Miami heat

All they do is spend.

The Marlins are really starting to annoy me. First, they change their name this offseason from “Florida” to “Miami.” Fine. Then, they re-design their uniforms to look like Miami Vice 1980s style. OK. But the major thing that got me was them stealing (ok, so they didn’t technically steal) Jose Reyes from the Mets. They basically deflated the Mets. And now they’re continuing their “Let’s be like our basketball neighbors” trend of trying to get every star in the universe by offering a giant contract to Albert Pujols. Who do they think they are? And how did they go from barfing up payroll and being penny pinchers to the penthouse? But, I still remind myself that superstars can only get you so far. After that, well, the Miami Marlins might just melt in their new ballpark along with their new manager. The Mets will gladly mop them up. After all, the Amazin’s are used to mopping up messes.

Winners and losers

VICIOUS.

The Giants lost today. The Mets just lost Jose Reyes to the Marlins. But hey, the Nets are going to start playing soon! Fan-freaking-tastic. At least there’s Syracuse basketball…for now. But there’s still hope! The G-Men are just one game out of the division, the Mets still have David Wright, and the Nets are looking good! (Because they haven’t played a game yet). Sports are sports. Unlike LSU football and the Packers, you have to lose at some point. Losing just makes the wins even better. The Giants will absolutely not lose a fifth straight game next weekend. They can’t after the way they played the Packers. The G-Men’s valiant effort against Green Bay today brought me back to their regular-season finale against the then-unbeaten Patriots back in 2007. They lost that game, like today’s, but the Giants went on to win it all, giving the Pats their first loss in the Super Bowl. At 6-6, this year’s crew has a long way to go. But they’re so much better than 6-6. Okay, enough about wins and losses. It’s how you enjoy the game, right? I guess there’s no real answer to that. Sometimes we lean one way and sometimes the other. But a game is always more than just a final score.

No turning back

Boston Globe.

There are many games you can recover from. Seasons, too. But when you lose and lose and lose until your collapse is final and then you miss the playoffs? Well, here’s to recovering from that. The Red Sox finished their downward spiral Wednesday night by losing yet again, and missing the playoffs. The Braves actually had a minor Wild Card collapse too, but everyone’s talking about the Red Sox. I feel for the Red Sox. I remember back in 2007 (this is tough to bring back…actually, not really) when the Mets famously blew their huge NL East lead late in the season and let the Phillies win the division. One you start losing so much, you can’t escape it. For the Mets, they still can’t escape it. Do I think the Red Sox have a better chance of bouncing back? Absolutely. But does their collapse worry me? Yep. It just goes to show that no lead is ever safe. Thanks Yogi.

Seeing history

I’ve been to my fair share of sporting events throughout the years. Baseball, basketball, football, college. I’ve seen teams qualify for the NCAA tournament, record-crowds, Hall-of-Famers play, overtimes. I’ve had good seats, bad seats. Wins, losses, etc. But I’ve never seen anything as historic as I saw today at Yankee Stadium. Derek Jeter, Yankee captain and one of the greatest ever, came into the game two hits shy of 3,000, which is the magical, oh-so-hard number to reach in Major League baseball. I wasn’t expecting much. Boy was I wrong. In his first at-bat, Jeter laced a single into left field to give him hit No. 2,999. At that moment I thought, ‘Hey, this 3,000th hit could come today.’ As a Mets fan, I have little tolerance for the Yankees. But Derek Jeter is different. He’s easy to root for. And when he came up in his second at-bat and blasted a home run for his 3,000th hit, it was, for lack of a better word, awesome. It’s a plateau few have reached and to hit a home run made it even cooler. Jeter also finished 5-for-5 on the day, including the game-clinching hit. It’s rare that you have the opportunity to witness history. So when you do, it’s pretty unbelievable.

#Winning

NYT.

What’s this? The Mets and Nationals battling for third place in the NL East, and the wild card? The Mets, despite all their injuries, find themselves at .500, while the Nats, despite a managerial change and a seemingly forever string of bad seasons, have been on a tear lately. Yeah, both will probably fail eventually, but at least for now, there’s some hope in the long baseball season. Teams always do their best when we, as fans, have little expectations. Or at least it always seems that way. As I’m writing this, the Mets are probably preparing to collapse. But if they can miraculously climb above .500 today, then I will be satisfied with their young season. Especially with all of the guys that are missing. Sooner or later, the losses will probably pile up. So why not enjoy the wins now, while they’re surprisingly happening? Sounds good to me.

Hats off

A minor stir was caused recently when John Wall of the Washington Wizards was shown wearing a Philadelphia Flyers hat. Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post wondered why Wall would do that when he plays for the Wizards. You’re in D.C., man. Don’t rep Philly clothing. But at the same time, maybe Wall doesn’t know any better. As the comments section of the article brought up, young people nowadays wear sports hats not necessarily based on who they root for but based on what looks the best. And here’s where my opinion comes in: absolutely not. You only wear clothing and hats for the team you root for. The only exception is maybe wearing a hometown team’s gear even if you don’t particularly root for them, or possibly wearing, say, college gear of a school that somebody you know goes to. But to wear a Phillies hat if you’re a Mets fan? No. That is against sports unwritten laws. Don’t wear a Yankees hat to be cool. Just suck it up and wear the Blue Jays one, or whatever lamer team you root for.

Draft winds

I remember when I watched the NFL Draft for the first time in full, in 2005. I was amazed at the event and how much of a show it was. And it’s even worse today. Now it’s in prime time, news sites are vultures in covering it like nothing else (such as the playoffs) matter. It’s just a draft! I still like it, but the excitement will fade soon. The Panthers will realize that Cam Newton isn’t going to bring them a title in year one.

In other news, the Mets, after their surprising six-game winning streak, have returned to their losing ways. In the NBA, just when we thought the Spurs were back, they lost. This may be the end of their dynasty. It’s been too darn long anyway.

The payoff of the playoffs

The NBA Playoffs are starting today, but for the fourth straight year, I don’t have a rooting interest. The Nets failed to make the playoffs yet again. I guess I was spoiled for much of the last decade with their dominance. The Nets, Mets and Giants haven’t made the playoffs in a realllly long time. Playoffs are what get fans up and standing. Who needs the regular season? The Playoffs are where it’s at. I remember the 2004 Eastern Conference Semis, Game 5. Nets vs. Pistons, tied 2-2. Three overtimes. Epic Nets win. But they lost the final two games, and not much has gone right since. I think the Nets can make the playoffs next year. I really do think it’s possible. But for now, they’re not participating. I just hope they do next year for the sake of having that Playoff feeling back.

Cover boys

I was a little confused when I saw the newest cover of Sports Illustrated online. No, I wasn’t confused about the fact that the Phillies are on the cover for the second straight year (really?). Rather, I thought the headline was quite funny. On the cover, the Phillies’ starting rotation (which features Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels. Oh, and Joe Blanton too but he’s just a fifth wheel). So the headline says “No Hitters,” which presumably makes sense since hitters should struggle against the pitchers. But it is also common knowledge that this season, the Phillies are lacking their usual offensive firepower. So to say “No Hitters” when describing the Phillies is true. When I see SI, the Phillies and the title “No Hitters,” that is exactly what I will think. The Phillies have no hitters. That makes more sense than using it to describe their pitching. What an embarrassment for the Phillies. Am I just being an envious Mets fan? Hmmm…no, don’t think so.

Bad to the bone

The reach to the playoffs is closer than Harris thinks. It's within an arm's length.

Seven and a half games back. Yes, the Nets could still make the playoffs. Now obviously they won’t because you don’t get to 16-37 by playing playoff basketball. But 7.5 games really isn’t that bad. The Mets experienced it first-hand by coughing up a seven game lead to the Phillies a few years back. Like I said, the Nets won’t do it, but they could. The East is just that bad this year. About five years ago the East went through something similar, but they are worse this year. Which is weird, because they seemed to have finally risen above the West. Instead, they’re just top-heavy while the West is consistent all the way through. Nothing really that you can do there. The Nets get the benefit, so I’m not complaining. Now if they could only grab that eight spot…well, they would get eaten alive by the No. 1 seed so let’s scratch that. But after the Mets and Giants failed to make the playoffs, I’ll take any taste of them now. I really have gotten playoff-desperate.