SUNDAY PAPER

Someday soon it will be time to measure up Mark Sanchez again. Maybe the next time he plays in cold weather, which wasn't so successful two weeks ago against Buffalo. Maybe it's when he plays Buffalo next, since that's the team that picked him off five times in that game. Maybe it's the next matchup against the Patriots - in New England, instead of in front of the home crowd.

But this week the object of scrutiny is not the rookie quarterback - it's the rookie coach. The last time the Jets played the Dolphins, Sanchez was fine. It was Rex Ryan's vaunted defense that looked exposed just three short weeks ago against Miami and its wildcat formation.

That shortcoming seems a bit more magnified following the Saints' ability to neutralize the wildcat last week as they staged a monster comeback on Miami.

At the same time, the Jets' defense was showing signs of life again after a couple of 'just OK' weeks - nothing close to the way they started the season. But that performance comes with a huge asterisk, because it was against the subpar Oakland offense.

And now it's Jets-Dolphins again, and it's a chance for Ryan to show how he can game plan.

*Tough to see Pedro Martinez pitching for the Phillies in the World Series. That was the dream in 2006, and after helping the Mets to first place that season, Pedro wasn't around for the post-season. The Mets wouldn't be back to the post-season in the rest of Pedro's tenure. I had no doubt Pedro would be able to help someone this year after seeing how he pitched in the World Baseball Classic way back in March and April...but to have it be the Phillies and to have it go this deep into the post-season is a little hard to take.

*I know it's a little late by now, but I haven't addressed it yet: I don't see how Mark McGwire coming back to be the St. Louis Cardinals hitting coach does anyone any favors. For baseball in general it's a scar that becomes visible again. Unless he plans on having a tell-all press conference and owning up to the black eye he contributed to (and which he has hid from these past few years), it's going to be a burden for him. And it's certainly not doing the Cardinals hitters any favors - since when is Mark McGwire qualified to coach hitting?

*I'm already bored with the NBA.

*Nothing freaks me out more on Halloween than a kid standing at my door wearing one of those masks from 'Scream'. It happened again Saturday night. This year, my 3-year-old daughter happened to be with me, and it got her a little frightened. So I asked the kid to take off the mask to show her it was no one to be afraid of. The kid was nice enough to do it. I think it worked. You know. For my daughter.

*I'll go with the Jets to get that revenge win over Miami today, but it won't be by much. I'll say a touchdown. Jets 27, Dolphins 20

*How much disrespect are the undefeated Broncos getting? They're underdogs (again) in Baltimore today. I haven't picked the Broncos right all season, and I haven't picked the Ravens right all year. I'm taking Denver getting points, because I think they win this game outright...but that probably means it'll turn out to be their first 'L' of the year. How bad are the Jaguars to go into winless Tennessee as underdogs? I'm picking the Jaguars getting those points, which means welcome to the win column, Titans. And I don't think the Falcons hand the Saints their first loss Monday night, but I also don't think the Saints win by 10 (despite their unimaginably doing so last week). I'm taking Atlanta getting 9-and-a-half.

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.

SUNDAY PAPER

Ryan Madson's bases loaded walk to give up the go-ahead run in Game 2 of the NLCS reminded me that it was 10 years ago that Kenny Rogers did same for the Mets in the NLCS.

The stakes were higher in Rogers' case - it was the bottom of the 11th of Game 6, and the run not only won the game but also clinched the series for the Braves. I can't imagine a more anti-climactic event than a series-ending bases loaded walk.

The bases loaded walk has been the bane of my existence this past decade or so - it just drives me nuts every time I see it - throw a strike! So with tomorrow being the 10-year anniversary of Kenny Rogers' becoming my number one baseball enemy...I turn to prose for therapy:



The Bases Loaded Walk
There are fewer things I do not like
With three men on, Count: three and two,
Than when the pitcher can't throw a strike
And "Ball Four," says the man in blue.

It seems like such a simple thing
He's done so many times before
To throw a strike, induce cheering
Rather than a walk and a free score.

I suppose if it would help my team
I wouldn't mind as much
But lately every time, it seems,
My team fails in the clutch.

A pitcher's role within the game
Is to help his team, not hurt.
He has no one but himself to blame
When his pitches hit the dirt.

With the bases loaded walk, you know,
The defense has no play,
Can't aid the pitcher in his show,
And it's hard to win that way.

It's annoying, that walk, to say the least,
When the bases are fully jammed...
It's a quiet killer, a silent beast...
I'd almost rather a grand slam.

*Hall of Famer Gary Carter has yet another new gig - Carter will manage the Palm Beach Atlantic University Sailfish. That's a Division II college team. Carter, once he got no offers from anything at the major league level, decided he'd rather work close to home in Florida - apparently he became a grandfather for the first time in August and felt like he missed out not being there. Lots of talk that people in baseball are still upset with him for 'campaigning' for Willie Randolph's job in 2008. I think it's time for people to get over themselves and admit that he rubs them the wrong way for more than that one thing.....and watch out for a Division II championship very shortly for PBAU.

*More former Mets are back in the New York fold. Tim Tuefel is the seeming 'chosen one' within the organization - he's expected to be named manager of AA Binghamton. Mookie Wilson is going to be back in the organization in some capacity, and Wally Backman will be managing at the single-A level. Wish Carter was in this mix...

*Jose Reyes had surgery this week to clean scar tissue from the torn hamstring tendon behind his right knee. He's expected to be ready for spring training. I suppose of all the players whose injuries affected the 2009 season, Reyes was the most costly. I'm so torn, though - clearly the Mets are a more exciting team when Reyes is healthy and is a threat, but are they that much better with him than without him? I used to think, if healthy, he was the most important player on the team....I view him now, if healthy, as the most valuable trading chip.

*Jets can't lose to the Bills today. Just can't. It has to be a blowout, too, none of this piddly sit on a lead stuff. The Bills are terrible. Jets 30, Bills 14.

*I like Houston to cover in Cincinnati (they're getting five-and-a-half), but Cincinnati to win again...I don't care that Jacksonville is playing the Rams - they shouldn't be giving 9-and-a-half to anyone - St. Louis keeps it close...Arizona will beat Seattle outright - let alone take 2-and-a-half points from a favored Seattle...and I'm not learning my lesson from the New England game, I guess - I'm taking the Ravens as road 'dogs again, getting 2-and-a-half in Minnesota.

SUNDAY PAPER

This happens to me every October.

I start to get real day-dreamy as I watch the playoffs, wondering what it would be like if my team was in the playoffs every year, battling it out for a chance at a world championship.

There's just so much mediocrity in my teams it's hard to wrap your head around it. The Phillies, thanks to the Mets' collapses, have won three straight division titles. In my lifetime (I'm 31) the Mets have won three division titles.

There's no such thing as "get 'em next year" in my sports life. Only once (once!) have the Mets made the post-season in back-to-back years. (1999-2000) There were plenty of 'should haves' (1987, 2007, 2008, close calls in 1998 and 2001), but that doesn't mean anything.

It sometime boggles my mind to think about teams like the Red Sox and Yankees and the decades they have had. What would I do in that situation? Would I appreciate just how awesome that is? Or would I take it for granted?

Of course, this extends to football too. The Jets have done nothing in my lifetime. Sure, there's the occasional foray deep into the playoffs, and the occasional back-to-back playoff seasons (and at least lately there have been playoff appearances - for a while during my childhood I didn't think I'd see even that)...but there still hasn't been a sniff of a Super Bowl. (Or at least, those sniffs are few and far between - 1998, 2004...that's about it.)

I'm hopelessly optimistic though. I still dream, and every season's beginning to me is a chance for my team to win it all. It only feeds this (dis)illusion when the Jets get off to 3-1 starts and look good doing it.

So as October marches on and I watch teams that aren't the Mets carry out other people's dreams, I think about what may be some day for the Mets....some day that will challenge 1986 as the highlight of my sports life.

And all the while I'll be thinking about what could be this year for the Jets...and how I'd react if it ever actually happened.

**As a sidebar, in case you're wondering, I do root for the New York Rangers, and I did root for the Rangers in 1994, but hockey just isn't the same for me as baseball and football. And my college (Boston University) is the defending national champion in hockey, but I don't see that the same way, I guess because my affiliation with them only goes back to 1996...it still feels too new. The way they won, though, was super exciting for me...so again, it only makes me think how happy I would feel if the Mets or Jets ever won another championship.

**This is one of the times during the year when living in the greater Boston area is ultra-frustrating. Because of their provincial sports view, there is no real local outlet for national radio. So come playoff time, you can't catch a baseball game on the radio (except, of course, the local Red Sox broadcast). So Wednesday and Thursday I drove home from school without being able to listen to the playoff games. Drives me nuts. Am I wrong to say this only happens in Boston? Do you get the playoffs on the radio in your area? (Update...I did get the Saturday night game on the local station. So that means people around here would rather listen to the afternoon and weeknight blather instead of a playoff game during the week.)

**Some good stuff to come out of New York and Miami this week - I guess Rex Ryan and Channing Crowder made their peace after an off-season trading barbs. Crowder is right when he says people can let their emotions get the best of them and run their mouths off, but it shouldn't happen with a coach. Ryan is right when he says everything that comes out of his mouth is just excitement because he really does believe he has a good team. The other part of it was that Crowder said he curses out everyone on the field....especially Leon Washington. I guess the players hate each other from as far back as their college days when Washington was at Florida State and Crowder was at Florida. That'll be an interesting part of the game to watch tomorrow night.

**While we're on the subject of Monday Night Football, I'll make my Jets pick. This is such an important game for the Jets, because it's a game they have no business losing. If they lose, they're nothing more than the Buffalo Bills, who played teams like the Patriots and Saints tough before getting smoked last week by Miami. If the Jets are for real, they'll beat Miami Monday night. If they lose, they're no different than Jets teams of the past that have gotten off to fast starts. Of course, I've seen only evidence that makes me believe the former over the latter, so I say Jets 31, Dolphins 10. Please let them prove me right.

**My worst week of picking games so far this season came last week. I hit on only a couple of underdogs (Cleveland and Tampa), and lost the rest. So this week, at the risk of you actually reading this and thinking I know what I'm doing, I'll just observe some of the spreads, and reason out loud why I'm picking what I'm picking. I feel like, even though the Giants have been whooping these poorer teams, 15-and-a-half is a lot of points for Oakland. Especially with Manning not 100%. Maybe like a 13-0 Giants win this week. I don't know. They'll probably prove me wrong to the tune of 70-3. I like Atlanta in San Francisco a lot, with the Falcons getting 2-and-a-half - I feel like they'll take out their aggression over losing in New England on the 49ers. And I'm going with Washington getting 3-and-a-half in Carolina, with the idea that they have looked less bad than the Panthers...though don't get me wrong - both have looked pretty bad.

SUNDAY PAPER

This is not a live blog.

At first glance, that may not seem like news. To understand why it's notable, you would have had to have been reading my work for at least the past couple of years. (You can catch up here and here, if you're so inclined.)

Those past couple of years have featured some marathon days of baseball and football watching, requiring some fancy television maneuvering on my part and some luck in the television schedule (the Jets on network television for my rabbit-eared TV, with the Mets on the baseball package on the cable TV).

The days with the above set-up have ended in utter disappointment, making me wonder which is worse - that one day of disappointment, capping half a month of terrible play by the Mets where they miss the playoffs on the last day of the season (not much worse the second year than the first, to be quite honest), or elimination from any chance at contention by June. I would say each leaves a bad taste in your mouth, with the latter bringing back bad memories of my high school years to go along with the disappointment. The only good news here is that early on I knew this Mets season wouldn't come down to missing the playoffs on the last day of the season.

So much, though, conspired against me having my usual "Last Sunday of the Baseball Season" set-up. To wit:

1) The Mets are terrible.

2) The Mets are early, the Jets are a 4 o'clock start. So I don't have to worry about the two teams going opposite one another.

3) I wouldn't be able to put the Jets on network TV anyway because the Patriots are the 1 o'clock CBS game and CBS wouldn't have the 4 o'clock game on local TV.

4) My rabbit-eared TV doesn't work anymore thanks to the government's move back in June to digitalize it all. (Was that what happened? I don't even remember how that all worked.)

5) I now have two mobile children, as opposed to the one mobile and one infant a year ago.

And so I prepare for another October of watching teams other than the Mets play in the post-season with just a regular Sunday blog. Let's just hope there's not a rematch in the World Series.

**So far having no DirecTV is not having a tremendous impact on my enjoyment of the football season. The first two weeks of the season were on local TV (though I went to the Meadowlands for the week 2 game), and last week I had a great time with Dave in Brighton at a local establishment watching the Jets. I should have no trouble finding Jets-Saints somewhere this afternoon, and my wife has been wonderful about helping me get out to see these games. She rescheduled her afternoon tutoring so that I could go out at 4.

**I can't start picking against the Jets now...why should I? Defense gets the nod over offense - and this should be a really entertaining game. I'll say Jets 21, Saints 20

**My underdogs were pretty terrible last week. I missed picking against the Lions and Bengals, and picking Tampa and Buffalo (no points for the Bills keeping it close late). In addition to the Jets this week, I'm liking a lot of other road teams - Baltimore in New England is getting 2-and-a-half (the Ravens have played so much better than the Patriots this season), Tampa Bay getting six-and-a-half in Washington (the Redskins have looked that bad), San Diego getting six-and-a-half in Pittsburgh (just seems like a lot, considering the Steelers have yet to look that good), and Green Bay getting three-and-a-half in Minnesota (and Favre getting a big target on his back). Seems to me like I'm picking too many road teams this week (I have quite a few road favorites as well), but there are a lot of bad teams playing at home, I guess.

**I think I'm rooting for the Twins to overtake the Tigers, just to see what happens with the Metrodome being occupied Monday night by football when there might have to be a playoff game there. I have no reason to hate Minnesota...I don't love the Tigers, although there's a feel-good story in there with the state of things in Detroit. But the larger issue here is that Detroit is in the midst of a pretty significant collapse when they had a chance to wrap things up. Watching the Mets go through that the past couple of years, all you can think about is how difficult it is to blow a late-season lead like that - not only does everything have to go wrong for the team in the lead, but everything has to go right for the chasing team. Same thing with what's going on out west in the NL, even though both the Dodgers and Rockies have clinched playoff spots. The Rockies were fifteen-and-a-half games out at one point! That's an incredible turnaround. It just seems so hard to blow a lead like that...yet, the Dodgers watched their lead evaporate until they had to fight for the division in the final weekend. Too bad neither of these races will erase the Mets of 2007 and 2008 from their ignominious standing.

**Oh, ignominious and the Mets reminds me of Omar Minaya. Not to beat a dead horse, but with the Blue Jays firing J. P. Ricciardi, it makes me think there's now someone available for the Mets who actually knows a thing or two about baseball. I know Ricciardi pretty much botched any deal for Roy Halladay, but I bet he'd work well with the Mets. Too bad we'll never find out just how well.

**Stay with me this week. After a Jets recap on Monday I'll have baseball playoff picks for Tuesday.

SUNDAY PAPER

And today it begins. Yes, the full slate of games that begins the NFL season, but on a personal level, for me it's life after DirecTV.


When we bought and moved into our house five years ago, it represented a freedom of choice for us - if we wanted a dish, we could get a dish. (As opposed to our apartment, which had a restriction on satellite dishes.) Thus, we fulfilled my dream of watching the Jets when I wanted, without having to leave the comfort of my own home (and allowing me to let fly whatever I needed to say during a game in the company of family rather than complete strangers).

Well, after last year's debacle of a season, I succumbed to my wife's request to go to a cheaper cable option, thinking I would never care to schedule my Sundays around the Jets again.

Then this weekend hit. And I still care.

It's not easy being a Jets fan in New England for a number of reasons...but primarily it's because the Jets are often televised opposite the Patriots. With the increase in the number of prime-time Patriots games, I've lucked into some TV windows where the Jets are the local TV option - but that hasn't had an effect on me recently because of the Sunday Ticket.

This year, though, I'm going to have to heavily rely on those days. And today happens to be one of them. With the Patriots playing Monday Night Football, the Jets-Texans is the nationally televised CBS game. And next week I'm going to the home opener (although it's a game I would have been able to see at home, since it's against New England). So two games down, 14 to worry about.

A small part of me misses the old days when I'd get to a bar that had the Sunday Ticket at around 11:30am, reserve myself a booth with a TV, and then eat lots of appetizers. I'm kind of excited to see who would be up for recapturing that element of our lives from five years ago.

But I'm realizing now that I'm a little worried about the days when the Jets face a must-win situation and I'm stuck in enemey territory, and I can't yell at the TV. I just hope I don't cry if they lose.

*I hope my head doesn't explode today. First full weekend of NFL, a few baseball doubleheaders, and a golf final round to boot.

*I've mentioned this before, but I'm not really buying the Houston Texans. I'll go with Jets 24, Houston 20. And if I'm smelling big upset anywhere, I look no further than Foxboro, Massachusetts. Now, this does come with a caveat - I did pick the Patriots in a survivor pool, so I feel pretty strongly that they're going to win. But if any team can stretch their defensive weaknesses, it's the Bills, with Lee Evans and Terrell Owens. Plus, there's the Richard Seymour trade. There are shades of the Lawyer Milloy deal here, when the Pats got plastered by the Bills in the game after that trade. But I don't get the impression Seymour had the same relationship with his teammates that Milloy had...I have it in my mind that Seymour was kind of a loner. That's how I imagine it at least. Anyway, maybe there are repercussions. But, again, I picked the Patriots, so this is just a thought I'm throwing out there. Of course, the fact that I picked the Patriots makes me feel strongly that they might lose, too, because that's the way things go for me.

*I forgot that Sports Illustrated had picked the Mets to win the World Series this year. I should have listened to my Red Sox fan friends who were quick to point out after that prediction that SI had also picked the Red Sox to win it all in a year they would rather forget. (I think it was 2003.) It's sad that the only teams below the Mets in the standings are the likes of Kansas City, Washington, Pittsburgh, and Baltimore. Not the company a team with that kind of payroll should be keeping. I'll add that it was nice to see David Wright come through in a clutch situation and carry the Mets to a big win over the Phillies on Saturday...if a meaningless game in mid-September for the Mets counts as a big win.

*Your weekly update on Hall of Famer Gary Carter and the Long Island Ducks - the Ducks are at .500, and have a 2 game lead in the wild card chase with 8 games remaining, all against last place teams. Seems like the Ducks are right where they want to be.

SUNDAY PAPER

I'm a little disappointed in the way things played out with the new and improved extra-protective batting helmet that David Wright tried out this week.

I'll admit - the things look silly. Players from the Mets and Rockies apparently called Wright The Great Gazoo, referencing the Flinstones character...I think it brings to mind Michael Dukakis. Regardless, I think they're necessary, and I don't think David Wright helped matters much by deciding to ditch the helmet after one game.


According to Wright, the change was due to comfort rather than appearance, but he took enough ridicule from all angles that I have to think he was somewhat worried about his image.

And that's the problem, because Wright is a star, and his image could have helped garner more widespread use of the product.

The Rawlings S100 helmet has extra padding and has been shown to withstand 100-mile-an-hour pitches thrown from 2 feet away. David Wright, for example, was hit by a 90+-mile-an-hour fastball from 60 feet, 6 inches away. And he's just the most prominent example.

The head is a sensitive area - and this is an issue that becomes more and more relevant as pitchers throw the ball harder and harder. I think it sends a horrible message when players like Jeff Francoeur talk about how they won't wear the helmets because they don't want to look like "clowns".

The idea of the helmet is protection, not style. We're in the year 2009 here, so I'm sure there will be some sort of technological advancement soon where the same kind of protection is offered in some sort of slimmer model. But I think priority number one when they're sitting down testing these helmets is not to make sure Jeff Francoeur doesn't look like a clown.

Unfortunately, David Wright looked like a clown, and he didn't like it. Maybe it would have been better for him to try the helmet out at home, so at least he didn't get ridiculed by the fans.

As it stands now, Major League Baseball will require minor league teams to wear the helmets next season. Hopefully that carries into the majors soon...or Rawlings gets something together that doesn't look so padded.

The events of the past week have given the helmet a bit of a black eye. But if the players don't start wearing it, they might suffer something much worse.

*I hate poor sportsmanship. I hate self-congratulatory behavior, especially when it is directed at someone else specifically to put them down. And I hate seeing fights. So I'm pleased that a heavy punishment was doled out to Oregon's LeGarrette Blount for his sucker punch to the jaw of Boise State's Byron Hout. And I don't want to say Hout had it coming, but he certainly didn't help matters by going up to Blount to rub it in. Yes, Blount had done a lot of talking leading up to the game, and probably during the game. But Hout should have let the scoreboard speak for itself. I'm glad Boise State's coaches reacted to Hout's actions the way they did, and it's unfortunate the way Blount reacted...but none of it should have happened if everyone had been a good sport in the first place.

*One thing I took away from last week's Jets-Giants pre-season matchup is that I didn't realize Mario Manningham was with the Giants. I missed his four catches last season, I guess. It looks like he'll be a bigger part of their plans this year, which I like, because I'm liking the Manning-to-Manningham name connection.

*Lots of mixed feelings as I sat and watched a lot of college football on Saturday. I really enjoyed it, obviously, but that means there's no turning back - back to school, end of summer weather, all that. I do love the fall, but there's a tough adjustment period, especially this year.

*Your Long Island Ducks update - Their playoff position is in jeopardy - they're a game behind second-place Bridgeport, but they play Bridgeport later this week. Long Island is 26-28, six games behind the division leader. You better believe Hall of Famer Gary Carter will have his players fighting for that wild card spot this week. We'll have another update next week.

*Can't wait for the NFL to get going. I'll have some previews coming this week.

SUNDAY PAPER

Sundays for me are a bit of a mixed bag. I love a good Sunday breakfast, relaxing, watching football during the fall, and reading the Sunday paper. But the Sunday paper routine for me can be a bit daunting.

Currently I read the New York Times, Boston Globe, and the local Metrowest Daily News on Sunday. Well, "read" may be a bit of a stretch. I suspect if I read all of those Sunday papers it would take hours, and that stresses me out a bit on my relaxing Sunday. So it amounts to a scan of the headlines, maybe the occasional first paragraph or full article, of all of the sections of all of the papers. Then I do the Globe and Times crosswords.

But the one thing I do read almost all of is the sports sections. And if you, unlike me, need something else to peruse over coffee on a Sunday morning, I offer you my new feature - the Sunday Paper, my thoughts on all things going on, patterned after the columns introduced to the country via the Boston Globe by the likes of Peter Gammons. (And since copied by almost all papers across the country, so I don't feel bad ripping it off as well.)

*I don't know what to make of the Scott Kazmir trade. It seems to me that his value has never been lower (8-7 this year, with a 5.92 ERA, 91 K in 111 IP), yet the Rays got three prospects in return. When his potential was sky-high, the Mets traded him for only Victor Zambrano. I do know how I feel about this trade, come to think of it...it proves that he's forever linked to the Mets in a negative way.

*I always was under the impression that a "Player to be named later" was someone who the two teams hadn't quite decided on to complete a trade, but that whole thought process has been turned on its head after the Kazmir trade. The Rays got back two prospects and a player to be named, and Joe Maddon's quote was, "We're very excited about the player that we can't name yet..." That implies the Rays know who they're getting, but the information is being withheld. Maybe I should have known that was the process (or is it always the way I thought, and this one is the exception?), but I didn't.

*I like how the NFL Network shows almost every pre-season game. I couldn't see the Giants-Jets game live on Saturday night in Massachusetts, but it's being aired Sunday morning on the NFL Network.

*I'm intrigued by "Big Fan", the Patton Oswalt movie about an obsessive New York Giants fan who gets beat up by one of his idols. I think I'm afraid to see it, though, because it might hit a little too close to home for me. I don't know if I'm that guy. In fairness to me, I've only called in to one sports radio show ever, and I'm still proud of it - I'd say it was about 2000, and the Boston daytime hosts were talking about Jim Abbott for some reason. Boston sports radio, for those who don't know, is pretty awful, and they don't talk about anything in the wide world of sports, just the local teams, and mostly just the Red Sox (especially in 2000). When they talk about someone like Jim Abbott, they are woefully underinformed. So they start going off about how it must have been impossible for him to hit with one hand. I called in to tell them they were doing their listeners a disservice by not doing any research and finding out that Abbott could hit, and hit better than .400 during his senior year in high school (I read a book about him when I was a kid). That may not translate to the majors, but don't say he can't hit. All right. Maybe I should try to see the movie.

*It's a downright shame Nyjer Morgan broke his hand this week...and not just because his injury probably spells the end for my fantasy team. Yes, he filled the box score with runs, he was hitting, and he stole a ton of bases, but he was exciting to watch. Defensively he would track anything down. The Nationals made a great trade getting him from Pittsburgh, and he has been amazing for Washington since the trade.

*With 22 games left in the regular season, Gary Carter's Long Island Ducks are at .500; 23-23. They're battling for a wild card spot. Let's not forget, as I've written in the past, that all Hall of Famer Gary Carter has done as a manager in the minors is take his team to the championship (three championship appearances, winning twice). We'll keep you posted on the Ducks as their season winds down, and since that's the only whiff of playoffs that a baseball team I care about will get.