Crisis in Flushing

Walking out of a dejected Shea Stadium Sunday afternoon after the Mets had dropped their second straight game to the Milwaukee Brewers, I was accosted by an irate fan. And by irate I mean drunk. He was screaming and yelling at how much the team sucks and they have to blow everything up. "Send that bum Santana back to Minnesota!" Are you serious? He's only the best pitcher in baseball, let's give up on him after 3 starts! "Yeah, but he's 1-2!" I'll grant you that he did not pitch well on Saturday. It happens. It also happens that the Brewers have one of the best offensive lineups in all of baseball. In Santana's other loss, he gave up 3 hits and 1 run. Sometimes you just get beat.

What is of more immediate concern to me is the bullpen's utter inability to give Willie any sort of consistent outing. He calls on them in close games to keep the Mets within striking distance, and without fail one of his relievers will give up a few extra runs. The Mets offense is good enough to scrape together a run against just about any team in the league, but it is disheartening to watch 1 or 2 run games turn into 3 run or greater deficits. Hell, it even gives Eric Gagne the confidence to pitch well!

Fuck it, on to more entertaining news, the Stanley Cup playoffs are in full swing. Sidney Crosby and his fellow Penguins have taken a commanding 3-0 lead in their series with Ottawa. The longer Crosby remains in the playoffs, the better it is for the NHL. Detroit coughed up a game to Nashville, giving the Predators hope in that series. The Rangers did the same to New Jersey in a series that has seen the road team win all 3 games so far. Montreal lost a game to the Bruins, who I suspect had a hard time filling the place with their asinine alcohol serving policy, as the crowd seemed nearly split between Bruins and Canadiens fans Sunday night.

To me, the most exciting series so far has been between Minnesota and Colorado out west, and not just because Peter Forsberg is skating for the Avalanche in the postseason again. All three games have been won in overtime by identical 3-2 scores, with Minnesota holding a 2-1 lead in the series going into game 4 tonight. This is what playoff hockey is all about. Two teams so evenly matched, the slightest of bounces can be the difference in a series. You can never take a shift off and you can never sulk on the bench with your dark visor covering the fact that you're asleep while your team fades out of the playoffs like a little bitch.