Hypothetically speaking...

If there's one thing I believe, it's that the U.S. economy is in deep, deep doodoo. But if I get to list two things that I believe, I'd also include this: Greg Robinson needs to be ash-canned. Big time.

But if we're casting lots, I'm casting mine with the Post-Standard's Dave Rahme. Lane Kiffin is not our man. No way.

I mean, I like Kiffin. I think he'd be a great coach at, say, the University of Washington. But no part of me believes he'd work in Syracuse. I feel like he'll be apologetic for the weather, and embarrassed about the school's recent past.

Instead, we need a homeboy. If the Orange cannot hire Tom Coughlin or Randy Edsall, they need a Coughlin/Edsall clone: a coach with an Upstate demeanor and an upstart, asshole sort of ethic. If I could hear our next coach say one thing in his opening presser, it'd be something like this: "We've been screwed over by people who aren't from here, and never wanted to be. I ain't having none of that. I bleed Upstate."

Basically, I think we need Aurelius Chaves. Or Randy Edsall.

Manuel Returns

As recently as a week ago, I was set to say goodbye to Jerry Manuel if the Mets failed to make the playoffs. To miss the playoffs as the Mets have missed the playoffs the last two years seems to require an extreme clubhouse makeover. Today, the worst happened. The Mets lost. The offense was dead all weekend, and the bullpen gave up two season ending runs.

But after the game, watching Manuel stumble through the post-game press conference, I realized I wanted him back. If you've even remotely followed the team this past month, you know the problem was the bullpen. Having watched most of the games down the stretch, I have to say I can't see how he could have managed that wretched bunch any better. The Wagner injury was the decisive point. The Maine injury did not help (everybody forgets that one) the overall pitching. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I do know that if the bullpen converted 50% of the saves in the last two weeks, the Mets would be in the playoffs. No one pitched well, so who was Jerry supposed to go to?

Note: one of my biggest frustrations with Willie Randolph this season was how short a string he had the starters on. Maybe the bullpen was tired out, and Willie is partially to blame. More likely the bullpen was just awful, but it warrants mentioning.

What about the Mets offense? The real turning point was the infamous game against the Cubs a few days ago when the Mets had a runner on third and nobody out for the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings and only scored a single run in those innings. They went on to lose in extra innings, missing a chance to gain ground on the Phillies. Then they only scored 5 runs in three games against the Marlins.

I think the manager can take some blame if an offense is tight, especially at this point. One of his (admitted more abstract) responsibilities is to mentally massage his players. If Jerry was let go, I would have acknowledged the offensive struggles as justification.

But I'm glad Jerry's coming back. I like him. He didn't make a boneheaded move all month, that I noticed. The players and the media seem to like him. He was 16 games over .500 over 2/3 of a season. Anyway, this year's "collapse" wasn't really a collapse. Yeah, we were 3 and a half up in September, but all Mets fans knew how fragile that was. This team didn't have the same feel as the last two teams, which I am still convinced were the two most talented teams in the NL. It's not like the bullpen was great until September. Delgado was playing over his head, and the bottom half of the lineup, as well as the bench, wouldn't scare anyone.

So bring him back. Fix the bullpen. See you in the spring.

(sigh)

While we're on the subject,

Here's a ridiculously damning ESPN report on the demise of the SU program. I'm completely with Herbstreit's thoughts at the end of this. SU got this bad under Pasqualoni. Robinson was the wrong answer to the problem.

Time to party?

Hold on to your hats, ladies and gentlemen, but things might be getting better.

At 2-22, they basically have to. Still. It's been so bad, I feel like I need permission for optimism.

Can we hope, Mr. Gross? Please?