Giants Win the Super Bowl in October / Bye Week / Turning It Around

One of the many reasons I live is to see the day when pompous asses like Mike Garafolo of the Newark Star Ledger eat crow.

Giants fans in the New York area such as Garafolo are already celebrating a Giants Super Bowl victory this year. In a column published today that nearly spans the entire front page, Garafolo ticked off the Giants wins and losses over their remaining ten games, and he has them running away with the division at 12 - 4, locking up the second seed, and earning a first-round bye. Yet, he only confers the second seed upon the anointed Giants despite the fact that he says they will beat the Bears in November. No worry, he says, because if one thing has been made clear,

it's that you can go to Chicago in January and win.

And, here is what he had to say about the last game on the Giants schedule, the one against the Redskins on December 30:

If only Washington were still in it. What a treat this game would have been. Instead, the only fun Giants fans will have is watching Jason Campbell run for his life. Prediction: (Giants) Win.

Now, I'd like to make a little prediction: Giants fans have gotten WAY ahead of themselves; they will need a lot of luck just to win the division.

Garafolo thinks the Giants will beat the Bucs, Bears, Cowboys, Eagles, Saints, and Redskins--that's six wins in tough games--in addition to wins against the Titans and Texans. Of the six wins against tough opponents that the omniscient Garafolo has conferred upon the Giants, I think the Giants will need an enormous amount of luck just to go 4 - 2. I'm talking humongous luck...luck like the kind they found in Philadelphia this year, but which is unlikely to be repeated. And, if those two losses come against the wrong teams--say the Redskins, Eagles or Cowboys--the Giants may not even win their division. In fact, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Giants lost three of those six games and fell one game short of the division title.

It will likely only take ten wins to win the NFC East this year, and it is still anyone's division when only two wins separate the top of the division from the bottom and there are ten weeks of football left to play.

What is it going to take for the Redskins to step up and take the division? In a word, health. They need to get their defensive starters back—all of them. You can’t have six starters out for some part of the year and expect to do well. Redskins fans are wailing about the lack of offense and calling for Brunnell’s head, but the offense has actually been about as productive this year as last year despite not yet fully absorbing Saunders playbook and missing Portis for most of two games. And, Brunnell actually has a higher passer rating and is ranked higher in the NFC this year. Through seven games, the Redskins have actually scored five more points this year compared with last year and that comparison is made tougher when one considers that the 2005 stats include a game against a horrible 49ers team in which the Redskins scored fifty-two points.

No, the culprit for their poor start has been their defense and that is only because of the inordinate number of injuries they have had on that side of the ball. Here are the statistics from the Washington Post:

After seven games last year, the Redskins were sixth overall in total defense, giving up 283.1 yards per game. This year, they are 26th, at 350.1 yards per contest. In two of the last three games, the Redskins have given up more than 400 yards…After seven games in 2005, the Redskins were first in pass defense at 152.7 yards per game. This year, the defense gives up an average of 239.4 passing yards per game, good for 29th of 32 teams.

So, the Redskins find themselves in the middle of a 2 – 5 streak. Fans should remember that last year they had a 2 – 6 streak and still won ten games, made the playoffs, and were one play away from playing in Joe Gibbs’s sixth NFC championship game in fourteen years of coaching. Wow. And, remember, the Giants were watching that Redskins playoff game on TV at home.

Fans should also try to remember how they felt at the end of that 2 - 6 streak last year when they lost to the Chargers. Talk show host were calling into shows they weren't even hosting and screaming about the loss to the Chargers and saying the Skins were dead. Nearly everyone on ExtremSkins.com posted that the Redskins were dead. Washington Post writers said the Skins were dead. Post columnists like Sally Jenkins said that only delusional fans who named their pets after Skins players still believed the Redskins could make the playoffs. Oh, and then she conferred a deep playoff run on the Giants. Oops. It is no different this year.

Fans who now wail about this year’s home loss to the terrible Titans, and who use that loss as evidence that the Redskins cannot win the division this year, should try to remember last year’s home loss to the awful Raiders that came in the middle of that 2 – 6 streak. Fans who think that this year’s offense is terrible compared with last year’s should try to understand that this year's offense has scored more points than last year's and it still hasn’t come close to fully utilizing all of its weapons.

Finally, another reason for optimism is that the Redskins have made major upgrades at special teams and have already scored a touchdown on punt and kickoff returns. Special teams win in January. The only thing that is worse off this year is the defense.

Will this week’s bye help them heal enough for a playoff run? The Giants credit their recent success on having an early bye week to heal and fix their problems. I think Redskins fans will be saying the same thing about the Redskins in about a month. What will Garafolo say then? Probably something similar to what Sally Jenkins said after the Redskins won their tenth game last year and secured a playoff spot:

We could all take a lesson from Brunell. And we could all take a lesson from the Redskins' ability to rebuild themselves in the span of a mere month. Like Brunell, they stowed their complaints, and erased their mistakes. The things they previously did wrong, they suddenly did right...They weren't sentenced to failure. Just because you make a mistake once doesn't mean you have to make it twice. I made a mistake of my own when I wrote five weeks ago that the Redskins were done for the season. They weren't, not by a long shot. For one thing, I didn't take into account the deep competitive nature of their quarterback.

Colts 36 - Redskins 22

The Redskins put their second-team and sometimes third-team defense on the field yesterday and still managed to go into the locker room with a half-time lead. I have no idea how they did it. But, time is not kind to battered teams and the Colts destroyed the Redskins in the third quarter 20 – 0 and that was the difference in the game.

The following defensive starters did not play yesterday:
Lemar Marshall: Middle linebacker and signal caller
Cornelius Griffin: Last year’s defensive MVP
Carlos Rogers: Cornerback who covered #1 wide outs while Springs was hurt

The following players left the game with injuries:
Golston: Defensive Tackle filling in for Salave’a
Shawn Springs: Cornerback got his first start this year but left in the fourth quarter

The following played with injuries:
Springs: Cornerback
Joe Salave’a: a starting DT was injured and not expected to play but filled in for Golston

So, six of the eleven players on the starting defense either did not play, played when they weren’t supposed to, or were hurt and missed the remaining time in the game. How the hell are they supposed to stop a high-powered offense on the road, in a dome with those kinds of injuries, especially when they were down to their third string at DT? The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time. Let’s hope it’s not too late when they return.

The 2006 Mets: It Was an Above-Average and Disappointing Run

If you had told me in June that the Mets would play in the National League Championship Series and that four of the seven games would be started by two guys name John Maine and Oliver Perez, my first question would have been: “Who?”

Then, I would have asked: “And, it went seven games?”

Fred Wilpon and Son’s Lamborghini
Over the past two years, the Wilpons—majority owners of the New York Mets—bought an expensive Lamborghini to race around Shea Stadium. They bought a shiny piece of precision engineering and power to show off to their fans. They collected a ton of money from their fans to let them look at it—from ticket and concession sales and from advertising sales from the television station that they own which broadcasts Mets games. Then, after looking at the sticker price of this race car, they thought it would be a good idea to fill it with low-octane gas to save a few bucks. And, of course, the expensive machine sputtered.

I have few problems with the way Willie Randolph managed this series. I heard the WFAN callers over the past two weeks and I thought some had good criticism and others were ridiculous, but Willie didn’t lose the series for the Mets; Fred Wilpon and Son did, and they have no excuses. After buying the Lamborghini, they spit the bit. They could have had Kris Benson to pitch in two of these games. They could have had Mike Cameron tracking down all of those RBI hits that were just out of reach for Shawn Green. But, they went with low-octane fuel to save chump change.

There should be no doubt that Mike Cameron would have caught Spiezio’s triple that drove in the Cardinals’ go ahead runs in the seventh inning of game two. If Green got there in plenty of time to make the catch, Cameron would have been standing under it and waiting for it to come down. It hit off of the back of Green’s glove because he over-extended for it and the game was lost.

There should be no doubt that Cameron would have caught Spiezio’s pop fly to right that scored the first two runs of game three. The ball bounced off of Green’s chest after he got a bad jump, looped around, and dove for it. Had Cameron been there, Trachsel’s day probably would have ended a lot differently. The Mets still didn’t hit that day against Suppan, but the game would have been close enough to steal.

And, despite how well the two rookies pitched in games six and seven, there should be no doubt that the team would have been much better off with Kris Benson pitching in two of these games. It is almost unfair of the Mets to have asked these two rookies to win this series for them. It's like getting your teenage sons drunk and tossing them the keys to the sports car.

Finally, I have to dispel one thing that I have repeatedly heard about the Benson trade. Talk show hosts and others keep saying that the trade brought in two guys who eventually made the Mets rotation. That is absurd. Although John Maine came directly in the trade, the fact that Jorge Julio, who also came in the trade, was eventually traded for Orlando Hernandez should not be factored in to the evaluation of the Benson trade. Hernandez could have been had for a box of chocolates, that’s how desperate the Diamondbacks were to get rid of him and his salary. At their next board meeting, the Diamondbacks would have passed around that box and snickered with caramel on their teeth at how they had just taken the Mets to the cleaners.

And, we could play this six-degrees-of-separation game all day. Why don’t we trace back how the Marv Throneberry deal eventually led to the Delgado trade?

Willie Randolph
Back to Willie: The only thing I would fault Randolph for were his underutilization of Steve Trachsel and one pitching decision that actually worked.

I’ll start with the latter. In game five, Tony LaRussa brought in Chris Duncan, a left handed batter to pinch hit against Pedro Feliciano, a left handed pitcher. All of the statistics said that LaRussa made a dumb move. Duncan was horrible against lefties this year and great against righthanders. Duncan hit twenty of his twenty-two home runs against righties. He hit 0.315 against righties in the regular season and only 0.158 against lefties. And, Feliciano has a nasty sweeping curve ball that is very tough on left handed hitters. Of course, LaRussa looked like a genius because Duncan hit a home run off of Feliciano. The next day, Willie had the opportunity to bring in Feliciano to pitch to Duncan, who was pinch hitting. You have to play the percentages there and bring in the lefty, but Willie stuck with the righty, Guillermo Mota. Of course, Willie looked like a genius because Duncan hit into a double play. But, Willie got lucky. Duncan crushed the ball. Willie was lucky that Duncan hit it right at the second baseman.

It is anathema among Mets fans to defend Steve Trachsel after he was hurt in his only appearance in the NLCS, but he deserves defending. Mike Francesca and Chris Russo, Yankee and Giants fans, respectively, love to rip Trachsel because he took himself out. They think he was a deer in headlights. But, if he didn’t get hurt he would have competed. You don’t win as many games as he did in five years with some lean teams without having the ability to compete. He joined the Mets in 2001 and led the Mets in wins in 2001, 2003, 2004, and 2006. That’s 2006, Mets fans, THIS YEAR. In 2002, he was third on the Mets in wins, just two wins shy of the team leader. In 2005 he was hurt and missed most of the season.

Do I love Trachsel? Do I think he was the best pitcher on the team? Do I want them to resign Trachsel? Absolutely not. But, he was their most effective pitcher in five years. You have to dance with the date you brought. Willie let his dislike for Trachsel get in the way of the best baseball decision.

Now, I’ll briefly list some things Willies did right, but I will omit many because there are a lot. WFAN callers are second-guessing him right now, but Willie didn’t lose this series. Sticking with Heilman in the ninth was the right call. Who knew how many innings this game was going to go. He needed to keep Heilman in not just to burn innings, but to compete, which he did very well all year. Dance with the date you brought. With a lead, he would have brought in Wagner to shut the door.

Not bunting in the ninth with runners on first and second and no outs was the right thing to do. I was nervous that Floyd was up because he couldn’t run and a ground ball was a sure double play, but I didn’t want to see them give up an out there. Reyes’s line drive after Floyd’s at bat was too shallow to score Valentin from third base anyway. There is no way Manny Acta would have sent Valentin home with two outs and LoDuca and Beltran coming up next. So, the Floyd strikeout was the next best outcome besides a hit or walk, and the pitch that Wainwright threw to strikeout Floyd was downright nasty. There isn’t a hitter in baseball that could do anything with that pitch.

Short of getting the win, the Mets gave us all we could have asked for in the bottom of the ninth inning. We had our best hitter at the plate with three quick runners on the bases. A single would have tied the game. An extra base hit would have won it. The only disappointing thing about that at bat was Beltran let the first pitch, a fastball that caught a lot of the plate, go by without swinging. If he saw the hook that Wainwright threw to Floyd, he should have looked for a fastball to hit because that curve was unhittable. After he got two strikes on him, Wainwright threw the hook and Beltran could only watch it.

Omar Minaya
Omar Minaya did a pretty good job putting this team together. His best moves were dichotomous: They were the super-sized ones and the moves that went unnoticed when he made them. Super-sized moves were signing Beltran and Martinez and trading for Delgado. The unnoticed moves include bringing in Endy Chavez and Jose Valentin to bolster the bench—but who won starting jobs—and stocking the bullpen with Chad Bradford, Pedro Feliciano, Darren Oliver, and Guillermo Mota.

The Catch
Speaking of Endy Chavez, I cannot say enough about the catch that he made last night. As I write this, Mike and the Mad Dog are playing the St. Louis radio announcer’s call of that play. The announcer said exactly what I said at the time: That was one of the greatest plays ever made in Major League Baseball post season history. I don't know how they lost after that.

The 2007 Mets and Beyond
The best things about the Mets right now are the young and talented Beltran, Reyes and Wright. Minaya did a good job signing them to long term contracts. Next is their terrific bullpen, especially their middle relief and setup men, which they have to keep together. Then, they have excellent young, but unproven starters in Pelfry, Maine, Bannister, Perez, and Humber. It is highly likely that one or two of them will develop into high-quality back of the rotation starters next year, but Mets fans shouldn’t expect much more than that.

Endy Chavez and Jose Valentin are terrific defensive players. They are terrific pinch hitters and Endy is a terrific pinch runner. They are terrific spot starters. But, the Mets cannot expect to win a championship if they are everyday players. Shawn Green is a great guy in the clubhouse. He can still hit and would make a great DH in the American League. But the Mets cannot expect to win a championship if he is roaming rightfield every day. If he caught that ball in game two, the Mets would be going to Detroit right now. They had their foot on the Cardinals’ necks and let them go.

Pedro Martinez is done. And so the Mets are missing a very important piece that all championship teams need: A true number one starter that can shut down an offensive powerhouse in two starts in a seven game series plus potentially pitch a few innings in a third game. Tom Glavine will likely want to finish his career and get his 300th win in Atlanta. I’d like him back, but he probably won’t come back because the Mets have to pay him $5 million no matter what and his family is in Atlanta where the Braves are likely to give him another $7 million. Orlando Hernandez turns 62 next year. Willie is ready to kick Trachsel to the curb. So, next year’s starting rotation is almost completely unknown right now.

Cliff Floyd is done. He’s a great guy and David Wright is going to miss him, but he only gave the Mets one healthy year. Paul LoDuca is a fiery competitor. If Piazza had LoDuca’s fire, Piazza would have taken the jagged edge of the bat that Clemens threw at him in the 2000 World Series, jammed it in Clemens’s chest, and the Mets would have won the 2000 World Series. But, Fire is not enough. LoDuca is old for a catcher. It didn’t show this year, but it is bound to catch up to him soon.

So, if pitching wins championships, barring a miracle, the Mets will be in trouble next year too. And, besides pitching, which every team wants, the Mets have holes. They need two starting corner outfielders, a starting second baseman and maybe another quality catcher. Fred Wilpon and Son are going to have to go out and almost completely overhaul the Lamborghini. Are they going to pay top-dollar for Schmidt and Zito? Are they going to pay top-dollar for Soriano for second base, and someone like Gary Matthews Jr. and move him to right? Will they trade some of their young starters for Dontrelle Willis? Given what they did this year, spitting the bit on Cameron and Benson’s pay when the team was built to win this year, it is unlikely. Yet, almost all of those moves would have to be made to ensure a championship, something that has eluded the Wilpons for over twenty years. Pathetic.

The Mets were incorporated the year I was born. I was born within sight of where Shea is currently located. I have been a Mets fan since I was a sports fan and it pains me to see this year’s opportunity slip away. They had the Lamborghini and it was ready to win this year, but Wilpon and Son filled it with 85-octane and blew it.

Sally Jenkins on Marvin Harrison

The Redskins play the Colts this weekend, so the Washington Post sent Giants fan and Post columnist Sally Jenkins to Indianapolis to interview Marvin Harrison and write a piece on him.

It was a wonderful column. She wrote about his overarching shyness; his refusal to celebrate flamboyantly—or at all—for doing his job. She wrote about his diligence and hard work to become the best receiver that he could. She compared him with other receivers who had an almost pathological need for attention. She then showed how Harrison put up better numbers than they did and would probably retire as the best receiver of all time and would certainly be in the Hall of Fame.

In short, Sally Jenkins could have written this piece ten years ago, replaced the name “Marvin Harrison” with “Art Monk” and she would not have had to change one thing about the characterization or accomplishments of Art Monk, only his supporting cast. Art Monk grew up in a different time with different parents, teachers, coaches and other people around him, but everything else she wrote about Harrison was true for Monk.

Monk did what no other receivers did before him in the NFL. He had the most catches in a season (in fact he was the first NFL player to break 100), most catches in a career, and most consecutive games with a catch. These are records that Harrison now owns or will own shortly. There are only three things that Harrison has not done yet that Monk has; Monk has three Super Bowl rings to Harrison’s zero.

Monk also refused to talk. He refused to celebrate. He went about his business and worked diligently to be the best. He was also a great teammate and solid citizen.

Now, you would think that with so many comparisons to Monk being true, that a sportswriter for the WASHINGTON Post would have written the name Art Monk at least once in her piece, wouldn’t you? Well, she didn’t. And, since sportswriters are the ones who elect players into the NFL Hall of Fame, Art Monk continues to be ignored and continues to be refused a spot in Canton. Will Marvin Harrison suffer Monk’s injustice? Will he be left out while he watches Terrell Owens get elected?

Simon & Garfunkel Knew This was Coming in 1967

Sung to Simon & Garfunkel’s "Mrs. Robinson."

Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee
Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo
Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee Dee…

…Sitting on a sofa on a Tuesday eve-a-ning
Watching the Cardinals’ West Gate
Laugh about it, shout about it
When Fred’s got to choose
Every way you look at this we lose

Where have you gone Michael Cameron,
We Mets fans turn our lonely eyes to you
Woo Woo Woo
What's that you say, Mrs. Robinson
Motorin' Mike was sent by Fred away,
Hey hey hey. So long Shea…

Two things I never want to see again:

1. Shawn Green plodding after playable balls while a) they roll past him, b) bounce off the back of his glove (see picture below), or c) bounce in front of him and off of his chest, as Cardinals circle the bases in close games against the Mets;

















2. Jeff Kellogg, the home plate umpire in tonight’s game;

I know Shawn Green is trying, I really do. I don’t want to unfairly pick on him because this pending NLCS collapse by the Mets is really not his fault. This series was lost last winter when Fred Wilpon and Son realized that Mike Cameron’s contract was going to reduce their free cash flow from somewhere near $200 million this year to about $193 million; when they found his paycheck unbearable and incorrectly decided that they didn’t need him to win the pennant.

And, seriously, didn’t it seem that everything was called a ball tonight—for both teams—while Glavine was still in the game, and then around the fifth inning when Glavine was done, everything was called a strike--again for both teams? Wasn't Pujols struck out on the pitch before he hit his home run?

And could Joe Buck please do a little better job hiding his glee at all of this?

Well, if the Wilpons don’t like Simon & Garfunkel’s “Mrs. Robinson,” they can always listen to the Sound of Silence starting next week at Shea.

Never Right

No, this isn't a post about Joe Gibbs or Mark Brunnell in case you wandered over here from ExtremeSkins.com.

My birthday was sandwiched by Redskins’ losses to the Giants and Titans. Okay, the Giants game was on the road against a tough division foe, so that was not unexpected. The disappointing thing about the Giants game was that the Redskins offense didn’t show up after it raised my expectations the week before by dismantling one of the top defenses in the NFL. But, lose to the Titans at home? Come on.

It took us four and a half hours to get from FedEx Field to NJ after the game last night because of traffic, so I had to listen to the first four innings of the Mets game on the radio. Readers know I am very nervous about this Mets team. I was at Shea for the very disappointing loss to the Cardinals on Friday night. Then, they lost on Saturday to go down 2 – 1 in the series with the prospect of Oliver Perez pitching game four. After a Redskins loss to the Titans, that was almost unbearable. But, that was a great win last night. Do you think Carlos Delgado is making the most of his first playoff appearance in his thirteen year career?

And, once again, Beltran has come through for this team. Considering that a year has gone by and he still has not forgiven Mets fans for the way they treated him last year (no curtain calls, etc.) it is unlikely that he will ever embrace them. That’s too bad. It affects his play at home. Let’s just hope he improves on his major-league-low home batting average next year. If he improves just a little, he’ll win the MVP award.

But, back to the Redskins, can someone please help me understand this team? Last week the offense didn’t show up after destroying the Jaguars’ top-ranked defense the week before. This week the defense and special teams didn’t show up after performing well against the Giants. Which unit will fail to show up next week?

Look, there are injuries on defense, I know. Shawn Springs made his first appearance of the season yesterday and got on the field for about five uneventful plays. And, on the day he came back neither of their starting defensive tackles, Cornelius Griffin and Joe Salave'a, played due to injuries. Readers know that I think Griffin was the Redskins defensive MVP last year, so he is a big loss. The Titans took full advantage of it and ran right down the Redskins throat. Vince Young handed off thirty-two times to Travis Henry who ran through the A and B gaps that defensive tackles normally defend. Henry had his best rushing game as a pro with 178 yards. But, the Redskins should have enough depth on the defensive line to stop a winless football team from running right through them.

It looked like the Redskins looked past the Titans to the upcoming game against the Colts. They easily jumped out to a huge 11-point lead in the first 15:05 minutes of the game and then stopped playing. Then, they frantically came back in the fourth quarter in a drive that took three plays and 1:15 to score a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie the game. But, because they did not kill the severely wounded Titans when they had the chance, it allowed one bad play—a poor Redskins punt—to lead to the Titans winning field goal with 5:11 left in the game.

And, I hear what the coaches are saying about how they are one or two plays per game from a 5 -1 or 4 – 2 record. But, when are they going to make those plays? Early in the game against the Giants, Carlos Rogers dropped an Eli Manning pass that hit him right in the hands at mid-field. It was reminiscent of his drop against the Seahawks in the NFC division playoffs, except in the latter case it was a sure touchdown and a likely trip to the NFC championship game. Against the Giants, it would have given the Skins great field position early and who knows? Yesterday, early in the game, Marcus Washington dropped a Vince Young pass that hit him right in the hands at mid-field. There were two Titans fumbles that they had a chance to recover and didn’t. They have to start making those plays.

If the Redskins beat the Colts next week, they will be back on the pace that I predicted at the beginning of the season. But, the Colts are undefeated, playing at home in the dome, and are coming off of a bye week. This, by the way (bye the way?), is the second time in three weeks the Redskins are playing a team coming off of a bye. The Redskins are already a ten-point underdog and that spread should widen. A loss to the Colts would mean the Redskins would likely have to run the table to win the NFC East because it is probably going to take eleven wins to accomplish that. Certainly at this point, they have to run the table in their four remaining games against NFC East opponents, but three of those four games are at FedEx, so that is not as much of a stretch.

I expected the Skins to be 3 – 4 heading into their bye and they can still get there with a win over the Colts. I expected the Skins to be much better in the second half of the season than the first. But, I didn’t expect the Skins to overlook the Titans.

I expected the Mets to beat the Cardinals, but I didn’t expect them to blow a three-run lead on Friday. I didn’t expect guys named Perez and Maine to make two and maybe even four starts in a seven game series. The only hope I foresaw last night was that the Cardinals pitcher was no better than the Mets’ Perez. I’m worried about 40-year old Glavine pitching on only three-days of rest. I guess if the Mets win tonight and Glavine pitches well, I’ll have a near-perfect record of predicting everything wrong in the past ten days, which bodes well for the Redskins in the Colts game.

If a Higher Authority had given me a choice between a Mets or Redskins win yesterday, I would have chosen the Mets because their season would have been essentially over with a loss. The Redskins season is still very much alive despite their loss, despite what many of their fans think today.

Good Night Irene

As I said in August, the Mets are in trouble. They are now down 2 – 1 in the NLCS, but it didn’t have to be this way. It would have been nice to have a healthy Kris Benson for these playoffs, but the Wilpons are less interested in championships than cash flow, and so we have John Maine. Maine may one day be a very good pitcher, but not today. It would have been nice to have Mike Cameron in the outfield to track down all of those RBI hits in this series that were about six-inches out of reach for Shawn Green, but the Wilpons cared more about profits than winning and sent Cameron packing.

It’s not enough to have their own cable station to broadcast Mets games and generate a ton of cash for the Wilpons. The Wilpons also want New York City pay for a large part of their new stadium. That new stadium will surely bring in gullible fans like me and give the Wilpons even less incentive to assemble a quality team. What’s that you say? The Mets have the sixth biggest payroll in baseball so what am I complaining about? That may be true, but relative to their cash flow that payroll is a mere pittance. Now, I am a professional investor, so I cannot blame the Wilpons for wanting to generate free cash flow and become rich off of it. I just wish they wouldn’t insult their fan base’s intelligence by pretending that they are doing everything they can to win a championship. They are not.

Sooner or later, though, someone will have to answer for the lack of a championship; I'll bet the Wilpons do a good job at pointing the finger elsewhere, and since the Mets are their toy, they get to keep it. But, in the almost-thirty years that the Wilpon family has owned a major stake in the Mets they have won only one championship and much of the credit for that should go to former co-owner Nelson Doubleday.

It was Doubleday who insisted on bringing in GM Frank Cashen--Baltimore's former GM--and giving him free reign, and it was Cashen who rebuilt the farm system and stockpiled it with pitchers Gooden, Darling, Aguilera and Fernandez and outfielder Strawberry. And, it was Cashen who made the deft trades for Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter that put them over the top. Fred Wilpon was a lucky bystander then and his son Jeff was still in high school. But, since then the Wilpons siezed control of the team and the results have been terrible. This is not Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Milwaukee or Oakland folks, this is New York, and one championship in that time frame is a pathetic record for a major market team.

Two items that I always found interesting about the Wilpons: 1. Nelson Doubleday had to fight tooth and nail to sign Mike Piazza over the Wilpons' objection due to the size of the contract they were going to have to offer to keep Piazza. Piazza was largely responsible for the Mets' last NL pennant in 2000; 2. The Wilpons later forced Nelson Doubleday to sell his stake in the team. That should tell you everything you need to know about the Wilpons. Hey, I'd love to invest with them, but I wish they didn't own my favorite baseball team.

Having said all of that, I’ll look for the silver lining for this series, but it’s tough knowing Oliver Perez is starting for the Mets tonight: Well, the Mets were shut out eight times in 2006 and in games following a shut out they are 4 – 4, so that’s not a silver lining. Uh, I guess the only silver lining is that St. Louis is starting Anthony Reyes, a guy who was 5 – 8 this year with a 5.06 ERA and who only played in twenty-one games in his whole career.

If the Mets do not win tonight, it’s good night Irene.

Mets 6 - Cardinals 9: Can’t Anyone Here Manage this Game?

I have two bones to pick.

I’m not a Willie Randolph hater. I’m not a huge fan of Willie’s managerial decisions either. I’m not an Omar Minaya hater. And, I’m not a big Omar fan either. I just want my Mets to win a championship. “Is that so wrong?” (1990’s SNL spoof of Harvey Fierstein).

Is there anybody in baseball that believes that John Maine is a better pitcher at this point in his career than Steve Trachsel? Anyone? Then why is Maine starting in game two when Trachsel is available and has his required days rest? Does anyone think that Trachsel would have blown separate leads of 3, 2, 1, and 2 runs? Maine is a virtual rookie who got one start in May thanks to desperation on the part of the Mets and then didn’t pitch again until the Mets got even more desperate in July. Prior to this year, he pitched in eleven major league games and had an ERA of about seven.

This is a classic example of a guy you don’t want to rely on in October. He’s a nice fill in when the division title is already in the bag, but he is not a playoff starter. Ask yourself this: Whom would you rather have on the mound in game six with the Mets down 3 – 2 in the series and facing elimination? Because of Randolph’s decision to go with Maine last night, we’re going to get Maine in game six.

Now, say what you want about Steve Trachsel, but all the guy has done in five uninjured years with the Mets is win: Fifteen wins this year, twelve in 2004 (he was hurt in 2005), sixteen in 2003, and eleven each in 2002 and 2001 and most of those years were pretty lean for the Mets. Steve Trachsel is a veteran who can handle October pressure. He’s no Tom Seaver, but he is much better option than throwing a virtual rookie to the wolves. Tony LaRussa gets this stuff. He moved his best available starter up a game in order to get him in as early as possible.

Point two: Shawn Green went back to catch Spiezio’s fly ball within forty feet of my seats last night (145A seats 1 and 2). My friend and I each turned to each other and immediately said the same thing: He should have caught that ball. If he had, game over, the Mets win. I know it wasn’t an easy play, but major league players make that catch. He got there. When a major league player gets to the ball he’s supposed to catch it. Green actually overextended for that ball and it hit the back of his glove. Does anyone think that Mike Cameron would have missed it? Thank you Omar (or Fred).

Tonight is a must-win game with Trachsel on the mound because tomorrow night they’re throwing Oliver Perez who was 3 -13 this year with an ERA over 6.50.

Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain

In the late 1940s the Boston Braves had two dominating pitchers: Hall of Famer Warren Spahn and three-time 20-game winner Johnny Sain. Their lack of other pitchers of their equal led Gerald V. Hern to write the following poem:

Published: Boston Post (09-14-1948)

First we'll use Spahn
then we'll use Sain
Then an off day
followed by rain
Back will come Spahn
followed by Sain
And followed
we hope
by two days of rain

which has since been truncated to "Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain."

Right now, the Mets could use a poem. I'll throw out a few and will publish other good suggestions:

1. Glavine and Trachsel and two days of Praxil
2. Tom and Steve and then a Reprieve
3. Steve and Tom and a thunder storm (weak I know)
4. Tommy and Stevey and Beg for Jake Peavy

Please write in.

UGH! Giants 19 Redskins 3

Some of you noticed that I predicted a Redskins win in a post written today, but in the season-long preview written a few weeks ago, I had predicted a loss for the Skins in the meadowlands.

In fact, two weeks ago I had predicted that the Redskins would lose today but that prediction was made before the Redskins first win. The prediction of a win today was made after the Redskins figured out Saunders playbook (or so I thought) and racked up almost 500-yards against an excellent Jaguars defense, the same defense that shut out a pretty good Jets team today.

So here we are, and the Redskins offense is Jekyll and Hyde. One week the Redskins O-line shuts down one of the best D-lines in football, and the next they give up three sacks to an average D-line. One week Mark Brunell has all day to throw, and the next he barely has time to set his feet.

Notice I place all of the blame for today's loss on the Redskins offense. The Giants have a very good offense and any time a team's defense holds them to nineteen points, they should win the game. The fact that the Redskins O could not get any points today is the reason for the loss. (Update: After reading the box score this morning I realized that the failures of the Redskins offense forced their defense to stay on the field for almost 35 minutes in the game including over 20 minutes in the second half. It is a miracle that the Redskins D held the Giants to only 19 points.)

Next week the Redskins offense gets to "get healthy" against the Titans. Their next real test will come in Indianapolis in two weeks. Which Redskins offense will show up, Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde's? But, whichever O shows up over the next few weeks, one thing is sure: The season has a long way to go and this Redskins team is very good. They are still on the path that leads to the NFC East title.

More thoughts 10/9/06: Michael Wilbon had this to say in Today's Washington Post, and I completely agree:

Sometimes a loss isn't a window to a bigger picture. Sometimes there's no greater meaning to draw from an athletic event than the result of the day. And the Washington Redskins' 19-3 loss to the Giants on Sunday is probably such a case in point.

The Redskins' offense, which had averaged 488 yards and 33.5 points per game the last two weeks, ran into a talented and stout defense that had been soul-searching for two weeks. The New York Giants, a team with legitimate Super Bowl ambitions, desperately needed to beat the Redskins and did. The Giants, if they wanted to avoid having their season start slip-sliding away one month in, had to win. The Redskins, much as they wanted to, did not. And the result was rather predictable, actually.

As Joe Gibbs said in his press conference, (I paraphrase) you strive to steal a road win against an NFC East opponent and win all of the home games against them. It is tough to win any NFC East road game.

Yet, despite the loss, the Skins are still on the road to the NFC East title and have won and lost the games that I predicted they would in the season preview. The Cowboys, Giants, and Eagles will beat each other up. The Redskins need to sweep the Eagles to get the title, but that can be done.

Redskins v Giants Preview

The current Redskins and Giants were built almost identically. Each has a dynamic passing game, a strong tailback, and atypically suspect defenses. So, this should be a high scoring game.

For the Redskins, their defensive weakness can be traced to the missing Shawn Springs. They have to find a way to limit big plays until he returns. At one point in the fourth quarter against the Jaguars last week, the Redskins D limited the Jags to about 180 total yards, but approximately ninety of them came on two plays.

There are a couple of exceptions to the quality of the two teams, however. The Redskins secondary is superior to the Giants even without Shawn Springs. It's all about matchups. Burress and Shockey are two players who are used to tossing around smaller defensive players and racking up big yardage. Terrell Owens is another in that mold. But, the Redskins have the ultimate weapon to defend against that in Sean Taylor. The Giants do not have anyone like Taylor in their secondary.

Taylor makes big receivers look small. The balls that these big receivers usually jump up and stretch for are suddenly just out of reach as their arms quickly drop to protect their ribs. In the last four games against the Redskins, Shockey has a total of three catches. With the benefit of YouTube I already what Taylor has done to Owens in his career. Shockey is quoted in today’s NY Post saying that Taylor is the toughest guy that he goes up against. Expect more alligator arms from the Giants receivers today.

The Redskins special teams are also superior. John Hall had played for the Jets for several years and knows the wind patterns at the meadowlands well, maybe better than Feeley. Rock Cartwright has delivered a big return in big spots in almost every game this year. I love how the guy just pounds it right down the middle of the field the way Brian Mitchell used to do. And, Antwaan Randle-El is a great punt returner. Even the Redskins weakest link on specials, the punter Frost, is having a very good year so far.

Do not expect a repeat of last year’s debacle in New Jersey. That was a once in a lifetime event that I am happy I won’t have to relive. I expect Chris Cooley and Randle-El to have breakout games. The Redskins should win by three with a late field goal.

Oh, Brother...Dr. Z has Started Monk Hating Already

Dr. Z (Bwaa Ha Ha—he calls himself doctor Z) just posted this about the 2007 Hall of Fame Nominees. He can’t wait until January to start his Monk bashing. This man is outrageous and should lose his ability to vote based on much of this reasoning.

Tough call for the Hall
Trying to cut annual nominee list to 25 candidates

Posted: Thursday October 5, 2006 12:00PM; Updated: Thursday October 5, 2006 12:18PM

I just opened my yearly package of misery. It comes from the Hall of Fame and it's called the Preliminary nomination list for the Class of 2007…

…Am I bitter? Yeah, every year at this time, when I see some of the names that appear on this list. They'll be chopped to 25 this month, then to the 17 finalists (15 moderns, two seniors) who will become subjects of the debate from which a maximum of six enshrinees with emerge on Feb. 3, 2007, when our Selection Committee has its final meeting.

Right now there's a huge collection of names, many of which appear because some poor fool, such as your faithful narrator, sent his name in...I'll try to narrow the list of 120 down to the 25 or so I've chosen to move to the next round…

…Wide Receivers
They're lining up four deep. There are 13 of them, and more will come from year to year because the numbers will be overwhelming, almost meaningless after a while. I have four names penciled in: Harold Carmichael, Henry Ellard, Michael Irvin and Andre Reed. If I'd have to predict which one will go all the way, I'd say Irvin. Art Monk again will provide spirited debate, for those of us who manage to remain awake throughout this old reprise. Please, Redskins fans, no e-mails at this particular time. Save 'em for January…

The Guy won't even give Art Monk the courtesy of staying awake during the debate on whether he belongs in the Hall. How are sportswriters selected for this responsibility? I would think that they would take it a little more seriously than Dr. "Z" does. If it is too much "misery" for him, I'm sure there are others who would love to vote. And, anyone who would put Irvin in the Hall ahead of Monk cannot be serious.

And if you wondered whether the guy is a Giants fan, wonder no more:

…Coaches, Contributors…
…I've always been a George Young man, and I guess I'll ride with him again…

Jack Del Rio's Take on the Skins

From Jaguars.com:

...This is the Jack Del Rio era, which has been all about defense; 9-0 over the Steelers, for example. The Jaguars haven't always been productive on offense, but powerhouse defense has been their weekly calling card. Ask the Steelers. Ask the Colts.

Don't, however, ask the Redskins, who ravaged the Jaguars for 481 total net yards, including 112 yards rushing by Clinton Portis and an unconscionable 329 yards passing by Mark Brunell.

Unthinkable, right? Wrong.

In fact, Del Rio went into Sunday's game at FedEx Field with a distinct feeling the Redskins were the kind of offense that could wreak this kind of havoc on the Jaguars' defense....

...“I basically thought it was going to be like this. I thought there would be an opportunity to score a lot of points. I was afraid coming in we couldn't slow them up,” Del Rio said ...

Whom should we trust to assess the Redskins talent: Jack Del Rio or Peter King?

News Flash: Mets Stockpile Pitchers

Omar Minaya announced today that he traded all twelve pitchers on their post-season roster in order to stockpile pitchers for their World Series run.

"This was in the plan all along," Minaya told the press. "We always knew that because of potential injuries that we'd need a lot of pitchers. By trading these twelve, including Martinez, Glavine, Hernandez, and Wagner, to several teams, we were able to bring back fifty-two pitchers most of which were walk ons, but some of which were in Rookie ball. We need to be ready for the playoffs."

Would You Like a Little Crow with Your Jaguar, Mr. Magaraci?

Well, well, well.

Prior to the preseason, the Redskins were favored by many to make the playoffs. They were also favored by some to win their division and go far into the playoffs. Then suddenly, it seemed, everyone said to stick a fork in the Redskins because they were done. What changed? Apparently these people changed their opinion because of the Redskins preseason.

I can give many examples, but Colin Cowherd cutely said before the season, and after they were 0 – 2, that the Redskins were the fourth best team in…their division (i.e. they were the worst team in their division. For those who don’t get the joke, Cowherd was making fun of pundits who thought the Redskins were one of the better teams in the NFL).

As late as last week Joel Magaraci of the Newark Star Ledger wrote that the NFL is the “Show Me” league and the Redskins “hadn’t showed him anything.” He said beating the Jaguars would show him something and then he wrote that the Jaguars would win by six points.

Joel obviously felt that the Redskins couldn’t beat the Jaguars. The Jags were a dominating team from the AFC and the AFC is the best conference in the NFL. Two weeks ago, the Jags embarrassed last year’s Super Bowl champs when they shut out the Steelers. Shut them out! They shut down the Colts high-powered offense and held them to 272 yards and twenty-one points. The Colts average 398 yards in non-Jag games.

The Colts—with the much better Manning—were held to 272 by the Jags defense! They held the Steelers to 153 yards! How is that possible? Well it starts with the Jaguars two mountain ranges at defensive tackle. No team had been able to rush for 100-yards against the Jags and they had played: 1. the Cowboys—Peter King’s pick to win the Super Bowl; 2. the Super Bowl champion Steelers; and 3. the second-greatest-show-on-turf Colts. Those are three bonafide, ESPN-certified, Peter King/Len Pasquarelli/Dr. Z glorified powerhouses and the Jags defense dominated them.

Sure the Redskins put 495-yards and thirty-one points on the board against the Texans the week before, but the Texans are bad. There was no way that the sputtering Redskins offense could get 495-yards against the Jaguars.

And, Joel was right. The Redskins only put up 481 yards against the Jags.

Here is what the Jaguars defense allowed per game on average against the powerhouses they played prior to the Redskins game:
Yards: 249.3
Passing yards: 190.3
Rushing yards: 59.0
First downs: 12.3
Points: 12.7

The Jaguars defense also averaged two sacks per game.

Here is what the Redskins offense accomplished against this vaunted D:
Yards: 481 (almost double the Jag’s prior average)
Passing yards: 329 (73% higher than average)
Rushing yards: 152 (almost triple the average)
First downs: 22 (79% higher)
Points: 36 (almost triple)

The Skins did not allow one sack, and the Jags rarely even got close to Brunnell.

And guess what else happened this week? The Texans beat the Dolphins. Peter King of SI had predicted that the Dolphins would win ten games this year, earn a wild card, and take the fifth seed in the AFC. That must mean that the Dolphins are pretty good. Maybe the Texans, a team that the Redskins destroyed, are a little better than people gave them credit for.

This shows how little respect the Redskins and Texans are getting: Mark Brunell did what no other quarterback could do in the ninety-plus-year history of the NFL--he completed twenty-two straight passes--but he didn't even earn NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for the feat. I get it that the Texans are not going to the Super Bowl this year, but let's put this in perspective. In the ninety-plus-year history of the NFL there have been some pretty awful defenses. There have also been many quarterbacks who are currently in the Hall of Fame, or who are locks for it, who played against those awful defenses. Not one of them was able to do was Brunnell did last week.

So, maybe the writing and broadcasting staff at ESPN are wrong. Maybe the staff at Sports Illustrated is wrong. Maybe the folks at the networks are wrong. Maybe half of the people who post on extremeskins.com are wrong. Maybe Joe Gibbs, Gregg Williams, and Al Saunders do know what they are doing. Let’s see: On the one hand I could side with and trust a head coach who is already in the Hall of Fame; a defensive coordinator who perennially has his defenses ranked in the top ten in the NFL; and an offensive coordinator who had the number one offense in the NFL in each of the past two years. On the other hand, I could side with Peter King and Dr. Z. How good are the Redskins coaches? Let’s look back to Super Bowl XXXIV.

Super Bowl XXXIV
One of the most exciting Super Bowls in history was SB XXXIV played in January 2000 between the Titans and the Rams. The game wasn’t decided until the last play of the game when Kevin Dyson of the Titans caught a pass and came up one-yard short of the end zone. The Rams beat the Titans 23 – 17.

The Rams were known as “The Greatest Show on Turf” because of their fast-moving, high scoring offense that played indoors. They had led the NFL in total yards that year (1999) and also in 2000. Al Saunders was their offensive coordinator in those two years. The Titans defense was in the top-five that season (1999) and also led the NFL in 2000. The Titans defensive coordinator those two seasons was Gregg Williams. So, Al Saunders’ offense barely beat Gregg Williams’s defense that year, but both proved they clearly belonged at the top of the NFL hierarchy, and now both are working in the same capacity for one team, the Redskins.

After that Super Bowl, Al Saunders went back to Kansas City to coach the Chiefs offense. Since then, in eighty games prior to joining the Redskins this year, the Chiefs offense had been ranked number one in the NFL in seven categories including the three most important:
Yards: (379.3 YPG)
TDs: 262
First downs: 1760

Gregg Williams followed up his superb Titans results with a head coaching job in Buffalo and his Bills led the AFC in defense in 2003. He came to Washington for the 2004 season and the Redskins led the NFC in defense that year. Of course, both coaches had tremendous success going much farther back than that SB XXXIV.

It Starts with the Head Coach
Joe Gibbs made a tremendous effort to sign both coaches for Washington. He called both as soon as NFL rules permitted him to, which usually meant he was waking them up around midnight. He flew to their hometowns the next day, visiting Williams in a blizzard, to talk about his program with the Redskins and impress upon them his seriousness in bringing them on board. He told them how much he respected them and how much responsibility they would have. And, he made sure they got paid. And maybe most important is how Gibbs subordinated his ego in the first place. When he saw problems, he did what was necessary to fix them even when that meant he had to relinquish some of his responsibilities. Let’s see, Joe Gibbs or Len Pasquarelli?

But, after four preseason games the Redskins were winless and the bandwagon’s wheels not only came off, they exploded. And, after two regular season games the Redskins were being ridiculed (Cowherd: “I said it before and I’ll say it again. The Redskins are the fourth best team in the NFC East”).

Well, I said it before and I’ll say it again: The season is a marathon, not a sprint. The Redskins shouldn’t have been judged by the preseason or even by their first two games. And, they shouldn’t be judged solely by the success they had the last two games when they scored 67 points and accumulated 976 yards on offense. But, now that one-quarter of the regular season is in the books, some things are becoming clear.

It was known before the season that the Redskins have a lot of weapons on offense and Al Saunders is a guru. What is becoming clear is the players are mastering his playbook, Mark Brunell is getting everyone involved, and the whole offense is starting to believe. There is a quiet confidence growing on that side of the ball. Things are finally falling into place for the offense. Despite missing their most important player—Portis—for half of the first game and all of the Dallas game, the Redskins offense is currently third best in the NFL. When the defense gets Shawn Springs back next month it will perform at a very high level again, too. Things are looking good for the Redskins.

(Giants week is always fun in my hometown because I live in the NY metro area. I will post my preview of this game sometime before kickoff.)

Skins 36 - Jaguars 30: WOW

Brunnell dropped back and looked left. Moss was running down the left sideline, the sideline where my seats are located (section 118). I peeked over to see whom Brunnell was looking at and immediately screamed “NO!”

(Update 10/4/06: Evidently, a headset-wearing coach on the Redskins--possibly Saunders--felt the same way as I. In a press conference, Gibbs said a coach yelled "not there" into Gibb's headset as Brunnell was about to release the ball.)

Moss was the lone receiver on the left side and was double covered with a corner in front and a safety right behind him. From my angle, there was very little room to put that ball. I pictured the corner picking it and running it into the end zone in front of me. All of that imagining took place in about one or two seconds.

Then I saw Brunnell fire a bullet and Moss leap for the ball and grab it. Brunnell made a perfect throw. Two inches in any other direction and it would have been a disaster. In a split second I went from despair to elation, pretty much what everyone around me felt because complete strangers were jumping up and down, hugging, and high-fiving. It was bedlam and it was a lot of fun.

I’ll have more on the game tomorrow.

Update 10/3/06: On monday, Brunnell told Comcast Sportnet that he thinks the coaches are going to say that his TD throw in OT was "unwise" when they review the film together.