Weekend Round-Up

HIGH AND TIGHT

While both residents of MSG are a little behind the 8-ball in their respective playoff series, it's great to see the Garden alive again in April for a change.

My hockey prediction of the Rangers in 6 is on shaky ground, but the Blueshirts hung tough yesterday, on the hard work of Vinny Prospal, Brandon Dubinsky and especially "The King", Henrik Lundqvist. Dubinsky's goal may have been a little bit of a fortunate bounce, but goals from in close like that are the result of the hard work it takes getting to that spot. That's what the Rangers will need to take this Series.

Somehow, my Section yesterday at the Garden, 132 behind the home net, was completely filled with fans in Caps regalia. The disputed goal at the end of the 2nd was right in front of us, and I have a question for NBC: this is 2011, why doesn't your TV clock match the official game clock? The picture you sent us in the arena indicated 'goal'. It was close, but clearly it wasn't in the net before the green light.

As for the Knicks, last night's loss was a heartbreaker. Carmelo Anthony was not at his best last night, and the loss of Chauncey Billups will be critical. But I have 2 questions on this one: Mike D'Antoni, how did you run out of timeouts with a lead? And to the Ref, I will believe that the Offensive Foul on Melo was a good call when you make the same call in the last minute of a tight game against the Celtics, in Boston.

The Yankees wrapped a series win versus the Rangers, albeit without Josh Hamilton. The Bombers currently have the only winning record in the AL East. What I said last week still stands: don't dwell on the little problems, and wake me up around Memorial Day.

The Mets broke a 7-game losing streak yesterday in Atlanta, and now come home to Flushing. Ownership is in disarray, and Terry Collins is in the unenviable position of stating that his team is a couple of bounces from 9-2. No Terry, not this team.

You see, the Wilpons offer "lightning in a bottle", which translated means "we can't tell our fans we have absolutely no chance."

Here is my advice to Met fans: follow the lead of Yankee fans and be more demanding. The reason the Cubs haven't won in over a century is because their fans support them no matter what, i.e. as long as beer is cheap. Losers aren't "lovable". Raise the bar!

Sandy Alderson is going to proceed with a scorched earth policy on anyone Omar Minaya left behind, and that includes Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, and may eventually reach all the way to David Wright. What I am going to tell you is going to be hard, and is going to take strength:

You need to turn on the Franchise until the Wilpons are gone, any way you can: low attendance, bad TV ratings, even paper bags over your heads. You need to root for the Madoff arbitrator, hurt their bottom line with impugnity, and completely embrace the rebuilding program to come. Best yet, threaten to root for the Yankees.

You did it before when M. Donald Grant traded Tom Seaver, and got Frank Cashen to build the 1986 World Champions.


With the right trades of their better pieces for decent prospects and smart free agent signings, this could turn around in 2 or 3 years. Reject this idea, and you are looking at what happened for 10 years at the Garden.

Why did the Wilpons build a "pitchers' park" with 42,000 seats? Was it to inhibit higher priced stars from coming here? I first said this 2 years ago, but it doesn't sound crazy today, does it? They thought nothing of taking away David Wright's gap power like Samson after a crew cut.

By using a "small market" model, the Wilpons are showing that they're small time. Do whatever you can to get them out of here.