A Quick Rant as Arsenal's Season Nears the End and the Mets' Season Looks Over Just as it Begins

This is a quick one. With 2 games left in the EPL season Arsenal's grip on third place is, shall we say, precarious. The team's 1 point lead over Spuds and Newcastle is slight and the only guarantee Arsenal have for third place and definite Champions League football next season is to stay in this position.

In the past, victory over Norwich and West Brom was pretty much a done deal. In this season of mixed form, however, every Arsenal fan is filled with anxiety and fear. If Arsenal win both, it doesn't matter what anyone else does. Spuds will play Villa away and Fulham at home while Newcastle have two tough game remaining at home versus Mercenary City (a.k.a. Man City) and away to Everton. Ideally it would be great to see Arsenal secure third and Newcastle fourth with Tottenham missing out. However, at this point, I'm just concerned with the Gunners.

Torres and Chelsea hardly look like European Champions

One possible snag in the top 4 finish is Chelsea. Currently in 6th, it's going to take close to a miracle for Chelsea to finish in the top 4. However, despite playing like crap for large portions of the season, Chel$ki have somehow made it to the Champions League final. If they actually go on and win, they will automatically get one of the four spots despite finishing outside the top 4. This pisses every EPL purist off as Chelsea couldn't even win at home today to Newcastle. They played like crap and hardly look like potential Champions of Europe. I cannot see Chelsea beating Bayern in Munich, but stranger things have happened. It would be so undeserved, but again, Arsenal don't have to worry about Chelsea if they just go out and take care of their own business. Their destiny is in their own hands and I expect them to take advantage of this!

One great bit of news out of the Arsenal camp is the signing of German international Lukas Podolski who comes to North London with his own catchy little song.





Outside of Arsenal, the recovery of Fabrice Muamba and his return to the Reebok Stadium before today's game is truly inspirational. The guy is a walking miracle!




______________________________________________________________________________

As for the Mets...It might as well have been April Fool's Day for the entire month. The no name bankrupt Mets actually played some decent baseball during the first month of the season. After starting off 4-0 the Mets finished April with a respectable 13-10 record. The cracks were definitely starting to show, however. Take for example last week's 18-9 loss to Colorado. Not only did the Mets give up 11 runs in one inning,  they committed 6 errors in what the Daily News eloquently called a "debacle".

On the good side, Johan Santana looks like the Johan of old. David Wright is off to a hot start and Lucas Duda is showing signs of becoming the slugger the Mets have desperately needed.

On the bad side, Jason Bay and Mike Pelfrey getting hurt and being out, actually improves the team. That pretty much sums it up. I'm a die hard fan of this team and even I don't know who half the guys are that the Mets put out on the field every day.Who the hell are Chris Schwinden, Jordany Valdespin, Zach Lutz and Mike Baxter? When you're running out Scott Hairston and Mike Nickeas on a regular basis, you know that you are supporting a horrible team. Even the good brings with it some bad. Daniel Murphy has proven that he is a solid hitter and has come through at the plate on numerous occasions. Unfortunately, as the Mets play in the National League, Daniel Murphy is required to play defense as well. He is currently on pace to finish the year with 34 errors.

Daniel Murphy makes another error

The best surprise has been the discovery of outfielder Kirk Neuwenhuis. The kid has been impressive at the plate, in the field and on the bases. He looks and plays like a young Lenny Dykstra and is quickly becoming a fan favorite.

Kirk Nieuwenhuis, the new Mr. Met

As April turned to May, the Mets began a series in Houston against the "lowly" Astros. They lost a heart breaker on Monday 4-3 and were then humiliated on Tuesday and Wednesday. I suppose I shouldn't care as the team is just living up to its expectations.

Meanwhile, the new "fiscally responsible" New York Yankees are looking a bit shaky themselves. They are also twisting the facts on their new budget managing skills as this Global Sports Salaries report shows. Check out number 6...as for the Mets...at least the club's drop from 30 to 63 shows that they are lousy for a reason. (Thank you Bernie Madoff).