WORLD SERIES NOSTALGIA

I imagine there are children in New York City in the 8-10 years old range who are loving this World Series appearance by the Yankees. It's new for them - they've heard all about these world champion Yankees of the past (decade) and they're probably very excited about their team playing for a championship.

I remember when I was one of those kids.

The 2000 World Series came at a time that I didn't live in New York, but more importantly, during my first full year in the workforce. As such, I was transitioning from someone who cared only about sports to someone who had other things on his mind (a new relationship with the woman who would later become my wife, an entry job in what I thought would be my career). I worked nights, so I saw the games, but I don't have a distinct memory about that post-season.

It's 1986 that comes back to me whenever the World Series rolls around.

I remember being in the schoolyard after school and people from the Daily News were handing out scorecards (I still have them) for the NLCS. A very cool book - 7-10 newspaper pages with spots to keep score of every game. I remember taking them home and my parents being very suspicious about how I got them. I had to convince them they were free handouts. To this day, though, it's strange to me why they were handed out at an elementary school.

I remember afternoon NLCS games at Shea...and I distinctly remember Billy Hatcher's homer in Game 6 that went into the netting on the foul pole. And I remember the celebration when the Mets won the NLCS.

I remember going to my best friend's house to watch a game of the World Series - I'm not sure which one it was. I remember watching a bit of the early innings, but then we went into his bedroom to play tackle football. I remember the entire time wanting to watch the game, but I never said anything.

There's a chance this may have been Game 6 of the 1986 World Series - I have a faint memory of the parachute guy coming down while I was at Steven's house. But that's about all I remember about Game 6. I wrote this earlier in the week - but I don't know if it's because I've seen the game on video so many times since or why it is, but I don't have any other live memories of what is probably my favorite sports memory ever.

There's a strong possibility that I was asleep for the end of Game 6...but it was a Saturday night, so I doubt it - I was pretty sports-crazy. Sports-crazy enough that my dad woke me up for the end of Game 7 a couple of nights later....like he did a month before after the Mets clinched the NL East. I remember watching the champagne celebrations - the "champagne party", we called it - and exclaiming, "We should have a milk party!!"

I remember how exciting it was.

I want to feel that feeling again.

INJURIES AND SURPRISES

There was some bad news to come out of the Jets' 38-0 blasting of the Oakland Raiders - Leon Washington was lost for the season with a broken leg.

Apparently this was one of those gruesome football injuries. You can go elsewhere to read the bloody descriptions - I'm a bit squeamish. But it's not your run-of-the-mill broken leg. There are whispers that this could be a career-threatening injury.

The injury comes a week after a season-ending knee injury to Kris Jenkins, who has been a monster up front on defense for the Jets. That's two pretty significant injuries in two weeks suffered by the Jets...one on offense, one on defense.

Leon Washington wasn't lighting the league on fire this year - he has been passed, performance-wise, by Thomas Jones the past few weeks - but he is always exciting, and on many possessions, his kick returns are the entire offense. And if the injury is very serious, this will hurt the Jets beyond this year.

But this does give them an opportunity to give Shonn Green some playing time. And at the very least, that could give them a trading chip in the off-season, if they're looking for extra draft picks or help at some other position (assuming Washington comes back healthy). Because if the Jets have three effective backs (Jones, Washington, and Green), one of those guys becomes expendable at some point. Maybe the Jets can get something out of them before they lose them to free agency.

What can't the Saints do? They had no business hanging around in that game against the Dolphins on Sunday, let alone coming back and winning by two touchdowns (and covering the spread....). They proved to me beyond a shadow of a doubt in that game that they are the best team in the league.

But they had better not lose Drew Brees to injury - were you as surprised as I was to learn after the missed extra point that their backup quarterback (and place kick holder) is Mark Brunell? Has he been effective at all since 1999?

A pleasant surprise came Sunday night watching the Giants-Cardinals game and learning that the 'starting' tight end for the Cardinals is former Jet Anthony Becht. Becht was one of my favorite Jets in the early 2000s. I never felt he reached his full potential. I don't think he ever will...especially not in the Cardinals offense - I don't think I see him and Kurt Warner connecting much in the near future.

But I'm glad he's hanging on somewhere after a stint with Tampa Bay - I thought he was out of the league.

**23 years ago today the Mets won the World Series. *wipe tear*

SUNDAY PAPER

I was really looking forward to a Game 6 of the ALCS Saturday night - the night I could actually stay up to watch a game. Now I need to either set myself back entirely for the week by staying up late for a Sunday night game, or miss the late innings.

I really have a lot riding on the outcome, too. There are a few reasons I want the Angels to pull this series out, none of which have anything to do with rooting against the Yankees just because.

One thing is, I'd like to see the Angels win Game 6 so that there's a Game 7. That would be exciting. Secondly, it has been a long haul for the Angels this season. As I've mentioned before, they have the best story this post-season - no one would have blamed them if they had mailed their season in after the early-season Nick Adenhart tragedy. But they've come this far, it would be a shame if they fell short of the World Series.

Finally, though, I don't want it to be a Phillies-Yankees World Series. There are two reasons for this. One is that this is a repeat World Series, and I would feel like we wasted the year if there wasn't a new matchup in the World Series. Secondly, this is the baseball equivalent of the Super Bowl a couple of years ago when the Giants beat the Patriots.

The Yankees are the Giants - the team that but for the grace of God I could have chosen as my own, resulting in me celebrating multiple championships in my lifetime in either sport rather than the one (1986 Mets) I've lived through.

The Phillies are the Patriots - the rival team that is enjoying all of its success at the expense of my team. I have to watch them celebrate championships while my team watches from home...and it becomes more and more clear that this situation bothers me more than it ever will them.

So there's a no-win situation for me with Phillies-Yankees. Let's Go Angels.

*A few articles this week called the Mets "winners" in the Bernie Madoff situation, because they ended up 'making' money on the Ponzi scheme. I think that's just tasteless - no one is a winner in that situation, and it shouldn't be said no matter how clever it makes a headline. Second to that, the Mets will literally not end up winners - won't they have to pay back those millions of dollars? What I took from those stories is that the Madoff scandal may affect the Mets for years down the road.

*I feel like I need to weigh in on this ESPN controversy this week. I don't know why I'm always surprised when these things, like the Steve Phillips situation, come out - I worked in the TV news business for a number of years and there must be something about the egos involved, but there's a lot of low-lifes in the industry. And the people at ESPN have turned me off for a number of years - I never watch SportsCenter anymore - I get my sports news in quick chunks on ESPNEWS and then move on. So I shouldn't be surprised when these types of revelations come out - yet I always am. I guess I expect the best of people. Now, though, I may have to take the opposite approach - and it's going to be hard for any of the ESPN-affiliated folks to earn my respect.

*Today is the 23rd anniversary of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. It's funny - I think this merits another blog another day, maybe during the World Series, but I have some very distinct memories from the 1986 post-season (and season)...Game 6 is not one of them. (I was 8 years old.) I'm not sure why - maybe because I've seen it so many times on tape since....but I feel like of all the games this is one I would have seen much if not all of - it was a Saturday night, I remember being up for other games....I don't know. Just no memory of it as a live event. I will re-visit this conversation.

*Thanks to the reality check offered by the Jets these past few weeks, I no longer feel like I have to make an argument for the Jets to win every week. I still think they beat Oakland in Oakland, but we all know what a tough place that has been for the Jets historically. I'll say Jets 13, Raiders 10, but I would not be the least bit surprised if Oakland wins. (The Eagles probably helped the Jets out last week by laying an egg in Oakland - I just figure it's less likely for the Raiders to win two weeks in a row.)

*In other pick news, I'm big on the road teams this week. (And not to brag or anything, but I'm currently second place overall in my pool...I win a lot of the games that I don't write about here, believe it or not.) I like Chicago, Atlanta, Arizona, San Francisco, and Minnesota - all getting points on the road, and I like Green Bay, San Diego, Indy, and the Patriots (the 'road' team in England) all giving points on the road. One road team I do not like, you may remember from my rambling earlier in the week, is the Saints. Watch out for the Dolphins upset.

*For those of you reading 200 Miles From the Citi who may not know this, my new blog location (not so new anymore, I guess) is through a sort of parent group - http://www.worldsportsblogs.com/ - you may want to start coming to my site through there. There's some other stuff worth reading there on a variety of topics.

INTRODUCTION

As an introduction, I could start at the very beginning.

1985, probably. I was in my first year of little league, and since I was a bit stockier than the other kids and didn't care what position I played, I was made a catcher. In between innings, one of the coaches came over and folded my chest protector over so I didn't get too hot. "There," he said. "Now you look like Gary Carter!"

I quickly found out that Gary Carter was the catcher for the Mets, and I suddenly had a favorite baseball player and a favorite team.

But I won't start there. I think I'll fast forward to five years ago, when I started writing about the Mets, Jets, and sports in general at this location. The operation has now moved here, and I'm excited about it.

Truth be told, growing up not very far from Shea Stadium, I probably would have ended up being a Mets fan no matter what. Especially when you consider that no sooner had I started following baseball than the Mets had one of the most successful seasons in history in 1986, and I was hooked. Little did I know then that would be the Mets' high-water mark for the next 23 years (and counting....).

For the Jets, I blame my dad. He's been a season ticket holder since the 1960's, and we grew up rooting more passionately for the Jets than the Giants. I still don't hate the Giants like other Jets fans I know, but I'm a Jets fan, not a Giants fan.

I can't complete the introduction without adding that I have lived the past 10 years in the heart of Red Sox and Patriots country, and have seen those teams win a total of five championships in that span.

Needless to say, I am a frustrated fan. And in the past year I've become more of a cynical fan than the blind loyalist I was for the first 30 years of my life.

But no matter how frustrated I get, I always hope. I haven't given up on a Mets season as early as I have this one since the early-to-mid 1990's, but until they're mathematically eliminated from the post-season I'll still think in the back of my mind that they have the chance to pull off some miracle comeback.

And the Jets, hapless as they are, have the hope of a promising rookie quarterback/savior.

And that's why I write. More often than not, it will be my agony that plays out on these pages. But there's always the hope of another 1986.