Saturday, June 28, 2008

New Order Your Silent Face Glasgow 2007

One of my fave NO songs, the simple and elegant Your Silent Face, from the brand new Live In Glasgow DVD.



Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Mariners 11 Mets 0: Yet Another Low

Okay, losing 5-2 yesterday to the worst team in the major leagues, with the majority of the winning runs coming from an unlikely grand slam home run from a pitcher not accustomed to batting in the first place, may have been just another step back after the encouraging signs from the Colorado series. However, the totally ineffectual showing against a career spot starter who entered the season with a grand total of 16 wins in four plus seasons with the Texas Rangers certainly proved without a doubt that the Mets do not possess the ability to produce an offense capable of challenging anybody on any given day. The weak showing against the Mariners relievers after Felix Hernandez went down with an ankle sprain yesterday has had most Mets fans in a testy mood, but there certainly seemed to be little fire up the Mets tonight in another vain attempt to come back from an early deficit, save the fourth inning ejections of manager Jerry Manuel and outfielder Carlos Beltran for arguing a strike call.



Other factors that might be remembered from this game is that David Wright sat out for the first time this year and that the Mariners had a balanced offensive attack as Mets starer Oliver Perez had another 'off' night by giving up two more home runs.



Considering that the Mets are still only four games out of first place at this point of the season with a sub .500 record just goes to show the relative parity of baseball these days; the general consensus of Mets fans is that if the team can't get it together against the celler-dwelling Mariners, how will they manage against teams that hit the ball better, such as the Philadelphia Phillies?




ESPN RECAP; THE GORY DETAILS

Monday, June 23, 2008

Mariners 5 Mets 2: Further Indignities Suffered

Once again, in excruciating manner, the Mets come undone by a couple of things that should never have happened en route to another devastating loss, this time at the hand of the visiting Seattle Mariners (yes, the team with the worst record in baseball and one of the worst pitching staffs in the game as well).


It wasn't a bad game that designated ace Johan Santana pitched, but seeing as how he's given up nearly a home run per game, the fact that the one from this game came from Seattle starting pitcher Felix Hernandez and was a grand slam to boot, took the wind out of the sails of the crowd who came to see if the modest strides made by the team out west were more than just baby steps.


Okay, a team can overcome one mistake (truthfully, there was also an error from David Wright prolonged the second inning, the one where Hernandez came to bat with two outs), but the Mets swung the bat so ineffectually against the depleted Mariners staff that the crowd certainly seemed to have lost the will to cheer the team on to an unlikely come-from-behind victory; show us something, it seemed they said, and then we'll get behind you.



The Mets managed just four hits for the game, two each from Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, and made the Mariners staff look damn near invincible, save for a brief respite when Sean Green continually fell behind hitters in the ninth, until Arthur Rhodes came in to slam the door shut on the hope of the Mets.


Hernandez pitched masterfully in his stint, but was unfortunately taken off before he could get credit for a win by covering home plate on a wild pitch. Beltran made a clean slide into home, Hernandez just had his foot in the wrong place and Beltran slid into it; fortunately, Hernandez did not have his foot totally planted, so his leg gave way enough to have "just" sustained what appeared to be a severe sprain.


The fact that the home run by Hernandez was the first ever by a Mariners pitcher, and the first grand slam by an American League pitcher since 1971, pointed out the new manner in which this year's Mets would find another way to lose another ball game. Not to dis Hernandez, for he has certainly had an All-Star caliber year, but even after his injury in the bottom of the fifth, the Mets should certainly have done better than they did against a nondescript Mariners relief pitching staff.


Doesn't matter much if the Mets win the last two series, for they have certainly showed the mettle of a team that can't stand its own prosperity.



METS RECAP

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Mets Fire Randolph: It's All Fun And Games Till A Window Gets Broken....


.........or your team seriously under performs for the last year, but this isn't a children's book nor are we talking about monopoly money in a fantasy baseball league, this Mets team has certainly been a cause for consternation during that time span.


Omar Minaya let the word slip out just after midnight PST (3:14 a.m in the east) that Willie Randolph would be let go as Mets manager, just a couple of hours after a hard fought 9-6 win over the Anaheim Angels, though the general manager manager would not make himself available for comment for several hours afterward. The very strange timing of the announcement, announced just after the first day on a six-game western road swing for the Mets, certainly has made the Mets front office look incredibly inept, none of my friends have made positive comments about the way Randolph was let go, nor about the way the rumours kept swirling for the last couple of weeks that any game could be Willie's last.


The game itself was a good one, Jose Reyes conjured up a couple of runs by his base running, Carlos Beltran hit a couple of home runs, and a relatively balanced hitting attack (every starter save Carlos Delgado and Trot Nixon) got a hit along with either a run or an RBI. Starting pitcher Mike Pelphrey did a decent job in securing the win, though he faltered in the seventh inning and was charged with all six runs that the Angels scored.


It has to be said that the job Aaron Heilman did in the seventh was great; as team the Mets pitchers only struck out two batters, but those came at a very critical time in the bottom of the seventh and Heilman recorded both of them. The Angels had closed the Mets lead to 8-6 and had runners on the corners with just one out, but Heilman got both Vlad Guerrero and Torii Hunter swinging at the third strike to quell that rally, leaving Duaner Sanchez to get the Angles 1-2-3 in the eight. Billy Wagner raised blood pressure around the country by getting two runners on base with one out, but got bailed out when Garrett Anderson lined out to Reyes for an unassisted double play to end the game.


Not many Mets fans are arguing that Willie shouldn't have been fired, nor do they seem to expect a bit turnaround now that bench coach Jerry Manuel has been named interim manager, but the actions of the last 24 hours have left a feeling that Minaya certainly knows his days are numbered if the team doesn't turn it around and soon.



METS GAME RECAP

Monday, June 16, 2008

Troy McClure: We Remember You (And Your Bad Films)












Troy McClure Film or Actual Terrible Movie?



Score: 93% (14 out of 15)





Well, most of 'em anyway, a fun little quiz to differentiate one of Troy's fictional titles versus titles of actual wretched movies. Of the non-McClure vehicles, only one was given the MST3K treatment, though most all of them would have qualified after having read the plot details provided at the site.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Diamondbacks 9 Mets 5: Shhh, Trainwreck In Progress


Watching the game tonight, I was beginning to feel a bit charitable along with Gary Cohen when he described the pitching of the Mets relief staff during the Padres series as being good, thinking that if a team holds the opponent to just one run, then a team with the offensive firepower of the Mets should be able to have won at least two of the three 2-1 games.



Silly me for thinking that, as tonight showed that even after grabbing a 5-1 lead after two innings, that thought was just a mirage as the bullpen imploded en route to a devastating loss tonight. It's a peculiar feeling of hopelessness, seeing as how now Mets fans have absolutely no faith of the team holding the lead once they have one, nor of them being able to rally from late inning deficits to win games, I think that total for this year at this point is just two wins, but I'm just too cranky to look it up at this point.


Okay, so the bullpen is iffy at best, and not always to blame for the losses, but tonight's debacle must be placed on the shoulders of Claudio Vargas, Joe Smith, and Duaner Sanchez for their ineffectual pitching tonight. The loud booing by the remaining fans at the end of the brief sting by Sanchez in the top of the ninth, giving up three runs on two home runs to expand on their 6-5 lead, certainly was an unmistakable sign about the discontent with the product on the field; sometimes how you lose a game magnifies that type of aggravation.


On the positive side tonight, it was great to see Moises Alou strike the first pitch he saw back in action after his period of inactivity into left field with a two run, two out single to give the Mets a 3-1 lead after the first inning. Such a shame that those good feelings were long gone by the end of the game, lengthened by a one hour rain delay in the middle of the game.




ESPN RECAP

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Padres Sweep Mets, Leave Them Sinking In The Bay


The positive feelings created by the Mets winning their previous three series were crushed in an excruciating four game series with the Padres in San Diego. After losing three consecutive games by a 2-1 score (blowing a lead in the last two), their offense finally showed up today in a manner that should have been effective, barring the unexpected collapse of closer Billy Wagner, who gave up a two-out three-run pinch hit home run to ex-Met Tony Clark to cap an 8-6 loss.


If it's not one leak, it's the other, as one part of the team invariably fails to mesh with the rest to provide the reasons for the latest Mets loss. Failing to get clutch hits in the first three games against the last place Padres were a prime factor for those defeats, but now that Carlos Delgado has found his hitting stroke again, there's been no one behind him to capitalize on those opportunities.


The other bad news is that outfielder Ryan Church, one of the most consistent offensive producers for the Mets this year, did not play in the final three games of the series once he exhibited returned signs of the concussion he received in Atlanta last month, with a trip to the disabled list a distinct possibility at this point.


I know there's still 100 games to play, but this team has not given the fans any kind of confidence to believe that they can produce a comeback this season that equals the collapse of last season. It's definitely 'hold your breath' time when the Mets have a slim lead after six or so innings, and the chances of a late inning comeback are remarkably small for such a talented team. Grrr.



SUNDAY'S GAME RECAP

Friday, June 06, 2008

Off With Their Heads!

Still shaking my head at the reports of a Polish paper running a crudely edited pic of Leo Beenhakker, head coach of the Polish national football team, holding the severed heads of German player Micheal Ballack and German coach Joachim Loew in each hand on the eve of the Euro 2008 match between the two countries on Sunday. Like that'll redress the injustices of history and politics, a story with a pic of the paper is HERE.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

Celtics Vs. Lakers: Unclean! Unclean!

Taking a lyrical cue from the live version of The Fall's SPECTRE VS. RECTOR 2, no amount of washing everyday will get rid of that unclean feeling that I've been saddled with in rooting for the Boston Celtics to win the NBA title over the Los Angeles Lakers.


As a fan of the Trail Blazers since the inception of the franchise, it's been hard to ever root for the Lakers, but that has happened on occasion. Some of that was due to their opponent in the finals (cheer for Bill Laimbeer and the Pistons? not bloody likely!), and some times it was down to the style of play, especially when the Lakers and Celtics met in the finals in the 80's. The "Showtime" era version of the Lakers was a spectacular thing to witness when it was flowing smoothly.


The fact that Bill Walton was by then playing for the Celtics was another factor in never being able to embrace the Celtics when it came down to the finals, I suppose the acrimony over the split with the Blazers took quite awhile to subside with me, although the trouncing the Blazers gave the Celtics in the Garden for their only home loss in the 85-86 season was a very small bit of satisfaction to many.



A year ago it certainly appeared highly unlikely that both teams would meet for the championship, with the Celtics being mired in the depths of the NBA draft lottery and the Lakers enduring the "please trade me" game being played by Kobe Bryant.


Both teams and their general managers were being heavily criticized a year ago for the roster changes that didn't produce the on-floor results expected in both markets. I can also recall listening to Celtic fan and ESPN radio man Erik Kuselias moaning on the air about losing the number one lottery pick to the Blazers; he was so sure that Greg Oden was going to be a Celtic that he went ahead and purchased season tickets, and when the Celtics did not get that pick, he was wondering about how his wife was going to handle the burden of tickets for a lousy team.



My brother in Los Angeles was talking with Laker fans a year ago who wanted to trade Bryant to Portland for Brandon Roy (I know, it was just fan talk around the office, but it certainly appeared to some that the enchantment with Bryant had certainly worn thin in a number of places by that time). Also, for the fans of theory conspiracies, there are the rumours that Laker great Jerry West, at one time the general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies, was somehow invovled in the robbery that sent Pau Gasol to the Lakers for some warm bodies, though West has been on national radio twice lately to deny such accusations.


With such fan bases who, more than likely, could not have imagined what would transpire in the forthcoming NBA season, it is indeed hard to get behind either squad for the title. (Forgot to add that a friend of mine went to the Celtic/Blazer game in Portland this past year and wondered to me why Kevin Garnett became such a whiner once he joined the Celtics).


However, the Celtics this year are less odious to me than what transpired in Los Angeles with the Kobe drama, so it was with an unclean spirit that I say......BEAT L.A.!!!!. Actually, that wasn't as painful as I thought it might be, but just to be sure, I'm gonna go take a long hot shower now. ;)

Monday, June 02, 2008

Say Man..............

.......we're really gonna miss ya Bo. R.I.P. to a legend.