(Long Island, NY) The new hierarchy of the New York Jets (of New Jersey) only has a few days left on vacation. Not in the literal sense, but from the scour of the media and their long, suffering fans. Come Saturday afternoon when Paul Tagliube steps to the podium at Radio City Music Hall and announces the first four picks in the 2006 NFL Draft, that’s when the honeymoon ends for these ‘boys.’ I call them boys because in the tough world of the NFL, two first year men in their thirties can be over-matched and overwhelmed. I hope for their sake they grow up real fast, or at least grow thick skin.

The fans that pack the draft every year are mostly wearing green and white. This is who will be the first judge before the ESPN crew has a say if it was a good or bad pick. They have a few players in mind that they feel are worthy of a high pick. And they are the ones that suffered through that 4-12 nightmare of a season last year. Shouldn’t they have some input?

Basically, the Jets need to come away with one of the projected top-four picks to be let off the hook. Reggie Bush should go number one to the Houston Texans, who recently upped the contract of their young quarterback, David Carr. That leaves the New Orleans Saints in a spot that they can do some maneuvering to help themselves. The two hot QB’s, Matt Leinart of USC and Vince Young of Texas, will be there for them. But they just signed Drew Brees to a free-agent deal in the off-season. Can they make a move to pick up more selections and slide down? Or will they grab Mario Williams, the defensive end from North Carolina State?

Up next are the Tennessee Titans. They will most likely take a quarterback due to the fact that Steve McNair is getting up in age and is banged-up. The consensus seems to believe that they are higher on Young than Leinart.

Next up are the J-E-T-S. Depending on what happens with the Saints, one of these quarterbacks, most likely Leinart, will be there for them. Do they go that route or grab the stud offensive tackle, Freeport’s D’Brickashaw Ferguson out of Virginia? Rumors have been swirling that the Jets also like tight end Vernon Davis of Maryland, who wowed scouts at the NFL Combine at Indianapolis with a 4.38 forty yard dash. And how about linebacker A.J. Hawk from Ohio State? Being a Bill Belecheck disciple, Jets head coach Eric Mangini may fall in love with a defensive player, and draft-knicks everywhere have Hawk being the second-best defensive player on the board after Williams.

It will be an interesting two days for all the teams. The Jets picks are going to be dissected more than the Giants’, who pick much later in the first round (25th). The Jets also have the 29th pick in the first round, acquired in the John Abraham trade. If they can come away with quarterback Jay Cutler from Vanderbilt with that, this can turn out to be a coup for them. But he is not expected to last that long. So the Jets have to be sure about their first selection. It will set the tone for them for the full two days of the draft.

(Long Island, NY) The New York Rangers are going to leave their die-hard fans as blue as their hockey sweaters if they don’t wake up fast. After shocking everyone in the league for the majority of the regular season, they have slumped at the wrong time. When it seemed as if they were going to capture the Atlantic Division en route to the post season, they disappeared as if they were Claude Rains.

The Broadway Blues only needed one win to clinch the division. They were unable to do so in their last five contests. The Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils were right there with them until the final night. The Flyers looked as if they were going to take the division after the Rangers were dropped by the Ottawa Senators at home, 5-1. They were winning and the Devils were down 3-1. All of a sudden the Devils make a comeback against the Montreal Canadiens and win 4-3 to come out on top. This was bad news for the Rangers, as well. Now they were going to have to face the red-hot Devils, who are on a double-digit winning streak heading into the ‘quest for the cup.’

As I type this article, the Rangers are down 3-1 after two periods in the opening game of the best-of-five opening round series at the Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey. If Ranger fans are looking forward to attending a home playoff game after a nine year drought, they had better get to Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. If the Devils take the opening two games at home, there may only be one game in New York City.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to jinx the Rangers. I have been with them through thick and thin for almost four decades now. I wallowed in sorrow during the early 1980’s when the Islanders kept knocking them off in the playoffs year after year. I am still in a ‘1994 euphoric haze’ celebrating one of the most anticipated Stanley Cup championships in the sport’s history. It has been a difficult relationship with the Rangers. Am I the only guy that was convinced that we were going places when Steve Baker was our hot young goalie?

I am trying to be a realist and have an objective opinion as a journalist. I’m writing with my head and not my heart. I hope the minute I finish this, the Rangers go on a three goal spurt and send these Devils back to the Jersey swamps where they belong. But with Martin Brodeur guarding their net, it is a long shot. It is only one game if they do in fact do not have a miraculous comeback. But they way the two teams’ fortunes were heading into this series, the handwriting is on the wall.

(Long Island, NY) I wrote an earlier article about the Long Island Ducks’ fan-voted list of “The Flock Top 15.” At the time it was written, numbers 15 through five were named. The team has since released the top names on the list.

Number 5- Bill Pulsipher, P- The leader of ‘The Band.’ Ex-Met Pulse was the face of the Long Island Ducks in their championship season. He was their opening day starter and pitched in all the big games down the stretch. The left-hander was with the St. Louis Cardinals last season.

Number 4- Carlos Baerga, IF- Another former Met, Carlos had an outstanding start to his big league career with the Cleveland Indians. He hit a bump in the road in his stay at Shea, but has rebounded nicely with some productive seasons as a part-time player and pinch hitter since then. Was with the Washington Nationals last year. Played only part of one season (2001) on Long Island and made the Atlantic League All-Star team as the starting third baseman. Signed to play in Korea after the mid-summer break. Was the first Duck to make it back to the major leagues.

Number 3- Kimera Bartee, OF- Spent two very productive seasons with the Ducks, 2003 and 2004. Former major leaguer with the Detroit Tigers. A team leader that was a major force for Long Island in their playoff run and championship.

Number 2- Doug Jennings, 1B- Another former major leaguer, Doug appeared in the 1989 World Series with the Oakland Athletics. Signed with the Ducks in their inaugural season in 2000. Had a few tenures on Long Island, including 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2005 (player/coach). Came up big in 2004, especially after returning from a shoulder injury.

Number 1- Justin Davies, OF- It should come as no surprise that ‘the Mayor’ took the top vote. Davies has been with the Ducks since day one. The former Toronto Blue Jay farmhand and West Babylon native is by far the team’s most recognizable face, although Bud Harrelson and Quackerjack may have something to say about that. Had so many big hits in the championship run. Is always at every function the Ducks are a part of all year round. Well deserved recognition.

Although there were no bad choices on this list, personally I was surprised that a few names were omitted and did not make the cut.

Cole Liniak may have not been with the team for long, but he was instrumental in 2004 offensively and defensively. Without him, the Ducks would not have been where they were that season.

Rod Henderson threw the only no-hitter in team history in 2000. His gem was voted as the top moment at Citibank (E.A.B.) Park in the teams’ official magazine, “The Duck Call”, in a 2004 edition.

Joe Cotton, aka Cotton Eye Joe of The Cotton Club, was also a big arm out of the bullpen for the 2004 team.

As far as players that did make the list, I felt that Baerga was not here long enough to warrant a spot, especially in the top five. One half of a season does not entitle someone to be honored among players with much more seniority. I would be more understanding if his presence led them to a first-half division title. Mark Whiten played only parts of two seasons with the Ducks and did not make the postseason. Perhaps some of the voters were taking their MLB experience into consideration.

Regardless, the list was a great idea by an organization that keeps coming up with them. Judging by the line to purchase tickets on March 25th, it will be another season of filled seats at our ballpark in Central Islip.

(Long Island, NY) The Strong Island Sound ran out of magic. After winning 10 consecutive games and reaching the Final Four of the ABA in their inaugural season, they were defeated by the Southern California Legends by a score of 123-110 on March 25th.

The Sound took an early double digit lead led by diminutive guard Jerome “Fridge” Holeman, who scored 12 points in 14 minutes. A shoulder injury sustained in the second quarter shelved him for the remainder of the game.

The undersized Sound did not have an answer for SoCal’s 7’3″ center, Keith Closs, who previously played three seasons in the NBA with the Los Angeles Clippers. Closs finished with — points and — rebounds.

Strong Island made a fourth quarter run to cut a sixteen point deficit to six. But that was as close as they came to their third straight post season upset.

The ABA Championship game will be played on March 26th at 2:00 pm at the Blue Cross Arena. The host team of the Great 8 Tournament, the Rochester Razorsharks, qualified earlier in the day by defeating the San Jose Skyrockets.

The Strong Island Sound finished the 2005-06 season with an overall 19-15 record (16-14 in the regular season) and were ranked #13 in the ABA Power Rankings, finishing second in the Roger Brown Division. They won their last seven regular season games heading into the playoffs.

The Sound defeated the Birmingham Magicians in Long Island in the first round, and then beat the Strongdogs at Harlem in the second round, knocking off the division winner. By doing so, they were a surprise entry at the Rochester tournament and had to face the #1 seeded Indiana Alleycats. Down by 17 in the fourth quarter, the Sound came all the way back to take a two point lead. Indiana tied the game at the buzzer to send it into overtime.

The game was still tied after the first OT and the Sound eventually pulled out a 128-126 Double OT win when team captain Gary Williams hit two free throws.

The Cinderella Sound definitely were wearing their best shoes for the ‘big dance’. Unfortunately the glass slipper fell off before midnight.

(Long Island, NY) Ah. Opening day. A fan’s delight after suffering through meaningless spring training games that were finished with Double A players. All the hype. All the intros. A big ‘dog and pony’ show. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.

The New York Mets opener was lucky enough scheduled as a home game. Unlike last season when former Met closer Braden Looper blew a gem by Pedro Martinez in Cincinnati. And to make it even more special, the team is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 1986 World Series championship. Jesse Orosco and Gary Carter came out together for the ceremonial first pitch. But actually it was the second pitch because some guy in a DHL jacket ‘delivered’ the first pitch. Hey, like I said, a big ‘dog and pony.’

Once the actual game got started, Tom Glavine threw a real good one against the Washington Nationals. He did okay on the base paths, too. Rookie second baseman Anderson Hernandez gave us glimpse of what to expect from him this season. A reminder of Rey Ordonez for sure. Great glove. No stick. No problem if he’s your eighth place hitter on a good offensive line up.

David Wright came up to chants of ‘MVP’ and did not let the fans down. Carlos Beltran heard the early boos. New closer Billy Wagner warmed up in the top of the ninth to a very familiar tune. At the end of the chilly, damp, gray day, the sun shined in Flushing (figuratively, not literally) with a one run victory for the good guys.

But the most exciting play of the day was actually a blown call by ‘blue.’ A shot to left with a runner on became a Floyd to Reyes to Lo Duca bang-bang play at the plate. It looked like a good call until you saw the replays. Lo Duca loses control of the ball but wisely picked it back up and held it up for the umpire to see. Brilliant! Like that beer commercial. Take them while you can get them.

And then just like they wrote it up, the sky opened up after the final out. The commute home fighting Shea and rush hour traffic in the pouring rain was made bearable listening to Mike and the Mad Dog deciphering Wagner’s intro song. A two hour ride with the hosts and callers going back and forth on an issue that is laughable made it just that. It was entertaining and made the time pass. They did manage to squeeze in a call or two about the actual game. The least that they could do on opening day.

(Long Island, NY) Baseball in New York. It’s as old as the game itself. Gotham rules America’s Pastime in the Golden Age of baseball, cornering the market with the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants. Even when the landscape changed in the wild 1960’s with the departure of the Dodgers and Giants and the arrival of the New York Mets. No matter what has happened over the years, it is a given that at least one of these clubs will garner headlines and our attention.

The current season is barely a week old and already fans are screaming. The boos for Carlos Beltran and the ‘MVP’ chants for young David Wright by the Flushing Faithful. The panic-mode being set in the Bronx because of a slow start out west by the Bombers. The ‘song’ controversy. It has sure been an interesting beginning.

April showers are still falling. Wait for May flowers? Not in this town. If A-Rod doesn’t drive in every man on base, someone is bound to call ‘the FAN’ and chastise him for not being a ‘real’ Yankee. Jorge Julio didn’t even have a chance to blow a game before he was serenaded with a chorus of boos during pre-game introductions on opening day at Shea Stadium. But in true New York fashion, he didn’t let down the predictions by stinking up the joint in his first two outings.

Nothing stays out of the limelight over here. For better or worse. The Yankees pitching, the concern going into the season has been fine. Their bats seemed to have been stuck on Eastern Time in the middle games on the opening trip. Once they get home and kick off the home schedule against the Kansas City Royals, things should start falling into place. Folks may say not to take a team such as KC lightly, that they made off season improvements. But remember that one of those improvements was signing first baseman Doug Mantkiewicz, and Met fans know what he (doesn’t) bring to the table.

The Metropolitans took 2 of 3 from the Washington Nationals to begin 2006, and minus one high fastball from closer Billy Wagner, would have swept the series. They then took two from the AAA-caliber Florida Marlins (one game rescheduled due to a rain-out.) Not an easy final game in getting a hard-fought win in a game their nemesis, Dontrelle Willis, started and pitched well. They scratched out a run in the bottom of the ninth versus the Marlins’ bullpen on a sacrifice fly by the aforementioned Wright, who had all three RBI’s in the 3-2 victory.

Where do both teams go from here? Well, that’s why they play the games. There will be many ups and downs along the way. Many calls to the sports talk hosts playing GM saying that Barry Zito and Roger Clemens are needed to salvage the season before it’s lost. I give it a week or two. Impatience is a virtue when you love our teams.

(Long Island, NY) The famous quote from Teddy Roosevelt, “Talk softly and carry a big stick: you will go far,” may not be the rallying cry of the Long Island Rough Riders. But a team that uses an image of the great American hero in their logo is an attention grabber. Looking to get back to the championship level they tasted in 2002, the local affiliate of the United Soccer Leagues Second Division is prepping for their season opener on Saturday, April 22nd at the Mitchell Athletic Complex against the Pittsburgh Riverhounds.

The ‘Riders are looking to improve on their 7-13 record from last season. They recently signed a local player, Ricardo Ordain of Long Island University. Ordain graduated in 2005 and last season was a member of the USL 2nd Division championship team, the Charlotte Eagles, where he scored five goals and had one assist in 11 games.

The team resigned last season’s two leading scorers, forwards Moussa Sy and Derrick Etienne (nine goals each.) Etienne, a native of Nyack, will be joined once again by his twin brother Darrell, who is coming back to Long Island after a one-year absence. The sibling combo was a big part of the Rough Riders 2002 USL 2nd Division championship team. Local fans are hoping that lightning does strike twice in Nassau County.

Team Owner Peter Zaratin will be on his own after taking control of the club from Long Island Ducks owner Frank Boulton. The two had a rental agreement with the Rough Riders in which Zaratin ran the team. The 34-year old is a graduate of Glen Cove High School and a former professional soccer player. Now he is the man in charge and hopes to emulate the success that Boulton’s Ducks have had on and off the field.

The Rough Riders started out in 1994 as a USISL team. In their second season, they won the league championship and had talented players such as Tony Meola, Jim Rooney and Giovanni Savarese. Over the years there were mergers with other leagues and divisions being renamed. Eventually the Rough Riders joined their present league.

Soccer fans, get ready to cheer on your local professional team for the upcoming season. The Rough Riders play a 20 game schedule, with 9 home dates at the Mitchell Athletic Complex and one date (Wednesday June 7th) at Stony Brook University. Come out and see their mascot “Teddy”, who is a large caricature of Mr. Roosevelt. Our former president would be proud of a team name carrying on his tradition and his heroism during one of our country’s past wars.

(Long Island, NY) Remembering back when I was a kid, there was no cable television, satellite dishes and other modern day conveniences. If we wanted to watch a game, you had Channels 9 and 11. The big networks had sports on the weekends, but it was more specialized. The meat and potatoes were on the two channels. And they showed most of the games that were on the team’s schedule. Not like they have now with a few cameos.

Channel 9 was my favorite because they showed the Mets, Knicks and Rangers. You had Kiner’s Corner on after the Met game ended, with it usually being a loss in those days. And Ralph actually hosted his own show, unlike the more recent version.

Channel 11 showed the Yankees, and had some great announcers. The Scooter, Phil Rizzuto, being the best. Even though I was a Mets fan, I watched as many games as I could and always enjoyed that “Holy cow” when something exciting happened.

It’s ironic that the teams now have switched stations. The American League Yankees were always on 11, and the Mets followed the Brooklyn Dodgers as the National League team on 9.

Football was on the networks back then similar to now. The Jets were on Channel 4 and the Giants on Channel 2. Monday Night Football was on Channel 7 and had the three man booth headed by Howard Cosell. If you have never heard him call a game, you have done yourself a disservice. Loved by some and hated by most, he was one of a kind.

Channel 7 also carried “ABC’s Wide World of Sports” on Saturday afternoon (‘the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat’) and Friday Night Fights. Picture watching a heavyweight bout on free TV these days.

Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely love all the sports channels out today. I’m an ESPN junkie. I’ll watch anything as long as they’re keeping score. And sports talk radio is another fabulous invention. Back in the day, all we had was a few hours a week on 770 AM WABC with “Sports Talk with Art Russ Jr.” I was even on the air once with him during a call-in segment.

My only complaint with today’s sports coverage is that the stations feel the need to go over the top competing with each other. It was more straight forward back then. No crazy graphics and screaming announcers. Just guys that knew the game telling us what was happening.

Sports, television and radio go hand in hand. The more coverage, the better. I’m just glad that they invented the remote control.

(Long Island, NY) The other day, the New York Knicks closed shop for the year with a big family hug. All parties involved put a positive spin on a 23-59 season in which there was never one minute of consistency.

Head Coach Larry Brown not only proclaimed himself ready to not only honor the remaining four years of his contract, but he hopes to remain with the Knicks in some capacity afterwards. Isiah Thomas calmly stated that he does not regret any of the moves that he made and would do them all over again. And the ultimate malcontent, Stephon Marbury, actually said that this was the best year of his life. When asked by reporters any questions regarding Larry Brown, he almost jokingly kept giving the ‘no comment’ standard answer.

This team is beyond repair. And for the main participants of the disaster to put on false happy faces is only compounding the problem. These three men, along with everyone else associated with the Knicks, should be angry and looking for solutions instead of giving us a crooked smile and saying things are going to get better.

How do you fix this? Excellent question. I don’t have a definite answer. But one thing is for certain. Either Larry Brown or Stephon Marbury must leave town. And Isiah should be the first one out, but Jim Dolan has some fascination with him. Fine, Cablevision Crony. Let Mr. Thomas stick around long enough to get rid of Marbury. If he is slick enough to peddle him and not take on even more of an albatross contract, he will have earned the right to stay.

And Larry Brown cannot get a free pass. His coaching this season was as bad as his previous stops were good. Training camp was utterly useless with the way he had a revolving door of lineups at the beginning of the season. As confused as we were as fans and spectators on what he was trying to accomplish, how do you think his team felt? They didn’t know if they were coming or going from one game to the next.

What positives do we take out of the horror show better known as the Knicks 2005-06 season? You have to think long and hard, but there were a few bright spots. The play of the three rookies, Channing Frye, David Lee, and Nate Robinson, were encouraging. Jamaal Crawford also established himself as an offensive threat, possibly making him better trade bait. And Jackie Butler gave us the indication that he can be an affordable and serviceable second string center.

But that’s where the positives end and the negatives start. What started off as a season we were anticipating quickly turned to one we hoped would end as soon as possible. By the tone of the press conferences on getaway day, we should strap in and expect many more long seasons.

(Long Island, NY) When the New York Yankees signed free agent right handed starting pitchers Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright to long term contracts in the winter of 2004, the reviews were mixed. Critics moaned that Wright was not deserving, but one year into their deals, it looks as if Pavano has been the bigger disappointment.

Pavano had the bargaining chip of a productive walk year and a World Series ring with the Florida Marlins in 2003, coincidentally enough versus the Yankees. His first season in pinstripes was cut short with injuries following a mostly unimpressive summer. He has come back from his shoulder injury only to be returned to the shelf due a bad back and other physical problems this spring. Is this a string of bad luck for him or is he just not conditioned properly?

People should recall that Pavano did not exactly light it up earlier in his career. Once a very promising prospect in the Boston Red Sox organization, he was traded along with Tony Armas Jr. (who Boston obtained from the Yankees for an aging Mike Stanley in his second go-round in the Bronx) to the Montreal Expos in exchange for Pedro Martinez. That is even more one sided in favor of Boston when you remember that Montreal eventually traded away both young arms. Cliff Floyd was the return for Pavano, who was never consistent with the Expos.

He picked up his game a bit in Florida but did not become a winning pitcher until his tenure in Florida neared the end. All in all, he was looked at as a talent that took a while to be harnessed.

Wright exploded on the scene with the Cleveland Indians in 1997 and had a big playoff series when the Tribe knocked off the Yanks the season following their surprising championship. Perhaps George Steinbrenner never forgot that and wanted that pitcher, not the injury-riddled one he signed.

Wright’s career was derailed for a number of years following arm trouble. He too had a big walk year with the Atlanta Braves in 2003. Perhaps the Braves pitching coach at the time, Leo Mazzone, did sprinkle some of his magic on Wright. He had a terrible first season in New York and he has also missed time this spring due to ailments.

Yankee fans have been upset since their team let Jon Leiber leave and they signed Wright as his replacement after he failed his first physical. Then the team announced that he had a clean bill of health and inked him to a long term deal. Leiber had a good season with the Philadelphia Phillies last year while Wright’s headlines came from being hit in the noggin by come backers.

At least Yankee fans can take solace knowing that the only thing wasted on these two busts was The Boss’ green.