You Stay Classy, Gonzo!

Update: I was informed that Gonzo would offer this post to his mother as a birthday gift. Isn’t that swell? What a guy, that Gonzo! Send my regards! =D

—————–

Another game of the 2011 MLB season goes by, and another Mets rant goes live. If I may, assuming you’ve just read the linked article, I would like to sum up the first 5 games of this young season for the Mets.

Game 1 – Josh Johnson showed up, Pelfrey was erratic
Game 2 – Wright puts it away, Frankie goes wild
Game 3 – Dickey was ridiculous
Game 4 – Young impresses, Hamels struggles vs Mets again
Game 5 – Mets come back from 7-0 to tie, Bullpen can’t hold it

Looking back at the first 5 games of the season, there are a ton of positives. Wright is hitting, Dickey continues his dominance from last season, Young is lights out in his debut, The 7-run comeback, and they’re getting contributions from everyone on the roster. If you could write anything negative about the first 5 games, it would be that Pelfrey has been off of his game (if he ever appears to have one), and K-Rod well had an awful appearance. That’s it. Five games, tons of positives.

“But Josh, why would anyone write such a ‘bashing’ article if the Mets are playing better than anyone really expected, and aren’t 0-5 to start the year like the guys up in Boston?”

Well, unidentifiable question asker, it’s really quite simple. There’s nothing ‘substantial’ to knock the Mets about. They’re not 0-5, they’re playing hard, they’re playing as a team and they look like they’re having fun! Despite what writers want you to believe, there actually is no “National Punchline” involving the Mets. So Chris Rock, a Mets Fan, makes a few cracks. He’s a comedian. He gets paid to make people laugh. Of course its funny. I laughed when I heard that joke! So Seth McFarlane decides to throw the Mets under the bus with a crack before the season even starts. Again, he gets PAID to create a show that will make people laugh. Otherwise, Family Guy would’ve been off the air a long time ago. John Stewart? The Mets fan? I don’t think I need to show you where this is going… If you can’t laugh at yourself, or the things you love, then… nevermind, I’m not being paid to be your therapist.

The bottom line is this… As long as the Mets continue to play hard, and put up a fight on the field, the only thing we’ll continue to see from ‘expert bloggers’ and writers looking for a quick burst of hits to their articles in order to reach their quota for their newspaper is an overdose of “BAHAHAHA METS (insert claim of actual rivalry) BAHAHAHA METS (insert random madoff joke) BAHAHAHA METS (insert random charlie sheen quote about winning)”

In short, what you’ve just read over at the Philly.com website is the result of what happens when a sports writer strokes his e-peen for just a second too long. It feels good on the way out, but its just not worth the mess. But don’t blame me for the impressive mess Gonzo leaves for you to clean up. Go on and tell him to clean it up himself.

http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20110407_Gonzo___Mets_are_a_national_punch_line.html#ixzz1Iq7gpBva%20Watch%20sports%20videos%20you%20won%27t%20find%20anywhere%20else

Movie Review: Up (Disney / Pixar)

After watching this movie over and over again, I believe the status of Brad Lidge… wait… I mean Brad Lidge’s ERA will continue to skyrocket towards the stars!

Props to Ray Dussault over at the Global New York Mets Fan Group on Facebook for the image.

Word of the Day: Collapse

So what exactly did happen to the 2008 New York Mets? Here’s how I see things, and how some journalists are just looking to get readers to their columns by tagging this Mets season with some misleading terms.

Ted Keith and Jon Heyman over at SI.com both referred to this season as another “Collapse”. Why a collapse? Because for the second straight season, the Mets were beat out in the east by the Phillies after holding a lead in the division with (that magical number) 17 games to go, and were also beat out in the wildcard race. But the finishing touch on why they would call it another collapse is that the final blow, once again, came at the hands of the Florida Marlins. Touching Drama, yes? Wrong.

The 2008 season can be summed up in 2 words, which all Mets fans will understand divided the season into to “mini-seasons”. Those words are Willie and Manuel.

While I don’t completely blame Willie Randolph for his post-2006 failures, there was no doubt that his time as Mets manager was fading fast after the 2007 season. The first half of the season (until Willie’s firing) created not only a 34-35 record, but a large amount of angst and disappointment among the fans. This was supposed to be the year of ‘revenge’ or ‘payback’. After 69 games, that was not the case. But for the final 93 games, hope was restored. Despite missing the playoffs by a slim margin for the second straight season, Jerry Manuel took over Willie’s job and the first half of the season seemed like a meaningless faded memory. Under Manuel, the Mets finished the season going 55-38 the rest of the way. Carlos Delgado finally got his swing back, David Wright and Jose Reyes finally showed some life, Starting Pitching got better under Dan Warthen, and young faces like Murphy, Parnell and Niese began to display what the future may hold. I wouldn’t call the season a collapse by any means, but more of a rebirth of where the success started for this Franchise as far back as 1969: The Farm.

Back to the word of the day: “Collapse”. Why don’t we analyze that a little more, in relations to the world of Professional Sports. If I’m not mistaken, this article pretty much sums it up. If you’re at work or can’t view the link, the article (written by Bryan Armen Graham over at SI.com) is titles “100 Seasons… 100 Heartbreaks”, referring to Philadelphia’s (current and longest) championshipless drought of it’s 4 major sports franchises. The Phillies, Eagles, Sixers and Flyers have combined for a total of 100 Championshipless seasons since 1983. That’s 25 years without a major sports championship. I would gamble to call that a “Collapse” of an entire city, let alone 4 major sports franchises. But, this is New York City, and the media hovers to New York City like a fly to a zapper.

So while the ruling media continues to misinform for its own pleasure, I’ll sit back and smile as I think about the bright future this franchise could have as it enters it’s new home (even though I’m not completely happy about Citifield).

Lets Go Mets (add ridiculously “Hooo” exhale).

Phuck!

I haven’t watched the All-Star Game (let alone the Home Run Derby) since Bid Selig called one of them back in 2002, but this video is priceless. Chase Utley was being announced as a contestant in last night’s Home Run Derby at Yankee Stadium. As he was making his way out, the fans at the ballpark started to ‘Boo’ him. Watch Utley’s response to the crowd at the ‘Cathedral’.

In case you had trouble hearing, that was “Boo? Fuck You”

Now, fan feelings aside (because I’m a Mets fan who is clearly against the Phillies if you read my old Mets posts), I don’t disagree with Chase’s reaction at all. His choice of words could have been more “National TV” friendly, but I think his reaction is correct. This wasn’t a Phillies/Mets game. This was the 2008 Home Run Derby at one of MLB’s most historic fields. This was a showcase of some of the game’s best players. These guys work their tails off just to make it to the Major League level, let alone the All-Star game. This should be a time to throw down your team’s colors and come together to watch some of the best players in the game. Be proud of who is representing your team, but acknowledge the talent of the other players there as well.

If there’s anything that might be guaranteed to happen after that little boo-fest, it’s that the Philadelphia sports writers and bloggers are going to be all over this like crazy glue… and they’re not exactly going to defend New Yorkers.

Major League Greedball – Dodger Blues

That’s right, kiddies! If you’re a Dodger fan (or just a fan of baseball) living in Los Angeles, and you can’t afford Field Level Box Seats at Dodger Stadium, your pre-game autograph days are over! T.J. Simers over at the Los Angeles Times wrote an article about Dodger Stadiums latest rule. According to this new rule, only fans with tickets to Field Level seating will have access to pre-game autograph opportunities that most fans of other teams have. If you read T.J.’s article, you’ll read about one fan’s stadium experience after being turned away after the new rule took effect, while his seats were just outside of the Field Level Box Seats. As a fan of the game in New York City(aside from being a Mets fan), I’m always psyched to head to Shea Stadium about two and a half hours before games to chat with players and grab some autographs. It’s something I’ve done since first going to Mets games as a kid, and it’s something I’m looking forward to doing with my future kids.

If you look closely, you can see the Field Level ushers turning people away even with the game already in progress!

How can a storied organization like the Dodgers turn away not only the adult fans, but the children (whose family or friends can’t afford box seats) that come to ballgames hoping to get an autograph from one of their favorite player? Well, according to a Dodgers PR guy, an area in Center Field will is dubbed as “Autograph Alley”, where one former Dodger will sign autographs before every game. Ex-Dodgers like Lee Lacy and Jim Gott have already showed up to the centerfield area, where no current players are expected to venture out to before a game. But what 10-year-old wants Lee Lacy’s autograph? Wouldn’t he/she rather have Andruw Jones’ autograph? What about Brad Penny?

In a follow up article on the LA Times website by T.J. Simers, The Dodgers are awaiting ‘more data’ as they begin to reconsider the new rule, while fans have been pushing complaints through. If you have anything to tell the Dodgers Organization about this new rule, send an email over to fanfeedback@ladodgers.com and let the Dodgers PR people know exactly how you feel.

[Thanks, Veronique, for linking this post to the LA Times Blog!]

Welcome to the United States of America, where in Los Angeles, the dollar gets you autographs of your favorite athletes. Now get back to your “Reserved” seat, lower class citizen! If I were a Dodger Fan in Los Angeles, I’d be almost as mad as Phillip Wellman when he argues with umpires…

Inside The Mind of a Mets Fan

[ This post can also be found on the Global New York Mets Fan Blog ]

I’m sure this post will bring in a lot of flack from Phillies fans and fans of other NL East teams, but I’m not concerned. I’m confident there are “decent typing” fans out there who can tell the difference between a direct insult and a generalization (which is what I’m doing here). So what might be on the mind of Mets fans going into the 2008 Season? After a conversation with a friend, and fellow Mets fan, I thought I would share his mindset in the form of a picture show. Each one of these photos speak thousands of words into how my friend felt about the events of last season, the events of the offseason, and what he wishes for the upcoming season. Please enjoy: Inside the Mind of a Mets fan: A Picture Show!

“What I wanted was a repeat of…”

“But then there was…”

“And I felt like…”

“But then I saw…”

“And then we got…”

“And it would awesome if he could…”

“Because what I really want now is…”

The End

The Philadelphia Phunk

Choked, just like his team.

Last night, I celebrated my 3 year anniversary with my girlfriend. We went out for dinner at this awesome Thai restaurant called “Galanga”, in the west village. Then, we went to the east village to see “The Heartbreak Kid” which was hilarious! As you could imagine, there wasn’t a lot of time for me to check the scores of the playoff games that were going on. This morning, however, I raced out of bed to see if today would be a wonderful day, and it is! I awoke to the news of the Phillies being swept out of Colorado, after making a Cinderella-type run at the postseason and dashing the hopes of Mets fans just like myself.

While this doesn’t make up for the terrible collapse of the Mets, the 0-3 playoff run of the Phillies does make the healing process a bit easier. Then again, who’s going to beat the Rockies anyway? After all, they’ve won 17 of their last 18 games, including a sick 11 game winning streak that kept them alive throughout September. To further explain my point about the Rockies, lets bring in ESPN writer, Jim Caple.

“How good are the Rockies going? The Phillies intentionally walked Kaz Matsui in Game 3, a move that likely sent Mets fans screaming onto their fire escapes.”

Fire escapes? Maybe not. But screaming? If I had watched the game last night, I definitely would’ve screamed after a move like that. Kaz has been on an insane run of his own through the first 3 playoff games.

But that’s enough about that. The Phillies were swept out of the playoffs. The Yankees are one game away from going home. Life is good for us Mets fans at the moment… but only for the moment…

*cough*… Go Rockies… *cough*…

The Reincarnation of Mr. Met

And somehow, he’ll be back for 2008. Imagine that!

As you’ve probably figured out by looking at the various pages here on the blog, I’m a Mets fan. I’m not going to “measure” my fandom, or brag about the amount of games I’ve been to, or try to convince anybody that I’m a bigger fan than the next guy. I’m a Mets fan, plain and simple.

I’m writing this post to tell you (the reader) that I don’t find the recent Mets “collapse” as devastating as a lot of people find it. If anything, I find the recent season-ending struggle to be humbling. Being in that Sunday crowd this past weekend for the incredible demise of this team was enough to realize that there isn’t much a fan can do at a time like this, other than “boo” louder than the planes can rattle Shea Stadium. As for the lessons we can all learn from this kind of collapse, I’ll be saving those for my future kin when old man J Soul can tell his offspring of the terrible fall of the 2007 New York Mets.

– “But dad, what could have been done to stop the Mets from playing so bad?”

– “Nothing, son… there was nothing we could do…”

I, a Mets fan, am humbled by the Phillies and the current progress of the 2007 Baseball season.

*cough… Go Rockies… cough*

Wii Would Like To Google

Google! Microsofted again!

It seems like Google is taking on Microsoft head on. Good for you Google! But be careful. The last thing you need is Bill Gates going Vista on your Apps! I can’t wait for the day that Google finally takes over the world, and implants Google Chips (Thanks Mike) into our heads, giving us instant Hu-Fi access to Keyword Searching, Photos, Videos, Maps and much more! Oh yeah, in case you were wondering, Hu-Fi is just Google Talk for Human Fidelity, not to be confused with the soon-to-be-lame Wi-Fi, or Wiggety-Whack Fidelity.

Oh Microsoft! It seems like Apple is taking a major bite out of your thunder. Go Apple! You’ve provided me with my Daily Moment of Zen!

{ Caution: This next paragraph might only be understood by Mets Fans or Baseball Fans alike }

I’ve been seriously slacking in my Mets-Tracking, so I decided it was time to make my rounds. After a few website visits, I stumbled upon an Mets.com article about the Philadelphia Phillies’ Jimmy Rollins. Jimmy Who? Apparently, this guy says that his Phillies are the team to beat in the National League East. Wow… Despite having a great record during the second half of the 2006 season, your Phillies still finished, what, 12 Games behind… *Gasp!*… The Mets? Shea it ain’t so! Good Luck Mr. Rollins. Good Luck…

{ And back to reality! }

In other news, I’ve fallen victim to what is known in the gaming world as Wii Elbow. Well okay, my elbow doesn’t hurt, but my *Remote Arm* is a little tweaked, and it’s all thanks to the super sweet Legend of Zelda! Thanks Nintendo!

If you’d like to help out a couple of sweet musicians, send them your Vote here. It’ll send them to Austin, TX for the chance to win some major exposure! Wait, I’m one of those guys, so let me try this again…

{ Take 2 }

If you’d like to help Soundscape Soul (my band with Matt Aronson) get flown down to Austin, TX for the chance to win some major exposure, send them your Vote here!

Sweet?