Should anyone be surprised?

Because I am not. Last week, my father asked me to predict the six division winners in baseball. Of course, he's a Braves fan and picked the Mets and I'm a Mets fan and the strange thing was, with a gnawing, painful feeling in my stomach, he asked who I thought would win the NL East and I said "The Braves." My father literally said I had lost my mind. My feelings had nothing to do with the "lack of respect" BS that Atlanta would try to play since "everyone" is picking the Mets or Phillies. I felt the Phillies did not have enough pitching after their top two starters, the Mets were old and had a brutal lineup, and the Braves were more well-rounded. Well, once again, when I'm right about sports, it absolutely bites me.

Game 1 on Friday night. The Mets had Thursday off, and had just taken 2 of 3 from Florida. Atlanta, meanwhile, comes off a tough series against Pittsburgh with extra inning games, rallies, back and forth action. Their bullpen was spent. So what happens in Atlanta on Friday. A little rain in the morning, which stops by Friday afternoon by the way, and they call the game off. How convenient. So we go to Saturday afternoon. John Maine, the great John Maine, the best pitcher in spring training, huh? Can't even get his team to the fifth inning. And in the top of the fifth, the Mets are down 4-1. Bases loaded, Reyes singles. 4-2. Luis Castillo and David Wright both ground out and a golden opportunity against Tim Hudson was wasted. Right there, I knew the Mets were in trouble. The Braves make it 5-3 until the 7th when Kelly Johnson hits the grand slam off Jorge Sosa. Game over, kaput.

And then today. I just wanted the split of the series. And we have the great Johan Santana pitching. And he does great. Seven innings, one run, three strikeouts, no walks. But there's that little problem called the Met offense. We chased Smoltz out after just five innings which meant a lot of shots at their bullpen. And we get two singles over four innings. The only Mets extra base hit comes by the pitcher! Santana leads off the third with a double and Reyes, Castillo, and Wright can't even get him to third and a golden opportunity is pissed away. Eighth inning: Teixeira homers off Heilman in the eighth, 3-0. Of course, we get the tease in the ninth. 3 walks by Soriano with a hit by Church. One run in, the go ahead run at bat. Schneider swings at the first damn pitch, grounds out to first, we lose 3-1. Can't wait for the home opener against Philly on Tuesday.

And then you put on top of that the New York Rangers. 7-0 against New Jersey this season. One game to determine who has home ice in their first round playoff matchup. And they did not give a damn about this game. They get outshot 9-2 in the first period. Not even 10 minutes in, five odd man rushes for New Jersey and two goals. Game over. TV off. Good luck in the series. Way to give the Devils their confidence back, boys. Sean Avery, are you out there????