Indulgent Homer Blog of the Week

One of my goals is to write about teams other than those I am a fan of, most of the time. Every now and then I'm going to focus on my teams.

- Let's start with the New York football Giants. They cut Plaxico Burress last week. I am conflicted over this move. Part of me says good riddance. If you shoot yourself in the leg and, in a separate incident, yell at a cop, then you deserve to have people question your decision making. The other part of me is going to miss him on the field. The Giants played much worse without him. Their offense stagnated. He was Eli's security blanket. Of course, a 6-5 receiver would be anyone's security blanket. It reminds me of the 2001 NBA Finals when the Knicks' Larry Johnson tried to guard the Spurs' Tim Duncan. Plax and Duncan allowed you to just chuck the ball in the air to them and watch them work their magic.

- Speaking of my beloved San Antonio Spurs, Manu Ginobili is out for the remainder of the season. The Spurs are done. That's it. That's the list.
The Spurs have clinched a playoff berth, but I'll surprised if they win one round. Ginobili is the most dynamic player on the Spurs roster. He plays everywhere on the floor. He can go to the rack with either hand. There are few players like him in the league. Roger Mason Jr. and George Hill, the rookie from IUPUI (ooey-pooey) will be filling in for Ginobili. They hardly instill confidence. I say it again, this year, the Spurs are done.
The bigger problem facing San Antonio is that their window to win another title may be closing. Tim Duncan is getting old and has knee problems. Ginobili is 32 years old and oft-injured. They aren't yet close to rebuilding, but they are past the years in which they are elite. They are still good. They will still make the playoffs for a few more years, but that isn't saying much in a league where 16 teams make the post-season and 14 do not.

- How about some good news? The Mets won a one-run game yesterday. It looks like adding J.J. Putz and K-Rod is going to work. At least for now. For the last few years when the Mets had a one run lead going into the ninth, it was scary. Billy Wagner was good but he always made me sweat. Last year they had garbage trying to close out games. This year things are looking up.

- Gabe