Author Archive

All Signs Point for Valentine to Flushing

Posted: 4th March 2010 by Leslie Monteiro in MLB
Bobby Valentine stood in the Mets dugout during an exhibition contest between the Mets and the Braves in Orlando on Wednesday afternoon. One can make a case that Valentine wanted to hang out with the guys. Another will say he's doing his due diligence about the Amazins for his ESPN gig. It's hard to believe he attended the game for those reasons. The former Mets manager has a motive for whatever he ...

Tragic Ending for Jayson Williams

Posted: 27th February 2010 by Leslie Monteiro in NBA
Jayson Williams collided with Stephon Marbury in a game against the Hawks in April 1999. Williams broke his right leg after the collision. For all intents and purposes, his career was over. It's hard for any athlete to recover from a leg injury. Williams was going to do fine after his career was over. He knew he could get a TV gig since he articulates his thoughts on the game well. NBC hired ...

Billy Martin Should Be Scorned Not Beloved

Posted: 24th February 2010 by Leslie Monteiro in MLB
With exhibition games starting in March, MSG decided to air ESPN's hit miniseries "The Bronx Is Burning" this week as an appetizer. This eight-series drama featured characters such as Billy Martin, George Steinbrenner, Reggie Jackson, Gabe Paul, Thurman Munson, Mickey Rivers and Fran Healy. Martin stood out more than the rest with his crazy personality. It's remarkable why Yankees fans adore Martin despite the nonsense he pulled as the Yankees manager. This lunatic ...

Bulls Owner Jerry Reinsdorf Makes Right Coaching Hire

Posted: 17th February 2010 by Leslie Monteiro in NBA
Suns president of basketball operations Steve Kerr requested Mike D'Antoni to focus more on defense than offense. The ultimatum came after the Spurs eliminated the Suns in the first round of the 2008 playoffs. Then-Suns assistant general manager Vinny Del Negro privately wondered to Kerr about D'Antoni's ability to be a championship head coach. D'Antoni took exception to those claims. He decided he wanted out of Phoenix after hearing complaints about ...

Sorry Rex, But It Isn’t Happening

Posted: 9th January 2010 by Leslie Monteiro in NFL
Jets head coach Rex Ryan proclaimed his team as a Super Bowl favorite a couple of days ago when assessing how his football team would fare in the playoffs. This is the same guy who thought his team had no shot of making the playoffs after a frustrating home loss to the Falcons. He said nothing for the last couple of weeks of the regular season. It took the playoffs for the ...

Let’s Not Anoint Rex Ryan Just Yet

Posted: 8th January 2010 by Leslie Monteiro in NFL
The Jets hired Eric Mangini in 2006 after Herm Edwards parted ways with the team due to an acrimonious relationship at the end of a frustrating 2005 season. Everyone loved that hire since Mangini learned a lot from Bill Belichick, and that coach did not disappoint by having a successful first season that resulted in a playoff berth. The Jets lost to the Patriots in the first round of the 2007 playoffs, ...

Let’s Not Annoint Ryan Just Yet

Posted: 7th January 2010 by Leslie Monteiro in NFL
The Jets hired Eric Mangini in 2006 after Herm Edwards parted ways with the team due to an acrimonious relationship at the end of a frustrating 2005 season. Everyone loved that hire since Mangini learned a lot from Bill Belichick. and that coach did not disappoint by having a successful first season that resulted to a playoff berth. Sure the Jets lost to the Patriots in the first round of the ...

Mark Sanchez: Now It’s Time to Redeem Himself

Posted: 6th January 2010 by Leslie Monteiro in NFL
The Giants moved up in the 2004 draft by making a draft-day trade with the Chargers for the rights to get Eli Manning after Manning decided he did not want to play for the Chargers. They believed Manning was the man to take them toáthe championship for the next 15 years. Manning struggled in his first few years, butáin the 2007 playoffs, everything came together for him. He threw the ball on ...

Playoff-Bound Jets: Hard To Believe, but It’s True

Posted: 4th January 2010 by Leslie Monteiro in NFL
Rex Ryan and his players conducted a victory lap with the fans at Giants Stadium once the game was over. They earned it by making the playoffs after going through tough times this season. It helped the schedule favored the Jets with the Colts and the Bengals laying down as an attempt to rest their stars. In the Bengals case, they didn't want to showcase their best stuff for the Jets to ...

Gift For Jets To Enjoy

Posted: 27th December 2009 by Leslie Monteiro in NFL
Count this columnist as surprised to see what took place. He figured the Colts would play all their starters in an attempt to go undefeated, but when an unhappy Peyton Manning stood in the sideline for most of the second half, it was a sign the Colts gave up. It's hard to believe this is Jim Caldwell's call. Coaches like to win every game while executives seek to protect their players ...