The Final Score

Some guys get on your nerves. Bob Costas does that for me. Don't worry, not like what Will Leitch does to Buzz Bissinger. It's just the way he carries himself, he just rubs me the wrong way.

For example, every year at the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation dinner, the reporters stand in this pen as the celebrities walk on the other side of the rope and give interviews.

And every year Bob Costas shows up, walks on the other side of the rope and gives interviews. What could reporters be interested in asking Costas?

I'm surprised his HBO show is still running. I remember watching it when it first aired and thinking this is bad. I recall one segment had a special surprise guest come out to ask Costas questions. Why? Maybe others feel differently, but I thought that show was almost as bad as Magic Johnson's attempt at a late night television show a decade ago.

Almost.

Okay, I'm done. From now on I'll leave Costas bashing to Neil Best.

I don't really like deadspin.com much. I lost interest in that site after they redesigned it a while back (though I still take delight that they did a post on my Tyler Clippard's MySpace page column). I'm more of a thebiglead.com type of reader.

Anyway, I just watched the YouTube video of the Will Leitch-Buzz Bissinger steel caged match on Bob Costas' show and all I have to say is Wow. I wonder how Bissinger reacts when a waiter or waitress screws up his order. Settle down, man.

Note to self: don't cut off Buzz Bissinger in traffic.

Neil Best has been blogging about this showdown, so you can get much more there. I'm still stunned by all the angst and animosity that Bissinger carries around. Man, you're taking years off your life. It's only a Web site. If you don't like it, don't click on it.

On the debate below, I used a throwaway line from "Animal House"

"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor"

Some anonymous commenter called me an idiot for saying the Rangers could still win the series (fine), but then corrected me and told me the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Eagle-eyed Final Score readers noticed that anonymous wasn't kidding -- he or she really thought I thought the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor.

Dude, or Dudette:

You are the first sports fan I've ever met who has never seen "Animal House." Rent yourself a copy. Also, "Caddyshack."

I just hope as a hockey fan you have seen "Slap Shot" -- I shudder to think you have not.

Other lines from "Animal House" that the commenter isn't aware of:

-- The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.
-- Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.
-- Leaving! What a good idea.
-- May I have ten thousand marbles, please?
-- Face it, Kent. You threw up *on* Dean Wormer.
-- As of this moment, they're on DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION!
-- Do you mind if we dance with your dates?

JIM: No.

The Rangers are done. D-O-N-E. Done. My only regret is that the Rangers will get swept and not lose in five games as I predicted. Too bad.

What a majorly disappointing series for the Rangers. They looked so good against the Devils, and they've outplayed the Penguins more often than not in these three games. But what do they have to show for it? Nada.

You could have seen this happening when the Rangers blew a three-goal lead in the first game. No good team does that in the postseason.

The party line for the Rangers fans today - at least for the ones courageous enough to show their faces - is that the Rangers could have won all three of those games. So why can't then win the next four?

Pfffttttt. Stop right there. This series is over. You know it. And the Rangers have only themselves to blame.

ANTHONY: A chance? Yes.

If I sat here and said the Rangers will definitely come back, it would undercut the vast amount of hockey knowledge I obviously have. But to say it's impossible? No way.

Jim says they can't. More importantly, our Newsday colleague Steve Zipay, who covers the team, says they won't.

I say there's a small chance they might.

Look, no one can making a living betting on a team to come back from 0-3 down. But it happens. It happened for our beloved Islanders once, it happened for the Red Sox against the Yankees in '04.

Could it happen for our beloved Rangers? All you have to do is go back to the first part of the first game of the series, when the Rangers took a 3-0 lead. A most learned colleague of mine who is a true hockey expert told me, "The Rangers are going to win the Cup. I just have a feeling about them."

Oops. Well, that guy had a feeling because of how the team was playing. Can they play that way again for four games, the last two on the road. It's unlikely. But impossible? No.

And don't forget that the NHL wants the Rangers to continue in the playoffs. I'm not saying the refs will throw the entire series the Rangers' way, but would it shock us if a few calls went in the Rangers' favor so the series can be extended? And once the Rangers get their confidence back. It's not like the Penguins are can't-miss Cup favorite locks. Any team can be rattled.

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? No. And it's not over now.

That's what I think.

He has NBA experience, overseas experiences, he's not afraid to try new things, employs an offense that is very fun to watch and is not afraid of dealing with reporters.

I assume he'll go to Toronto if Sam Mitchell is fired - former Suns GM Bryan Colangelo is quite familiar with D'Antoni's work. But if New York comes calling - and dangles millions - how can he turn it down?

Thoughts?

(BTW: I've read this book and liked it a lot. You should, too.)

Phil Hughes hasn't been blogging much of late, which he said in a post was due to all the travel. I do wonder ... when he gets sent down - and I think right now it's a question of when, not if - will he continue to blog from Scranton? Or might he just can it?

According to this story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Nelson is going there with a group of former major leaguers on a goodwill tour.

"I was supposed to be going in April, but something came up in terms of military security," he said. "When they called back, the Yankees and the Mariners had donated all this gear for me to take, and I still wanted to go."

YANKEES: Phil Hughes has to go down to Triple-A. End of story.

He's never struggled like this in his life. He's lost. He won't be able to figure it out up here. Darrell Rasner, welcome back.

Hughes will be back. And he will one day be a top starter. No reason to lose faith.

But he needs to go.

METS: I'm officially over the Carlos Delgado vs. Mets fans story. It was fun while it lasted, though.

Anyone who thinks it was much ado about nothing is dismissing the opinions of half the Mets' fan base. I would say from the feedback I've seen, half of Mets fans think it was a snub and half don't. That's fine. Only Delgado knows what was in his mind. Unless Mike and the Mad Dog can read minds as well as read lips on TV.

By the way, as much as Delgado did a dumb thing by not coming out for the curtain call, he did a smart thing by talking with the New York media for 20 minutes about it on Monday. Totally defused it.

It was as charming and engaging as I've seen Delgado, who sometimes talks down to reporters and gets prickly when asked simple questions like, "Were you trying to hit that home run to leftfield" or "are you upset about striking out four times?"

The story would have gone on another day if Delgado had snubbed the media on Monday. The media considers not talking to the media as the worst of all sins.

Making the media wait before talking to the media is the second worst of all sins.

Charging the media $8.50 for a terrible pregame meal is the third worst of all sins.

Jim and Anthony are keeping track of our predictions for how ever long we do The Final Score. Then, in 30 or 40 years or whenever we move on to other assignments, we'll tally up the results and the loser will have to buy the winner a steak dinner or a ticket to a Yankees game. Whichever is cheaper.

We'll update whenever some sporting event ends that we made predictions on. For example, three NBA series ended last night.

We're using a 5-3-1 scoring system. Five points if you get it exactly right, three if you get the team right but miss the series length by one game either way, one if you get the team right but miss the series length by more than one game.

Here's what ended last night

Lakers over Nuggets in 4
Jim's prediction: Lakers in 5 (3 points)
Anthony's prediction: Nuggets in 7 (squat)

Hornets over Mavs in 5
Jim: Hornets in 5 (nailed it! five points)
Anthony: Mavs in 6 (blew it! zip)

Spurs over Suns in 5
Jim: Suns in 7 (zero)
Anthony: Spurs in 7 (one charity point)

So that's an 8-point night for Jim vs. 1 for Anthony.
Making the standings

Jim 11
Anthony 7

I've done it once, against Cablevision, and within days one of their executive reps called to offer a settlement. I felt like Scott Boras. Anyway, I'm about to do it again, this time against a local tree cutting business for messing up another tree in my backyard, promising to fix it and then failing to answer my calls for the past two weeks.

(The daily voicemail I leave reminds me of trying to get a hold of B.J. Ryan's agent a few winters ago. It became apparent early that winter that he wouldn't talk, but I still left a message on his cell every day. I think I just wanted the satisfaction of knowing he had to go through the process of deleting the message every day. Anyway...)

So I realize you probably don't care about my weeping tree. But I do want to say the BBB is good people. Maybe if Knicks fans would have complained to them about Isiah Thomas, something would have been done earlier. Just saying. Okay, carry on.

We don't do much soccer here at the Final Score. But here's an item about soccer star Ronaldo that I was tipped off to by my soccer-loving pal Out of Botte (author of the hit book "Fish Sticks" with Newsday's Alan Hahn. Soon to be a major motion picture. Or not.)

Anyway, here's the item:

Rio de Janeiro (dpa) - Brazilian striker Ronaldo decided to keep to himself at his Rio de Janeiro home Tuesday, following a scandal involving transvestites who worked as prostitutes.

Ronaldo's advisors told Brazilian sports website Globo Esporte that the Milan striker cancelled planned appearances at two television programmes and asked physiotherapist Bruno Mazziotti to continue treating his injured left knee at his home.

Here's the link to the rest of the sordid story:

* In 1999 the Brewers signed Hideo Nomo as a free agent. BTW, Nomo is a free agent after the Royals released him recently. I really wish a team would sign him so he would extend his innings pitched in the majors to 2,000. A nice round number. He's 28 innings away. How about it? Hey, if Al Arbour can coach the Islanders in 2007...

* In 1996 the Mets signed Endy Chavez as a non-drafted free agent. It took him 10 years (and several organizations) before actually playing for the Mets.

* In 1990 the Yankees traded Luis Polonia to California Angels in exchange for Claudell
Washington and Rich Monteleone. Who knew they were getting someone who'd coach for them forever. Monteleone is destined to be on the Yankees staff for decades.

* In 1985 the Yankees cut Dale Murray. They thought that by combining Daly Murphy and Eddie Murray they were getting one helluva player. Guess not.

Thank you, retrosheet.org.

When I joined The Final Score at the beginning of the month, I posted a picture of my new cat, Juno (yes, like the movie).

Since the month is winding down, above is a new picture of Juno (in the foreground) with the new cat my wife and I got on Saturday. His name is Miko. Usually Juno spits at Miko, but this is the first time they slept together in bed. We're hopeful.

Why another cat? When we went to the shelter, it was a close race between Juno and Miko. We picked Juno, but we never forgot about Miko, and three weeks later we checked to see if he was still there. He was, so we snapped him up. He's a doll. You can't see it in the photo, but he has a very big nose.

Among the things I've learned in the first month of doing the blog is people really respond to the little personal touches we throw in. I've also learned if you put names like "Miley Cyrus" in the headline you get more hits.

I've also learned that my mom (who doesn't like sports) reads the blog and my dad (who loves sports) doesn't.

Like cats, people can be funny.

I guess if I were 10 years old I would want to go, but as this story on Newsday.com points out, I'd have to spend a lot of money. And the game doesn't start until 8:30 or so, so i'd be asleep by the third inning.

Are a lot of people out there in Final Score-land excited about the All-Star Game being here? I guess it's a big deal, but it's not like you can't see these players on TV 100 times a day.

$250 minimum. I would pay that to see a Super Bowl. Maybe a World Series game. I have paid more than that to see a World Series game, come to think of it. (So don't give me the "you're a sports writer and you get to go to the games for free" line. Doesn't apply here.)

But the All-Star Game?

METS: Burning question:

What will Mets fans do when Carlos Delgado steps to the plate tonight against the Pirates???!!!???!!!????

Bigger burning question: How many Mets fans will be there on a cold, rainy night when the opponent is the Pirates????!!???!??

YANKEES: Stuck in the car last night, listening to Sterling and Suzyn call the Yankees game. They made a very good point. The Yankees came out of the 18 out of 20 road stretch in great shape, standings-wise and record-wise, if not health-wise.

Now they have a lot of home games. Do they have the pitching and health to go on a long winning streak?

At the moment, I would say no.

In case you missed it, Jim and Anthony are going to keep track of our predictions for how ever long we do The Final Score. Then, in 20 or 30 years or whenever we move on to other assignments, we'll tally up the results and the loser will have to buy the winner a steak dinner or a tank of gas. Whichever is cheaper.

We'll update whenever some sporting event ends that we made predictions on. For example, Orlando ousted Toronto in the NBA playoffs last night in five games.

Anthony's prediction: Orlando in 6
Jim's prediction: Orlando in 4

We're using a 5-3-1 scoring system. Five points if you get it exactly right, three if you get the team right but miss the series length by one game either way, one if you get the team right but miss the series length by more than one game.

So that's three points for each of us!

The current standings:
Rieber 6
Baumbach 3

Here are links to our current predictions so you can keep score at home:

-- Jim, NBA playoffs
-- Anthony, NBA playoffs
-- Rangers-Penguins playoffs
-- MLB picks

Here's how I envision the nightly scene at the Fort Myers, Fla. karaoke bar in which the 1991 Boston Red Sox players apparently passed their spring-training evenings away...

* Clemens always sings along to Elton John's Rocket Man. Always.

* Wade Boggs leads the bar in the chicken dance. Hilarity ensues.

* Mike Greenwell does his best Kermit the Frog impersonation. People boo.

* Mo Vaughn sings along to this cartoon theme song. No one knows how to react.

* Pitcher Tom Bolton brings a tear to everyone's eyes by channeling his cousin's music.

* The crowd finally convinces 1b Carlos Quintana to sing to this song. Weird.

Anyone else have any musical suggestions? Tell us...

Final Score reader "matt e" brought up a stellar reference to this whole 'Roger Clemens affair with a country singer named Mindy' story. He reminds us that Clemens isn't the first to be wooed by a woman named Mindy.

Homer Simpson was in The Simpsons' episode titled, "The Last Temptation of Homer," which originally aired December 9, 1993. That's a little more than two years after Clemens apparently met Mindy at a karaoke bar (more on that in a bit). So maybe The Simpsons writers knew something the American people didn't learn until 15 years later.

Anywho, here's Wikipedia's entry for the story of Homer's friend named Mindy.

Imagine if the country singer's name would have been Mindy!?!?! Anyway, here's the details on that near affair, thanks again to Wikipedia.

* Nationals lefthander John Lannan has not allowed a run in 19 consecutive innings. And Wil Nieves has been the catcher in all of those innings. Lannan, if you don't know by now, is from Long Beach and went to Chaminade HS.

* North Carolina's Danny Green has entered the NBA draft, but won't hire an agent. That way he can return to college if he wants. Green is from North Babylon and went to St. Mary's. His father also has been in jail.

* I read in the business pages of Newsday today you can pay $30 to have breakfast with Ducks owner Frank Boulton and talk baseball. I have no further comment about that...

As I was driving through a rainy rush hour just now, this thought dawned on me: now I know why the Mets have (a) decreased the amount of seats at Citi Field, and, (b) increased the price of tickets. It's not that they want to eliminate the working-class fan, rather, they want to rid themselves of the fan that boos something or someone every half inning. (AKA same person.) I don't know if this true. But I like the theory. Thoughts?

Does Mork know?

Here's Anthony's game story.

Here's Jim's column. Jim's take is that Delgado should have gone out and acknowledged the fans because they get to decide when a curtain call is appropriate. Sort of a "customer is always right" thing.

It's hard for us to debate this because I agree with Jim.

While we all want to turn our backs on people who are "phony nice" to us -- like the fans were to Delgado yesterday -- it's not a good idea to do it when the people can have influence over your life.

Like it or not, Delgado has to deal with those fans for the rest of the season before his Mets career ends. Had he poked his head out of the dugout for a nano-second, this would not have been an issue. The fans would have gotten what they wanted and the newspaper, radio, TV and Internet folks wouldn't have anything to debate.

Are the fans phony jerks? Yes, a lot of them. But they also pay the freight. Let's put it this way: If your jerk-of-a-boss extended his or her hand to you, would you slap it away? Not if you wanted to keep in his or her good graces. I know the fans-as-bosses comparison is a bit off -- Delgado's boss is Fred Wilpon -- but fans are the customers. Would you slap away the hand of a customer?

For those of you who feel this should not be an issue, you have the right to feel that way and express your opinion. I'm sure many journalists feel it isn't an issue, but usually those are the ones who haven't bought a ticket and sat in the stands in 20 years.

Just don't be naive and think it's just a Newsday thing:

-- Steve Somers was talking about it right after the game on WFAN
-- The New York Times, Daily News and Post all wrote about it.
-- Mike Francesa talked about it on his Ch. 4 show.
-- I bet Mike and the Mad Dog and Michael Kay both lead off with it today.
-- A popular formerly independent Mets blogger downplayed it, but that makes sense since he's now cashin' checks from the team's network.

Other Newsday scribes have also given their two cents today:
-- Tanned and rested Newsday baseball columnist Ken Davidoff weighed in on his blog.
-- Neil Best mentioned our mentioning it on his blog. It is sort of a media story.
-- Newsday Mets beat writer David Lennon posted a dissenting viewpoint on his blog.

I'll give the next-to-last word to someone from Brooklyn who was in the stands yesterday and commented on Jim's column:

I was at the game, and I definitely felt snubbed when Delgado didn't come out of the dugout. You hit it spot-on -- we the fans were happy for him, were saying so, and he said: no thanks. Not a smart move.

And the last word from a commenter from Washington, D.C.:

I wish Delgado had taken the call, but I don't blame him for not doing it. The fairweather fans who have been booing him mercilessly all seasons can't all of a sudden decide they love him b/c he hits two HRs in a game. Real fans wouldn't boo him in the first place.

What do you think?

That was my prediction for this series, and I like the odds right now. But how about those Rangers blowing a three-goal lead in the first game? This was their series to take control of right there, and what did they do? They let it slip right through hands. Whoops! Oh well. I'm not celebrating the impending doom of the Rangers. I'm celebrating the impending success of my prediction. That's all.

BTW, Anthony wants me to point out to everyone that he predicted the Rangers would win the series in seven games ... after losing the first two games. So he's not worried. Yet.

YANKEES: I don't usually get choked up about routine player injuries -- hey, they happen -- but I do feel bad for Jorge Posada if he has to have shoulder surgery.

Perhaps more than any other player I've covered, Posada loves to play the game. He loves to mix it up, to be part of a team, to be a Yankee. If he's out for months or even the season, it's going to be hard on him.

But unlike others (Carl Pavano, Ramon Castro, for example), I bet Posada will rehab vigorously and get back sooner than the initial prognosis.

He should be the Yankees' first baseman next season if they can't sign Mark Teixeira. But that's a topic for another day.

METS: My Mets thoughts for the day have already been spelled out above.

Ashley Force.

She became the first woman to win a Funny Car event Sunday by beating her "legendary" father, Phil Force.

Frank Force?

All right, it's John Force.

Great name. Here's the story if you're interested.

Carlos Delgado, as you've heard by now, chose not to accept the fans' invitation for a curtain call yesterday. He said it was because his second home run of the day - a solo shot in the seventh that made it 6-3 Mets - was not worthy of it. He said he can only remember taking two curtain calls in his life:

- Sept. 25, 2003, when he hit four homers in a game.

- Aug. 22, 2006, after he hit his 400th career home run.

But, in searching through clips, I found a third curtain call. Ah hah! The date was June 25, 2000. Here's the AP story the next day:

"... the image that defines yesterday's 6-5 victory by the first-place Toronto Blue Jays over the Boston Red Sox was Carlos Delgado's mammoth two-run homer on a 3-2 pitch against Pedro Martinez. The blast tied the game 5-5 with two out in the seventh inning.

... After Delgado's home run, the crowd stood until the first baseman took a curtain call, emerging from the dugout to acknowledge their cheers on his 28th birthday."

I haven't studied the rosters too, too much, but I think this much is right: Miguel Cairo is the last player who (a) was on an Opening Day roster, (b) stayed active and (c) is hitless.

Cairo won the dubious honors when Gary Bennett of the Dodgers singled on Friday night. Cairo is 0-for-5 and hasn't had an at-bat since April 17.

Congrats, Miguel.

From Joe Girardi:
"I knew Joba was rested and available, but I decided to go with Farnsworth in the eighth anyway."

From Willie Randolph:
"I'm really, really excited about the chance to discuss the latest update on Moises Alou with the media. You guys need anything else?"

From an NFL general manager:
"The player we wanted wasn't available, so we picked a guy we're not really sure about. It was a pick-a-name-out-a-hat kind of thing. Truth is, we didn't spend all that much time preparing. The draft kind of snuck up on us."

So I was in the Mets' clubhouse this morning, doing what I am paid to do: watching the movie "Meatballs" on the TV with a lot of my fellow writers and one Met (Scott Schoeneweis).

"Meatballs" came out in 1979, when I was 11. It is one of my favorite all-time flicks, but I haven't seen in it many, many years. I had forgotten how amazingly good it is.

You can see the early seeds of Bill Murray's genius, seeds that would later come to full bloom in the all-time classic "Caddyshack"

Imagine one of Rembrandt's early works. That's "Meatballs" -- "Caddyshack" is the masterpiece.

Trivia question: When Murray's character is talking to a softball batter who is about to go up to the plate in a big spot, he says (I'm paraphrasing), "I don't want to put any pressure on you, but there's a scout from the [MAJOR LEAGUE TEAM] in the stands."

Name the team. Davidoff, some help here?

At least that's the position of this article from www.ohio.com about Larry and his son Paul, owners of the Cleveland Indians.

Do you think Larry and Paul rub it in to Charles and Jimmy at the family dinners? Charles and Jimmy can point to the relative success of the Rangers, but having the Knicks on your resume is a pretty big booger.

I hope you're interested in what sports figures give money to presidential campaigns, because I wrote about that in today's newspaper. Among the coaches, players, general managers and owners I found on the Federal Election Committee's database are:

George Steinbrenner
Theo Epstein
Brian Cashman
Allan Houston
James Dolan
Hank Aaron

Extra, extra, read all about it right here.
(The lis