Mets Need Some Money

Fred Wilpon, the Mets owner, announced today that the Mets will put a minority stake in the baseball organization up for sale. In particular, Wilpon stated that he is looking for a strategic partner, but that is just a euphemism for a capital infusion. You would think that with the expanding cable network, SNY, and the new stadium driving larger revenues, Freddy Wilpon would be financially sound.  But, it seems that Freddy Coupons has become Freddy Food Stamps. Even Fred can no longer afford the Shake Shack burgers or Blue Smoke bbq being offered at Citi Field. He'll probably be sneaking food into the stadium like everybody else this season.

Fred may claim that the Mets are not downsizing and will remain competitive in 2011, but the reality is that the team is looking to shrink payroll. However, Mets fans can find some solace in knowing that the team has not been competitive in the past nine years while spending big, so maybe they can't get any worse while spending less.

A Donation with Strings Attached

UConn fans are passionate about more than just basketball.  Judging by this scalding letter by a booster to the AD, UConn also supports its rising football program. The booster, Robert Burton, must have thought that he would receive an outpouring of fan support by taking his displeasure public. But, he just highlighted the problems with college athletics in the process. By donating a large sum of money to a college athletic department, Burton thought he had the right to be intricately involved in the school's coaching search. Does he also expect to tell the school what recruits to accept?  Or tell the coach which quarterback to play? This guy is out of control.  Three million dollars did not make him the president of The University of Connecticut, it just provided him with better access to the administration. The Huskies are building something special in Storrs, and may eclipse Boston College as the dominant FBS program in New England in the near future with or without Burton's sizeable checks.

New Supplement on the Market

The cream, the clear, and now, drum roll please, velvet deer antler???  You got the impression that athletes will do anything and take anything to give them a competitive advantage.  Since deer antlers are natural as opposed to a synthetic supplement such as HGH, it is more difficult for drug tests to detect while providing similar benefits.  Can you really blame a professional athlete for taking a supplement which will go undetected by the testing agencies? Afterall, isn't there the old adage that if you aren't cheating then you aren't trying? 

Gang Green is Happy to Start Their Vacation Early

The Jets made it two straight trips to the AFC Championship Game and two straight disappointing exits.   Gang Green had so much respect for the Steelers that they paid homage to the team in the first half before deciding to actually strap it on in the second half. In the days following the game, you got the impression that the Jets were just happy to be in Pittsburgh for the AFC Championship while the Steelers were focused on taking home the hardware, which in this case is the Lamar Hunt trophy. 

The Jets lost that mean streak that the team exhibited against the Colts and Patriots.  Maybe the Jets came out of tunnel motivated to dominate the line of scrimmage in Indy and Foxboro because Rex & Co. had a personal vendetta against those two teams.  Regardless, somebody needs to pull big Rex aside and explain to him that you don't get the opportunity to play in the AFC Championship game very often and you need to capitalize on it.  The Jets may have made it to the Championship game two years in a row, but they may not make it back for the next twenty years. 

However, that possibility did not stop Rex from announcing "We don't need to apologize to anybody. We'll be back, you'll see." Bets should be taken on how much longer Rex's brash talk can keep going before it loses its luster. You can only make guarantees for so long before it gets old.

Knicks Played a Great Forty-Seven Minutes of Basketball

I understand that the game has changed. As the Knicks would like to have you believe, the game has gone from mutton chops to high tops. From Dick McGuire to Stoudemire.  From old time hoops to alley oops. But, since when is it okay for a player to put up a last second shot with six seconds left?  That's what Raymond Felton did Saturday night, giving Oklahoma City plenty of time to respond with a final shot of their own. Kevin Durant took Felton's gift, which he hand delivered on a silver platter, and ran with it, hitting the first game winner of his young career.  But, what was Felton thinking putting that ball up with so much time on the clock? You have to put that shot up with no ticks left so the only outcome is a win or overtime. I understand that Felton hasn't played in many meaningful NBA games since he left Chapel Hill, but he turned what could have been a meaningful win on a tough road trip into the Knicks most disappointing loss of the season and sixth straight loss in a row.

Felton, who has otherwise had a fabulous first season in New York, has one major flaw in his game and it came to the forefront tonight against the Thunder. He's not the type of point guard who can close out games because he cannot easily create his own shot.  He took that final shot on the Knicks last drive because he did not think he could get a better look trying to create space from the pesty Russell Westbrook.  On the Knicks previous play, Felton was able to get to the hoop, but he had a hard time getting a decent shot off amongst the bigs. If the Knicks are going to go anywhere this season, Felton will need to make better decisions down the stretch. It's a large burden to put on your point guard, but the Knicks simply lack quality scoring options in crunch time.

Prokhorov Won't Get Played Like a Cheap Date

Mikhail Prokhorov is finding out that it is much harder to compete in the free market than it is in Russia. Last evening, Prokhorov had to announce that the Nets were backing out of the Carmelo sweepstakes.  He sounded quite different than the man who announced to Mike Francesa last May that the franchise would utilize "the element of surprise" to build a championship contender in five years.  I guess he's coming to the realization that it is not easy to attract top talent to Newark or Brooklyn to play in the shadow of the New York Knicks.  Afterall, J Kidd led the Nets to back-to-back NBA Finals and they still were not bigger than the Knicks in New York. It doesn't matter how much money Prokhorov has in his personal bank account or how close Jay-Z is with these basketball stars. They are not foolish enough to tie their careers to the rebuilding project that is the Nets.

Prokhorov did not want Carmelo dangling the Nets around while he waited for a more attractive dancing partner to come around. He realized that it would tarnish whatever remaining positive brand image that the Nets have left.  Instead of asking, "where is the Mad Dog?" maybe Prokhorov needs to ask what he got himself into by buying the Nets.

Get It Together Nails

Lenny Dykstra lost his mansion, his Maybach car, his private airplane, his Players Club Magazine, and now he is bouncing checks to hookers! Lenny, what is going on? I understand that life is stressful when you are living out of your car in an airplane hanger, but you can't get a release from life by visiting hookers when you don't have the cash. And since when do hookers accept checks?  From now on, they may only take certified checks from Lenny.

The player who Billy Beane credited in his book Moneyball as having a great ability to put mistakes behind him and move on to the next play, now must apply that attitude to his next business endeavor. Some may think that Lenny is delusional, but he is able to put a positive spin on the worst situation.  Although he was living out of bag, Lenny described his existence as living like Gandhi. Hopefully, Nails can get it together or else he will begin to make Kenny Powers look he is on the straight and narrow.

Christmas Didn't Come This Year for the Mets

For as long as I could remember, I always thought the general consensus was that rebuilding would not be tolerated by the New York Metropolitans and their fans.  Yet, Sandy Alderson walks through door, talks about restocking the farm system for the future, and everybody nods in approval.  Has the losing gotten so bad in Flushing that the fans are willing to try anything to see a playoff caliber product on the field even if it's a few years away?  

When Omar Minaya arrived on the scene, he was under pressure to win now.  To respond to the scrutiny of performing under the microscope of New York, Omar spent money as if it was going out of style.  All of a sudden, Flushing became the marquee destination for big names in the sport like Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran, and Frankie Rodriguez.  No longer were the Mets associated as the team where players' careers came to die.  That list starts with the great Willie Mays and ends with the likes of Roberto Alomar, Jeromy Burnitz, and Mo Vaughn.

I find it a little strange that management and the fan base are so accepting of the Moneyball strategy that Sandy Alderson wants to implement in New York.  First, it will be difficult to judge the success of this strategy until a few years down the road, as prospects need time to mature and develop their skills.  Second, the major league baseball draft is the biggest crapshoot of any draft in any sport.  It is very difficult to evaluate whether a high school baseball star at 17 years old will develop into a major league superstar when he is 24 years old.  If it was that easy, Joe McIlvaine would be revered for winning multiple championships with "Generation K" consisting of Paul Wilson, Jason Isringhausen, and Bill Pulsipher.  Unfortunately for Joe, those "Can't Miss" prospects did miss, and so badly that not one of them had productive careers in New York. 

Personally, I think picking ballplayers in the major league baseball draft is like picking stocks on the New York Stock Exchange.  Hopefully, Sandy Alderson turns out to be Warren Buffet.  In the meantime, the fans will have to get excited about this season's "marquee" signings of Chris Capuano, Taylor Buchholz, Willie Harris, and Chris Young.

Jets Capitalize on Pats' Miscues

Bill Belichick did some unconventional things today that cost the Patriots the game today.  First, he won the coin toss and decided to defer the ball.  The Patriots offense has been unstoppable all season, especially in Foxboro, having put up 45 points on the Jets just a few weeks ago.  If you're Belichick, why would you not put your offense on the field right away and score first?  Second, Belichick decided to fake punt down seven to three with a minute left in the first half knowing that he would get the ball to start the second half.  That play made little to no sense, as it wasn't worth the risk of not making the first down and giving the Jets great field position to put more points on the board before the end of the first half. That's exactly what the Jets did, as Sanchez capitalized on the Patriots late Christmas gift with a fifteen yard touchdown pass to Braylon Edwards.   Third, the Patriots went for a two point conversation way too early in the game, down 19 - 9 with thirteen seconds left in the third quarter. Even Phil Simms thought it was too soon to go for two points, as there was still an entire quarter left to play. Fourth, the Patriots first drive of the fourth quarter took almost eight minutes, as they ran it eight times and got zero points.  There was no sense of urgency or tempo to Brady's offense on that extended drive, which ate up too much clock to come away with no points.  Fifth, the Patriots second drive of the fourth quarter was mismanaged, as the the Pats needed to get that field goal kick off before the two minute warning to preserve precious time.  Finally, Bill Belichick needs to stop wearing those ridiculous hoodies in freezing cold temperatures. It doesn't make him look tough, it only makes him look like a college student pulling all-nighters. Maybe if he dressed a little warmer, he would have made better decisions that put his team in a better position to win on Sunday.

Soriano bolsters the Yankees in More Ways than One

The Yankees signing of Rafael Soriano for 3 years and $35 million to be the setup man for Mariano Rivera  provides the Yankees with a nice cushion going into this season.  First, Soriano provides some insurance if Mariano begins to show his age and ends up on the DL for any extended amount of time this season.  Second, and most importantly, it allows the Yankees to package Joba Chamberlain for a starting pitcher, which is exactly what the Yankees desperately need.  Let's face it, Joba is a better act than he is a pitcher, and he has never put up numbers in a season similar to Soriano's 45 saves ad 1.73 ERA.  Since money has never been issue for the Yankees, this acquisition provides Cashman with some flexibility to now use Joba as a trading chip to acquire a premier starting pitcher.