MEET THE NEW HC OF THE NYJ

I haven't been paying much attention to the whole ordeal, but I do know the Jets are looking for a new coach, and interviewing a lot of candidates. (I prefer to wait until a decision is made and not get my hopes up for anyone in particular...I don't really know enough to make a judgment on anyone...and they never do what I expect...and it's always some guy who leads them to an occasional playoff appearance, and then gets fired after about 4 years or so anyway.)

And nothing's official yet...but does this have "Jets scoop up Gruden" written all over it or what?

He was, after all, willing to toss aside the quarterback that led him to the playoffs last year to go hard after Brett Favre. He has won a Super Bowl.

Gruden seems like just the type of guy who would stroke Favre's ego enough to get him to come back...which is really what the Jets' owner wants (though he may be the only guy in that camp).

So maybe the Jets continue along the lines they're on now and hire a Steve Spagnuola...but if they suddenly change course and hire Jon Gruden, don't be so surprised.

PICKS: I wasn't even going to make Championship Game picks, because I just don't care. (We're celebrating my mom's birthday on Sunday and my dad said he tried to make the dinner reservations for earlier in the afternoon, but failed. So we're not watching much...but I told him, "Dad, who even cares?" We'll be back in time for the end of the second game...maybe. I might watch that.) But now that I'm here, I'll make the picks:

EAGLES 31, CARDINALS 17 (I can't believe Philadelphia might win baseball and football championships - enough to get me to root for Arizona in this one)

STEELERS 24, RAVENS 10 (In case you were wondering, any combination of these four teams gives us a new Super Bowl matchup...so any way you slice it, I win.)

OTHER NEWS AND NOTES: Everything should be back to normal posting-wise next week...I'm just about done with the overwhelming amount of school work that hits this time of year.

I'll be in New York City this weekend for my brother's CD release party - that's the album cover there on the left. It's available for $5.94 on iTunes now.

The show is in Astoria on Saturday night. Look me up if you need the info.

PLAYOFF BOUND? YEAR 2

11:12am - Well, here we are, one year later. Early returns on the day are not promising - the rain is coming down in buckets, which is interfering with my DirecTV. For some reason, the channel that has the most trouble coming through is SNY...or maybe I just notice that more because I want to watch it.

So it looks like I will not get to see the pre-game Shea ceremonies...but as long as it clears up in time for the game I'll deal with that - my parents are recording it for me. (Incidentally, I just called my mom, and she says if they played yesterday, the weather today should also allow them to play. Funny how the weather hasn't wreaked havoc on the games like I thought - just my ability to watch them.)

Speaking of watching the games - I have to start out with huge, huge thanks to the Southern Bureau. Not only has he been the biggest fan of 200 Miles From the Citi from its inception, but yesterday he did the nicest thing ever.

No sooner had I finished loading up the crappy ol' GameCast to virtually 'watch' the Mets-Marlins game than I got a text message from S.B. asking if I wanted his MLB.TV password to watch the game on-line. I did. (And I might need it again today.) I was able to watch every pitch of Johan Santana's masterpiece thanks to the Southern Bureau. And here we are today.

11:30am - This is so eerily similar to last year. I just read through last year's posting - my Sunday routine hasn't changed much - Sunday is still laundry and garbage day here. I did the laundry yesterday to make sure I had nothing in my way today. And last week, I put out the garbage Sunday night at around 6pm. It had no sooner gotten dark then by 8:30pm there was a raccoon in my driveway feasting on the trash. So there's no chance I'm even setting foot outside after dusk tonight. The garbage will be done tomorrow morning before I go to work. And speaking of work, I did as much as I could last night - something tells me not much will get done today.

I will not be having Riley's Roast Beef this year - that was unlucky last year...plus, I don't think they're open on Sundays anymore. We have some burritos from Whole Foods that I just ran out to get.

Also on the list of things that haven't changed since last year - I suspect The Wife is rooting against the Mets so that she doesn't have to put up with this anymore. Because there's one big difference - instead of neglecting my parental duties with one child this year, now there are two.

And let me tell you this story about our 2-year-old...she woke up about 5am today, and came into bed with us. After tossing and turning a little bit she sat straight up and said, "Watch baseball?" I turned on the TV to watch ESPNEWS and catch some highlights. Little did she know she'll be getting her fill of baseball today.

Weather update from Mom via Instant Message - "a little drizzly" in Queens.

11:45am - If I believed in conspiracy theories, I'd believe the Cubs were manipulating this weekend to avoid the Mets. (Yesterday's Cubs win probably makes this point moot, but I'll continue anyway.) If I were the Cubs, I think I'd rather face the Dodgers...wouldn't you? Maybe that's what Carlos Zambrano was thinking when he said he'd rather throw a side session against the Brewers today instead of pitching in the game (maybe he can pinch-hit and help the Mets that way). His replacement, though, is named Angel - hopefully that signals divine intervention for the Mets, not Milwaukee.

Incidentally, the Cubs were 5-2 versus LA this year - not having matched up since late May and early June (read: before the Manny Ramirez trade). The Mets gave them fits just earlier this week.

It's also a bit of a relief that there won't be a 3-way tie (thanks to Philadelphia clinching the East last night), and the only tiebreaker, if necessary, will be Mets-Brewers Monday at Shea. The 3-way tie would have dragged into Tuesday. It would have been nice, had the Mets won the division and the Phillies gotten the wild card, for the Mets to have L.A. in the first round, but at this point, I'll take a playoff appearance through the path of least resistance.

11:47am - I'm wondering if I should have written this bottom-up, instead of top-down?

11:55am - Still nothing on the satellite. Interesting note via mets.com - Brian Gorman will be an umpire in today's game - the last regular season game at Shea. His father, Tom, was an umpire who called the first game at Shea. Pretty cool symmetry there.

12:10pm - Incidentally, if the Mets were in the position the Brewers are in, facing a September call-up with a 7.04 ERA, they would be shut out on two hits. I have a feeling the Brewers won't be. As it is, the Mets are facing Scott Olsen - they've had his number this year - in 4 starts he's 0-3 against the Mets with a 6.95 ERA.

Oliver Perez, going on short rest, pitches against the Marlins. It's probably the biggest game he's pitched for the Mets since the 2006 NLCS, when he was great. Let's hope he's still a big game pitcher. For the record, he's 3-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 5 starts versus the Marlins this year.

**I haven't mentioned this yet - please feel free to weigh in with your comments by e-mail or in the comments below throughout the day.

12:45pm - Similar to last year - looks like I might have to watch this game on the Marlins feed. I can't stand the announcers on Fox Sports Florida...but it's better than nothing. I don't get DirecTV, though - why do I not get SNY or TBS, but get Fox Sports Florida? Luckily, too, there will probably be a rain delay - so more time for SNY to tune in. (Also, mom says "weather not good - raining a bit heavier now." It definitely won't be a rain out - could be a long day of waiting.)

The delay will also mean closer start times between the Mets and Brewers games - Chicago-Milwaukee's first pitch is 2pm.

1:05pm - Jets punted on their first possession. SNY is in and out - briefly I caught a look at some of the VIP's arriving for today's game. Ralph Kiner, Ron Darling, Keith Hernandez, Buddy Harrelson, Rusty Staub, Darryl Strawberry, Jesse Orosco, and Hall of Famer Gary Carter. I'm thrilled Carter was there - I was afraid there might have been some hard feelings with that whole Willie Randolph thing. Rain delay to start the game, by the way.

1:30pm - End of 1st quarter for the Jets - no score. The Jets have had a huge sack to knock the Cardinals out of scoring position, recovered a fumble, and blocked a field goal. Unfortunately, due to a Brett Favre interception, they haven't scored either. But they're on the doorstep - 2nd and goal from the 2 (or 1) - Thomas Jones has already been stuffed there once.

Still not sure what's going to happen with the Mets - I'll check back after this Jets possession, I guess.

1:35pm - Favre to Laveranues Coles - a double-whammy against me in fantasy football, but I'll take it. This, after FOX came back from commercial after an apparent TD pass, called back due to a holding penalty.

Still no Mets - I only have the Florida channel right now (Sun Sports, by the way, not Fox Sports Florida) - and they're showing fishing. My dad tells me it's sunnier now, though.

1:42pm - Jets just returned an interception for a TD - 14-0. And the Mets are about to start. Oh boy.

I have a wonderful wife, by the way - this is hard to do with two kids...she's changing a diaper right now that I should be changing...and she argues with my earlier point - saying she is actually rooting FOR the Mets so that she doesn't have to put up with me being miserable.

2pm - OK, now the Mets are starting for real. And Favre just threw another TD to Coles. 21-0. Much better than last year so far (when the Jets lost to the 0-3 Bills).

2:03pm - A 1-2-3 inning for Perez. That's how you show up for an important start. Oliver Perez 1, Tom Glavine 0.

2:15pm - 1-2-3 for Sabathia, too. The Mets got nothing in the bottom half of the 1st. I think it's really important for the Mets to take a lead before the Brewers do - both teams are scoreboard-watching, the Mets are tight enough at the plate as it is - they don't need to see Milwaukee up before they're up.

2 minute warning for the Jets - they just forced another Kurt Warner fumble. What a disaster the Cardinals are today.

2:30pm - Don't have to worry about the Jets this week - after another Coles TD and Warner turnover, it's 34-0 at halftime.

Oliver Perez has had two good innings - the Mets need to score some runs.

2:50pm - Sun Sports' roving reporter just interviewed Gary Carter. He was pretty low-key, but not without hyperbole - when asked about Shea Stadium, Carter said, "It's one of the greatest stadiums of all time, because of the fans." Uh, thanks Gary, but come on, really. I love Shea as much as the next guy, but I'm not going to go that far. (For my Shea Memories, click here.)

Also, no mention by the Florida guys of Carter's minor league championship. Guess they don't read the blog.

Jets just gave up a touchdown, so it's 34-7. No score through 3 for the Mets. And the Cubs have a 1-0 lead in Milwaukee - the run scored on a very close almost-double-play by the Brewers (the right call was made, though).

2:55pm - 4 great innings by Perez. You may have heard the Cubs might not go more than two innings with any pitcher today. They're keeping to that - Chad Gaudin started the third, and retired the side without difficulty. Mets need some runs.

3:10pm - The Jets are now ahead 34-15. I don't really think they're going to blow their lead, but I hope the defense stops letting Arizona march right down the field.

Whole Foods has crappy chips - they break the minute they touch the dip.

If the Mets don't get on the board soon I'm going to be really upset. I can't stand that they make everything so difficult.

3:21pm - A double and a bloop single have the Marlins up 1-0. I'm nervous. I also just switched back to SNY - I wonder if that was bad luck. Maybe I'll try out TBS.

3:26pm - Oliver Perez's day is done. He leaves with the bases loaded (an intentional walk to load the bases after runners on first and second tagged up) and one out - Joe Smith is on.

Brewers still trail the Cubs 1-0 through five. The Cubs aren't exactly trotting out a Murderer's Row of relievers...the Mets need to get on the board....but first keep the Marlins from adding more.

3:34pm - A bases-loaded walk by Joe Smith and two outs later, the Mets dodged a pretty big bullet. 2-0 Marlins, going into the bottom of the sixth. 1-0 Cubs, going into the bottom of the sixth. The Mets have a pinch-hitter, then the top of the lineup coming up - they need to get runs NOW.

3:42pm - I love Carlos Beltran. And until Wednesday night (or Thursday) I love each of these relievers the Cubs keep trotting out. 2-2!

And Anquan Boldin just scored against the Jets - good for my fantasy team, matching some of the points Coles has put up.

3:50pm - OK. New life, heading to the 7th tied at 2. But now I echo the Southern Bureau's sentiment - uh-oh on the bullpen being in the game now.

Sabathia looks strong - he's through seven, having just given up that 1 run. His third start in nine days. Jeez.

Beltran's homer came when I was watching TBS. Not two minutes later, I lost reception and had to resort back to Sun Sports....a Marlins conspiracy, no doubt.

4:01pm - The Jets defense looks horrible. I'll worry about that in two weeks though, after the bye week. The Mets defense looks great - Endy Chavez made an awesome running catch to end the seventh inning. The Brewers have the bases loaded...uh-oh.

4:06pm - Wuertz just walked in a run, so the Brewers tied it up 1-1. Is it just me, or does it seem like this year there have been tons of bases loaded walks? Drives me nuts - just throw a friggin' strike.

4:08pm - I don't think the Jets are going to lose...but watching them the past couple of weeks is like playing a game of Madden. Ridiculous scores against them.

The Cubs got out of that inning - it's 1-1 heading to the 8th. At this rate it looks like the Mets will be tied going into the 8th as well.

4:17pm - Scott Schoeneweis - are you kidding me? 3-2 Marlins in the 8th. The top of the lineup will be coming up again...hopefully the Mets bullpen doesn't give up more runs, because the Mets can't score too many the way they're playing.

4:23pm - Dan Uggla just got one off Luis Ayala. And now the Brewers just got a 2-run shot. Not good.

4:26pm - The Mets have made things tremendously difficult for themselves. The Brewers are now taking a 3-1 lead into the ninth - they got clutch hits when they needed them. The Mets need to do the same.

On a much more serious note, Anquan Boldin just suffered a really serious injury in the Jets game. He's taken off in an ambulance - bad news.

4:34pm - Well, it's over in Milwaukee. Nothing the Mets can do about that - just have to win and force a game tomorrow.

Marlins pitching change with runners on first and second - clutch double by Reyes, walk by Beltran. Now, with two outs, it's up to Delgado. Otherwise, those bats are all out of the way in the 9th, and I'm not crazy about that scenario.

4:37pm - Delgado flew out. I feel like I'm going to throw up.

4:52pm - Marlins 4, Mets 2. Here comes either the final three outs of the season or a great beginning to the end of Shea Stadium.

5:09pm - Wow. Brutal. And making it worse for me was having to watch the Marlins broadcast. I strongly dislike Rich Waltz and Tommy Hutton.

5:10pm - I am so pissed off...but in the end the Mets didn't deserve the playoffs. The Brewers won 5 of their last six games - the Mets lost two out of three to the Marlins. The Brewers got a clutch homer from their star, Ryan Braun, the Mets couldn't get a hit from David Wright in their biggest game (Wright hasn't had a clutch hit in his career). The Mets had no bullpen. They couldn't hold a lead, they couldn't keep a game tied. It happened a bunch throughout the season (just think if the Mets had held five leads - a few Johan Santana starts, and last Sunday against the Braves - they would have won the division by three games and not been in this position on Sunday) - it would have happened again in the post-season. I'd like to think things would have been different in the playoffs....but I doubt it - the Mets would probably have bowed out in the first round.

So there will be no playoffs. The last game at Shea Stadium has been played. The Mets will not open Citi Field as defending champions.....they will just be another team opening another new ballpark.

FIRED UP

I like it when a ballplayer gets good and fired up. I've mentioned a number of times that's something I think this Mets team could use - whether it's a brawl or just someone getting the team to act like they care.

It's not just the Mets - it's all around baseball. Last night, the Marlins lost to the Rockies 18-17. I saw a bit of the seventh inning, when the Marlins led 17-12. Logan Kensing was brought in with two men on, and I think no one out. He had nothing. Absolutely nothing. He walked the first batter he faced, loading the bases for Matt Holliday. Then he grooved one and Holliday hit it out. And then he proceeded to give up another base hit. He just kept grooving it in there. How about going high and tight on someone? No one ever does that anymore.

So I think there needs to be more emotion. Somewhere between Willie Randolph, whose greatest show of emotion was a glare from the dugout, and the likes of Joba Chamberlain and Jonathan Papelbon, who overdo it a little bit. A happy medium would be nice.

In the past week or so, though, there have been four instances of the type of emotion you would like to see out of a ballplayer, but in the wrong scenarios and for the wrong reasons. Let me break them down for you:

Shawn Chacon - Chacon was released by the Astros after allegedly throwing his general manager to the ground and then almost beating him up. This all apparently happened because Chacon was being summoned into the manager's office...although some reports indicate that while Chacon wasn't in the right, GM Ed Wade didn't necessarily handle himself in the most professional manner. (Speaking of unprofessional - the MLB Players' Union filed a grievance over this....what a joke.)

Regardless, there's no excuse for assaulting your boss. I don't care how unhappy you are with your own performance, or how the club is handling your situation - this is not the place for this kind of behavior.

Manny Ramirez - Manny was "Being Manny" (one of the worst aphorisms [am I using 'aphorism' correctly?] since 'it is what it is') last week, shoving the Red Sox's traveling secretary in a dispute over Ramirez's ticket allotment while the team was in Houston. First of all, is there something in the water in Houston? Secondly, it's like this never happened - there has been a murmur about it, but hardly an uproar. Thirdly, this is the second internal incident of its kind involving Ramirez...but no one seems to be putting two and two together here. Remember in the game where the Sox and Rays fought, there was a dugout incident between Manny and Kevin Youkilis? All reports after that indicated that Youkilis was the one who was at fault, because he threw equipment around or something, and Ramirez asked him to stop. Well, Youkilis isn't the one going around shoving 65-year-olds.

Joe Girardi - Well, at least with this one we're getting closer to some on-the-field action. After exploding for 18 runs on Wednesday, the Yankees were shut out by the Red Sox on Thursday. And Girardi was mad. He was short-tempered with the press, but he wasn't too much of a jerk. He got really mad when one reporter (Joel - I'm not sure who that was) kept asking the same question, trying to find out what Girardi told his team in a players-only meeting, but was pretty responsive to the rest of the questions. Basically, Girardi said, he was mad about losing - no matter who the opponent is.

Jose Reyes - Finally, Jose Reyes and broadcaster Keith Hernandez had a heated argument on the team plane traveling to St. Louis last week. (Let me just say that I first heard about this from my mom - which meant I had to go and check to make sure it really happened. Sometimes she mishears things on the news. And the real story here is that she got this story 94% correct.) (Also parenthetically, the Southern Bureau had a tongue-in-cheek response to this story that's worth reading.)

Apparently, Reyes was upset about what he heard Hernandez had said about him on the air. I didn't see this play, but last week after a throwing error against the Yankees, Reyes threw his glove to the ground. Hernandez said, "Well, he's got to get over that. Enough babying going on now. He's a grown man. He's been around a long enough time. Take off the kid gloves." (That quote is from mets.com.) Reyes's defense is that when you make an error, you're supposed to be upset about it.

OK, fine. But some people interpreted the throwing of the glove as a shot at Carlos Delgado, who I've read could have caught the ball (again, I didn't see it - I was at NASCAR). It wouldn't surprise me if Reyes was showing up Delgado, because Delgado always....and I mean always...shows up Reyes. Dating back to 2006 - if Delgado had to step off the bag for a throw, he would stare down Reyes. I guess they had a good relationship about it - but it was really ridiculous. Anyway, I wouldn't be shocked if Reyes was showing up Delgado.

The bottom line here is that Reyes should be fired up - but not because Keith Hernandez is calling him out. He should be fired up that his team is losing.

There's one thing that all four of these situations have in common. They're not motivated by the right reasons. They're all motivated by selfish reasons, which is a commentary on the people who play the game today. I think the Chacon and Ramirez situations speak for themselves. Though the Girardi situation is very close to being appropriate, the fact that it comes just after he heard from his outspoken boss and comes during the most important series he'll probably face all season (in fourth place, with the Red Sox in town) makes me second-guess the timing and the real reason for his anger.

And the Reyes thing isn't about baseball. It's about his image.

Jose Reyes is the most important player to the Mets. The stats speak for themselves (I'll probably get into it more around the All Star break). But his attitude leaves a lot to be desired. And until he acts like someone who wants to win, Keith Hernandez, a winner, has every right to criticize the way Reyes acts on the field.

ASK TIM & RALPH

I'm a little upset with my mom right now.

When I was young, the majority of Mets games were on WWOR-TV, Channel 9. The broadcasters were mainly Tim McCarver and Ralph Kiner, with a rotating cast of others, Steve Zabriskie is the first to come to mind. This is why I have a sentimental attachment to Tim McCarver, despite the fact that so many people don't like him - he reminds me of 1980's Mets baseball.

In the late 80's, or thereabouts, WWOR-TV started a segment during Mets games called "Ask Tim & Ralph". In the segment, viewers were encouraged to send a postcard with your name and address and a question for Tim & Ralph. I don't remember whether the segment was meant for viewers to try to stump Tim & Ralph with some sort of trivia (as we shall see, this is how I interpreted it), or if the viewer was meant to seek analysis of a situation, like, "Is this Juan Samuel really worth the Mets trading Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell?"

I wanted to get a question on the air. I don't think the question that was selected won anything, other than the glory of the sender seeing his or her name on TV, and Tim & Ralph answering their question on TV. But that was good enough for me in the late '80's. So I sent in my question, and waited for my name to turn up faithfully, every game, waiting for the segment to come on...then never seeing my question.

I only sent one postcard, so my chances were probably one in a million. But that one always had me clinging to the hope that one day I would see my question come up in a bottom-third graphic, and there would be my name on the TV! The segment lasted a couple of years, if I remember correctly, and I remember thinking it must have been a popular segment, if they never had the chance to get a 9-year-old's question on the air.

This failure became my punchline. I had a cousin who was lucky enough to get down on the field and meet some Yankees. I used to tell her, "Wow. You're lucky. I couldn't even get my question on 'Ask Tim & Ralph'." Whenever someone had something good happen to them, that was my response, "I couldn't even get my question on 'Ask Tim & Ralph'."

Turns out that one in a million chance was actually a zero percent chance. My parents, as you well know, are cleaning out the house. Last weekend, when we were visiting on our way back from vacation, my mom came up to me and said, "John, look what I found, isn't this cute?!" And imagine my surprise when she showed me this:


She never mailed it. I never had a chance.

COMMENT ON THE COMMENTS: In response to the Southern Bureau's comment - Rochester had a really good free breakfast buffet at the Marriott Residence Inn. I can't say enough good things about Residence Inns - love them. That's about all I have to say about Rochester. Except I much preferred driving through western/upstate New York than western Pennsylvania.

The Mets begin interleague play today against the Minnesota Twins. The Mets are 28-28, 3.5 GB of Florida. Atlanta is also 28-28, 3.5 GB. Philadelphia is 29-26, 2 GB, and Florida's record is 32-25. See, when you turn the standings upside down, the Mets come first.

Anyway, that's your NL East Update. I know, it's crappy, but I really don't feel like writing about the other teams - besides, I wrote about the Marlins yesterday. Read that again if you want. OK, fine. Here's what I'll do - I'll give you the first interleague opponent of each of the NL East teams, but that's it.
Florida - at Cleveland
Philadelphia - at Chicago White Sox
Atlanta - at Detroit
Montreal - at Kansas City
That's it. Onto other things.

So the draft was yesterday. You probably want me to give you some breakdown of the Mets' draft picks, and predictions of how they'll turn out. What do I look like...some kind of loser? Well, here goes...no, I'm just kidding. I have no idea who these guys are. All I know about the Mets draft is that once again, they did not pick me, so I go another year without fulfilling my dream of playing for the New York Mets. I do know that the Mets' first pick (third overall) was Philip Humber, a 6'4'', 210 lbs. pitcher from Rice University. He won the championship game for Rice last season, for whatever that's worth. The only thing I hope about this draft is that the Mets don't go down in history as "one of the teams who passed on Steven Drew" or "one of the teams who passed on Jered Weaver". Those two were supposed to go very high, but fell to 15 and 12, respectively, because teams didn't want to pay the big money that agent Scott Boras would have demanded for them as top 5 picks. Oh well. Hopefully they turn into busts.

I'm sure you're dying to know how the softball game turned out. It wasn't as exciting as the first one, but our team once again prevailed, with an 18-9 win. So we're 2-0 on the year, and we're pretty darn good. But I found out there's no playoffs or anything, so what the heck are we playing for?!?! So that's the softball update. My wife will be writing a game recap for her company later today, if it's good, maybe I'll post that tomorrow.

Here's a little tidbit I had forgotten about but just read in the Daily News. Mike Piazza is a career .365 hitter in interleague play. Nice.
And I'll end with this excerpt from a conversation with my mom last night, who, it turns out, doesn't like Art Howe. Now, mind you, she thinks he's a wonderful person (How does she know that, I wonder...), but she says she just has to question some of the decisions he makes during the games. (If you know my mom at all, this is just hysterical.) Apparently the big joke in my house with my mom is whenever the Mets are in a tight spot and Art Howe comes to the mound, she says, "Uh-oh, time to bring in John Franco." I just thought I'd relay that story. It must be funny around my parent's house during a Mets game. Good thing I'm not there. I'd probably yell at her.