17
2009
Words Do Not Win Championships
An article by 
K-Rod said the Mets are the team to beat in their division. Carlos Beltran smiled and agreed, and the New York media fired that missile back to Pennsylvania. Jimmy Rollins laughed, saying he was “retiring” from that kind of talk. Cole Hamels called the Mets “choke artists” on WFAN, and Beltran said he can’t wait for the Mets to “kill” Hamels, conjuring up thoughts of fastballs whizzing past heads and benches emptying.
Tabloids love this kind of talk, and lately it’s the Phillies who have backed up all the talk. I don’t know about you fans, but for me, I don’t care what these guys are saying, and seeing this stuff in the news makes me roll my eyes almost as much as the talk of what A-Rod did in 2003, and Brett Favre telling us he’s retiring again. I’m glad Beltran and K-Rod are confident, because we wouldn’t want them not to be, but the bottom line is that talk means nothing. What matters are runs and wins and championships, and as of late the Phils have the most important one of those and we don’t.
There have been some notable moments in New York sports history where cocky players or coaches called their shot–Joe Namath comes to mind as the most famous of those before Super Bowl III. Jim Fassel told the New York media in 2002 that his Giants, who had slipped to 6-6 with four games left, would make the playoffs — and they did, winning their last four games before being upset by San Francisco in the playoffs.
I know there are others, but mostly the talk means nothing beyond firing up sports writers and fans. It might fire up the players too, but in the end what they have to do is focus and produce on the field What matters is what takes place between the lines, and in a 162-game season, a lot of things will take place to determine who wins and who goes home.
About the Author: Mike Farley
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You can’t make everybody happy. talk & words make good copy. Its a catch 22 situation. If you don’t say anything you are accussed of not being assertive. If you talk well thats a problem too.
At the Phillies victory parade Rollins took a swipe at the Mets. The Mets beat the Phillies 11 out of 18 times so they did their talking on the field.
The Mets were i game short 2 years in a row.
I want to see the Mets take care of business now that we have a new bullpen,we will see who’s going to walk the walk and talk the talk
Whooooooooooooooaaaa ! Mikey ? What about the Messiah ?! in 1994 he guaranteed a game 6 win over the devils in the eastern conference finals and what did he do ? backed it up with a hat trick ! messier went on to win the cup and namath won the super bowl and jim fassel led a wild card team to a road playoff game ?!?
waste of a post dude, stop whining, we killed hamels when we played him, let him talk smack, and just shut up about the whole situation. remember when you were little and your parents used to say, hey mikey, be the bigger man and leave it alone? well time to listen bud
Amen!
We need to win a lot of BB games through the month of October, 2009.
I’m tired of hearing from Mets players, especially Beltran, saying they are the team to beat! It is all in response to Jimmy Rollins saying it in 2007, and, oh yeah, what happened in 2007, the Phillies won the division after the Mets choked. So, Beltran, who never shows any emotion, decided to open his stupid mouth and say the Mets were the team to beat in 2008 and what happened…the Mets choked again, and the douche bag Phillies won the World Series. Don’t get me wrong, Beltran had a great year last year despite his homerun numbers being down, he had has best average since ’03, most hits since ’02, most stolen bases since ’04, and most doubles since ’02, but what I am saying to Beltran and all the other Mets is just shut your mouth and win something before you start speaking about how you are the team to beat, because, guess what, you’re not! The Phillies are the 2-time defending NL East champs (a feat that the Mets have NEVER achieved in back-to-back seasons) and the are they reigning world champs!
Lets go Mets! Shut your mouths and win!
What would you want either team to say?? “We’re going to loose!”??? Let the players on both teams get their fans stoked and let the games begin!!!!
Good article, Mikey.
I like the ‘confident talk’ but we need to back it up. I know it’s a cliche but if are going to talk the talk, we need to walk the walk. I think the fact that we are calling ourselves ‘the team to beat’ is a bit of an overstatement.
Last time I checked, the Phillies are not just World Champs…but division champs. Therefore, logic dictates they are the team to beat.
Keep in mind we now live in a time where the media is saturated throughout spring training and games. You have radio, tv, bloggers in the players faces asking the questions. What are they suppose to say?
Beltran of all people can’t win. Either he’s too stoic for the fans or he talks to much.
Maybe we should take our own words of advise. Stop reading it all. Just watch the game:)
CAPSLOCK=DISABILITY ACCOMODATION
WHAT ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO SAY?! NEVER THOUGHT I’D EVER TYPE THIS; BUT THEY NEED TO FOLLOW REYES’ LEAD ON THIS, HE HANDLED IT PERFECTLY, WHEN HE DISMISSED THE PHILLIES BY SAYING” WE’RE NOT WATCHING THE PHILLIES, WHY ARE THEY FOCUSED ON US? PERHAPS THEY’RE FOCUSED ON US BECAUSE THEY TRULY KNOW THAT WITHOUT OUR COMPLICITY THEY WOULD’VE DONE WHAT THE’D DONE SO MANY TIMES BEFORE, FALLING JUST SHORT OF ATL (’05,’04,’01). THEY JUST NEED A HELPING HAND & IN THEIR HEARTS THEY & THEIR FANS KNOW IT! SORTA LIKE WHISTLING PAST THE GRAVEYARD.OR LOOKING REPEATEDLY OVER YOUR SHOULDER.(LOL)