We’ve got Lin-Sanity. We’ve got pitchers and catchers but before that, we’ve got sadness.
Mets Hall of Fame Catcher Gary Carter, who earlier had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of Brain cancer, died from complications of it at the age of 57 yesterday. So many reactions including Mike Lupica of the Daily News, Newsday’s Steven Marcus and David Lennon, George Vecsey of the New York Times writes a touching piece about how the pain of his mother’s death remained in this happy go lucky guy. Howie Rose remembers the trade that brought him here and thinking that this was the final piece of the Mets championship puzzle according to Mike Vaccaro of the Post. Marty Noble, formerly of Newsday and now for MLB.com wrote what I think is the quintessential piece on Gary Carter and is a must read for those who never knew him.
I wasn’t there for 1986 and wasn’t a baseball fan until the 1992 season when the Mets had all but traded away the remaining pieces of the great 80’s teams so I never got a true appreciation for them. I read about them in Jeff Pearlman’s book, “the Bad Guys Won” which for anyone who has read it will tell you, gives you about as clear a picture of the destruction and absolute chaos that reigned during that period.
It will also tell you the story of Mr. Gary Carter who was as straight laced and nice as they come. Teammates mocked his clean lifestyle though he never tried to openly rub it in their face. Of course, others never saw that. Carter loved the spotlight, loved being the guy and many always accused him of having a nose for the camera because he liked that sort of thing. There was a duality there that can’t be ignored according to players but as an outsider I think you CAN overthink. Being the goody-two shoes in a clubhouse full of rowdies and drug users and alcoholics can make you seem weird and different and not like the rest of them but Carter fit into the Met dynamic. He was an integral piece. He was the missing piece for sure on a team that was determined to shove their greatness into other teams faces. There were the 1985 Bears who Super Bowl Shuffled and the 1986 Mets who tap danced on opponents face. The classic line is that before he went to bat in Game 6 of that infamous World Series of 1986 he screamed out that he “wasn’t gonna be the last out”. It was a point of pride and an almost boastful tone for a guy who everyone knew to NOT be that.
In his later years he openly campaigned to be the Mets manager. Even then it seemed boastful but it couldn’t be completely the Kid. His nickname tells you everything you need to know about him. Marty Noble writes that much like Peter Pan, the kid who never grew up, Carter needed to crow too. He had plenty of things to say about plenty of issues. He was openly Christian before it became all the rage in 2011 and 2012. The thing is, Gary Carter was indeed the conscience of the Mets. Darryl Strawberry was on the Mike Francesa show and admitted that the world would be a better place if everyone cared like Gary Carter or acted like Gary Carter and he himself knows, on his own road to recovery from the demons that took hold of him in the 80’s and still live in him, that had he taken Carter’s advice back then he would be in a better state. But the Mets weren’t perfect and much of his clean living wasn’t cool enough for the Mets in the 80’s when it was all hard living and hard partying. Gary Carter in my book will be remembered as a Met legend and the admitted final piece of the puzzle that sent the Mets from potential contender for a World Series title to favorites. The Kid will live on through the memories Met fans have of him and as they pour in today, let’s remember that he died way too young just like the old saying always warns us, but we’re happy that the pain of his cancer won’t affect him anymore and his family has peace.
Linsanity has gone above and beyond everyone’s sorted expectation of it. Its lasted well beyond its 15 minutes which makes you think that this is indeed more than just a fairy tale, its a real deal story about hard work and perseverance that can be a testament to everyone concerned. Peter Vecsey drops some hardcore Knowledge on you suckaz in his latest column including a few shots at Money Mayweather who seems to be out of it when it comes to opining about the Knicks Cinderella man. Frank Isola of the Daily News brings the thunder on Knicks assistant Kenny Atkinson who is the man BEHIND the man. Marc Berman writes about the disbelief that Lin and Melo have over the theory that these two can’t co-exist when they are on the court together.
Look, three weeks ago the Knicks were in a bad place mentally and physically. Now, we are talking about challenging for the four seed in the East. Go ahead, tell me I’m crazy for actively thinking about it? Conventional wisdom says that if the Knicks avoid the Bulls or Heat in the first round the Knicks have a great opportunity to build up momentum and the idea is to get a home series in the first round and with this built up momentum its very realistic that happens. I love the story of Kenny Atkinson because it shows that there are so many moving parts to this Jeremy Lin story and its not just a fairy tale-out-of-the-blue type of deal. This is a moment he’s been coached up for and he’s improved and it goes to prove the theory that he is a guy who is READY for the opportunity presented before him.
As for the Mayweather comments, I hate to say it but there is a racial component here that can’t be ignored. IS he getting the attention that he’s getting now because of his race? Maybe. But was he overlooked for this long because of it too? YES. The race issue isn’t something that’s eagerly brought up because it can lead to a dangerous conversation that ends up with some kind of racially insensitive comment that is misconstrued. Here’s what I will say about it: the race factor plays a role in Lin’s story but to say that black players don’t get this kind of attention is beyond foolish. Look at Lin’s numbers: the only guys that are doing what he’s doing over the last seven games are guys named Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Rajon Rondo and you mean to tell me Floyd that THEY DONT GET ATTENTION? This is the kind of faulty logic and reasoning that I can’t comprehend and this kind of situation invites unfortunately. EVERYONE wants to be part of the discussion and have a an original point of view on. EVEN IF it don’t make no GOD DAMN SENSE!
The Kenny Atkinson story goes to show you that this is not some sort of fluke and not some sort of magical pixie dust that fell upon him to give him this ability. Its actual skill and talent that has been harnessed by good coaching and sound fundamentals and a willingness to be ready when the time came for it. No matter HOW he got here, the fact is, he’s here. If the Laker game proved anything its that the kid can score if he wants to. The Minnesota game proved that he can will his team and lead his team back even when all signs point to a loss. The Toronto game proved to us that IF he’s tasked with taking a last second shot, he isn’t afraid of the moment and is willing to do what is necessary. What the Kings game showed is that when he has superstars to throw the ball to, his points go down but his assists go up. I’m not too worried about the turnover stat line because that just goes with the growing pains of knowing where his players WANT the ball. His ability to find them in stride will come and I’m happy that its coming in games against lesser opponents.
The biggest effect this Lin-Sanity is having is this: look at his teammates. Look at how they are reacting. Look at how they have been galvanized and brought together. Incredible how this kid can do that for this team. It was interesting to me, watching the reaction of his teammates after hitting the game winning shot in Toronto, who came to embrace him: Jared Jeffries, who he’s singlehandedly turned Knick fans opinion on, Steve Novak, who seems like the deep ball shooter to spread the defense out that the Knicks have been waiting for, and Landry Fields who’s playing like the player we saw in the first half. Billy Walker, who I absolutely abhor has played some semblance of good basketball and for me the biggest kudos goes to Toney Douglas who could have been bitter. Who could’ve sulked and complained. He’s been practicing hard and waiting for his moment to contribute and trust me on this: there will be a moment this season when Toney Douglas will make a HUGE PLAY for the Knicks because he’s capable and he’s never afraid of the moment. TRUST ME.
I’m not worried about Melo joining the party though league sources say it won’t be tonight. With the addition of JR Smith, the lethal 3 point shooter, the Knicks should be a much deeper team and imagine this: you get Josh Harrelson and Baron Davis back in a few weeks and then look at this team that Mike D’Antoni has: Lin, Fields, Melo, Amare, Chandler as starters, Davis, Shumpert, Harrleson, Novak, Jeffries, Smith as part of the rotation. That’s eleven deep. ELEVEN. What a difference two weeks makes!
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