Sunday notes and on the Chicago Bubbles

1) Have you ever been driving on the highway and you see a piece of roadkill? You don't want to look at it, but your heads drags your eyes right at its direction? Well, that happened to me around 10 p.m. There was absolutely nothing on TV and my DVD player wouldn't cooperate. I turned to WGN and they have the 60 years of WGN televising Cubs baseball special on. Though I should have known better, I watched. I have not wanted to vomit like that since I ate that sushi in Mexico.

You know what I learned? Apparently, nothing bad has ever happened to the Cubs on WGN TV. If you showed this documentary to someone who had never watched a baseball game, that's what they would think. It is just a love-in of all the good moments and the people and the stretch. It reminded me of a Congressional hearing, it so full of half-truths. Last I checked, these are not the Yankees. They are not the Dodgers. There is not that much to celebrate; yet I thought I was watching a documentary on the 1980 US Olympic hockey team.

I liked a few features such as showing how they produced the games and hearing from a few of the local business owners. The only mentions of 1969 were Ken Holtzman's no-hitter and Ron Santo's heel clicking. The segment ends with Santo saying "And we were heading for a really good summer." That's it. The only loss they allude to in two hours was the 23-22 loss to Philly. And I had to hear a half hour describing what it would be like when they win the World Series. A full 25 percent of the show devoted to pure fantasy.

I loved this part to. Actress Bonnie Hunt noted how the fans "suffer one terrible moment after another." Uh, really? How many have there been in 50 years? 1969, 1984 NLCS first round, (The Giants were better in 1989, that doesn't count; nor does 1998, you had Wood's 20 K's and a wild card race win followed by a loss to a superior Atlanta team), the 2003 NLCS, and I'll even give last year's sweep. They have had nowhere near, NOWHERE NEAR, as many devastating moments as the Red Sox did or the San Francisco Giants have had.

And of course, now all the bandwagon fans are out in full force. A lot of them think a championship is a given (typical of the Chicago mindset (2006 Bears, anyone?) and that's why I refer to this team and their fans as the Bubbles. And when does a bad team automatically equal loyal fans? They are good right now, and the fans are loud, so now they're loyal. Please. If this team was doing what the Mets are doing, the park would have 25,000 a game, and 20,000 would show up just to get hammered. There are so many frauds, it is disgusting. Unlike 2003, if the Braves played the Cubs in the playoffs, I would root for Atlanta.

2) I dropped by the Swedish Days parade in Geneva for the first time today. One thing I noticed. If you're not enjoying a parade, don't walk alongside it. It never changes. Instead, walk backward; you will fast forward the parade. And great job by Egg Harbor Cafe, grilling up those cheeseburgers with the grilled onions. And they did the little things right with it too. One of the keys to a great burger is to warn up the inside of the bun. Almost nobody does this nowadays. They did it, and it really made the burger come together better. I could have used some pickles, but that probably would have been another two bucks.

2) Why do DVD drives on computers wear out so quickly?

3) Off Day #2 of 18 this year comes tomorrow.

4) Played disc golf last night for the first time in over a year at Sunrise Park. After struggling on the first two holes, I found my rhythm. I had some long straight drives and I was especially happy they weren't fading to the left, which I usually do. Think I might go again.

5) GregH throws the best parties. One week away....

PS Memo to Glen "Saviour" Sather. PAY SEAN AVERY!!!!

More comes out and I'm not feeling any better

Now I'm getting on the owner.

Do I have to read Fred Wilpon issue a press release an hour ago and cite Omar's full autonomy, insist the firing was Omar's decision? "Omar is in charge. It was his decision."

Freddie boy, wake up! You should be embarrassed the way your team (and it's my team in a way, too, I'm a diehard fan and have been for 20 years) is viewed by the United States of America today. Because I am more embarrassed today as a Mets fan than I was after the NLCS loss or the September swoon of 2007. There are radio stations in southern California micking us and laughing at us this morning. And we all know it was your kid who never got along with Willie and has tried push him out the door for three years. And you are the PRINCIPAL OWNER! You make the final call! I don't want to hear about Minaya's full autonomy. You're his boss! The way you, your punk kid, and the assistant GM/Latin clubhouse lawyer handled this situation over the last week has turned a guy almost everyone in New York wanted fired on Friday, into a martyr this morning. What talent that takes!

In closing, I quote Mike Vacarro, who wrote an amazing article this morning that sums up what the Mets are now.

What we know now is that Randolph was so much better than the men he worked
for, it's as if they were playing a different game in a different league.

What a fiasco. What a joke. Less than two years after Game 7, less than
nine months from opening their signature ballpark, the Mets reveal themselves,
again, for what they've been for too long.

A cheap, unfunny joke. Run by a miserable cast of miscreants.

Good for Randolph, Peterson and Nieto. They may not know this, but their
lot in life just got a bit brighter, getting away from this batch of bums.

Classless, Cowardice

What else is new? I am disgusted again by the New York Mets. I am disgusted with Fred Wilpon for showing no authority as the owner of this franchise. I am disgusted with Tony Bernazard, the Latino King of espionage, who can't keep his ass out of the clubhouse. Most of all, I am disgusted with Jeff Wilpon, who has had it in for Willie ever since he came on board for a large contract and subsequent extension.

I know he managed during the collapse of last year and the terrible start we have had this year. And his in-game management is average, at best. And I believe the comments he made about racial perception proved to be his ultimate undoing. He was out of line.

But I like this guy. He's a tough, quiet leader. Willie never had his own coaching staff. The one guy he hired, hitting coach Rick Down, was fired midway through last year. These guys strung Willie out to dry. Now I've read blogs for weeks screaming for Willie to get fired. It means nothing to me, a lot of the people who post in these things are knuckleheads. Was a change needed? Probably? But if the Mets were going to fire him all along, then why not do it after the Padres swept them in four games? Why not after the Diamondbacks disaster last week?

But no. Right after the Mets knocked off the Angels in Anaheim 9-6, Omar Minaya fires Willie, Rick Peterson, and Tom Nieto at the team hotel. Why Minaya allowed all three to make the long trip to California instead of firing them in New York on Sunday makes the timing that much more disturbing. But that's not even the best part. The shocking news was delivered by a mass e-mail sent to the media at 3:11 in the morning. A freakin' e-mail sent after the newspapers had already been printed. So they were hoping this could slide under the radar? Have you ever heard of the Internet? This is not 1965? That is the work of a bunch of a p*****s. Plain and simple.

And I look back to 2005, when Omar came in as GM. He said he wanted to mimic the Braves model, creating a farm system that would make the roster self-sustaining. He inherited Jose Reyes and David Wright, and other than that, has basically used the system for his favorite pastime, obtaining older, established players.

Minaya has constructed a roster that depended on Moises Alou, who after returning from the DL for one game Tuesday, got injured again. Minaya put together a clubhouse with such a leadership void that Marlon Anderson was orchestrating team meetings shortly after being obtained last year and was trying to be inspiring at another gathering on Tuesday, his first day off the DL.

And thank you to our dearly departed pitching coach Rick Peterson for pushing trading Kazmir for Victor Zambrano. Have all 10 minutes expired? And good luck finding a new job to Tom Nieto. I mean how good does "first base coach" look on a resume? What exactly did he do wrong?

Good luck to Jerry Manuel, our interim manager. Excuse me if I'm not doing cartwheels.

Not pretty, but good enough.

We are now 2-1 after a 4-1 win over our old rivals, Rommel. The weather was comfortable, but the wind was blowing straight in all day which made scoring runs really difficult. In fact, I only had two at-bats all day. We scored three in the top of the first and they stranded two in the bottom half, even though we missed two grounders that inning. So we were a little lucky. I singled in the second and grounded out later. But my whole idea was to hit the ball on the ground because any fly ball that was hit just hung in the air.

My big play came in the fourth inning. I was playing short center field and I lined up a few steps right behind second base. Some guy grounds one hard up the middle right in my direction. I grabbed it and fired the ball straight to first base. I knew it was straight, but I thought it could go a little high. And I know the first baseman wasn't expecting a throw, because as the ball was about halfway to him, his eyes bulged out like he couldn't believe I was throwing. And I threw the runner out. Supposedly, he was just jogging to first and didn't really bust it out of the box. That would be a no-no. I made three other catches in short center, but that was the highlight. I would say there must have been at least four or five 1-2-3 innings between both teams. The game was probably done in about 50 minutes.

I'm not a huge blues fan, but there is something about live blues in the summertime that is really cool. I hit the Blues on the Fox festival in downtown Aurora on Saturday and Marcia Ball and Kenny Wayne Shepherd were excellent. Shepherd, in particular, reminds me of Stevie Ray Vaughan, with the low, growling guitar. And on that Galena Street bridge, there was barely any room to move. It wasn't bad when I got there around 6:15. By 8:30, when Shephers strolled on stage, there must have been 10,000 people. And big props to the guys who made the 10" chargrilled Italian sausage sandwich. Delicious! And not a bad deal for a $3 bottle of Miller Lite.

Back to work.



Let's see. Alone for a week. No microwave for a week and no light in the basment for who knows how long.

It just feels like we lost seven straight

I wrote last time that I was convinced the Mets would lose seven straight games, after they had already dropped five. They came as close as you can without actually doing it. Phenomenal starting pitching from Mike Pelfrey and then Johan. Billy Wagner blows both games. Mets win one, lose one.

Good job by Carlos Beltran with a walk-off homer in the 13th, a homer he should have never had to hit. But Thursday's game is a great example of why my hair is already going gray earlier than Taylor Hicks'. Ramon Castro hits a solo homer for 1 -0 Met lead. In the third with a runner on and two out, David Wright smashes a shot to right field. But Wright doesn't bust it out of the box because he figures the ball is gone. Endy Chavez scores, Wright tries to stretch it into a triple, and gets thrown out. Inning over.

After chasing Dan Haren in the sixth inning, Fernando Tatis singles home two more in the seventh and I was feeling good with a four-run lead. But before the inning ends, the Mets load the bases with Wright and Beltran up. The two money players. Foul out and fly out. Three stranded.

Meanwhile, Johan dominated. Seven innings, three hits, 10 strikeouts, I had no problem with him coming out after the seventh. 4-0 lead, the bullpen has to hold it.

Eighth inning. Joe Smith in. One on, two outs. Conor Jackson singles and I'm a little nervous now, but still ocnfident. Mark Reynolds triples, scoring two and the D-backs are right back in it. Scott Schoeneweis relieves Smith and gets a fly out with two on to get the Mets out of trouble. Bottom half. Delgado and Easley get on with no one out. Castro strikes out, Anderson flies out, Aguila flies out. Two more stranded. Well, what can you do. Let's go to the ninth and close this.

Wagner walks the backup catcher, and I knew he had to get the next batter. Stephen Drew pinch hits, knocks a grounder up the middle that both Reyes and Easley went for. Reyes grabbed it, but nobody was in position to cover second base. Infield hit. I knew we were losing the lead. I wanted to believe we'd win, but I knew this would be Wagner's third blown save in as many chances. Chris Young doubles, second and third, no one out. Augie Ojeda walks, and up comes Orland Hudson. He grounds one to Reyes, who throws home for the first out. But Castro has his eyes transfixed on first base. He never sees Young hung up between second and third. Wright's on third waving his arms like Jimmy Orr in the end zone in Super Bowl III. If Castro would have thrown to third, it would have been an easy double play and the whole inning turns out different.
Jackson comes up, bounces one in the infield. Of course, the ball hung up for too long to turn the DP. Reyes gets the force at second, they can't turn it, tying run scores. And Wagner comes right back to strike out Reynolds, onto the bottom of the ninth. I am doing all I can not to throw my computer mouse against the wall by now.

Reyes gets an infield single and Chacez sacrifices him over. Newsflash. When the offense is this stagnant, can we give Endy the bat? Let Reyes at least steal a base, then sacrifice him and a fly ball by Wright ends the game. Poor in-game management. Wright smashes a grounder down the line. Ojeda, who had just moved over to third that inning, dives, grabs it, fires it to first, and Wright is out. Beltran and Delgado walk. Easley has a chance to become the hero. Smashes one to short. Drew, who had just come into the game that inning (notice the pattern), dives, grabs it, and flips it to second barely in time to force Delgado. Inning over.

Heilman comes in, allows a leadoff double to Justion Upton, and I knew it was over. A sac bunt, and sac fly later, Arizona leads. Castro fouls out. Castillo pinch-hits, and manages an infield single. I wasn't feeling great with Aguila up, but I figured if Chip Ambred had a game-winning hit last year, why not. Double play ball. Game over.

This team needs a major shake-up. This is not Willie Randolph's fault, but a message must be sent and sent quickly. Either a firing or a major trade. And I don't think Willie is going. for me, I blame Omar Minaya. He promised when he came to New York he would build a team that was young, fast, athletic, sustainable, etc. Willie would have been a perfect fit for that team. But look at this roster. At one point, Abraham Nunez was our best option in the minors. There is next to no minor league system in place. Minaya had no backup plan for Alou or Delgado, who has been terrible. He counted too much on Pedro and El Duque and Duaner Sanchez has been inconsistent.

Oh, and enough of Moises Alou. This stiff comes off the DL, goes 2-for-2, re-aggravates his calf, and is now going on the DL again. Two at bats and he's done. Meaning I have to suffer more of Robinson Cancel on our bench. This guy is more brittle than a dozen eggs. Enough of him.

As one man said, "I am convinced raising my son as a Mets fan is a form of child abuse."

Good news from Sloan Kettering

After four or five rounds of chemo, Brian had his liver scan last Friday. And when the results came in on Wednesday, we got some very good news. First, the cancer has not spread any further in the last month. Second, the liver has not deteriorated any further in the last month. And best of all, one-third of the cancer is completely gone. Thank God.

Now I don't know if someone who has cancer is ever completely out of the woods. I've heard so many instances about cancer going away and then returning. But the doctors feel pretty good about where he is at this point, between the results of the chemo and his appetite and weight returning.

He will continue the chemo and we'll see what kind of progress he makes from here. But we're all feeling pretty good.

Very little left to say

But to hell with it, I'll say it again. There is nothing left to root for in this baseball season except the Cubs choking. Summer time means four things to me. Hot weather, no shirts, festivals, and the Mets. And this is turning into an absolutely miserable summer. I'm almost praying for the Knicks to start because I expect them to be horrible so I can laugh out of ageda.

Losing four straight in San Diego was disgraceful enough. Three straight 2-1 losses followed by an amazing 8-6 heart-smasher, capped off by Tony Clark's (who the Mets should have signed anyway) pinch-hit three-run homer off our lights-out closer. That raises Clark's season totals to one homer and six RBI.

And then it's back in town tonight for three against Arizona. We did get Moises Alou and Marlon Anderson back for the game, and of course, our best player this year, Ryan Church finally goes on the DL. I don't expect anything from him the rest of the season, and with two concussions inside two months, I don't expect him to ever be the player he was the first two months of the season. Now only the Mets can lead 5-1 after two innings, and manage four pointless singles the rest of the way. A 1.5 hour rain delay. And as that's going on, Willie takes John Maine out of the game, not even giving him a chance to resume his game in the sixth inning. He goes straight to the pen. And that bullpen gives up six runs in four innings. Arizona wins 9-5.

As for the rain delay, how is it that Billy Wagner does a better job holding down the tarp than the pen does holding down a lead?

Now the Mets are an unbelievable 7.5 out of the division and the wild card, fourth in the division, closer to last place than first place. There is no heart, no guts, no cojones, prospects to bring into the mix. They are a mediocre baseball team. As far as the postseason goes, they are so freaking dead, it's absolutely ridiculous. The losing streak is five and approaching seven. Oh, and we get to face Brandon Webb and Dan Haren in the next two games.

The solution for gas

I understand gasoline in Venezuela costs $0.16 per gallon right now. Let's invade them. We can do it peacefully. Just lay the message down that we need to do a little business. We have a lot of assets we can offer them. I'm sure the President can negotiate a little something. Maybe then our gas prices could drop to around the level they were when I first got my license, around $2.00 a gallon.

Now a few things that are on my mind.

1) Why are 90 percent of the Facebook status updates I see either referring to how tired people are or how giddy they are over some sort of relationship milestone. Calling all people, get creative! I'm tired of reading the same lines over and over.

2) Something about a 10:45 pm showing of The Shawshank Redemption. Anything narrated by Morgan Freeman gets me in a good state of mind. He could be reading the phone book, I would think it was exciting and creative.

3) I don't know how many more years I can play softball. I only know one style to play, and that's hard. That's balls out. But it is wearing me down in a way that nothing else has. Of the seven days between games, I need at least four of them to get my body ready again to take the next pounding. But I still love the pounding. The day I can't go hard, I don't know if my heart will want to stay in the game.

4) TNA is coming to Hoffman Estates for a PPV Taping in October. I feel a little sick going to a TNA show, but I may get a ticket. Hopefully, I can get a decent one for under 50 bucks. That said, I can't imagine it will be as good as ROH. But if I go, I'll keep an open mind.

5) God bless the Von Erichs.

Song pick: "Lover's Cross" Jim Croce

Week 2 done

We go down 16-8 and while this was not a a great one, I'm not feeling too discouraged. First of all we played a team, with a load of power hitters. A few of their guys can hit a home run in a major league park. Their pitcher, who calls himself Tim Wakefield, switches his pitching motion between a straight underhand and a side arm angle. And they've won numerous championships before, not too mention they average around 20 runs per game.

I batted second and started in right field. We scored a pair in the top of the first, though we left the bases loaded. They scored 4 in the first thanks to Scott and I both misplaying deep fly balls. With the wind blowing out to right, it didn't help our fielding. Their #5 hitter drilled a three-run homer and we were behind. I did make a catch in right to end the first though. We rallied and made it 5-5 after three. Then in the fourth, I came up with runner on second and third with no one out. After taking strike 2, I took three straight balls to fill the bases. Paul comes up, our left handed power bat. He smashes the first pitch and the first baseman snags it on a line. Roger and Marty popped up and we scored nothing. I singled and scored later, not that it would matter as things would play out.

They nailed a grand slam on their way to a nine run fourth and we lost 16-8 in six. The thing was though they hit maybe five deep fly balls all game. They started grounding balls right up the middle and hitting line drives that kept falling in front of us. The problem is the RCF and RF both played with their backs literally against the fence. As I told both of them, with Dan pitching inside to the right-handed hitters, they were not going to power the ball to right field. So play in.
The amazing thing is with all those grounders and liners up the middle, if I I had played short center, they would have scored way less than 16 runs.

So we're 1-1. We'll win next week.

Week 2 Injury Report: Aggravated right big toe, sprained right ankle, bruised shin, bruised right wrist.

Blackie's, Work, Play, Pain

I've found myself playing Freecell again. I don't think I had played in 18 months. But after enough baseball video games that were made in 2003, I needed a change. I'm pretty good at the game, but I have one issue. The tag on the game is every game can be won. With some of the hands that I get dealt, I find that a little hard to believe.

There are probably not too many videos of me in existence. We've never owned a camcorder or anything like that. And I'm not a prolific picture taker. But after watching myself at Saturday's party, I have to cringe at myself. It's scary. I seriously hope people will never have the opportunity to see a movie of my life in this age or the next.

Boston Blackie's has killed my appetite for a week. I went there for lunch today and I was so hungry when I walked in, that while I was waiting for the server to return, I found myself asking "Where Are You" out loud to myself! I mean talking to myself and then answering my own questions. Anyway, we ordered a burger each and then a plate of fries/onion rings, aka frings. Little did I know I would walk out more than stuffed. The rings came in what looked like a miniature metal deep fryer which was in the middle of the plate and surrounded by sliced potato chips which tasted like fries. The potatoes were a little cool in temperature, but nicely flavored. The onion strings had great seasoning and were very good dipped in the BBQ sauce. I ordered a Philly burger with American cheese, peppers, onions, and mushrooms, which is fast becoming my favorite style of burger. This thing was a good half pound. There were so many vegetables that when I took a bite, they kept sliding off and onto the plate. Mom ate half of her bleu cheese and mushroom burger and took the rest to go! My big problem with the meal was there was no pickle on the side. I mean Jimmy Buffett himself preaches on it. A good burger must be accompanied by a pickle, not some lame cole slaw! The total was around $26 for 2 burgers, frings, and two drinks. All in all, it was a good value and while I don't rate this high as Ted's, I still think this is a solid burger and a solid restaurant.

Work is undergoing a lot of changes. My boss got promoted. So ED, who has lead the other team in the Health Division is keeping her schools and now leading a few of ours. And DP is back and she'll manage the other team. She was gone four weeks and just like that, she's back in the Health Division. All this takes place June 9. Honestly, I'm not sure if I'm thrilled. I like that DP is back, she is excellent to work with. But BB is a leader and I knew he would get promoted at some point. And it's good he will still be in close contact with us. Though I doubt we would be friends out of the office, I certainly respect him and his ability to manage. I don't know if ED has that same ability.

Monday's picnic was fun. Bocce is way better on a hill. I have to figure out why I'm so inept at Apples to Apples. And if only I could skip the mayo...

So much for the Mets' three game winning streak. As great as the beating the Marlins was, the "momentum" has evaporated faster than Elliot Spitzer's career. And Castillo is now injured. But this offense is so frustrating. How many more times do I have to see the Mets get two runners on base with one out and fail to score?

And softball finally starts tomorrow. I am ready.

I hate basements...

Some people I know get on their blog and write deep insightful posts about life, politics, religion, other people, etc. I'm not going to do that this morning.

Since I've had the house to myself, this damn basement has flooded twice in three days. I'm ready to take a sledgehammer to this house. I'm happy to have 2 days off from work, but right now I'm ticked.

As much as I like the man, I'm ready for Willie Randolph to lose his job. These players refuse to play for him. This week has been as frustrating a time as I can remember watching this team. Swept by the Braves and then losing 2 of 3 to a terrible Colorado team. I am almost getting that numb feeling I had during the final 6 games of last season. That feeling where I expected a Mets team that was better on paper to find a way to lose to an inferior opponent and they did. That's exactly what I'm seeing. Last year though, the pitching was mostly to blame. This year, it's the offense that doesn't even come to play 3 days out of 4. So tonight, when the Mets host the first place Marlins, that crowd will be large and it will be nasty. And I have never, ever seen a player with so much talent and so poor baseball instincts as Jose Reyes.

And let me repeat what I've already said on facebook. My nutrition tip: Do not eat 2 burgers, 2 brats, drink 2 root beers, and go play ultimate frisbee for 30 minutes. And finishing it off with a root beer float...well...

Song pick: "The Clown" Conway Twitty

The final nail

I really would like to write something new instead of the same old same old same old. But nothing changes. Why do I keep watching this stupid baseball team? No, not baseball team. The Mets are not a team. More like this group of overrated, overaged, and overpaid frauds.

The sweep is complete. The Mets lose 4 to the lousy, smelly, hicky Atlanta Braves and let's just kiss any playoff hopes we had goodbye. Before the game, Moises Alou goes on the DL and who do the Mets call up to take his spot? The legendary Raul Casanova, giving us a third catcher! Reason being he is the only major-league ready position player in the minors. Unbelievable.

And tonight's game was very predictable. Beltran and Delgado homer on back-to-back pitches for a 2-0 lead. After that, Hudson retired 11 Mets in a row. After that Castillo singles, and Wright grounds into a double play. Meanwhile, the Savior, Johan Santana is cruising through six. Going into the seventh, they're up 2-1 and I was feeling ok. Not confident, but we'll call it cautious optimism. Then just like a horror movie, the nightmare kicks in. First Beltran is on second with no one out, gets caught caught in a run down, and he's out. Onto the bottom half. That little bastard Kelly Johnson doubles and Hudson sacrifices him to third. Four straight singles and we're down 4-2. And Johan only gets out of it when he gets Francoeur to ground into a double play. I wanted to believe but I knew the game was all but done.

Onto the eighth inning. Endy Chavez who has fallen off the map like Pluto has fallen off the solar system bunts out. Ryan Church comes back from his concussion and singles. Then Reyes gets in an infield single and the tying runs are on. Up comes Castillo. The man who got a 4 years contract! The ideal number two hitter behind Reyes! A nice easy grounder back to the mound. 1-6-3 double play inning over.

But the best is yet to come. Onto the ninth inning. Now Wright is facing Manny Acosta. Ground ball, base hit. As soon as he hit it, I said to myself "How are they going to find a way to not score this time." It wasn't if, it was how. The how goes like this. Beltran smashes the ball on a line. Straight to Johnson. Wright pulls a Reyes/Beltran and gets doubled off at first. Another double play. Finally Delgado lines a shot to center and Mark "broken back" Kotsay dives, makes the catch, and ends it.

There's very little left to say. Just this. I am disgusted with this franchise from the top all the way down. I want this team to be sellers at the trade deadline. Fire the GM, fire the manager, trade absolutely anyone possible and get some youth in this depleted farm system.

A whimper into the night

There are time when I don't really want to blog, but just feel compelled to. Usually, it has something to do with desperation or pure aggravation. In this case, it's the latter. I'd rather be hanging with my friends who actually care like Julie in Wrigleyville or Chris in the loop or Regis in the Bronx who I'm sure are home right now getting wasted. That's where I wish I could be right now without the threat of work tomorrow. Because this is as bad a sports day as I can remember suffering through in a long while.

I know when it comes to my teams, I can be the most obnoxious jerk in the world. I know this. And again that happens. After the Mets beat the Yankees twice this weekend, I was excited again. I was ready for this 4-game series against the Braves. I was ready to watch the Mets slam Tom Glavine in the mouth after the way he screwed them and us fans last September. And Luis Castillo of all people homers in the first inning. 1-0 Mets. Then Glavine allows two hits and a walk so they have the bases loaded with one out. Moises Alou comes up and slams a pitch...right into Larry Jones' glove. Delgado flies out to right, inning over. The Braves immediately tie the score and kept scratching out runs as they game went on. John Maine was just awful, he threw no breaking balls, his change up sailed right over the plate all day, he barely made it through five innings. By the sixth inning, I was paying more attention to a shoot interview on Youtube with legendary wrestling manger Paul Bearer/Percy Pringle.

But the Met offense suddenly looks just as lethargic as they did against Washington and Cincy. Over the final eight innings, they get three hits and no runs. And worst of all, that piece of garbage Glavine, who spit the damn bit when he pitched for the Mets, looks like Sandy Koufax. He allows no hits and no walks over the final five innings he pitched. 6-1 final.

And Game 2. Who the hell is Jorge Campillo? 6 innings, 3 hits, no walks, seven strikeouts? Who the hell is he? Once Jones doubled home Escobar in the first inning, I knew the game was over. Because this team NEVER NEVER NEVER rallies. But I checked back in eventually, just in time to see Duaner Sanchez escape a bases loaded jam in the seventh. So I figured I'd watch the eighth. After the first two outs, Delgado walks, Castro doubles him home. Big deal. Alou pinch hits and single,s bringing the tying run up and now I'm into it. Will this finally be the time? Jose Reyes as always swings at the first pitch. And he actually gets a hit. Now the tying runs are on base. Marlon Anderson grounds out, and that was essentially it. Matt Wise gives up a two-run homer just for good measure in the bottom half. Mets lose 6-2.

They are the Tin Men, they are most of my ex-girlfriends, they have no heart. And that's not even the worst part. Ryan Church is now injured! A concussion, his second in two months! Our best position player is out for God knows how long! Holy Fucking Mackerel!

And then to top that off, we have the NBA draft lottery. Even when the Cubs lose, Chicago sports still stick it up my rear end. I was really into this lottery, I really thought the Knicks would get a Top 2 pick and have the opportunity to get Michael Beasley, or even better, Derrick Rose. So I listened to it on ESPN radio. Everything went according to plan from picks 14-9. Then by record, the next picks 8 and 7 should have been Chicago followed by Charlotte . The guy reads Ch-----arlotte. My jaw dropped in dread and horror. The Bulls were now in the top 3 picks. 7 goes like normal and I then knew the Knicks were either No. 6 or in the top 3. Then came the words. "The sixth pick will belong to...the New York Knicks." I slammed the computer mouse on the desk. Hard. Somehow, it still works. And of all teams, the Bulls wound up picking number one. Great, a young team that is playoff caliber to begin with now adds one of the best young players. I'll get to watch Derrick Rose or Michael Beasley torch the Eastern Conference for 10 years, while the Knicks will draft some seventh or eighth man like OJ Mayo or Brook Lopez. Mike, Donnie, have fun this year. Because as Knicks fans, we sure as hell will not.

So this has been just a horrible, horrible night between the Mets and the Knicks. Some things never change. Should I just start watching European soccer?

OK, I'll try to end this with something decent. To my twin Mike Piazza who retired today. Thank you for the great years and the great moments. We miss you and we appreciate you. Here are my top 5 Piazza moments that I can remember right now, anyway The blonde hair is not one of them.

5) 1997. The Trade From Florida. The Man Arrives.

4) 1998 Three-run bomb with two outs in the ninth inning off Billy Wagner, gave the Mets a 3-2 lead in a game they would win, 4-3, in 11 innings

3) Injured and not starting that night, he hit s a huge homer off Smoltz in Game 6 of the doomed 1999 NLCS.

2) Three-run homer off Terry Mullholland as the Mets rally from 7 runs down to take an 11-8 lead over Atlanta.

1) First baseball game in New York City after 9/11. Down 3-2 in the eighth, he homers to center field. Mets beat Atlanta.

The malaise

I've taken to using that word a bit a lately. I know of no other world that depicts the lackadaisical, care-free, boring attitude that the New York Mets have taken on over the last 12 months.

Going into the 7-game homestand against the dreadful Reds and Nationals, I wanted five wins. After that, it's the Yankees, Braves, and Rockies. Just a day at the beach with those three. We took 2 against Cincinnati, which was fine. After splitting the first two against Washington, Aaron Heilman blew yet another game, allowing four runs in 1/3 of an inning, Wasting Claudio Vargas' impressive Mets debut. Why Willie Randolph did not have Joe Smith warming up while Heilman was giving up run after run, I do not know. I have tried to maintain my support of the manager. It gets harder by the day. I don't know why, but as disappointed as I was, I promised I would not flip out.

Then came today's game. I will never forget this. Mike Pelfrey no-hits Washington through the sixth inning. And as gullible as I am, I really thought Pelfrey had a shot to throw the Mets' first no-hitter in almost 8,000 franchise games. It all seemed set up. The TV broadcasters working in the upper deck of Shea Stadium. So many Mets alumni in house. The team desperately needing a spark of some type.

But Aaron Boone singles in the seventh and that was it. Pelfrey escapes that and though the Met offense had mustered nothing (Wright hit his daily popup with two out and two runners on in the fifth), I felt good. But as soon as Jesus Flores doubled to left to lead off the eighth, I knew he was going to score. This SOB, who we let go for NOTHING, his going to haunt us for years. A sac fly and a sac bunt and he scores. The sac bunt was done by Willie Harris, who was double switched into the game for defense. I didn't understand why Manny Acta took Jason Bergmann out of the game, but more on that later.

Let's go to the Mets offense. Third inning. Castillo on first with two gone. Wright pops one up to shallow right. Inning over right? Wrong. Austin Kearns drops the ball. Castillo, who was jogging, gets as far as third base and doesn't score. But with his ravaged knees, I don't know if he would have made it anyway. But Wright, the golden boy, doesn't even run. He's lolly-gagging round like his ankles are shackled. Could have easily made it to second if he head been running. Once he sees the ball is dropped, he's barely past the first base bag and he has to hold. Not that it would matter as Beltran lines out to right.

Reyes leads off the eighth and despite barely getting his bat on the ball, he dribbles it down the third base line and made it to first. Castillo lays down a bunt and gets thrown out at first. Meanwhile, as Reyes slows down at second base, he notices nobody is covering third and he goes for it. Boone reads it and throws the ball to Christian Guzman, who easily tags the non-sliding Reyes. Wright pops out, inning over.

After Matt Wise strikes out Flores with two on in the top of the ninth, the Mets came up for one more shot. Beltran leads off with a single. I was hoping he would steal second base so a sacrifice fly could possibly score him form third. Up comes Ryan Church, our best position player all year, bar none. He flies the ball down the left field line midway between the infield and the wall. Harris dives and makes a ridiculous catch. If he misses that ball, Beltran is easily on third base. It's just like last year, when he robbed Delgado of a home run.

Delgado is up and I am feeling very queasy by this point. I have as much confidence in this guy getting a clutch hit as I had in Isiah Thomas making a good trade. Then Beltran takes off and Flores' throw flies in to center field, allowing Beltran to reach third without a throw. Now I'm feeling optimistic. On a 1-2 pitch from Jon Rauch, Delgado smashed a liner straight to Boone at first base. Beltran is frozen 15 feet down the line and Boone lobs the ball over to third for a game-ending double play. My head crashed to my desk and I didn't move for about a minute. We lose 1-0. So the homestand ends 3-4, and we're in fourth place, 20-19, 3 games out of first.

By the way, how does Willie sit Moises Alou for this game? And how does an offense with Jose Reyes, Luis Castillo, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Ryan Church, and Carlos Delgado total three hits and no runs against a pitcher who entered the game fresh off minor league rehab and with an ERA of 11.68? We have wasted phenomenal starting pitching from two guys we never expected to get it from.

And tomorrow, I'm going downtown to hang with a bunch of other Mets fans to watch the first game of the Yankees series. I really have no idea how we're going to be feeling.

And I had a gift card for about 2 months from MLB.com and it expired today. I had to force myself to use it because I really didn't want to buy anything with the Mets logo on it. I feel the exact same numbness and frustration I felt last September when the Mets blew the division. Now there's no division lead to blow. Just another season.

Keefer's Review

I'm two weeks behind on this, but with my schedule shooting up like a bottle rocket, some things just slip. First of all, the Saturday run from two weeks ago was excellent. I finally got to try Garrett's popcorn. That cashew caramel corn is something else. Jersey Boys was an amazing show. I like old music a lot, but rarely listen to the Four Seasons. The Bee Gees give me enough falsetto already for my Ipod. But I must admit some of those Frankie Valli songs are pretty cool. "My Eyes Adored You," "Oh, What a Night," and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" do make me snap my fingers. Excellent music, great storytelling, and a funny compelling script. I still love the joke about the letter "Y".

So then it was dinner at Keefer's, a steakhouse in the River North section, with a french cuisine twist. First of all, the atmosphere is a little unusual. And the whole restaurant seems to be one big circle, I don't remember walking in a straight line the whole time I was there. But hanging on the wall in our dining room was a fireplace and a lot of 1920's radios. I have no idea what the purpose of the radios was.

Onto the food. I love any restaurant with a bread basket that includes pretzel bread. Amazingly, Dad had never heard of it before. Let's just say he won't be forgetting it anytime soon. I went with an Amstel Light to drink and was happy it came in a frosted glass that the waiter poured for me. We skipped the appetizers and went straight to salad. I got a house, which various greens and a few cherry tomatoes with mustard vinaigrette. I was very impressed with the substantial portion. This wasn't like some places which give you a small cereal bowl. This was filling. And I don't care for cherry tomatoes, especially when you take a bite and the juice explodes all of your shirt. But these were a little more meaty and they suited me fine.

Then the main event. For the sides, we got a combo of onion rings and pommes frites (french fries). We got so many of them they lasted two more dinners later that week. And I don't know how they fry them, but there is a certain lightness to them. They were crispy, flavorful, and I didn't feel heavy after eating them. We're big fans of spinach, so we got some sauteed spinach in olive oil and garlic. It was fair enough. Mom and I split an order of au gratin potatoes with Gruyere cheese. These were diced potatoes, smothered in cheese and cream and then broiled for a few minutes to get the top crispy. I usually prefer a good baked potato or Lyonnaise, but considering the French backgrounds of the chefs, this was a nice change.

OK, onto the meat! Mom and I ordered bone-in Kansas City strips and Dad ordered a Delmonico ribeye (sans the maitre'd butter of course). I really thought about ordering a steak with an au poivre sauce or Diane style, but in the end, I just wanted to savor the meat. And oh, did I! My strip was served on a hot plate, with plenty of sea salt and pepper and on top, a little pad of flavored butter melted into the meat. The steak was broiled perfectly; it had that combo of a little crispiness on the outside and plenty of juice on the inside. I didn't even need to add any seasoning. I had no problem finishing it.

For dessert, Dad ordered a lemon parfait with berries and orange shortbread cookies. I got three different scoops of gelato: chocolate (which I gave to Mom), Tahitian vanilla (Very rich and incredibly good), and green tea. The green tea was something I was glad to try once, but didn't enjoy it enough to where I would order it again. The meal was excellent and the French accents of the menu make Keefer's a nice departure from a Morton's or a Gibson's or a Chicago Chop House.

I'm glad Dad took the bill...