The Mets surprised everyone during the first two and a half months of the season and turned a lot of naysayers (including myself) in to believers. While the aura has not yet officially worn off, it's getting close to that time. In the past couple of weeks, the Mets have played like what was predicted for the 2012 New York Mets...they have been both pretty good and then pretty lousy.
Duda watches strike three sail past
The Mets were involved in 4 series sweeps this month. The good: a crushing three game sweep of the Rays in Tampa and three in a row over Baltimore in Queens. The bad: The Yankees beat up the Mets over three games in the Bronx and the Mets kicked off a homestsand losing three in a row to the Reds.
Then, after losing 2 of the 3 remaining "Subway Series" games to the Yankees, the Mets went on the road to begin a series with the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs currently have the worst record in baseball and it looked as if things would begin to get easier for the Mets with the end of inter league play and a visit to the home of the woeful Cubs.
Jon Rauch gets the loss but this time it wasn't his fault
Instead, after the first two games in Chicago, it's the Mets that are looking like the worst team in baseball. The Mets have produced enough material for a full length blooper reel. Errors, passed balls, bad throws, terrible base running and a lack of clutch hitting have made the Mets look a mess. In one inning, the Mets made three errors including two simple pop ups that resulted in three bases each.
Hopefully the rot will stop soon and the surprising Mets will return to the form that made this lovable bunch of underdogs exciting and inspiring.
One final baseball note...it was sad to see Kevin Youkilis traded from the Red Sox after all he had given to the franchise. However, it seems that the trade has made some residents of Chicago very happy. All the Jewish grandmothers in Chicago are ready to invite "that nice boy Youk" over for some matzoh ball soup. Plus one former resident currently living in the White House seems pretty happy as well.
As for Arsenal, the silly season is here and the gossip concerns who's in...who's out and will he or won't he? Until there's concrete information on whether captain Robin van Persie is staying or moving on, it's just speculation from sports journalists based on "sources" that have no real information.
With the EPL season over and the EURO 2012 Tournament yet to start, it's been pretty quite on the football front. That is however, unless you follow all the summer transfer gossip. For Arsenal fans there are two main topics of interest; will Robin van Persie sign a contract extension to remain with the club and which players will Arsene Wenger bring in to convince RVP to stay? I have pretty much stopped following the speculation as I've come to realize that it's just that. I recently read three different UK based papers that each had a different story on the RVP situation.
The bottom line...no one in the media has a clue and "sources" allow journalists to write "stories", which then sell papers. Hopefully things will work out and RVP will remain club captain.
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Good times in Flushing
Kirk Neuwenhuis making folks remember how to spell his name
Meanwhile, the Mets have been unbelievably impressive so far this season. As I recently wrote for Bleacher Report, I owe this club a major apology. After the fall out from the Wilpons' involvement with Bernie Madoff and the slashing of the team's payroll everyone was predicting a pathetic and miserable season. I was right there with them. Reyes walked away and outside of David Wright, Johan Santana and R.A. Dickey the 2012 Mets looked to be a collection of misfits, under achievers and Minor Leaguers. The funny part is...that's exactly what they are. Despite being 80% made up of a bunch of nobodies these guys have come together as a true team and are playing some good ball. Despite the occasional blunder and somewhat regular bullpen meltdown, the Mets entered play tonight 7 games over .500. Only 4 teams in all of baseball have a better winning percentage than the Mets.
Johan finishes his no hitter
This weekend proved that no matter what happens the rest of the way for the 2012 Mets, this season has already been successful. The bright play, the maturing of young players and the team unity have made watching this team a lot of fun. Then Johan Santana took the mound on Friday versus the best hitting team in the National League, the St. Louis Cardinals, and he did what everyone in baseball thought would never happen. Santana threw a no hitter. The Mets and the San Diego Padres were the only two franchises in all of baseball to have never had a no-hitter pitched by a member of their staff. Santana's brilliant performance took that negative away for good and gave long suffering Mets fans the chance to cheer.
As I wrote in Bleacher Report, Santana's no-hitter was a double feel good story as it gave the franchise something to be proud of and, it was Santana that did it. The guy is a class act, a positive leader and a real warrior. Having missed all of 2011 due to shoulder surgery, Santana pushed through not having his best stuff and still completed what had previously been impossible.
The next day, R.A. Dickey came out and followed up Santana's performance with a complete game shut out of his own.
Not quite a no no but a complete game shutout is not too shabby
We'll see what happens the rest of the way. I don't really think this team is playoff material but they've really made Mets fans enjoy supporting their team. The ONLY downside to the Mets playing so well, is that it almost lets the Wilpons off the hook for letting their personal financial situation affect the club and its fans.
I am so sick of reading about Man City, Roberto Mancini and most of all $amir Na$ri.
Man City was purchased by an exceedingly wealthy billionaire sheikh who decided to invest his endless supply of money in to Manchester's long term under-performing second team. Like a kid with a new toy, the sheikh went on a spending spree purchasing world class players for his team without a thought about the price tag. As anyone could have predicted after the Sheikh's insane investment in talent, Man City went on to win the EPL title this season (do keep in mind that they ALMOST blew it). Okay, great. I am truly happy for the long suffering fans of Manchester City. I can relate to following a team that is forever in the shadow of a bigger and more successful club. Good for them.
Words from the hypocrite
What does sicken me is the arrogance and greed being displayed by the manager and the cockiness of this collection of mercenaries that won a trophy by paying for it. Mancini poaches other teams' players as if he's at an all you can eat buffet. Man City is so out of control, they make the New York Yankees look cheap. Three days after the season ends and Mancini is looking to steal more players from other teams rather than actually doing it the old fashioned way....DEVELOPING THEM.
Beyond being rewarded for being greedy, Mancini also showed what a wimp and flip flopper he is. After Carlos Tevez went AWOL for months after refusing to play for Man City during a Champions League match, Mancini rightfully vowed that he was "finished" and would never play for the club again. Fans were burning his jersey and he became the most hated man in Manchester. So what happens? With the title slipping away, Mancini invites this selfish overpaid jock to come back. Tevez was last seen riding on an open top bus holding up a totally disrespectful sign and celebrating a championship he hardly played a part in.
Then there's that nut case known as Mario Balotelli. An attention seeking idiot and troublemaker, Mancini's "final straw" with Balotelli came in early April during Arsenal's 1-0 victory over City. Despite getting away without a red card for a vicious tackle on Alex Song, the dope then went on to try and break Bacary Sagna's leg twice to finally get sent off. At this point in the season, City's grip on the title looked to be slipping away. Following the match the "boss", Mancini, expressed his frustration with the player and said that he would probably not play again for City and would be sold in the summer.
Well what a shock, Mancini has gone back on his statement and proven that he isn't too good at math as well. If Mancini were a parent, his kids would be having keg parties in the house each night and skipping school every day. The guy has no control over his overpaid brood and lets them run things as they want.
Get up, I got away with that one
The biggest mercenary of all at Sheikh City Oil and Football Club has got to be $amir "it's not about the money" Na$ri. Arsene Wenger brought Na$ri to England and helped develop the player in to a household name in the UK. Given the chance to play regularly at Arsenal Na$ri had a breakout season in 2010-2011.
Of course it's about the money
As often happens when the ugly girl gets the chance to date the quarterback, Na$ri saw dollar signs (or pound signs) dancing in his head as his stock rose in the football world. Showing zero loyalty, Na$ri jumped at the chance to make ridiculous money to live in a crappy city and play for a team being bankrolled by a sugar daddy.
Of course Arsenal fans were upset that one of their players was leaving and that might have been the end of the story. Sadly, Na$ri couldn't just take the money and leave with class. Instead he publicly mocked the club and its fans.
During the season, Na$ri played sporadically, got to know the bench on a first name basis and scored a few goals. Instead of being one of the core, money boy settled for a bit part in order to grab the loot and be a part of a team that purchased the title. So, what does he do? He again, shows zero class, intelligence or professionalism as he directs more vitriol to his former club, manager and its fans.
At the other end of the spectrum is Jack Wilshere who took a stand and shot back at this ungrateful part time player. Wilshere knows how to display class and appreciation..
So to all the folks on Twitter wondering why Arsenal fans are angry at Na$ri for leaving.....we are not. We are angry at him for showing no class or respect to the manager and club that made him as well as the fans that worshiped him and pay his wages. I would love to see a guy like him have to get a real job and work for a living.
Lastly, Joey Barton is a world class dirt bag. What he pulled on Sunday was absolutely insane. The fact that this guy is paid tons of money simply because he can play a game is insulting to upstanding humans everywhere that are struggling to find work and get by. If not for the sport of football, he would be in jail along with his brother. The FA should ban this guy for good.
Arsenal's 2011-2012 season has been a tough one. It's either been all good or all bad. This past weekend's 3-3 draw with Norwich at The Emirates was definitely bad. In fact it was inexcusable, pathetic and downright frustrating. With just 2 games remaining in the season, Arsenal had third place and a guarantee of Champions League football next season all but locked up. They controlled their own destiny...win their last two games against Norwich at home and West Brom away and this difficult season would end on a positive note. Third place, guaranteed Champions League football and the arrival of the yearly Arsenal holiday known as St. Totteringham's Day.
No disrespect to Norwich, but Arsenal should have bossed this game from start to finish and recorded the win with ease. Less than two minutes into the game and a Yossi Benayoun strike from distance and it looked lilke Arsenal would cruise. Instead, Arsenal had to fight back throughout the match. When Robin van Persie scored his second goal of the day in the 80th minute, the Gunners had regained the lead 3-2. All they had to do was defend their lead for just 10 minutes. They didn't do it. The 3-3 draw let the door open for Spuds and Newcastle to jump Arsenal for third place.
Some higher power must be a Gooner as Arsenal were given a gift today. The mercenaries of Manchester's Oil City United defeated Newcastle 2-0 and miraculously Spuds only managed a draw with Aston Villa. So, with one game left....just one, Arsenal again have their destiny in their own hands. A win next week and the job is done. This is not only a winnable game, it is a must win. Hopefully, the next blog entry will be a positive one as we put the most frustrating and unpredictable EPL season in recent memory to bed. GET IT DONE ARSENAL.
Meanwhile in Queens, New York the Mets put a stop to their own run of inept play and actually won 2 out of 3 from the Arizona Diamondbacks. In fact, I actually got to witness one of those wins as I attended my first Mets game of the year. A friend gave me a pair of tickets he couldn't use and the only catch was that I had to bring back the Tom Seaver bobbleheads that were being given out at the stadium that day.
The Tom Seaver bobbleheads as promised
Despite the late afternoon start and the free giveaway, the "crowd" at Citi Field was still pretty sparse. Just another sign of the times for the New York Mets.
In a rather unexciting game, the Mets finally rewarded Johan Santana by scoring 4 runs and actually holding on to the lead. 4-3 was the final and Santana had finally notched his first win of the season.
R.A. Dickey followed Santana's great outing with one of his own today. Dickey pitched 8 scoreless innings and the Mets' came away with a 4-1 win.
So one team that should have won, didn't and one team that shouldn't win did. Here's hoping that next Sunday will be victorious for Arsenal and St. Totteringham's Day will be celebrated all across the world!
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.
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).
What an amazing weekend. Not only is the weather in New York awesome but the Mets are 3-0 to start the season while the mighty Yankees are 0-3. Then there's Arsenal and the team's victory over the money grubbing mercenaries of Manchester City. This weekend was the sports equivalent of winning the lottery!
Interestingly enough, last season Arsenal were cruising until February and then it all fell apart. This year it's been the opposite. The instability surrounding the club at the start of the season was a major detriment and led to the poor start. However, since an uninspired 0-0 draw at Bolton on February 1st Arsenal have won 7 out of 8 of their league games.
Watching how great the team played today it's shocking that they lost last week at QPR.
Then came today's match and the return of the greedy and disrespectful Samir Nasri. Not only would a win be vital for Arsenal's quest for a top 4 finish, it would be the biggest F.U. to Na$ri and the high priced individuals that Manchester City call a team. While fans of other teams question why Arsenal supporters are hating on Nasri for taking a big payday, remember this headline? New Manchester City star Samir Nasri claims Arsenal lack ambition. Or this one? Nasri: Move not about money – I am at City simply to win trophies. But it's even more than just the cocky, rude and arrogant comments from Nasri. It was the total disrespect that he showed to the club, the manager and the fans. Wenger and Arsenal gave Nasri the platform to establish himself and rather than leave with class, he pretty much said screw you and left.
So today's game was payback time. Manchester City spent a ton of money to buy the EPL title and in recent weeks, the wheels have come off of City's title bid. A defeat at the Emirates would leave City 8 points behind United with 6 games left. For the first time that I can remember, United fans were rooting for Arsenal and in the end thanking them for giving City another damaging blow.
The new and better number 8.
Arsenal didn't just win...they dominated the game...every time Na$ri touched the ball he was booed. It didn't really matter though as Alex Song and company owned Na$ri & he was barely involved in the match. Arsenal got what they deserved when Arteta drilled the ball in to the back of the net in the 87th minute and the game ended 1-0.
The Balotelli show
Then there was the comedy show that is Mario Balotelli. The guy is probably the biggest moron in world football right now. In between his hookers, car crashes and boozing he's supposedly a good football player. Not today. He almost broke Alex Song's leg early in the first half and should have been sent off. But no. Miraculously nobody but the 60,000 people inside the stadium and a worldwide viewing audience noticed the foul. He didn't even get a yellow. So you'd think the guy would realize he got away with one there and calm down...no way. He finally got a yellow for trying to break Bacary Sagna's ankle and capped off a fine display of stupidity by doing it again late in the game. Finally he got the red card he deserved. In reality he should have gotten 2 red cards!
About time
Lastly, the sight of Carlos Tevez coming on as a sub late in the game to "save" City was beyond hysterical. After what he did to his manager, team and fans earlier this season it is beyond shameful how City came grovelling to take back this ungrateful waste. Great way to set an example Mancini...you look like the biggest and most desperate fool.
Based upon Arsenal's late season play, it's looking good for the future of a team that was "in crisis" just a few months back.
As for the Mets...everyone is predicting them to finish dead last in the National League East and unfortunately they're probably right. That doesn't change the fact that I'm still going to root for them and support them regardless of how the Wilpons and Bernie Madoff have screwed up this team.
While 3 games out of 162 is just a blip, it's nice to see the Mets sweep the Braves to open the season. Even when the Mets were "good" they never seemed to be able to sweep any series.
Duda raises the apple
Some of the bright spots early on include the strong return of Johan Santana, the home run power of Lucas Duda and the strong bullpen performance. The season is long, but it doesn't hurt to start off strong and gain some confidence...especially when everyone expects you to fail.
Adding to the enjoyment of seeing the Mets begin 3-0 was seeing the big, bad Yankees owned by Tampa Bay. CC Sabathia and Mariano Rivera were beaten up badly and the Yankees are definitely looking old. In fact, when the camera focused in on the Yankees' dugout there were a large number of noticeable receding hair lines. Perhaps the New York papers will follow the lead of those in the UK and report on a "Crisis in the Bronx."
Less than two weeks ago all the talk surrounding Arsenal was negative. The sports writers and pundits were speaking of the demise of the club and the possibility that Arsene Wenger's job might be in jeopardy.
To be fair, when Arsenal got humiliated by AC Milan at the San Siro and followed that up with a 2-0 defeat to Sunderland in the FA Cup, there were plenty of negatives to focus on. However, with 3 months still to play in the EPL season it was beyond maddening to hear the "experts" talk of Arsenal's certain fall from the top 4 and Tottenham's ascendancy as the top team in North London.
So here we are just a few weeks later and my how things have changed. With two consecutive come from behind victories over sides that were picked to defeat Arsenal, the Gunners are now sitting in the much coveted fourth place position. With Chelsea losing to West Brom, Arsenal have opened a three point gap between the two clubs in the fight for the last Champions League spot. It doesn't stop there, however, as Arsenal have closed the gap on their "noisy neighbors" to just four points following their defeat to Man United.
Rosicky ran riot through the Spuds
The "North London is White" proclamations have slowed down as those who call White Hart Lane home are currently very nervous. It was looking like this might be the year without the holiday known as St. Totteringham's Day...but we may be celebrating it this year after all.
Arsenal's comeback from a two goal deficit to Tottenham may just be the spark that gives this team the confidence it needed to prove all their critics wrong. It was fantastic to re-watch the game and see those smug Spurs fans that were taunting Arsenal in the first half, looking crestfallen and shocked after their team was mauled by Robin van Persie, Bacary Sagna, Theo Walcott and a resurgent Tomas Rosicky. 0-2 became 5-2 and you could feel that rightful order was being restored in North London.
The doubt still lingered in the minds of all the pundits as Arsenal traveled north to Anfield for a meeting with Liverpool. Liverpool have had their own troubles this season but the talk going in to this match was the high that Liverpool must be on from winning the Carling Cup last weekend. No disrespect is intended but it took Liverpool extra time and penalties to defeat lower league Cardiff City. Not the type of an achievement that would leave rivals quaking in their boots.
RVP gets goal number one at Anfield
Listening to Ian Darke & Steve McManaman call the game on ESPN was beyond irritating. Macca's blatant rooting for his old team was over the top. When the pair announced that Arsenal would be happy with a draw and one point with ten minutes left in the game I knew that Arsenal would make them eat their words....sure enough Robin van Persie broke the home fans' hearts and shut the critics up (at least for now).
Reading all the glowing reviews of the game and the adoration being bestowed upon the Gunners from those that were just trashing them is quite satisfying.
As I said earlier, there is still a lot of the season left and things may change again. However, it's nice to see that old adage don't count your chickens until they're hatched ring true.
RVP finishes off Liverpool
As an addendum it looks as if one of my favorite websites will have to stop running as there is no longer a need for it. Check out Has Andre Villas-Boas Been Sacked Yet?
Spring Training is here and the Mets are in Port St. Lucie preparing for the new season. While it's hard to get overly excited based on the low expectations for the team and with the Wilpons still in control, it's always great when baseball returns.
Sadly for the Mets, the biggest news out of Florida is that first baseman Ike Davis is being treated for some ailment called "Valley Fever". If any team could have a player come down with some bizarre rare affliction, it's the Mets. As we saw last season, Ike's absence from the lineup is a huge loss. Let's hope valley fever passes quickly.
Hopefully Ike hasn't given Jason Bay valley fever. What is valley fever?
