OH CHAD

The good news, I guess, is that Chad Pennington could be in line for a record third Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2010.

But there's got to be serious doubt that Pennington will be able to come back at all from another season-ending shoulder injury suffered Sunday in San Diego.

The reports are that Pennington has a torn capsule in his throwing shoulder, the same shoulder he had surgery on in 2004 and 2005. The same reports say he is out the rest of this season. I'm guessing the next step, though I haven't heard anything yet, is that the rest of his career is in jeopardy.

For those of you who are not familiar with my past, you need to know that I think the world of Chad Pennington. So much so that last year he had me rooting for the Dolphins (I HATE the Dolphins) over the Jets so that he could make the playoffs again. I know he couldn't throw the deep ball, and I know he didn't play the greatest games of his career in the playoffs, but he was a winner with the Jets. He just couldn't stay healthy.

And that is still a problem.

This latest injury seems a bit much. I'm no expert, but when your career (a career which is already characterized by a weak arm) rests on your throwing shoulder, and that shoulder has already suffered three pretty serious traumas, I would think that would end said career. And I would hate to see it happen...but I would also hate to see Chad Pennington unable to do simple tasks like lift a fork to his mouth because he ruined his shoulder playing football.

My dad and I talk about Pennington often. He likes to say that one day Pennington will win a Super Bowl. I like to agree, because he is such a smart ballplayer, a great leader, and someone you want to see have that kind of success. He has all the traits that would make him a great coach after his playing days are over.

I want to think maybe he'll still get that Super Bowl win. Unfortunately, after this latest injury, it might have to be on the sidelines as a coach rather than on the field as a player.

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.