Firestarter!!

“When you have speed, you have to put the pressure on the other team. That's what I try to do all the time.”

Jose Reyes

They put the pressure on. They start the rallies. One hit, an inch of room and.... off to the races! They put the heat on the other team. At the beginning and the end of the day they leave you talking. "Man, I did everything right, but how did he get loose." I was watching the Super Bowl replay the other night and I noticed that Bradshaw loosed up the defense of the Patriots, he kept them on their toes. This allowed for Manning to pick apart the defense. Reyes bluffs down the third base line trying to cause a balk all the time. Fire starters, give them an inch they will take a mile. They are the instigators. Spark a match and they will blaze into an inferno. Speed kills, always and forever. Check the gauge, they fly above speed limits, they fly by their own speed. They are the firestarters. The 1982 Cardinals were full of these guys. They only had two guys in double digits in homers, but seven guys with double digit stolen bases. You can make smores with their back draft. They start rallies with their legs, not their bats. Jose Reyes is the catalyst for the Mets. He doesn't even need a hit to start a rally, just his legs. They bring the heat with their legs, not their arms. In the fourth quarter they are the ones who are still galloping like they just started to warm up. You look at them and think, "Man, I can't even stand but yet he is running full tilt." They run with ease, with grace. They make you look slow when you are full throttle. Mach 4 isn't even close, try Mach 24. A Navy jet couldn't catch them, a linear jet is walking compared to them. Don't let them out of their boxes, they will make you pay. Barry Sanders was one of these guys. He would have 5 yards on 10 carries then boom.... 70 yards and the end zone is in sites. Speed can not be taught it is a gift, it is a blessing. Lift all the weights you want. Give me a bunch of guys under sized with speed and I will beat any team any day and week. I am the Firestarter, I am the instigator. Try catching me, try it. I will give you a mile head start, I could run across water, that is how fast I run. I dare you, I double dog dare you, catch me..... I will wait up, I promise.

Breakout The Time Machine!

"A team is where a boy can prove his courage on his own. A gang is where a coward goes to hide."

Mickey Mantle

Not since April 19th, April 19th have the lovable Mets been in first place. That is until around 3pm today! The Mets are back were they belong! Get out of our spot Philly, go worship some more fake sports figures ( they have a statue of Rocky, Rocky, on their City Hall stairs! What a joke!). The city of chumps, not champs. Now it is time for the Mets to turn up the heat and see who wants to stay in the kitchen. Who knew that the Mets had this fight, this gumption to stare the enemy in the eyes and get slammed to the cam pass. Stand right up wipe the blood, smile and ask "Is that all you've got?". Heart is the end-all-and-be-all in sports. The Mets gave up 6 runs in the ninth on Tuesday night, but just like that, they are in first after taking two straight in less then 24 hours. Only can you taste the sweet, after you have tasted the sour Mets' fans. Do not quit this year, it has a feelin' to it, the season that is. It only took a little over 3 months for the Mets to reclaim the top spot. Man, who would have thought that would have been the outcome after the debacle that was Tuesday night. Up 5-2 the Mets let up 5 runs before they were able to get one out, but boom! Now it is late Thursday night and everybody can careless about Tuesday, because we are in first. Man, it was a great felling today to watch Delgado get the game winning hit against a tough lefty who had allowed something like 5 hits to 66 lefty batters, give or take a few. Well, we are back in first and lets hope for long. Let the push begin, now if only we could get some re enforcements for the lineup, maybe Raul Ibanez from the Mariners?!?!?! One can only wish, but for now. Stick those tongues towards Philly, believe you me they can see them all the way from Jersey. Lets Go Metssss!!!!!!

Awful, Just Down Right Awful

In light of the "Most God-Awful Thing Of The Year Award" (the ESPY Awards), I thought that I would hand out my anti-awards:

Anti-MLB Player is ............. Barry Bonds/Roger Clemens: how naive do you honestly think we as Americans are? Yes, yes, this is the same country where Paris (How am I famous) Hilton could have an album and movie out in the same year. The same nation were 90% of Americans know more about K-Fed v. Brti-Brit then say....... the election. But, you really think that we are suppose to believe that the older you get the bigger and better you get without help. America might open their arms up if you weren't laughing in our faces.

Anti-Coach: Tough choice but I have to give it to Isiah Thomas over Bill Bellicheck. Honestly, Billy Sweatshirt is not the only coach to have video taped games illegally. Don Shula shut up and and get back to the retirement home, it's warm cereal time. Isiah, Isiah were do I begin. Tolluca Brown, brotha, brotha at least make the mistake pretty ( ask Kobe). You coached one of the highest regarded franchises in NBA into a cemetery for high priced Prima Donnas. Thank God you are finally out of town. How was it that this was your third team to ruin? David Stern bar him for life, for the life after, how about his kid's life? Banish him to the CBA............ oh wait, he bankrupt that league also. He may get the life time unachievement award.

Worst Sports Network: Do you really need to ask? ESPN, once the best now a circus. You are so enamored with the high light reel and the low life story. You would rather have Stewart Scott scream BOO-YA one thousand times in a row rather then actually have a real opinion and try not to step on the toes of the athletes you cover because God for bid they heard the truth. Get back to the real things..... the sport! Knock off this nonsense of having a happy-go-lucky view on the sports and get to the facts. Ray Lewis was up for murder charges 14 monthes later he is on set saying how much he loved God and the world. Get a grip you are what is wrong with the sport. You make these children grow up thinking that this is what an athelete is all about. The look-at-me, look-at-me generation. Lets celebrate the team and stop having count down lists about "The In Now List" in sports. Get back to the sport and quit making the ESPYs.

Half Way Home

The All-Star game is Tuesday night, the summer classic. It means something now, the team that wins gets the extra game in World Series. The game is even extra special because it is at Yankee Stadium, the last year at the ball park. All that storied history with that ball park. Think about it, The House That Ruth Built, who played there. You get to stand in the same spot as Mantle. I already did my mid season report but I just like to reminisce about the All-Star game. I personally like watching the All-Star game. Some people don't like to watch the game. I get into the whole deal and the home run derby. I really hope that the National League will win. I will tell you what, I couldn't be in a better mood. The Mets have won 9 straight and the All-Star game is Tuesday. Baseball life couldn't be better right now. I see good things in the future for the Mets, good things. I know, I know, I have been up and down with them this year but they drive me nuts sometimes. The Mets will have two representatives, David Wright and Billy Wagner. I still think Jose Reyes should be on the team also. I hope that me saying that they will be okay doesn't reverse the streak. Man, I hope the Mets can keep it up. I can't wait for the game Tuesday night. The National League better wise up and stop the losing streak they have against the American League so that way when my beloved Mets make the World Series we can have the extra game at home. Can a brotha get an Amen!

"They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays."

Ted Williams

Reminiscing About The Miracle

“It was just a great catch by David Tyree. I found a way to get loose, and just really threw it up. He made an unbelievable catch and saved the game.”
Eli Manning

I was thinking today about the Super Bowl, I saw David Tyree in an interview. I still can't get over to this day! Eli Manning, what a hero. Justin Tuck was the Super Bowl's big time impact player. Did I leave anybody out? Oh yeah, there is that guy, whats his name? Oh yeah, David Tyree, for who without him we may not even be talking about this but rather our undefeated Patriots. Catch 42, that is my favorite name for the catch. How is it that an already fired coach, a bum for quarterback, and all was loss. Boom, 3 straight road playoffs victories, and the super win in Arizona. Man, who can ever imagine. How did they pull off the upset? Well lets take a big look at the big picture, they got to the quarterback and ran the ball well. They made the right moves. Jerry Reece, what a team he put together. Ahmad Bradshaw, what a steal. Kawika Mitchell, what a nice piece to the puzzle. Kevin Boss, what a great fill in, when Jeremy Shockey got hurt he filled in so well that he may have forced Shockey out of town. How did they do this? Eli was MVP and things just fell the right way that night. Me and my buddies, sat in the same seats the whole night, you got yelled at if you moved or left the room. Man, that might have been the happiest house in Vermont, we were vacationing. Everybody at the house was rooting for the Giants because they hated on the Patriots and their arrogance. Some guy in a liquor store had teased me and my buddies about how the Giants were gonna get killed. We went back the next day and he had the place closed up. Giants, what a team. They won, they really won. Maybe we can repeat, and start a dynasty. How did they do it?

No Harm, No Foul

"You see, you spend a good piece of your life gripping a baseball, and in the end it turns out that it was the other way around all the time."

Jim Bouton, Ball Four, 1970

I have been very unlucky with my Mets games when I attend them. 0-5, but alas, we won we really won! I think I know why, I was wearing "civilian clothing" (a.k.a. non team attire.). I am a genius, a genius. Also, I am sporting the Johan Santana goatee, maybe a little lady luck came to town. 4 in a row and 1 1/2 out of first, "civilian clothing". Baseball is full of superstitions, Wade Boggs had to eat a full chicken before he played, Turk Wendell brushed his teeth in between innings, and OliverPerez hops over the baseball lines.

Baseball players have a knack for that kind of quorkyness, I have to have the volume set on even numbers and everything is done in even numbers and also I have to arrange my cards in a certain way when I play solitaire. I swear I was built to play baseball, I was meant for it. I love hearing the stories about these things because now I feel like I can relate to them! "Civilian gear", that was all it took. Baseball in a funny way is all about these kinds of things. The 69 Cubs had a enormous game lead in the standings, funny how one black cat crossing the dugout can make that lead disappear. Welcome the Miracle 69 Mets, oh by the way it happened at Shea and nobody knows where, when and why the cat did it. Also, they never found the cat after the game. Athletes are weird like this. Hockey players don't shave during the playoff push, some wear the some underwear (ask the Minnesota North Stars of 1991 on there way to the Stanley Cup Finals, granted they lost). "Civilian clothing" that was all it took for a win.

The 6-4-3 Double Play......

"Playing baseball is not real life. It's a fantasy world... It's a dream come true."

Dale Murphy
I made some picks earlier in the season. I would like to have a mid season report and awards. First off, I have the White Sox right so far. Look at the Rays, they are in first place. But, then again, there are the Mariners, they stink. I was pretty accurate with my picks, except the Mets and the Mariners. The Red Sox aren't in first, but in the end they will be, trust me. I know baseball, I may not be the smartest person in the world, but I know baseball. I know the rules and what it takes to win. I can tell you who will be the star and who will flop. I live baseball, I know what baseball is all about. Right now, I think the Rays may fade away and the Tigers will prevail and win the wild card. I like the Mets to win the division still, I also like the Phillies. The Diamondbacks better watch their back. The Dodgers can get anybody they want via trade with their farm system. My mid season awards, MVP in the AL is Josh Hamilton. I mean the cat has 82 RBI's so far, heroin was his drug of choice but he kicked the habit and is now clean. In the NL, give it to Lance Berkman, Fat Elvis, he can hit. Best switch hitter since Mantle. CY Young in the AL is Cliff Lee, 11-1 and has an ERA of 2.26. That is great in the AL. Edinson Volquez is the NL CY Young, he is wicked good. He was traded for Josh Hamilton, how cool is that? Evan Longoria is the rookie of the year in the AL and the NL is, Geovany Soto. This kid in Cincinnati, Jay Bruce, may make a push but we have to see if he gets the at-bats. Well that is my two cents. I will see you at the end, LETS GO METS!!!!!!