Monday, April 27, 2009

My 10-yr-old nephew pitches better than Oliver Perez... Jets finally sign a cute QB... Switzerland bans nude hiking

Big, big, big weekend Tri-State area sports fans! The Mets nearly swept the Nationals. (Though really, that's not much of an accomplishment.) The Red Sox swept the Yankees. (Pathetic.) The New York Jets, in a move that surprised and thrilled their fans, took USC quarterback Mark Sanchez as their fifth draft pick overall. And the Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden voted to ban nude hiking. (Okay, that is not technically a New York area story, but I knew fans of the blog, many of whom are born or naturalized New Yorkers, would want to know.)

First to the Mets and pitcher Oliver Perez. Never has $36 million dollars been so poorly spent or invested (well, except maybe for the $300 million Fred Wilpon invested with Bernard Madoff) -- the price the Mets paid to retain starting pitcher Oliver "Ollie" Perez. You would think for $36 million Perez could throw the ball at least 90 mph over the plate and get a few strike outs. But no. Once again the Mets $36 million man went down in flames, causing the Mets to lose 8 - 1 TO THE LAST PLACE 3 (now 4) - 13 WASHINGTON NATIONALS, making Perez 1-2 with a 9.31 ERA, and putting the Mets in second to last place in the NL East. Pathetic.

The New York Yankees were almost equally pathetic over the weekend, losing to the Boston Red Sox three games in a row. Things got so bad that in the fifth inning of Sunday's game that the Bo Sox Jacoby Ellsbury was able to steel home against Yanks pitcher Andy Pettitte. And I got a news flash for all you Yankees fans: I doubt that Alex Rodriguez returning to the lineup on May 15 is going to make a big difference. Some difference, sure. But unless the Yankees do something about their pitching/pitchers, they aren't going to even make it to the playoffs this year. (Ditto the Mets.)

And in much happier sports news: The New York Jets selected USC quarterback Mark Sanchez in Saturday's NFL draft, to much cheering and high-fiving from New York Jets fans, including WFAN's Craig Carton, the guy who last summer led a rally to get Brett Favre to the Jets. 'Nuff said.

It is waaaaaay too soon to say/predict if Mark Sanchez will be the franchise quarterback the Jets and their fans have been praying for, but from all the scouting reports, the guy shows a lot of promise. And did I mention he is way cute? (Seriously, though, could things really get much worse for the Jets? Great move, Mike Tannenbaum.)

In other Jets news, just before the draft Saturday the Jets apparently contacted former Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress's agent about a possible deal. Seriously? Yeah, seriously. (Huh. I had no idea you could play professional football while serving a prison term.)

And with that, I'm off to hit the showers.

6 comments:

TommyMac71 said...

If I were Jerry Manuel, here's what I do with Ollie...Next outing, I take him out IMMEDIATELY upon his first walk. Next outing, on this second walk, and so forth til about the fourth walk.

He is very close to one of those mysterious DL stints. (And Bobby Parnell becomes a star).

As for Yanks/Red Sox, it's way too early to talk about a "magical" weekend at Fenway.

Attempting to steal home with the bases loaded and two outs is just a stupid play.

I'm already tired of Yanks/Sox.


As for Sanchez, I'm thrilled. But I think he'll be distracted. Not cuz of NY, but because he plays Vince on Entourage....

Anonymous said...

J-thanks for inroducing us to the one bright spot in NYC sports news-hunky QB for the Jets-style points!

I might need a COLD shower too!

Dave S. said...

Go Nats! That game snapped a 16-game away losing streak.

Stan Kasten will be in touch with your nephew shortly.

Anonymous said...

Your 10 year old nephew predicted Ollie would fall apart in the 5th inning. Sadly for all of us, it was much earlier. BUT, at least they put our BIRTHDAY wishes to your brother-in-law on the scoreboard (too bad your niece and I were in the ladies' room)! And, for the record, CITI FIELD is pretty nice - too bad the seats are so pricey, no one can see it!

J. said...

Oops! I meant my TEN-year-old nephew. (I have since corrected the title. : ) And I look forward to the day when I get to see him pitch in a MLB game.

Very funny, Tommy. : )

Ditto Dave. (I'm sure my nephew would be thrilled, even though he's a Mets fan.)

Dave S. said...

OK, can we get the kid into a Nationals (or even a Natinals) jersey pronto?