Favre Kills Another Season

You could almost see it coming. As soon as Adrian Peterson failed to reach the endzone on a 63 yard screen pass, as soon as the Vikings came back up to the line, the aura of doom was about. Favre was in the red zone, ready to kill another fantasy season.

In a way it's my own fault. I knew the risks. With the Jets playing in the cold and Braylon Edwards having been inconsistent, I put him on the bench. I looked at the Vikings, saw that Harvin was questionable, knew that Rice had been sick, and thought to myself "Shiancoe's the guy to put in. Especially against a bad Carolina team." It seemed reasonable. But I forgot one thing - Favre in December.

As Shiancoe streaked down the field, wide open on the right side, I felt as though my playoff victory was assured, that I'd be moving on to the title game to claim the crown that was rightfully mine. Then Favre threw left. Then there was Chris Harris, wide open, 5 yards ahead of Bernard Berrian. And then the season was over.

It's my own fault. December/January Favre is making his annual appearance. Sure, he still completes better than 60% of his passes. But his TD to INT ratio, which was 24:3 through November, has predictably fallen off the cliff to 3:4. In fact, since 2004, when you look at the final 5 games of each season, Favre has now thrown 30 TDs to 50 INTs.

But it's not all his fault. You see, I knowingly put the fantasy season in the hands of Brett Favre. To invoke the OSM catch phrase, "Kill yourself." It's what I did to my season.

Voting Irregularities Mar Smusings Awards

It all started with an innocent premise. CB40 though a little recognition might be good for morale. It might give those who have contributed a reason to smile. Let them know that their hard work has been seen and appreciated by their peers. So we set up the first annual Smusings Awards, sponsored by www.originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com. Using the wonders of the world wide web, we established a site that contained a number of poll questions, including best thread, rookie of they year and Smuser of the year. The link went out and everyone was invited to vote. It all seemed so simple. It all seemed so pure.

But tragedy has struck. We have now received more votes than there are eligible voters. The only realistic conclusion to be drawn is that some Smusers are attempting to manipulate the results. As you read this, more votes are likely being cast. The sacred principles of democracy, that one man may cast one vote, and that all votes are counted equally, have been called into question by the actions of one or more miscreants who seem bent on shattering the faith of the Smusers in our world and our blog. Who would do this?

The prime suspsect is obvious. He casts a constant shadow over our blog, threatening to pull it from the web at any time. Perhaps he believes that becoming Smuser of the year will give him a mandate to destroy the blog. Perhaps it's just his evil nature. Or perhaps...

It's not him. It's not the one you would expect. It's someone else. Someone who normally wouldn't show that kind of blatant disrespect for the readers or his peers. It's someone who directly benefits from the extra votes.

The Hat directly benefits from those extra votes. And votes have been cast for me over and above what should have been the total number of voters. To those casting these extra votes I say this - stop. Please do not cast a vote if you have already voted. It's not right and it's not fair. I appreciate your support, but I implore you, please, respect the process.

But that does leave a question - Is someone manipulating the voting for his own gain? The Hat has uncovered evidence that someone is in fact manipulating the voting for personal gain. 2 someones in fact. Perhaps the 2 with the most to gain of anyone. You know who you are. Rather than publish your names now, I grant you this opportunity to stop your nefarious ways and quit manipulating this vote. Do so and all is forgiven. Do not and you will be exposed here on the blog for all to see.

End of an Era

This Sunday will mark the end of an era for me. I have owned my Ray Lewis Jersey since 1996 when the Ravens made their arrival in Baltimore. It almost met with a tragic end when Ray Ray was accused of murder. However it made it through and is now in steep decline. AS a new guard comes into Baltimore so to will a new jersey.

Career Highlights

Born : 1996

Produced by: Logo Athletic Gear ( no longer in Business)

Career Highlights: 1. Super Bowl Win in Super Bowl 35

2. Stomped the Class of 1998 in the Marist Alumni Bowl

3. Found Not Guilty of Murder in Atlanta after the Super Bowl

4. Survived a Packers Bar where a drunk women thought it a Brett Farve Vikings Jersey

Career Record - Unknown ( i do know its a winning one)

So Fare thee well #52 Purple

Video: CLJ shuts down OSM

Many of you will remember that fateful day when CLJ threatened to shut down OSM. What you didn't know, until now, was the way that all went down. I was there, as were some of my colleagues. It was not a good day. This video was smuggled out by one of our loyal bloggers. We thought it best for you to see for yourself exactly what happened that terrible day.

Retire #23?

We're baaaaack. It's been way to long since there was a post and this topic seemed like it was begging for a OSM post.

LeBron James recently announced that he was giving up the #23 in honor of Michael Jordan. He further said that others should do it too and that the NBA should retire the number, league wide. That has set off a debate between those who agree and those who disagree.

Where do I fall? Not sure, actually. He was the greatest athlete I’ve ever seen in any sport and he certainly changed all sports in a way that is unlikely to be seen again. That’s a pretty good argument for it. Then again, seeing a guy like LeBron wear #23 kind of seems like an honor to me, in itself.

Well, as you ponder this, here's a video for your enjoyment. No matter what you think of the #23 retirement debate, if you were born prior to the early 80s, you HAVE to recognize this commercial. In fact, I’d say if you don’t remember the words, you are likely not in my generation or you lived in a hole until 2001 or so. It is simply one of the best commercials ever.

I guess that’s just one more thing at which the man excelled.

How Do You Watch TV?

It has been awhile since I have posted something to Sports Smusings but I think it is about time that I relieve some of the burden from The Hat. So here it goes.

I have never believed that the Internet or mobile devices would replace sitting in front of a television set during prime time. I still don't because the quality is just far superior on TV. May be one day that will change but I will either be dead or some grumpy old man that hates new fangled contraptions because I don't understand them. I admit that, foremost because of the serious difference in quality, I never gave new programming mediums a chance. That is until quite recently.

Due to travel plans and a DVR that is stacked to the brink I have been missing some of my favorite shows. Wanting to see what I missed I turned to the Internet. Well, imagine my surprise when it turned out it wasn't half bad. Despite a few buffering issues and lower resolution I have come to discover that the Internet was quite serviceable. As I said I don't believe that this medium will replace standard television but it is a handy tool if you ever find yourself in the situation I was in. It also helps that you don't have a computer that is a billion years old like mine. Hence the issues. Now that I have opened myself up to viewing TV on the Internet I have found that not everything is available online. I don't understand why that is but I am now in a position where I have to look elsewhere for content.

When I was traveling I actually watched programming on my phone. It turned out to be harder because it is a much, much smaller screen. That reminds me, I should get my eye sight checked. Anyways, overall my phone was actually fairly serviceable as well. Because of the screen size I don't recommend constant viewing but it did a good job for what I was looking for. It is also challenging because episodes are broken up. You can't watch a full episode straight through. Yet I persevered. If you have not viewed programming on your phone before it too is pretty handy sitting at an airport of something.

I am not one to predict the future of new mediums but the back up options that available are nice to have.

10 rules when your team is out (Baseball version) -

A great topic suggested by a faithful Smusings follower:

10 rules when your team is out (Baseball version) -

1 - F the Cardinals.

2 - If a team is in it that has one of "your guys," meaning a guy who played for your team and you still like him, it is acceptable to be happy when that team does well.

3 - Unless that team is the Cardinals.

4 - It is never acceptable to root for a team that doesn't sell out its stadium for a playoff game.

5 - It is never acceptable to root for a team that is using some kind of stupid gimmick to make you like them (yes, Anaheim Angels Rally Monkey, I'm talking about you).

6 - You can root for the Yankees, but it's the equivalent of rooting for Wal-mart to crush the local ice cream shop run by the nice guy in your neighborhood who used to give you free sprinkles when you got good grades.

7- If it sounds like Joe Buck and Tim McCarver are rooting for a team, root for the other team.

8 - It is acceptable to root for a team because you have money riding on them.

9 - It is acceptable to root for your wife/girlfriend's team if doing so will get you laid.

10 - F the Cardinals.

Original Sports Musings Atlanta Office Undamaged

It is with good cheer that I can report today that the Atlanta Office of Original Sports Musings was undamaged during the recent rains that flooded a large part of downtown and surrounding area.

The rain also did not impede this sports musers attendance to a local watering hole to enjoy The Sunday Buffet of football. I had the pleasure of spending Sunday Afternoon at TJ's. AN establishment with an extreme cheesiness to it. For this bar is actually a Packers Bar. I am pretty sure every former resident of Wisconsin who calls themselves a Cheesehead was sitting around tables ready to boo Ocho Cinco when he did his Lambeau leap 15 minutes outside the perimeter. Now some bullet points from the days football action.



1. Rodgers is the most popular Jersey



2. When the Pack scored they play dance music and a cougar gets on top of the bar and lifts her shirt to show a Packers Bikini.



3. Many pop songs have words redone to include two words Cheeseheads and/or Wisconsin...ala A rendition of Coolio's "Cheesheads Paridaise" believe me Weird Al would vomit after hearing any of these songs



4. After the Pack score people in the front row hold up dancing Bobbleheads that look like babies.



5. PackFans have tunnel vision with Purple. A Ray Lewis Jersey is not a Farve Jersey. As A drunk girls says to me, " Hope all those hits to Farves vagaina hurt." She apologizes later after she realizes her Faux Paux



6. The guy wearing the Mark Chimurra jersey is either to cheap or to stupid to get a new jersey to replace a player who molested his 15 year old daugthers friends. I wish TJ's would have passed around a hat or gotten this idiot a new jersey.



7. Polka Polka Polka!!!!



Tune in next time from the Atlanta office, where slices of Sports Americana will be served

Get to Know your Musers: Biff

after much anticipation....

Who are your favorite teams college and pro?

College: University of Illinois

NFL: Bears

MLB: Cubs

NBA: Bulls

Who is your one favorite sports team above all others and why?

Hmm…this is tough. It really depends on what season it is. I suppose if I had to pick I would say the Bears. Growing up where I did, football was far and away the biggest sport and the 85 Bears are likely the greatest team to ever play professional sports.

Who are the five women on your Celebrity Exemption list?

1) Marisa Miller

2) Selma Heyak

3) Halle Berry

4) Angelina Jolie

5) Scarlett Johannson

What's the worst thing you ever said to a woman?

Actually the worst was probably silence. I sucked at ending things….

What is your favorite sports moment?

Jordan over Russell to win the 98 NBA Finals. Watching that I had a feeling it would be the last time I saw him do that. It turned out to just be the last time in a Bulls uniform, but it was still quite a moment.

Most heartbreaking?

Bartman and the subsequent collapse

What team would you purposely wish harm upon because you hate them beyond all rational thinking?

Packers – what they did to McMahon will likely never be fully accounted for, no matter what happens to them.

What is your favorite movie quote?

“Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.”

If Sports Musing Readers take away just one piece of knowledge from you, what do you want that to be?

There is always a trade off.

Eight Years / An Otherwise Quiet Morning

Has it really been eight years? I just can't believe it. I actually wrote the following poem three years ago on September 11, 2006, five years after losing him. I literally woke up and these words were written for me, following a period where I hadn't written anything in a long, long time. It's like I was finally able to say what I needed to say, to write what I needed to write, in order to pay my proper respects. It never gets any easier, though, and even today, it's still hard to think that I am now 30, and yet he will forever remain 23. 

And that is one of 2,993 reasons why I will never forget..........

An Otherwise Quiet Morning

Wiping tears from my eyes

after five years of flashbacks

from an otherwise quiet morning

I wonder if he got to work on time

If he thought of stepping away from his desk

To grab a muffin or a Mochachino

Or fuck, even a donut and coffee

I think about the elevators on any other day

Well-oiled machines seen as afterthoughts

in the ages of technology and convenience

only acknowledged when something goes wrong

such as a system outage or a fire,

the red button pushed and prodded to no avail

hopes fading as bodies instinctively shoot over to stairwells

or, in the most dire situations,

towards windows,

the lungs longing for a few more breaths

the oft-broken spirit searching for one – just one “I’ve worked too hard and too long for it to end like this” or “What will happen to my pregnant wife if I don’t get out of here?” or “I hope the last memory is not an argument that carried over from last night’s dinner” or “Fuck this shit I would rather jump and take a chance than stay here and let them beat me on their terms” – miracle.

I ponder the flickering feelings that may have crossed his mind:

Did he think of the ring he bought his girlfriend that remained in that special hiding place he carved out on the left-hand corner of his closet?

Did he picture his future as a loving great-grandfather showering three generations at Christmastime with love and laughs?

Did he look back on his past with fond memories of barbecues, baseball games, and graduations?

Or did he only have time for one fleeting thought:


Why?


Why?


Why?

Wiping tears from my eyes

after five years of flashbacks

from an otherwise quiet morning

Yes, there was an attack.

Yes, I want my friend back.

We Met Some Cougars

The most common question asked around the water cooler at www.originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com, outside of "is there going to be any nudity in 'Jennifer's Body'?" is "what are the chances of a College Football Playoff? The answer is always the same. Zero. Why? Because we've already had the unthinkable scenarios that would have brought about a playoff without producing a playoff. LSU beat Oklahoma and USC beat Michigan to produce the same split national championship that we would have had without the BCS. USC, Oklahoma and Auburn all finished the regular season undefeated, and USC and Auburn both won their bowl games. As #2 team after #2 team lost, a 2 loss LSU moved in to embarrass OSU for another title. Each of these was supposed to be "the BCS Nightmare" that would force a change to the system. None did.

But this year is just a little bit different. Most sportswriters, columnists, experts and schmucks with a blog (including the Hat) have already pencilled in Texas and Florida for a January date. But something happened this weekend that could change all of that. 25 years after they became the last non-BCS team to win a title, the BYU Cougars shocked Oklahoma. In the process, they became the first non-BCS team in the BCS era to open up a clear road to the National Title game.

BYU's got 2 more tough games on the schedule. But they've got a signature win over the #3 team in the country. Sure, Sam Bradford got hurt and left the game. But is OU's offense so dependent on him that we should blame the injury instead of crediting the Cougar D for holding Oklahoma to 13 points? Absolutely not. BYU played a hell of a game and deserves credit. And they may get it in spades.

Imagine for a moment that Florida or Texas (or both) stumble somewhere along the season. It's not unthinkable. UF was nipped at home last year by Ole Miss while Michael Crabtree and Graham Harrell sank Texas at buzzer. USC is due for its customary loss against a team its got outmatched (Oregon State this year), it's unlikely that anyone will run the Big 10 or the ACC and the Big East doesn't have a single team that deserves a BCS invite. Imagine for a moment that the Coaches and the Harris voters have an undefeated BYU, with 3 wins over ranked teams, at the top of the polls in early December. The Cougars wouldn't need a ton of love from the computers to get an invite to the title game.

And that my friends, that is the secret, final chance of a College Football Playoff. The lid stays on the playoff because the major conferences can't figure out how to make money off it. But if suddenly half the take from the title game is going to the piddly Mountain West Conference? You can be sure the powers that be will move to scrap the current system, or at least modify it to a plus 1 to prevent something "terrible" like this from ever happening again. Cincy running the table and playing an undefeated Miami team would be fine, because the money stays in the money conferences. But sharing with the red-headed stepchild of the Mountain West? You might as well ask the "Big 6" to contribute money to keeping the WNBA afloat. So if you're a fan of a playoff, or just don't like the current BCS structure, keep your eyes in the state of Utah. The Cougars are looking for some good young men.

A Day of Remembrance

It's been a full year. 1 year since the world lost its greatest voice. On September 1, 2008, the incomparable Don LaFontaine passed away. His work was known to millions all over the globe. His inspiration was indescribable. On the anniversary of his death, OSM takes pause, and invites all of our readers to share your favorite stories of the master - Don LaFontaine.

Who is Biff?

Never let it be said that OSM ignores requests from its readers. You have asked about the mysterious Biff. Biff is our leader. He is the driving force behind OSM. He's the Charlie to our Angels, the He-Man to our Masters of the Universe, the Cobra Commander to our nameless rabble who are sent out to fight for a cause they can barely understand. He is...on vacation this week. But fear not loyal reader(s). I know Biff. Biff is a friend of mine. And while you may not be Biff, I am confident that upon his return next week, Biff will post the greatest ever "Get to know a Muser," bringing back the joy to your day.

What are we missing?

The Minnesota Vikings and the New York Jets both started the pre-season with a quarterback competition. Both now have their starting QBs. Brett Favre will take the snaps in the great white north while Mark Sanchez will suit up in East Rutherford. And that answers the question of who will start. But it leaves us with another question. What are these teams thinking?

If you watched Mark Sanchez play on Monday night then you saw him react like a rookie to pressure. His first pass was rushed, picked off and run back to the house for 6. His second pass hit Ray Lewis in the hands and should have gone for 6 more, but Lewis dropped the ball. Sanchez finished 3/8 with 1 TD, 1 INT and 1 Dropped INT (a stat the NFL should begin tracking) for 43 yards. Not exactly stellar numbers. For the pre-season he’s 6/12 for 131 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. Kellen Clemens on the other hand, who has actually played in an NFL game, is 9/14 for 84 yards with the same 1TD to 1 INT. And it leaves me wondering. What is it that the Jets see in Sanchez that has earned him the job over Clemens? It certainly doesn’t seem to be anything he’s shown on the field so far. But hey, maybe Rex Ryan likes the idea of his starting QB throwing the ball to the other team’s front 7.

In Minnesota, the situation is even stranger. After stringing the Vikings along so that he could skip camp, Brett Favre signed a 2 year deal, waltzed off a plane and relegated Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels to a battle for the #2 spot. Now, Favre has earned a lot of things in his career. But this one is a bit puzzling. Has Brett Favre, whose last pass with the Packers was a game ending interception, and whose self-destruction knocked the Jets out of the playoffs last year, earned the right to skip camp, miss the first pre-season game and then be anointed the starter? Consider this. Tavaris Jackson down the stretch last year threw 9 TDs to only 2 INTs and had a QB rating over 90. Jackson went 12/15 for 202 yards and 2 TDs in the same game where Favre went 1-4 for 4 yards. Jackson appears to be getting better while Favre has clearly been on the decline. So what are we missing? Why isn’t Jackson getting a chance? Is it because the Vikings are trying to lose? This Bears fan certainly hopes so.

We need a new stat

Let's call it the Interest Now, Determined After Sustained Sucking (InDAss). I hosted a Cubs fan for dinner last night after not talking to him for a few months and I had to ask if he cared or if he had given up on the season. After admitting there were a few reasons to check the standings on maybe a weekly basis on the off chance there was a miracle brewing in Wrigleyville, he said its Bears season. Mets fans, including some of your faithful OSMers, have long since given up hope. We have a magic number, but maybe it's time for a tragic number.

Here's a suggested formula for the InDAss. It's a work in progress, so please don't submit this to the STATS folks until we agree on all of the variables, thank you very much. This applies to all sports, I believe, except for hockey where no team is eliminated ever. You either get a participation ribbon or the Stanley Cup at the end of the season and only Canadians care which.

Games remaining
- Games back/division (once InDAss turns into a negative number, this becomes games back in the wild card, if the sport has one)
* Wimp index (fan's tolerance for backing a team that's going through a tough swing, along the lines of a batting average)
+ Schedule effect (who do you have on your schedule? Scale of -5 to 5)
+ Precedent factor (Scale of 0 - 10 representing size of most recent turn around)
- Strength of Competition (0 - 10 scale, based on current performance and historical stretch performance of the leader)
- Delusion penalty (Sorry, Rockies fans. That's never happening again. Scale = 0 - 5)
= InDAss

So for starters, the Cubs. The Cubs as of last night's action stood at 6 games back. To the outside observer it doesn't look that bad, especially with some puff balls coming up in the schedule. Let's have a look and see if my buddy should find a paper bag and calm down.

Games remaining - 45
- Games back (6) - 31
* wimp index (Cubs fans endure a ton, but have a time earned sense of futility. -- .230) - 7.13
+ Schedule effect (as they are in danger of being swept by the Padres, who the Cubs should beat is up for debate, but objectively, they have one more vs. SD, 4 in LA vs. the slumping Dodgers, the Mets and Nats at home -- and that's just the rest of the month. September has the Bucs and more Mets to balance out sets vs. potential wild card rivals San Fran and the division leader Cardinals. Let's call it a 3.) - 10.13
+ Precedent factor (remember that great comeback story the Cubs had in the last decade? Me either -- 0) - 10.13
- Strength of Competition (The Cardinals looked like a wild card threat to start the season, but until -- I mean if, if, Cards fans -- Carpenter does back on the DL, that team is capital T tough and looking strong for the balance of the year -- 9) - 1.13
- Delusion penalty (Cubs fans know where they stand -- 0) - 1.13

= The Cubs are in danger of crossing over into Wild Card chasers, but I don't think all hope is lost in the division. A good next 15 games is important, but keep your chins up, Cub fans, at least through the weekend.

Don LaFontaine is dead... or is he????

With all the talk on the famed website originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com of the demise of Don LaFontaine, I was at peace. I had spent my time grieving for "The Voice" and I had made my peace with God. Sunsets, puppies, hot chicks... would never look the same in a world without him. I had finally admitted that trailers would never be the same, no matter how upsetting that prospect may be.

At 1:26 AM on Sunday August 16th my world... was shattered into a million pieces.

While stumbling in a drunken stupor after several hurricanes, several shots, several women sitting on Josh Fenderman's lap and not earning a dime... that's wen I saw him. Standing guard outside a souvenir shop, a rare site in New Orleans and one that "The Voice" obviously felt an obligation to leave the physical world to defend. His sacrifice is unprecedented.

When I looked back, he was gone. But for one brief, magical moment, the color was brought back to rainbows. I was no longer mad at Hootie for the "Amy Winehouse" moment. I was not able to take a picture, but due to some incredible technological advances, I was able to extract this image from my mind and re-create it in the form of a photo. I share that brief moment with you.




How do I move on from here????

I don't want the same thing to happen to originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com that happened to the Kodan Armada. They were convinced that the Last Starfighter was dead. He of course as not and used the Death Blossom to end their chances of conquering Rylos. Lets just hope that this sighting has not hurt the momentum that orgininalsportsmusings.blogspot.com has gained in conquering the online sports/entertainment/politics blogsphere.

This is clearly a sign that we need to work harder than ever to save originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com.

Thanks for your support during this difficult time.

The best 18 days of our lives

It has been 18 glorious days since the evil CLJ sentenced www.originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com to death. He's been given the ability take over and kill www.originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com since July 31. Yet, today August 17, in the year of our Lord 2009, we sit hear today - alive, well and enjoyed globally.

Now I know the questions that our millions of followers are wondering:

1) Why would anyone want to kill the potential profit juggernaut that is www.originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com?

2) Why do you think 18 days of hearing Mike Vick's old cell mates yell "dead man walking" have been glorious?

3) How can CB40 actually like Kelly Clarkson?

Well I can't give good answers to questions one and three. However, I will explain my thinking on question two.

As is our ritual, every day we've been able to wakeup, run to our PCs, Macs, iPhones, BlackBerries, or whatever is your favorite method of following www.originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com, and we've been able to continue receiving, following and developing our favorite website since Al Gore first created this wonderful Internet.

Over the past 18 days, all of you have been able to enjoy the literary masterpiece that is www.originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com. Likewise, over the past 18 days, all of us have been able to continue working at the best job we've ever had, even if we are still waiting on that first pay check. However, over the last 18 days, none of this was supposed to happen.

Just like all of you, I went to bed on July 31, 2009, expecting that was going to be the last time I ever saw www.originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com. Yet, for 18 days, to our surprise and elation, we've awaken to one more beautiful day with our beloved site. That is 18 sunrises with Art V's Mets rantings. It's 18 sunsets with the Hat's Olympian athletes search. And of course 18 moments with the swimsuit models of the day - ok, maybe there were a couple days where there were multiple moments, but none of us have gone blind yet...

Anyway, I guess what I'm saying is this is all time that none of thought we had left. I've always been told that when one cheats death, even for a short period of time, that a breeze blows crisper, the sun shines brighter, and a bird sings even more beautifully.

This is what we have all experienced together for the past 18 days. None of us know when CLJ will hit the delete key on this wonderful experiment, but what we do know is that every day we have left is a day we were never meant to have together and that makes each day glorious, in my opinion.

This Mets fan has stayed mum for too long...

I've stayed mum for too long. I have long neglected this platform that could potentially reach millions, and so it's time I start using it for the greater good.

It was mentioned in passing and in jest today that perhaps the New York Mets -- my New York Mets -- should be contracted from Major League Baseball. As a long-suffering Mets fan, I can see that this kind of thinking emanates from one of two places: 1) A NY Mets fan who just wants to end the pain and misery; or 2) Fans of other teams merely having fun at our expense.

Either way, I guess the point of fact is this: Yes, the Mets have fallen on hard times. Yes, they set a new world record for injuries begotten by inept medical care. Yes, Madoff took all of the Wilpons' money, and even though they still want ours, they don't want to spend a dime. Yes, Omar Minaya turned one of the best things to happen to the team -- firing Tony Bernazard -- into a meteoric PR disaster. Yes, they lack fundamentals in every phase of the game. Yes, they can't beat the San Diego Padres, the Arizona Diamondbacks, or even the Newark Bears at this point..........

But with all that said, is contraction the answer? No.

Despite all of the misery, despite this wasted season, despite two straight epic September collapses, despite Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS and despite all of the years and years of heartache and suffering since the 1986 championship season, I know in my heart of hearts that the New York Mets will one day come out of this soon-to-be-23-year drought, and they will get back to what made them so Amazin' to begin with.

I dream of a scrappy team that takes no prisoners on the field, managed by a man with the intellect and heart of a Japanese warrior. I see a freer, wiser man than he was before, still clever but without all the needless ploys, liberated from plastic glasses and mustache disguises as this franchise rises to meet their true destiny as World Champions once more.

This team, and this man, will overcome all of the arrogant Senseis and juiced-up Johnny Lawrences of the world, and they will take back this New York Town that they once owned, albeit for a fleeting moment, albeit soon-to-be-23-years ago.

So when you say contract the Mets, I say Mets, it's time to do the right thing and bring in the man we know is waiting, just waiting to come back home. It's not time to contract, it's time to sign the contract that will make all of this a distant memory.

It is a Flushing rallying cry that is worth the redux, and that cry is, "BOBBY V! BOBBY V! BOBBY V!"

I'll see you all again on Valentine's Day!

--CB40

A Second Chance, and "the List"

We're still here. A second chance. And this time we take it seriously.

A "source with knowledge" has stated that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez were on baseball's infamous "List" of 104 players who tested positive for PEDs in 2003. Or is it 96? Suddenly, we don't know. MLB says 104. The MLBPA says 96, 13 of which were contested. Which is the real number? And are the latest 3 outed players actually guilty of anything?

We know that Alex Rodriguez did in fact take PEDs. We know this because he admitted to it. We know that Manny Ramirez took something. He tested positive this year for a substance linked to steroid use and served his suspension with no opposition. But we don't know that he tested positive for anything in 2003. In fact, we don't know that Sammy Sosa or David Ortiz tested positive either. It's reasonable to believe they did. Sosa issued no comment after being outed. Manny did something this year. Ortiz turned into a power hitter in 2003. The circumstantial evidence is there.

But we don't know for sure. We haven't seen the list. Supposedly, the MLBPA hasn't seen the list. David Ortiz says he didn't do anything wrong. He claims he took a number of perfectly legal, over-the-counter supplements and vitamins. But no steroids. Bronson Arroyo echoes a claim that he took Andro, which was allowed under MLB rules until 2004, until he heard that it might be laced with illicit steroids. A plausible explanation? Yes. A credible one? With the shadow of Jose Canseco, Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez's positive 2009 test, it's hard to say.

But there is an equally large, equally important issue here. The List itself. The List has been sealed by court order for years, the subject of a disagreement between the MLBPA and the Federal Government. The court seal hasn't prevented leaks this year. It should have. Leaking information from a sealed document is a crime. The List, which was to have been anonymous, was also the basis for the MLBPA's cooperation with the MLB testing program. It appears now that not only is the list not confidential, but that MLB may not have shared accurate information with the MLBPA.

So what should the MLBPA do now? Should it drop its opposition to release of the list? Not in the humble opinion of the Hat. In fact, just the opposite. Donald Fehr should call a press conference tomorrow. He should announce that the MLBPA agreed to cooperate with a testing program based on the results of an anonymous testing survey. Right now, that survey is not anonymous, and the results that MLB shared may not be accurate. As a result, as far as the MLBPA is concerned, the testing program is over. The players will no longer cooperate. Throw down the gauntlet. Force MLB and the courts to take action to stop the leaks and ensure that the information provided by MLB is accurate. Until then, no more tests, no more suspensions. Regardless of public opinion of the agreement, both sides should abide by it. And until MLB holds up its end, the MLBPA should refuse to be constrained by its end.

Sons of America and the Internet, I am The Original Sports Musings

OSM: Sons of America and the Internet, I am The Original Sports Musings.

Young reader: The Original Sports Musings is god not a man.

OSM: Yes, I've heard. Kills men by the hundreds, and if he were here he'd consume CJL , Jr, the evil man trying to shut us down, with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse. I AM The Original Sports Musings. And I see a whole army of my countrymen here in defiance of tyranny. You have come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What would you do without freedom? Will you fight?

Veteran reader: Fight? Against CJL, Jr.? No, we will run; and we will live.

OSM: Aye, fight and you may die. Run and you'll live -- at least a while. And dying in your beds many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take our musings!!!

OSM and readers: Musings Forever!!!!

The Final Post

It's over. OSM is dead. We've failed. We've failed worse than the Oakland Raiders, who compounded their draft mistake today by giving $23M guaranteed to Darius Hey-I-Can't-Catch. We've failed worse than Manny Ramirez fails PED tests. We've failed worse than the Pittsburgh Pirates over the past 16 years. We're done. We're being contracted by the owner. We had a good run. We tried really hard. But the public just didn't seem to catch on. We're like the WUSA. Or maybe the USFL. It doesn't matter. It's over. No more Biff, no more Fenderman, no more CB40, and of course, no more Augie Phonics. We here at OSM would like to thank you for your support during our trying times. We hope to see you again on this giant interweb. Unless...

...unless you love www.originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com so much that you can't bear to see us go. If that's the case, HELP US! 1 LAST TIME, HELP US! Show your support! Stop our evil owner and keep OSM on the web!

Mike Mussina's Hall Of Fame Case - Part 1

Last week CB40 sent around a bulleted list of sports points and complaints and one of the items ended up sparking a long e-mail firestorm. The bullet was:

Chris
--WFAN CALLERS -- STOP IT! MIKE MUSSINA IS NOT A HALL OF FAMER!!!

At first, I let this go. I don’t usually get in to Hall debates because of the stupid subjectivity. But, eventually I found the arguments against to be so bad I had to respond. Some of these writers you'll know. I'm not going to really identify any of them because I'm not entirely sure they want their names out there. I will note background info where I can. These will be unedited save for capitalization and spelling.

Justin
Mussina would be a Hall of Famer if he pitched three more seasons and reached the 300 win club.

Chris B
Maybe, but I even hate that Glavine is going in. Smoltz and Maddux were much better than he was. And, again, a guy like Schilling and Pedro deserve it for their short-term dominance, rather than these guys who just hung around long enough to compile without ever dominating.

Mussina a compiler? Can you really call a guy who had one of the best seasons of his career in his last year a compiler? Still, not quite enough to get involved. Especially as some other list members made the points I was going to make.

Peter
Citing Mussina’s Wikipedia page.
Mussina's candidacy for the Hall of Fame has come under recent debate. "Do I compare to some guys who are in? I think I do," Mussina told USA Today in 2006. The only other pitchers to match Mussina's 17 seasons of 10 or more victories are Greg Maddux, Warren Spahn, Cy Young, Don Sutton and Steve Carlton; all are Hall of Famers except Maddux, who also retired after the 2008 season and thus is not yet eligible. Of the 23 eligible pitchers who have at least 265 wins and an ERA of 3.69 or less, 20 are in the Hall of Fame. Mussina's consistency is often overshadowed by the dominant peaks of contemporaries like Pedro Martínez and Randy Johnson. Baseball writer Tim Kurkjian stated on the August 3, 2008 edition of Baseball Tonight "He's a Hall of Famer. I've looked at the numbers and he's in."

He is the oldest pitcher to ever win 20 games in a season for the first time at the age of 39 in 2008. He never won the Cy Young Award, but finished in the top six of Cy Young voting eight times. Mussina also came tantalizingly close to pitching a perfect game and winning a World Series, having lost chances at achieving both in the 9th inning in 2001.

Only five pitchers in the history of major league baseball have as many victories as Mussina and a better winning percentage: Lefty Grove, Christy Mathewson, Grover Cleveland Alexander,Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson.

Greg
There may be a movement brewing where guys who were quiet and got the job done will gain votes vs. guys that chased home run records and stole headlines. If he doesn't get in on numbers, he may get in for being the right kind of guy for the voters in the years coming up. I say he gets in, but don't care that much except that I think he's one of the good guys and would be happy for him.

At this point – it seemed like the debate would be friendly. Perhaps neutral and the Sports Musings group would come to the conclusion that he’s a pretty good pitcher and it could probably go either way. Until this point, I hadn’t even chimed in… I’d just been reading the opinions. But then, the godfather of the e-mail list chimed in. Chuck is the resident hardcore Yankee fan. Loves sports, loves predicting, and as we learned in Atlantic City, loves red wine.

Chuck
Moose is not a Hall of Famer. Period. End of story. Actually, in my book, he isn't even close. He is the classic two or three starter that hung around a while and pitched on good teams. Also a terrible big game starter.

And agreements started rolling in.

Chris B
Chaz, I agree with you, 100%. Wow. ;-)

Justin
He would have 300 wins if o's gave more run support

And only one disagreement

Peter
He also pitched in the best division in baseball his whole career and still amassed 270 wins and the 6th best winning % of any pitcher with that many wins. That’s impressive. I’m sorry. People can knock him all they want but not many pitchers can say they pitched as well for as long as he did.

And this is where I finally had to join the fray. The talk about wins had become just too much.

Tom
The "wins" stat is the most retarded hall of fame statistic ever. "Hey, let's use this stat which largely has nothing to do with pitching to figure out how good of a pitcher you were." If you insist on using them, though, 120 games over .500 is pretty ridiculously awesome.

And thus arrived Coogan.

Coogan
Is it me or is he not as good as Bert Blyleven was? And BB isn't in ... ...

Interesting debate, though. Agree it could either way and I wouldn't be offended if he got in.

To end part one, I'll present the e-mail that got myself and my friend Mike fully in to the debate. Remember: hardcore Yankee fan.

Chuck
Ok, I'll play this installment of why Mike Mussina is not a Hall of Famer:

• 0 rings.


• Carried a staff 2 times 1996 and 1997.


• 0 Cy Youngs.


• Limited All-Star appearances.


• Rarely even the third best guy on the staff.


• One good post season start in the ALDS vs the A's in 2001. He even sucked as an Oriole against the Yanks.


• Pitched well in relief against the Red Sox in 2003. But wasn't even the best pitcher in the game -- Rivera was.


• Played for teams with almost a 600 winning percentage and won 20 games once last season.


• Nibbled all the time.


• Was slow to the plate.


• Never took responsibility for letting the team down.


• Retired not because he didn’t want to play anymore or he couldn't but rather because he wasn't getting paid.


• Bolted the Os for more money.


• Held the Yanks hostage after the 2006 season.

In part two, Hulse and I dismantle the previous e-mail and former IP/411 writer Mark U joins the fray -- with the bad guys.

Your Help Is Needed

In recent weeks a shot rang out that nearly destroyed the Smusing world and quite possibly the real world as well. The face of Original Sportsmusings wanted to shutdown this dearly beloved blog and instrument of humor for those who can read good.

Pic: This man is in. Are you?

Since that announcement there has been a flurry of activity in support of OSM. Mostly from The Hat...mostly. But that is not enough. More support is needed along with the ever important Twitter feed that no one will use. Will you Help?

I know this burden sounds great but the effort is minimal in exchange. For as little as 5 minutes a day you can read this blog, post comments, and and make its contributors extremely rich. All you have to do is agree to be in.

Only here can you learn about the most devastating pitch in baseball, the cutter. Maybe you too can save 500 games in the majors with just one pitch. You have to read to find out. No matter the subject, if there is anything you want to read about you can find it here at OSM...when it eventually gets written. Do you have a favorite blogger? Well, you can find all of The Hat's blogs at OSM which will soon be syndicated at http://www.originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com/.

For those that agree to be in your support will be rewarded. You can keep the fish or go for what is in the box. The choice is yours my friends. I suggest the box.

Thanks for the support,

HHH

Save OSM Update - Day 2

We're in the 2nd day of the campaign to save OSM and the outpouring has been tremendous. We've literally had a 400% increase in the number of comments that we normally receive. And the Smusers have taken notice. It was determined scientifically today that:

Mike Mussina is not a Hall of Famer

Biff has a man crush on Jason Statham

Vodka goes well with IBC root beer

The only entity that tortures Jets fans more than the Jets is Twitter

Steve Coogan loves www.originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com

And Flo from the Progressive commercials is hotter than Kelly Ripa


Please, keep the comments coming. Only your support can save us. Good luck. We're all counting on you.

An Open Letter to Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,


First, we here at OSM would like to thank you for being one of the few souls brave enough to use the comment boards and leave us your opinion on the site. Literally dozens of people visit our web site each day, read its content, and go home without giving anything back. But not you. You let us know what you think.

Unfortunately, everything you post seems to be negative. There are several schools of thought on this. One says that it doesn't matter, any reaction is a good reaction. It's not time to repackage a wrestler when he's getting booed, it's time to repackage him when the crowd doesn't even care enough to boo. One says that we should ignore negative comments. After all, some people are just negative. But one says that if your comments are negative, we must not be living up to your expectations.

That's the school we're following here. What do you want to see here at OSM? Politics? Comedy? Shots of Steve Marino wearing a wool cap at the Open? A return of "Get to know a Muser?" Maybe a movie review. Maybe you'd like to be in the inside jokes that fueled the creation of OSM in the first place.

Atreyu!!!!

Falcor!!!!!

Agreed.


Please, let us know what we need to do for your support. It could be the end for OSM. The Nothing consumes more of us by the day. Only you, the Earth Child, can give us a new name and save us. Please Bastian, save OSM. Say my name.

Chris Berman is a Bitter Old Man

http://www.tmz.com/videos?autoplay=true&mediaKey=ee933add-98a6-49ea-a661-97bb70063092

The End of OSM?

Loyal readers, the end may be near. The man who owns http://www.originalsportsmusings.blogspot.com/ has threatened to shut it down. Apparently, the site has not performed to his expectations, has not generated the cash flow that he predicted and has drawn criticism from the "media elite." We could be down to our final days. Our future could be more bleak than the LA Clippers, Washington Nationals and the New York Knicks combined. Unless you help.

Starting today, the Hat is asking for your assistance. Please, use the comments board to send as many messages as you can to support us. Without you, OSM may very well be shut down by this time next week. That means no OSM gathering in March, no more pictures of women in swimsuits, and worst of all, no where else for Mets fans to complain that their team doesn't love them. So please, give till hurts. Save OSM.

The Return of Van de Velde

Amazingly, 10 years after his monumental collapse at Carnoustie, Jean Van de Velde has been sighted once more. Holding a 3 stroke lead on the final hole of the tournament, Van de Velde decided to try and reach the green in 2 with 247 yards remaining on this par 5 from the rough. He came up short and ended up in the water on his first attempt. Then he amazingly went for the green again with the same result. Undeterred, he tried again, and then a 4th time, each with the same result. He finally ended the hole with a 15, 10 over par, and surrendered the lead to little known Hank Henry, who claimed the tournament with a score of +1.

Dear Mets: I think we should take a break...

Dear Mets,

We've been together for a long time. Through a lot of bad times and a couple of good times, but after the last few years, I just need my space right now. It's not me, it's you.

I continually pour my heart into this relationship, but am getting very little in return. We've gone on so many dates where the date started well, we were having a great time and then you did something at the end to completely ruin the date. I just don't know if I can handle these long, drawn out dates where you raise my expectations and then by the end of the date, I'm left with a long lonely ride home.

I spend tons of money on your tickets, your parking and your merchandise. $35 hats, $200 jerseys, $200 MLBTV packages... Yet I still feel unfulfilled. Incomplete. Empty. Used.

I'm not ready to see other teams just yet, but until you're ready to fill your end of this relationship, I need some time to myself.

Sincerely,

Art Vandeleigh

Day 5

I've found them. The athletes. I've finally found them. In the open air museum tomorrow I will seek them out and speak with them.

Norway - Day 4

4 days in and the Norwegians continue to keep tight wraps on the Olympians. Perhaps they are hiding in plain sight? There appears to be a large international contingent at my hotel. I have seen many people biking on the side roads. They must be some sort of Olympians, though they refuse to sit with me for interviews. But only a great athlete could possibly ride up and down these 60 degree hills that seem to plague the countryside here.

Tomorrow I venture to the golf course to look for athletes. If that fails, I head for the ski jump on Sunday.

Norwegian Update - Day 3

Day 3 and the coverage takes a serious note. A man was murdered a few blocks from my hotel. Apparently his girlfriend was recently released from a mental institution and stabbed him to death. There was a TV crew in the hotel today covering the story. I can only assume that it was this insane woman's presence that has caused the local security to hide away all of the Olympic athletes, who I still have not seen. I am encouraged though, as my hotel appears to be full of international travelers. I have to believe that they're here in anticipation of the great games, and that if I remain patient I will soon see the wonderous competition I've come here to observe.

I've discovered that there is a golf course within walking distance of the hotel. Tomorrow afternoon I will explore this course in my search for the Olympians. With a little luck I'll find one of these world class athletes and provide an interview for you all tomorrow.

Norwegian Update - Day 2

Good evening from lovely Lillehammer. It's 10pm here and the sun is no where near set. Security here is also very tight. I walked to the Olympic Village today and it's empty. The Olympians are nowhere to be found. Taken in with the security sweep of my hotel today I can only conclude that Norway has made the safety of the athletes its prime concern. They've been hidden away to ensure that nothing bad happens to them before the games begin. I have been told however that the luge is open to the public and that we may test it out. I plan to put this to the test on Saturday.

That's it for tonight. More from our Olympic hosts tomorrow.

The Winter Olympics

Greetings, live from Lillehammer, Norway. I've flown 5,000 miles from home to visit this beautiful town after being told that it is home to the Winter Olympics. In a first for the Original Sports Musings, I'll be bringing you live updates from the Olympic Village and throughout the town for the next 10 days or so. Let's get to it.

Today's update - I can see the Olympic Ski Jump from my hotel window. It appears to be very high. They don't seem to have any snow laid down for the ski jumpers, so I have to assume that event isn't until next week. There appears to be a quiet level of excitement in the town. Several local merchants are selling postcards that depict the Olympic Torch lighting and some other representative events. I can't see the Olympic flame from my window. Must be on the other side of the hotel. But with 18 hours of sun each day we should be in for an exciting 2 weeks of competition!

Fallen

There are two ways to go out. You can be taken out or you can take yourself out. Being taken out is rare, especially when you’re a star. Joe Theisman was taken out. Redskins fans and Giants fans know when and where it happened. But he’s really the exception. Most guys who played at a championship level took themselves out of the game. Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Cal Ripken Jr, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and a host of other all-time greats simply walked away. There are all sorts of arguments to be made as to whether or not they stuck around too long. I’d argue in these cases they did not. Jordan’s 2nd comeback doubled ticket sales for a team in which he had an ownership stake, providing the revenue that would allow the Wizards to sign the free agents who took them to the playoffs. Wayne Gretzky was still able to tally points for a playoff hockey team at the end of career. Cal Ripken remained a solid defender who could still hit, Montana took the lowly Chiefs to the playoffs and Rice was still catching balls even after the Raiders collapsed in the Superbowl. But a time came for each of these men when they simply said enough is enough and hung up the equipment for other pursuits.

Today, two more stars walk this thin line. Manny Ramirez and Brett Favre are both at the crossroads, and both have arrived at this place of their own doing.

Manny Ramirez will begin serving a 50 game suspension for a positive test that indicates the use of steroids. His story is familiar. He says that he took a drug prescribed by a doctor for a health issue that produces test results consistent with those seen in people who are coming off a cycle of steroid use. He didn’t know what was in the drug, he didn’t use steroids, he’s sorry, he accepts responsibility, but he’s not a cheat. We’ve heard this before, most notably from Rafael Palmeiro, who claimed that he took B12 injections and ended up with positive steroid test results, and from Shawne Merriman, who claimed that he took an OTC supplement that had banned substances which were not part of the ingredient label.

But Manny’s story is a bit different. Baseball has been actively testing for steroids for several years now. This is the first positive test for Manny. Is it possible that he’s been using for some time and just got lucky? Sure. For some of us, the math will give Manny the benefit of the doubt. How could he have possibly gone through the past 4 years of random tests without getting caught unless he wasn’t using? It just doesn’t add up. But for others, the math will speak differently. They’ll point to Manny hitting ~250 home runs in the six years since he turned 30 as evidence that he must be getting some help. The human body isn’t designed to perform at that level once we cross our physical prime in the late 20s. The math says steroids.

In either case, Manny has removed himself from the game by taking whatever it is he took. And it may have been permanent. The Dodgers have wisely not said anything about Manny’s future. They have some time to think. But it’s certainly possible that by the beginning of July, if LA is still in first place, they may look at Manny’s now (even more) tarnished reputation and decide to be done with him. If they do, will anyone welcome Manny, with his reputation for being a clubhouse distraction and now a steroid user, into the fold? I don’t know.

And then there is Brett Favre. We’ve entered the 6th annual “will Brett play another season” summer carnival. The Jets have released him. He spoke to Brad Childress of the Minnesota Vikings about coming back. The Vikings reportedly want him to participate in off-season workouts, mini-camps, organized team activities, and as a bonus, go ahead and take care of that arm surgery that everyone else in the free world has told him he needs. Favre’s response yesterday? No thanks.

Is it permanent? Who knows? As a football fan I hope yes, mostly because this ongoing drama is annoying as hell. As a Bears fan I hope he comes back. That’s right. I hope he comes back. Men much wiser than I have written a good deal about how Favre killed the Jets last year and how he might do so again for the Vikings. Those thoughts are well founded. For those out there that still think this is the same guy who won a Superbowl against the Pats and came within Elway’s Superman impersonation of winning a second against Denver, well, think again. Since Favre’s last trip to the Superbowl his record reads something like this in the post season - 16 TDs vs. 18 INTs and a 3-5 record as a starter. Oh, and since then, for all of Marino’s records that have been broken, let’s not gloss over the fact that he also blew threw the all-time record for INTs.

The point here? This isn’t the same guy that all those Packer fans love and the Bears, Vikings, Lions and Bucs feared. That guy is gone. He’s not coming back. As of right now, Favre has decided to take himself out. If he comes back, at 39 years old, in need of surgery, and performing at a level where Thomas Jones thought he should have been benched in favor of Kellen Clemmens, then someone else will ultimately make the decision to take Favre out.

Twitter

If OSM had a Twitter account, what would it say right now?


Please leave a suggestion for the first ever Twitter post about the best kept secret on the web...

The Atlanta Hawks

Does anybody think their shoddy freethrow shooting has anything to do with them trailing Cleveland 2-0?


Agreed?

10 Thoughts On The New Yok Mets (April Edition)

1) Jerry Manuel was starting to grow on me. His smallball approach wasn’t to the extreme like Willie Randolph’s. Willie would have Luis Castillo sac-bunt Jose Reyes over in the first inning. Recently, though, he’s been showing truly frustrating tendencies. Last week, he used Daniel Murphy, the .320-hitting 3-hitter, to sac-bunt. Later in the game, with men on first and second, he attempted a hit-and-run which ended the inning. Still later, with the bases loaded with 2-out in the ninth, he pulled Trap Jaw Castro (.273/.351) in favor of recent call-up catcher Omir Santos (at the time: .280/.280). Because, you know, when you’re down one in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded, you really need a hit instead of a walk. While I really hate being “second-guess-the-manager” guy — it was just terrible all around.

2) If the whole financing for Citi Field falls through, I suggest renaming it Triples Park. There were 12 triples hit there in April — five more than any other ball park. Pretty much anything into that chaotic right field corner or the ridiculous 415-foot alcove in deep center has a shot at being a triple. In one game against the Marlins, there were three in one game. I expect at least two inside the park HRs from Jose Reyes this year.

3) On the other hand, it looks like it’s going to play like Petco and AT&T for home runs. It’s currently running at just about 0.75 HR/G and, unless the wind patterns in the stadium change, it’s going to stay there.

4) I’m very much over the New York Media’s overfascination with David Wright whenever he’s in a slump. This is the second time Wright’s had a bad April — but because “Wright Doesn’t Hit In The Clutch” has become part of The Storyline it’s now accompanied by trade talks. Meanwhile, Jose Reyes’s had a ghastly April, batting just .258/.336/.351 with only +2 net stolen bases. There is nary a mention of this. They also rarely mention that a huge part of both collapses was Jose Reyes’s inability to hit baseballs in September. This year, it’s carried over in to April. People: Wright’s in a slump. It happens to baseball players. It happened to Derek Jeter for all of 2008. Wright will come out of it. Stop being insane Jets’ fans.

5) Meanwhile, am I the only one who gets the irony of Mets’ fans complaining about Daniel Murphy’s left-field defense when they wanted to spend $100M on Manny Ramirez? And they wanted Manny to cover the 54 acres of left field in this new stadium? Settle down. The Mets will live with his defense for exactly one season. Then Wright moves to first and Murphy goes back to playing his natural third base position.

6) Dear Mets Fans: Please stop trying to trade Carlos Beltran. I know he struck out once in 2006 and you have translated this into him being the world’s worst center fielder and a terrible human being. Could we possibly redirect the anger to the bottom of the sixth after Endy Chavez had just made what would have been the greatest catch in NLCS history? When they had the bases loaded with one out and Jose Valentin struck out swinging and Endy Chavez popped out to center? Guys, we’re not trading him. The thought of trading him is unfathomably stupid. It’s almost as stupid as Jets trading Chad Pennington when all they needed was a running back who didn’t suck. Please, look around the league and find me the better center field option. YOU HAVE THE BEST CENTER FIELDER IN THE LEAGUE PATROLLING 114 ACRES OF CENTER FIELD. STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT.

7) Credit to Omar Minaya — great work on the bullpen. A 3.12 ERA and .664 OPS-against in 78 innings. Yet they still have credit for 6 of the losses. It’s almost like… almost like… they weren’t the entire problem. I know it’s crazy but — it kind of seems like the team stops hitting late in games and it wasn’t all entirely the bullpen’s problem. Crazy-talk!

8) I’m not going to get too hung up on the starting pitchers quite yet. Johan Santana has been incredible and he’s already been screwed out of two wins. The first when Daniel Murphy dropped a fly ball, which led to 2 unearned runs, which lead to a 2-0 nothing loss and the second being a seven inning, two run gem blown by JJ Putz and the team’s chronic inability to score runs late in close games. Livan is being Livan — mediocre starts followed by the occasional trainwreck. John Maine (1-2, 5.40) and Mike Pelfrey (3-0, 6.00) are both seeing their ERAs start to fall after really bad starts. On the other hand:

9) Oliver Perez has been very very bad. Epically bad. Nearly Chien Ming-Wang bad. Ollie’s services were retained this year for one reason — the Mets face a lot of teams with lefty power and he baffles lefties. Unfortunately, he didn’t make it out of third inning in his first start against the Phillies. Here’s why I’m not worried quite yet — the WBC. The dude barely got any work in March. The Mets need to fake an injury like the Yankees did with Wang and send him to Buffalo for some starts. He needs spring training — not panic. We knew this was coming. Besides; five runs in Citizens Bank Park really isn’t all that bad. If four consecutive walks hadn’t led to one of the runs, I’d almost consider the start a good one.

10) It could be much worse, I suppose. I would have signed for 3 games under .500 if I’d been told all starters not named “Johan” would have an aggregate ERA over 6.00. Really, April after the WBC is a wash. ERAs are off the board, batters haven’t developed timing yet, and pitchers are all dealing with injuries. As long as no one runs up a 10-game lead while everyone’s still warming up, the season might as well be starting between now and Memorial Day.

On Tap

Huge weekend coming up. Unless you're a Rangers or Flyers fan, you're probably psyched to see Ovie and Crosby start up a 7 game series. If' you're at all a basketball fan you'll be glued to your TV for game 7 of the Bulls and Celtics, which has already become one of the top 5 series in NBA playoff history. If you like the ponies, about 3 minutes of the Kentucky Derby will be mashed in between 18 hours of coverage on Saturday. And if you like boxing, well, "There's only 1...Ricky Hatton. There's Only 1...Ricky Hatton. Walking along, singing a song, walking in a Hatton wonderland."

What do the Musers think? You'll have to ask them. What does the Hat tell me to predict?

Friesan Fire for the Derby

Bulls on the road in Double OT

Manny Pacquiao by KO in the 9th round

Get To Know Your Musers: CB40

Who are your favorite teams college and pro?
Mets, Jets, Knicks, Islanders <-- A combined 23 years without a championship and counting!

Who is your one favorite sports team above all others and why?
The New York Metropolitans. I have been a baseball fan far longer than any other sport was even on my radar, and the Mets have had a special place in my heart since I could barely walk. I was old enough to enjoy the championship run in 1986, and even today, the words, "It gets by Buckner, the Mets win!" bring back a rush of excitement and joy like no other, reminding me what it was like to be 7 years-old and just relishing every moment.

People say baseball is one of those sports that is passed down from generation to generation, and that's another reason why the Mets are my favorite team. Being able to go to the ball-park with my family when I was a kid was so much fun, and even better are the times we get to go together now. The bond created through baseball fandom is truly special, as is the connection formed from wishing the Yankees nothing but pain and misery from now until the end of time. I am half-kidding, but not really :-)

Who are the five women on your Celebrity Exemption list?
Maria Kanellis, WWE Diva
Angelina Love, TNA Knockout Champion, part of the regime known as The Beautiful People
Stacy Keibler, former WCW Nitro Girl/WWE Diva/Dancing With The Stars contestant
Alyson Hannigan, of American Pie, Buffy, and How I Met Your Mother fame
And yes, Kelly Clarkson, which gives all my fellow musers the thrill of a lifetime

Honorable Mention: Rachel Nichols, ESPN :-)

What's the worst thing you ever said to a woman?
The worst thing I ever said, not really sure. I used to be shy so perhaps the worst thing I did was not say something to an attainable girl I had feelings for. How's that for brute honesty?

What is your favorite sports moment?Most heartbreaking?
My favorite sports moment, as mentioned before, was the Bill Buckner error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. In 23 years, nothing has really topped that kind of elation.

My most heartbreaking sports moment is easily Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, Mets vs. Cardinals, which I witnessed in person at a jam-packed Shea Stadium. Endy Chavez makes the most amazing catch in Mets (if not all of baseball) history, only for the offense and bullpen to blow it all later on in the game. The actual moment that crushed me was Yadier Molina's game-winning home run against Aaron Heilman, though Carlos Beltran's backwards K to end it all is a close second.

What team would you purposely wish harm upon because you hate them beyond all rational thinking?
You know, this may surprise some people, but I never forgave the Washington Capitals -- specifically Dale Hunter -- for cheap-shotting Pierre Turgeon after Turgeon scored a huge goal for the Islanders in the 1993 NHL Playoffs. This completely messed up the Islanders for the rest of the Playoffs, despite beating the Penguins in the following series, and I just never quite got over that. So F Dale Hunter, F the Caps, and F Ovechkin.

What is your favorite movie quote?
Sentimental: "Dad, you want to have a catch?" -Field of Dreams

Comical: "Look! It's Enrico Pallazzo!" -The Naked Gun, which features the best baseball scene from a non-sports movie EVER, so it deserves some kind of recognition

If Sports Musing Readers take away just one piece of knowledge from you, what do you want that to be?
Honestly, I am going to go serious on this one, as this particular quote really did and still does resonate with me: "Don't give up, don't ever give up." Jim Valvano

How do you say stupid??

Wow, how dumb do you have to be to not realize you do not have an unlimited texting plan before trying to break the record for most texts?????


Record attempt reaps 217K texts, $26K phone bill

By BILL BERGSTROM, Associated Press Writer

Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:13AM EDT

PHILADELPHIA -
Their thumbs sure must be sore. Two central Pennsylvania friends spent most of March in a text-messaging record attempt, exchanging a thumbs-flying total of 217,000. For one of the two, that meant an inches-thick itemized bill for $26,000.

Nick Andes, 29, and Doug Klinger, 30, were relying on their unlimited text messaging plans to get them through the escapade, so Andes didn't expect such a big bill.

"It came in a box that cost $27.55 to send to me," he said Tuesday. He said he "panicked" and called T-Mobile, which told The Associated Press it had credited his account and was investigating the charges.

The two Lancaster-area residents have been practically nonstop texters for about a decade since they attended Berks Technical Institute together.

That led Andes to search for the largest monthly text message total he could find posted online: 182,000 sent in 2005 by Deepak Sharma in India.

Andes and Klinger were able to set up their phones to send multiple messages. During a February test run they found they could send 6,000 or 7,000 messages on some days, prompting the March messaging marathon.

"Most were either short phrases or one word, 'LOL' or 'Hello,' things like that, with tons and tons of repeats," said Andes, reached by phone.

Andes sent more than 140,000 messages, and Klinger sent more than 70,000 to end the month with a total of just over 217,000, he said.

A spokesman for Guinness World Records didn't immediately return messages asking whether it would be certified as a record.

April came as a relief to Andes' wife, Julie, who had found his phone tied up with texting when she tried to call him on lunch breaks.

"She was tired of it the first few days into it," Andes said.