My thoughts on Pedro and Omar

Back to the sports thing. The Mets have offered Boston starting pitcher Pedro Martinez
38 million dollars over 3 years with an option for a 4th. Let's do the math.

3 Pros: He thrives in the spotlight. He would move from the American to the National League, where the lineups become easier. He's better than Al Leiter.

3 Cons: He's 33 years old and we're supposed to be going with youth. He's clearly not the same pitcher he was just 2 years ago as his fastball tops out around 91 mph instead of 96 or 97. Need I go into "Who's your daddy?"

The Red Sox offered him 26 million over 2 years and it will probably take an additional guaranteed year to take him away from Boston. I believe he is slowly sliding downhill so I would rather see 2 years and a team option. Besides I still would rather see a big bat over starting pitcher. Ordonez, Delgado, who knows. I'm leaving Beltran's name off because the Mets don't try to sign marquee name guys in their 20's (Guerrerro, Giambi, A-Rod). But you know how you get free agents? You overpay. Look at George Steinbrenner and Glen Sather.

And now I read in the Post about Minaya interested in Moises Alou? Yeah, Omar yeah. Go get Carl Everett too and the Mets will set a team record for ejections in a season. Alou is 38 and hit 10 homers outside of Wrigley Field. Who are going after next? Juan Gonzalez? He's over 30, a Latino, and his skills are declining. Yep, those are evidently the players "Mr. Full Autonomy" wants. Anyway, we'll see what happens.

To CK- Keep up the good work. You know what you're doing.

The Mexican screaming contest

The day: Monday, November 22. The time: 9:15-9:45 p.m. The place: The IK Ballroom
in the Adventura Spa Palace in Puerto Adventura, Mexico, south of Cancun.

It was the first night I'd experienced the live entertainment at our hotel. Following a performance from a mariacci band, the trumpets, the bass which looks like an inflated acoustic guitar, the whole deal, they announced the Mexican screaming contest. They said 4 men could walk up if they wanted to do it. Well, 3 guys walked on stage and my stepdad, was the 4th. I saw him going up and I had to sneak on. I made it and before I knew it, Unger and I were standing side by side wondering what we were getting ourselves into.

First we all got Spanish names. Unger's was Poncho and I was Jesus (Hey-zeus), as I explained in my previous post. My beard, my hair, I don't know why. These were the rules. They put a huge sombrero on our head and a Mexican afghan over our right shoulder. We had to drink tequila for 5 seconds, squirted into our mouth by Marie, a fine fine staff member from Quebec. We took 4 huge stomps, stuck out butt out, chest out and screamed, "Andalay, andalay, andalay! Arriba, arriba, arriba! Brrrgggggghhh!"

Well the 3 guys did it and it was Unger's turn. He forgot the butt and chest parts, and the crowd booed. They gave him another shot. This time he forgot to stomp! I just turned away, dropped my head in my hands, and shook my head in complete disbelief. And his scream wasn't much to write home about either.

So I went and Marie squirted tequila down my mouth for a good 15 or 20 straight seconds. It was so much I nearly coughed it out. A little dazed, I forgot the butt part. More boos. So on my second chance I stuck it out so hard, I nearly blew my back out. Now what if I had really thrown my back out? How would I explain that to the hospital and doctors? It would be bad enough in English, now I'd have had to translate it into Spanish! So I did my thing and got a nice repsonse, one of the best. But my forgetfulness must have cost me. I finished second. Which was fine by me, because all the winner got was a full bottle of tequila. Safe to say, all I wanted after that was water and Advil. I came off stage and nearly collapsed. I had quite a buzz in my head for the next 12 hours.

For the next 5 days, I had people calling after me, "Jesus! Jesus!" Tough burden, but hey, I guess that's a pretty good man for people to compare you to!

Miss me???

Well, I'm back to my normal 30 degree cloudy weather in the Windy City. Cancun was a sweet trip! My trip boils down to 5 things: eating, volleyball, late night entertainment, more eating, and drinking. Here's some exciting news. I have a new nickname now: Jesus! That's the Spanish pronunciation (Hey-zeus). I was in a Mexican screaming contest, but that's another entry that'll I'll write about later.

Morning pool volleyball (11 am-12 pm) was fine. Just a relaxed game, with nothing at stake. But afternoon volleyball (3-4) was another story. If you didn't wait for the referee's whistle before you served, or if it was your fault the point rally ended, or if the ref felt like it, you had to take a shot of tequila in the pool. It wasn't Cuervo Gold or anything, but if you drank enough, you felt your head sliding away somewhere beneath the water. So the strategy was simple. Play well early, and get your opponent so drunk, you just coast from there. How much did I drink? Well I had my good and bad days. One day I didn't drink a single shot until 1 minute was left in the game. Another time I took 3 shots within 6 plays. I'd guess between 12 games over 5 days, I took about 25-30 shots. Sorry, but I lost count by Thursday.

I never though food at an all-inclusive resort could be so good. For dinner, there were 6 restaurants in the Adventura Spa Palace resort. They had a grill place, an asian, a vegetarian (no I didn't go there), a mexican, an italian, and a mediterranean. The Italian place (Ventanas) was amazing. Great salad bar with cold cuts and oils and vinegars in these beautiful clay jars. But it's kind of sad when you're getting better cold cuts in Mexico than in Chicago. They had display cases of meat in it, usually chicken, steak, and grouper. Next to that was a charcoal grill. You just tell the cook what you want, and they grill it fresh for you. For one dinner, I had 2 chicken breasts along with a pasta I made at the pasta station (tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, onions, spinach fettucine, and tomato sauce, which another guy cooked up for me). And the service for the most part was top of the line. The waiters are very attentive, and they made me want to raise my level of work a notch or 2. After seeing the way these guys worked, I know I can do even better than I am.

Breakfast will be remembered for 2 things: the omelette bar and the hot doughnuts. Now if you want to read about the omelette bar, go down and check it out yourself, because I'm writing about the doughnuts. Breakfast and lunch or served buffet style in 2 different restaurants. There's one station where they cook pancakes, french toast, and deep fry donuts. After you order a donut, the roll it in granulated sugar (that nice coarse sugar), and serve it. Then I added some cinnamon sugar to it and oh my holy God. It's a good thing I went to the gym 4 times because otherwise, I'd have gained 15 pounds.

My hair is braided and beaded. Yes, you read it correctly. Got about 30 or so braids and 60 beads in orange, blue, black, and white. Big surprise on the colors I chose, wouldn't you say? There was one 15-year old girl who stopped by and said how good I looked. I know she was 15, because I asked her. Her name was Natalie and... uh, anyway, I got a few good pictures of my head, and I'll aim to post one on here soon.

Well, it's Sunday. Giants-Eagles are on TV, so that's good. Mom's home, so we'll see how much time I get in front of the tube today. Fantasy football makes this hard. I'm playing against a team with Marvin Harrison who just torched me for 24 points. Hopefully, T.O. will score 3 times and the Eagle defense will shut down Big Blue. Yeah, I know it sounds a little hypocritical, but the Giants aren't winning this game and they aren't making the playoffs anyway. The Jets have Arizona and Houston before finishing against Pittsburgh, Seattle, the Patsies, and St. Louis. In other words they need to win these 2 and be 9-3 going into the final 4 games. Go 2-2 in those and they'll be 11-5 and that should be enough to get them in the playoffs. I just hope that dreadful loss to the Ravens doesn't knock them out. Well the new day has begun. I'll post a little later on. Much love to all.

Quick checkin

$5.00 per 15 minutes of Net use? Ouch. Well, almost everything else is free. Been here 24 hours. Good food, played water volleyball, a little more clouds than I would have guessed. Going to Xcaret on Wednesday. Want to know what it's like? Look it up. Go Jets! I'm out of time! Later!

I'm baaack!, MNF, Quick thoughts

If only for a few days. Unless I have net access in Mexico, there will be no news from Sunday through Saturday. Penn was a good trip, 18 hours of driving I would guestimate.

I heard someone's thoughts on the Terrell Owens-Nicolette Sheridan MNF opener and I agree with him. It's not the nudity, it;s no the prime time audience. A large part of the problem is it was a white woman jumping into an outspoken highly paid black man's arms. Would there be as big a problem if it was Peyton Manning? Highly unlikely. I wasn't offended by the skit's content too much. Now granted, if I was a father, it's not something I'd really want my kid to see. I do think the incident itself is overblown. My only worry is if media keeps pushing the envelope about what's decent and what isn't, when will the line finally be drawn? Will there be no limits to what can be shown on TV? That's what really concerns me.

Even after the Super Bowl disaster (the game's outcome as well as the halftime show) the NFL still wants ratings and attention and they know how to get them. But please don't give me this apology crap. Is ABC really sorry? Is the NFL sorry? That's just the nice sugarcoat. An apology doesn't erase the sting or the controversy. But isn't controversy really what this stunt was all about to begin with?

Oh and thanks TO for those TD's allowing me to overcome a 20 point defecit and win by 15 points! First place and 5 winning weeks in a row for Blind Shock!

Looks like Kris Benson is coming back to New York. Good. Good signing. Of course, it doesn't hurt his wife will be more visible. Now Omar, let's stay away from Sosa and focus on getting Beltran, Ordonez (sorry Geds), Drew (Dad!), or Sexson. Still a lot of work to do.

Hopefully I'll have something going on Friday night... Well, I'm gonna fix mmyself some broccoli cheddar soup. I'll check back here once more before I head to Riviera Maya.

YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!!!

Where do we start with this?
What can I say?

This is why this team that has not been in a Super Bowl in 35 years will never get to one. This is incomprehensible to lose this game when you have so much momentum. A 47 yard pass to Moss to put the ball deep in Baltimore territory late in the 2nd half. Jet fans always complain about not being aggressive enough on offense. But this is the time to just run the ball. Curtis had a great first half. Run ot down their throats.Worst case scenario, you get a field goal, you're up 17-0 going into halftime and you have the ball to start the 2nd half. Blame Herman, blame Hackett, Blame Lamont. They can all be blamed for that insane call, the HB option. That's the play? That's the play that Hackett decided makes the most sense in this spot? How does this guy have a job?

Now I'll quote what happened in the final minutes of the regulation. My thoughts in ()
"Trailing 17-14 with two minutes remaining in regulation, the Jets had a first down at the Ravens' 17-yard line. They took their first timeout with 55 seconds remaining and then Quincy Carter ran for a first down at the Baltimore 4-yard line. (Fine, looking good).
The next play was not run until 18 seconds remained on the clock, so the Jets inexplicably leaked away some 27 seconds off the clock for no good reason.
After a LaMont Jordan run to the Baltimore 3-yard line, the Jets called their second timeout with 14 seconds remaining (OK, you still have 2 shots at the endzone).
Carter then threw an incomplete pass, leaving the Jets with a third-and-goal from the 3-yard line, 8 seconds remaining and a timeout (Run the ball now).
That's when, with the clock already stopped from the incomplete pass, the Jets called their final timeout with those 8 seconds remaining and opted to kick the game-tying FG to send the game into OT (Is this happening?).
Edwards explained afterward that the play had gotten to the huddle in plenty of time, but he could see the play clock winding down as Carter broke the huddle and headed to the line of scrimmage. Edwards then conceded that, because on the second-down play the Ravens had it covered so well and pressured Carter, he "didn't want to take the chance" with 8 seconds remaining on third down to try to win the game before kicking the FG on fourth down."

Herman, are we playing to win the game?
And to kick the FG on 3rd down with 5 seconds left? Are we playing to win the game?
AND OT was really a formality. The defense did what they could. But the offense was dead in the water. It was a matter of time. And you knew Matt Stover was not missing the field goal.

I know they're 6-3. But 8 teams in the AFC are 6-3 or better. We've got Cleveland on the road next week. If we lose that one, it's probably over. This was a horrifying loss. It goes straight to the coaches on this one. You can't be a championship team and lose games like this. It's that simple. Just another stick it up your rear end loss for the New York Football Jets.

Jets-Ravens

Right now it's in OT. I'll be playing volleyball soon, but I'll have my thoughts on this by Monday morning. Regardless, this is not good.

Closet aggravation, not that big a deal now

I think I'm going to take a chaim saw and take out my entire wall so I have more closet space. My closet racks collapsed for the third time in 3 months. I was really upset, needless to say. Without much work going on at the paper, my nights are a lot slower right now.

Then, I go into work, and long story short, find out a waiter who I'm getting to be good friends with got a nother server's little sister (who used to be a host at CPK) pregnant. All of a sudden my problems don't seem like much, do they? The guy is such a cool dude, but he just made a brutal mistake. That said, he may not even be the father. If this case appears on Maury, I'll keep you posted.

I'll just say I feel a little woken up now. I'd been in a little mental funk with so many of my friends away. I know I may not have the most active social life, but you know what? It's probably better to be alone, than hang out with the wrong crowd. Maybe I did do a few things right.

Knicks are on a roll! 2 wins in a row! Now on the road at Indiana, San Antonio, Houston, and Dallas. Houston game on ESPN. I'll take 2-2 on this trip.

To my peeps on Staten Island, thanks for reading. Keep in touch.

Another night... Met execs

WEll, let's see. I only go into work at the newspaper around twice a week since it's playoff season for all the high school sports (whichever ones don't have playoffs going on are finished). Hockey's off, I can't really get into basketball, and the weather is really getting cold now. Nights are getting boring now.

Watched the Tonight Show. They had a segment on funny SAT essays. Here are a few I remember.
"That prostitution in the OJ Simpson trial was poor."
"The wheel was the greatest invention of the 20th century."
Referring to the Bible: "In the beginning the world was free from evil and sin. Then a woman named Pandora opened a mysterious box."
"Over-analization can cause stress."
"I need special attention for standard eyes tests."

And my favorite:
"Why would you skip graduation from high school? That's like having sex without climaxing or going to Denny's and not ordering cheese bread."

The Mets have just hired 2 more executives, Sandy Johnson (who's Omar Minaya's old boss) and Tony Bernazard. Nice last name. These guys are talent evaluators. Add these 2 to assistant GM's Jim Duquette and John Ricco and their 2 "super-scouts", Livesy and Goldis. What those 2 have ever done, I'll never know.
Sounds like too many inmates. Does Omar really have final say?

And Minaya still doesn't have a "full clear picture" on what direction this roster is taking. By the time they figure that out, they only free agent they'll be able to get is Mo Vaughn. Maybe they'll bring back Bill Pulsipher again...

At least we won't have Sammy "Prima Donna" Sosa, at least not yet. I read an article by Mike Lupica that he'd rather have Sammy Sosa in his currnt state than Mike Piazza in his curretn state. Now Piazza is about my favorite player ever and Sosa is on my list of my 10 least favorites. (I'll come up with that 1 later...) But he might not be totally off. When was the last time Piazza at least had a solid hitting streak? I mean he hit 20 homeruns this year. We've got 3 electric guys at the top of the order in Reyes Matsui and Wright. I don't think we have the bat we need to send these guys around the bases.

Mike Cameron? Well, if we're down by 5 runs in the 9th inning, then he'll probably hit a homerun.

Jason Phillips? 219 average=The definition of sophomore slump. Runs slower than Rosie O'Donnell in leg shackles.

Cliff Floyd? Even when he was healthy this year, how many big hits did he get? 63 RBI's in 396 at bats is not enough.

Richard Hidalgo? Even if the Mets can't get Beltran, Drew, Ordonez, or another big outfield bat, I don't think he's coming back. That said, I'd be OK with re-signing him if we can't get a marquee guy.

We have a lot of good bench guys in Eric Valent, Craig Brazell, Victor Diaz, Jeff Keppinger, Vance Wilson, Phillips, and Danny Garcia. But they're not guys who I would call reliable, at least not yet.

Now to Omar Minaya, Jim Duquette, Jeff Wilpon, Freddy Wilpon. GET US A BIG BAT!

If I could come back again...

After another horrible sports weekend (the Knicks stinking the Garden like a herd of skunks, the Jets doing what they do best, blowing big games, and the Giants sucking like a straw TO THE BEARS OF ALL TEAMS!!!) I think I need to do something. I don't really think there's reincarnation, but if there is, if I could come back again, I want to be a man of the arts. I want to be the kind of guy that goes to art museums. A guy that goes to the theater. A guy that listens to opera music. I want to go to the Met, not root for the Mets. I want Picasso, not Pennington. I want Mozart, not Marbury. I want Pavarotti, not Piazza.

I think my life would be a lot less stressful and aggravating this way. I have enough in my life already. Seeing these kind of performances is like adding oxygen to a fire.

So God, if there is another life, make me a man of the arts. Don't make me the wacky crazy disheartened sports fan that I am.

On a bus to St. Cloud

It's just one of those nights. I'm feeling a little sentimental. I heard this song tonight. It's a Trisha Yearwood song. Not well known, but I think it's one of her best. I felt like posting the lyrics. As the weather's getting colder, they're tough ones too.

On a bus to St. Cloud, Minnesota
I thought I saw you there
With the snow falling down around you
Like a silent prayer
And once on a street in New York City
With the jazz and the sin in the air
And once on a cold L.A. freeway
Going nowhere
And it's strange, but it's true
I was sure it was you
Just a face in the crowd
On a bus to St. Cloud

In a church in downtown New Orleans
I got down on my knees and prayed
And I wept in the arms of Jesus
For the choice you made
We were just gettin' to the good part
Just gettin' past the mystery
Oh, and it's just like you, it's just like you
To disagree
And it's strange but it's true
You just slipped out of view
Like a face in the crowd
On a bus to St. Cloud

And you chase me like a shadow
And you haunt me like a ghost
And I hate you some, and I love you some
But I miss you most...

On a bus to St. Cloud, Minnesota
I thought I saw you there
With the snow falling down around you
Like a silent prayer

The search is over, Cold Stone, Jets notes

Willie Randolph is the new Mets manager. All I can say is... at least we didn't get Terry Collins, whoever he is. He may be distant cousin for all I know. He's a winner and a communicator. He's never managed beofre, but that's fine by me. He's observed enough. I just wonder why he had 11 previous manage interviews before this one and never got a gig. That makes me a tad uneasy. Then again, everything the Mets do makes me a little uneasy.

Cold Stone Creamery ice cream cakes rock. Just munching on a big slice of Cookie Dough Delight. No I'm not a huge sweets eater and this basement is getting cold, so it begs the question. What am I doing eating ice cream cake at 11:30 p.m. on a cold night. Well, mom's dieting so someone's gotta do it! Tough job.

I taped the Jet-Dolphin game from Monday night. Watched it several times. I'm excited. The team is young and I still think they're going to get better as the season progresses. And Lamont Jordan has to get a few runs every game. I love Curtis Martin, but a little Lamont makes them better. Example: 3rd quarter: Martin runs 3 plays, goes out. Jordan runs 1. Martin stays out, Jets throw a pass that Wayne Chrebet drops in the endzone. Martin comes back in and runs 25 yards down the right sideline into the endzone. He has to stay fresh. Herman Edwards has got to rotate these 2 running backs so Curtis can be effective for the final part of the season. And I have never seen a Jet defense this good. Speed, speed, and more speed. If Ray Mickens hadn't gone out, it would be amazing. Their secondary is young (Erik Coleman, Derrick Strait in particular), but they'll limit those big plays they are prone to giving up from time to time. David Barrett and Reggie Tongue are jst not what they need. First priority in next year's draft should be a cornerback. But meanwhile let's focus on the season. Without hockey, I need it!

Ray, we love you baby

Damn.

Just saw "Ray." What a film. I'm not much of a movie goer so I'll put this in my own words (as I tend to do most of the time.) You've heard all the reviews about Jamie Foxx. That he could get an Oscar for his performance. My response? You bet your butt. Jamie Foxx hit a homerun. That said, many great acting jobs all around.

What struck me was the honesty. The depth of the heroin and womanizing even surprised me. You get a very hard portrayal of the man. The loss of his brother, the independent spirit, the creative abilities, the self-destruction. It's not always pretty, but it gets your soul, it gets your emotion. I laughed, danced, and cried. See this film folks. Yeah, it's worth it.