EL BARRIO, EL FALLS – Welcome to your weekly refuge from the insanity of the world and general chaos that is cable news. I have plenty of topics for you to talk about and have finally caved in and I am ready to talk about the Mets. I couldn’t resist any longer. Besides, the word on the street is that Spring is coming, although it is currently hiding like it is running from the Feds. It was easy to plug into the formula of Song of the Week, followed by sports talk, which this week is the following Noah Syndergaard, Mets Aces & Kaeper-Mill.
Song of the Week: I love The Eagles and so I love all there solo efforts. And dammit Summer is almost here. funny thing of course is this song is about the end of summer and sadness that comes with it but pfft!!! Who has time to get serious about lyrics! Lets enjoy a song called the Boys of Summer as the boys of Summer begin to start taking center stage. So this week’s Song of the Week is Boys of Summer by Don Henley.
https://vimeo.com/231902974
Noah Syndergaard: I am seriously developing a man crush on this kid. A friend had me read the Player’s Tribune about this soccer player, but I see a post by Syndergaard (sponsored by Citi, of course). The piece is called Tunnel Vision and in it the kid talks about how he has always had that focus since he was a kid. He says his parents made him play sports and he didn’t want to play baseball at first. Thank goodness for us Met fans he did. He talks about how excited he was to get to NY and live here, and how crushed he was to have to end his season early last year due to injury. What I found really interesting is his goal when he pitches. He wants to be feared and to dominate the opposing batter. He isn’t looking to start a fight but wants the batter to know he is on Noah’s/Thor’s turf. Here is a gem from the interview regarding that:
“If I throw a little too far inside on somebody, and they have a problem with it, they can meet me 60 feet, six inches away and we can have a discussion about it.”
He goes on to explain how he had to grow as a pitcher… how when he watched his fellow pitchers, he realized he had to up his game. What excites me as a Mets fan is how pumped he was to get to the World Series; the thrill of winning a game and the disappointment in losing the series and watching the Royals celebrate at Citi Field. He gives love to Mickey Callaway and pitching coach Dave Eiland. He finishes speaking about how he still has tunnel vision and the only thing he is focused on is getting back to the Series and winning it.
Mets Aces: After reading the Syndergaard piece, it made me wonder who the ace of the Mets staff is and who it should be. It came down to Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom. They are like two unique brothers or cousins. Biblical first names, strong European last names ( have a fascination with last names and deGrom’s is of course Dutch possibly Belgian heritage and Syndergaard is Scandinavian but I couldn’t tell you which country). The two have big-time arms, refuse haircuts so they have long flowing hair out the back of their caps, and are great young pitchers. They were both unheralded coming to the Mets as deGrom was drafted in 9th round and Syndergaard was the player to be named later in the Travis d’Arnuad for RA Dickey trade (best player to be named later since Crash Davis). They differ in their attitude and approach to their job. deGrom is much more quiet and is not a media sound bite darling. Syndergaard has the cool nickname and is not shy of talking. The two remind me of two other NY sports legends, Mark Messiah and Brian Leetch. deGrom is pure Leetch: no fuss, no muss, shows up and shows his teammates how it is done. Syndergaard let’s you know when he is there and doesn’t seem above letting his teammates know all he needs is a run or two, if they are stinking it up. Both players made slightly over half a million last season, as they are still on their basic contracts. The Mets will have to make some hard calls on who on the staff to keep and who let go. They must keep these two at all costs.
Colin Kaepernick & Meek Mill: Making news this week was how Colin Kaepernick turned down a chance to tryout for the Seattle Seahawks because they want reassurances that he wouldn’t kneel. Kaep said “I can’t make that promise.” Meanwhile, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft meet with rapper Meek Mill, who is currently imprisoned on a bogus charge and has become the face of legal justice movement in Philly and America. I am not here to defend Mill’s initial charge or the other charges of violating probation. I am against the most recent charge, where he was in court supporting his cousin, yet was charged with violating parole based on the word of a cop known to the D.A. as untrustworthy. Anyway, Kraft apparently really likes Mill and supports what he is doing. So the only question is, Bobby Boy, when you gonna bring Kaep in as the heir-apparent to Tom Brady? You will then be hated for a real reason.
Leave your thoughts below and come back tomorrow for another gem of a column by a pinch-hitter for Cheesy Bruin. You can also find us on Twitter – @JunoirBlaber, @MeetTheMatts & @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram – @MeetTheMatts – and Facebook – Meet The Matts.
