V-J Day!

What had been a rather moribund Tuesday Afternoon in the office for me suddenly turned manic between 4:32 and 4:36pm, in which I received 4 phone calls and 2 text messages, the gist of which was something like this:

"JOHAN! WE GOT JOHAN!!!!!!!!!!!"

Thus ensuring that January 29, 2008 would go down with such days as December 23, 1999, May 22, 1998, December 10, 1984, June 15, 1983 and June 15, 1969 as Banner Days in Mets history, days in which masterful trades were made to acquire impact players that would unquestionably make the Mets a better team.

Yes, the deal is subject to Freddie and Omar being able to work out a contract extension, but the way this news has broken, and the way it has swept the Giants right off the back page, there's no way this deal isn't going to be consummated. If they screw it up, they may as well just move the team into a bunker for the 2008 season.

As I mentioned yesterday, the price the Mets put forth was indeed the right price. It's a steep one, no doubt, but considering that only Carlos Gomez has any tangible experience in the Majors, it's easy to consider this deal a victory for the Mets. Whatever Humber, Mulvey and Guerra amount to for Minnesota, it's academic. In New York, there is no patience for young players to marinate. The Mets had the other pieces in place, and they needed that one final piece to finish out the starting rotation. And say what you will about Philly's offense, I'll take the starting rotation of Johan, Pedro, Maine and Perez over the Pu-Pu platter of Hamels, Myers, Moyer and Kendrick any day. How about that for improvements? A 4th starter who won 15 games and had a 3.56 ERA last season.

So after months upon months of thinking that this was impossible, how the Mets didn't have the chips, how Johan was sure to go to Boston or the Yankees, how the Mets would be trotting out guys like Kyle Lohse, Livan Hernandez and Bartolo Colon in '08...The Misery can be put to rest, at least for the moment.

Johan Santana, in the words of Joe Buck, "WELCOME TO NEW YORK!"

Let's get it Done!

Yes, I just shamelessly used the Citibank slogan to describe my feelings about the Johan Santana trade.

The scenarios and proposals involving Santana have pretty much been talked about to death, without anything being even remotely close to a done deal. But as it stands right now, it would appear that the Mets are in prime position to land what would easily be the crown jewel of their rotation.

Yesterday, I was listening to Mike & the Mad Dog, and in a rare break from the Giants Tsunami, provided their two cents in regards to Santana. They had mentioned that while January has been all Giants talk, they expect that February is going to be Johan, Johan, Johan. And why not? With word flying around that the Twins want a deal done within the next 10 days, with Pitchers and Catchers set to report around February 15th, a deal ought to be done, lest the Twins risk going into the season with their star pitcher sure to walk away for nothing following the 2008 season.

According to Francesa, the Mets don't seem to have much competition. He believes that while the Twins are trying desperately to get the Yankees and Red Sox involved in one of their Reagan-esque Arms Race battles for Santana, neither team is interested. Neither team wants to give up their prospects. He seems firm in his belief that Santana will indeed go to the Mets, if the Twins can get off of Reyes. Although I haven't seen anything in the press to this end, Francesa insists that the Twins are indeed still stuck on receiving Jose Reyes in return for Johan. If that's the deal breaker, well, so be it. I believe the Mets offer currently stands at Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, Kevin Mulvey and Philip Humber. The Twins would like Fernando Martinez, but that has been another sticking point with Omar. Omar, however, wasn't available to speak to Francesa or Russo about this because he has been on vacation in Israel.

Russo said it, and then he said it a few more times. "The Mets Have to get Santana. The Fans are SCREAMING for Santana!" Especially the way last season played out, they're right.

It reminds me of that week in May, 1998, after the Dodgers had dealt Piazza to the Marlins, and Steve Phillips said he wouldn't deal for him while the punchless Mets were drawing crowds of 15,000 a night. Phillips pulled the trigger for Piazza that Friday, and two seasons later, the Mets were in the World Series.

Same situation. The Mets right now, are in prime position to land the ace of ace pitchers, move him to the pitching-dominated National League, in a spacious ballpark (the dimensions of Citi Field to be determined) and basically setting him up to succeed by sticking him next to one of the best pitchers in Baseball History, on a team that has a playoff-worthy core already in place. Omar needs to get himself back from Israel and get his ass in gear to ensure that Johan Santana is the Mets starting pitcher on March 31st in Florida. If the Twins can't lure the Yanks or Sox into this and the current deal is done, great. If it takes throwing in Fernando Martinez, DO IT. I DON'T CARE! GET THIS DEAL DONE!

Twins ask for last offers, with decision coming soon [ESPN.com]

In Case You'd Forgotten...

The Mets still do exist, however marginal the headlines may be.

The re-signing of Endy Chavez yesterday wasn't exactly earth-shattering news. His incentive-laden 2-year deal basically ensures him of the same role he's had here for the past two seasons, that of the lovable, sharp-gloved fourth outfielder and super-sub, provided he stays healthy.

It's not at all worthy of a banner headline, but at least it gives me a good excuse to dust off that photo and remind us of better times.

A Victory for the Ages

I know I picked the Giants to win in Green Bay last night. That doesn't necessarily mean I thought they would actually do it.

In a game that played out almost exactly as I thought it would, the Giants prevailed in the NFC Championship, in Green Bay last night, in a game that they could have won or lost 20 different ways.

The Giants won because their defense, which rose to the occasion in Dallas and Tampa Bay, came through with another outstanding effort, holding Ryan Grant to 29 yards rushing, forcing Brett Favre to beat them, and eventually forcing him to make a critical mistake.

The Giants won because Eli Manning, who proved himself about as steady as the Mets Bullpen in September 2007 throughout most of this season, continued his incredible turnaround, and conducted the Giants offense like it was he, and not Favre, bound for the Hall of Fame.

The Giants won because Plaxico Burress, who has played out the entire season on a crippled ankle, came through with a sterling performance equal to the magnitude of the game itself.

And the Giants won because, as a team, they were able to overcome a few individual mistakes that might have done in a lesser team (McQuarters' 2 fumbles, Madison's foolish Un-necessary roughness penalty, Tynes' 2 missed FGs) and never quit until Lawrence Tynes' 47-yard kick hooked through the uprights. They believe in each other, even when it seems like nobody else does.

I watched the game with a friend of mine, a Jets fan, and after the game, all we could do was look at each other and say, "Man. What a fucking game!" Watching the game, we were both reminded of past playoff failures by our own teams. He had flashbacks to a game 3 years ago, the Doug Brien game in Pittsburgh, when the Jets kicker missed a pair of Field Goals late in the game. I flashed way back to Matt Bahr in 1990, when these same Giants denied the 49ers of a Three-peat.

It seems so strange to think that the 2007 Giants are going to the Super Bowl. After an uneven season that didn't seem to inspire confidence in anybody, the Giants somehow righted themselves and caught fire at the most opportune time, riding a wave that will take them all the way down to Arizona for Super Bowl XLII.

You could tell that the Giants came to play an inspired game from the outset. With the temperature holding steady between -1°F and -4°F, the Giants looked warm and toasty, while the Packers, playing in their element, looked like the team that was cold. The Giants were able to move the ball at will on offense, and their defense was able to keep the Packers off balance. But for a few plays, specifically Driver's 90 yard TD, and a pair of Packers drives in the second half that were extended by bad penalties and a freak play, the Giants basically dominated the game.
But after running the ball and running down the clock to set up Tynes at the end of regulation, it didn't look good. I kept thinking that they needed to get closer, or take a shot at the End Zone. My friend was screaming about Doug Brien. Then, Tynes hooked the 36-yard FG as the clock ran out. And things really did not look good when the Packers won the coin toss before Overtime, following Tynes' second missed FG.

But as things have gone for the Giants this month, the Giants have been able to overcome the negative. And Favre's pass on the second play of Overtime was an underthrown flutterball that was easily intercepted by Corey Webster, setting up the final drive, and setting up Lawrence Tynes to charge past his coach, onto the field to make that last Field Goal to put the Giants into the Super Bowl.

3 straight on the road in the Postseason. 10 wins in a row on the road. Who the hell even plays 10 road games in a season?
The Giants did it. And they're absolutely where they deserve to be. This is a proud, proud day for the Giants and their fans, and they deserve all the congratulations they're getting right now. They earned it.
And they've earned another shot at the 18-0 New England Patriots, the prohibitive favorites right now. The Patriots basically did the absolute minimum they had to do to beat San Diego. But then, San Diego was pretty much hamstrung when Tomlinson had to go out of the game. The Chargers defense played inspired, picking off a shaky Tom Brady 3 times. But the offense failed to finish off drives, settling for Field Goals instead of Touchdowns, and that was the difference. The Patriots were able to hammer away and hammer away until there was no time left, holding the ball for the final 9 minutes of the game and knocking the Chargers off the dance floor.
It's a rematch of a most intriguing game that took place Week 17. Get ready to hear an awful lot about that, about the undefeated Patriots, about Eli Manning emerging from his brother's long shadow, and every other stupid human interest story that can be cooked up.

But you won't hear anything about Brett Favre this week.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

Championship Sunday in the NFL has always been a rather breathless day, even if the 49ers haven't been prominently involved. It's really the last pure day of the NFL Season, before the idiotic week bye week before the overblown spectacle that is the Super Bowl. Some of the most memorable moments in NFL History have come on Championship Sunday, you can look here for a brief recap of some particulars.

This weekend's games should be a treat. No, it's not going to be quite as good as the frenetic New England/Indianapolis game last year, but then, Indianapolis should have muscled up and beaten San Diego. They didn't, and they're not here, so...

...Sunday, at 3PM, we have the San Diego Chargers against the New England Patriots.

This is probably the day's biggest mismatch. San Diego gallantly came away with an epic upset last Sunday in Indianapolis because they were able to move the ball at will against Indy's defense, and their own defense rose to the occasion, came up with key turnovers, shut down Indy's running game and pressured Peyton Manning into making mistakes.

This particular recipe for success is not, in any way, shape or form, exclusive.

On the other side, the juggernaut that is the New England Patriots just continues to roll on. As I mentioned on Monday, Jacksonville pretty much played what was for them, as perfect a game as they could play. But they couldn't keep up with the Patriots, couldn't slow down Maroney, and couldn't lay a finger on Tom Brady. Brady cooly dissected the Jaguars defense relying on short, quick passes, rather than throwing to the double-covered Randy Moss, and the resulting 26 for 28 performance only adds to his legend. Plus, look at that picture. He's so dreamy!

As an unrelated point, Tom Brady is beginning to resemble, more and more, Thom Yorke of Radiohead. They could be dead ringers for each other if Thom Yorke weren't so obviously un-athletic. But the similarities seem to go deeper than just appearance. Both are currently performing at the top of their respective games (consider that a strong endorsement of Radiohead's new album), and have done so for an extended period of time, and even their lulls could be considered excellent for a lesser individual.

But I digress.

In order to continue their drive towards a perfect 19-0 season, the Patriots just have to stick with what got them this far. As time has passed, they have begun to rely more and more on the power running of Lawrence Maroney. I've maintained that any assertion that the Patriots might have had a weak running game was likely false; Belichick has proven himself a master of deception time and again and perhaps he was playing possum with his running game for some time, allowing Brady to just sling the ball at will. This was proven last week with Maroney's strong effort against a Jacksonville defense tough on the run. And if the Chargers try to play the Jags strategy of taking away Moss, Brady has too many other weapons (Stallworth, Welker, Watson) to look to, moreso than the Chargers defense might be able to handle. Yes, the Chargers are better at LB than Jacksonville, but perhaps weaker at Corner. Besides Antonio Cromartie, who will certainly be locked on Moss, they have Quentin Jammer and Drayton Florence, neither of whom are close to spectacular.

On the other side, I don't think anybody has any idea how effective Philip Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson or Antonio Gates can be. They were all banged up but good after the Indianapolis game (or in the Tennessee game in the case of Gates). Billy Volek and Michael Turner might have been good enough to finish out the Indianapolis game. But they won't cut it in New England. The weather is going to be cold, they're going to be tight, and it's going to be tough for them to win. They might keep it respectable, but I think the only chance they have to beat New England is if LaDainian Tomlinson calls up the Real LT, and has him send some hookers to Tom Brady and Randy Moss' houses on Saturday night, while they sit in their hotel rooms and smoke crack.

My pick: New England 38, San Diego 16.

Sunday, sometime after 6pm, is the NFC Championship, featuring the New York Giants and the Green Bay Packers, LIVE, from Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where the capacity of the Stadium is actually larger than the population of the town the Stadium is in.

Although it appears as though much of America seems to be rallying behind Brett Favre and the Packers, the ageless Quarterback resurrecting his career for one last hurrah, leading a band of young and hungry players to the cusp of the Super Bowl, I'm picking the Giants to win.

Here are several reasons why:
Yes, they're going to be on the road, in frigid and hostile Green Bay. But this fact hasn't seemed to bother the Giants at all over the course of the season. They won 7 of their 8 road games in the regular season (including the last 7), and then two more in the Playoffs. That's 9 road wins in a row in one season. That doesn't happen very often. We have seen the Giants mesh as a team as the season drew on, and perhaps this is why they have been able to have such success on the road.

Remember what I said before about the Chargers' strategy in beating the Colts? Well, the Giants did that in the second half of their victory in Dallas last weekend. After Marion Barber carved them up in the first half, the Giants defense held firm and rose up in the second half, keeping Barber under wraps and forcing Tony Romo to beat them. And when they were able to wear down Green Bay's offensive line and pressure Romo, Romo got frustrated and made mistakes. Well, I think they can do that to Green Bay, too. Although Ryan Grant has had a spectacular season, the Green Bay offense is so delicately balanced on Grant being able to run the ball with success. Otherwise, the game is solely in Brett Favre's hands. Now, this isn't a knock on Favre, but let's face it, Favre has always been susceptible to being pressured into making mistakes. He's a master at improvising, yes, but it's easy to overlook just how often his improvising can backfire on him (see: 2001 Divisional Playoff, Packers at Rams). Favre can also throw up that flutterball right into the opposing Safety's hands with the best of them. Favre was never pressured last weekend by a Seahawks defense that could stop neither the run, or the pass. The Giants defense has the capability of stopping the run, and they boast an excellent Pass rush. The question lies in the secondary, and if Aaron Ross is able to play. The secondary is good, but right now a patchwork unit because of injuries. But this didn't stop them last week in Dallas.

Then, there's this: If the Packers win, and go on to face the Patriots, the Media will very likely have a giant, collective, simultaneous orgasm. We will be bombarded, simply bombarded with stupid puff pieces about Brett Favre. True, if the Giants win, we'll hear the same stupid stuff about Eli Manning and Peyton, but you know that if Favre is involved, it's going to go to new heights of insanity. We'll hear from his chiropractor. We'll hear from the doctor that prescribed the painkillers he got addicted to. We'll hear from the guy who dug his father's grave. We'll probably get to see a live interview with the Bog that Favre grew up in in Mississippi. It's going to be absolutely and totally insane. I don't even want to think about the ridiculous questions that he'll be asked at Media day. Between that, the undefeated Patriots, and the Bill Simmons "Prince Favre vs. the Cobra Kai Yankees" theory, it's just a recipe for turning off your TV and throwing it out the window.

It is absolutely imperative that the Giants win this game on Sunday, despite the crowd, and the Favre, and the temperature that is going to range from 3 to -7°F in Green Bay. The sanity of us all depends on it.

My Pick: Giants 27, Packers 23.

Buckle up.