I hate this time of Year

Why, because there is not much going on. The Hot Stove is barely starting to warm up (though, we did get good Mets news today, as Carlos Delgado is NOT going to exercise his right and demand a trade.) Football is in the middle of the season, and, well, let's just say the Jets aren't that good. Hockey is still early, and as for basketball, well, I don't particularly care for that sport.

Why do I not like basketball? I mean, you would think the Blue & Orange of the Kicks would make for a natural fit right? Is it the fact that the Knicks stink? No. Is it the slow pace of the games in recent years? Nope. Is it because I am not exactly tall and skilled enough to have played the sport? Ding ding ding. We have a winner. Now, I'm not going to pretend that I was a skilled baseball player (I was good with the glove, not so much with the bat, think slappy), and my football consisted mostly of flag football and tackle with friends in high school, as for hockey, well, I don't skate real well, but I played quite a bit of deck hockey, and was kinda good.

You see, my feeling is that you get interested in the sports you not only watched, but the ones you played. We did not watch much basketball, outside of some college hoops, but we watched an awful lot of football, baseball and hockey growing up. I've tried to get into basketball, really, but it holds no interest for me. Perhpas if I had gone to a college with a D-1 program my feeling woudl be different, but Albany was D-3 at the time I was there, and only moved to D-1 a couple of years ago. Besides, how can you root for a team called "The Great Danes"?

So where was I. Oh, yes, why I hate this time of year. Free Agency starts in earnest on Sunday, the first day teams are able to sign players. Of course, with the GM meetings next week, and the arbitration deadline shortly thereafter, the only guys who are going to sign right out of the gate are on the par with Lima Time!. Until then, all we get are stories about what agents are claiming their players are interested in playing for the Mets, the better to juice up their contracts. Or the latest speculation on D-Mat, or stories on Pedro saying he might take a dump today if the feeling moves him. Basically, crap. By the way, all those calling for Mark Mulder to sign with the Mets, he is out as long as Pedro, so he is not an answer for 2007. There was an interesting story in a Detroit paper that stated the Tigers may trade Bonderman for some offense. Not sure if the Mets can pull it off, but it would be nice. But it's stories like these that make for slow news. Though I must congratulate Carlos Beltran on his Gold Glove Award, and Carlos Delgado on his Roberto Clemente Award. Good for both of them.

As for football, the Jets have the Patriots this Sunday, in Foxboro. Yeah, this is gonna be good. The Pats get slammed on Sunday Night, and now they get the Jets. It is games like this that have Curtis Martin thanking his knees for not healing well. It is not going to be pretty. Much like the entire season. I just hope they can get a good running back with their top 10 pick this year.

The Giants get to play the Bears. Half of the Giants D-Line is hurt, but that should not matter, as Rex Grossman appears to be the second coming of Browning Nagle. Tiki is happy Urlacher is out. Oh, and can we stop with the adoration of Brandon Jacobs people? Let's see him get a little consistency before we annoint him as the next Tiki, OK? He did not look that impressive this past week. As for Eli, let's just say he ain't Peyton yet.

Now, my Islanders. The happiness that was spreading amongst the 15 or so fans appears to be cooling. After dismantling the Devils (the only team Ricky D seems to own), they laid two clunkers in a row. First, Atlanta, where Rick played awful in a 4-1 loss. He needs to stop roaming so much. Let his defense clear the puck. Last night, Mike Dunham played (as a lot of pundits, OK, only Stan Fischler were saying) and he stunk as well, in a 5-1 loss to the Lightning. Next up, Philly on Thursday, in Philly, followed by stops in Dallas, Tampa, Florida and Toronto. Not an easy stretch. Ted needs to get a second line scoring, or else teams are going to be able to key on Yashin. It is early, so I'm not going to get too upset, but then again, points won now count as much as those won later, so giving them up now hurts.