The False Truth

Being a sports fan is a constant challenge and a relationship that can be a love affair or drive someone crazy. If you are a Met fan this dichotomy is always in play. Let's be clear about the New York Mets, they are clearly a very poorly run franchise, they are a big market team that never seems willing to dig into their pockets to provide talent on the field or for the fans. The front office doesn't seem to have a plan in place or a direction that is consistent for winning over time. They ask their fans to be loyal which they are even when the results on the field are never positive for very long. Met fans are constantly waiting for their next minor leaguer to be a star or the next win streak however short it may be. Last year their season revolved around RA Dicky, this year this season so far has revolved around Matt Harvey and the sweep of the Yankees. It was a wonderful weekend for the Mets as they established themselves as a real team at least for 4 days against the Yankees. Then, unfortunately, they went to Miami and got swept by the worst team in baseball, once again reminding Met fans of the reality of their team. For the Mets 50+ years of existence and the overall winning % is .478. and therein lies the rub. Met fans level of expectation is never high enough or demanding enough. Unfortunately over the years their season revolves around a couple of good players, one good week, one big series win over the season and that seems to be enough to placate the owners and many of their fans. It's not that their fans don't want more they just don't expect it because of the history of the team and it's front office. The bar is raised too low and the Mets are given a pass by the media, the newspapers and everyone else who does not demand this large market franchise with deep pockets provide a better product for the fans. If this was the Red Sox or the Yankees or the Dodgers or even the Cubs there would be revolution in the streets, but the local media and other major outlets never criticize the Mets for there ineptness. What other franchise with their own cable network would have the nerve to provide as bad a product as the Mets do on a nightly basis? Met fans, and God bless them, are always sold the idea that next year will be better and it never is. After coming off a terrible year in 2012 the Mets off season plans and subsequent talent acquisition amounted to nothing. But that's okay because they don't have to answer questions to the general public about their unwillingness to try and improve the team. Maybe the owners really do care, but if you continue to show a total lack of effort to improve your product you either don't care or you're clueless about how to do it, either way you are selling a flea circus to the public and asking them to care.
Mets fans deserve better.

The Need For Change

As a life long Ranger fan it was very difficult to watch the slow death the Rangers experienced at the hands of the Boston Bruins. There are many questions surrounding the Rangers moving forward. Maybe they just weren't good enough to advance past the Bruins or maybe their mistakes finally caught up to them against a better team then Washington. Staal and Clowe being out certainty didn't help. And of course their power play speaks for itself. Obviously these are some of the issues that jump out at you, but I think the problems go deeper. I think the issues with this team are also systematic and have to fall on the doorstep of the head coach John Tortorella.  He is a taxing coach to play for and his system leaves virtually no room for error. His defense minded strategies leave his goalie alone and a target for teams to virtually tee off on while his other players try to block shots and defend the shooting lanes. This might be viable at the end of the game while trying to protect a lead but as a game in game out strategy it puts tremendous pressure on the goalie and exhausts the defense. It can win games but never allows your team to get a big lead and close out games early by scoring multiple goals. His team's margin for error is virtually non-existent. Maybe that's the reason John Tortorella has never won a playoff series in less than seven games. Good teams have the ability to step up the level of play and distance themselves during the course of the game so that they have some breathing room , and  can make a mistake without  it costing  them the game. Tortorella's conservative restrictive game also limits his more creative players, Gabrek, Richards, Nash, etc. The Rangers pay huge money for these players and then they are forced to fit into a system that limits their creativity and therefore their ability to score. Once again systematic limitations. Their power play is also systematically inept , they try to shoot from the point, other teams get better angles and more open ice moving side to side and not front to back. Teams know how to defend the Rangers because their power play is unimaginative. How can a coach go this far into a season and fail at this aspect of the game and not make adjustments. That is one of John Tortorella's problems, he is also arrogant stubborn and spiteful... His teams play hard for him but I'm not sure whether it's out of respect or fear. I find it interesting that John Tortorella  has problems coaching the biggest stars on the team, maybe it's not their problem maybe it's his, or more to the point his system. Great coaches succeed overtime because of their ability to adjust to game situations and change their philosophies based on their talent and depth. Tortorella has left a path of destruction in his wake. He has a resume, Conference Finals last year Final 8 this year, a past Stanley Cup championship in Tampa. But it's always with a price. In addition, he is poisonous to the media as well, why? The biggest problem now is the best player on the team King Henrik doesn't seem to want to play for him or the Ranger's anymore, maybe it's because they are too systematically challenged !!!