Friday, September 28, 2007

The Choke is on in Queens

Women's Soccer: No it was not a misprint, I'm starting with soccer. 3 things: I never like to see a U.S. team lose (as they did to Brazil in the Semis 4-0). The coach for the team should be fired. And I loved the post-game comments of the should-have-been-starting goalie or keeper in soccer speech afterward.

NL East: I'm not sure what is going on here. Should the story be on the surge of Philly or the Mets collapse? Bad press makes good copy, so of course the microscope has to be on the Mets collapse! It looks to me as if the players, or more specifically the bullpen has given up and stopped playing for Willie Randolph. Backing into the playoffs worked for the Cardinals last season, who knows, maybe it'll work for the Mets. If the falter gets completed and the Mets don't make it to the post-season, then look for Willie to get fired, and Gary Carter to be hired as new manager.

NL Wild Card: All the press is on the Mets - it should be on the Rockies. Winners of 11 straight, they now find themselves 1 game back. Outside of Brandon Webb and Todd Helton, I can't name a single player on that team.

Yanks: Phil Hughes did pretty well in his last start of the season. Be that as it may, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with him being a starter in the playoffs. And, if I'm feeling that way, then you know Mr. Loyalty to the Vets certainly feels that way. As long as Moose does not implode tonight he'll be the #3 starter in the opening round.

Clemens: My feeling on Clemens is that he is not healthy or strong enough to make a quality start in time for the playoffs. So, what I think they are going to do is use him out of the bullpen with the idea of a monster combo for middle relief to shorten the game to get the ball to Mo. 7th inning will be Clemens, 8th Chamberlain, and then Mo closes. That could work couldn't it?

Hillary Flip/Flop: At the most recent low ratings, nobody cares, Presidential debate she says she's been a Yankee fan for a long time (since 2000?) and will be rooting for them in the playoffs. She is a Chicago native, and was asked what If the Yanks meet the Cubs in the series: She said she'll be rooting for both. Is there anything worse in sports than fair weather fans?

5 comments:

57 said...

I hope the Mets lose three straight and the Phillies lose three straight and then a one game playoff is held on Monday for the NL East.... and then I hope the Mets lose that game. Randolph should be gone. The Mets are one of the most talented teams in the baseball and should not have been in this position at all and you have to blame the manager. It is the manager's job to put his team in the best position to win whether that is to bench a player who is going through the motions (Reyes) or know how to manage a pitching staff (his moves have been less than stellar).

I am embarassed to be a Mets fan today. The press should be focused on the implosion of the Mets and not the Phillies surge.

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I actually liked a lot of points that Dennis Kucinich made in the debate the other night. Lower the Social Security age instead of raising it... that makes a lot of sense to me.

*****

The Office was not that good last night and it might have been a sign with all successful shows that the writing fizzles out at some point and it is time to go.

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Anonymous said...

46 million. That's the number of people often quoted by the socialists seeking the Presidency. What the socialists won't explain, and what the in the tank media won't report is that more than 1/3 of that number is comprised of illegal alieans. and the another 1/3 qualifies for medicaid but has refused or has yet to sign up for it.

Why should we have to pay for that???

old professor said...

57, Just a brief update on the scenario if both teams are tied at the end of the season - no playoff- the first tiebreaker is head to head competition. Phillies have the edge, Phillies are given the division crown and the Mets go home. Paul LaDuca -"we are playing not to lose". May explain why they are going down the tubes.

Unfortunately, Randolph will take the fall for the slide the Mets are in. The GM should take a great deal of the heat because he put the team together. Amazing what just a few months can make. When the Mets were at the top of the division and threatening to run away with the crown, Randolph was a brilliant manager and the GM was the greatest thing since sliced bread - even Sports Illustrated ran a featured article on his life and struggle to become a GM. Now, there is a cry that both should go.

Mid, regarding Clemens or Hughes, that decision has already been made. If Clemens is healthy, he gets the number three slot, Mussina gets the number 4 start (if needed); Hughes if added to the Post-Season roster goes to the pen. If Clemens can't go, Mussina is slotted at number three and Hughes at #4.

Interesting debate this morning on ESPN Radio (Mike and Mike in the Morning). The conversation with Peter Gammons regarding Chamberlain and whether he will become a starter or remain in the pen. His view was the Yankees would be very tempted to keep him in the pen next year - IF they sign Rivera. (There should be no if, Rivera should be signed to a minimum of three years. Posada should be resigned as well as Molina [didn't realize he would be a free agent at the end of the season]. Gammons is not convinced yet that Chamberlain is going to translate into a successful major league starter.

57 said...

Prof, are you sure that the tie-breakers are in baseball? I remember the Mets having a one game playoff in 1999 to get into the playoffs against the Reds.

I just don't know the rules....

57 said...

It is unthinkable and unspeakable. This will be the worst implosion in the history of this storied game. A 7 game lead with ONLY 17 games left and a failure to make the playoffs is an abomination. Heads have to roll. I dont care if it is Willie Randolph, I don't care if it is Rick Peterson and I don't care if it is Omar OR all three; there has to be changes.

Having either played organized sports or coached them for a majority of my life, as much as a player needs to motivate himself, it the manager's or head coach's job to have the team prepared to play and to channel that self-motivation and use it to the team's advantage. Randolph significantly lacks that... think about it, did he REALLY have the Mets prepared to win game 7 last year? Without Endy Chavez's catch, the game would have been over and the bottom of the 9th dramatics would never have been.

People who support Randolph are apologists, and I am sick of it. A head coach is hired to be fired, and it does not ring truer than today in Queens.

Gone...just like that!

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