The Zionist Conspiracy |
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A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews. 
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Sunday, September 28, 2008
Where Were Knight and Valentine? How could the Mets invite Doug Flynn for Shea's goodbye ceremony, but fail to even mention 1986 World Series MVP Ray Knight? And having invited Yankee Hall of Famer Yogi Berra for his stint as manager that included the '73 pennant, as well as Mike Piazza, Robin Ventura, Edgardo Alfonzo, Todd Zeile and Al Leiter of the 1999 and 2000 Mets (not to mention John Franco), how could Bobby Valentine's name never come up? Mets Analysis - Part 1: The Rot At The Top It was fitting that after yet another bullpen implosion, Matt Lindstrom was on the mound for the Marlins, throwing in the high 90's and closing out the Mets. Lindstrom was among the talented relievers traded for literally nothing by GM Omar Minaya after the '06 season, while Scott Schoeneweis and Luis Ayala were among the many awful pitchers Minaya acquired for the Mets' pathetic bullpen. Even as he sent away Lindstrom, Heath Bell and other talented pitchers, Minaya has failed to bring in a single decent reliever since Duaner Sanchez's injury in July 2006. And this season alone, Minaya wasted $21 million on Luis Castillo, Moises Alou and Orlando Hernandez. Due to his incompetence, the Mets have only a single NLCS appearance to show for the highest payroll in the NL since 2005. Meanwhile, the Phillies, spending tens of millions less, are again NL East champs. If "accountability" was in the Mets' lexicon, Minaya were surely be gone - especially after Willie Randolph, who was Minaya's choice for manager, was let go by Omar. But unlike the Steinbrenners, who are all about winning championships, for the Wilpons, "playing meaningful games in September" and selling tickets are what matter. Losing and failure are spun as success and excitement. Indeed - moronic Jeff Wilpon has already proclaimed that the 2008 Mets "overachieved." Incredibly under normal circumstances - but therefore hardly surprisingly under the dysfunctional Wilpons - Minaya is set to be given a four year extension, through 2013, as the Mets' reward for his failures. The Mets are also set to bring back Jerry Manuel and sign him to a long-term deal. Manuel made some questionable moves down the stretch, and was unable to stop this year's September slide. Overall, Manuel must be credited with doing a pretty good job, and he is clearly a major upgrade over Randolph. However, the failure to even consider whether Manuel is the best man to manage the Mets is another indication of the Wilpons' clueless sense of satisfaction about this season. Bobby Valentine would have been the ideal choice for manager. Bobby V is not only an excellent baseball mind and game manager, he is a man who holds his players - and himself - accountable and who will play the best players no matter what. The Mets have now wasted huge opportunities in 2006, 2007 and 2008. Valentine will likely be back in the majors soon. It remains to be seen whether the failure to bring him to Citi Field will represent another foolish decision by the Mets' hierarchy. Coming up: Part 2 - The position players. Week Four 1. I had tickets today for both the Jets and the Mets. I decided to go to the Jets' game, figuring I also had playoff and World Series tickets for the Mets and that if the Mets lost I didn't want to be at Shea. It was, alas, the right move. 2. Following Favre's terrible first quarter interception, the passing game looked great. Yet I still am not too confident about the running game. 3. Kris Jenkins and Calvin Pace were outstanding again today. 4. After a strong performance in weeks one and two, Dwight Lowery is looking like a rookie. 5. Bad job by the special teams on the Cards' onside kicks. The Jets were very lucky when Arizona touched the 4th quarter try just before the 40 yard line. The special teams unit does deserve credit for blocking the field goal early in the game. 6. Once again the Jets had huge success when they blitzed, so why did defensive coordinator Bob Sutton play so softly for much of the second half, allowing Arizona to score five touchdowns, largely by dinking and dunking? Of course, the Jets defensive players deserve blame for this too; their intensity seemed to go down after the Jets took a 34-0 halftime lead. Friday, September 26, 2008
Shea Stadium Deserves A Suitable Sendoff Really, there would only be two fitting ways for the last game ever at Shea to end.  Ideally, with a World Series victory, like in '69 and '86.   Otherwise, it would be most appropriate for there to be a crushing defeat, like losing the World Series to the Yankees in 2000, or the Jets losing to the Bills in the '81 playoffs on an interception near the end zone, or Terry Pendelton's homer in '87, or Mike Scioscia's homer off Dwight Gooden in the '88 NLCS, or Game 7 of the '06 NLCS, or Tom Glavine's meltdown to complete the 2007 collapse. Those epic moments from Shea's history will never appear on any celebratory DVDs, but they represent much about the Shea Stadium experience over the last 45 years. A loss on Sunday to eliminate the Mets, or worse, a loss on Monday in a wildcard tiebreaker, would be worthy ways for Shea to end. Losing in the playoffs at home would also be terrible enough for a real Shea sendoff. Luis Aguayo Everyone's wondering how he keeps holding runners at 3rd who would easily score, and sends runners home when they're going to be dead ducks.  And how could Daniel Murphy twice bunt in the 9th last night - even with two strikes and Reyes running - when the hit sign was supposed to be on? Well, has it occurred to anybody that Luis Aguayo played nearly his entire career for the Philadelphia Phillies? Yes, the Mets' current third base coach is the same Luis Aguayo whose game-winning 10th inning homer off Jesse Orosco dashed any remaining hopes of the 1987 Mets. Surely, the man bleeds Phillies red. Now, about those missed signs and strange decisions at 3rd base... Thursday, September 25, 2008
Memories Of Shea - The Field, Dugout and Darryl I went to Israel with my father for three weeks during July 1990. I was 17 years ago, just having graduated high school. I must have been pretty bored, because one day I came with him to the office at which he was working, and typed a letter to the sports editor of The Jerusalem Post, suggesting that they hire me to cover U.S. sports. A few days later, I had the job. When I got back home, I wrote to all of the New York sports teams requesting press credentials. I also applied for credentials to the MLB playoffs and World Series. The last place Yankees treated me great, basically welcoming me to come anytime and to bring a guest along too. It was a pleasure watching the game from their press box, which included a full concession stand with everything except a cash register and a line. The Mets, who were in a tight pennant race with the Pirates, begrudgingly told me I could cover one game during the 1990 season and apply again in 1991. MLB approved me for playoff coverage. September 2, 1990 was the game I chose. It was a Sunday, the day before Labor Day. Yeshiva wouldn't start until later that week. I'd been an avid Mets fan since the late 70's, since I was around five. I took the train from Boro Park and got to Shea nearly an hour before batting practice. The train was surprisingly crowded with people going to the U.S. Open. I sat by myself in the Mets dugout. I walked on and around the Shea field and behind the batter's box. It never occurred to me not to wear my yarmulke. During batting practice, I watched and listened to the players on both teams mingle and schmooze. I remember Darryl Strawberry talking with Brett Butler. Strawberry would be a free agent after the season. It sounded like he said something to Butler about not coming back to the Mets. Darryl noticed me eavesdropping and gave me a look. I stepped away. I don't remember much about the game. I remember that the Mets won, that Mackey Sasser had a big hit, that Tommy Herr had just been acquired from St. Louis and led off and started at second base, that watching the game from the press box wasn't so great, and that the Mets gave me a box with the media guides of every team in baseball. Those media guides are still in my old room in my parents' home. The Mets didn't win the division and I didn't travel to cover the playoffs or World Series. Strawberry left for LA after the season. This was the last time I saw him play at Shea as a Met. Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Today's Musings 1. Ahmadinejad is not Hitler. That does not trivialize the danger that Iran poses to the world, and particularly to Israel. Ahmadinejad is evil and is an Islamic fanatic. However, Ahmadinejad has not gone from country to country and village to village, forced Jews out of their homes and mass murdered thousands of them every day for many years. 2. I am baffled when I hear people who otherwise hold staunch anti-abortion ("pro-life") views note disapprovingly that Sarah Palin (or any other social conservative) opposes abortion "even" in cases of rape or incest. Rape and incest are terrible things, but if abortion is otherwise unacceptable, why should pregnancy resulting from rape or incest be treated differently? 3. During the latest episode of Bill Maher's HBO program, Andrew Sullivan had the gall to interrupt Maher's weekly rant mocking religious people. Whatever the merits of Maher's disdain for organized religion, it's quite interesting - at least to me - that his audience invariably roars with approval in response to whatever he says, and that Maher's guests either pile on or say nothing at all. This despite the fact that most of the audience and guests are likely - like Sullivan and a majority of Americans - themselves people who hold moderate religious views. 4. I am not a proponent of gay marriage. But I don't really understand why rabbis sometimes feel a need to warn about its supposed dire consequences. Putting aside the fact that the battle is already essentially over and the world still goes on, why should gay marriage be a major issue? Perhaps there's a generation gap here, but it's very low on my list of priorities and there many other things that seem a lot more dangerous. Monday, September 22, 2008
Week 3 1. Ben Graham looked a lot better. 2. Can someone introduce Leon Washington to Brian Schottenheimer? 3. Is it too early in the season to repeat that Bob Sutton is not an NFL defensive coordinator? 4. Why does it always seem that Eric Smith is in on every blown coverage? 5 Ron Jaworski said that it takes years for a QB to learn a new team's offense. Unless, I suppose, that QB and new team is Drew Brees and the Saints. Or Vinny Testaverde and the Jets. Or Chad Pennington and the Dolphins. 6. Did I misconstrue something or did Jaworski seem to think that David Harris is a DB and David Barrett an LB? And did I hear Mike Tirico proclaim that Brad Smith has made big progress as a WR? 7. D'Brickishaw and Faneca look good as decoys on all those runs to the right side. D'Brickishaw still looks lousy in pass protection. 8. Couldn't at least one 2008 Jets game have fallen out on a Jewish holiday? At least the week after next is the bye. 9. I hear Herm Edwards may be in trouble. Any chance we could trade Mangini to the Chiefs for a pick? Perhaps Jewboy - who I believe is from Kansas City - can opine on that one. 10. Nice move waiving rookie WR Marcus Henry to resign Ben Graham. Four QBs, two kickers and two punters on a 53 player roster. Makes sense to me! 10a. Thus far my children (not yet four and two, respectively) don't seem too interested in football. Perhaps there's hope for the next generation! 10b. Hockey will be back next Saturday. Let's go Rangers! NFL Mystery What is wrong with the Kansas City Chiefs, who have now lost 12 straight games? A few hotheads aside, informed observers are well aware that Herm Edwards is among the NFL's elite head coaches. Few men can motivate their players like Herm does, and he is acclaimed for producing very tough defenses and teams that play hard every week. There are two explanations. First, the Chiefs have been battered by injuries. Indeed, they are so decimated that Herm must be credited for keeping the team as motivated as they are. Second, unfortunately, with the exception of Dick ("Who Am I? What Am I Doing Here") Curl, KC may need to make a move to replace some of its assistant coaches. While Herm is an intensely loyal man, his coordinators are not playcalling to his high standards. It may take a few seasons for the Chiefs to get back on track, but there is little doubt that with Herm at the helm, their future is bright. Omar Must Go I've been saying the same thing over and over since the disastrous 2006-07 offseason. Omar Minaya destroyed the Mets bullpen then, and has done absolutely nothing to fix the mess he made. Indeed, when Omar had a chance in July to bring back Chad (2.08 ERA) Bradford for essentially nothing, his massive ego prevented him from doing so. After all, how could Omar ever admit that refusing to give Bradford a three year deal days before giving Scott Schoeneweis three years for more money was a huge mistake? Minaya has also refused to let Aaron Heilman start, because he's too valuable in the bullpen - where he has posted an ERA of 5.33 that is nearly as high as superstar ace Pedro Martinez. Omar's failure will probably negate the fine job by Jerry Manuel. Manuel has made some mistakes, but ultimately it's doubtful that anyone could win with this bullpen. Whether the Mets collapse completely this week, or bow out quietly next week to the Cubs, it's time for a change at GM. Perhaps I'm an optimist for thinking the Mets could fire Omar. But this time last year, whom among us really thought Willie Randolph would be feted last night at Yankee Stadium? Monday, September 15, 2008
Bring Back Pedro Another gutsy performance tonight by Pedro Martinez against a very tough Washington lineup. Cynics point to Pedro's 5.47 ERA this season and his 17 wins over the last three seasons to argue that he's not quite worth the $14 million or so per year he's been making. Of course, real Mets fans know that if not for Pedro, the Mets would not have been able to attract superstar free agents like Billy Wagner, Moises Alou and Luis Castillo. If the Mets want to retain impending free agents like Alou, El Duque Hernandez and Luis Ayala, they must also do everything possible to bring back Pedro.  After turning the Mets around, Pedro deserves a three-year deal with a nice raise so he can continue complimenting team mascot Mr. Met at Citi Field through at least 2011. I am confident that Omar Minaya will indeed do everything possible to bring Pedro back. When Pedro chooses to end his Hall of Fame career and his number 45 is retired, the only question will be whether he will enter Cooperstown as a member of the Mets or the Red Sox. Sunday, September 14, 2008
Week Two The drive today was the familiar one on gameday - the LIE to the Midtown Tunnel, across Manhattan to the Lincoln Tunnel, and then Route 3 to Giants Stadium. But I didn't get off 3 West at the stadium exit. Instead I drove another five or six miles to Clifton for the funeral of a colleague who was around to watch Week 1 of this NFL season but on Thursday morning was somehow suddenly gone. The funeral started at 1, so I could have done both. I could have gone to the funeral, offered my condolences and paid my respects, and afterward made the short drive from Clifton to Giants Stadium in time for the 4:15 kickoff. Likely, that's what Rich would have suggested I do. Instead I sold the tickets - to a Patriots fan. After the funeral and a stop at Rich's home in Bloomfield, I headed back, driving past the stadium - at 3:30 then starting to fill up - and went home. There will be other Sundays to go to Jets games. I did watch the game. Favre was inconsistent and threw a terrible INT. The kicking game was abysmal. The playcalling was poor - especially the three consecutive runs with 1st and goal at the 3. Lots of terrible penalties were committed. Overall, the game convinced me that my preseason 8-8 prediction was on target. The only positive I can think of was the play of Chansi Stuckey, who looks like the Jets' number 3 WR. There will be other Sundays to commiserate after a frustrating Jets (and Mets) loss. Today for me is a day to reflect on the wins and the losses that I experienced with Rich, on our many, many office conferences, on the thousands of late-night and early morning e-mails we exchanged. On the untimely loss of a fine man and a fine lawyer. Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Memories of Shea - The Rabbi, The Agent and The Ride The weather was similar to today, with on and off rain, but that didn't stop me from taking a break from yeshiva to go to Manhattan and pick up three field box tickets to that evening's Mets vs. Giants game that my friend had secured. It was 1988 - I was in tenth grade - and for some reason we felt like we needed a ride home. Most fortuitously, we learned that Rabbi Travis, our secular studies principal, would be going to the game. He'd be taking his sixth grade class in another yeshiva (the elementary school I attended) on a bus. Could we join Rabbi Travis and his class on the bus, we asked him? He looked at us like we were crazy for having the audacity to ask, and said that if we went to the game, we'd be in big trouble. He pointed out, correctly, that we'd have to cut our last class to get to Shea on time. Rabbi Travis was a well-meaning guy, but he was always way less clueless than we'd have liked. Back in 8th grade, I took off - with my parents' acquiescence - the day after my bar mitzvah. I went outside mid-afternoon and there was Rabbi Travis - I wasn't in his class but he recognized me - asking me what I was doing out of school. In high school, he always had a sixth sense for when we were cutting class, especially if we were cutting to avoid a test. Long before the advent of e-mail or cell phones, my friend found a ride. The guy renting his parents' basement would be going with a sports agent, and they'd give us a lift home. We left school shortly after carefully confirming Rabbi Travis' departure, and headed to Shea via the D and 7 lines. When we arrived, it was very cloudy but the rain held up. The Mets won 6-3 behind Ron Darling, Roger McDowell and Randy Myers. The agent's client - Randy Bockus - pitched a scoreless 8th inning for the Giants. We stayed for the entire game and were reveling in the victory as we walked in the Shea parking lot. And there was Rabbi Travis, walking briskly past us. He ignored my attempt at a high-five, instead stating firmly, "Schick, W***** and H******, be in my office tomorrow." Monday, September 08, 2008
Free Market Economy At Work A few months ago, the Federal Reserve bailed out Bear Stearns. Now the federal government is taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And some liberals still don't concede that only a free market economy works for America! Of course, sophisticated fiscal conservatives realize that the free market approach doesn't apply when billions of dollars are at stake! When it comes to big investment banks and to mortgage market-makers, socialism is the way to go! Belichick's Hatred For Mangini: A New Theory During yesterday's game, Phil Simms mentioned this interesting tidbit: When the Jets hired Eric Mangini, he gave Chad Pennington a copy of the Patriots scouting report on Pennington. Scouting reports belong to the Patriots, don't they? Is a departing coach going to a division rival authorized to take copies of scouting reports on opposing players - especially those who play for the coach's new team? Could this be why Belichick had Mangini locked out of the Patriots facilities? Could it explain Belichick's animosity? Scenes From JFK Prior to Nefesh B'Nefesh Charter There was no Jbloggers convention at JFK yesterday, but there were 235 North American Jews (and at least four dogs) about to make aliyah. Many years ago in The Jerusalem Report, writer Stuart Schoffman recalled that when he arrived in Israel upon making aliyah, the passport control agent exclaimed, "oleh chadash!?" - in shock that an American would do something so strange as voluntarily move to Israel. That's what Nefesh B'Nefesh has changed. It used to be that you had to be a real die-hard Zionist to move to Israel. Zionism still helps, a lot. But now American aliyah is mainstream and lots of red tape has been removed from the process. And that's how it felt at JFK yesterday. If not quite like a typical pre-flight (family members don't usually come to the airport for routine flights), watching 235 people move to Israel was almost ordinary. Not ordinary in a negative way - it is inspiring to see Jews returning to their land. But ordinary in the sense that this is now a normal decision, not really different from moving to a different part of the country. Take-off was scheduled for 2 p.m. A few minutes before 1, with the new olim and their families lingering near the security metal detectors, Nefesh B'Nefesh announced that it was time for everyone to say goodbye. And so the olim went their way to the start of their new lives in Israel, and those that remained rushed to the parking lot so as not to miss the start of their new NFL season. Sunday, September 07, 2008
Week One A road win should never be taken for granted, but the way the Jets finished today was disappointing. Bob Sutton's patented prevent defense keeps blowing big leads. But going into a three man rush against Chad Pennington is particularly stupid. The three straight runs on the Jets' final drive were a terrible call. Just get a first down and win it. Perhaps he really was hurt, but Mike Nugent continues to be a bust. The special teams generally was not too good. Finally, the pass protection was poor, the Jets took some bad penalties, and Laveranues Coles was invisible. On the plus side, the run game was good, the run defense played well, and the Jets did get pressure on Pennington when they wanted to. In particular, Dwight Lowery looked good, as did Calvin Pace and Kris Jenkins. Friday, September 05, 2008
Musings On McCain/Palin 1. I am obviously on a very different wavelength than my staunchly conservative friends: Not only did I have no idea what Sarah Palin was talking about for much of her rant, I found her speech to be shrill and divisive. If Hillary Clinton had been as nasty, the same people who loved Palin's speech would call Hillary a b*tch. 2. Much of McCain's speech was nothing special, but it struck a much better tone than what went on for the first two days of the Republican convention. 3. Ultimately, for me, as an American engaged in the political process who nevertheless will not be voting, it appears that Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John McCain are qualified to be president. Palin as vice president is the same type of politically expedient but reckless thinking that led Israel to end up with Ehud Olmert as Ariel Sharon's deputy prime minister and later Amir Peretz as Olmert's defense minister. And Olmert was much more experienced than Palin is. 4. A few months ago, I wrote: Social conservatives rail against the large number of abortions performed in the U.S. But then the same people repeatedly ridicule pregnant teen TV star Jamie Lynn Spears, who, according the media, intends to raise her child and marry the father. It's nice to know that social conservatives have belatedly come around to my perspective, now that Bristol Palin is pregnant. Thursday, September 04, 2008
2008 Jets Prediction and Analysis 8-8. Maybe I'm jaded (okay, definitely, not maybe). But I just don't have a great feeling about Brett Favre. Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Palin Fallout: The Jews Are Nuts That's the only reaction that makes sense to an honest observer of the absurd back-and-forth between Democrat and Republican Jews concerning Sarah Palin. There are very few Jews in Alaska, and Israel is not covered quite as extensively there as, say, in New York. It is hardly surprising that Palin has no record whatsoever on issues of particular interest to Jewish Americans. That has not stopped liberal Jews from coming up with tidbits to support their notion that Palin agrees with Pat Buchanan about Jews and Israel, and that she believes Israelis are killed in terror attacks because Jews have not accepted Jesus as the messiah. Nor has it stopped Republican Jews, in response, from insisting that because Palin has met with Israelis once or twice and once even put a little Israeli flag in her office, she is a strong supporter of Israel and is a friend of the Jews. There is nothing wrong with Jewish Americans feeling strongly about issues that are important to them, and wanting to know where political candidates stand on those issues. But that does not mean that the world revolves around us. Most of us know this. But political hacks do not, and in the process they are making all of us look crazy. Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Israel First - Without Apology Tens of millions of Americans will not vote for a candidate who does not support abortion rights. Tens of millions of Americans will not vote for a candidate who does not oppose abortion and pledge to appoint judges likely to overturn Roe v. Wade. Millions of Americans won't support a candidate who does not pledge to support the right to bear arms. The majority of Cuban-Americans vote based on policy toward Cuba. Presumably all of these people are interested in other issues. But for them, there is one supreme issue that keeps them up at night, about which they will never vote for someone who does not represent their concerns and advocate their positions. I am an American who - first and foremost - will not support a candidate who will not seek to assist Israel in maintaining secure and defensible borders, as mandated by UN Resolutions 242 and 338. Barack Obama and Joe Biden have made damn clear that they oppose a permanent Israeli presence in more than a very tiny part (if even that) of Judea and Samaria. Research their record and their statements if you think I'm wrong. Their view may not be based on antagonism toward Israel. Indeed, it may be based on a different perception of what is in Israel's interest than my own. I am absolutely convinced that Ma'aleh Adumim, Givat Ze'ev, Har Choma, Gush Etzion, the Old City of Jerusalem and various other post-1967 parts of Israel are vital areas that Israel must retain. And while in principle I support territorial compromise, I am also convinced that at present, the purported "two-state solution" would solve nothing. So I can't and won't vote for Obama-Biden. They fail my litmus test. John McCain would also not be a great friend of "settlements," especially if Joe Lieberman is his Secretary of State. But at least some people with views similar to mine would have some access to a McCain Administration. Anyway, there isn't likely going to be a McCain Administration. This post is about Barack Obama and why, despite my belief that he is an immensely talented man, I cannot and will not vote for him. | "
