Hillary and Willie
I've made so secret of the fact that the last person I wanted to be elected President this year was Hillary Clinton.
I also believe that she would do or say anything to be President. That she has no shame. I believe that she has been planning this for years, and that her eight years as first lady only whetted her appetite for power more.
I believe that the main reason she is staying in this race is that she is in denial. She'll convince herself that the only reason she didn't get the nomination was that she was railroaded. That not counting all the Florida and Michigan delegates was a conspiracy against her, even if though she approved those rules. Same thing with proportioning the delegates. Hillary never expected a fight, she expected a coronation. And she can't deal with the fact that it's not happening that way.
But having said all that, I think that people who are suggesting that Hillary's bringing up Bobby Kennedy's assasination in 1968 as proof that she has some sort of death wish for Barack Obama are being ridiculous. The point she was trying to make was that historically, primary seasons have lasted into June. She cited her husband's 1992 win in California as proof of this, and she probably should have left it at that. Normally, she could tell me my name is William Gallagher, and I'd have to check my birth certificate. But I tend to believe her when she says she had the Kennedys on her mind when she brought up 1968, what with the horrible news about Ted Kennedy from a week back.
Her true error of course, was comparing 1968 and 1992 to 2008. The first caucus/primaries in those years were in March and February respectively. This year it was January 3rd. It's dragged on now. And if she insists on dragging it all the way to the convention, we'll be talking 8 or 9 months of this crap. Wasn't like that back in the day.
A few weeks ago, I wrote how I thought Hillary should stay in if she wanted to. But now that Obama has clinched the majority of pledged delegates, it's probably time to pack it in for 2008. They're showing a movie on HBO about the 2000 election debacle in Florida. If she somehow were to come out of this the nominee, 2000 would look like the model of efficentcy compared to that scenario.
Willie Randolph:
After the Mets collapse last September, I pretty much wanted the whole team out. David Wright, Jose Reyes, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Pedro Martinez being the exceptions. The first person I wanted to see shown the door was manager Willie Randolph, whose inept handling of the team and stubborness in sticking with players that weren't getting it done cost them as much as anybody else.
And up until this big meeting they had on Memorial Day, it seems like my initial reactions to the collapse have been proven to be correct. The riff-raff they got rid of (Tom Glavine, Paul Lo Duca, Lastings Milledge) have continued to suck, as well as who they kept. (Carloses Beltran and Delgado were awful the first two months , as was Aaron Heilman and most of the bullpen). Jose Reyes was making me look bad by his early season hitting woes and his horrible defensive play of late. Billy Wagner has been lights out (except two Fridays ago in Denver) also something I didn't expect. I would have rather been wrong about all that and seen the team turn around, then been proven right when they looksed like a bunch of gutless losers against the Braves and Rockies.
And where I was hoping to really be wrong was with Willie Randolph. I really wanted all the people who told me I was wrong to lay so much blame on Willie to have the last laugh at my expense. For all the yelling and screaming I did about him at the end of last season, I don't really hate the guy.
Some of the shots I took at him last year were unfair, belittling his role in the Yankees back to back World Series wins in the 70's. He was quiet and steady in a Yankee locker room where being a loudmouth was the theme of the day. I shouldn't have said that, I was wrong.
But the bigger point remained the same: Willie Randolph is not a very good manager and is definitely not the right manager for a team like the Mets who needs a good ass kicking. He should have been let go the day after the season ended.
And yet, I didn't find myself all that disappointed when the Wilpons announced he'd still be the manager. For one thing, anybody decent is not available right now. Someone I was talking to the other night said that bringing back Bobby Valentine would be like getting bac with an old girlfriend. Maybe. But I wasn't one of those guys who hated Bobby V when he was here. And unlike Willie, Valentine managed two trips in a row to the playoffs. Love him or hate him, you can't take that away from him. You also could have possibly threw a bucket of cash at the Angels or Tigers for permission to talk to Mike Scioscia or Jimmy Leyland. Now who are you going to get, Jerry Manuel? No thanks.
Now Randolph didn't do himself any favors with this interview he gave to Ian O'Connor. He apologized on Mike and the Mad Dog on Wednesday for the ridiculous racial angle he brought up and for suggesting that SNY was out to get him. But he stuck to his guns about not wanting to argue with umpires and not showing any fire. His performance that night against the Yankees was disgraceful. Letting his coach get tossed. Nobody likes getting thrown out of a game, sometimes you gotta do it. Joe Torre's done it.
Now, some of you have suggested, and some in the media have suggested, that Met fans desire to see Randolph shown the door has to do with his Yankee pedigree. Maybe for some fans but not me. A liitle story:
Back in 2002, Glen Sather hired Bryan Trottier to coach the Rangers. You want to talk about someone I hated. Bryan Trottier was my least favorite New York Islander back when the Isles were winning Cups. I was furious when I heard the Rangers were brining him in to coach.
But I will say this. They had a little winning streak in the beginning of the season, and I started to forget about what an a-hole Trotts was all those years ago. Of course they fell apart and he didn't even last the season. But if they had made the playoffs, I'm sure Trottier would have won more fans over.
If Willie wins, he could have managed Hillary Clinton's campaign and nobody would care. But he hasn't won. This 5-2 homestand was nice, but its only a start. Let's see where he is at the All Star Break. He got yet another chance this past week. He doesn't deserve any more
I also believe that she would do or say anything to be President. That she has no shame. I believe that she has been planning this for years, and that her eight years as first lady only whetted her appetite for power more.
I believe that the main reason she is staying in this race is that she is in denial. She'll convince herself that the only reason she didn't get the nomination was that she was railroaded. That not counting all the Florida and Michigan delegates was a conspiracy against her, even if though she approved those rules. Same thing with proportioning the delegates. Hillary never expected a fight, she expected a coronation. And she can't deal with the fact that it's not happening that way.
But having said all that, I think that people who are suggesting that Hillary's bringing up Bobby Kennedy's assasination in 1968 as proof that she has some sort of death wish for Barack Obama are being ridiculous. The point she was trying to make was that historically, primary seasons have lasted into June. She cited her husband's 1992 win in California as proof of this, and she probably should have left it at that. Normally, she could tell me my name is William Gallagher, and I'd have to check my birth certificate. But I tend to believe her when she says she had the Kennedys on her mind when she brought up 1968, what with the horrible news about Ted Kennedy from a week back.
Her true error of course, was comparing 1968 and 1992 to 2008. The first caucus/primaries in those years were in March and February respectively. This year it was January 3rd. It's dragged on now. And if she insists on dragging it all the way to the convention, we'll be talking 8 or 9 months of this crap. Wasn't like that back in the day.
A few weeks ago, I wrote how I thought Hillary should stay in if she wanted to. But now that Obama has clinched the majority of pledged delegates, it's probably time to pack it in for 2008. They're showing a movie on HBO about the 2000 election debacle in Florida. If she somehow were to come out of this the nominee, 2000 would look like the model of efficentcy compared to that scenario.
Willie Randolph:
After the Mets collapse last September, I pretty much wanted the whole team out. David Wright, Jose Reyes, John Maine, Oliver Perez and Pedro Martinez being the exceptions. The first person I wanted to see shown the door was manager Willie Randolph, whose inept handling of the team and stubborness in sticking with players that weren't getting it done cost them as much as anybody else.
And up until this big meeting they had on Memorial Day, it seems like my initial reactions to the collapse have been proven to be correct. The riff-raff they got rid of (Tom Glavine, Paul Lo Duca, Lastings Milledge) have continued to suck, as well as who they kept. (Carloses Beltran and Delgado were awful the first two months , as was Aaron Heilman and most of the bullpen). Jose Reyes was making me look bad by his early season hitting woes and his horrible defensive play of late. Billy Wagner has been lights out (except two Fridays ago in Denver) also something I didn't expect. I would have rather been wrong about all that and seen the team turn around, then been proven right when they looksed like a bunch of gutless losers against the Braves and Rockies.
And where I was hoping to really be wrong was with Willie Randolph. I really wanted all the people who told me I was wrong to lay so much blame on Willie to have the last laugh at my expense. For all the yelling and screaming I did about him at the end of last season, I don't really hate the guy.
Some of the shots I took at him last year were unfair, belittling his role in the Yankees back to back World Series wins in the 70's. He was quiet and steady in a Yankee locker room where being a loudmouth was the theme of the day. I shouldn't have said that, I was wrong.
But the bigger point remained the same: Willie Randolph is not a very good manager and is definitely not the right manager for a team like the Mets who needs a good ass kicking. He should have been let go the day after the season ended.
And yet, I didn't find myself all that disappointed when the Wilpons announced he'd still be the manager. For one thing, anybody decent is not available right now. Someone I was talking to the other night said that bringing back Bobby Valentine would be like getting bac with an old girlfriend. Maybe. But I wasn't one of those guys who hated Bobby V when he was here. And unlike Willie, Valentine managed two trips in a row to the playoffs. Love him or hate him, you can't take that away from him. You also could have possibly threw a bucket of cash at the Angels or Tigers for permission to talk to Mike Scioscia or Jimmy Leyland. Now who are you going to get, Jerry Manuel? No thanks.
Now Randolph didn't do himself any favors with this interview he gave to Ian O'Connor. He apologized on Mike and the Mad Dog on Wednesday for the ridiculous racial angle he brought up and for suggesting that SNY was out to get him. But he stuck to his guns about not wanting to argue with umpires and not showing any fire. His performance that night against the Yankees was disgraceful. Letting his coach get tossed. Nobody likes getting thrown out of a game, sometimes you gotta do it. Joe Torre's done it.
Now, some of you have suggested, and some in the media have suggested, that Met fans desire to see Randolph shown the door has to do with his Yankee pedigree. Maybe for some fans but not me. A liitle story:
Back in 2002, Glen Sather hired Bryan Trottier to coach the Rangers. You want to talk about someone I hated. Bryan Trottier was my least favorite New York Islander back when the Isles were winning Cups. I was furious when I heard the Rangers were brining him in to coach.
But I will say this. They had a little winning streak in the beginning of the season, and I started to forget about what an a-hole Trotts was all those years ago. Of course they fell apart and he didn't even last the season. But if they had made the playoffs, I'm sure Trottier would have won more fans over.
If Willie wins, he could have managed Hillary Clinton's campaign and nobody would care. But he hasn't won. This 5-2 homestand was nice, but its only a start. Let's see where he is at the All Star Break. He got yet another chance this past week. He doesn't deserve any more
Comments