Unfortunatley history seems to have repeated itself

The disclaimer in the financial industry is: past performance doesn’t guarantee future results. Unfortunately, this statement seems to be all too true when it comes to the Mets. The past few months, the epic collapse of 2007 was in the back of every Mets fans’ mind. With the lack of emotion and offensive output, as well as the ever deteriorating bullpen, it was hard to push the memories of last season out of my mind. The ups and downs of the past two months have tugged at the heart strings of all the faithful Met followers. This off season is going to be long and painful for the current Mets squad; and it should be. Their lack of effort and enthusiasm directly correlated to the second demise of the Mets in two years. While I agree that a better offensive output needed to be demonstrated, the bullpen was ultimately the demise of this team. Even when the Mets were putting up 8-10 runs on the board, inevitably the bullpen allowed the opposition to come back. It doesn’t matter how many points the offense scores if the defense can’t stop anybody. If you put on 20 runs but you let the opposing team put up 21, then you still lose. It’s going to be a long off season. Let’s hope that everyone involved in the Mets organization uses it to their advantage to stop the bleeding and patch up the wounds of this team once and for all.

My last game at Shea

I was at Shea stadium for the last time last night. It was so weird to walk away from the place on my way out of the disastrous loss to the Cubs. I realize that I didn’t grow up in New York and don’t have memories of being led into the stadium as a little tyke like I do of Three Rivers Stadium, but in my three and a half years as a New Yorker I have grown to love that dump. I grew up in Pittsburgh and Shea reminds me of the concrete columned, no frills stadiums that were prevalent in baseball up until the 2000’s; the stadiums that I grew up going to and watching on TV. At that time, the point of going to the stadium was to watch the game. Now there are increased luxury boxes, fan interactive experiences and gourmet food stands. From a business perspective, I realize the need to adapt to the times and I am excited to see games at Citi Field next year, but, at the same time, it’s sad to see the end of an era.

In my short time in New York, I ended up going to my fair share of games at Shea but in that time I have compiled my own list of memories from the places. Among them:
-Opening Day 2006 when we had nosebleed seats and a bunch of drunk goombas started fighting in the upper deck and one of them fell creating a domino effect which ended with my friend face first three rows in front of where our seats were. I will never forget the look on her first when she finally landed and looked up at me, beer everywhere personal belongings spread all over the section.
-Pedro’s first home game of the 2006 season when he hit three batters. He got a hit himself that night and, despite the frigid temperature I couldn’t help but crack up watching him dance around second base like a little kid.
-The Orioles/Mets interleague game when I scored sweet seats from work and was close enough to first base to see the eye black on Brian Roberts.
-Running into Cole Hamels on the subway after the Mets/Phillies games in July.
-Taking the LIRR to the game and laughing so hard because the train was packed and we were trying to drink our beers while pressed into some random guys’ back.

I also won’t forget the corn dogs, Miller Lite’s, the cowbell man or the 7 train home. Shea, according to the city of New York, you’re not as nostalgic as the House that Ruth built, but I sure will miss you.

D-Day

This is it, we're playing for all the marbles tonight. The National Championship has officially met September. This could mean either the beginning of a National Championship run or the end of our season. I'm not going to lie, I'm on edge. The last few "big games" didn't bode well for the Buckeyes. And, coming off our pitiful performance last week, I think that my uneasiness heading into this game is understandable. I know that the Buckeyes are capable of beating this USC team, I just hope that last week gave them the kicck inthe pants that they needed in order to get 100% ready for tonight. I would like to once and for all silence all of the Pete Carroll/USC lovers and all of the Buckeye haters.

It's go time. 9 hours and counting...

College Football

The ESPN/USA Today coach’s poll came out yesterday and I have to say that I am surprised that the Buckeyes aren’t at the top of the list. While I don’t doubt that Georgia is a strong national title contender, I just don’t see how returning 20 starters on a team, in addition to landing the highly touted #1 recruit (who will see playing time this season) and that has made it to the title game two years in a row isn’t worthy of the #1 pre-season ranking. While I realize that by making it to the big game two years in a row and losing both times means that everyone loves to hate on the Buckeyes right now, I still don’t see how that translates into not only a #2 ranking, but #3. Ohio State’s ranking isn’t the only thing that I don’t understand about the top 25; Penn State at #20? They have a new quarterback, are coming off a 9-4 season. There are already off field problems that have affected the roster and there is the ever aging JoePa whose tenure, some feel, is long over. And then there’s Michigan at #24, their only experienced quarterback transferred once the new coach was hired and their star RB has been lost to graduation. They will also be using a pro-style offense that none of the current players are suited for. Combining that with last year’s 9-4 record that commenced with a loss to I-AA Appalachian State and I’m not really sure how that lands you in the top 25.
Say what you want, but the preseason rankings matter. If Georgia, USC and Ohio State all go undefeated this season, OSU will be the team to be shut out of the title game due to their preseason ranking. That’s where the lunacy of this sport is…the national championships are decided by voting, rather than head to head competition. My friend Mike once said that he can’t watch sports where the outcome isn’t decided by who is the fastest or scores the most points, such as gymnastics, where the champions are judged. I wonder how he feels about football then, since essentially the same thing is happening. I’ll have to bring that up to him, should make for an interesting debate.
While we are on the subject of rankings…why is it that the Big Ten has continually been referred to as “soft”, yet five of the 11 teams from the conference are in the top 25?? Only three Pac -10 teams landed in the rankings and only three ended up there at the end of last season (the same number as the Big Ten). During USC’s national championship seasons, it was never really an issue as far as the media was concerned as to whether or not they deserved to be there. I guess the Buckeyes really are that hated. If winning means we are hated, I’ll take that any day.
Good news so far out of Buckeye camp. The players reported to camp in shape yesterday after what the described as an extremely rigorous off season workout. General word is that there is significant individual improvement on the team from everyone, even the likes of Beanie Wells who threw up some ridiculous numbers last season. Let’s hope that adds to their advantage during the grueling season. Looking forward to more updates. GO BUCKS!

Enter Sandman

The Mets pulled off a much needed victory last night with a 6-3 win over the Phillies. Once again, the rivals are tied for 1st place in the NL East. Delgado, on a hot streak, moved up to the clean-up spot and contributed to the Mets 10 hits on the night. Schneider and Easley both had a multi-hit game to propel the Mets to victory, but the biggest hit of the night was Reyes’ go-ahead 3 run HR 6th inning. The stadium was rockin’ when the ball dropped over the right field fence. It was a much needed boost after the Mets early lead was cut with solo HR’s by the Phillies off of Maine in the 2nd. But, for anyone who watched Tuesday night’s disaster, a 3 run lead didn’t seem to hold much comfort. I was, at best a little leery when they decided to bring in Joe Smith in the 8th to relieve Schoeneweis. My nervousness was visible and while wondering aloud how they could possibly send him in after last night’s debacle my friend Krista stated “there’s only one way to get back on the horse”. I completely agree when that phrase refers to drinking after a hangover. But, this was a little different. I wasn’t so sure that Smith needed to get back on the horse so quickly. Luckily he did OK and it wasn’t long before they brought in the big guns – Billy Wagner. I have never been so excited to hear Metallica. The crowd was roaring watching Billy jog in from the bullpen to his song. He pitched a solid 9th and the Mets went home winners and tied for 1st place. As we were walking out of the stadium with the 53K + crowd, chants of ‘Jose Jose, Jose’ flooded the concourse. Good crowd, good game. All in all, it was a good night. The rubber match is set for 12:10pm today. The weather didn’t look promising at all this AM here in NY, but the rain seems to have subsided for now, so I’m hoping that the teams are able to square off here in a couple of hours and that the Mets can keep the good times rolling with another win this afternoon at good old Shea.
Ironic side note: as my friend and I were walking to the 7 train to head back into Manhattan, we were discussing, giving the geographical uniqueness of NY, how we would chose to transport ourselves from the stadium if we were ballplayers. I said that I would either go car service or subway thinking that it would be a pain to drive into the city every night. Krista didn’t think it would be such a big deal and I think she thought it was a bit crazy that I was leaning towards subway given how deep my pockets would be as a pro baseball player. Well, it seems that at least one other ballplayer shared my thoughts because moments later while on the subway, the Phillies fans in our car were all star struck as they noticed Cole Hamels seated just down the row from us. Now if only I could get David Wright to sign onto my thinking…