The friggin' Netherlands is still alive with pitching.......                                   while Jeter, um,  unwinds at the beach Photo by Sam Yeh-AFP-Getty                                                                               Photo by NY Post

I’d like to first extend my apologies to any regular readership, as life’s realities have once again intruded upon my carefully-crafted fantasy existence.  Between personal problems and the proposed NJ budget, carefully crafted by the tyrant Corzine to attack the middle class and smokers, it’s really tough to keep my mind on sports. 

Kudos though, to the WBC, the Knicks and the Nets.  Raspberries to the U.S.A. baseball team and Jake Peavy.  I could probably add UConn and Pitt to the raspberries list but my heart’s not really in it.  They are just students after all.

The U.S. baseball team surely didn’t show much in their embarrassing ten-run rule loss to Puerto Rico yesterday, but they’re still in the tournament, for now anyway.  If this tournament has shown me anything thus far, it’s just to reaffirm the importance of good pitching. 

Jake Peavy gave up six runs right off the bat, no pun intended, and that was pretty much the end of things.  Meanwhile, the friggin’ Netherlands has shown basically nothing at the plate but are pitching their little hearts out.  I’ve heard they practice in wooden shoes, which just makes things that much easier when they get to wear their spikes.  It’s only conjecture that they also pitch into windmills for added resistance.

The Mets are showing pretty well.  Beltran and Delgado have been smacking the ball all around the parks while K-Rod closed out the Dutch with four outs too.  I can’t say it makes me happy though.  A 162-game season is hard to preface with a huge tournament.   

The timing of this event really couldn’t be worse for the U.S.  Our pitchers save themselves for the regular season and aren’t geared up for big performances in March. If the U.S. loses again tonight, maybe we’ll take this event a little more seriously in the future.  I don’t think we can afford to ignore it any longer.  We’re getting embarrassed on an international stage.

Major League Baseball has to prevent teams from being obstructionists too.  And the biggest fly in the ointment thus far seems to be the Yankees, whatta surprise, who whined loudly about a little shoulder problem for Cano.  Is there still any doubt that Cano is a deadbeat?  I guess so.  I know you won’t find him on my fantasy roster. 

At the same time as the Yanks try to destroy any baseball talk outside their own team, they are still patiently keeping those seats unaffordable for all but the richest.  I anxiously await their demise, not only on the field but also in home attendance.  Really!  Was there ever a more disgraceful team management in any sport whatsoever?

You have to wonder about the security of these fans as they approach the gates of the new stadium.  In this economy, and with the locals not only ticked off about the stadium in general but also about their inability to afford seats, I could definitely see some hostility directed toward their dwindling fan base.  

See “Robin Hood.”  It’s pretty easy to characterize the new stadium as Nottingham Castle, Hank Steinbrenner as evil Prince John and Cashman as the stumblin’ bumblin’ Sheriff of Nottingham. Picturing the Bronx as Sherwood Forest is a little tougher, of course, but maybe they’ll plant some trees.  Oh, that’s right….parking lots…but I digress.

I have to say it’s really nice to see the Knicks and Nets both coming back to contend for that eighth playoff spot.  D’Antoni never stops.  He’s never missed the playoffs and doesn’t act as if he wants to break his streak.  I couldn’t help but notice his pulling the jock Harrington from the lineup down the stretch, definitely a good thing.  He also chastised Lee and Robinson for their attitudes toward the officials. 

Although I’m not quite ready to shower the same kind of credit on Lawrence Frank, you can’t help but notice his N.J. team is still trying.  The thing I always notice about the Nets is their height.  Lopez, Yi, these are big guys, and that never hurts in basketball.  If the refs ever give Lopez a break (they won’t), the Nets would be great.  Both teams have their work cut out for them down the stretch though.  They have to face each other twice down the stretch.

The Knicks also have to face LeBron and the Cavs, then shortly thereafter have a home and home against Orlando.  Then it’s on the road against Utah and Denver, then at the Bulls, at Orlando again and at Miami.  That’s not a schedule I’d advocate for a playoffs team.  

The Nets might have it even tougher. A home and home vs Cleveland, the Lakers, Detroit, Boston and Orlando will all make it tougher for the Jerseyans.  The most likely outcome for our locals will be a final game steel cage death-match against each other for the final playoffs berth on April 15^th.

The madness begins soon, of course, and the finals seem harder to predict every year.  We see the UConn’s and Pitt’s of the world all season but then come to realize that Louisville’s not too bad either.  North Carolina, Texas, Kansas, Arizona, they always seem to be contenders.  And Syracuse always seems tougher when it really counts. 

Actually it’s probably a lot harder to predict the 64 entrants than it is to pick a winner.  There’s at least as much acrimony over the participants as there is about the results.  And that’s a good thing, I guess, except I keep thinking those last 32 teams should really be in the NIT.

I never should have watched “No Country for Old Men”.  I find myself pining for the good ol’ days, day games, 154-game schedule, no DH, double-headers, Mickey, Willie and the Duke. 

Sports, governments, the medical establishment, they all share disturbing similarities….too few dollars chasing too many services.  Do we really need those extra 8 games in the season?  How about the number of police on the streets?  How about that EKG for a stomach ache? 

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