Mets Poised for Strong Season With New Owner

 It's been six years since I started blogging for the New York Mets as a hobby and for a site of a friend of mine. I could have never imagined the roller coaster ride I've been on since which has included a run to the World Series that has followed by many disappointments because of the high expectations that were put on the roster. 

Now, after a horrendous 2020 season that saw Covid eat up two thirds of the season and a highly talented roster couldn't scrape into a playoff bracket that featured over half of the National League. For the first time in a few years, a glimmer of hope has been sprinkled over Queen's as a new owner is in place for the Mets to become the feared team in the NL East. 

Steve Cohen has already made it look like he means business by trading for super star Shortstop Francisco Lindor and signing him to a astronomical contract of 10 years and 341 Million. 

Two things come to mind about the contract: 1. It's a lot of money. 2. To be a winner these are the contracts that have to be signed if we want to win a World Series. Sure there will always be people that will love the 2002 Oakland Athletics but the reality is, it is not sustainable over the course of a five year period. 

We have the best pitcher in the game in Jacob DeGrom and a well balanced lineup with a bullpen that has a high ceiling. We are the co-favorites to win a Division Title for the first time since 2016. 

I would be crushed if DeGrom or Noah Syndergaard doesn't pitch in another post season game for the Mets again. We have had a revolving door in the General Manager position over the last few years and I'm hopeful we can build some stability. This isn't the NFL or NHL where things go in cycles. The same teams are good year in year out and we need to shoot for being a winning organisation. 

We have never really had a good direction out of a few memorable years. This year definitely feels like 2000 where the Braves and the Mets seem like the top dogs for 2021. 

Hoping we get full stadiums for a playoff push in September. I'm just super excited to welcome back baseball to everyones lives and hope to bring you my thoughts to this blog about my favourite baseball team through out the season. 

Canada Set for the Quest for Qatar

It has been over four years since the Canadian Men's national team played a World Cup Qualifying match. It was a 3-1 win over El Salvador, but it never felt like a win. At the same time, Honduras was able to scrape by with a 0-0 draw in Mexico.  

I remember writing on this blog almost nine years ago, the night before Canada would take on Cuba in the Brazil World Cup Qualifiers. The negative eel the media had placed on the team was startling to me. They made it seem like we were the worst team in the region. I kept telling people that we are a better team than we think and thought if we had more than a chance to get to the Hex in 2013.  

The sour taste how that campaign ended gave me a heartache. I will still believe to this day that if Dwayne De Rosario does not get hurt in Panama City or if we weren't missing a handful of players when we were at Honduras that things would have not ended the way they did.  

2018 WCQ showed promise, but again it felt too similar. A draw in Game two of the Semi Final stage again ended up being the dagger. We were in the Group of Death so that gave me hope for the future.  

Four years later we start a quest for being Canada's biggest success story of 2022. Things have changed quite a bit this time around. A different Qualifying format has given us hope that we haven't seen in nearly three decades. On the pitch, things are looking special. We have players from some of Europe's best teams.  

Final round or bust needs to be the motto. 14 extra games that might or might not go well but at the very least they will be huge building games for 2026.  

First thing is first however and that is to win Group B that will feature Suriname as Canada's toughest threat. Aruba, Bermuda and Caymon Islands also included.  

I believe Canada was the seventh best team in Concacaf the last two qualifying cycles. Even if that holds, Canada should find itself in the final stage.  

Despite it being an easy group, something does not sit well. Maybe it's the fact that the last game of the group stage my plot two 3-0-0 teams against each other. With only 90 minutes to get a goal if our goal differential is worse.  

Then there is Haiti if all goes well. Would be a dragon slayer type game with what happened in the 2019 Gold Cup and Canada's consistent exit right before the final stage. Happened five cycles in a row.  

I'm so ready to see how this plays out. Just do not blame the grass roots if things don't go well. We have a team full of talent that is fun to watch.  

The anticipation that I have makes it fun for me to write. Just know I'll have a tough time sleeping tonight. 

What Should Teams Like Belmont Do Next?

 The March Madness selection show was yesterday and the team that was tied for the most wins in Division I was not invited. That team might have not even scrapped your imagination last night as you gazed at the bracket when you went to print one off last night. 

The team that I'm referring to is Belmont. Despite this being no surprise, it should have alarm bells making noise that the whole process is inadequate. Belmont produced a record of 26-4 this year and never had a game postponed according to ESPN. 

The committee will say that they didn't play anyone decent and well that is true, they also have less opportunities to schedule a Gonzaga like Non Conference schedule. My suggestion in the past has been to increase the tournament to 80 teams and give the 11 best regular season tournament winners that

didn't win make the Field of 68 against the last 12 at large spots. Your not changing the dynamic of the filed at all and your also rewarding success to the top 9 seeds. As of now, it is almost better being a 12 seed than a 8 seed. The other play-in spot would come from the NIT Champion from the previous year which would add some meaning to a meaningless tournament. Adding teams only dilutes the playing field if your letting in 18-14 mediocre power 5 teams. 

What if the mid-majors did something bold. Something that would put the basketball landscape on edge. At least 10 top mid major programs need to come together to form some sort of Elite Mid major conference. Remember Bracket Buster Weekend? We would have a entire conference of bracket buster games! 

Here is a complete rough estimation of what it could look like. 

Northern Iowa, Vermont, Winthrop, Loyola Chicago, Iona, Belmont, Murray State, Drake, Stephan F. Austin and FGCU. 

These programs are notorious for consistently in March Madness but almost always have to win their conference tournament to get in. Most power 5 teams are scared to play these teams as it is a lose - lose proposition for the blue bloods and even legendary broadcaster Dick Vital alouded to this on Bracketology last night on ESPN. 

Logistically, this is possible with most teams close together geographically between the Midwest and New York area. I don't like the likelihood of this happening however, but I think from a NET ranking standpoint it is a slam dunk idea. 

The biggest thing that would determine this conferences success would be a TV deal. The American Athletic Conference hit the three point shot when that conference was created when they got TV rights from ESPN. 

In theory, the American Athletic did a similar variation of my idea but for bigger schools that don't quite have Power 5 status. This would be a strictly mid major conference that could have strong RPI numbers because they wouldn't have a weak team holding the conference down. 

A school like Gonzaga wouldn't need to join as they have already prefected mid-major greatness. Same goes for Wichita State in the American Athletic. 

As a conference, the biggest question these commissioners should have is will my conference be good enough to get a #1 seed. If my research is correct, only 10 of the 32 conferences in the current religment have produced a #1 seed. So that asks the question, what should other 22 conferences do to make sure that every conference has the best chance possible to excel. 

Even in Oregon's down years, they are still a Powerhouse

 This isn't the College Basketball season I ever envisioned but I was glad to see the Oregon Ducks wrap up their second straight Pac 12 Championship with a win against Oregon State. I am grateful for being an Oregon Duck as our sports programs are kicking butt in every sport. 

I just want to remind people to go with their gut and do whatever seems right in life. I remember when I was in Grade 8 and I saw Oregon Duck fans act like they were the best thing since sliced bread. It took me awhile to come out of the closet and admit I was a big Ducks fan. The same thing happened to the Minnesota Vikings as well the first year they had Brett Favre. 

Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch the Oregon Ducks Quarterfinal game against the winner of Washington State and Arizona State. The Cougars gave Oregon fits in an earlier game this year when they defeated Oregon on February 4th. Oregon has only lost one game since then. 

Here is the schedule for the tournament:

Game	Time	Matchup	Score	Television	Attendance
First round – Wednesday, March 10
1	1:00 pm	No. 8 Arizona State vs. No. 9 Washington State	–	Pac-12 Network
2	4:00 pm	No. 7 Utah vs. No. 10 Washington	–
3	7:00 pm	No. 6 Stanford vs. No. 11 California	–
Quarterfinals – Thursday, March 11
4	11:30 am	No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8/9	–	Pac-12 Network
5	2:30 pm	No. 4 UCLA vs. No. 5 Oregon State
6	5:30 pm	No. 2 USC vs. No. 7/10
7	8:30 pm	No. 3 Colorado vs. No. 6/11		ESPN
Semifinals – Friday, March 12
8	5:30 pm	Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner	–	Pac-12 Network
9	8:30 pm	Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner		ESPN
Championship – Saturday, March 13
10	7:30 pm	Game 8 winner vs. Game 9 winner	–	ESPN
Game times in PT. Rankings denote tournament seed.

If I play my cards right, this will be the last time I'll ever have to miss the Pac 12 Quarterfinals. My goal is to chase my dreams and accomplish my goals. Over the last five years I haven't done a good job for various reasons but I am extremely close to putting myself in position to do that. I have three more days of work and then 16 straight days off. 

There are a few blog posts that I want to write but haven't had the mental will power to write most days which has been frustrating me. In my peak of my freelancing career I was writing on average every third day which felt good. 

Thank you for being for being my readers as well as my biggest fans. Oregon is a lock for the NCAA Tournament. Will hope to write Thursday after our QF game.