The leaked Manny promo.

Hat tip to Peter Wade for digging this gem up.

The best thing about the NY Media, is that its always someones fault. And luckily, they generally pretty much know who that someone is. Bad nights just don’t exist, nor funks. A player is not having an off season, clearly it is someone elses fault. And you might never have known all this, but luckily the various tv personalities and print folk know better than you, and will point this out. Probably using a large font for the newspaper guys.

For the most part, their hatred towards Willie is easy to understand: he’s not a publicly emotional guy. Like Beltran , in public he has a public face. Cool. Calm. Chill like ice man. He’s not going to throw things, punch stuff, scream and curse and get all wild and crazy. Some say he’s gotten all hot and upset when one on one, where he feels its more appropriate. But in public, its all business. And if you’re in charge of writing stories, well, thats no fun. Hey, this is a blog. We completely understand where they’re coming from. Nothing helps us bring the funny like someone flipping out. Paul Lo Duca goes all bug eyed and tosses his equipment on the field, thats six posts right there. Remember when Scott Proctor set his equipment on fire? Thats a week worth of jokes. And you could keep a blogger busy for years just by letting him follow Kyle Farnsworth around, or documenting Jose Reyes and his dances. So when Willie handles his reprimanding of players in his office instead of in front of the media, well, he definately needs to get fired.

What makes less sense, is now extra kindling seems to be getting tossed on the fire. That kindling, is Howard Johnson (who ironically enough, is made of wood). Cerrone reported earlier that his name has come up now as someone on the firing line. This, makes less sense. A more emotional guy, known for being from a group of scrappy, fiery players. Not to mention being known as one of the more well rounded hitters from teams filled with hitters. Apparently, he’s to blame for Delgado rapidly aging to his mid40s over two seasons. Come on HoJo, get on that.

I’ve lived in NY State my whole life, most of it on LI. I hope to one day spend some time in a small market. See what its like there. When player mistakes are the players fault. When the manager and coaches are not to blame when the players don’t perform, or they merely aren’t given the players they need. Where the newspapers don’t create rumors, which the tv guys then report as a story. It’ll be strange out there, in what I assume will be Milwaukee or Minnesota. One of those weird places that no one really lives and exist solely in fiction and wire stories. Hopefully I’ll get to see the way the do things there quickly too, so I can come back to NY, and find out who’s fault it truly. is.

The focus today seems to be on Willie Randolph after the Mets dropped two games in Atlanta.

I’m sorry, did I miss something? Did Willie pitch yesterday? Did he fail to get any kind of offense going? Did he switch uniforms with Aaron Heilman?

I guess I must be in some parallel universe where the guys playing the game are actually responsible for their inability to consistently play winning baseball.

How about player accountability? Why is the focus on Willie Randolph when the team is responsible for wins and losses?

Yesterday I remarked how reporters would quickly reframe their story if the Mets went and lost two games in Atlanta after sweeping the Yankees. I’m not surprised I was correct. Most people can’t see more than beyond the past 9 innings even though there are 900 or so more to play.

The reason why is simply because its convenient to make Willie the focus because its an easy story to write. Willie has put his foot in his mouth by making statements to reporters that he’s unfairly portrayed, defending himself instead of just ignoring them. The funny thing is if he did ignore them, he’d be written up as impotent and lacking fire, which is exactly what they’ve been trying to portray him as in the first place.

If the fans and the media want to run Willie out of town, they can and they will.

It won’t make a difference because Willie doesn’t throw a pitch or swing a bat, and that is where the real problem with this team lies.

So it seems now that we are going to psychoanalyze Willie Randolph’s every word. SNY is now taking time out of their broadcast to try and figure out what Willie meant by saying that SNY is unfairly portraying him.

We can tell Willie to just shut up and get back to baseball, but if the media keeps asking questions he’s inclined to answer. It gets spinned as a controversy that Willie created when he’s simply answering the questions posed to him.

So please, lets stop analyzing Willie and let him manage his team. If he is doing a poor job, and he loses the respect of his team, then he will be shown the door, but for the folks who cover the team to try and run him out the door by playing armchair psychiatrist is kind of sad.

If Willie says nothing, he’s passive. Which is exactly what Willie was trying to defend himself of being. If he opens his mouth, he gets criticized for going after the media. He can’t win.

Maybe Willie actually has a point in being angry about how he’s portrayed, because nothing he does seems to satisfy anyone.

Its funny how now that the Mets have taken two games from the Yankees over the weekend that what was perceived by many in the media as a firestorm in the form of Billy Wagner’s locker room comments is now being framed by the same media members as the fire the Mets needed to get back on track.

Perception is reality, and the perception of Wagner’s outburst, as innocuous as it may have actually been, as Wagner is often known to wisecrack in the locker room for comic effect than for actual effect, was too good to pass up and run with as the Molotov cocktail that would divide a clubhouse and put its manager in the hot seat.

Funny what a difference two days makes.

So now the story is framed as the turning point of the Mets season, whether or not that is the case could change again in the next two days as the Mets actually play a team that matters in their divisional aspirations. Will the press reframe the story again if the Mets trip up in Atlanta?

In the fickle back pages of the New York tabloids, you’re only as good as your last performance, and the perceptions of that reality can get reframed in a New York minute depending on the direction the wind happens to be blowing from out of the mouth of your outspoken closer.

I’m not entirely sure where MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews was going with this comparison but he made it. So I’ll post it. Matthews while speaking at the Institute of Politics was asked how he would respond to the claim that MSNBC officially supports Obama. I’ll leave that sort of hanging since this is not a political blog and I’ll just cut to the chase. So, during his response he started to talk about his “feel” and “sense” was that the higher ups at NBC were more for Hillary. Matthews went on:

…”but there seems to be a New York thing about Hillary. Just the people from… it’s like the Yankees and the Mets… it’s their thing. You know?”

I found this funny. I watch Hardball and Matthews is tough to read sometimes. He’s a real character who’s all over the place. It is interesting that educated people like those who run NBC would be guided by the fact that Hillary is a Senator from NY. She now has approximately five home towns. The Mets Yankees comparison must come from some interesting in house debates like sports fans have about their favorite teams for this to pop into Matthews bulbous skull. Well, I leave this alone. Don’t want to go down a slippery slope here. Just found it funny and interesting enough to share. Lets Go Mets!

If your interested in the rest of what Matthews had to say go to Politico.com

McCarthyism is a term describing the intense anti-communist suspicion in the United States in a period that lasted roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s. Joe McCarthy led the charge to smear and destroy the reputations of anyone who was unfortunate enough to fall under his ignorant wrath.

This week, with one television program, Bob Costas, whom I had respected and admired for some time, led his own McCarthy hearings on the future of sports media. His tool of choice came in the form of Buzz Bissinger, who I had respected and admired as well, until he revealed himself to be a unreasonable symbol of the old guard.

Costas interjected for a single moment in the program to admit that there are blogs that are intelligent and well written, but just as he hypocritically wags his finger at Will Leitch’s deadspin for focusing on the sensationalism in sports, he uses that same sensationalism as the main focus of his program. He stacks the deck against Will who was basically ambushed by Bissinger, barely giving Will a chance to respond to his out of context, ad-homium attacks basing them on comments, not even posts, on Will’s site.

Costas was irresponsible, out of touch and poorly prepared for presenting the future of sports media. Make no mistake, this is the future, and the dinosaurs clinging with clenched fists to the established truths they hold so dear can either learn to adapt or become extinct. Bissinger states that he doesn’t understand this ‘nebulous view from a fan’, which is the root of his ignorance. There is a place for folks to read the x’s and o’s and events as they took place, and there is now, in great numbers, places for people to read this ‘nebulous view of the fan’ which, apparently, judging by the numbers generated by the most popular sports websites today, what people actually want to read.

Bissinger is fine writer whose prose knows no expiration date. However his viewpoints when it comes to the format and immediacy that fans today crave are unfortunate and misinformed.

I would hope that Costas and Bissinger could eventually evolve, but I won’t hold my breath. We don’t have time to live in the world of the old boys club of sports media of which they belong. Time soldiers on and unfortunately for the McCarthyists like Costas, who wish to paint all new media with a broad brush, their ignorant opinions will find their respect by the majority of todays fan waning, their voices becoming less and less relevant, and their place in history to become a cautionary tale much like that of Joe McCarthy, a misguided champion of the immoral minority.

For those interested in sports media there is a must watch on HBO’s Costas Now tonight at 10pm. Bob Costas will host a live 90 minute town hall meeting with variety of different panels from the entire sports media spectrum. It will be broken up into five segments:

• Sports talk radio: A mix of video taped interviews then a live panel with among other’s WFAN’s Chris “Mad Dog” Russo and New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan.
• The Internet and the Impact of Bloggers: Video interviews: deadspin.com editor Will Leitch, TV writer and media critic Michael Schur and Washington Post columnist and “PTI” host Michael Wilbon.
• Sports Television: Live panel: Fox Sports broadcaster Joe Buck, ESPN broadcaster Mike Tirico and Sports Illustrated’s Dan Patrick.
• Athletes and the Media: Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, Miami Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor, former NBA star and Turner Sports analyst Charles Barkley. Live panel: NBC’s Tiki Barber, Sports Illustrated columnist Selena Roberts and tennis analyst and former tennis star John McEnroe.
• A Discussion on Race:Video interviews: Washington Post columnist and “PTI” host Michael Wilbon, former NFL star Kellen Winslow, Sr. Live panel: former NFL star and current ESPN commentator Cris Carter and Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock.

Looks mighty interesting and the fact that it’s on HBO commercial free for 90 minutes is great. This is something crunched down to say an hour with commercials would just be a waste of time. FYI there are more guests than listed above. For more info check out HBO.com

Ken Davidoff on his blog for Newsday runs down an All-Star team of players who the media loves to talk to.

Many Mets and ex-Mets are mentioned, including Todd Zeile, Mike Piazza, Tom Glavine, Billy Wagner, and David Cone.

This and the recent interview by Mets By The Numbers with Marty Noble are my favorite type of articles from beat writers. Its always interesting to pull back the curtain a little and know what the writers think about the players.

Neil Best on his sports media blog “Watchdog” for Newsday writes that Mets fans are tuning into spring training games in record numbers.

Last year, SNY’s first spring training Mets telecast attracted only 0.14 percent of area households - understandable on a weekday afternoon.

This season’s first spring training game Friday afternoon drew 0.80 percent of homes - more than five times as many as last year.

Hat tip to Was Watching, the newest member of the SNY Blog Network, for the news.

From Newsday…

Bob Raissman, in The New York Daily News, reminds us how most of America tuned out of the last Subway Series as New York was in rapture, watching every pitch of every inning.

Even after the commissioner studied the ratings, they did not change.
And while the TV guys will spin, and try to rationalize their way into
believing a 2006 Mets-Yankees matchup would produce a better rating
than it did six years ago, they cannot change the fact that in major
cities across the United States there is an anti-New York stance.

It will only get deeper as the Mets and Yankees are hyped over the next
couple of weeks. In 2000, the Mets reached the World Series as a wild
card. The equation is different now. The Mets stormed through the NL
East. They, along with the Yankees, likely will be favored to make it
to the Series.

The two networks airing division series games - Fox and ESPN - will
play on this, showcasing both New York teams. In the early rounds, the
Mets and Yankees will produce ratings.

With its postgame coverage, along with “Baseball Tonight” and
“SportsCenter,” ESPN will be able to overexpose the Mets and Yankees.
Depending on how Alex Rodriguez is doing, you will hear the latest
A-Rod saga over and over and over again. You might even find out Pedro
Martinez is planning a postseason reunion with Nelson de la Rosa, his
tiny pal.

If the two teams continue moving toward a final showdown, the Joe
Torre/Willie Randolph angle will be pushed to the max. No doubt some of
these stories will start with the “Subway” commercials in which the two
managers appear together. By the time Oct.21 arrives, fans in places
such as Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles will not want to see another
Cold Cut Combo.

They will be New Yorked out.

They also will be in no mood to see the gratuitous shots of Rudy
Giuliani wearing his Yankees hat. Or Jerry Seinfeld in Mets blue and
orange. The last time America got a look at these scenes, it turned off
the World Series - in droves.

Raissman wonders if it would be different this time around with a much
improved Mets team, and storylines such as the drama of the infighting
Yankees clubhouse, Randolph
taking on his friend and former skipper, and first time the two New
York teams have played each other in the World Series post 9/11.

There is a flip side to this. The situation for both the Mets and
Yankees is different than it was in 2000. The Mets are more formidable.
In 2000, they had one marquee player - Mike Piazza. Now they have
Martinez, Tom Glavine, The Carloses (Delgado and Beltran). The playoffs
also will give fans a closer look at David Wright and Jose Reyes.

The Yankees are in machine mode. And while the whole A-Rod story has
been beaten to death locally, it just might be the hook that intrigues
casual fans who are desperately needed to drive ratings.

While these angles might provide some hope of a bigger World Series
rating this year than the one in 2000, they will not inspire much
confidence.

After all, how many times can those who ain't exactly in love with us
New Yorkers stand to see those media types ask Randolph the same
all-important question.

“Willie, is it fresh toasted?”

Anita Kinkhabwala on CNNSI.com tells us how shes officially heard enough about Paul Lo Duca's love life already.

I mean, the Mets are one of the best teams in baseball, and Lo Duca
has been a major contributor, hitting .313, playing through a broken
bone in his hand and managing some of the nuttiest pitchers in the
game. I can even vouch for him as a relatively likable guy. He's got
this acerbic wit, he knows his soccer and he's got a wicked collection
of T-shirts.

But the front page of a major newspaper? On the
day after Hezbollah unleashed its deadliest attack yet, Iran told the
U.N. it was dreaming if it thought the country would give up trying to
build a nuclear bomb, and the Mets locked up bona fide superstar David Wright? And yet, we were just getting started.

Read the entire article on CNNSI.com