Some New Wu from Rae the Chef...

Click here to go to WU on Fallon. Click here to go to RZA with Black Keys from Iron Fists.

San-chews

No one has worse peripheral vision than Sanchez.  Also, his unwillingness to throw the ball away is absurd.  Reminds me of Bledsoe with the pats.

After Ibanez's PH HR for A-Rod, I've got just one question

ht on pic: Raekwon

MNF

The 2-2 Jetties take on the undefeated Texans tomorrow night.

Jets are minus Revis, Holmes, Keller, Hill and Pouha.

It goes without saying I like those odds.

It's that time of year

It’s time for the Jets to break glass in event of emergency. And that has brought them to cornerback Aaron Berry.

Berry, a former Lion whose very bad year began with playing the “broke and miserable” card on Twitter against fans criticizing him and the rest of his team for getting toasted in New Orleans and continued with a pair of offseason arrests and a three-game suspension, has agreed to terms with the Jets, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Replacement refs have been replaced

And I, for one, will miss them.  There was an element of chance that just made things interesting.  Just because you saw an interception didn't mean it was an interception.  You never knew what was hiding behind curtain #2.  It's almost like the NFL turned into The Running Man for a bit there.

Looks like an INT for Jennings....  OH! That chainsaw just cut him in half!  Remember:  a pass is not incomplete when resting on body parts.  They can still run with that ball...

Kyrie!

Tom Haberstroh from ESPN, on how frickin' awesome KI is:

FROM GREAT TO SUPERSTAR IN 2012

Kyrie Irving, Cleveland Cavaliers

[+] Enlarge

Kent Smith/Getty ImagesKyrie Irving was a model of efficiency during a spectacular rookie season.

You could make the argument that no NBA player has ever been this good this young. It's almost impossible to exceed expectations as a No. 1 overall pick, but Irving managed to do that as a rookie for the rebuilding Cavaliers team. Irving averaged 18.5 points, 5.4 assists and 3.7 rebounds last season while shooting incredibly efficient from deep (39.9 percent on threes) and at the free throw line (87.2 percent).

All in all, Irving registered a 21.4 player efficiency rating and dominated crunch time. These numbers are impressive on their own, but they become staggering when you consider that a) he was a teenager last season and b) he barely played 30 minutes a game.

It's the best PER we've seen from a 19-year-old in NBA history -- better than the likes of LeBron James, Tracy McGrady and Kobe Bryant when they entered the league. Irving's minute count is especially important to note because there's little chance that Irving will have a governor on his playing time like he did in his rookie season. Because the Cavs were ultraconservative with his minutes on the floor, Irving's numbers may come off as a little lower than those of a bona fide star. However, this is a guy who averaged 21.8 points, 6.4 assists and 4.4 rebounds when we translate his stat line to a per-36 minute level.

Jeter ties Gehrig

For most career 200 hit seasons as a Yankee, with 8.   Just remarkable.  Anytime your name ends up next to Gehrig's in a baseball-related context, it's something special.

And btw, SHK, this last bit of news has finally tipped the scale, IMO.  We argued about in 1994, but now the verdict is in.   You were right.  Jeter has more promise than Ordonez.

Don't ever say I'm too hard-headed to admit when I'm wrong.

Winslow to Pats

Hmmm... can't imagine any other team that could have used a really good pass catching TE in place of an injured #1 TE. The Pats are bringing him in to replace their #2 TE, so arguably he could've counted on more touches with the Jets.

Then again, I'm sure the Jets had good reason not to pursue him. If one thing was clear in the loss to the Steelers, it's that Cumberland looks prepared to make the jump to being a prime-time player.

Just smh, really.

Of course, maybe T reached out to Winslow. I should give him the benefit of the doubt. Because if Winslow had the option of joining the Pats or the Jets' blazing dumpster fire, well.... Which would you pick?

20 for Dickey?

Who thinks he'll get there? He's at 18 with 4 starts left. Seems like he gets about 1.5 runs per start over the last month...

Tender, strong and true / Proudly in the heavens / Gleam thy gold and blue

Link

UPDATE:

Link 2, with a guess as to when full football membership will follow.

If you are going to fight from a lower row...

You better swing for the mid-section...

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

Matt Harvey: The debut

Getting his first MLB start against the DBacks tonight at 9:40 EDT.

Let's End the Second Half!

I liked the first half better. Never thought I'd be pining for the return of Frank Frank.

The End of Linsanity

Jay Kaspian Kang at Grantland envisions how Dolan would play cards, and pretty much hits the nail on the head:

The failure to re-sign Jeremy Lin, despite months of guarantees, seems to be the latest in a line of silly, PR-inspired bumblings by a man who has continually thought, out-thought, rethought, and then un-thought himself.

Here's how Jim Dolan would play pocket aces in a game of Texas hold 'em:

Sweet! Pocket aces! Come on, JD, don't mess this up. … Why is this asshole dealer looking at me like that and why is that dude in the cowboy hat smiling? Oh man, I think he knows. … Nah, he doesn't know, he's so stupid with his stupid hat and his stupid accent. Shit. He does know. Maybe I should call Isiah? Nah, cause if they see me calling Isiah, they'll all laugh. Play it cool, Jimmy. What would be the only thing they'd never expect from you? What would Isiah do? WWID? Fold, Jimmy, fold!

DOLAN: I fold.
DEALER: Sir, it's not your turn to act.
DOLAN: Don't tell me what to do.
MAN IN HAT: Folded aces again, huh?
DOLAN: It was the right move, dickface.

Again, I ask: Why does anyone care how Jim Dolan spends his money? Unless Dolan releases MSG's annual earnings report with a manual and a DVD that explain exactly how much more expensive tickets will be if the Knicks sign Jeremy Lin, none of us should speculate ourselves into agreeing with Jim Dolan.

Dolan is the premium douchebag out there. Brimming with arrogance because he owns the "greatest arena in the world," he consistently values seeing his name in print, and chumming around with Big Manhattan Money, than he does with putting together a winning product. When his GMs tell him to step off, that he's valuing the wrong things (trading for Carmelo, for example, when he could have signed him in a year), he overrides them. He's like Bad George with less charm.

I bailed on the Rangers b/c I was sick of NYC, sick of the NYC attitude, and sick of Dolan's arrogance. Jeremy Lin was the first thing that made me pay attention to the NBA in years, and now Dolan folded his aces. He thinks it was the right move, but he just keeps proving himself to be a dickhead.

Well done, Mr. Kang, and eff you, Jim Dolan.

Wilmer Flores update

Kid has been promoted to AA after teeing off in St Lucie.  Through his first 16 games, he's hitting .390 with a 1.008 OPS and only 2 Ks.

This one is getting very, very interesting.

Lets start the second half!

The Mets are out-performing my expectations significantly this year, but will have some issues in the second half.  It will be nearly impossible for Dickey to continue to perform the way he did in the first half.  Santana needs to get better.   They will need a replacement for Gee, and they are highly unlikely to get anyone who can perform as well as Dillon did in the first half.

The bullpen is a steaming pile, and it's hard to see any quick fixes there, unless Mejia can reclaim form.

Of course, the offense could actually get better--Ike and Duda can both hit at a higher level than they did in the first half.   Lets go Mets!

Eric Chavez is an Escort Catering to a Downscale Male Clientele

That is all.

R.A. Dickey

That is all.

Sweep!

Just what the Dr. ordered for the Metsies, coming off the disappointing series in Washington and the Bronx. 

Added bonus: Ike has gotten hot.

 Double added bonus: R.A. Dickey.

David Stern b-slaps Jim Rome

I've never paid much attention to Rome.  Listened to his radio shtick a handful of times.  It's tiresome, boorish, and (IMHO) second-rate.

So I can't say it didn't make me smile to read this transcript, where David Stern basically turns the tables on him and walks away unscathed, while Rome fumes.