If you played for the New York Mets

.... what would you do with yourself during the off-season? You obviously couldn't show your face in New York. At least not until the World Series was long gone and football and basketball were dominating the sports headlines. The Mets 2008 collapse will not go down in history the way last season's did but when you put them together and consider that the same players allowed this to happen in back-to-back years, you have to wonder if Willie Randolph or Jerry Manuel are really at fault. Maybe the players are just losers. You're on a 7 game homestand (The final week of Shea Stadium, by the way), you're in both the NL East and NL Wild Card races competing against two very mediocre teams, your opponents have nothing to play for.... and you're losing almost every day. What an embarrassment.

Is it really that hard to put together a solid bullpen when your team has a payroll well north of $100 million? Apparently, in Omar Minaya's world, the answer is yes.

I just realized that I haven't blogged any of my football bets in a while. Must be hard on the faders. Since the last time I posted, I've made a drunk second half bet on my alma mater that I just hoped to get away with (I did), a panicky NFL bet that my bookie had to check to see if I past posted on (I didn't), and a couple NFL teasers that required Derek Anderson coming through for me (He, of course, did not.)


Year to Date: 11-10, +$164

(147) Tennessee +6.5 (-101) @ Auburn

I made this bet a few days ago during a wacky promotion known as -101 Wednesdays. Line seems high considering neither team can move the ball. We'll see.


It's Week 4 of the Leroy's Challenge and one of our team members is off on some (probably made up) business trip to Houston which lead to a lot of panic over whether he'd be able to get his plays in on time. Dude, if you want to impress the blog, don't tell me about your fancy business trips; Make up for your 0-3 performance last week.

Washington -3.5 (GH)

Illinois +14.5 (GH)

Central Michigan -6.5 (HM)

Arkansas St -1.5 (HM)

TCU +17.5 (HM)

Ohio State -17.5 (JM)

Georgia -6.5 (JM)


And some quick updates:


NL East Update: It's over. The Fightin' Phils can get swept out of the playoffs at 10:00 AM local time again. Have fun, Philly fans. Ryan Howard hit yet another home run last night as he puts the finishing touches on another NL MVP season. Good year for that garbage non-All Star. Maybe if Chase Utley hits a home run in every bat the rest of the season, he'll be able to catch RH.

Jorgen Update: Yesterday was the last he and I will work together. Well, at least until he inevitably comes crawling to me for a job in a few years. I'm not going to lie - It was a pretty emotional day. Before Jorgen left, he came into the back room to say goodbye, and I politely asked Debbie to step outside for a moment so that Jorgen and I could embrace in a goodbye manhug. She declined. After some awkward conversation, the "Y" headed out and as he was walking away, Debbie suggested that I run after him to give him a hug. That.... was embarrassing. Emotional day for the blog.

Jeff's IPhone Update: Nothing about the phone itself today but I will say this - I'm pretty sure Jeff has been reading the blog. Don't ask me how I know. I just know. A real blogger can tell who his readers are.

Mom Update: She's coming out here in October for no apparent reason. She's coming alone. And she's staying for a week. When she told me she was definitely coming, I asked her to just notify me when she had the exact dates of her trip. She told me she would "Mail" me a copy of her itinerary. Call me crazy but I assumed she meant she would e-mail it to me. So imagine my surprise when there was a letter from her in my mailbox last night. The contents? A printout of the itinerary the airline e-mailed to her. She's already agreed to leave me alone on the Sunday she's out here so I can watch football (And perhaps a Cup race?) without having to deal with a million questions. But the rest of the week.... Oh, boy.... The rest of the week....


I'm cutting my current poll short. At this point, how could you vote for anyone but the Rams? Let's get a better poll and some fresh pictures up there. I'm also reviewing a handful of applications for the next "Sharp of the Week."

But for now I'm going to try to find out who this "Johnny Parlay" character is.

What a wise ass.



Enjoy the game.