Random thoughts this Saturday morning.......

I almost want to commend the Giants for wanting to beat the Patriots tonight. Having said that, regardless of the outcome, I still say Coughlin's an idiot if he plays his starters for more than a quarter or 2.

The Islanders better hope Rick DiPietro's knee injury isn't that serious. They go nowhere without him.

Tough offseason for the Yankees. First the Mitchell Report smears them and some of their recent championships, now Jim Leyritz gets arrested for DUI and will be tried for vehicular manslaughter. Looks like they're going "down with the King."

I'm thinking of stealing the "Just Shut Up" award from Mike and Mike for one week and give it to Brandon Jacobs. He knocked Giants fans earlier this week for selling their tickets to Patriots fans for tonight's games. Here's a thought for athletes in this city: Even if you're probably right, never, ever knock and alienate your team's fans. You will never live it down.

The Rangers need to make some sort of trade to bring in new blood and inject some life into the offense. Getting Vyborny from Columbus would be a mistake. He's underachieving like the rest of the Rangers and trading a 20-something underachiever for a 30-something underachiever with little or no playoff experience make zero sense.

All quiet in Flushing. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Omar's waiting for Livan Hernandez to drop his salary demands so he can sign him. I hope Omar realizes that he needs Livan more than he thinks.

After the Jets fire Mangini next season, I wonder if he's going to call Belichick for a coordinator's job. And if he does, will Belichick forgive Mangini for selling him out in the spygate scandal? Doubtful on both parts.

No interest in the college bowl season so far........

Interesting move by the Islanders to sign Okposo. When was the last time a kid left college in mid-semester to join his pro-team? More than anything, I think it shows poor character on the part of the kid. At least wait till the college season's over.

Don't look now, but the Rangers have dropped to 8th in the conference. What happened to the stifling defense they had in November? Too often Lundqvist is being hung out to dry.

FIRE ISIAH!!!

A Tragedy in the Making

If Tom Coughlin does what I think he's about to do, then I think he is a complete moron. Not that I had a very high opinion of him prior to his decision to play his starters against the Patriots on Sunday, but this really lowers the boom.

The Giants have nothing to play for. So what if the Patriots win the game and make history. No one else could beat them. This Patriots teams will go down as the best ever, probably in any sport. Playing his starters for more than 1 quarter means Coughlin is merely letting his ego get in the way of his ability to make sound and responsible decisions for his football team.

Now if Coughlin's plan is to give his boys time to work on somethings and treat it as a scrimmage, then I would give my blessing.... as long as they were on the bench by the 2nd quarter. We all know Eli could use as much practice as he can get. But if Coughlin plans to play his starters the entire game then he's asking for trouble. Murphy's Law says someone important will get hurt and it will cost them in the first round of the playoffs.

News flash Tom: Another one and done in the playoffs and you're done.

FIRE ISIAH!!!

I love Jessica Simpson

Why, you ask? It's because anyone that is going to be able to take any of Tony Romo's attention away from football can't be bad in my eyes. Don't get me wrong, she also gorgeous, rich and kind of dumb in a cute way too. But for the purposes of this conversation, I have to stick with the fact that she's merely a distraction of Tony Romo at this point. One day i'll create some space in this blog to talk about women none of us will ever have, but for now, the conversation stays with Tony Romo.

You gotta love the beautiful starlets that attract the attention of the ulti-jocks. Paris Hilton had Brian Urlacher's eye for a while but I think he smartened up fast enough to see that no woman (regardless of hotness) is worth the distraction and Paris was heading down the wrong path. Hilary Duff has latched on to Mike Comrie of the Islanders. But lucky for the Islanders, Hilary Duff can't make him any worse than he already is.

And now Jessica Simpson has Tony Romo. He definitely upgraded when he dumped Carrie Underwood and hooked up with Jessica. But let's face it, she can only be a distraction. And besides the few moments of additional limelight she gets with this, it can't end good for her. Romo is the toast of Texas and the Cowboy Nation. Once they break up, she's going to now be the ex and people won't like her. It's kind of like when Paul McCartney breaks up with a girl. Unless you're going to be the next Linda McCartney, it won't end well for the girl. (Now don't get me wrong, i'm not comparing Romo to the Beattle, but those rabid Texas folk might)

So if Jessica can mezmerize him into botching a few plays or forgetting his check downs, then I am a Simpson fan. I just want her to cause enough havoc in his mind for him to make that one critical mistake that will cost his team a chance at the Super Bowl and a date with the Patriots. My reasons are simple. First, I hate Romo and the Cowboys and everything they stand for. Secondly, wouldn't it be great to see Brett Favre go to the Super Bowl and do the impossible by beating the almight Patriots in his last season? Talk about a story book ending! Hollywood can't make this stuff up.

So my suggestion to Jessica is this. Once they Cowboys lose and are out of the playoffs, walk away from Romo. But let it come out that he dumped you so people in Texas don't hate you. Then, pose in Playboy because i'm dying to see you naked.

Thanks for reading, and remember: FIRE ISIAH!

Dear Santa.......

It's time we send our wish lists to the man at the North Pole. At this point, my teams are going to need all the help they can get if they're going to amount to anything in 2008. If this doesn't work, I'll have to resort to lighting candles and praying. Maybe I should try to get Father Carmine to issue a blessing like the one he gave to Rocky Balboa in "Rocky".
Either way, here goes.......

1. The Rangers need defense. Go figure, once the offense starts coming together, the defense disappears. I think we've all seen that Lundqvist is a world class goalie, maybe the best on the planet, but hockey's a team sport and he can't do it all alone. I would prefer not to deal any of the defensive gems they have on the roster or in the system, but I would love to see them get a shut-down type defenseman. Someone with a mean streak who won't let an opposing player pitch a tent in front of Lundqvist all game.

2. The Giants need more consistency. Especially from Eli. We all the know the defense is the strength of the team, but even they have been erradic of late. Coughlin needs to summons up the spirit of Jimmy Hoffa and whatever other ghosts might lurk in the Meadowlands and make sure he can protect the Giants because they'll need all the help they can get. Please make the offense somewhat potent. I'm not asking for Eli to be Peyton, but at be a Manning. And the defense needs to revive themselves and play like they did during that 6 game winning streak that feels like it was 100 years ago.

3. The Mets need pitching.....BAD! This request is a blanket statement that covers the bullpen and the rotation. Please make Omar Minaya know something we don't and have something up his sleeve because right now my faith is not strong with the crew we've got right now. I can't be anymore specific than to simply say the Mets need pitching. Oh yeah, and a bench too.

4. Make the Yankees suck. Of course I'm a Mets fan and always want to see the Yankees struggle just to shut up all the smug Yankees fan out there, but this year is different. Joe Torre was treated poorly and it would be nice to show the Steinbrenner family that they made a mistake in letting him. So, for the sake of a classy guy (who by the way was a Met a long time before he was ever a Yankee), I would love to see the Yankees not make the playoffs and show the Steinbrenners that Torre did in fact do good for that organization.

5. FIRE ISIAH!

The Best Coach in NY

Newsday had an article about the best coach in NY the other day. Shockingly, the coach they chose was none other than Tom Coughlin. When I read it, I almost fell off my chair and started laughing. How can a respectable newspaper think Coughlin is the best coach in NY?

Then I started to think about it a little more. Look at who he's up against. Joe Torre is in LA, and Joe Girardi hasn't even started yet. Willie Randolph barely kept his job after the worst collapse in regular season history, Eric Mangini stinks as bad as his team does, Ted Nolan's not doing anything spectacular and Isiah Thomas is, well, do I need to go there?

That leaves Coughlin and Tom Renney of the Rangers. My first thought was to go with Renney. After nearly 10 years of misery, Renney lifted the once proud Rangers team out of the NHL doldrums and brought them back to respectability. The team is a winner again, the Garden sells out every night and he even managed to win a playoff series last year.

Coughlin on the other hand has made the playoffs the last 3 years depsite the fact that they regularly crumble at the end of each season. You can't knock a guy for making the playoffs, can you? Oh wait, you can if you're George Steinbrenner.

So after reading this article, I really started to think about it. At first I thought it was a joke that the winner was Coughlin. Then it dawned on me, Coughlin is the man.

But that's not where the realization ends. The more telling thing about this article is that there really are no legendary coaches in NY anymore. Gone are the days of Bill Parcells, Red Holzman, Mike Keenan, Joe Torre, John McGraw, Casey Stengel and dare I say, Al Arbour. Today, we are stuck with Isiah Thomas.

Now putting Isiah Thomas in the same category as Coughlin, Mangini, Randolph and the rest of the bunch is not flattering to those men at all because Isiah is a mess. He's the worst thing any team could possibly have. He makes Knicks fans long for the days of Scott Layden again, and some of us remember how bad those days were.

My point is, we need another Pat Riley or Miller Huggins around here. Girardi and Renney probably have the best shot at winning a championship than the other coaches in NY. But in the case of Girardi, no matter what he does, he will never be Torre so maybe Renney has the best shot at achieving some degree of immortality amongst the NY coaching ranks.

No matter what happens, THE KNICKS MUST FIRE ISIAH!!!!

The Giants are a mess!!!

I've been watching the Giants for as long as I can remember and one of the things that sticks out the most is the weather conditions in Giants stadium as the season progresses. Anyone who knows anything about the Giants knows that Giants Stadium is one of the hardest places to play late in the season. It's not because of snow or rain or even crowd noise. It's because of the wind.

Now, having said that, why would the coach engineer a game plan to throw the ball 52 times? I don't want to hear the excuse that it was because they were behind. Even when the game was close, they were still throwing the ball too much.

If someone told me before the game that the Eli was going pass 52 times in one game, I would have told you that they lost the game. Anyone can see that coming.

And now with Shockey out for the season all he has to look forward to is his New Years Eve party because if the Giants are playing like this, they may not make the playoffs. And if they do make the playoffs, it will definitely be a 1 and done.

The Mitchell Report Legitimized?

Andy Pettitte confirmed what was in the Mitchell Report. The report said Pettitte took HGH for 2 days when he was rehabbing an injury in 2002 and Pettitte confirmed that.

You have to think that after all the scrutiny the report got after its release, this revelation comes close to legitimizing the report. There was a lot of "he said, she said" going on in the report but when one of the accused comes out and confirms the allegations against him, you have to wonder what else is true.

The interesting thing about this is that Pettitte's best friend is Roger Clemens, the biggest name to surface in the report. And Clemens has made it very clear that he denies the allegations of his involvement in using steroids. But when Pettitte confirmed that what was said about him is true, you have to think that if Mitchell was right about Pettitte, he was probably right about Clemens too.

Sorry Roger, no Hall for you!

Chris Simon has to go......

No sport is perfect. I think Senator George Mitchell made that abundantly clear this past week.

When it comes to hockey, i'm as big a fan as anyone. Anyone reading this knows i'm a huge Rangers fan so my point of view might be biased but I will try to be as impartial as I can despite the fact that I despise the Islanders and most of their fans. (not including some local friends and even one upstate friend and a family member or two)

Let's face it, baseball's problem is steroids. Football's problem is off the field bahaviors and hockey's problem is in-game violence. Last season we saw Chris Simon cross-check Ryan Hollweg of my beloved Rangers across the neck and nearly decapitate him. For that offense, Simon was given a 25 game suspension. Last night, Simon tripped a Penguin along the boards and when the player fell, he stomped on his foot with the bottom of his skate. When you watch the replay, you can see that this was not a moment in the game where he might have gotten caught up. This act was completely pre-meditated and utterly deplorable.

I can't see how any person, Ranger fan, Islander fan, Penguin fan, or anyone for that matter can think this should not warrant a significant suspension. Very rarely does a player get thrown out of game for committing such a violent offense. In fact, most players go their entire careers without ever getting thrown out of a game but it's seems like Simon is making it a regular thing.

If Gary Bettman wants to try to improve the game and make it more marketable, he needs to first eliminate these types of offenses. Bettman needs to instruct Colin Campbell, the NHL disciplinarian, to throw the book at Simon....once again. Only once players start realizing that these acts won't be tolerated will they start thinking twice before they commit them. But in order for that to happen, Bettman, Campbell and the NHL need to strike the fear of God into the players.

The best way to hurt the players is to take away their livelihood. How would Roger Goodell handle something like this? My guess is that he would suspend Simon for the remainder of the season without pay (based on this act and previous infractions) and make Simon apply for re-instatement next season. I think that's a good start.

Roger Goodell for President!!!!!

Suddenly, I'm an A-Rod fan

Don't worry, i'm not about to go out and buy pinstripes or anything. I'm still dedicated to those loveable heartbreakers in Flushing that always seem to let me down each year. But of there is one positive that comes out of this whole Mitchell thing is that A-Rod wasn't on the list.

Dare I say that A-Rod, of all people, can save baseball? The most coveted record in all of sports is the career home run record. Too bad Barry Bonds holds the record. But there's a revolution happening in the Bronx and it's only a matter of time before A-Rod is king.

Since A-Rod's name wasn't on the Mitchell Report, even a devout Yankee hater like me has to root for A-Rod to break Bonds's record and inject a little more legitimacy back into the game. Even if he's a jerk, cheats on his wife and is a bad teammate, you can't help but think "at least he's not a cheater".

So I say "Go A-Rod" but I also say "Down with the Yankees". Hopefully A-Rod breaks the record without helping the Yankees do anything of significance.

Maybe I need to reiterate something here. First off, I said that it SEEMED like half the players mentioned in the report were Yankees (please see 2nd paragraph). Next, the point I was making about Francessa and Kay is that because of their well known allegiances to the Yankees, their criticism of the report must be taken with a grain of salt. Once a number of Yankees appeared in the report, anyone could have predicted that they would criticize it. The question we have to ask ourselves is is this criticism due to inherant flaws in the report or because it smears the Yankees? I believe that even if the report was flawless, they would still have the same things to say because of their allegiances to the Yankees.

Optimism in Flushing

I have this odd sense of optimism about the Mets next year. Maybe it's because the list of names on the Mitchell Report seemed to be half Yankees. Who knows?

But thinking about how the Mets are shaping up for next year makes think that things aren't as bad as they might seem. Of course the team they have lined up looks too similar to the one that chiked last year, but maybe it's a good thing. Maybe these guys will have that fire within them to right a wrong.

The key is going to be the pitching. Pedro needs to be Pedro. Maine and Perez need to repeat 2007's successes with a little more consistency. El Duque has to stay healthy and Omar needs to get El Duque's brother Livan. When needed Pelfrey and Humber have to fill and and Omar needs to rebuild the bullpen around the key guys like Feliciano, Heilman and Wagner.

There's a lot of "ifs" in this thought but it's possible. We all know these guys can hit and play defense. Delgado needs to earn his paycheck this year and if he does, these guys might surprise you. It's so easy to be really down on the Mets going into next year, but you need to focus on the positives of the team.

I still say the biggest move they should have made this offseason was getting rid of Willie Randolph.

I'm baaaaack!

Sorry for my absense. What can I say, I got lazy. But we have a lot to catch up on.

Baseball's a mess. I was listening to Michael Kay on ESPN radio on my drive home and predictably, he is trying to minimize the importance or impact of the Mitchell Report. Can you blame the guy when it seemed like 50% of the names listed were at one time Yankees? You have to give him credit, he's a company man.

Kay made 2 points that I thought were ridiculous. The first was why weren't McGwire an Sosa on the report. The simple answer is that no one named them or that there wasn't enough evidence to add their names. The report was full of people that Mitchell was able to gather evidence against. The last thing Senator Mitchell wants to do is risk his reputation or the validity of the report by implicating someone if he can't back it up. We're talking about a guy who has helped negotiate treaties. He knows what he's doing.

The second point Kay made that was bogus is why weren't Palmeiro and Mota included? Duh! We already know about them. They're old news. Another goal of this report was to identify previously unknown steroid users.

For once can I hear a Yankees fan just admit that they cheated? Tuesday night on my drive home Mike Francessa said that if Piazza and Clemens were on the report it would almost certainly exclude them from the Hall of Fame. I haven't heard him since the report was released but i'm sure he's finding a way to retract that statement and imply that Clemens still deserves the nod. Let me guess, he'll play the "he hasn't been convicted of anything" card.

I'm tired of hearing these lowsy guys. But that's a post for another day.

So I offer my thoughts on the Mitchell report by saying this: As an American, I feel cheated. This is our game and they put the integrity of it in question. Shame on them all. I hope they all get what they deserve.