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The New York Mets suck. Going into today’s game against the Brewers, they’re a mediocre 37-37, including a 3-5 record in extra innings and a 12-12 record in one-run games. They’ve scored five fewer runs than they’ve given up. Adding K-Rod in the offseason was supposed to fix the weakest part of their game from last year: the bullpen. There really hasn’t been any improvement. Out of their “big 4”, only David Wright has managed to stay uninjured this year, and with the new ballpark, he’s not hitting as many home runs. They currently have $69 million worth of players currently on the disabled list. What’s going on?

Year in and year out, the Mets are the favorites to win the NL East. But year after year, they keep choking it away. In 2006, they dropped the NLCS in Game 7 to the eventual champion St Louis Cardinals, one of the more unlikely World Series Champions ever (with a regular season record of 83-78). The 2007 season saw the Mets in one of the most epic collapses in baseball history, dropping 12 of their final 17 games and losing the division to the Phillies by one game. No other MLB team has dropped a division lead that large (7 games) in such a short period of time. 2008 was history repeating itself for the Mets, losing 10 of the last 17 (including 3 to the Phillies), blowing a 3 and a half game lead, and losing the division to the Phillies yet again. The Phillies didn’t squander the opportunity – they won the World Series and became the first team in Philadelphia to win a major sports championship in 25 years.

Tonight’s game against the Brewers was an embarrassment. They allowed at least two baserunners for each of the first eight innings (the Brewers obviously didn’t bat in the 9^th, having won the game by a score of 10-6), and after cutting the lead from 3-0 to 3-2, gave up a grand slam in the bottom of the 6^th. Brewers pitcher Braden Looper (a former Met himself) even gave himself some run support, driving a ground ball just out of reach of Jose Reyes, scoring Frank Catalanotto. After a rally in the 9^th due to some horrendous fielding by the Brewers, Trevor Hoffman came in and did what he does best – shut his opponents down. The loss dropped the Mets below .500 with a record of 37-38. They really have no excuse for not leading the division. After all, division-leading Phillies can’t win at home, doing all their damage on the road.

So what’s the reason for their losing ways? Is it the coaching staff? Shouldn’t be. The Mets couldn’t even win games under Willie Randolph, much less get the division lead and choke it away. Is it the front office staff? Quite possibly.

Steve Phillips, current Baseball Tonight analyst, put together the Mets team that made it to the World Series in 2000 against the cross-town Yankees. Also, before Phillips’ reign as GM before being fired in 2003, the Mets hadn’t made the playoffs in back to back seasons.

Omar Minaya, the current Mets GM, has had a few winning seasons under his belt, but he keeps shelling out big bucks and not getting the desired results. K-Rod was supposed to be the missing piece to get the Mets to the World Series, but you can’t get there if you can’t win games. I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t been fired yet. With only one playoff appearance in 4 years, going on 5, and having already fired a competent manager, Minaya should be on thin ice. If they don’t make the playoffs this year, don’t be surprised if he’s the scapegoat, and rightfully so. Spending money on superstars that don’t pan out and a new stadium, the fans deserve better than a group of underachievers. It may be time for the Mets to cut their losses and try a new direction.

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Father’s day is a day to honor and reflect on good times. On a day like today, it brings to mind sports. I remember watching football games with my dad when I was younger, and to this day, we always talk about football regardless of season. Sports are a great way to bond with your father or son, and in honor of the impact sports has on our lives, I’d like to post today about great father-son combinations in sports.

First off, and certainly one of the more prolific on my list, is the Griffey family. Ken Sr. gained fame as a consistent contact hitter in the mid to late 1970s as a part of the Cincinnati Reds and their “Big Red Machine”. His oldest son, Ken Jr., was drafted first overall by the Seattle Mariners in 1987, and due to his success in the major leagues has often been considered as the greatest first overall pick in baseball history. He made his debut in 1989, and was joined in 1990 by his father, making them the first father-son combination to play on the same MLB team at the same time. On September 14^th of that year, they homered back-to-back in a game against the Kansas City Royals.

Overall, their combined statistics and awards are staggering. Between them, they have a regular season and All-Star Game MVP (regular season for Jr., All-Star for Sr.), 16 All-Star appearances (3 for Sr., 13 for Jr.), 7 Silver Slugger Awards (all by Jr.), 10 consecutive Gold Gloves (all by Jr. from 1990-1999), 2 World Series championships (1975 and 76 by Sr.), and 770 home runs (152 by Sr., 618 currently by Jr.). It’s also interesting to note Jr. wore #30 during his first 5 years in Cincinnati (in honor of his father), and hit his 500^th career home run on Father’s day with Ken Sr. in attendance. It also tied them on the all-time hits list for the time being. All things considered, the Griffeys are one of the great father-son teams in baseball history.

I wrote earlier in the week about the Earnhardts in racing, so I’ll talk about the Petty family this time around. The first family of NASCAR, it doesn’t begin with The King. Modern NASCAR fans don’t remember his father, Lee Petty, who began his career at age 35. He was part of the first ever NASCAR race at the old dirt track Charlotte Speedway in 1949, finishing outside the top 10. He would go on to win the championship three times (1954, 58, and 59), and won the inaugural Daytona 500, literally in a photo finish. Lee Petty won 54 career races, but his true legacy lives on because of his son, Richard.

He began racing in 1958, and looking at the numbers is without question the greatest driver in NASCAR history. Richard Petty won 200 races in his career, a record harder to break than Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak (2^nd on the list is his contemporary, David Pearson, with only 105 career wins). He won 7 Winston Cup championships, a record matched only by Dale Earnhardt Sr. He won the Daytona 500 an unheard-of 7 times. In 1967 alone he won 27 races, including 10 in a row. To paint a clearer picture, Bobby and Terry Labonte, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, and the late great Benny Parsons never won that many in their careers. Those numbers are just staggering, and to add further to the legacy of Richard Petty, he and his family founded Victory Junction, a camp to bring joy to children with terminal illnesses. Coincidentally, the camp opened June 20^th, 2004, the same day Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 500^th career home run. Also, Richard’s son, Kyle Petty, and his son, Adam Petty, were NASCAR drivers. Adam died in 2000 during a wreck at New Hampshire, and it was his dream to found the camp that became Victory Junction. He has two other children, Austin and Montgomery Lee, who will no doubt continue the family’s legacy.

Moving the conversation to hockey, the Hull family comes to mind first. Bobby Hull began play in 1957 and is considered one of the greatest left wingers of all time. He finished second in rookie of the year voting, and later became the first player ever to score more than 50 goals in a single season. His slapshot was once recorded at 118 mph and he could skate at nearly 30 mph. Along with Maurice “The Rocket” Richard, he was one of the greatest players of the Original Six era. Hull scored 610 goals and 560 assists over his career, won the Stanley Cup in 1961, won the Art Ross Trophy (most points in a season) three times, back to back Hart Memorial Trophies (league MVP) in 1965 and 66, and the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy (awarded to the league’s best sportsman) in 1965.

His son, the great Brett Hull, may be even better. Brett played in the NHL from 1986 til 2005, scoring 741 goals. Only Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe have scored more than that. He has 650 career assists, and is the only person other than Gretzky to score 50 goals in his first 50 games more than once. He has won both the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Lady Byng Memorial trophy. He scored 33 career hat tricks, 38 power play goals in the playoffs (which is best all-time), 24 playoff game-winning goals (also best all-time), scored 70+ goals in a season three straight years (86 being his career best in 1990-91), and is the only player in hockey history to score 50 goals in a season in the NCAA, minor league hockey, and the NHL. Not to mention two Stanley Cup victories in 1998-99 with the Dallas Stars, and 2001-02 with the Detroit Red Wings.

Combined, Bobby and Brett Hull hold several hockey distinctions. They are the only father-son combination in any professional sport to both have their numbers retired. They are the only father-son team each with 50 goals in a season and 600 career goals, and the only combo to win the Hart Trophy and Lady Byng Trophy. Brett also honored his father by wearing his number 9 jersey for the last five games of his own career, with the Phoenix Coyotes, formerly the Winnipeg Jets that his father had played for late in his own career. Brett has a young son, Jude, that plays goaltender. Chances are the Hull family name will continue to thrive in the NHL.

I don’t want to make this too long, so I’ll start to wrap it up. Regardless of what sport you bonded with your dad over, whether it’s baseball, hockey, basketball, football, racing, golf, etc, it’s a memory worth holding on to. Go throw the football around, play a game of HORSE, sit down and watch the race. Do something to commemorate today if you’ve got the means to. Make Father’s Day special this year.

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As Red Sox fans know, and still celebrate even today, Boston won the 2004 World Series. It was a year of destiny, as the Red Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit against their nemesis, the New York Yankees, to reach the World Series. After a 4-0 sweep of the St Louis Cardinals, the “Curse of the Bambino” was lifted, and fans rejoiced. But did the Red Sox leave the Yankees with a curse of their own?

Curt Schilling. Hear me out on this one. The Yankees last won the World Series in 2000, a 4-1 victory over cross-town rival New York Mets. The Yankees had also recently won the World Series in 1996, 1998, and 1999, making them a modern dynasty of baseball greatness. But things would change the next year. The Yankees went for their fifth title in six years against the recent expansion franchise Arizona Diamondbacks, founded in 1998. The series was tied at three games each going into Game Seven, with Curt Schilling pitching against Roger Clemens. Schilling pitched 7.1 innings, holding the Yankees to two runs. Mariano Rivera blew a save in the bottom of the ninth to give the Diamondbacks a 3-2 win and their first World Series.

Fast forward to 2003. Shortly after the Yankees lost the World Series to the Florida Marlins, another relatively young team, Schilling was traded to Boston, the team the Yankees had beaten in the ALCS to reach the World Series. Everyone knows about the rivalry, so I won’t go into a lot of background on that. Come postseason, history repeats itself, and the Yankees and Red Sox meet in the ALCS for the second straight year. Schilling lost Game One after pitching badly due to an ankle injury. The Red Sox dropped the next two games, and trailing 0-3 to their hated enemies, the series looked to be all but over. But you play the games for a reason, and on the strength of David Ortiz and his two walk-off, extra inning hits in games four and five, the Red Sox went back to Yankee Stadium with Schilling on the mound and a chance for redemption. Team doctors had deployed an experimental procedure to Schilling’s injured ankle, temporarily reattaching the tendons to the ankle and medically clearing him to pitch. Game Six, known as the “Bloody Sock Game”, became an instant classic as Schilling pitched seven innings, giving up one run, and tying the series for Boston. Game Seven was an embarrassment of a performance by the Yankees, and the Red Sox advanced to the World Series, winning baseball’s championship for the first time in 86 years.

Making the connection yet? Schilling, with the help of Randy Johnson, stopped the Yankees from winning the 2001 championship, and he fueled Boston’s comeback performance in 2004. Since then, the Yankees have not only not reached a World Series, they haven’t got out of the first round of the playoffs, losing to the Angels in 2005, the Tigers in 2006, and the Indians in 2007. Also in 2007, the Yankees lost the division to the Boston Red Sox, the eventual champions. Manager Joe Torre was fired, and replaced by former Yankee catcher Joe Girardi, and the Yankees failed to even make the playoffs for the first time since their devastating 2004 breakdown in the ALCS. After throwing large amounts of money at free agents such as A.J. Burnett, Mark Texeira, and CC Sabathia, the Yankees have been playing well so far in 2009. Well, except for games against – you guessed it – the Boston Red Sox. Dating back to last season, the Yankees have now dropped a humiliating eight in a row to the Sox, and it seems as if their glory days are over. All because of Curt Schilling and his never-say-die attitude.

I’m not telling you this is fact. After all, what defines a curse? Going too many years without a championship? Isn’t a curse a story fabricated by fans, the players, or management as an excuse for why they aren’t winning? Don’t tell that to a fan of the Cubs or Indians. Ask a fan of a team that broke their curse. The Red Sox, the White Sox, the New York Rangers, any of them. They’ll tell you how they could literally feel the curse as it was lifted away. Are you going to question a diehard sports fan like that? I’m not. It may be too early to tell, for all we know. It could be some wild coincidence. But wasn’t it a coincidence that Babe Ruth single-handedly made the Yankees a winner after he was sold by the Red Sox? Yankee fans have no reason to worry. It’s not like they believe in curses in the first place, right?

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