Quite often it feels like the Long Island sports dynamic is doomed forever to be akin to being the ugly sibling, beaten like a red-headed step child. The typically favored L.I. teams, the New York Mets and New York Jets, are routinely ignored in favor of the perfectly media-spoiled New York Yankees and New York Giants. This is far from breaking news, but the 2009 sports year again proved that general sentiment.
The opening of the Mets new stadium was grossly overshadowed by the new Yankee Stadium, the house that Jeter built. The teams were equally disappointing a month and a half into the season. The Mets had been stripped of its potential by a plague of injuries that one could only assume was summoned by a Yankees fan practicing Voodoo in a Brooklyn basement studio. Luckily, the Yankees had just plain failed to show up as well. Then, the Yanks had a great rest of the season and the talks of power alley and ridiculously expensive New York Yankees tickets for the cheap seats had been replaced by whispers (and eventually shouts) of winning the franchises 27th World Series.
The New York Jets only received their due praise late in the season when it became obvious that the Giants had fallen apart following a four-game losing streak. Even then, everybody was waiting for Mark Sanchez to throw into too much coverage and spoil the poetic dominance of the Jets defense and the barrage of blitzes from every angle.
The 2010 sports year seemed to hold more promise. The Mets had recovered most of their roster from the IR and the Jets had undoubtedly established themselves as the best football team in the New York Metro area.
Ah, but then the sports gods stepped in and suddenly the Mets are without Jose Reyes for the first month of the 2010 MLB season because of unbalanced thyroid levels and Carlos Beltran will be joining him in street clothes as he recovers from a knee surgery after botched medical care last year.
Then the NFL privately decides that the Jets are not good enough to open the new Meadowlands Stadium after a phantom coin toss apparently held in the panic room with Roger Goodell and the television executives from Fox Sports.
So what is to be done? How do I end this rant? Well, I have to hope that the Mets were right to stick with Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, and Oliver Perez in the starting rotation. I have to hope that the Yankees rotation is mired by weight issues, inconsistencies, and old age. I have to hope that Mark Sanchez makes another jump in development and clearly surpasses Eli Manning as the best and more consistent quarterback.
Guest Post by Brian Sarna
Posted 3 days, 16 hours ago. Add a comment
According to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports, the Mets have signed catcher Rod Barajas to a one-year $1 million dollar major league contract. The Mets first offered Barajas a minor-league deal, but upped their offer this past week to nab the catcher. Barajas will most likely pair with Henry Blanco as the team’s catchers. The 34-year-old Barajas hit .226 last season with 19 HR and 71 RBI.
As a result of Barajas being a Type B free agent, the Toronto Blue Jays will receive the 41st overall pick in the supplemental first round of the 2010 draft.
Post By Rob Menna
Posted 3 weeks, 6 days ago. 2 comments
The NFL Scouting Combine is scheduled to be held on February 24th – March 2nd in Indianapolis, Indiana. Over the past few years, the combine has become a nationally televised and closely followed audition for players to display their speed, strength, and agility for several NFL scouts.
Whether you believe in the combine or not, a player’s results can significantly affect where he gets drafted in April. Just ask Darrius Heyward-Bey who was the first receiver selected in last year’s draft with the 8th overall pick after clocking a 4.3 in the 40-yard dash. Heyward-Bey was considered a late first round or second round pick before the combine, but signed a five-year contract with the Oakland Raiders, with $23.5 million guaranteed, primarily due to his combine performance.
The NFL Draftees know that millions of dollars are in the balance with their combine performance. See how some of the potential first round picks are intensely preparing for the combine.
Post By Rob Menna
Jared Jeffries’ defense is hard to ignore and my thinking is the Knicks may be able to trade him to a contending team that is looking to add a defensive presence to their roster. The team would most likely have to be a team that isn’t looking to sign one of the NBA’s top free agents this summer because teams that are going to be in hot pursuit of big names won’t want to take on Jeffries’ contract. They’ll want as much cap flexibility as possible.
Teams that could use Jeffries’ services are the Spurs, Hornets, and there could just as well be others (my assumptions). Maybe even the young Grizzlies could use Jeffries.
Knick fans know that Jeffries plays really well on defense. He works hard and the Knicks use him to guard several different players. Jeffries could help a defensive-minded team or even an offensive team looking to add a little defense down the stretch. They’ll have to act quickly, however, because the NBA trade deadline is less than three weeks away.
If the Knicks receive an offer of an expiring contract for Jeffries, they’ll be inclined to make that trade. Donnie Walsh would be thrilled to receive such an offer. Walsh shouldn’t wait for teams to come to him though. He should be making phone calls to them (which I’m sure he’s doing already). The Knicks are falling out of contention quickly and they need to make up their minds before the February 18 trade deadline whether they want to add a piece to make this team better or diligently try to trade the contracts of Eddy Curry and Jared Jeffries in return for expiring contracts.
Post By Rich Santonocito
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago. 2 comments
Mock drafting; It’s an inexact science. There is so much involved and so many variables in simulating player choices by professional sports teams. Experts aren’t going to get their entire mock draft choices correct. They’re lucky to get half of the first round correct and the percentage decreases drastically as the rounds proceed. They are going to go through six… eight… ten revisions before the day of the draft. But they worked hard to create their mock draft. They didn’t read other mock drafts and make changes to them and called it their own. They made there’s from scratch. They put the time in and they are so called “experts” for a reason.
I never understood how the Average Joe Schmo off the street received the ability to create a mock draft. If experts and scouts never created a mock draft first, the Average Joe wouldn’t do too well creating his own. If the Average Joe had to create a mock draft on his own without watching film, going to workouts, talking to scouts and doing other various activities with college players, they wouldn’t be able to create a respectable mock draft.
Mock drafts can be created in fun, but the line is drawn when the average fans thinks they know more than the experts. I read a mock draft created by an normal fan recently and after he wrote the first round picks he ended the article with, “I had more picks correct than Todd McShay (of ESPN) did last year.”
That’s when the respect of that person’s mock draft flew out the window.
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Post By Rich Santonocito
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
The once lovable Brett Favre had many fans. He wasn’t only loved by cheese-heads, but also by fans of other teams throughout the nation. The gunslinger won over fans because of his child-like view of the game and great play with a small town team. He has lost a good amount of fans since his bitter breakup with the Packers. His waffling the last two offseasons about retiring or not has also lost him fans. When Favre’s Vikings took on the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship, was there anybody other than Viking fans rooting for Brett Favre?
Jet fans weren’t rooting for Favre. Not after he “assaulted” the team over the summer by asking for a release because he was going to retire and then throwing them under the bus about the injury report. Packer fans sure weren’t rooting for Brett. After the divorce that occurred two years ago do you blame them? Cowboy fans wanted the Saints to pound Favre after he and the Vikings ran up the score against their team the prior week. Fans of the other two teams in the NFC North, the Bears and Lions, didn’t want to see Favre in the Super Bowl.
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Post By Rich Santonocito
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago. Add a comment
While all the recent talk around MLB centers on Mark McGwire and steroids, itís easy to forget that Spring Training is creeping up.
Cactus League play begins on March 3 and Grapefruit League starts a day before that.
This is a good time to look at the future baseball odds to win World Series that sportsbook currently have posted.
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Post By Rich Santonocito
Posted 1 month, 4 weeks ago. Add a comment
Why is it all of a sudden an “NFL sin” to rest starters in weeks 16 and 17 in preparation of a playoff run? There is no evidence that resting starters in the latter weeks of the season works or doesn’t work. It’s inconclusive to tell what if it helps or hinders a team in the playoffs. All it does is make players take less snaps and gives them less of a chance to go down with injury in the last few and often meaningless games of the season. You can get injured on any play of any game, but the less you are on the field, the less chance of being injured.
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Post By Rich Santonocito
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago. 2 comments
Empire Sports Now is giving away a copy of Robert Tuchman’s book “The 100 Sporting Events You Must See Live”. Go to our Giveaway page for more information on how to be entered to win the book. The winner will be announced on Super Bowl Sunday.
Post By Rich Santonocito
Posted 2 months, 3 weeks ago. Add a comment
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