Waiting Game

ESTRAGON:

And if he doesn't come?

VLADIMIR:

We'll come back tomorrow.

ESTRAGON:

And then the day after tomorrow.

VLADIMIR:

Possibly.

ESTRAGON:

And so on.

From "Waiting for Godot," by Samuel Beckett

That selection basically sums up my afternoon. I woke up feeling eerily similar to the way I did the morning of Game 7 two years ago. Without the hangover headache from Game 6. An afternoon with Mike & the Mad Dog did nothing to provide any insight to progress between the Mets and Santana. But as the deadline came and went, bits and pieces trickled in, and it appears now, since the Mets have asked for and were granted a 2-hour extension, that a deal seems near. Currently, the distance is what sounds like a relatively manageable $10 million (relatively manageable, I say), and the guarantee of a 6th year.

The whole thing has made for a rather tense afternoon, and enough to make me cross reference Johan Santana with Samuel Beckett for a second time. I don't care. I'm making up nonsense words again and the Mets aren't even in the damn playoffs. Just get this thing done already!

Had things been a bit less hectic, I might have taken the opportunity earlier in the day to offer up my Super Bowl pick. Waiting for the Super Bowl is a similar game to waiting for the Johan news, however it's a much more tedious, air-filled, annoying wait that is finally just about over. We've heard all the stories, all the puff pieces, heard about Tom Brady's ankle and his girlfriend and his hair enough, we've broken down Plaxico Burress's mouth enough. Now, it's time to just shut up and play.

The Giants have had a memorable, magical ride through January, and rode their momentum all the way to this point, where they're facing off against a Patriots team that seemed to be predestined to reach this point. At 18-0, the Patriots are deservedly a huge favorite, having made history to get to this point, and need one victory to finish off the job. The Giants overcame huge odds and a media that seemed ready to bury them at any given moment, winning three Playoff games on the road. They come in with a world of confidence, and more people than I thought think that they can beat the Patriots after hanging close with them in December.

I suppose I could break things down a bit more in depth, but in reality, everyone has heard every angle. The Patriots offense is Great. The Giants defense is good. In a shootout, there's no way the Giants will be able to keep up. The Giants can try to contain Moss, but as we saw in the Patriots games against Jacksonville and San Diego, the Patriots can just pick you apart with their short passing game and Maroney. On the other side, the Giants can run a similar offense, but they lack the overall talent to keep that same pace as the Patriots can. It is a trademark of Belichick's winning teams to take away one facet of a team's offensive game, and force the opponent to beat him with the other. I believe the Pats will gang up on Bradshaw and Jacobs and force Eli Manning to beat them. Eli has proven that he is up to the task of managing the game, but has not, in this run, been forced to win the game on his own. He will, much like Favre in the Championship game, invariably be forced into a mistake, which is something that cannot be done against the Patriots. It has been a fabulous run to cap off a wonderful season that nobody expected out of the Giants. But I don't think they have enough to pull off the final Miracle. The Patriots are too good and they didn't come down here to lose this game.

My pick: Patriots 36, Giants 20. Close in the first half, but I think the Patriots will go on one of their 8-minute drives in the 3rd or early 4th Quarter, score a TD, and then pick off Manning on the next Giants possession, and that will be the dagger. The 4th Quarter will quickly turn into garbage time as the Patriots pull away. Tom Brady will cap off his landmark season with his 3rd Super Bowl MVP.

Enjoy your Turducken!

Samuel Beckett Special

While I am immersed in Theatrics of another kind, these games are pretty much a rumor to me; I'm relegated to some SportsCenter clips late at night, and MLB GameCast for a few moments at a time. Last night, I checked the score and saw it 5-0 Twins in the 3rd. My reaction: "This game is toast." Last night's game can only be chalked up as one of those Waiting For Godot games. "Nothing to be done." Facing the consensus Best Pitcher in Baseball, the Mets barely made a peep as Johan Santana shut them down and shut them out on 4 hits.

I don't think a game like this can erase the good feelings that Monday Night's game perpetuated, simply because you knew that Santana was at worst going to be very tough. It's usually around this time of the year that he begins to really kick it into high gear. Never a big first-half pitcher, never started an All-Star game, but by season's end, he somehow has managed to win 15 in a row, and his ERA is hovering around 2.50. He's one of the toughest customers in the game, and even if the Mets were hitting, Santana likely would have had his way with them.

On the other side, it's a little disturbing to see Sosa really struggle for the second time in a row. You have to wonder if whether or not the word is getting around about him, or whether or not his strong performance in May and early June was simply flukish. Next up for him will be the Cardinals, a team that hasn't hit much, so that should be a true litmus test. If he's good, then he just had some bad outings against a couple of hot teams. If not...Oy veh.

The true test, however, of whether or not the team as a whole is on the rebound from the miserable stretch of the past 3 weeks will be tonight, with Oliver Perez on the mound, off his brilliant start against the Yankees, against future Journeyman Scott Baker. If the Mets show up and pound out some hits and runs, then we know that the corner may have been turned, and last night was just too much Santana.