While others debate whether Mark McGwire should be elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is another issue regarding Hall of Fame voting that bothers me more than the “possible steroid users in the Hall” debate.  

The fact that there are members of the Hall of Fame committee that did not vote for Tony Gwynn or Cal Ripken Jr. to be enshrined at Cooperstown is a problem.  I know, I know, Gwynn and Ripken Jr. were elected anyway, and both received over 97% of the vote.

However, the fact that Gwynn and Ripken Jr. were elected is not the point.  Ripken and Gwynn are in that rare group of professional athletes where there is absolutely no debate about their Hall of Fame credentials. They, along with other elite players like Tom Seaver, Barry Sanders, and Joe Montana should have received 100% of the vote. Some players are just that dominant; they’ve had that much of an impact on their sport that deciding on voting yes for them should take about .03 seconds.  Seriously, how can anyone check off the “no” box when Jerry Rice comes up for enshrinement?  The same goes for Greg Maddux.  There is no logical reason why they shouldn’t be unanimous selections to enter their respective Halls of Fame.

But no player ever gets 100% of the vote and I don’t think it will ever happen.  Hank Aaron is the all time leader in homeruns. How could anyone not vote for him?  But someone didn’t.  The fact is that there are members of these committees (many of whom are current or former sports writers) in all sports, using their vote as a weapon to hold a grudge against a player or as a tool to express their personal beliefs.  Some members just believe that no player should ever be elected the first time they are on the ballot. Whatever the reason, there are members of Hall of Fame committees abusing their power, and it’s just not right.

It’s a new year and with a new year comes the promise of change; a chance break bad habits; to do things better.  Well, while we love to blame players, coaches and owners, we sports fans need to look in the mirror and admit that we need to make some changes as well.  I propose the following resolutions to help us all become better sports fans in 2007.

1. Less Sport Radio.  I’ll admit that this one is a personal pet peeve.  I hate sports talk radio shows.  There is not another segment of sports media that I find more annoying.  Pompous hosts, who typically aren’t all that knowledgeable (yes, I’m talking to you Steven A. Smith and Michael Kay) use the airwaves to spout incoherent rants, recycle clichés and support their own agendas.  It’s suppose to be a forum for fans to express ideas and opinions but usually if a caller’s opinion’s differ from the host’s they call him crazy and hang up.  So please in the best interests of everyone, let’s stop calling and stop listening. 

2. Think Before You Vote.  The All-Star vote is one of the last pieces of power the sports fan has left, but frankly we as a group are doing a terrible job lately.  All you have to do is look at this year’s Pro Bowl balloting where John #### and his whopping zero interceptions, zero sacks and 5 passes defended made it to Hawaii over Kerry Rhodes who has 5 interceptions, 4 sacks and 3 forced fumbles.  This happens all the time in every major sport, then fans turn around and complain that the same players make it to the All-Star game every year. Well then we as a whole need to do a better job.

3. Try Something New.  We all consider ourselves sports fans but are we really?  How many of us have been to a minor league baseball game? Or checked out a basketball game at our local community college?  Maybe you’ve never been to an Arena League game (which is actually pretty fun in person).  We could all diversify our sports portfolios a bit. 

4. Cut Down the Clichés.  Not all teams that lose “just didn’t want to win” sometimes they just get out played.  And not all athletes are “overpaid”; actually basic economics tells us that for the most part they all are compensated properly.  Can we get rid of clichés completely? Of course not. But as a group lets make an effort to actually think before we speak.

5. Keep Things in Perspective. Sports fans speak in way too many absolutes.  We crown players superstars in their first year. Or we call them busts after a few bad games early in their career.  Some of it comes with being a fan, I understand that. This is not completely our fault.  Sports media outlets love to proclaim a player, a team or even a league as reaching super star status or “in crisis”.  A perfect example of this is Tony Romo.  He was being compared to Brett Favre after his second NFL start.  Now? Not so much.  Let’s just take a little time before we proclaim the end of baseball as we know it or send Frank Gore to the Hall of Fame.

Over the years, probably because I’ve worked in sports or recreation jobs for most of my life, I’ve acquired a sizable group of female sports fan friends - (FSFF) and acquaintances -(FSFA). They come from various walks of life and ethnic backgrounds and for the most part they are just like their male counter parts:

 They are superstitious. One of my FSFF is a huge New York Mets and New York Rangers fan. Her game watching rituals involve having her mother and sister watch the same game in different rooms in the same apartment while sitting in specific chairs.  She also implores the Rangers’ defensemen to “Skate!! Skate!!”

 They are extremely loyal.  Riss, one of my best friends, grew up in California and is a devout (and bitter) Raider’s fan. Yes, she realizes Aaron Brooks is awful.  She is also aware that the offensive line can’t block. And yes, she knows that the Raiders’ kicker is almost 300 pounds. None of these facts makes her happy.  But she would never think of abandoning Raider Nation. Her beautiful 3 year old twin daughters are already wearing Raider jerseys and I think face paint is next. And don’t dare say the words “tuck rule” around her if you want to live.

 They play fantasy sports.  A fashionista FSFF I met while working at the NBA years ago just beat my team by 3 points in the second round of our fantasy football league.  (And no, it’s not fun to have a “chick-lit” writer talk trash to you. Not fun at all.)  She takes the league very seriously; she even told her boyfriend that she couldn’t drive him to the airport because she had to participate in her fantasy draft.

 “He knew the draft was today! Why would he put me in that position?” she wondered.  

 She made me so proud that day.

 But there are some differences between male sports fans and female sports fans.

They simplify strategy.  One of the guys I grew up with works for a NFL team.  When the two of us talk football the conversation goes something like this:

 Him: “They stayed in the cover-two shell too long. I thought that somewhere on the last drive coach would have called a safety blitz or at least gone to a pressure front look to make him check the ball down”

 Me: “Yea you have to do something different against Peyton Manning. Maybe go with bracket coverage, or a zone blitz, he was way too comfortable”

 Female sports just fans don’t speak this way.  Ever.  They break the game down to its simplest terms. One FSFF said to me, “Why don’t they just make sure Marvin Harrison doesn’t catch the ball? It’s obvious that’s who Peyton likes to throw to.”  This is not to say they females don’t understand strategy.  I know one in particular who loves the Match-Up show on ESPN.  They just don’t see the fuss in making the game more complicated than it needs to be. Why this skill doesn’t translate to shopping is beyond me.

 The players’ lives off the field are very important.  I have a friend who is a die hard Yankee fan and loves Derek Jeter.  Once we were having a random conversation about who Jeter will end up dating next.  I said “maybe he will go for Angelina Jolie once she’s tired of Brad Pitt”.

 She almost lost it.

 “If he dates her I will hate him. I can’t stand her. No, that can never happen”

What this has to do with Jeter’s ability to drive in runs or get on base is beyond me.

But all in all, male and female sports fans are more alike than they are different.  Both think the referees, announcers and sometimes the league as a whole are against their team.  The majority hate both Kobe Bryant and Terrell Owens.  And they both take losses very hard.  A female sports fan that attends the same graduate school I do didn’t watch television or read a newspaper for 3 days after the Yankees lost in the playoffs to the Detroit Tigers.  Because of this, she didn’t know what the weather forecast would be for the next week.

“I don’t want to see anything about the Yankees by accident, it makes my brain hurt.” she said to me in a low tone between puffs of a cigarette.

 Spoken like a true fan.

This one hurts, a lot .

It was all set up to be a great story.  For Mets fans all of the positive omens were there. Oliver Perez was out pitching the “worst pitcher ever to start game 7” label. Endy Chavez made best catch that many of us will ever see in our lifetime. Scott Rolen made a Bucker-like error that should have opened the flood gates. Cliff Floyd was set up for a Kirk Gibson moment.  There was a 1986 magic in the air last night, or so I thought. 

Some how, none of those moments translated into a win.  Instead, Mets fans where shown what could have been and then had it snatched away.  Sure people will place blame.  Some will say Willie Randolph should have bunted in the 9th, “play for the tie at home” as the saying goes.  Some will blame John Valentin, or Aaron Heilman, or Carlos Beltran.  That’s what fans do after losses like this.

However, last night was all those things that make us either love sports (if you’re a Cardinals fan) or make you question why you care so much (if you’re a Mets fan). And as much as I would like to place blame, I can’t.  Randolph played for the win, that’s what you want managers to do.  Valentin and Heilman were great contributors all season and everyone knows about the season Beltran had.

The Baseball Gods teased the Mets fans last night.  They let us get a taste of what would have been a historic win.  And after a  few curve balls and a line out, they took it all away. And damn, does it hurt.

OK, its 12:50PM and I'm and talking myself into Oliver Perez starting game 7 in the NLCS for the team I've been rooting for longer than any other.  "All we need is 4 solid innings."  I tell myself. "He's got a great fastball and good breaking stuff, if he can just not get behind in the count... "  I'm assuming this is why we are called "fanatics".   Sports shouldn't be this stressful...

It’s crazy to me that the Yankees and what MIGHT happen  still gets back page headlines over a team that , get this, still has a chance at the World Series.

New York will always be a Yankee town, the same way it will always be a Giants and Knicks town. I understand that.  I also understand that the Yankee loss was a bigger story than the Mets win just because of the way the Yankees lost.  ESPN and NYDailyNews.com reported Saturday night / early Sunday morning that Torre will be fired.  So while as a Mets fan I felt disrespected, I understood that the Yankees would be the big story on Sunday morning.  Even WFAN’s Mike Francessa interrupted his popular Sunday morning football show to talk about the Yankees demise.

However, the Yankees lost on Saturday. It is now Tuesday and as I pick up the Daily News this morning the Yankees are featured on not only the back page but on the front page as well (By the way who cares that Rudy Giuliani thinks Torre should still be the manager?).   It’s not like these are the days before the internet.  If something changes with Torre’s status every website will have the update, why rehash the same stories that we’ve read over the last 48 hours?  The bottom line is as of 12:00PM today, Joe Torre is still the manager of a team that is no longer in the playoffs and the Mets are four wins away from the World Series.  It would be nice if the New York media would acknowledge that.

For Queens it’s the best of times, in the Bronx it’s the worst of times. 

Like I thought before the playoffs started, the Mets used their balanced line-up and versatile bullpen to wear down the Dodgers for a 9-5 victory, sweeping them 3-0 and advancing the National League Championship. I must give credit to Shawn Green, who went 3-5 and started the key rally in the sixth inning with a double. Guillermo Mota, while he made things interesting, was also clutch, pitching two shut out innings and allowed Willie Randolph to save Aaron Heilman for the eighth inning. Now I’ll go root for San Diego to beat the Cardinals because I want no part of Albert Pujols.

The Tigers shocked the baseball world as they shut down the “best line-up in baseball history”, winning game four 8-3 to advance to the American League Championship against Oakland.   Yankee fans can’t blame this one only on Alex Rodriguez as Giambi, Sheffield and Cano were awful and the bullpen couldn’t keep them in striking distance. It will be interesting to see how Steinbrenner will react after this loss, and what moves Brian Cashman will make.  It’s a cliché but the Yankees showed absolutely no fight and seemed to roll over once they fell behind.  It might be time for a new voice in the locker room.  I’m not blaming the loss on Joe Torre at all, but it could be time for just a fresh start and a new direction in the Bronx.

With all of that said, we should give Detroit plenty of credit because we all (except for Tiger fans obviously) underrated this team.

First , I am not at all saying that I would rather John Maine on the mound than Pedro Martinez.  I'm a fan, but I'm not stupid.  So let's get that out of the way.   And I will admit to being a little down when I found out Pedro's out for the postseason.  However, I'm not jumping off of a bridge.  Why? Well an injured Pedro does us no good and when he's injured and struggling it just crushes the morale of the team.   It's better to put out a healthy guy and erase the uncertainty than to roll the dice and maybe give away a playoff game trying to figure out if Pedro will pitch like he did in April.   

Are the Mets a weaker team today without Pedro? Of course.  Are they doomed? Not close.  The bottom line is, the Mets are built around their line up and bullpen.  Anybody who has watched this team this season and not just lately knows this.  They've won plenty of games without Pedro.  Don't get me wrong. The playoffs are different than the regular season.  I understand that.  And Steve Trachsel scares the hell out of me.  But this Mets team, they are more than just Pedro.  They are Jose Reyes getting on base and creating havoc.  The middle relief getting the tough outs.  David Wright in the clutch. Beltran taking away extra base hits then crushing one over the right field fence.  It's the playoffs and anything can happen, but I still like the Mets chances.  Losing Pedro has just made the ride more interesting.