will be able to watch the game, but I hate the Marlins announcers. They're awful. I guess I could keep the sound down on the baseball, and have sound up on the football.

Sundays are a busy day here at the House sponsored by DirecTV. I have to do the laundry, watch football and baseball, finish up any schoolwork for Monday that I left off until the last minute, and then do the final tallies for the New Baseball Pool. Today, with such important games, only adds to the workload.

Thanks to the Southern Bureau for the comment. Obviously, I welcome your comments all day long to go along with mine.

11:35 am - Almost forgot - Sunday is also garbage day. I might put that off, though, until the games are over. The tricky part with that is making sure I do it after the games, but before it gets dark...you never know what animals might be lurking outside, waiting to attack the garbage. Yep...always have to make sure there's still sunlight when I put together the garbage.

12 noon - One hour away. I'm not taking any chances - I'm wearing what I wore yesterday. If it works today, I'll be wearing this Mets t-shirt and beige pants for the next month. At least it's very comfortable.

I think the last time the Mets faced a last-day scenario like this was in 1999, when they beat the Pirates on the last day of the season, in their final at-bat, on a wild pitch on which Mike Piazza scored from third, and in so doing, forced a playoff with the Cincinnati Reds the next day, in Cincinnati, where the Mets won the wild card. I did a quick search, and I don't think I've ever told this story before - so here goes (if you can't tell, this is the part of Sunday where I have schoolwork to do...and this is the procrastination part):

I came home from Boston on October 2nd for a friend's wedding. I had my suit, and one change of clothes - a gray t-shirt and jeans. At the wedding, a friend and I decided to go to Shea the next day to watch the Mets game - especially after it became clear that the game would decide the playoff appearance. So we showed up at Shea the next day, and waited in line, and got good seats (seats good enough that I was in the background of a couple of TV crowd shots in the bottom of the ninth - I still have the tape). While in line, also, then-Pirates third base coach (and former Met) Richie Hebner's wife was behind us, and if I'm not mistaken, although I've been known to misinterpret these things - she was hitting on me. But I digress.

The Mets won the game, and I became convinced it was my lucky outfit. I had no real demands bringing me back to Boston (I lived with the Southern Bureau at the time - he was then the next-room-over Bureau, and I was....in between jobs. There was an unsuccessful stint at Houlihan's, a possible job interview at True Value Hardware, and only interning at a TV station - I was a month away from working...November 15th, to be exact....until this very day.), so I stayed for the Monday playoff to watch the game with my dad. The Mets won, a great game by Al Leiter - a one-hitter, if I remember correctly, without looking it up. Then my dad had some Rangers tickets for Thursday - so I stayed through Thursday, with the same clothes, and the Mets did well against Arizona. That was a lucky outfit. I wore it until Kenny Rogers threw ball four against Andruw Jones. When I came back to Boston, I watched Todd Pratt hit the game-winning homer against the Diamondbacks at the apartment, while Southern Bureau and our other roommate went to the Red Sox-Indians playoff game...then I ran down to Fenway Park, and met them by like the third inning. What a week, in retrospect. I think I probably watched the Red Sox in my lucky outfit, too. I can't remember how often I laundered it. Probably not often enough.

12:35 pm - Lunch break. I had to run down to Riley's Roast Beef (The Wife and I decided earlier we would do that today - I forgot I had to be the one to go)...It's beautiful outside. The shame of all of these sports going on today is that I don't get to go out and enjoy the nice weather. Maybe The Baby (almost 'The 1-Year-Old) and I will go for a walk later...or I'll rake the leaves or something. It will be good therapy, win or lose.

12:57 pm - Sun Sports has much better video of Miguel Olivo going after Jose Reyes (and throwing a punch at him) than SNY, which is what ESPN has been showing. I just saw it on their pre-game.

Final note on what I have going on in my head today - fantasy baseball. I have one starter going - Jason Hammel of the Devil Rays, along with a host of relievers - Aaron Heilman, Jon Lester, Chad Cordero, Jeremy Accardo, Joba Chamberlain, and possibly Kei Igawa, who I thought was getting the start for the Yankees. I have an outside shot at passing the Southern Bureau in wins, but I need to maintain my strikeout lead, and I pretty much wrap up the season. I'm nervous about this, too, though. I have frittered away as much as the Mets have...though, like you have to give the Phillies credit, I have to give the Southern Bureau (and Justin from NYC, too, who is in the hunt but may come up just short) credit for keeping it close. I'm rooting against A.J. Burnett, Jamie Moyer (for two reasons), Jason Bergmann (getting K's, at least), and Brian Burres.

Phillies-Nationals, by the way, are a 1:35 start. I would love it if the Nats jumped all over Moyer in the first inning...and if the Mets did the same to Dontrelle Willis.

There's also fantasy football and NASCAR to worry about - but today they'll take a back seat to baseball.

1:07 pm - Jets have already had a defensive stand before the Mets have thrown the first pitch. Jets looked good against the Bills' backup quarterback.

1:15 pm - Both games are underway. I have better reception on the Jets than it looks like here:

1:30 pm - Wow. Not even through the top of the first yet, and it's 5-0. Tom Glavine's out, and now our hopes rest on Jorge Sosa. Not exactly the way I drew it up.

I let The Wife use the computer for 10 minutes, and this is what happens.

Jets are looking good - recovering a Bills fumble, and driving...

Unless Glavine gets a chance to pitch in the playoffs, and get the bad taste out of Mets fans' mouths, he is not going to be remembered well. There is a huge difference - Hall of Fame versus wine conneisseuir, but I'm thinking Steve Trachsel.

The Marlins announcers are already driving me nuts. The color guy actually said, after the 4th run scored, "How about some 'Let's Go Mets' cheers now?!' There's no place for that in a broadcast booth.

1:39 pm - Finally, the top of the first inning is over. 7-0 Marlins. How ugly was it? Glavine couldn't get two outs. He hit the opposing pitcher (albeit a good hitter, but still) with a pitch with the bases loaded. Tom Glavine, this is, not Oliver Perez. He made the error that scored another run, throwing the ball into left field like a little leaguer.

The Mets are still capable of scoring enough runs to win this game, unless they play like they've been playing the past couple of weeks.

And I'm going to say it again...if the Mets are lucky enough to win, and make the post-season, or lose and have the Phillies lose, and play their way in tomorrow - there better not be a drop of champagne. And I don't want to hear, 'this is sweeter than last year because of all the adversity'. You caused this. And you haven't accomplished a thing until you either win the NLCS or World Series. Making the playoffs was expected...and you produced a disastrous end of September.

1:52 pm - Carlos Delgado was just hit by a pitch, looks serious - he may have to leave the game. It loads the bases, though, with 2 outs - and the Mets already have one back, it's 7-1. No score in the first in Philadelphia.

No score on the Jets yet either. Brett Favre has thrown a touchdown pass, though, so he's knocked Marino off the top spot on TD passes. Love that.

1:54 pm - Argh. Ramon Castro just missed hitting a grand slam. It looked like he had it. 7-1 Marlins after one.

2:02 pm - Things are looking up a bit. Sosa strikes out the side, and the Jets got an interception inside of 2 minutes to go in the half. Phillies, though, lead 1-0.

2:11 pm - Jets are going to the half scoreless after a great drive ended in a missed field goal - off the upright. Speaking of Dan Marino, Chad Pennington executed a great fake spike.

My fantasy stuff is not going well - Southern Bureau is racking up a bunch of strikeouts. I haven't been following my NFL picks too closely with everything else going on, but I love the fact that Cleveland is up on Baltimore 28-3 right now...I know I didn't pick that, though.

Dontrelle Willis has 2 outs in the second, but he looks very beatable today. Anything less than 7 runs would have been wonderful today, Glavine.

2:35 pm - Willis walked the bases loaded in the third, with 2 outs, and he's been lifted. I'm not sure that's a great thing - the Mets would have gotten to him. So it's the bullpen now - the Mets need to capitalize with the bases loaded.

The Phillies did - Ryan Howard came through with a 2-run single with the bases loaded, and it's 3-0 Phillies.

2:40 pm - Paul LoDuca, pinch-hitting, on a 3-2 count, rolled a check-swinger to the pitcher. No runs. It's still early, but it's not looking good.

Marshawn Lynch ran 10 yards right through the Jets for a touchdown to make it 7-0, Bills. The Jets can not lose that game.

2:50 pm - Pennington has responded - a touchdown pass to Coles. The Mets have not. The Jets are tied, the Mets are down 7-1 through 4. Phillies are still up 3-1 through 3-and-2-thirds.

The fantasy stuff isn't looking too good either - my relievers better rack up the K's.

3:10 pm - Through 4-and-a-half: Phillies 3, Nationals 1. Marlins 8, Mets 1...after an RBI double by De Aza. About halfway through the 4th, and after a Bills field goal, it's 10-7 Buffalo.

3:20 pm - Through 5 - no changes.

The Jets, though, came up with a big 3rd down stop, and appeared to force a field goal. After a time out, the Bills went for it, and scored. Ugh. What a day.

The good news: Jon Lester is in for the Red Sox, as scheduled. Hope he gets a handful of K's.

3:30 pm - Jets got a quick strike - down 17-14. Southern Bureau - I'm well aware of the irony between the Moyer-Glavine starts. Moyer's day is done, so are the Soutern Bureau's fantasy pitchers. I need to tally and figure out how many K's I need from hopefully a few bullpen appearances.

3:45 pm - The Jets game ended with a bad interception thrown by Pennington. Bills 17, Jets 14. Now I'm not only going to have to live with the Mets choke (down 8-1 through 6), but tons of undeserved crap being dumped on Pennington as the fans call for Kellen Clemens. Oh, right, Phillies are also up 4-1 now.

4:07 pm - The Mets played a pretty crisp top of the 8th. A little ironic that the Mets bullpen has pitched so well today after putting them in this hole to begin with...also ironic that the Mets had to rely so heavily on their bullpen in their most important game of the year - getting only a third of an inning from their starter. 5-1 in Philly, 8-1 in New York- neither score is good for the Mets. They need 8 runs in the 8th.

4:20 pm - 3 more outs. At least Aaron Heilman is pitching the 9th - I need two K's from him...or Chad Cordero - hopefully he comes in against the Phillies. This day has been a disaster.

4:31 pm - The Mets are done - losers, 8-1, to Florida.

4:35 pm - The Mets are now officially done, as the Phillies beat the Nationals, 6-1. Unreal. I'm more pissed off than I thought I'd be...perhaps because it seems like I care more than the Mets. Or perhaps it's because my NFL picks were awful, and my fantasy players are going to come up one strikeout short...unless Kei Igawa makes a ninth inning appearance. I think all of those failures stem from the concentration I've been giving to the Mets...undeservedly so.

3/4 SEASON CHECK-IN

We're almost at the three-fourths mark of the season - 11 games left until that point. Since I didn't do a mid-year check, I'll do it at the 70% mark.

This year has been strange. It seems like the Mets have been fighting an uphill battle all year, but they still have the best record in the National League (and third best in the majors). It seems like most of the offense is still trying to get it going...as they have been since April. Even David Wright, who has heated up considerably since his early part of the season, doesn't seem like he's clicking on all cylinders.

Some things you had to see coming - I said early in the year that neither Jose Valentin nor Damion Easley would be the second baseman for the Mets come October. I didn't exactly foresee Valentin going down to injury, or, for that matter, either one playing as well as they did most of the season, but the fact that Luis Castillo is now the Mets' second baseman is definitely an improvement I've been hoping for since March.

But there were other things you didn't see coming - Shawn Green is just five back of Carlos Beltran in terms of games played in the outfield this year - who would have thought he would have logged the most games in the outfield this year? And after he seemed to have turned the corner last year, Beltran is back to his struggling self as a Met - looking like he's never seen a curveball.

The pitching has been by far the biggest, and most positive, surprise. From John Maine, who is having an outstanding season, to Oliver Perez, who has been a solid starter, to consistent Tom Glavine, giving the Mets a chance to win each time he goes out, to even the contributions of Jorge Sosa, who is now pitching out of the bullpen. The pitching has saved the Mets' season, because it took the offense so long to get going. The bullpen has not been as good as last year, but the most important member of that bullpen, Billy Wagner, is having one of his best seasons.

A lot of people were down on the 2007 Mets from the beginning of the year. But so far they've proven those people wrong, hanging onto first place from the get-go (or, at least, mid-May). Now, they are poised to get some key players back (Pedro Martinez*, Carlos Beltran), while some other key players start to find their way (Delgado, even Wright and Jose Reyes). That could result in the 2007 Mets looking a lot more like the 2006 Mets heading into October.

MONTHLY RESULTS: I haven't updated this in a while, but it seems worth doing, since May seems so far away:

April: 15-9
May: 19-9
June: 12-15
July: 13-14

The Mets are off to a great start in August - 4-1 through Monday. They have a lot of ground to make up after a couple of pretty poor months there.

YANKEES-BLUE JAYS: This Alex Rodriguez thing isn't going away. The Blue Jays threw at A-Rod on Monday - retaliation for when he yelled to try to distract the third baseman on a pop up earlier this year. Then, on Tuesday, Josh Towers threw at A-Rod. I would bet that if the opportunity presents itself, Wednesday's starter will also throw at A-Rod. The Blue Jays seem to have been extremely, extremely bothered by this incident...and it looks like they've been waiting for this series to exact revenge. I just hope no one gets hurt - you know how I feel about brawls.

NEW FEATURE: I draw your attention to the poll on the right. I don't have many readers, so this won't be the sample size of, say, other sites, but I thought it looked neat. Please, give us your two cents.

JOHNNYJETS: I hate to toot my own horn, but I was checking out johnnyjets.blogspot.com today, and I was pretty entertained by what I wrote at the end of last year. Therefore, I have decided to give the Jets site the same revamped treatment as this here Mets site. Check it out when you get a chance...there's also an update, and there will be more periodically leading up to the season.


Also, please let me know if you have ideas for the name of either site - I'm still reconsidering a change to this site name, and the Jets one definitely needs one. I invite your feedback.

FOOTBALL H.O.F.: Speaking of football, I didn't watch the induction ceremony, but I did see the highlights of the NFL Hall of Fame inductions. I've never been a fan of Michael Irvin...but hearing the clip where he talks about how last year's NFL Hall of Famers are all great people, in addition to football players, made me almost like him. Almost. A little humility (meaning humbleness, not embarrassment, just so we're clear) goes a long way, Michael.

This Week:

I'm back in town...I'll be back to blogging tomorrow. Here's what to look for this week:

Monday: Johnnymets Returns
Tuesday: Jacobs Field Review
Wednesday: (Open - Possible Tom Glavine 300 wins reaction)
Thursday: Great American Ballpark Review

As always, your e-mails are welcome: johnnymetsmail@yahoo.com

THIS ONE COUNTS

THE 78TH ALL STAR GAME

It's been a few years, but Major League Baseball is still going with the "This One Counts" tag for their All Star Game, as though this is the only one that has ever counted. It bothers me. I remember writing about this last year...they really should go with "It Still Counts", or something like that.

But like it or not, the All Star Game matters, especially to a team like the Mets. And like last year, the Mets had three players in the starting lineup Tuesday night who could have a major influence on the game in Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran. I'm writing this in advance of the game, so I can only hope, but with the Mets' closer on the roster, if the National League should take a lead into the 9th inning, I hope that Tony LaRussa would allow Billy Wagner to close out a win, and give the Mets the chance at home field advantage in the World Series.

A COUPLE OF WORDS ON BARRY BONDS: I forgot to write about this when the votes for the All Star Game were tabulated, but I think there was something fishy going on when Barry Bonds suddenly surpassed Alfonso Soriano on the last day of voting to get into the starting lineup. I suspect if he wasn't starting, Tony LaRussa might have left Bonds off the roster, and I feel like someone at the MLB offices had an eye towards history, and wondered how it would look if the year he became the all-time leader in home runs, Barry Bonds was not even in the All Star Game. So I think there was some ballot box stuffing going on in those offices.

Meanwhile, he's kind of the "host" player for this game, being the Giants representative for the game in San Francisco and all. That's kind of like the guy no one likes in college, but who's still pretty important, who throws a party, and you still go, because all your friends and colleagues are going, and it's still going to be a great time...but he's still the "host". The other All Stars must feel in the back of their minds bothered by that part of it...although, according to the articles I've read, Jose Reyes was excited by the prospect of batting in front of Bonds, and Carlos Beltran was looking forward to picking Bonds's brain about hitting.

ALL STAR DESIGNING: Kudos to the designers of all things 2007 All Star Game.

I love the batting practice jerseys the players wore during the Home Run Derby...and I love the logo (all seen at left). I guess with these new ballparks, and all of their quirks, it's kind of a playland for the people who design these things.

I love how the Golden Gate Bridge was worked into the jerseys.


Another word about the All Star uniforms...I love how in the baseball All Star Game the players wear their team's uniform. I love that contrast on the field - where it's just whites and grays, but all different.


FORMAT: You've probably noticed some changes to the site. I'm hoping that we can increase traffic a bit, but I've also just upgraded the look a little. Obviously, there have been some major changes, like the colors, but there are also some new features on the right hand side, among them:

-links to some of my favorite sites (updating still in progress)

-a feed from mlb.com that updates the latest Mets news, because, as I wrote about a week or so ago, I'll be writing in more general terms, less specifically about the Mets' day-to-day results

-a link at the top right to the site e-mail and the blogtalkradio show

-I've also changed the name of the blog, since "John's Mets Page" wasn't too exciting. It's a change a long time coming. I'd appreciate your feedback, and if you have a name that might grab people, and you think it's better than "The Official Unofficial New York Mets Site", send it in. I'd love some suggestions. I like what I have right now, but I'm not married to it...I feel like it's a little long. So send along your suggestions...and thanks for reading!

TIME FOR A CHANGE...

And actually, we're going back more to the way things used to be. It used to be that this was a page solely for opinion, not game recaps, because I always felt you could get recaps in the papers or elsewhere online. This was the place you came to when you wanted to know how I felt about something that happened in a game, or just to get my overall feel for the state of the Mets.

Lately, due in part to my obsessiveness about keeping track of things, this site has become more of a daily log of Mets events - no different than, say, mets.com or some such thing. As I mentioned the other day, it was sort of an effort to have a historical log of the Mets' championship season. Well, partly because I'm finding it more and more difficult to stay up late and write after games, and partly because of my new radio venture, we're back to making this a stop for opinions only - and some game comments. Depends on the game.

The site will also feature more broad baseball-related things - if there is a huge story or something I come across, say, as my parents empty their house that merits writing about, that will be the topic.

Therefore, here are a few (anticipated) Frequently Asked Questions about the changes:

Q: Johnnymets, what new radio venture are you referring to?

A: Check out www.blogtalkradio.com/johnnymets to hear Tuesday's pre-game show. Hopefully it will be updated daily before each Mets game, and feature a preview of that day's game, a recap of the game the night before, and a look at the rest of the majors. It can also feature your phone calls, e-mails, or instant messages. Keep an eye both on this site and the above link to see when the live broadcasts are...but you can also listen to the pre-recorded ones after the fact.

Q: What about site favorites such as "Player of the Game" and "Beat the Streak"?

A: Occasionally these old reliables will pop up on the blog, but "Player of the Game", as of Wednesday, June 20th, will officially move to the radio show. My "Beat the Streak" picks will be kept to myself until I get to 20 or something games, and then I'll shout them to the world in some format.

Q: If I really want to send you an e-mail to tell you how I feel about something, will it be printed on the blog or read on the radio show?

A: That's really up to you....and if you don't make the decision, I will. You can tell me in your e-mail whether it's intended for the blog or the radio show, and I'll accomodate the request to the best of my ability. You can always comment on the blog, and that will stay on the blog. If you don't specify blog or radio show in your e-mail, I will use my discretion and see which medium it is most appropriate for.

A change/adjustment like this is sure to bring up questions in your mind...some right away, some after a day or two. Please, let me know if there's anything I can do for you to help make this transition easier. Until then, enjoy the blog and enjoy the radio show, and thanks for your continued support.

NEW FEATURE!

I just finished my first radio show - the show, for now, will be a pre-game show, and hopefully it will appear daily. I'd love to take calls during the 15-minutes or so that I'm on the air. Check out www.blogtalkradio.com/johnnymets for show times, and to listen to the first pre-game show of the season.

If the show takes off, there may be some format changes to the blog, where the blog becomes less of a daily recap, and more of a running commentary on the Mets or related topics.

METS TAKE 2 OUT OF 3 FROM BREWERS

As much as I'd love to write about the Mets-Brewers weekend series, I'm waaaay behind on my school work, so I'm going to have to postpone a posting. I'll try to do a comprehensive write-up on Monday night after the Mets-Cubs...and 'Heroes'.

How about Oliver Perez!?!

I apologize - I can't write tonight - but I'll have a full weekend recap and preview of a very difficult week for the Mets on Monday night.

Sorry folks. I'm not feeling so good - I think I need to go to bed. We'll do mail Thursday. That gives you an extra day to send your mail: johnnymetsmail@yahoo.com.

Sorry for the lack of postings. Lots of final projects. In a week, though, summer classes will be over. Which means summer classes lasted longer than the Mets, who are done. But do not worry - the end of the Mets' season in early August does not mean the end of johnnymets.blogspot.com.

I will be working extra hard to bring you the entertainment you deserve through the World Series, which, hard as it may be to accept, will probably not include the Mets. I can't believe it either. Anyway, the fun gets started tomorrow with the Mets mailblog. I won't let you down this week.

Oh, by the way, the Mets open up a three-game series at Shea against the Astros. Let's Go Mets.