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Here it is another cloudy Monday, a chill and pervading dampness fills the air, the things I had to do are largely done, there’re no afternoon baseball games on the schedule and it would seem to be a perfect time for reflection.

Osama bin-Laden is dead.

The Mets were huge in a very little way last night.  After losing the lead in the eighth, their relief staff held on to hold the Phillies scoreless the rest of the way while the offense finally broke through in the 14^th friggin’ inning to win it.  But, as impressive as the Mets pitching was, the result paled in the grand scheme of all things.

Because Osama bin-Laden is dead.

I’m listening now to Tom Coughlin discussing the recent Giants draft now and, as in baseball’s spring training, he’s optimistic for the upcoming season.  Jerry Reese, the Giants GM will be coming on later and it should be interesting listening to his views on the same thing.  And I think they did as well as anybody, unless you count New England and crazy Bellichick, who once again possessed twice as many picks as any other team.

The Jets did pretty well too as far as I can see.  They opted for defense with the first two picks while devoting the rest to offense.  But there’s no harder draft to judge than that of this Jets team that has more free agents than just about anyone.  It’s kind of hard to tell who’s going to stay and who’s going to go so, from a need point of view, the draft can’t really be evaluated.

But at least Osama bin-Laden is dead.

There’s been so much sports action.  It’s almost ridiculous.  The NBA playoffs are right in the middle of things, the dogs having finally been eliminated, and some big dogs too, especially longtime top dog San Antonio.  But they didn’t go quietly and my favorite game so far may have been their valiant effort to snatch victory in overtime in Game 5 from a surprisingly tough Memphis squad.

Then there’re Boston in the East and LA in the West who are still alive.

But not Osama bin-Laden.  He’s dead.

Of course, my NFL coverage wouldn’t be at all satisfactory without at least mentioning the NFL lockout and the interminable legal wrangling surrounding that battle, which it seems has become the real Super Bowl. 

I’m reminded of Paul Newman’s final argument in “The Verdict” as he discusses justice as opposed to the trappings of the court.  His jury got it right.  You have to wonder whether two judges will ever rule the same way on this thing, providing some reason to get the parties back to the negotiating table.

Most observers favor the players in this battle as it seems the NFL is more profitable than ever and why should they now take money back from the players?  Well, how about the cost of all those new stadiums the owners built in the midst of a depression?  Shouldn’t players help share the angst of filling all those monuments to greed? 

The owners brought their current situation upon themselves.  Much as the banks were bailed out for their stupefying mortgage decisions, so are the owners looking for a bailout of their own, but they’re looking for that bailout to come from the players.  They’ve already soaked their fan bases to saturation.  No further increases in ticket prices or seat licenses could conceivably be borne by what has to be a shrinking fan base.

These player-owner negotiations have become paralyzed by the lawyers, much as our entire society has.  All the issues that beset us are eventually solved but only after thousands of billable hours. Meanwhile, the judges seem to make sure the billing continues.  Do any of these vipers have justice in their hearts? We’ll find out if the season starts on time.

But it’s baseball season, or would be if the other sports would just let go and stop trying to fix our attention on them the whole year round.  And Major League Baseball is fighting back now, looking to expand the baseball playoffs so maybe we can have a World Series on Thanksgiving?

The season’s already too long.  These April games are played in long sleeves and hoodies more often than not and, unless you’re remarkably gullible, you can’t believe any of these players can bring themselves to care passionately whether they win or lose.  They’re just trying to get through the day, or more often than not, the night.

But it’s finally May.  If I had no calendar, my cherry tree would tell me.  If there’s any consistency in life for me, it’s got to be that cherry.  In full bloom on May 1^st without fail, its blazing pinkness dominates the entire springtime tableau, if only for a fortnight or so.

But consistency is over-rated too, in baseball as much as anywhere else.  Most players aren’t very steady at all, and especially pitchers, and even more especially, pitchers in April.  But maybe it just seems that way to an observer focused too much on his fantasy staff.

The Mets pitchers reflect that inconsistency quite well.  Mike Pelfrey has gone out of his way to show us he’s really not an ace.  But, on the other side of things, Chris Young, one of the Metsies low-risk shots in the dark, continues to amaze us with good performance after good performance. And two other long reaches, relief pitchers Beato and Isringhausen, and maybe even a Taylor Bucholz, are doing way more than anybody could have reasonably expected.

But make no mistake.  Last night’s win was a big one for the Mets.  After losing two to the hated Phillies, salvaging that last game to avoid the sweep, and doing so with pitching, was entirely satisfying.  Even the Phillies staff can be had, and even a Cliff Lee appearance won’t necessarily end in a victory.

Cautious optimism is the order of the day.

Osama bin- Laden is dead.