A Load of BS

(last one!) By Brian Scala May 13, 2012      (Joe Robbins/Getty Images)                     On Friday night, the face of the Washington Nationals needed 10 stitches after his first major league moment of rage gave him a bloody eye and welt. Since his call-up on April 28, Bryce Harper has shown flashes of brilliance and poise. One week ago, he was praised for handling Cole Hamels’ distorted view of “old-school baseball” with class and dignity, and a steal of home to boot. Since that moment, however, Harper has looked like a typical 19-year-old rookie who is not quite ready for prime time. He has one extra-base hit in that span, and his average has dipped from .308 to .213. If Harper’s response to Hamels’ words and actions were brilliantly clich éd, his response to his obvious struggles was also clich éd, albeit painfully so. It’s not surprising to me that a teenage rookie fought a dugout wall and lost. It is perplexing that a young

(I still feel this way about Ike. Too bad Buck was a flash in the pan. That puts a damper on my idea to move D'Arnaud) by Brian Scala April 25, 2013           ( Mike Stobe/Getty Images)                    As the New York Mets dive deeper into their 2013 season, there is reason to believe not only in the future, but also the present. Matt Harvey is the next Dwight Gooden. David Wright is still Flushing’s answer to Derek Jeter. Zack Wheeler is the next ungodly pitching prospect. Unfortunately, not all is rosy on Roosevelt Avenue. The Mets are missing their cleanup hitter once again. This time, they need to find a new one. Every team that’s destined for greatness has to make hard cuts on the way to the top. For a team that is primed to move onwards and upwards, they need to move forward without Ike Davis. For two years now, Davis has not produced at the start of the season. Last year, he had a ready-made excuse for his awful first half when he contract

by Brian Scala August 19, 2012                 ( Charles Laberge/Getty Images)        It appears that the Mets' woes on the field could have a ripple effect on baseball matters on the other side of New York State. As reported by ESPN, Buffalo Bisons manager Wally Backman has gone on record saying he believes the city will not renew their player development agreement  with the Mets at season's end. His sentiment was later echoed by an unnamed source. This would signal the end of a four-year run for the Bisons as the Mets' Triple-A affiliate. The Amazin's have had a difficult time maintaining their AAA ties in recent years. The Norfolk Tides parted ways with the big league club in 2006 after four decades. A two-year stint in New Orleans proved unsuccessful and highly inconvenient due to the distance between the Big Easy and Flushing. If the Toronto Blue Jays would move their AAA team from Las Vegas to Buffalo, the Mets would then be relegate

(I may have to eat these words too. The Dickey part, not the Moneyball part.) by Brian Scala December 15, 2012                ( Marc Serota/Getty Images)                      It appears the New York Mets have wasted no time in killing any goodwill with the fans by signing David Wright long term. With the trade of NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey potentially looming ( per ESPN ), we are once again reminded that the Mets have a talent for making the worst out of a good situation. If there were any possibility of the Mets shedding their new-found reputation for being cheap, general manager Sandy Alderson has squashed any such hope of it. It’s not like this was unexpected, though. We knew the Mets would trade Dickey if they could bring back a good package of prospects. The problem is that Dickey is the victim of a philosophy that is highly overrated and extensively flawed. Sandy Alderson came to the New York Mets under the pretense that the Amazin'

By Brian Scala December 11, 2012                  ( Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)                      It seems that with each passing year I find NCAA football becoming more and more absurd. It’s bad enough that we have abnormalities like TCU in the Big East, playing its final game of 2012 at the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl. I’m sure before I’m dead and gone we’ll have an American Standard Toilet Bowl featuring the eighth-ranked team in the SEC and the seventh-ranked team in Conference USA. I understand that everything is decided by money nowadays. At least the aforementioned issues are cosmetic and minor in the grand scheme of things. What I find most troubling is that institutions are supposed to set a moral example for everyone, especially in the wake of the Penn State scandal. However, they continue to lower the bar and reward vile, morally deficient individuals. Today, Western Kentucky University hired Bobby Petrino as their head coach. I’m all for second ch

By Brian Scala September 6, 2012                ( Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) As the Boston Red Sox season comes to a painful, dramatic end, there’s one question that I struggle to answer. Whatever happened to The Zen of Bobby V ? ESPN led us to believe he had found peace. Instead, the Bobby Valentine of 2012 seems hell-bent on harboring chaos and war. And getting himself fired in the process.   There is no doubt in my mind that Bobby V will never manage again after the 2012 season. He has failed as the Boston Red Sox manager because he wants to fail. Let’s face it. Valentine is an intelligent, articulate man when he wants to be. He’s been associated with baseball his entire adult life. Valentine must know by now that his style of managing—namely insulting players, lying to and fighting with the media and not caring about anyone but himself—is not a successful model.    For anyone wondering if Bobby V has indeed “checked out,” I ask, &q

by Brian Scala July 23, 2012                  (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)                     Today, the NCAA announced their sanctions against Penn State University. One of those penalties is the loss of the school’s college football victories dating back to 1998. This knocks Joe Paterno back down to a career win total of 298. Thus, he is no longer the winningest coach in Division I history. This is not another editorial about the horrific events that have occurred at Penn State. This is not another opinion piece about whether the NCAA's sanctions were too harsh, too lenient or misguided in any way. I will say this though. I have come to appreciate how the NCAA is not shy about wiping out wins, records and championships. I respect the fact that the powers-that-be in college football are ready and willing to erase various achievements that are either tainted or were gained by breaking NCAA rules. College football’s proactive stance on eliminating stati

(I may have to eat these words...) by Brian Scala March 20, 2012      (J eff Gross/Getty Images)                      As Peyton Manning segues into the twilight of his magnificent career, two things are apparent. Life is not fair, and the Denver Broncos have a very short memory. Granted, the former was already common knowledge, but the Broncos have just set a new standard in the Unfairness Department.   I’m not here to chastise Manning for taking his talents to South Park. At least half of the teams in the NFL would have been better off with Manning at quarterback, even with him on the shelf for a year and counting. He had his reasons for opting to sign with Denver, and who am I to question them. However, since the Broncos first showed an interest in the future Hall of Famer , the question I had — and still have — is why Manning was even an option for them in the first place. It’s natural to upgrade. People eventually buy bigger houses and better cars to

(I'd like to think I was responsible for The Tuna getting in this year...)   by Brian Scala February 6, 2012 (Joe Murphy/Getty Images)                    Dear Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee, In this day and age of instant feedback via Twitter and Facebook, I have decided to take a slightly archaic approach and direct my grievance to you the old fashioned way. For the better part of my 35 years, I have been an ardent fan and supporter of Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells. Please note that if you were one of those who voted for Bill Parcells for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I offer my sincerest thanks and praise. Please feel free to disregard the remainder of my missive, as you clearly display the requisite intelligence and common sense necessary to be a member of the selection committee. If you did not vote in favor of Bill Parcells, I wonder what football games you have watched since 1983. I honestly cannot fathom what

So, here the deal. I asked the nice people at Bleacher Report to delete my profile a few weeks ago. I figured that I didn't know if/when I'd be able to contribute anything substantial. I work. I work out. I watch the Mets suck. I do other things. After all that, I still need to talk to my wife. ;-) I love to write, but I've never been one to write just for the sake of writing. If I did that, I would put undo pressure on myself to post an article once a week. Without proper motivation, it would be crap like "Top Ten Mets to Wear Number 50", and I don't want to write crap. Thus, I have unearthed my new & improved blog. I can post whatever whenever. It'll be the quality of writing that I want it to be. This brings me to one more dilemma. My Bleacher Report articles are no longer available on their website. Since I don't want my old works of art to die in vain, I'll be looking for old cached versions of my articles and posting them here. If you

On Monday night, the Tampa Bay Rays began their first homestand with their new right fielder, former top prospect-turned-stud rookie Wil Myers. Fans came out in droves to greet their new franchise player. A capacity crowd of 11,407 saw the Rays win 4-1, thanks in large part to Myers. At least he saw more people in the stands on Monday than he did at Triple-A Durham. The Bulls stadium only holds 10,000. The Rays’ stadium and attendance issues are well documented. Tropicana Field is an antiquated facility at best, and its location might as well be a few minutes east of Albuquerque. I’m sure that the Rays front office has done everything short of offering BP to the first 10,000 kids to draw fans. It’s still a little disconcerting to see the Tampa Bay Lightning average 19,055 for a hockey game. Meanwhile, a winning team like the Rays can’t crack 12,000 when their top prospect cracks his first career homer – a grand slam- two days prior. Tampa Bay has become a proven winner on the