Mets

Fredo suggests the mets season isn't in the toilet yet.

Mike Francesca thinks otherwise. Epic rant.

Rasheed Sulaimon 2012 Summer EliteMixtape; Duke Incoming Freshman!

This kid looks like he's gonna be special:

Continuing with SHK's thoughts

Well, SHK, you missed out on the conversation that Caribou, ManBeast and myself had at the cigar lounge the other night.  You also missed out on the cigars and Knob Creek, but not much I can do about that...

We covered most of your points and some others as well.

Let's start on points of agreement:

1) "The debacle that lies ahead."  Check.

I referred to it as the "4-12 trainwreck in the windshield."

2) "Wayne Hunter. Disaster".

Not much to add, except the fact that the whole premise of our offense is that our O line can dominate game in game out.  And our starting RT sucks.

Points of modified disagreement:

1) Sparano -- I'm not fawning over the guy, but lets face it, he did a decent job with just about ZERO talent on that team's offense (but I'd prefer to get D.C.'s commentary on Sparano, having watched him more closely).  Come to think of it, coaching the Fins, who haven't had a QB in years, was pretty good prep for this job.  But more importantly, I'm glad Sparano's there because it's like holding a lotto ticket.  If the right #s come up, maybe Ryan will be fired and a new HC is already waiting in the wings.  Dollar and a dream.

2) Which brings me to Ryan-- Ever since he came in puffing up his player's egos, and convincing Mr. T that he could turn around the bad apples of the NFL (where the average apple is pretty bad to begin with), you were kind of waiting for the implosion.  You got it down the stretch last season.

The complete meltdown against Big Blue, and then star players quitting mid-game with the season on the line.  But once Ryan admitted he didn't know Holmes had been benched, the gig was up.  This guy not only doesn't have control of his players, he doesn't even know what's happening on the field.  The team's core players not only lacked chemistry, they demonstrated they outright don't like each other, and won't play for each other.  The writing was on the wall that Ryan had lost this team completely-- both from a "vision" standpoint (where we're headed as a unit) and from a day-to-day managerial standpoint.  I argued at the end of last season he needed to go, and you guys know I'm not quick to pin failure on managers/coaches.

Predictably, this preseason is off to a circus start, with fights, and loudmouths saying loudmouth things.  So Rex holds his big presser, "we've got that out our system, I'm not going to have anymore of that." " Next day, more brawls.  Lollers.  HE. HAS. LOST. THIS. TEAM.

Completely.

I like how happy Rex is we're returning to "ground and pound" offense-- let's play smashmouth football in a league where the winningest teams always throw 60% of the time.

I'll throw this out there as an upfront challenge-- I don't want to hear people slamming the OC bcause we run 2/3 of the time, including on 2nd and 12 and 3rd & 7.  Sparano was brought in EXACTLY BECAUSE Rex (with T's consent) wants that kind of offense.   They hired him and told him to ground & pound.  And he will.  Give him credit for being a good employee.

3) Mr. T

He bought a lot of goodwill in my book when he came in with Mangini and built this team up via the draft, and especially his mid round picks where he focused on character guys.  Shonne Green, Matt Slauson, Eric Smith, Brad Smith were all character guys that he grabbed in the middle rounds--worker bees who not only produced (to greater or lesser degrees) on the field, but set a tone in terms of work ethic.

Of course, he also had many good early round cornerstone picks: Mangold, Brick, Revis, David Harris, Keller, etc.

But the goodwill is fading fast.  He's clearly altered his approach with Rex.  I'm fine with flexing to meet the coach's system, but when you're drafting or signing guys like Plaxico, Coples, Kenrick Ellis, Santonio and Cromartie, you're sending a message to your team that a "me-first" attitude is OK--maybe even rewarded.  That's a cancer that's very hard to cut out once it starts spreading.  And the Jets are like Stage 4 right now.

By the end of last season, it was clear Rex had to go, and T was either too blind to see it, or Woody just likes having the circus in town.  T must get some of the blame for the impending disaster.  Even if it doesn't cost him his job, I hope he learns from the error of his ways and returns to his earlier draft approach.

4) Santonio - There was a choice to pick Holmes over Braylon, but he wasn't chosen OVER Brad Smith or Cotchery.  The decision to let those two go were independent bad choices, so let's not muddy the water.

It's tough to say T was wrong in resigning Holmes, b/c Braylon's played about 3 downs of football since he left the Jets, and Holmes had multiple game winning catches the previous season.  Santonio has proven he's a gamer in big spots, but has now also proven he'll sulk and quit if he's not getting enough touches.

Note that he never quit when playing on the Steelers.  That's the difference when you're on a team with a good culture and a bad culture, and why a coach's impact has much more to do with building a culture of excellence than with the on-field choices we fans (read, arm chair offensive coordinators for 3 hrs a week) care about.

It's about setting expectations and getting guys to have their sights set on winning 365 days a year, working in the weight room, getting into camp, focusing, etc.   It's always the little things that aggregate up to winning squads.

So while I currently despise Santonio, the decision to keep him wasn't horrible, given the limited options and tight timeframe they were making those decisions.  With this group, the guy clearly doesn't work, and needs to go.  But then again--that's true of most of this team.  If Parcells came back, he'd turn over 80% of the roster and start over, because that's the only way to remove the "me first" tumor.

BOTTOM LINE: I'm not giving up on the Mets.  Riding them right until mathematical elimination in late September.  It's far more enjoyable than the s show, on the field and off, that the Rusty Propellers will be putting up over the next 5 weeks.

Moving on

With the mets season now all but in the toilet, and the jets having nothing but Super Bowl opportunity ahead of them (just on account of the season not having started yet), it's time for that time honored tradition of switching over to NFL talk.

With that in mind, the jets 26-3 visit to the woodshed is quite timely.

It allows me full opportunity to complain about: (a) the debacle that lies ahead this season with two sub-par QBs 'battling,' (b) keeping Holmes, but not Braylon, cotchery or brad smith, (c) tony sparano, and (d) anything else that comes to mind.

(d) just came to mind - Wayne hunter. Disaster.

I'll reserve judgment until we have a few games under our belts, but I will go on the record now saying I never thought the sparano pickup made any sense. Dolphins - offensive juggernauts?

The EPL in a nutshell

How did I end up in this shell?  How do I get out?

Just kidding...

Was reading on espn.com and this description of the EPL gave me lulz.

Part sporting competition, part outlandish soap opera, the EPL is the most watched league in the world. It's a kaleidoscopic collision of heroes, heels, haircuts and hard cash. Yet, bereft of the salary caps, revenue shares and drafts that bring parity to American sport, the league remains an anarchical entity in which results are guaranteed as much by the balance sheet as the team sheet.

The financial imbalance means that in reality, the league is not one competition but three loosely connected leagues within a league. There is "The Battle of the Champions League" waged among an elite band of sheiks, oligarchs and the beneficiaries of a recent New York Stock Exchange IPO; a "Race for Respectability" for the middling teams that lollop toward the consoling placebo of a Europa League place; and the "Race of Death" between the cellar dwellers who are forced to scrap it out to avoid the trapdoor of relegation like slaves at the Roman Colosseum.

I guess the good news for me is that the EPL is back. I can go back to rooting for the Gunners without really having any clue what's happening on the pitch.

Just a crazy idea

Everyone knows that the Mets are in desperate need of some quality late inning relievers.

So.... What makes a good late inning reliever?

In my mind, the first qualifications are mental.  Someone with tons of guts, unafraid to challenge hitters, and who can pound the strike zone.  While most fans think "flamethrower" when they think of late-inning guys, there are plenty of guys who were successful because they had the right mindset, even without throwing in the mid- to high-90s.  [Take this description from Wiki of a guy in the top 5 all time in saves:  "XXX was a traditional relief pitcher with a '90-mph fastball and a change-up that breaks away from a righthanded batter like a screwball.']

Mets have a starting pitcher who is practically the embodiment of the above traits.  Unfortunately, his arm appears shot and it would seem he can no longer throw 80, no less 100 pitches in a game.  It looks like his contract might be dead weight at this point, unless the Mets can find a way to use him effectively.

So what do you think... Johan to the pen?  The Mets' Eckersley project?

Did Gary Carter invent the term????

F_Bomb

Ike is OK

Raekwon asked me if I was concerned Ike was a bust in May or June.  I told him the guy had missed a year, and was still developing--he needed to get his timing and eye back.  I said he'd probably pick it up in the second half.  Looks like the kid 'll be alright.

Davis has had a bizarre season, one that seems almost unfathomable. Consider in his first 56 games through June 8, the Mets first baseman was hitting .158 with five homers, 21 RBIs and a .507 OPS — a full-season pace of 15 homers and 61 RBIs. About as bad as it gets.

But in 50 games since, he’s hitting .267 with 15 homers, 40 RBIs (a full-season pace of 49 homers and 130 RBIs) and a .907 OPS — production that would rank him among the NL’s best hitters.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/mets/mets_hope_they_re_seeing_real_davis_XoZlCHYxAt0oQoWbUrn0AJ#ixzz23RBQy6N3