ShareThisBaseball fans on the National League side of New York should hope their disappointing Mets have been paying attention to the way the Philadelphia Phillies have played their way to the World Series.Because there's more to winning games than talent.Especially in September.And October.The Phillies win as a team -- with heart and character and a grit the moneybag Mets so noticeably lack.Yes, the Phillies have plenty of talent, too. Solid starting pitching. Timely hitting. A dependable closer.Oh, and they have a manager who expects his players to do more than merely show up and collect fat checks.The Mets, as assembled by general manager Omar Minaya, were the National League's best team in 2006 and 2007. But they couldn't get past the scrappy St. Louis Cardinals in the 2006 NLCS, then suffered an historic September collapse that left them one victory shy of the 2007 playoffs.This year, the Chicago Cubs were the NL's best team, only to choke again in October. The Phillies were the NL's toughest. The Mets? Once again, they didn't possess the intangibles necessary to win when it matters most.And if the Mets have been watching the Phillies the past couple of weeks, they've seen exactly what they're missing.SAME OLD ELI: I guess all that expected New York silliness about Eli Manning having become the No. 1 quarterback in the family can stop now.Look, I worked there.I know how it is.I know how the Gotham media constantly pushes the myth that winning in New York is bigger and better than winning everywhere else -- that if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.So no one should've been surprised, especially after the younger Manning got off to a fast start with the Giants while his brother, Peyton, staggered out of the gate on a surgically repaired knee with the Indianapolis Colts, that you'd see stories claiming a changing of the guard.True, Eli won a Super Bowl last season. And he made all the plays needed to win a close game in the fourth quarter.But if New England's Asante Samuel holds on to an interception that slipped through his hands, and David Tyree doesn't make a circus catch by pinning the ball against his helmet, the New York media would've been singing a far different tune.Same old Eli.Which is what he was in Monday night's loss at Cleveland.DOLPHINS EVOLVE: No, the Miami Dolphins aren't a playoff team. But as promised by the team's new boss, Bill Parcells, the culture within the organization is changing.The Dolphins no longer accept losing, as they did when Dave Wannstedt, Nick Saban and Cam Cameron were running the show.More importantly, they expect to win. And they believe they can.That's the first step toward building a championship contender.QUICK TAKES: The way I see it, Big Brown's career-ending foot injury came at just the right time. He wasn't going to beat Curlin in next week's Breeders Cup Classic, anyway . . . In case you haven't noticed, the NHL season has begun. . . . The most important lesson we've learned thus far in this topsy-turvy college football season is this: The preseason rankings are a joke. . . . The 2008 Tampa Bay Rays are as fun to watch as any baseball team in recent memory. . . . Sorry, but NASCAR's Chase for the Cup does nothing for me. It's as meaningless as the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoff.(Ray McNulty is sports columnist for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. Contact him at ray.mcnulty@scripps.com or on the Web at www.tcpalm.com.)
Mets could learn from Phillies: Other thoughts
Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 10/17/2008 - 16:26
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Who's got your number?
In one of the fastest-growing forms of identity theft, crooks are stealing tax refunds by swiping personal information and using it to trick the Internal Revenue Service.
