What Do These Five Players Have in Common?

Ben Sheets. Xavier Nady. Jon Garland. Ronnie Belliard. Brad Ausmus.

On the face of it, these five ballplayers don't have a ton in common.

Some are infielders, others are pitchers. Some are known for their bat, others for their glove. Some are big money guys, others are bargain bin types.

After yesterday they now have a few things in common they didn't have previously, however.

For one thing, they're now all off the market. Each time I clicked over to Metsblog on Tuesday, the top story was about how each one of them had finally inked a deal for 2010.

Certainly the first three players, Sheets, Nady, and Garland could have helped the Mets in 2010, and you can make an argument that Belliard and Ausmus would have been fine additions as well,.

And yet none of them are coming to the Mets -- another thing they have in common -- in spite of our clear needs at pitcher (Sheets, Garland), catcher (Ausmus), second base (Belliard), and first base (Nady).

I'm not saying the Mets should have signed any of these players -- you could argue that neither Belliard nor Ausmus would have been an upgrade, certainly, and that Sheets wasn't worth the money or Nady the injury risk -- but with each passing day it becomes more and more likely that the list of guys we've got on the team today, in January, are the guys we'll be going to war with when the season opens in April.

If that's the case, I think we all need to have a good honest talk with ourselves about our expectations for 2010. To me, this is shaping up to be an extraordinarily expensive 82-win ballclub.

I want to be more optimistic, but our rotation simply isn't where it needs to be... I mean, do we even have a fifth starter? Our bullpen looks like the same mess as last year. We have weak links at first base, second base, and catcher. Our bench will probably suck again, although I think I saw that Argenis Reyes signed with the Dodgers, so there's that.

All in all it doesn't have the makings of a magical season of Mets baseball. That wouldn't be so noteworthy, only I have to say I was quite confident heading into the last four seasons, and I was optimistic, if not necessarily confident, heading into 2005.

Maybe I'm wrong about the group Omar's assembled, but from where I sit now, this is the first time in a long time that I'm heading into a season with such low expectations. But maybe that's just me.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Everybody Get Your Roll On, What!

Sunday was quite a day for the Glass Man, but even moreso for Little Miss Citi.

After I watched the Jets-Colts game at Sip's place, the two of us headed for Hill Country, where Little Miss Citi and a bunch of other Saints fans were about to watch their team in the NFC Championship Game.

The game was a rollercoaster. Brett Favre and the Vikings looked sharp from the get-go, scoring on their first possession before the Saints answered in kind.

It was a battle until the end, when, as Favre led his team down the field with the clock winding down on regulation, everywhere around me Saints fans were certain their dream season was slipping away. Most watched in disbelief, some had their heads down, others had tears.

Then the miraculous happened. An implausible penalty for 12 men on the field (after a timeout no less) pushed the Vikings out of field goal range before a flustered Favre threw an interception that pushed the game into OT. It was the miracle we were all left waiting for in '06, when the Mets loaded the bases before Carlos Beltran went down with the bat on his shoulders.

My table and the Saints fans all around me erupted; despair turned to bedlam.

Then they won the coin flip. Then they marched down the field. Then a kicker with ice in his veins stuck a 40-yard field goal with about as perfect a kick as you'll ever see.

The Saints had won, the Saints had won, oh my god, the Saints had won.

The displaced New Orleanians couldn't believe it. In the depths of the bar there were hugs, high fives, oh my gods, and tears here and there. When we emerged from the bar, where there was no cell phone reception, everyone had a million text or voice messages (including myself, strangely enough). After a quick review of these, the calls to friends and family began promptly.

It was getting late. But in the thrill of victory there was one more stop to make.

We cabbed it to Bar None, the LES bar that caters to fans of both the Saints and the Vikings.

When we got there the last of the Vikings fans were collecting their things, which included signs taped the wall that read "We Dat!", a play on the Saints' rallying cry, "Who Dat Said They Gon' Beat Them Saints?"

Saints fans had taken over both halves of the bar, but in the back room where Saints fans hold court each week, the scene was pandemonium. Everywhere people were dressed in gold and black, dancing to New Orleans rap that, trust me, you've never heard, but that everyone in that room knew ALL the words to.

Every now and then a really drunk person would come up to you to talk about how great it all was, and could you believe it? The Saints were in the Super Bowl?

(It got me thinking how great it would be if there were a Mets bar somewhere. I suppose out of towners have an advantage in that they NEED a place like Bar None to watch the Saints. Without it, there's nothing saying you'll get to watch that week's game (unless you've got the NFL Network), whereas for us, we can watch that night's game on SNY from the comfort of our homes day in and day out.)

It was great to see how excited those fans were. It's been said over and over again by now, but it really does seem that no team means more to its city than the Saints do (the Red Sox are probably contenders, but the Katrina element and the symbol that the Saints have become takes them to another level).

The Saints still have one more victory to get, and it'll be against a doozy of an opponent, that's for sure. But for one night, the New Orleans quarter of New York City had a night like it had never had before.

After a year of disappointment for the Mets, I was glad I got to be part of that type of excitement again.

- A.F.O.M.G.

A Rex Rx for the Mets?

With the Jets in the midst of a magical playoff run, the New York press has trained an adoring lens on the team's coach, Rex Ryan.

Hired after former Head Coach Eric Mangini was let go following a second straight playoff-less disappointing season, Ryan took over and let his voice be heard.

In his initial press conference, Ryan talked about meeting with President Obama during his first term in office; suggesting, that is, that the Jets, those perrennial losers, would be winning a Super Bowl some time in the next four seasons.

It was the kind of talk that hadn't been associated with the Jets in a very long time. They say it changed the culture around the team. Since then, Coach Rex has kept on talking, calling his team the favorite in games they had no business winning, penciling a Super Bowl parade onto the team's calendar.

Though they had an uneven regular season, the Jets defied the odds to make the playoffs, and have kept on winning since then.

It's raised the question in some minds as to whether or not a brash, talkative coach like Rex Ryan isn't exactly what the Mets need to reverse their culture of losing, too.

* * * * *

Here's the thing about Rex Ryan, and all other coaches for that matter: his style is only endearing for as long as his team continues to win.

No matter what happens this weekend, Rex Ryan has earned himself an offseason of positive press for taking a team with a rookie quarterback to the AFC Championship Game.

But what happens next year if Ryan keeps talking and the team regresses? His tough talk would grow old real fast. His constant jawing would be said to put undue pressure on his players. Their failure to respond to it would be taken as a sign that the coach had "lost the clubhouse".

From there, if you add on another disappointing season, then Rex Ryan is essentially Eric Mangini reincarnate.

* * * * *

At the end of the day, being respected by the fans and a media darling has very little to do with your style, and everything to do with whether you win or lose.

Rex Ryan could be the Joe Torre of football coaches and he'd be getting great press because his team has gone far in the playoffs.

Speaking of Joe Torre... look at the Mets. After the disastrous final season under the fiery Bobby Valentine, there was actually a time whne people thought a calm, strong/silent type like Art Howe, a Joe Torre type, was EXACTLY what the Mets needed.

Two years later, Howe was branded a complete disaster because his teams were always terrible. Performance, as always, trumped style.

* * * * *

I was a big Jerry Manuel fan when he first came in. Forget about everything else, he turned that 2008 team around and nearly led a tremendously flawed club to the playoffs.

Last year, of course, was a complete disaster, and Jerry deserved some of the blame. Obviously the injuries overtook everything else, but the team played sloppy baseball from start to finish. Images of Ryan Church missing third base were as characteristic of 2009 as Reyes or Delgado or Johan or anyone else going down with injury.

As such, since the season ended, there have been various calls that Manuel needs to be replaced.

The people making this argument say we need someone with more personality, someone who's gonna shake the malaise off of guys like Carlos "No Knees" Beltran. Many of them say we need a guy like Bobby V.

I'm for keeping Jerry Manuel, personally. But if we DO end up making a change, I submit that we don't need anybody who fits any kind of personality profile.

All we need is somebody who wins.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Driving in the Dark

You know, it's funny how the mind works.

Last night me and Little Miss Citi are driving back to my parents' country house in Connecticut after yet another epic hibachi experience at Bond Grill.

It's the dead of January. We've got the windows up, heater on, radio loud and we're blasting Bieber all winter long. It's good to be alive.

For three minutes of darkened country roads it's all about Bieber. He's crooning about hitting the town and giving us all one less lonely girl to worry about. It's like, don't worry guys, Bieber's got this one covered.

Now, I don't know a ton about Justin Bieber, but I know he's like 15 years old. In his song, he's singing about settling down, finding a girl and feeling complete (or something like that). Basically, all the things that being 15 years old isn't about, even if you're convinced it is at the time.

It got me thinking, somehow life is all about these little contradictions of time and place. When you're young you want to be old; then a few years pass and you tell yourself you'd give anything to be back in high school, college, or whatever it is.

It's an easy trap to fall in to, but it misses the point. Give it time and soon enough you'd give anything to be back to where you sit today, in that same moment when you were grasping for some time in the past that can never be again.

You need to embrace each moment for what it is. Whatever stage of life you're in, that's your chance. You never get it back.

* * * * *

It got me thinking about being a fan.

This is an exciting weekend for my girlfriend, a New Orleans native, whose Saints are entering the playoffs with as good a chance as anyone else to come away with a championship.

Not just any championship, mind you, but the franchise's first. Hell, if they make the Super Bowl to begin with that'd be a first, too. It's an organization that hasn't had a lot to celebrate.

When all you know is losing, you obsess about winning. You tell yourself, if only the Saints (Mets) win, everything in my life will be OK.

But you know what, you can't really say that for sure. If the Saints (Mets) win, all you can say for certain is that everything will be different.

Personally, I imagine I'd feel more fulfilled than I'd ever thought a sport could make me feel, but one thing I know is that a very core element of my fandom would change forever.

By definition, my experience as a fan is as much about never winning as anything else.

I want the Mets to win it all as much as the next guy. That's the goal. It's what my fandom has been driving at for as long as I can remember.

But sometimes you don't appreciate what you've got. The cynicism that embitters me and my Mets fan friends is terrible and great all at once. In a sense, there's comfort in complaining about the Mets.

If they win, a very core component of my experience as a fan changes forever.

* * * * *

I really don't want anyone to misinterpret what I'm saying here, though I'm sure that will be easy to do. I'm not saying we shouldn't all hope for it; I'm not saying that I want us to go on suffering.

I guess what I'm saying is, sometimes the 15 year old who wants nothing more than to settle down with the girl of his dreams doesn't really know what he's talking about. Sometimes hanging out with your boys and being miserable while you pine for some girl is pretty great too, even if you never get her.

Either way, someday the Mets will win, and when that day comes, nothing in our experience as fans will ever be the same.

We only get one chance at this perennial loser thing. Winning would be great, but you know what, if a lifetime's worth of championship-less Mets fandom has taught me anything, it's that there are some parts of losing that are pretty great too.

Just a thought that occured while driving in the dark through a sleepy Connecticut town, listening to the Bieb.

- A.F.O.M.G.

What Do the Late Night Mess and the Yankees Have in Common?

Truth to power? I've never been a regular late night comedy viewer.

I've been to a live taping of Letterman once, but I've never played favorites with the late night hosts. I appreciate, say, that Jay Leno and David Letterman have wildly different senses of humor, but for me, both are funny for what they are.

I've also enjoyed Conan O'Brien through the years, and I was happy for him, six years ago, when it was announced he would take over the Tonight Show in 2009.

Not in any specific way -- it's not like I felt Jay was terrible and THANK GOD they were getting a new host. Just, it felt like he'd paid his dues, that Jay had had a good run, and that a transition had to happen someday, so good for us that it went to someone funny like Conan.

I take it you're all broadly familiar with what's happening with NBC; to recap briefly, they wanted to shift Jay Leno's 10pm comedy show to 11:35pm, push Conan and the Tonight Show back to 12:05am, and push Jimmy Fallon (and Carson Daly, I guess) each back an hour or so.

* * * * *

People have had very strong reactions to NBC's announcement, myself included. For some reason, it really bugs me that NBC is pulling the rug out from under Conan (after only 7 months; bear in mind that Jay got trounced in the ratings his first 18 months on the air).

At first, I was very confused as to why I might feel so strongly about it. After all, I didn't really watch either Jay or Conan with any regularity, and I quite like them both (albeit Conan a bit more).

I think it upsets me because it violates my sense of fairness, which, as neuroleadership guru David Rock can tell you, is a very strong human instinct.

"Neuroscientist Stephen Pinker has a theory about where this intense response to fairness comes from," Rock writes. "Pinker thinks that the fairness response has emerged as a by-product of the need to trade efficiently. In your evolutionary past, when you couldn't store food in the refrigerator, the best place to store resources would have been by giving 'favors' to others. Resources were stored in other people's brains, as potential reciprocal snacks down the road.

"This mental exchange was especially important in hunter-gatherer days, when protein sources arrived intermittently: a bison felled by one person would be too much meat just for his family. To be good at this kind of trading you need the ability to detect 'cheaters,' people who promise but don't deliver. In this way, people with strong fairness detectors would have an evolutionary advantage" (Rock, Your Brain at Work, 175).

Basically, we have very strong instincts for fairness and for being cheated because our ancestors had to, as a matter of survival, be able to trust that if they stored food with a neighbor, they'd get something from that neighbor in return (he or she wouldn't be a freeloader, basically).

When it comes to Conan, I think I have strong feelings about the topic because it seems he's been treated unfairly. He signed a contract in 2004 saying he would get the Tonight Show, which has started at 11:35pm for 60 years, in 2009.

Five years and seven months later, Jay's 10pm shows bombs and all of a sudden he is entitled to a move back to late night.

It just doesn't feel right. It feels to me like Conan is getting cheated out of his dream job. It might have violated my sense of fairness in any environment, but particularly with the unemployment situation in the news all the time, it's distressing to think of employers screwing people over in any context.

(For the record, I appreciate there's a massive difference between a multi-millionaire like Conan O'Brien getting laid off by NBC and a blue collar worker somewhere, but still, the one story is reminiscent of the other).

* * * * *

So what's it all got to do with the Yankees?

I've never thought about it in these terms before, but in a way, I think one reason a LOT of people hate the Yankees is because their success violates our sense of fairness.

It doesn't seem fair that one team should have 27 championships when the next winningest team only has 10, and so many others have low single digits.

It doesn't seem fair that one team should be able to spend as much money as they could ever want when other teams have fiscal constraints.

It doesn't seem fair that one team should be so thoroughly hateable.

Now, to a Yankee fan, I'm sure the Yankees' success seems VERY fair. But to a Mets fan, and to fans of all other teams, there's nothing fair or charming about it.

It's kind of like how it is with Jay Leno... you had a great run, isn't it time someone else had a turn?

- A.F.O.M.G.

Welcome to Mets Extra

Exciting day for us around here.

As we announced yesterday, today we begin our new life as Mets Extra.

As you can see, there is not a whole lot that's different around here, but beneath the surface there was a tremendous amount of work that went in to making this site a reality.

For me, the real beauty of this site is that it preserves our history as Yankees 2000 as it eschews us into our new era. All of our archives are here, all those many thoughts and triumphs and heartbreaks that we chronicled are etched, still, in cyberspace.

For that, and for his patience, tremendous credit and thanks belongs to our webmaster, Oren, who handles this site's technical needs, probably without knowing why he does it.

Oren designed yankees2000.com years ago when we made the move away from blogspot, and he was the man who made Mets Extra a reality today. I don't know why he offers the help that he does, but I do know it's extraordinarily generous of him, so Oren, if you're reading this, thank you, thank you, thank you.

* * * * *

We have a few bugs left to work out, so we'll be back with regular content on Thursday.

For today, a lark. Searching for some form of insight or inspiration I Google-imaged our new website name. Of the 21 images that appear on the first page of results, I thought the following three encapsulated certain core elements of Mets fandom.

We know this one well. The unique blend of incredulity and grief that is the latest in a lifetime's worth of improbable, gut-wrenching losses.

Yeah, the more I think about it, the image tells you almost everything you need to know about being a Mets fan the past 20 some years.

Ahh yes, the money shot. Our single greatest (active) tormentor getting one right between the eyes. He was OK (which is really remarkable the more you look at that picture), which makes our enjoyment of this photo OK.

And at the last, a faint glimmer of hope courtesy of David Wright's bat, with the familiar stadium of our youth in the background.

Will 2010 be The Year? Probably not... but damned if a Mets fan can't dream.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Extra, Extra, Read All About It!

Dear readers,

After 1,053 posts and 4 years, 3 months operating as Yankees 2000: Promote the Curse, I'm excited to announce that, effective tomorrow, this website will relaunch as Mets Extra (http://www.metsextra.com/).

The change itself was hastened by the Yankees breaking the titular curse that this website chronicled and celebrated, but in truth, it was conceived of long before.

Indeed, the idea of Mets Extra has been dinging around in my mind for a long time now. On May 24, 2006, I registered the http://metsextra.blogspot.com/ domain name, billing it as the "potential future home of Yankees 2000: Promote the Curse". It took almost 4 years but here we are.

I appreciated the wit and uniqueness of Yankees 2000 as the name, but I always had qualms about it. As readers are aware, my bailiwick here is loving the Mets, and I've always worried that a Mets fan site named "Yankees 2000" (or Yankees anything for that matter) would generate confusion and alienate potential readers.

The name change doesn't mean I've gone soft on the Yankees; I hate the Yankees, and sure enough, every now and then I'll take a post to blast them or call them or their fans out on their bullshit.

But as a subject, for me the Mets are much more interesting to write about, and the name Mets Extra reflects that.

* * * * *

So why the name Mets Extra? Well, it satisfies the one criterion for the new name (having the word "Mets" in the title and URL), but it's also a nod to the great WFAN post-game show.

I usually take the 7 train to the game, but on those occassions where I'm driving I love tuning into the program as soon as I've gotten back in the car.

I also have fond memories of listening to the show in college, back when the only games I got to watch were the ones that were nationally televised and I had to count on 660 AM somehow crossing the mountains and coming through the dial.

Mets Extra, the radio show, has always been a part of my experience as a fan, and I hope in the years ahead my take on Mets Extra, on the website, will be part of your experience as a fan as well.

* * * * *

I will always be immensely proud of the work we did as Yankees 2000. In the banner of the site the letters Y2K will be preserved, and though I will mostly refer to the site as Mets Extra or ME, I'll still drop a "here at Y2K" type of line from time to time.

As far as content, nothing is going to change. You can still expect the same type of insight and analysis you've grown accustomed to, mostly on the Mets, sometimes on the Yankees or the Giants, Jets, or Knicks.

One new feature is I'll now be accessible via email at AFOMG@metsextra.com. Come tomorrow I understand that will be up and running, and I look forward to reading your emails.

More than anything though I look forward to continuing this journey of Mets fandom with you.

It's been a great ride these past four-plus years. Here's to the next four and beyond.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Unholy Alliance, Part Deux

For the second time in under three months, the Glass Man was faced with an agonizing playoff decision. Eagles or Cowboys? So much to hate. Only one team to choose.

Now, deciding between the Eagles and Cowboys was nowhere near as agonizing as choosing between the contenders of the "Bad Meets Evil" World Series we had in October. But still, it wasn't an easy call.

I deeply and truly hate the Philadelphia sports fan. Loud and obnoxious, Philly fans are among the worst in the world. And it doesn't help that their baseball team has made ours look really bad the past few seasons.

But for me, yesterday and as ever, my hatred for the Cowboys carried the day. The reason is simple: When I see the Cowboys, I see the Yankees.

In some sense the comparison is baseless. The Cowboys had gone 13 years without a playoff victory until yesterday, and aside from their early-mid 90's dynasty, have not enjoyed the same level of success as the Yankees.

But everything that's big and garrish and "look-at-us-aren't-we-great" about the Yankees applies to the Cowboys as well. Cowboys Stadium is Yankee Stadium with a football jersey on (and a slight alien-spaceship look from above). Jerry Jones is George Steinbrenner with a better diet. Hell, the two clubs are even in business together for some reason.

I couldn't get on board with all that.

And so it was that I found common cause, again, with the Philadelphia sports fan. And how do they reward me for my support? By getting completely and utterly dismantled. Again.

At least this time the showdown wasn't for all the marbles. Unlike the World Series, I could root for one team today and hold out hope that another team would bump them off tomorrow. That being the case, there's a part of me that can rejoice in the misery of Eagles fans.

But still, I wanted Dallas to lose yesterday, and I threw my weight solidly behind Philadelphia. It doesn't crush me the way the World Series did, nowhere close actually, but it's still disappointing.

Me a Philly fan? Perhaps some things just weren't to be.

- A.F.O.M.G.

44: Jerry Grote

(This is the latest installment in an ongoing series at Y2K focusing on topics raised in Matthew Silverman's "100 Things Mets Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die". Today's installment? Number 44: Jerry Grote.)

Why 44? In honor of the newest Met, Jason Bay.

On a scale of 1-to-10, necessity of knowing or doing before you die? 5.

Jerry Grote... not a Met I knew a ton about.

I'd heard of him before, and I guess I kind of figured he was a member of the '69 team or maybe '73. In truth, most of what I knew about him began and ended with the assonance of his name.

That all changed last night as I leafed through Matt Silverman's book for the fist time in about a year.

What do I know about Grote now? Well, from the sound of it he was a typical light-hitting catcher, but behind the plate he was as good as they got, nurturing the talent of young standout pitchers like Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman. He had one passed ball all season in 1968, when he made the All-Star team. And he was inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame in 1992.

These things I now know about Jerry Grote, but what I'll remember most is that he is, from the sounds of it, everything the Mets have been sorely lacking the past several seasons.

"With his cap turned around (never a helmet) and bill flipped up under the mask strap, Grote pounced on bunts and pitchers like a drill sergeant," Silverman writes (115). "When he didn't like a pitch or the way a pitcher was working, he fired the ball back as hard as he could."

Silverman goes on to write that "base runners feared him and no one looked forward to a home plate run-on with the grisly Grote," who was "tough as a dollar steak".

(Think about it, is there one player on the Mets today who you might describe as "tough as a dollar steak"? Maybe Jeff Francouer; I'm not sure anyone else comes close.)

The Mets have had their share of great catchers, Mike Piazza and Gary Carter most notably. But the guy Grote reminds me of more than anyone else is none other than old Paulie Thumbs, Paul Lo Duca. 

Lo Duca became a bit of a sideshow by the end of his tenure with the Mets, but for those two seasons as the Mets' primary catcher, he brought fire and energy to the team (fat load of good it did them in 2007).

Since he left, the press hasn't mentioned Lo Duca much by name, but every time they invoke the need for a scrappy player to light a fire under the Mets, they're talking about guys like Lo Duca.

And by extension, they're talking about guys like Grote. Hell, for all I know that's where the love affair began for Mets fans and their hardnosed ne'er-do-wells.

Silverman doesn't go so far as to make that connection, but it seems a logical one enough. From the sound of it, Grote was the kind-of-shitty player who nevertheless made good players around him great.

That won't get you in the Hall of Fame, but as Mets fans saw in '69, you need those kinds of players to win a Championship; winning takes more than just the Seavers and the Koosmans.

With Grote as testament, it seems the Mets knew that once. All we can do now is hope they figure it out again some time soon.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Don Mr. Met

What better way to begin a new decade (otherwise a time of renewal, hope, and possibility) than with yet another story about the effed up backstory behind Citi Field?

That, evidently, was the thought at the New York Post, which produced the latest cringe-inducing headline in yesterday's edition: "Met 'mob' contracts: Shady firms got $52m to build Citi Field".

Now, my first thought was that Citi Field bashing is sooo 2009. But tip your cap to the Post, they packaged it without about as good a graphic as you'll ever see and, in so doing, instantly piqued my interest.

I mean, look at that. Bravo.

Unfortunately, the accompanying article was anything but amusing. Really, it was the latest in a series of articles that we've taken to calling "Yet Another Reason the Mets Are a Complete Joke".

Per the Post, the Mets "shelled out $51.6 million in taxpayer money to contractors shunned by the city for their ties to the Mafia, labor corruption or bribery". The Mafia, for crying out loud.

In response, the Mets released a statement saying that subcontractors were hired on the recommendation of Hunt-Bovis, who, I guess (the Post doesn't explain), was the grand poobah of Citi Field construction. The kingpin if you will.

Essentially the Mets awarded a series of contracts to companies on New York City's "caution list", which "warns city agencies of contract bidders' past problems".

This is the part where we ask, in bold faced type, who in this organization is responsible for quality control?

I mean, $7mm to Eagle One Roofing, whose principal, Damian Sabatino, was "convicted of fraud in 2001 for bribing a labor official, money laundering, falsifying business records and prevailing-wage violations" and who "also pleaded guilty to income-tax evasion in 1996"?

Or how about $5.6mm to L & L Painting Co., which "the FBI is currently investigating over an MTA contracts"? The FBI, for god's sake!

There's also the $5.5mm to Breeze National, a demolition company (perfect) whose "principal was convicted of federal bribery charges in 1988 and reportedly has ties to the mob."

It boggles the mind. How do you award contracts to subcontractors that are on the city's watch list? How do you commit over $50mm in public funds to companies with mob connections, companies that the FBI is investigating?

I might not care so much, only I worry that this disinterest in the details isn't limited to the nuances of stadium-construction. I mean, why should it be?

Just look at the way they've constructed the team in recent years. Each of the past three seasons they've spent a tremendous amount of resources on their top players, and they've gotten that part right (for the most part).

Nevertheless, when it came to the details (i.e., the bottom half of the roster), they showed the same relative disinterest that they seem to have shown in "the details" of Citi Field.

Now, screwing up a roster and awarding contracts to the mob are two VERY different things, and I don't mean to suggest they're one and the same. All I mean to say is that, with this organization, it sure feels as if the same type of problems keep turning up over and over again.

Oh well, maybe tomorrow we'll write our "hopeful new decade" piece. For today, however, we're starting 2010 on much the same foot as we closed 2009.

- A.F.O.M.G.

Thoughts on Jets-Bengals

Hey everyone, happy new year.

For Jets fans tonight, the new year and the new decade is off to a very happy start. With their season on the line, the Jets defeated the Bengals 37-0 to earn a Wild Card playoff berth.

Actually, saying the Jets "defeated" the Bengals understates it. The Jets annihilated the Bengals tonight, played them completely off the field. They sent a message to the Bengals and the rest of the league that they deserved to be in the mix come playoff time.

As I watched, I couldn't help but think of the Mets. In a very literal sense, the display the Jets put on was everything we hoped the Mets would do against the Marlins on the last day of the season in 2007 and again in 2008.

There was no drama tonight, the Jets made sure of that. They never looked scared. They played the confident, dominating football that they were capable of; the kind of football the moment demanded.

It was everything the Mets failed to do those late September days in '07 and '08.

For years the Jets have been the football equivalent of the Mets. The headlines and sports talk today bore testament to that, filled with dread and predictions of doom. Surely the Jets would collapse; they're the Jets, that's what they do.

Not this time they didn't. They have a new coach and a new quarterback, and with the win today there's hope this decade might be different.

Good for them. To this Mets fan, there's a slight glimmer of hope promised in the Jets' triumph; or at least a man can dream. 

- A.F.O.M.G.