Last year, there was a surprise winner in the NCAA pool. It was my one year old son.
That’s right. Last year, I had a one year old fill out the brackets. I had him pick each and every game. Even better, he best everyone. His bracket was strengthened by him picking Duke to win it all last year. Here’s how I did it.
I went online and printed the logos for each of the 68 teams in the NCAA tournament. I made sure each logo was if equal size. I then printed them out, in color, and I put them in front of him. I always put the higher seed on top because that is how it appears in the bracket. I then asked him to pick one.
So, I did this starting on Monday and ending Wednesday evening. If he wasn’t interested, I moved in to something else. If he was, I went through as many as I possibly could.
So, in the end, he picked Duke, and he won the pool. Like in everything else he does, he showed why he’s smarter than Daddy He showed he’s a genius. I’m hoping he can repeat this performance each and every year. If he does it enough times, he can pay for his own college with his winnings.
In his first Spring start, Jacob deGrom showed decreased velocity, and he got hit around a bit. Today, deGrom will miss his start with back stiffness.
Take a deep breath. It’s still only Spring Training. The season is still about a month away. There is time for him to rest and improve. Even if he’s not ready right alway, there’s a lot of off days early in the season that the Mets can navigate April without deGrom if needed. However, that’s jumping the gun. It’s just one day. Relax. Just keep your composure:
Saturday was a beautiful Spring Day. Perfect day for a St. Paddy’s Day Parade. It was great seeing my little leprechaun enjoy the festivities.
His favorite parts were the Irish Stepdancers and the drummers accompanying the bagpipers. He asked Mommy for two lollipops so he could play the drums (on Daddy’s shirt) whenever the drummers came by. It was a near perfect day.
When the cart with the guy selling souvenirs came by I stopped to see if I could get my son something. That’s when he was nearly blinded by one if these types of geniuses:
Parade tip: Bring home your beer cup from Spring Training. A coffee top from 7-11 fits perfectly. ? pic.twitter.com/oRqKzdkUkY
— The 7 Line (@The7Line) March 13, 2016
Terrific.
Look, I know it’s a St. Paddy’s Day Parade, which means there’s going to be a segment of people intoxicated. However, I also thought all parades had family areas and drunken fool areas. The two should not meet. Well, they did on Saturday.
As my son was looking at toys he wanted, a drunk [expletive deleted] reached around him and pulls a mini-flag that has one of those pointy tops. Had I not turned my son at the last second the flag tip would’ve hit his eye instead of his cheek. One thing I soon discovered was how fast someone can go from the ground to running away screaming how crazy someone is.
I’m not going to argue that you can’t drink at a parade. It happens. However, every parade I’ve been at has been seen segmented. Families go here. Drinkers go there. Problems arise whena drunk fool stumbles into a family area ruining the experience for families, and in some instances hurting kids (leading to your own injuries).
Fast forward to Sunday morning. We went to an Easter Egg Hunt.
Every Easter Egg Hunt features “special eggs” that can be exchanged for bigger prizes. They are always limited. The rule is always one “special egg” per child. Of course, this really is an invitation for parents to be on their worst behavior.
First, they act like George Costanza pushing by women and children to get in front of everyone:
Then, they collect four or five or more. Fortunately, I don’t care about them right now. I just enjoy watching my kid collect the eggs. The toys they give for finding a “special egg” are too old for him. He just likes picking up the eggs and finding out what’s inside. He doesn’t care about the special eggs. As such, we just go to safer relatively empty area to collect the eggs.
However, in the future, I know no one abides by the rules and do not care if they push over a child (not an exaggeration). I’ll just have to be smarter to give my son a fair shot at getting the “special egg.”
This past weekend I really did see the worst in adult behavior in children’s venues. They really know how to ruin the fun for everyone. Fortunately, despite all the tomfoolery, my son has fun. At the end of the day, that’s what is most important.
There are moments that will forever stick out in your mind; moments that bring a father and son closer. For me, that moment was the 1989 NCAA Tournament. More specifically, I’m referring to the Championship Game.
The 1989 Championship Game was the first time my father was able to coax my mother into allowing me to stay up past my bedtime to watch a sporting event with him. This was the first year I had ever done an NCAA bracket, and I actually had Michigan and Seton Hall in the Championship game. I had Michigan winning the game too.
I still remember my father trying to talk me out of rooting for Michigan.
“Seton Hall wears blue uniforms. Blue is your favorite color.”
“Seton Hall is a Catholic school. Aren’t you an altar boy? You shouldn’t root against a Catholic school as an altar boy.”
“Seton Hall is in the Big East!”
There, you see, my father was like the dad in Rudy. There’s only one conference we root for in this house, and that’s the Big East. I remember when Getty did their annual Big East glasses promotion, my Dad would make sure he got each and ever glass to complete the set – even Miami. He never much liked Miami joining the Big East.
I’ll be honest, my father had me close. It was only the second time in my life my Dad had a different rooting interest than me. The first time was the Flipper Anderson Game. It made me nervous, but I still was rooting for Michigan. I had them all along. It’s funny how on the night, I was the biggest Michigan fan in the world. That also meant I was rooting hard for Seton Hall to lose.
Life is funny. I grew up to be a Seton Hall fan. There are times that I want to go back in time, smack that kid upside the head, and say, “What’re you doing? We root for Seton Hall!” I would then utilize that time machine to stop the referee from making a bogus call to send that game into overtime.
But no, in 1989, I was a Michigan fan. More importantly, I was hooked on college basketball and the NCAA tournament. From that year forward, I ran a pool. I ran it in my Catholic elementary school, high school, and beyond. In college, my pool including the do entire dorm, the accounting department, and half the faculty in the School of Business.
During this long journey, I became a Seton Hall fan. It wasn’t because of Gary Cohen, but trust me, I love that he’s the radio play-by-play announcer. It’s also not because of Bill Raftery, although every college basketball fan should hold a special place in their hearts for Seton Hall because they brought Bill Raftery to the scene. Every time this NCAA Tournament you hear him describe a team starting out “man-to-man” or scream “ONIONS!” after a huge shot, thank Seton Hall. Conversely, don’t blame us for Dick Vitale.
In any event, I’m a Seton Hall fan, and in the first year at the Prudential Center, I was a season ticket holder. There have been few ups and many downs in my rooting for Seton Hall. The most baffling was the change in Pirate mascots. Amongst the lowest was last year, when the team collapsed. The year and team were so bad, on and off the court, that good players left the school rather than dealing with that nonsense. Kevin Willard kept his job in a situation where 99 out of a 100 coaches would’ve lost their jobs. Seton Hall made the right choice.
For the first time in 23 years, Seton Hall won the Big East Tournament. It really is an amazing feeling. The Dukes of the world take things like this in stride. For Seton Hall fans, this is a momentous occasion. There’s no telling what this team will do in the NCAA Tournament, but after seeing them knock off Xavier and Villanova on back-to-back nights, I’m ruling nothing out.
So for the next month, not only do I get the chance to watch the NCAA Tournament, which I love, I get to see Seton Hall play in it. Even better, Seton Hall has a legitimate chance to make some noise. It looks like 2016 is off to an amazing start in my corner of the sports world.
Onward Setonia, we are bound for victory . . .
In all seriousness, the last thing I want to do is to write about Jenrry Mejia again. It’s going to be an exciting year for the Mets, and there are so many great and positive things to write about and discuss.
However, he called a press conference, and WOW, do we need to address his allegations.
First, Mejia alleged that baseball threaten him with a third suspension if he didn’t name names. Essentially, Mejia is asserting that the way MLB handles its steroid policy is nothing short of how the McCarthy hearings transpired. For not naming names, Mejia alleges he was suspended a third time even though he was not using a banned substance at the time of the last suspension.
Now, Mejia only admitted to being guilty the first time, which he chalked up to an accident. He said the subsequent tests were no accurate. When pressed on whether MLB was issuing false positives, Mejia’s attorney said the information is confidential. Despite the confidentiality asserted here, it did not prevent Mejia from making that assertion.
Second, Mejia has alleged that MLB has hacked into player’s social media accounts. Following the Cardinals’ hacking scandal this is no small allegation. Mejia is not only asserting baseball has infringed upon his rights, he is also accusing baseball of criminal behavior. If true, this is a scandal that could rock baseball. If false, these allegations are nothing short of defamation.
Of less surprising news, Mejia says he is innocent, and he will appeal the suspension through the Player’s Union. As such, no court case as of right now. As we’ve seen in past cases, these appeals happen behind closed doors, which is a shame. With all that Mejia is claiming, I’d love to see this on live TV.
This press conference has raised many issues regarding how MLB handles people who test positive for PEDs. If MLB is willing to bargain with a tainted player for information, it puts the legitimacy of the policy and what’s on the field in question. Conversely, if MLB is creating false positives and hacking into player’s social media accounts, it shows the great lengths baseball will go to in order to catch PED users. At this point, this all seems a little far fetched . . . at least I hope it is.
The Mejia drama has taken some strange twists and turns thus far, and by the looks of it, the drama is not going away any time soon.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsmerizedonline.com
Coming into the 2016 season, the Mets should be talking about Erik Goeddel as a lock for the Mets bullpen.
In two years, Goeddel has made 41 appearances. In those 41 appearances, he has gone 1-1 with a 2.48 ERA, 1.000 WHIP, and 9.0 K/9. Advanced stats like him as well. Goeddel’s ERA+ is 150, and his FIP is 2.58. He had a low to mid 90’s fastball, curveball, and a splitter. The discussion shouldn’t be about if he’ll make the roster. No, the discussion should be what inning is he going to get.
So, why is his position on the roster in peril?
For starters, Goeddel is hurt with a lat strain. On Wednesday, he just started throwing from 120 feet to start getting ready for the season. While Goeddel is rehabbing, once long shot candidates like Jim Henderson and Josh Smoker are pitching well in Spring Training games. They are trying to force their way onto the Opening Day roster.
Ultimately, injuries are Goeddel’s biggest problem. He has had THREE TOMMY JOHN SURGERIES! Even with all of that, he still went on the 60 day DL last year with an elbow strain requiring platlet rich therapy. In sum, while Goeddel has the stuff and the results, he cannot be relied upon over the course of a 162 game season.
With everything that has gone against Goeddel in his career, it’s a flat out miracle that he made it to the majors. It’s a testament to his will, tenacity, and yes, talent helped him succeed when he made it to the majors. It’s heartbreaking that when he gets to the majors and succeeds, his elbow betrays him again.
Right now, it’s his lat. He needs to proceed cautiously because any injury to the core or legs can lead to either an arm injury or an exacerbation of an existing arm injury. The last thing anyone wants to see is Goeddel suffer another elbow problem.
So with that, Goeddel may not make the Opening Day roster. He will be heard from this year, but at no point should the Mets count on him going forward.
Man today’s players just don’t respect the game or their opponents. Years ago, they never would’ve celebrated on the field:
Yes, that’s Kirk Gibson celebrating a homerun off of Goose Gossage. That was from the 1984 World Series. You know what I couldn’t find anywhere? Gossage condemning Gibson for the celebration. Sure, it would seem like sour grapes, but he had a platform then and didn’t use it.
Now? Well now, the Hall of Famer rails against how players today celebrate. He called Jose Bautista and Yoenis Cespedes and their celebrations to be an embarrassment and disgrace to the game. He’s apparently taking issue with the bat flips:
Gossage comes off like an old man lamenting how things were better in his day. He is remembering the days when if you hit a homerun, you put your head down and rounded the bases. No one out there showed any emotion so as to not show anyone up. They knew if they did the pitcher was going to stick one in your ear. The thing is that he has selective memory. Additionally, times have changed.
In an ESPN the Magazine interview with Tim Keown, Bryce Harper shared his thoughts on player celebrating on the field:
Baseball’s tired. It’s a tired sport, because you can’t express yourself. You can’t do what people in other sports do. I’m not saying baseball is, you know, boring or anything like that, but it’s the excitement of the young guys who are coming into the game who have flair. If that’s Matt Harvey or Jacob deGrom or Joc Pederson or Andrew McCutchen or Yasiel Puig — there’s so many guys in the game now who are so much fun.
Jose Fernandez is a great example. Jose Fernandez will strike you out and stare you down in the dugout and pump his fist. And if you hit a homer and pimp it? He doesn’t care. Because you got him. That’s part of the game. It’s not the old feeling — hoorah . . . if you pimp a homer, I’m going to hit you right in the teeth. No. If a guy pimps a homer for a game-winning shot . . . I mean — sorry.
If a guy pumps his fist at me on the mound, I’m going to go, ‘Yeah, you got me. Good for you. Hopefully I’ll get you next time.’ That’s what makes the game fun.
Overall, Harper’s thoughts represent a a change in the culture of baseball.
Players today are more apt to celebrate on the field. Their celebrations are more elaborate. When these celebrations happen, players seem to take it the same way Heyward says he takes it.
Sure, there are current players who feel differently than Bautista, Cespedes, and Heyward. Apparently, there were people like Kirk Gibson who felt differently than Goose Gossage when it came to celebrating a homerun back in the day when Gossage pitched.
If this is the current culture of the sport, we should all accept it. As long as these bat flips don’t result in players getting plunked, who are we to judge? In fact, what Harper states is that the celebrations fuel him to get the pitcher the next time. If these celebrations are both fun and bring out the best in everyone on the field, how can this be anything but good for baseball?
For baseball’s part, they seem to be embracing it showing the bat flips in commercials and putting them on YouTube. Baseball is going it because the culture has changed from the time Goose Gossage has played the game. Players want to celebrate, and fans want to see it.
The culture of baseball has changed whether or not the Goose Gossages of the world approve.
Editor’s Note: this article first appeared on metsmerizedonline.com
Growing up, my favorite player was Darryl Strawberry. My brother’s was Dwight Gooden. Both were addicted to drugs. Both ruined their careers over it. Both forced my father to talk about it with my brother and I as these issues arose. I remembered that yesterday when reading Jared Diamond’s Tweet:
https://twitter.com/jareddiamond/status/707919767391309824
I have to be honest. Thoughts like this can keep me up at times at night. With my son being two, I fortunately will not have to answer questions like this for quite a while. However, there will come a day I will have to answer these questions.
Where to begin?
Well, first off, I think it’s not just a father-daughter question. I think it’s a father-child question. Additionally, I think it’s an opportunity for a parent. It’s a teachable moment. It’s a time to address not just the acts and ramifications, but also why a player like Aroldis Chapman is still allowed to play baseball.
In having this discussion, the overriding principle should be honesty.
I would start with how a man should never ever lay his hand on a woman. A man should never ever physically threaten or denigrate a woman. Those are not the actions of a real man. I never have and never will treat his mother like that. I expect he will never treat a woman that way.
I would then explain that he was punished for his actions. No, I don’t agree with the suspension. I thought he got off easy. With that said, he was punished for his actions, and it did cost him about $1.7 million. It has also damaged his reputation. Wherever he goes for the rest of his life, he’s going to be associated with these actions.
As for why he’s still allowed to play? It’s twofold. First, he served a suspension, and he’s allowed to return. And yes, he should be allowed to return. Chapman deserved his suspension. He served his punishment. Anytime anyone serves their punishment, they have a right to return. They have a right to turn their lives around. Chapman is no different.
I’d also point out the obvious. Chapman is playing because he can throw 100 MPH. No one would want him if he wasn’t uniquely talented. It’s why he’s getting a second chance. It’s why someone will always be interested in giving him a chance. It will never excuse what he did, but when you are great at something someone will always give you a chance. With that said, in anything you do in life going forward, always be cognizant that one mistake or one action can take everything away no matter how great you are.
The most difficult question to answer is why would I root for him. You see I don’t root for him. I root for the Mets. I root for the Mets because I always have through thick and thin. I root for the Mets like my Dad does. The Mets are more than just one player. Sure, there will always be a player or two I don’t like. There may be a player that has done something as vile as what Chapman did. No, I don’t like having a player like Chapman on the Mets, but I don’t get a say in who plays for the Mets.
So yes, it’s alright to root for the Mets. It’s alright to cheer when someone like Chapman helps your team. I just wouldn’t buy his jersey or cheer him when he’s announced.
At least this is what I hope I will do.
With the Mets young staff poised to led them to yet another postseason appearance, and God willing, another World Series, I’m reminded of all the pitchers who have started a postseason game for the Mets. Can you name them? Good luck!
“Dad, who did you vote for in the Republican primary?”
“I voted for Donald Trump.”
“Why Dad?”
“Well son, Paul O’Neill endorsed him.”
In my life, I have honestly never come across someone who voted for a candidate because a baseball player or other celebrity endorsed that person. However, that still didn’t stop the outrage.
Some people are apoplectic that this happened. Doesn’t he know what Trump stands for? Doesn’t he know Trump’s policies? How could Paul O’Neill possibly have endorsed Donald Trump? I’m sure there are also people who are commending O’Neill for understanding why the country needs to elect Trump.
For all the uproar, I haven’t seen one interview with O’Neill questioning him why he endorses Trump. I’m sure he can provide a cogent argument for his decision. As I’m sure Johnny Damon could as well for why he has endorsed Trump.
With that said, I’m not making my decisions based upon that. I’m not going to let O’Neill’s endorsement affect the way I think about him as a player or the election. To me, he will always be the player who Armando Benitez couldn’t strike out. He’s the guy who once kicked the ball into the infield while he was in Cincinnati.
I encourage everyone to get involved and make their own decisions even if the my disagree with mine. Although, I wish you would agree with me. Watch tonight’s debate. Research the candidate’s history and what they believe.
Don’t support a candidate based upon your favorite player. Don’t let a player’s endorsement let you affect what you think of that player. If you’re a Yankee fan, you should adore O’Neill for all that he’s done. As a Mets fan, tip your cap to him for having the at bat that might’ve altered the course of the entire World Series.
I don’t watch baseball to get into endless political debate. People don’t listen to Mark Levin or watch Rachel Maddow to get their take on the Mets chances this year. People need to compartmentalize.
I’m moving on now and ignoring who any future athletes endorse.