What does the New York Mets and the United States have in common? Outrageous debt.

I can’t catch a break!

 My country is going to hell and so is my favorite team in sports—the New York Mets.  Does anybody know how to run a country as well as a ballclub? 

However, there is a big difference between country and team.  The U.S. can foolishly print more money, the Mets can’t.  

So it’s time for the owners of the Mets, Fred Wilpon and Sal Katz to cut bait, sell the team, and give a small segment of the citizenry cause for hope.  The country thing?  That’s more complicated.   

The New York Yimes reports the finances of major professional sports teams exist largely as the secrets of privately held companies, except for the community-owned Green Bay Packers, who report their profits without a hint of resistance.

But elements of the Mets’ finances have emerged publicly in the last year that show fans and potential investors how unprofitable the Mets are and also how deeply in debt the operation is.

Sports teams do not always make money, and debt is a legitimate way to fuel their growth, as it is in real estate, where Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, the Mets’ owners, made their money and reputations.

But the Mets worry Major League Baseball enough to be seen as a troubled franchise on a short tether. Their $430 million loan on the team is due in 2014. Their $25 million loan from M.L.B. is past due and repayment has been extended. They recently borrowed $40 million from Bank of America.

Their valuable network, SNY, is also heavily leveraged, to the tune of $450 million, a loan that must be repaid in 2015. And the Mets’ Citi Field bond payments leapt from $19 million last year to $43.7 million.

That is a lot of borrowing for a team that lost $70 million last season and had faltering attendance.

“It seems inconceivable they’re going to hold onto the team for the long term when you look at the incredible hurdles they face in 2014 and 2015,” said Howard Megdal, author of an e-book, “Wilpon’s Folly,” in which he details the financial pressures on the team. 

More here

It’s just a matter of time before the Wilpons have to sell the Mets.  But Fred, why make Mets fans suffer for you mistakes?  Sell the team tomorrow!

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Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson in “42” Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey

Robinson has always been one of my personal heroes for the grief he took breaking baseball’s color line 1947.

The Huffington Post reports Hollywood has finally found its Jackie Robinson.


Chadwick Boseman will play the iconic baseball star and civil rights pioneer in "42," Legendary Pictures announced on Friday night. A relative fresh face to audiences, Boseman will be joined by screen icon Harrison Ford, who will play Branch Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers executive who signed Robinson to be the first African American ballplayer in Major League Baseball history. Robinson made his Major League debut in 1947.


Brian Helgeland, the Oscar-winning writer of such hits as "LA Confidential" and "Mystic River," will both write the screenplay and direct "42." Previously, he directed the 2001 film, "A Knight's Tale."


This is by far the biggest role in Boseman's career; to this point, he's best known for guest roles in TV shows such as "Fringe," "Justified" and "Castle," as well as a regular role in thirteen episodes of "Persons Unknown." He's actually featured in a movie about another sports legend, taking a part in 2008's "The Express," the biopic of Syracuse University running back Ernie Davis, in which he played Floyd Little.

More here



Getting Harrison Ford to play Branch Rickey is a casting coup.  Dirty little truth: Civil rights leaders turned their backs on Jackie Robisnon becuase he was a Republicans as most African Americans were after the Civil War. 


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Miami Marlins Reveal New Name, Uniform, Logo At Florida Ceremony

Maybe it’s just me and it has nothing to with the Marlins possibly signing away Jose Reyes from the Mets, but I think these new uniforms are ugly.

And couldn’t they get players in better shape tp show these new unis? They look tike they have beer guts which make the informs look worse.

The Huffington Post


It's a fresh start for "The Fish." The Miami Marlins, formerly the Florida Marlins, got more than a name change Friday night. The MLB team revealed new uniforms and a new logo for the upcoming baseball season during an unveiling ceremony on Nov. 11.


Players from the Miami-based team sported the new gear with an orange, black, yellow and blue color scheme on the "runway" during a gala event with more than 700 people in attendance, MLB.com reports.


A photo of the uniforms was leaked on Twitter before Friday's official unveiling, the Sun Sentinel reports. Rumors of the team's re-branding efforts have been circulating since September.


As if a new name, logo and wardrobe weren't enough, the Marlins are gearing up to play in a new stadium, New Marlins Ballpark, which is set to open in March of 2012, according to MLB.com.


The team is looking to start the season with more than just a new appearance, however.

More here



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Agent Terry Bross recruited baseball players by using porn star Bibi Jones to sleep them

When I first read this headline, the first name that popped into my mind was Scott Boros because he always seems to sign up all the top players before they even make the majors.


Terry Bross?

I’m a big baseball fan and I’ve familiar with the names of most of the agents. But, I never heard of this guy before. But, maybe that’s why he was using a porn star to lure clients?

Daily Mail


An agent at one of America's biggest sports agencies is accused of using a porn star to help him recruit new players for his agency.

Porn star Bibi Jones claimed in an interview that she used to accompany Gaylord Sports Management agent Terry

Bross to bars where he would talk to baseball players that he was hoping to sign.

he says she slept with at least 10 of the baseball players that they met over the course of a year, and a number of those subsequently signed with Mr Bross and his agency.

While none of the 10 men that Ms Jones slept said that the sole reason they signed with the company was because of Ms Jones, the connection does appear to be a close one: Dan Uggla, a player for the Atlanta Braves, signed with GSM just three weeks after he was in Phoenix, Arizona, where Ms Jones and Mr Bross would go out together to meet prospective players.

In an interview with Business Insider, Ms Jones, best known for her work in Naughty Nannies 3 and Amateur Action, said that she was never forced to have sex with the players and she never received any money for doing so. It was just for fun.
More here

I thought this kind of tactic was common anyway. So, Bross must’ve ticked somebody off really bad to get dime dropped on him.

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Cards Snubbed By Obama? No Traditional call after WS win

Can you believe this? The World Series champion always gets a call from the president. It’s an American tradition.

But, what does Onama know about American traditions anyway?



CBS St. Louis

Was President Barack Obama too busy watching the “Operation Repo” marathon or something else last Friday night?

When KMOX host Charlie Brennan asked now-retired St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa how the traditional call of congratulations from the White House went, La Russa suddenly realized that…it never happened.

“That’s a good point, I hadn’t really even thought about that,” replied a surprised-sounding La Russa, who can be forgiven for having a few other things on his mind over the past week. “As we were getting into the World Series we had a call from the White House to make sure they had the correct number for my office.”

But as the wild, champagne-drenched celebration of the team’s 11th World Series title was going on in the locker room, that phone never rang.

“We never did get a call,” La Russa said.

And all this despite the fact that the First Lady, Michelle Obama, was in town for Game 1 of the World Series.


“Very impressive, too.” La Russa recalled of his meeting with the First Lady.

More here



I have a theory that’s probably just as good as any. Obama called the Giants after they won the World Series last year because he carried California in 2008. He doesn’t the St. Louis Cardinals because John McCain won Missouri in 2008. How about that?

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GM Sandy Alderson says Mets plan to make low contract offer to free agent SS Jose Reyes

It’s wait and see time for Mets fans. I’m not confident that Jose Reyes will be playing shortstop for the Mets next year and beyond. But, I like to be wrong about that.






New York Daily News

Speaking publicly for the first time about Jose Reyes since the shortstop became a free agent on Sunday, general manager Sandy Alderson reiterated what the Daily News reported on Friday: The Mets will not begin with an offer designed to overwhelm the shortstop, and the team does not expect a resolution for several months.

“There are some situations where a player might indicate what it would take for him to forgo the free agent market,” Alderson said Monday. “There are some situations where a club might try to make a preemptive offer.

“I don’t think either one of those things is going to happen. I don’t think Jose is going to give us a number for which he would forgo free agency, and I don’t think we’re in a position to make what I would characterize as a preemptive offer."

Alderson has spoken recently with Reyes’ agent, Peter Greenberg, and said that he had “enough of a sense to know that things are going to go slowly, which I think is typical of most, if not all, free agents.”

Alderson spoke generally about his parameters for re-signing Reyes, saying, “We have a sense of where we would be comfortable or slightly less comfortable (or) totally uncomfortable,” but declined to specify what those parameters were.

Sources familiar with the team’s thinking have maintained that the Mets are unwilling to offer six or seven years, and might be uncomfortable with five.

More here

I like Reyes, but I don’t think he’s worth blowing the payroll when the Mets have other needs to fill. Alderson is a very good baseball man and the Mets are in much better hands with him than they were with Omar Minaya.


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Hallelujah! They’re bringing the fences in at Citi Field

This is very good news for Jason Bay, David Wright and other Mets hitters that have had to deal with the most cavernous ballpark in baseball. It’s also a good thing that the new fences will be blue with an orange home run lime to typify Mets colors.

New York Post

Swinging for the fences next year at Citi Field won’t seem like such a daunting task.


After much debate and discussion, the Mets yesterday revealed specific configuration changes that will be made to Citi Field for 2012, with the idea of creating a more hitter-friendly ballpark.


A new blue fence will surround the outfield, with shortened dimensions in left and right field.


Through the 16-foot “Great Wall of Flushing” in left will remain as a structural element, it is no longer in play -- a ball hitting it will be a home run, after having cleared an eight-foot fence that will be erected in front of it. A new fence will also be placed in front of the “Mo’s Zone” in right and in the bullpen area in right-center, shortening the home run distances by 10 feet and 11 feet, respectively.


We’re trying to come up with a park that is a little more balanced in terms of offense and pitching and defense,” general manager Sandy Alderson said.


SEE THE CITI FIELD CHANGES

According to research conducted by Alderson and his staff, the Mets would have hit a combined 81 more home runs over the last three seasons in Citi Field using the new dimensions. Opponents would have hit a combined 70 more home runs.








More here

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"Field of Dreams" property in Iowa sold

Field of Dreams is defiantly one of my favorite films because I love baseball so much. But, even if you’re not fond of the fame, there’s something about the movie that touches so many people.

CBS News

The sprawling eastern Iowa cornfields made famous by the movie "Field of Dreams" are being sold to a company that will preserve the site's baseball legacy, the owners announced Sunday.

Don and Becky Lansing said they have accepted an offer from Mike and Denise Stillman and their company, Go the Distance Baseball LLC, which will develop the site near Dyersville as a baseball and softball complex. A purchase price was not disclosed.

"We worked hard to maintain its wholesome allure, and our success says a lot about our nation's love affair with its national pastime," Becky Lansing said in a statement. "It truly is a special place."

The land has been in Don Lansing's family since 1906. The couple put the property up for sale at $5.4 million in May 2010. The parcel includes the two-bedroom house, baseball diamond, six other buildings and 193 acres — mostly cornfields — from the movie.

More here



It's good to know the property will keep it's baseball theme. 



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Mets must move quickly on Reyes

As a Mets fan, I rooted for Fred Wilpon to lose his shirt in court in order for him to be forced to sell the team to a an owner whose not afraid to run the team the way a big market team should be run.

However, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen. So Mets fans are stuck with a owner who’s strapped for cash just when Jose Reyes, the Mets star shortstop, is primed to hit free agency.


New York Post


Jose Reyes’ batting title is a thing of the past, just like the pleas from fans at Citi Field, begging the shortstop to stay in New York and for the Mets to pay him.


Now, reality sets in.


After deciding not to talk contract any further during the season in June, the Mets’ five-day exclusive window to negotiate with the talented but fragile Reyes begins today, with all free agents set to hit the open market Thursday.


The Mets aren’t going to blow away the 28-year-old before he tests the waters, and they have to decide if they want to break the bank on one of the game’s most dynamic players or if his injury problems -- Reyes spent two stints on the DL in 2011 with left hamstring strains and has missed decent chunks of time each of the past three years -- are too much to risk.


How the Mets handle Reyes -- or how he handles them -- will in large part dictate the rest of the team’s offseason. General manager Sandy Alderson has stated repeatedly next year’s payroll will be down considerably from a season ago, settling around $100 million to $110 million.


And with Johan Santana ($24 million), Jason Bay ($16 million) and David Wright ($15 million), in addition to smaller price tags like R.A. Dickey, the Mets will have very little room to maneuver if they manage to keep Reyes around.

More here

I don’t know how the Mets will fair in the Jose Reyes sweepstakes. But, I think it’s fair to assume the Mets will take a big PR hit with the fans if he walks.

Mets fans are tired of being second class citizens to the hated New York Yankees. If the Wilpons don’t have the financial wherewithal or heart to be big market team owners, step aside and sell the team to someone who does. Hopefully, Mets GM Sandy Alserson knows how to build a winning team. It’s been 25 years since the Mets won their last championship, 17 years before they won their first in 1969. That’s a long time between drinks.




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Miracle St. Louis Cardinals defeat Texas Rangers to win 2011 World Series

Last night I put up a post declaring the Texas Rangers World Series Champions after 7 innings. I wanted to get a top spot on Google in the event that the Rangers hung onto win game 6.

Well, that didn’t turn out the way I wanted.

Give the Cards credit though. They refused to die and won probably the greatest WS game ever played in game 6. This is two years in a row I rooted for Texas, and for the second straight year they came up short. That’s baseball, anything can happen.

The Sporting News


When Jason Motte retired David Murphy on a fly to left Friday night, the St. Louis Cardinals had a 6-2 victory over the Rangers and an unprecedented two-month run to the top of the baseball world.


Now they should have time to reflect on their historic journey to the franchise's 11th World Series championship, the most of any club that resides outside of Yankee Stadium. Making history at nearly every turn, the Cardinals will have plenty to reflect.




Among the highlights:

• World Series MVP David Freese became the first player to drive in 21 runs in a single postseason. Freese wasted no time delivering his clutch hit in Game 7, driving a two-run double to the left-center fence in the first inning after the Texas Rangers had jumped ahead 2-0.


• Chris Carpenter became the franchise's all-time leader in postseason wins, with his nine two more than Bob Gibson (who had only the World Series to get his). Carpenter fittingly was the winner in the clincher when he limited the Rangers to two first-inning runs before leaving in the sixth with the Cardinals up 5-2.

More here



If the Cards can pull off an improbable World Series run, why not my beloved Mets do the same next year?

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