Tiger Woods won the U.S. Open on the 91st hole in sudden death after a full 18 playoff holes on Monday.  Yes, that was amazing but he did it with a bad knee which everyone knew about his surgery after the Masters.  But, he also had a broken leg.  Amazing!

Tiger will be healing for the rest of the season.  Best wishes on getting back better than ever.

Posted by a encouraged Tank in NY.

Jerry Manuel earned is 501st win as a major league manager yesterday as the Mets did all the right thing. A come from behind, extra inning game where Jose Reyes had three hits and scratched out three runs, clutch hitting from David Wright, good pitching, and a home run from Carlos Delgado. The Mets take a series from the first place Angles 2 games to 1.

That was the good news. Now the Mets have to go in and finish off this road trip with the same level of play. If the Mets are to come back and take the Wild Card, they have to start playing like they did last night. Many the distractions are now gone and they can get back to playing baseball.

Posted by Steve in New York

It's hard to find a more painful 24 hours in sports than on Tuesday.  It started with the Mets firing Willie Randolph in the middle of the night, about 3:15 a.m. Eastern Time.  It ended with the Boston Celtics destroyed the LA Lakers 131-92 to win the NBA Finals.  I had predicted a Celtics Championship back on Halloween 2007 as part of the Boston Sports Apocalypse.  I don't like being wrong but wanted to be wrong about the Celtics because the future of the sports world and how the rest of the world may react to it.

What impact does the Boston Sports Apocalypse have on everyone else?  Mr. Met is frowning on the cover of the NY Post and that's even before Linda punches his lights out.  Steve is too depressed to write. The Yankees are dealing with Ching-Ming Wang's injury by signing on-the-wagon-again/off-the- wagon-again Sidney Ponson. 

You don't have to be Reverend Dr. Jack Van Impe to know where this is going.  Food riots.  Climate change.  Extreme heat and humidity.  Much of the Heartland is under water.  The US is about to bomb Iran.  The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below 12,500 for the first time since Saint Patrick's Day.


Where Do We Go From Here:

(1) Without sports and personal repentance, we are doomed to more Boston sports championships as well as global pestilence, wars, famines, etc.

(2) If the Mets don't win this year, I will recommend that the Wilpons' fire Omar and hire Steve as the Mets next General Manager.  I know it will be difficult for Steve to be Vice President of the United States AND the Mets GM at the same time but I only need him in Washington for time breaking votes in the Senate.  If past travel patterns are indicative of the future, he'll spend most of his Vice Presidency and Mets General Managership in Pakistan, the Netherlands, or wherever you throw a dart on the map. 

You know what to do.  Pray to God/G-d/Allah/Buddha/etc for forgiveness and root for all Boston opponents.  The fate of the (sports) world lies in your hands and hearts.

Posted by a Repentant Tank at the edge of the Biblical Abyss.

Firing your manager is one thing. String him along is another. Making him get on a plane to California and wait until after the Mets win at 3:15am New York time is just unprofessional.

The Mets really showed a lack of professionalism in firing Willie this morning. They fired him since they disagree with his on the field decisions and handling of the players. They replaced him with his bench coach, the same person who helped Willie make those decisions.

We will see now if the Mets respond well. They sure better.

Posted by Steve in New York

 

Update:

New York Newsday calls the Mets Ownership Cowards. Read here.

The Lakers huge collapse of a 24 point lead on Thursday night gave the Celtics a commanding 3-1 lead. 

I liked Jimmy Kimmel's pre-game interview of Senator Barack Obama on Sunday.  But, I had to change the channel because I have seen too much KG, either being offered one of Bill Russell's championship rings if he doesn't win a championship and the annoying Gatorade commercials.  One thing for certain, I'll be boycotting Gatorade for the near future.  I changed the channel to CSPAN.  BTW,  Brian Lamb had a fascinating interview with Michelle Bernard of the Independent Women's Forum. 

The Lakers came out on fire in Game 5 but the Celtics chipped away.

Who will Bill Walton root for?  His son Luke who plays for the Lakers OR the Celtics he won a championship with.  On Father's Day, you can see Bill smile after Luke made a basket.

The Lakers almost folded again on Sunday.  The Celtics cut the 19 point Laker lead to about four points with about 5:17 left in the third quarter.  But, Derek Fisher hustled to get and win a jump ball.  A three pointer followed and the Lakers finally won the third quarter.

I know Steve and many other Knick fans wanted Mark Jackson as Knicks head coach.  But, I really enjoy his commentary as an analyst, especially the "fake hustle" perspective.

Former Knick Head Coach Jeff Van Gundy was Mark Jackson's broadcasting colleague.  He also made great coverage points like Vladimir Radmanovic not sealing the baseline against Paul Pierce.  Van Gundy recommended that Lamar Odom guard Pierce.  I don't know why Phil Jackson didn't make the adjustment until the fourth quarter.

The Lakers thankfully won 103-98.

Bottom Line: I know the Celtics have a 3-2 advantage and will have the home crowd behind them for Game 6 in Boston.  But, if the Lakers can force a Game 7 on Thursday, anything can happen.  I like the Lakers' chances.  Keep the Faith!  Go Lakers!

Posted by a relieved Tank in LaLa Land.

The Mets lost a lot of games recently and once again the media speculates that Willie will go. This will continue for the rest of the season unless Omar will come out and say "Willie is our manager no matter what, stop speculating." Unfortunately he has not done that and the writing is on the wall, Willie may not last the whole season. He may not last past the All-Star break.

Steve and the Tank will make one last appeal for Willie. Think of it this way, interim managers never work out. There is no body out there who can "save" the season. So the season is already pretty much done for the Mets, so why not just sick with Willie, he can't do any worse?

Posted by Steve in New York

Steve is depressed about the Mets.  He thankfully isn't going to jump but is considering covering curling.  He finally came around to my cricket suggestion of a year ago.  Steve is nowhere to be found -- probably somewhere between New York and Boston.  Linda is at her niece's recital so I am going to have to put the Mets on my shoulders and carry them home to victory.

The Rangers haven't played at Shea Stadium since they played the Yankees there in 1970s during the Stadium reconstruction. 

You know I am superstitious, especially on Friday the 13th.  My superstition was confirmed by Josh Hamilton's first inning home run. 

Were the Mets going to fold and lose their sixth in a row?  I didn't think so and the Mets fought back with Reyes lead-off hit.  A balk.  A high throw to first.  The Mets lead 2-1 at the end of the first.

Reyes hit an infield single in the fifth.  He stole second.  Castillo sacrificed Reyes to third.  DW sacrifice flied to right Field.  Mets 3 - Rangers 1.

Oliver Perez helped his own cause by singling in two in the sixth.  The Mets added two more runs to make it Mets 7 - Rangers 1.  Schoenweis and Sanchez came in the eighth and ninth innings to thankfully secure the win and the Mets won by a final of 7-1. 

Posted by The Tank reporting live from Shea Stadium in Queens.

Up here in Boston, the locals are enjoying the best sports quadfecta of all time. Patriots, Bruins, Celtics, and the Red Sox all went deep into the playoffs or won a championship.

Since I can't stand to have Boston on top of all four major sports, I am rooting for the Lakers. I was excited last night when the Lakers had a 24 point lead. But unfortunately, the Celtics showed that they are true champs and overcame the 24 point deficit and won the game to take a 3-1 lead in the NBA finals. It is obvious that the Lakers have given up and the Celtics will win the title, depressing more and more sports fans in the greater New York area.

How do we undo the Boston hex on New York? Voodoo dolls is all we have left.

Posted by Steve in Boston (of all places)

Curt Schilling sat courtside for Game 2 of the NBA Finals in Boston.  He made critical comments of Kobe Bryant.  When asked for his response to Schilling's critique, Kobe responded "Go Yankees!"  Touche.

You gotta love the NBA Finals.  It brings out the intensity of fans and players alike.  Go Lakers!  Go Yankees!

Posted by The Tank in Lakerland.

Saturday through Tuesday, especially Monday and Tuesday were unseasonably and dangerously hot and humid in New York City.  Moving, much less going to the Mets-Diamondbacks game, was out of the question.

I made the right call for the following reasons:

(1) It was hotter than heck.
(2) The Mets lost 9-5.  The Mets squandered a 5-1 lead. 
(3) There was a 45 minute rain delay and the game didn't finish until about 11:30 pm.
(4) I was home to watch the Lakers-Celtics Game 3 of the NBA Finals.  Even though the Lakers missed lots of free throws, it was a great game.  Sasha Vujacic hit a three pointer to give the Lakers a 81-76 lead late in the fourth quarter.  The Lakers won 87-81.  Kobe Bryant led all scorers with 36 points.

The series is now 2-1 Celtics.  The Lakers are civilization's last hope against the Boston Sports Apocalypse.  Go Lakers!

Posted by a sweating Tank in Hot and Humid NY.

In an era plagued by steroids, watching Ken Griffey Jr hit his 600th home run is very exciting. In 19 major league seasons Jr has proven that he is an awesome player and the real deal. Jr connected to hit his 600th home run and if he stays healthy, it is more than possible that he can pass Sosa and Willie Mays and finish his career in fourth place.

Congratulations to Jr!

This also shows just how good A-Rod is, A-Rod is only 32 and has 528 home runs, on pace to enter the 600 club when he is 35 years old, 3 years younger than Jr.

Player	Home runs
Barry Bonds	762
Hank Aaron	755
Babe Ruth	714
Willie Mays	660
Sammy Sosa	609
Ken Griffey Jr.	600