NY METRO SPORTS

Willie : too [ conservative on hit & run ]
Reyes : too [ young ]
Lastings : too [ young ]
Glavin, Hernandez : too [ old ]
Willie : too [ committed to old pro's ]
Minaya : too [ visible ]
Green : too [ slow ]
Beltran, DelGado : too [ satisfied ]
Moises : too [ relied upon ]
Wright : too [ nice to team mates ]
Henderson : too [ much influence on Jose & Lastings ]
fifth starter : too [many ]
team attitude : too [ sure of themselves ]
NY METS : too [ bad ]

LaDuca = okay
DelGado = in a happy place somewhere far away
Castillo = okay
Reyes = dancing instead of playing
Wright = the right stuff
Alou = a pro's pro
Beltron = meeting his personal goals
Green, Lopez,Chavez,Miledge = trying too hard

pitching staff
Hernandez,Martinez,Glavin = golden oldies (with some scratches)
Maine, Perez = scapegoats in waiting

Relief pitchers = current scapegoats

overall
the Met's are not under acheivers they are just currently under-acheiving
the Phil's are the real deal
the National's are true grit

Prediction
it all comes down to pitching - the Met's have big advantage across the board despite recent problems with relievers and spotty starts
Met's all the way to a world championship

It's hard to say at this point - with the Mets tied for 1st place with Philly - where this is all going -

The options are 1st place, second place with wild card or second place with no wild card.

First place is the only secure place to be - and if they win all their remaining games including a playoff for 1st if needed they are good to go

Omar Minaya's face shows up in more TV commercials then I can recall any general manager's since I became an avid Met fan in 1969

As a baseball general management phenom - ove the years Omar has earned an AAA moody's rating - except he is not a US guaranteed security - and more likely to invest in some high yield government securities out of latin america

At the moment his footprints in the form of Ricky Henderson and Humber & Pelfry & Mota are all over Willy Randolph's face as well as the backs of the Met's hitters - and untypically Willy's are all over Rick Peterson's face - Randolph's comment on radio about getting on "Peterson" for pitchers giving up too many walks was as close to his cracking under pressure and pointing fingers as you'll ever visibly see from Randolph - also it doesn't help "Peterson" that he is the most important person to the Met's success thus far based on his phenomenal coatching of the pitching staff

Mota who steroid-less was a bad investment is Willy's cross to bear for his boss Minaya - Henderson's casual approach to the game underlines the lack of team success and impact Henderson has had during his otherwise spectacular career as an INDIVIDUAL player

WHAT I'M SAYING HERE IS THE MINAYA HAS FINALLY BLOWN IT - he's still the best GM out there but his ego and his need to see his decisions succeed at the 100% level have cost the Met's in 2007 -

It's the job of the Met's as a whole to keep his record and ego intact.

Counter started Saturday May 5, 2007 10pm
most of my life I’d never thought about what appeals most to me about team sports - but suddenly as I grow older - I know - perhaps soccer and the gradual evolution of the NBA & MLB towards international play and international players has made it more apparent - but it great to see players of different ethnic nationalities, colors, religions, all celebrate together or suffer together -

sports e-RACE-s the many eco-social and geo-political barriers that often prevent humans from communicating with one another -

Mark McGuire and Hank Aaron and Sammy Sosa stand tall - both flawed yet also flawless

Jordan and Larry Byrd flawed in some personal ways yet flawless to sports fans

what was that biblical line about crime and punishment - let those without sin cast the first stone , something many people in the media should contemplate

watching a team play together and play for one another is as uplifting as it gets - though most of us don’t know why -

it means so much to the young people especially - who are still often surrounded by racial prejudice and sexual bias as well as social barrriers based on income and education -

yes sports has it’s detractors - those who look for flaws and who enjoy when sports hero’s fall or fail as human beings - yet even then - we all learn from our heros’ mistakes and we repent along side of them -

and most of us will agree - that we’re all human - even our hero’s - so let’s borrow the magic e-RACE-r and keep playing the game of life - and play it to be winners - win or lose !

Attention! This is a big, loud shout-out to the owners of the New York Jets and Giants...get the hell out of Dodge or change those ‘NY’s’ to ‘NJ’s’. Are you not the least bit embarrassed that both teams from the great state of New York can’t even find a place in their own state to play? Your neighbors across the river have been very hospitable and patient but enough is enough.

Not only do these New York football teams play in New Jersey but they use the same stadium which, for some strange reason, is called Giants Stadium. Don’t the Jets have any pride? This would be a great time for either team, or both for that matter, to go home. Both the New York Mets and Yankees are building new stadiums and they should share their facilities like many teams do. Garden-staters are just sick and tired of babysitting these guys. It is time to claim one as our own (preferably the Jets) and send the other packing.

No, America, New Jersey is not an outer borough of New York and the NJ Nets is not the poor cousin of the NY Knicks. For years, the Nets have been looked upon as an annoyance from the other side of the Hudson River, the team fans would go and watch only because the Knicks were always sold out and they needed a basketball ‘fix’. Well, hold on to your seats Knicks fans.

Things are about to change. The high-flying, young, exciting and winning NJ Nets are soon to be playing at an arena near you...in your backyard...in Brooklyn...in your face.

I have no idea if majority owner Bruce Ratner is a genius, just lucky or if the basketball gods are smiling upon him but the arrival in 2009 of the Nets couldn’t have better timing. The Knicks are a sorry lot for sure with very little, if any, chance of them resembling a basketball team any time in the near future. The Nets, on the other hand, always manage to put a unit on the floor that makes you glad you are a fan of the game.

The Kidd, Jefferson, Carter trio may not be around in 2009 but they have a crop of young, hungry players in the wings ready to fly. Couple that with the leadership of guru Rod Thorne who is a true man of vision born with the basketball gene in his blood. It doesn’t hurt that co-owner Jay-Z, with Beyonce on his arm, will be front and center in Brooklyn. Move over Spike Lee. The new generation is here. We’ll see which team is the poor cousin across the river.

The Knicks will, for sure, keep their die-hard, life-long fans. True fans don’t jump ship when a new product is paraded in front of them or when the chips are down.

New, young fans will, without a doubt, be so happy to have a real team to cheer for that they will paddle their canoes to Brooklyn if necessary. The fans will be paddling in from Queens, lower Manhattan, Staten Island and, of course, Long Island where the Nets have their original roots. Such an easier commute than to mid-town.

All of us who live in New Jersey and have enjoyed the Nets for many years are sorry, angry and despondent to see the team leave. Ironically, it is those from the Garden State who will have the hardest time getting to Brooklyn. They will always be the NJ Nets. The only thing that keeps spirits up is knowing that the Nets’ arrival in Brooklyn will stick it to Knicks fans...empty seats, fans’ boos, Nets fans gloating...get use to it...what goes around, comes around. Your turn. What’s that noise? Oh, is that the air being sucked out of The Garden?

If you are a pro athlete or involved with pro athletes as a coach, trainer etc then I WOULD LIKE YOU TO WRITE ARTICLES for this blog email carl@coralights.com and I will give you a userid and password and help you with your posts if needed. Carl

When McGuire and Sosa suddenly were breaking records - while more fannies were sitting in the seats - baseball owners and their representatives looked the other way - like Ernie Kovacs Nairobi monkeys - no see , no hear, no say
and now they've switched from monkies to scape-goats
Now it's time to find scapegoats - why is it the media doesn't expose the owners for what they are? Because they control the media with advertising.
that is all I have to say and it sums it up quite simply!

it's easy for me to say at this point in time that the Mets are rolling on all four - and the Yanks are crawling on their knees -

but as cliche as it is -it's a 162 game season - problem for the Yanks is that now that A-rod can't deflect the focus on the Yanks real problems - a lot of players age, and deficiencies are much more apparent -

suddenly a lot of the untouchables have become mere mortals - while A-rod is A-rod ......

the Mets are rock solid - the decibel level is low and the vibes are great -

negatives will eventually become positives - such as Delgado and Wright getting off to slow starts - and injuries when/if they occur are just an opportunity for showcasing more talent backed up in the minors -