Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Precarious lead.
Precarious lead, who?
Precarious lead when K-Rod’s on the mound!
What in the name of Armando Benitez is going on with the Mets and the ninth inning? Closer Francisco Rodriguez has adopted a new role – high wire act – and it’s really starting to annoy me. Granted, closers hit their rough patches during a 162-game season, and K-Rod is having one now just like he did last season around the same point, but yikes! This recent road trip has been rough on the Mets and their faithful fans, going 3-4 against the Marlins (in San Juan, Puerto Rico) and the Nationals, the divisional bottom-feeders, the not-yet-ready-for-primetime teams the Mets are supposed to beat if they want to be kings of the NL East, if not the wild card team come October. But true to form, the Mets lost two of three against the Marlins and needed everything but the kitchen sink in order to gain a split in Washington.
How frustrating was this week to everyone not owning stock in Maalox? For starters, the Mets lost three games in the final at bat, bringing their season total for walk-off heartbreaks to ten. For good measure, K-Rod blew a 5-3 ninth-inning lead Saturday night after knuckleballer R.A. Dickey outdueled flamethrower Stephen Strasburg… and this was sandwiched between heart-in-your throat saves Friday night and Sunday afternoon. We can say one thing for K-Rod, he gives fans good reason not to leave the park early to try and beat the traffic home.
Pitching coach Dan Warthen says K-Rod needs a little mechanical fine-tuning on his delivery, so what is currently a hiccup is likely not headed to a full-blown case of whooping cough. Still, ten walk-off losses during the first half of the season is reason for concern in what could be a very tight race all summer long. But before we dwell too much on any potential apocalypse let’s keep things in perspective. When your team loses ten walk-offs that means the HOME team won in their last at-bat. My point? These are ten ROAD losses by a team with an 18-24 record away from Citi Field. When a team struggles on the road, losing walk-off games is bound to happen from time to time. Think about it. Ten walk-off losses, either due to bad luck, inconsistent bats, or bullpen implosions. If the Mets just found a way to hang onto half of these games their road record would be 23-19. How important would that be in a competitive NL East race as well as for the wild card? Believe it or not, the only NL team with a legitimate road record is San Diego, and they regularly win games close to the vest as one of the weakest hitting teams in the majors.
But ask yourself this – if you were told back in March that the Mets would be 45-36 at the midpoint, without Carlos Beltran, an inconsistent first-half by Johan Santana, and essentially zero contribution from John Maine and Ollie Perez – you’d take it. Think about it. The Mets are on pace for 90-72 after 70-92 last season… and they’re still not running on all cylinders yet. Even without being voted to the All-Star Game, Mike Pelfrey’s been more than solid as the quasi-ace of the rotation. Jonathon Niese has given solid performances as has R.A. Dickey. Even Hisanori Takahashi manages to hold his own more often than not. And the bullpen, for all its warts, still keeps the Mets in the win column more than the loss column. Ike Davis has been a godsend at first base. Jason Bay and Jeff Francoeur continue to chip in with hot streaks. Angel Pagan has been a solid fill-in for Beltran. Joe Reyes is back in form, even with the recent back tweak, and David Wright is having a tremendous comeback year. As I’ve been saying all season so far – imagine what kind of season the Boys of Flushing will have when everyone’s healthy and playing consistently. Despite all the dire predictions and pessimism, you knew deep down the Mets weren’t really as bad as 70-92. We’ve seen worse. Oh, boy have we seen much worse during the ups and downs since 1962. Are they necessarily as good as 90-72? In 2007 and 2008, they fell just short as injuries, bad luck, and the Phillies passed them by. Maybe this is the year they do end up where they should’ve been all along. Maybe this is the year they win 90 and take back the division, or at least get the wild card. We still have a long way to go, but Beltran will be back after the All-Star break, Reyes and Pagan will be feeling better. Maybe the pitching staff gets outside help; maybe all the loose ends finally come together in-house. Time will tell. No matter how it goes, it certainly won’t be dull. You can bet your K-Rod on that.
Has anyone noticed 19 pitchers have carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning so far this season? NINETEEN. We’ve already passed the combined number of no and one-hitters pitched for all of last year, 13. And we still have half a season to go. The Cubs’ Randy Wells is the latest to join the club, pitching a one-hitter Saturday afternoon to beat the Reds 3-1 at Wrigley Field. I haven’t checked with the ELIAS Sports Bureau, but I imagine folks are already keeping tabs on the single season record. Given we already have four no-hitters so far, I’m expecting at least a match for the most no-hitters before Labor Day (the record is seven, in 1990 and 1991). I’ll even go out of a limb and say one of the no-hitters we’ll see during July and August will finally be tossed by a Met. Having watched Pelfrey and Niese this season I think it’s a matter of time before one of them pull off the feat.
Congratulations to Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal for their Wimbledon titles. Williams stormed through the women’s field in staggering fashion. Nadal showed his mettle outlasting Brit Andy Murray in the semis and Czech Tomas Berdych in the finals. As I think back on this year’s Wimbledon, I’ll always remember the stupefying first-round marathon Isner-Mahut match as well as Roger Federer coming up small after losing in the quarterfinals to Berdych, blaming his loss on everything but Lee Harvey Oswald while barely acknowledging the “A” game his opponent brought to the match.
Speaking of Wimbledon, this holiday weekend was the 30th anniversary of perhaps one of the best men’s final matches in history, Borg-McEnroe. In an epic five-set match, Bjorn Borg won his fifth straight (and last) Wimbledon title, outlasting John McEnroe. For those of us who watched and remember, McEnroe forced a fifth set after winning the fourth in an incredible 18-16 tiebreaker. Well, in a wonderful treat by NBC, we got to see the fourth set tiebreaker in its entirety Sunday morning with Borg and McEnroe in studio to provide memories and commentaries. If you love tennis you really had to enjoy Sunday’s revisit to July 5, 1980 when two men with the hearts of champions battled back and forth in a match that seemed to have a million momentum swings. Oh, and if you did watch this replay, I hope you paid attention to their wooden rackets with normal sized heads, headbands, and outfits that actually looked appropriate for tennis as opposed to today’s players wearing imitation pajamas or bathing suits.
Speaking of anniversaries, this holiday weekend was also the 25th anniversary of one of the wackiest Mets games in history, a 19-inning 16-13 win over the Braves at Atlanta’s old Fulton County Stadium. The scheduled game start of 7:05pm on July 4, 1985 was delayed by the first of two rain delays and never ended until 3:55am July 5. And then came the fireworks show! I know. I remember. I watched the whole damned thing in its entirety from my then-home in Tampa, Florida. Dwight Gooden started and lasted only three innings because of the second rain delay. Ron Darling ended up closing and saving the game. The Mets blew the lead three times in the 8th, 13th, and 18th (on pitcher Rick Camp’s homer, of all things), and almost blew a five-run lead in the 19th, but Darling put out the fire after the Braves scored twice and had bases loaded. So for those of you who shook your heads in disbelief at the 20-inning game the Mets won in St. Louis in April, that game doesn’t hold a candle to that 1985 game, which was and will always be one for the books. As Casey Stengel used to say, you could look it up.
So what should the Eagles do with Michael Vick now that security camera footage failed to fully corroborate Vick’s story of how his 30th birthday party went out with a bang? There’s fibbing, white lies, and damned lies, and if these are my only three choices, you know I’m not giving Vick the benefit of the doubt. I think the Eagles should cut their losses and release Vick. Owner Jeffery Lurie and head coach Andy Reid really don’t need this extra aggravation, even if Vick is the only experienced option at quarterback behind Kevin Kolb. Full disclosure and transparency are not words often associated with Vick, if at all. When NFL commissioner Roger Goodell reinstated Vick last year it was with the stipulation don’t do anything stupid. You do the math and determine where last week’s events fall along the stupid meter.
Here’s another one for the stupid meter. Did you hear about Titans’ backup quarterback Chris Simms getting pulled over a few nights ago for DWI? Yep, another example of a professional athlete failing to use his brain properly. You didn’t if you only read the Bergen Record. For some reason, the Record was the only local newspaper to not report it. You don’t think the Simms family living in Franklin Lakes had anything to do with this, do you? Am I shocked to hear Simms allegedly smoked pot in his 2009 Mercedes-Benz with wife and child along for the ride? I’m actually more shocked a backup quarterback playing on his third team in three years drives a Mercedes-Benz. Hey, I drove a ’76 Buick LeSabre to Bucs training camp in 1984, and the air conditioning was broken. If you’re deep on the depth chart there are certain standards, you know.
Speaking of backup quarterbacks, did you hear the New York Jets are interested in DeMarcus Russell as a possible understudy to Mark Sanchez in case Mark Brunell and Kellen Clemens aren’t up to the task? No, really. I heard it from Rich Cimini (ESPNNewYork.com). Seriously. Stop giggling. Things really are getting interesting in Florham Park, also known as Boys Town East. I swear on LaDainian Tomlinson’s new calf tattoo.
Now we hear Russell has been arrested for illegal possession of codeine syrup. Apparently food isn’t his only addiction. I’m a Merlot man myself, but if the Jets do sign Russell, does Rex Ryan keep the training facility bar stocked with Robitussin martinis for this guy? Would Russell like his cough syrup shaken or stirred?
Oh, like I’m not allowed to ask silly questions like this? I suppose my credibility would be better if I did more than mention the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest and Kobayashi crashing the stage? Why is this front-page news in New York? Worse, why do gluttons need to sign exclusive deals with organizers of these idiotic events? Who’s running Major League Eating anyway, the heirs of Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegel?
Have you ever watched Australian Rules Football? I happened to catch the Richmond-Sydney game on ESPN-2 during the wee hours Sunday morning while trying to fall asleep. It was very entertaining and I actually caught on to how the game is played. Although it’s not as much fun as watching NFL games, it definitely made more sense to me than World Cup Soccer. One reason why? The scoreboard had a clock with the official time, so you knew exactly how much time was left in each period. I hate to beat a dead horse, but this time issue is big with me.
Oh, for you World Cup fans, you should know this is the biggest roll Germany's had since the blitzkrieg of 1939.
A melancholy note on the recent passing of Don Coryell. If you haven’t read it, please track down the touching tribute Bryan Burwell of the St. Louis Dispatch wrote. Coryell was one of the best and grossly underrated head coaches and offensive minds in NFL history. He turned the then-St. Louis Cardinals into a force in the NFC East during the mid-1970s, albeit short-lived, and accomplished even more with the San Diego Chargers during the early 1980s. Burwell pointed out how Coryell was coaching the West Coast Offense before the late Bill Walsh devised it with the 49ers, and how Joe Gibbs derived his Redskins offense from Coryell’s playbook. This may be all true, but I‘d like to offer a slightly different perspective. If we ever build an NFL equivalent to Mount Rushmore for offensive geniuses, I expect to see Don Coryell’s bust next to Sid Gillman, the father of modern offense, as well as Walsh and Hank Stram, father of the moving pocket. While Coryell never made it to a super bowl, what he accomplished with the Cardinals and Chargers was a thing of beauty. People always associate the Cardinals and Chargers with “Air Coryell”, led by quarterbacks Jim Hart and Dan Fouts, respectively. But people also forget both of Coryell’s teams had solid rushing attacks, led by the tandem of Jim Otis and Terry Metcalf in St. Louis and Chuck Muncie and Joe Washington in San Diego. It wasn’t until the running games slipped that “Air Coryell” sputtered. Just thought I’d mention that to those who yawn at Rex Ryan’s “Ground and Pound” philosophy. And if you think I’m biased in Jet Green, take a closer look at my offensive Mount Rushmore – Gillman had Ollie Matson with the 1950s Rams, Dennis Lowe and Keith Lincoln with the 1960s Chargers. Stram had Mike Garrett in Kansas City. Walsh had Roger Craig in San Francisco. I rest my case.
Speaking of the Jets, since all things in football always come back to Gang Green (Pushkin’s Rule of Football), I’d like to show you what a small world it really is. Don Coryell is related to the Jets in two degrees of separation – Coryell replaced Charlie Winner as head coach in 1972, after Winner couldn’t lift the Cardinals beyond three straight 9-5 seasons. Winner was Weeb Ewbank’s son-in-law and replaced the only man to win world championships in the NFL (Colts, 1958-1959) and AFL (Jets, 1968) after the 1973 season. As Jet fans my age and older not-so-fondly remember, Charley wasn’t much of a winner, going 9-14 during the 1974 and 1975 seasons before being fired nine weeks into the first of three straight 3-11 seasons.
Pop Quiz – How many of you knew Lou Holtz was the Jets head coach in 1976?
Do any of you still pay attention to the non-stop NBA free agency chatter? In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter where LeBron, D-Wade, Chris Bosh, Amar’e Stoudamire, Joe Johnson and the rest of the big names end up when the contract signings start? They can either earn up to $30 Million per year for six years staying put or $30 Million per year for only five. When you put it that way, why should we care? In fact, the only player I really think we should care about is David Lee, a quality player who deserves a chance to stick with the Knicks and be part of the turnaround. Considering how much blood and sweat he’s given the Knicks every night during the past couple of lousy seasons, I think the least the Knicks can do is begin the revival with him and his unlimited heart and guts, not the King or his fellow mercenaries.
Speaking of the NBA’s version of musical chairs, I highly recommend reading the columns Mike Lupica and Bill Madden wrote in Sunday’s New York Daily News. Just read them. I promise you’ll be impressed, entertained, and have plenty to think about afterwards.
Speaking of columns, please allow me to give a big shout-out to my fellow sports junkie and blogger Susan Shan. Today is the launch date of her new and improved website www.SusanShan.com. Susan’s a great writer, a supportive colleague, and definitely knows her baseball and basketball. Please check out her new web site, subscribe, and enjoy her wisdom.
Last point about the NBA: I’m glad both Doc Rivers and Phil Jackson have decided to return for next season to coach the Celtics and Lakers, respectively. Did you happen to hear Jackson’s statement to the Los Angeles Times (via ESPN)? This is my last stand, and I hope it’s a grand one. Don’t you hate it when coaches grandstand?
Lastly, I’d like to talk a bit about last week’s report than Chris Henry, the late Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver who died this past December at 26 after falling on his head out of a moving pickup truck bed. Brain injury researchers at West Virginia University informed us tissue studies of Henry’s brain showed he was already showing significant signs of CTE, Chronic Traumatic Encephalopthy. What does this mean? It means Henry, at 26, was already showing the early signs of dementia and brain damage associated with repeated head trauma, conditions players aren’t supposed to show until after retirement and later in age (40-60). TWENTY-SIX. A player who was never diagnosed with a concussion during his collegiate or professional career. A player known for behavioral problems already showing signs of permanent scrambled brains. At TWENTY-SIX.
Of course, now we have to think more carefully about Ben Rothlisberger and his behavior and judgment skills, and he’s 28.
Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe asked on Sunday morning’s ESPN Sports Reporters, when do fans of the NFL stop and wonder why we love a sport so much that can inflict such damage? I have a better question, which I asked last week when the news about Henry came out – when do we all (NFL, fans, sports journalists, the NCAA, high schools, the medical community, and state and federal politicians) start having continuous, open, extensive, and brutally honest dialogue about the damage football causes to players’ central nervous systems, and when do we finally get serious about mandating genuine rules and regulations to better protect players from an adulthood of pain, disability, cognitive impairment and death?
How many more Chris Henrys will it take? How many more Darryl Stingleys will it take? How many more Merrill Hodges, Al Toons, and Wayne Chrebets will it take? How many John Mackeys will it take? How many Mike Websters, Joe Phillips, Andre Waters, Carlton Haselrigs, and Justin Strzelczyks will it take? And on a more personal note, how many Dave Pushkins will it take?
For those who may not know, I’ve committed myself to the brain and spinal cord donation registry with Boston University’s Center for Traumatic Injury research study, so that I can help make football safer for future generations of players, so that future generations of players won’t suffer the same physical deterioration I and others who’ve played football have endured. As part of my contribution, I also do my best to be a pest to as many people associated with professional football, to get my word out for a safer sport and a healthier life for players during and after their careers.
A while ago one of my Twitter followers, Barry in Indiana, wanted to know what I would recommend to make the game safer. Considering college football was almost outlawed by Teddy Roosevelt during his presidency for being too violent and deadly, I think we’ve come full-circle a century later to a crucial and long-overdue crossroads. My recommendations are as follows:
1. ALL players require a cervical stabilizer in addition to their helmet and shoulder pads. When one falls backwards onto the field, the back of their helmet hits a surface with no protection or stabilization for the neck. Think about whiplash in a car accident and now repeat the impact over and over and over again during a football game, over the course of a football season, and over the course of a football career. One doesn’t need an extensive background in Newtonian Physics to understand one’s neck is still in a state of motion after head and back hit the ground.
2. Football helmets need to be better designed, padded and reinforced to protect the head and brain which are also still in a state of motion upon impact. Chin straps need to hold the helmet and head more securely. Face masks need to absorb impact better during collisions, even tackles using proper technique.
3. ALL offensive and defensive linemen, except for the center, need to be in a two-point stance at the line of scrimmage. When linemen come out of a three-point stance the head is more prone to colliding with the helmet of the opposing player. In a two-point stance the first point of contact is chest-to-chest or hand to chest. In the case of the center, NO defensive lineman is allowed to line up directly in front of him, and NO contact can be made with the center until after he’s snapped the ball and is completely upright and physically able to block. If this goes back to the old “one Mississippi, two Mississippi” rule we used as kids playing flag, touch, or sandlot football, so be it.
4. ALL players require helmet, shoulder pads, neck stabilizers, knee pads, thigh pads, hip pads, rib pads, and torso pads. If this seems like overkill, that’s my intention. The brain is supposedly protected by a helmet, but what about the spine? In case you forgot your basic knowledge of human anatomy, the spine goes from the base of your skull all the way down to your tailbone. A cervical stabilizer isn’t enough, and neither are rib pads. We need to protect as much of the spine as possible, which also protects several vital organs – liver, stomach, intestines, kidneys, and spleen.
5. If all of these pads are too cumbersome and slow position players down (i.e., receivers and backs), then let’s get back to the research and development abandoned in the mid-1980s of creating a undergarment made of lightweight padding (Kevlar) similar to bullet-proof vests for players to wear underneath their uniforms. If you watch and NFL game on TV these days it looks like players are wearing Spandex with helmets and smaller and smaller shoulder pads. No wonder knees, ribs, and other body parts keep getting battered more and more compared to a few decades ago. Granted, players are bigger, faster, and better conditioned, but that doesn’t mean they need to be dumber with regards to protective gear and safety.
6. ANY helmet-to-helmet contact between players is illegal. Period. When a defensive player launches himself at another player with his helmet, regardless of circumstances, he’s automatically ejected from the game. No debates. Automatic ejection, along with a 15-yard penalty, fine and suspension, depending on whether we’re talking Pop Warner, high school, college, or NFL players. If players know an automatic ejection comes with trying a dangerous collision, we’ll see fewer instances, fewer injuries, fewer idiotic SportsCenter-type tackles, and perhaps better tackling fundamentals.
7. EVERY player at the high school, collegiate, and professional level requires a baseline neurological and neuropsychological evaluation prior to playing football. When I say baseline, I mean before everyone even puts on a uniform. Furthermore, every player should be evaluated before the start of every new season, and should even be evaluated monthly during the football season.
8. EVERY player at the high school, college, and professional level should be assigned genuine reading material to stimulate mental activity beyond film and playbook study. Just like neurologists and gerentologists work with elderly patients to keep them mentally engaged and stall the progression of senility, dementia, and Alzheimer's Disease, football coaches and medical personnel need to do the same thing with players. If dealing with high school athletes, force them to read textbooks or course-mandated literature in order to monitor their ability to read, comprehend, and articulate. If dealing with college athletes, assign them reference or scholarly material from the campus library, even have them read articles from the Chronicle of Higher Education. If dealing with professional players, assign them the Op-Ed section of the Wall Street Journal or a major international newspaper, or the New York Times crossword puzzle. Have players play Scrabble a couple of times a week. Anything more challenging than People Magazine or a comic book. Anything to encourage mental and intellectual activity. Anything that doesn’t involve a videogame. The more the cerebrum is engaged, the better a player’s chances are of fighting the onset of debilitating consequences. Ask Chris Henry’s family what was the last novel he read. Ask Mike Webster’s widow when was the last time he could balance his checkbook? Ask any player when was the last time they could recite a Shakespeare quote, or add numbers in their head, or write a paragraph?
When we start these preventative measures, then we can finally have an honest and transparent dialogue about concussions and other injuries to the central nervous system. I’m a firm believer in practice what you preach. After reading today’s column, ask yourself why I keep writing them as my health declines. Just like when I was on the field, I fight until the final gun sounds.
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