Wednesday, July 23, 2008

I just threw up in my mouth


So is there anything worse than seeing one of your role models being associated with all things evil? This has got to be up there. Thankfully, Eddie isn't sporting a Patriot jersey otherwise I'd probably need to reevaluate my life. Regardless, this is still awful.

I hope this is one of those cases where you just give the celeb some team paraphernalia so he can sport it around the venue. Actually, with that hat on, I am sick. How can Eddie cheer with those cretins!?!?!

Someone get Eddie a Steeler hat stat!


(picture stolen from barstool)

Dear NHL

As one of your loyal fans I know you can be out of touch with us, and even reality at points. And I can live with that, it's just who you are and we all have our faults. But when you put up an article on the main page for everyone to see, PLEASE think about the title before you post it.



Mets game over Yanks Game: A mistake? I report,you decide


I did something tonight that I almost never do. I decided to go to a Mets game instead of stay home and watch my Yankees on TV. Usually, I would prefer staying at home and enjoy the thrill of rooting for my favorite team as opposed to attending a sporting event for which the outcome has ultimately little meaning to me. However, with Johan Santana starting and the co-first place Phillies in town; I figured I would go out to Shea with my dad. Although I found the first 8 innings rather dull, the 9th inning more than made up for it. Billy, "my pussy hurts" Wagner decided he needed a night off to rest his weary arm (I don't recall Mo ever needing a night off due to injury during a pennant race) and he left the closing duties in the "capable" hands of Duaner Sanchez, Pedro Feliciano and Joe Smith. Wow did they suck! 5 runs were allowed by this bumbling triumvirate before a single out had been recorded. The inning was highlighted by a huge bases loaded 2 run double by Soooooooo Taguuchi and another 2 run double by Rollins to plate the 7th and deciding run of the contest. This game though was more interesting to me in terms of the psychology of my fandom.
First of all, what compels a die-hard Yankee fan like myself to go to a Mets game when the Yankees are playing at home on the same night? I guess it comes down tot the fact that the real reason I grew to love sports, like many of you I would guess, is because of the bonding with my dad. I know it sounds cheesy, but I guess I decided I would rather spend time with my dad while watching a game, even if it is at the disgrace of a ballpark in flushing, as opposed to spending it in front of my TV watching the Yanks at home. Simply put, I chose spending time with family over the Yankees; a choice I will always make I think. Secondly, I had not seen Johan pitch this year live and I figured this was the only time I would be willing too do so considering the magnitude of this contest vs Philly. Finally, I was convinced that Ranser would get lit up by the Twinkies and knew I"d be annoyed at myself if I sat at home tonight just to watch that. Although this fear was not realized and the Yanks won 8-2, I stand by my fear of Daryl Rasner getting lit up whenever it arises. Maybe a Yankee fan should never go to Shea when his/her team is playing at the same time in the Bronx, but I think my reasoning is sound and that I am free from criticism as such. But fellow die-hard sports fans; you decide.
I know that nobody really gives a crap what team I was pulling for or what my experience was like at this game as a Yankees fan. However, a few thoughts. Firstly, Phillies fans are unbelievably obnoxious. More than Sox fans or even Cowboy fans, Phillies fans acted like Shea was in fact their stadium. They mockingly clapped their hands in front of Mets players when they returned to the dugout after the conclusion of the top of the 9th and they walked across the entrance to gate D with a 2007 division champions banner (Hey assholes, you might want to be a bit more humble since your city has not crowned a champion since the 1983 Sixers; btw NYC has 10 titles since then, just saying). Furthermore, I found myself rooting for the Mets as soon as the Phillies inched to within 5-3 with 0 outs and the bases full in the 9th. This is normally unfathomable for me, a guy who has no love for the Mets or most of their fans.However, being a fanatical life long Giants fan, I have a true disdain for Philadelphia Eagles fans. They conduct themselves like wretched animals at Giants Stadium and they comported themselves no better at Shea. On the subway, I made sure to walk directly in front of all the Phillies fans just to make sure they saw my Giants t-shirt. Oh and a final note, props to Mets fans for fully filling out your building and being incredibly loud the entire game. I have often found Shea to be pretty listless and empty even for big games but tonight I was impressed. Too bad your awful bullpen choked away a game against the hooligans' from Philly's favorite baseball team.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The Phillies are in Town


The Mets and Phillies are tied for first place in the National League East. By Thursday evening, one of these two teams will be in first by themselves. Seemingly, the momentum is on the Mets' side. In their last 10 games, the Mets have gone 8-2, while Philadelphia has played at 5-5. The Mets had their phenomenal 10 game winning streak broken over the weekend by the Reds when they lost 2 straight to them. Even Sunday's win wasn't very pretty. The team left a ton of runners in scoring position (RIP, RISP) but managed to pull through. The best game of the series was on Thursday night, when the boys scored four runs in the top of the 9th on some clutch hitting to extend their streak. With Jose Reyes not hitting until Sunday, they weren't ignited and did not win. On Sunday, Reyes did break Mookie Wilson's franchise triples record. At 25, Jose already has 63 triples in less than 3000 at bats. If things continue to go as they have been going, Mookie's 62 triples will be a very distant 2nd to Reyes' total for the Mets.
The big series (Jerry Manuel says so) against the Phillies starts tonight and the probables are: Blanton (5-12, 4.96) v. Santana (8-7, 3.10) tonight, Myers (3-9, 5.84) v. Maine (8-7, 4.22) tomorrow night and Moyer (9-6, 3.90) v. Perez (6-6, 4.36) on Thursday afternoon. It is about time the Mets got a run or two on Blanton, who has pitched 15 shutout innings against them. Hopefully the Santana that pitched on Thursday night won't show up tonight because that one awful inning, when the Phillies hit for the cycle plus an extra home run against him, could have cost them the game. Santana typically does better on normal rest, as opposed to extra rest, which he had from the All-Star Break before Thursday's game. Odds are that the Mets will break through tonight against Blanton. I'm sure the team would love to welcome him to the National League with a loss. Besides, the Mets owe Santana for his last start against the Phillies on the 4th of July, when he got a No Decision, giving up only 2 runs on 6 hits in 8 innings. That was no way to celebrate the birthday of our country. Wednesday night's match-up is intriguing because Myers is making his first appearance in the Majors after being sent back down to the Minors (ala Steve Trachsel after giving up 4 home runs in 1 inning). Hopefully, coming back to Shea will shake his confidence a bit, because Maine has not been the same cool, calm and collected pitcher that we saw in the beginning of the season. Wild Ollie Perez will go against thorn-in-my-side Jamie Moyer on Thursday and I just feel like Moyer is pesky enough to win this one.
I won't be making a prediction for the series because I feel like I'm jinxing the team whenever I do. Fingers crossed that first place will belong to New York by Thursday evening.
BTW
That t-shirt up there is from , which is a charity website started by the Mets announcers. Check it out.
~MissMet

Monday, July 21, 2008

SUS is on vacation...apparently




Apparently we at SUS are on a collective vacation. I was fooled, but 3 articles in a week tend to speak for themselves. When will it end? Who's to say.

Though if I were a betting man, I'd guess:

Mahatma apparently came back today.

MissMet will return for her weekly Wednesday column.

White Boy
will return whenever his chaotic schedule of attending Yankee games allows him time off.

BH
will return once he (a) makes up a fictional story about his time in Vegas and (b) has internet access with which mark it down.

Yinzer and SHMUCK will be back when football season begins.

Oh, and I'll return for early August and then more completely around August 18. But a quick note on Shockey, which I plan to discuss more in the upcoming weeks. I'm still unsure as to how I feel about Shockey demanding to be traded off of a Super Bowl Champion. It's definitely one of the following:

1. The Paulie Walnutsesque "If he were on fire, I wouldn't piss on him to put it out."
or
2. The Fredo Corleone "You're nothing to me now. You're not a friend, not a brother."

But it's definitely one of the two. Stay tuned, SUS nation, for who knows when someone will return from vacation early?

Buzz Bissinger gets his ass kicked by SecurityGuards.blogspot.com



Hilarious article out of the NYT this past weekend.

Buzz "I love bloggers" Bissinger, famous for writing Friday Night Lights and also this lovely panel discussion, decided to take his sons to a college baseball game, the last "pure" game of baseball left in civilization apparently.

The piece starts with Buzz being a bitter old dinosaur ranting about how baseball sucks now, life is better in the 1960s -- all the typical drivel you would here from some yinzer who is too busy spewing "the problem with your generation" type crap. Anyway, Buzz is entirely in heaven initially just enjoying himself and the atmosphere and than he gets blindsided.

Hi jinx ensue:

Roughly half a dozen security officials tackled me and threw me face first into the concrete, causing an ugly gash on my leg and a silver dollar-sized bruise on my arm. My glasses broke. One put me in a chokehold while another handcuffed me, all of it occurring in front of my three sons. They were traumatized. I was traumatized. Over a camera. At a sporting event, a college sporting event that likes to think of itself as the ultimate family affair.

I was told I was permanently banned from Rosenblatt. I was threatened with arrest. The gash in my leg was bleeding, a matter of concern because I am on the blood thinner coumadin (the result of recent five-hour reconstructive surgery for a clot in my leg) and one of the side effects of the drug can be unchecked bleeding.


HA! If this was anyone else, I'd feel bad for them but not Buzz.

I'm sure it was all that bad until Buzz decided to go all Incredible Hulk as he does. Buzz has a problem with rage-a-hol and he needs to enter a program.

The best part of the article is that it sort of sounds like that he deserved it.

Ah well, score another one for the good guys!