NYU

That catch was a fucking beauty. Amazing.

Sorry kids. I'm going to be too busy having a nervous breakdown with Game 7 tonight. I'll start some build for November Reign next week. Promise.

Leena's still looking for the next guy she wants to cyber-bone. Carnival and Mole O didn't work out. How long until she finds Mr. Right?

That article looked interesting. Unfortunately, there's no chance I'm willing to become an ESPN Insider to read it.

I think it was a combination of ECW being taped a week ahead of time -- which always hurts the ratings -- and the NLCS Series. I know I was watching the Mets game instead of ECW, at least.

...what?! 1) First off, I praised Lo Duca's hitting tonight. Which has nothing to do with his pitching. 2) Lo Duca didn't have trouble getting his fastball up to normal speed tonight. He didn't pitch the ball. It was Wagner who had this problem. And it was Wagner who had trouble placing his pitches, particularly against Taguchi. Not Lo Duca.

Mole's an Admin and Alf's a Mod.

I can't say enough about Maine's performance tonight. I thought he did an excellent job -- one of the best games I've ever seen him pitch. And, in retrospect, Lo Duca's hit was just so so important. The Mets played smart baseball tonight, and they were rewarded for it. I'm more than a little nervous about Randolph using Perez on short rest for Game 7 tomorrow night. If it works out, I'll give him all the credit in the world. I really think they should stick with Darren Oliver but hopefully they'll keep Perez on a very short leash.

It doesn't matter that they won, does it? Let's hope Wagner pitches two scoreless innings in a tied game tomorrow night, only to see the Cards win it in extras off someone like *draws random name from hat* Roberto Hernandez. They'll have lost the series, but at least Wagner will have been clutch, essentially making it a wash. Are you kidding? No, seriously. If it wasn't for Lo Duca's hit in the 7th, this series would probably be over. Wagner proved my point even further tonight about his ability in clutch games -- and your eyes are STILL closed.

Guys, Billy Wagner is awful. Just like I said after Game 2. For fuck's sake, he's So Taguchi. Not Joe DiMaggio. John Maine was amazing though. What a clutch performance.

My head is ready to explode.

Yes, as the game was effectively over. You're a slow one, Mr. Cena's Writer.

I've never been the type to leave a post like "OMGGGGGG REYEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!" I'll leave thoughts when the game is over.

No, no. You see, Game 2 was winnable if they didn't have horribly bad pitching. This lineup you trashed scored 6 runs -- a good amount in the postseason. Unfortunately, their pitching choked enough to give up 9 runs. If Pedro or Glavine or El Duque had started that game, would the starter and the bullpen give up a combined 9 runs? It's unlikely. I don't consider Game 3 a winnable one for the Mets since Suppan gave up no runs -- and of course, no matter how good the Mets pitcher was, he wouldn't have been able to help his team win if they didn't score anything. Game 5? I'm on the fence with this. It's very possible Pedro or El Duque could have held on to a 2-0 lead, or at least kept it to a 2-2 tie...but it can't be said with certainty. Either way, at the least, the Mets should be up 3-2 in this series at this point. If not having already won 4-1. Their pitching staff was their huge downfall, and though you can give the Cards credit for their timely hitting, you need to consider that they're hitting off the weakest rotation in the entire playoffs. Furthermore, you can rail on the Cards rotation...but consider that LaRussa has been able to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of his starting pitching staff for the whole season. He knew what he was going into. Back in September, you think Randolph had any idea this would be what he had to deal with? If he did, I doubt he'd be playing a game of Russian Roulette with deciding if he wants Oliver or Trachsel in a potential Game 7.

Pedro + El Duque would account for 1/2 the amount of playoff games. A rotation of Pedro, El Duque, Glavine, and Maine is a lot stronger than a rotation of Glavine, Maine, Trachsel, and Perez. Like John said, this NLCS version of the Mets is a lot different than the regular season Mets, so it's inaccurate of ESPN to paint them as if they are exactly the same.

Summary of the Flair-Kanyon showdown on Howard Stern from marksfriggin.com:

Perhaps on the bright side though, I haven't had to spew any more hateful venom towards Billy Wagner in the past few days.

Okay, yeah. Cena's Writer, read my post first. It's an upset, but absolutely not as big an upset as ESPN is making it out to be. Cardinals on Verge of Historic Upset Read this and tell me if you don't see that ESPN calling this a "historic upset" is absurd. They brush off the starting pitching disaster as if it hasn't had the slightest impact.

ESPN is ridiculous. How are they even attempting to paint this as if it's some amazing upset? The Mets lost two of their best starting pitchers. They've had to throw out THREE starting pitchers with absolutely no postseason starting experience. None. So how is it that ESPN is portraying this as great a miracle as Moses parting the Red Sea? If this was the same exact team it was in June, then yeah, this would be a major upset. But considering the Cards have kept their rotation intact, and the Mets are looking to start Game 7 with a guy that hasn't started a game in two years, it's ridiculous to still paint the Mets in this manner. They had to overcome a lot of adversity to get past the Dodgers and even reach this point against the Cards so, if anything, they should be given credit for clawing their way through the postseason instead of being remembered as the overconfident team that underestimated their opponents. The Cards have played well and the series isn't over yet, but ESPN's coverage of it has just been flat-out sickening and biased.

I would hope not. At least Oliver showed a glimmer of hope when he was given the ball. Trachsel was abysmal in Game 3 and has done nothing to show he deserves to get the ball back this series.

It's mind-boggling that in both Game 1 and Game 5, the Mets were only able to get two runs off Jeff Weaver. He's Jeff Weaver! I can't really fault the team because they were snakebitten at the end of the season in a way I haven't seen in quite some time -- what other team loses two of their three best pitchers in the last week of the season? But still, this has been disappointing. Maine and Oliver have potential, but we'll see.

No, this is an absolute must-win game. Carpenter will not pitch tomorrow night how he pitched Game 2. Maine likely will pitch around the same. And Oliver starting Game 7 is very, very shaky.

Okay, so Glavine completely crumbled under the pressure here. This was supposed to be the one game where the Mets bullpen got a rest.

Not for nothing, but the ump's strike zone is all over the place tonight. For both pitchers.

Go back to exposing posters. That was actually fun.