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.

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.

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.

Slick cuatro

The Mets' cliff is getting higher to climb for next season.

Cliff Lee signed with the Phillies. This means three things. One, the Mets are in trouble. Two, the Rangers and the Yankees went head to head and both failed. Three, Philly realized their mistake of giving up Lee just one year ago, and are lucky he is returning. But enough about the logistics. How about the fact that the Phillies rotation is like the Miami Heat’s “Big Three” but better. Roy Halladay (reigning Cy Young Winner), Cliff Lee (dominator, also has a Cy Young), Roy Oswalt (one of Houston’s best pitchers ever, perennial ace), and Cole Hamels (ace of the ’08 team). Damn. Now that’s a call to arms. The Mets counter with an injured Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese, R.A. Dickey, and a rookie. Now of course the Phillies have to prove their worth, but it would take a disaster for these guys to stink. Let’s face it, the Phillies just out-yankeed the Yankees.

“From California, to the New York Island”

What’s your rooting interest in the World Series? What, the World Series is about to start? Yes, it is. And I think I know who to root for. Here are our choices: the Texas Rangers and the San Francisco Giants. The Texas Rangers were once the second incarnation of the Washington Senators, while the Giants were once famously located in New York. But that was a long time ago. I have no ties to either team. The closest I come to either team are my San Francisco Giants sweatpants. But I’ll be rooting for the Giants. They did beat the Phillies, they are the National League team, and they did carry the NL torch (with the Dodgers) for New York before the Mets arrived. The good thing about this series is that a fresh team will win it. No Yankees. No Phillies. Just the Giants or Rangers. So without further adieu, play ball. For New Yorkers, Washingtonians, San Franciscans and Texans.

The day the mighty ones fell

Ohio State. Yankees. Phillies. Syracuse. Okay, maybe not Syracuse. But on Saturday all of these teams lost. Ohio State, who in my opinion was not even worthy of the No.1 spot after Alabama lost last weekend, lost to Wisconsin. The Phillies and perfectionist Roy Halladay lost. So did the Yankees. And then we come to Syracuse. For some reason, because Syracuse beat USF last weekend, everyone thought that they were pretty good. I guess people forgot about their blowout loss to a 2-3 Washington team. Yes, they are better than last year. But not better than Pitt, even if Pitt was 2-3 going into the game. Hail to the underdogs.

A state of error

This is the state of my teams:

Another season on the outs for the Mets. It seems like another team is making the playoffs every second. But not the Mets.

The Nets aren’t getting Carmelo (surprise, surprise!) and now Devin Harris is unhappy about the whole thing. I thought you couldn’t get worse than 12 wins…

The Giants, meanwhile, are 1-2 and have a ton of issues to sort out. And they’ve been receiving press shedding them in a not-so-hot light.

SU Women’s Volleyball team lost the first game of the season against an inferior opponent.

Oh boy, there’s a lot of fixin’ to do. Why can’t I like the Yankees/Phillies, Heat/Lakers, Saints/Colts, and Alabama football? I guess if you win all the time it’s not that fun either…though I’d take it!

Free falling

Usually, when one of my favorite teams are doing poorly, I try to ignore everything about them until they start getting better. But not with these Mets, who have dropped to 7.5 games back with yet another loss. The Mets have been losing and the Braves have been winning. And winning. It seems like they never lose. And now the Phillies have passed us. And we’re four-ish games back of the wild card. All this after coming within a half game of the division lead just a few weeks ago. This situation is somewhat reminiscent of the Mets’ free fall last summer, when they went from decent to disastrous. But this year’s team is different. They’ve had their ups and downs, but there were more ups than downs until recently. I truly hope that the Mets can get back on track and play how they should be playing; up to their full potential, which if you ask me, is pretty high.

Stephen Strasburg’s great, but for once someone in Philly made a good decision

The All-Star rosters were announced yesterday for the MLB All-Star game that is quickly approaching. One of the hot topics surrounding the selection was, should Stephen Strasburg be an All-Star? Well, he was doing pretty good. But at the same time, he has what, five starts? Please. Now, for those that say he didn’t need to make it because he’ll have plenty more opportunities in the future, that’s not necessarily true. But it probably is. Either way, Strasburg hasn’t proved himself enough to be considered an All-Star. So, Charlie Manuel, Phillies’ manager, good call. Now, onto Manuel’s bonehead decision. Going back to his Philly ways, Manuel subsequently snubbed Mets’ pitcher Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey should be getting the attention for his snub. He is having a fantastic season and I’m not just saying that as a Mets’ fan. I guess there’s still a chance he could be an injury replacement, but still. I hate the rule where every team must be represented. Guys on the Nats and Pirates over Pelfrey? Just not right.