Watchdog

As usual, here is the vacation blogging plan:

I'm not giving it up cold turkey, but I will not be on the usual pace. Just enough posts to let you know I'm still here so you don't drift away for good to our many other fine sports blogs.

Thanks for reading and for the feedback over the past 14 months.

It's been fun. Mostly.

Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez were unimpressed with Jose Reyes' behavior in the seventh inning Sunday after his errant throw failed to find its way into Carlos Delgado's first baseman's mitt.

Here is what they said on Ch. 11 in the top of the seventh:

Cohen: Reyes has taken his glove off and is standing hands on hips out there, with the glove on the ground. That's something you don't like to see. That's not a good look.

Hernandez: Well, he's got to get over that. Enough babying going on now. He's a grown man, he's been around a long enough time. Take off the kid gloves.

Here is what they said in the bottom of the seventh, following a shot of Reyes picking up his glove and sunglasses after throwing them to the ground, then trotting slowly off the field:

Hernandez: There's one thing you have to do when you're an everyday player. It's not that tough. You run onto the field, and you run off of the field, to start the inning and at the end of the inning, no matter if you hit a triple with the bases loaded or you made an error or you struck out. It's a simple thing to do, just run off the field, don't walk off the field. Nothing looks worse than a team walking off a field.

Cohen: The question is, what was he upset about? Was he upset about making the bad play or about the fact the error was charged to him?

Hernandez: I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he's mad at himself. I'm hopeful that that's what it is.

TBS sent an interesting comment from Ron Darling off today's Yanks-Mets tilt, which viewers in the New York area didn't hear, because TBS' telecast was blacked out here:

On Carlos Beltran being a New York type of player:

“I don’t know if there are New York kind of players anymore because this is a tough town and you’re going to catch a lot of criticism. Also, people don’t begrudge the big contracts of athletes, but they do feel as though that when you sign a player to a historical kind of contract they want that player to be a ‘get dirty’ kind of guy, a leader kind of guy, a vocal kind of person, and Carlos is none of those things. He’s an excellent player, great athlete, but would prefer to be left alone. He’s more Greta Garbo than Big League Star.”

I promise Newsday will be writing much more about PSLs as the Giants reveal more specifics and the Jets inevitably announce they will sell them, too.

But the Giants' announcement didn't come down until late Thursday, and I'm on hiatus for now so I didn't have time to properly tie it all together this week. It's too complicated a subject to cover simply by allowing incensed fans to vent for 750 words in the Sunday newspaper, so I restricted myself to a small comment at the end of my column.

On the other hand, blogs are an excellent place for venting! So to keep everyone busy for now, click below for a sampling from the first round of angry e-mails I received. I am presenting them without names, because I have not had the chance to verify their identities, but I'm only using the ones that at least seem legit.

For more angry fan comments, see my several previous posts on the subject, including the first one.

Keep in mind there are other sides to this. Many in the (relatively) cheap seats are relieved they only will be charged $1,000 for the right to keep buying tickets. And many who have been shut out of season tickets for decades by entrenched, multi-generation subscribers are pleased they might finally get their shot now, a view reflected in e-mail No. 2 below.

My question: Remind me why we needed a new stadium in the first place, when the one that currently stands is a fine place to watch a football game, even if it isn't a fine place to stroll around in wide concourses and spend money in expensive bars and restaurants?

Continue reading "Many Giants/Jets fans not fans of personal seat licenses" »

Given all the unpleasantness this past week with the Mike Francesa/Chris Russo feud and the Giants' announcement that PSLs are on the way, wouldn't it be nice to send myself off on a brief hiatus with a heartwarming Sunday newspaper column about a father and son working in the sports media business, one in the Evil Empire, one in New York?

I thought it would.

If you had been watching the series "Playing for Peanuts" on SNY, you aren't anymore. The producer has pulled it in a dispute with the channel over its lack of promotion for the show.

SNY says as a matter of policy it does not promote any "barter shows" - shows in which air time is given free to a producer in return for programming. It also says that "Playing for Peanuts" was given more exposure than any previous barter show in SNY history.

(By the way, the team and league depicted in the series no longer are operational.)

SNY garnered Friday comment contest honors during Game 1 Friday (see two posts down), then wrapped up the twin bill by mentioning moi in Game 2!

Click below for a transcript of Gary Cohen, Ron Darling and Keith Hernandez after a shot of WFAN's Mike Francesa watching from behind home plate in the seventh inning.

Note what sounds like it might be a shot from Darling at Michael Kay's frantic 1050 ESPN/YES work schedule.

Unless I'm imagining things . . .

Continue reading "Mike Francesa, Chris Russo saga comes up on SNY" »

Here are two things that have nothing to do with sports, but I'm on vacation so I'm allowed to write about whatever I want:

1. NBC is replaying the debut episode of "Saturday Night Live" from Oct. 11, 1975, tonight, in honor of the late George Carlin, who hosted. (Bonus WatchDog kudos to the first person who can say what is factually incorrect in the previous sentence.)

2. I know there is a separate category for animated best picture these days, but I saw "Wall-E" today and it should be a candidate for THE Best Picture of 2008.

Thanks for your patience with non-sports matters.

I spent all day waiting for the perfect Friday comment contest winner to drop into my lap to properly wrap up an eventful week of news about Mike Francesa and Chris Russo, Michael Strahan and Jeremy Shockey, Bob Papa and the NFL Network, etc.

Not to mention send me out in style for a bit of time off.

It arrived in the top of the seventh inning of Game 1 of the Mets-Yankees double dip, after the SNY announcers discussed what a nice job Alex Rodriguez is doing playing third base.

Take it away, Gary Cohen:

"Of course the thing that the Yankees never talk about is the fact that A-Rod is still twice the shortstop that Jeter is, but you're not allowed to say that here."

Yikes! Fightin' words!

Someone tell Michael Kay to compare A-Rod and David Wright tonight. See ya.

All kinds of stuff going on at Deadspin this Friday afternoon for Will Leitch's farewell.

A new editor (A.J. Daulerio)! An interview with Buzz Bissinger! Assorted tributes to Will!

Too much for individual links. Just go over and check it out if you are interested.

Good night, sweet sports blogosphere prince.