There Are No Children Here

Last night I oozed in the excitement of the 10:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) tipoff of the Golden St. Warriors vs Atlanta Hawks. Here were two teams that wanted that play fast paced up-tempo basketball w/ starting lineups averaging under 26 years of age.

A friend of mine, known on the streets as a young Maciej Lampe, lives out in San Francisco and is a Warriors season ticket holder. He texted me right before the game, "This place is rockin."

The tv announcers shared an optimism that I haven't seen in a broadcast in some time. They both knew that the Warriors, previously a cellar dwellar in the Western Conference, were a team on the rise. They ended last season 18-10 in their last 28 games and were returning their entire core of young, talented players.

For the first time since Run TMC (Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin), Golden State was ready to contend, and the fans flat out loved it.

Watching this pregame alone, I noticed a side of sports that I havent seen in a long time, and it was really enjoyable. These fans and the Bay Area waited for four years to see Mike Dunleavy, Jason Richardson, and Troy Murphy mature. Now, with last season's addition of Baron Davis this team and its fans found their final piece.

Like the Cleveland Indians and the Oakland A's in baseball, here was a team built through its young core that keeps getting better.

This would never happen in New York.

This isn't just a Yankee thing. This is a New York thing.

I have highlighted so many times in this blog about New York's need for a winner. In New York we use our money to get what we want because we are too impatient to watch our kids grow. We have this luxury.

There can be an argument made against this. After all, right in front of our eyes there's Eli Manning, David Wright, Jose Reyes.

These guys are young, right? Of course.

But these guys are different. They are football's and baseball's version of Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony. These guy were can't-miss prospects. These were guys that New Yorkers knew about long before they saw their first big league game. These were guys that New York teams could fully defend themselves for if for some freaking reason, these kids did not blossom into superstars.

Then there is Mike Jacobs. If this guy were on one of17 other teams in baseball, their would be no shot that he would not be their opening day 1b, right now. The guy was a very solid minor leaguer who tore up the major leagues in his last month or so of the season. He is a very solid prospect.

But is he a can't-miss guy? He is not. He has been struggling in winter ball and there are questions about his defense.

So what happens if the Mets give him the shot and he doesn't perform like David Wright? Fans will boo, the media will question, and Omar Minaya will be ridiculed.

This not only puts a ton of pressure on the team and its decision makers, but also a ton of pressure on the player himself. It's no wonder players talk about the pressure of playing in New York.

So then there is option #2. The Mets give up on Mike Jacobs. They throw a ton of money at Paul Konerko or throw a bunch of prospects (Jacobs included, no doubt) to the Marlins for Carlos Delgado.

Joey Public would love this. People behind the desk at the Verizon store would be talking about how "nice" Konerko was in the World Series or what a "beast" Delgado is.

And maybe this is better for the Mets.

But from what I realized from last night's pregame between the Warriors and Hawks, trading youthful promise for instant gratification takes something away.

There is no better feeling in sports than watching your young players mature. Mets fans cream their pants' at the thought of David Wright's potential. At the same time Yankee fans have deemed Derek Jeter god of the world for what he has brought to the Yankees over the last 10 years. Both cases are very valid.

But in New York, we watch young individuals grow to become stars, BUT we do not watch young teams grow into champions.

We watch David Wright become the Mets greatest 3rd baseman of all time.

We do not watch (in no particular order) Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, Coco Crisp, Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, CC Sabathia, Jake Westbrook, Cliff Lee etc. grow and mature to now form what is baseball's scariest team in 2006.

A big reason for this is that we have more money than everyone other city and can afford to do this.

But this advantage takes something away.

I think back to one of my earlier blogs in which my friend Ben collected the game winning hit to win us our High School State Championship. See, winning that game was an incredible feeling, almost unmatchable. But watching a kid that has been a brother to me since I was 6 years old win the game for us, that was truly special.

See Bodhi got his money in the end, but he lost his brother. You think he doesn't regret this?

Sippy Momo

PS. I have received a # of questions about my blog on Derek Jeter's porous defense, especially from my father, Old Chipper. How could Derek Jeter win a gold glove if he sucks at D.

Very simple.

Take a look at the American League's 1999 Gold glove winner at 1b. It was Rafael Palmeiro. That year he started 28 games at 1b.

See it is a lot easier to vote for "a name" especially when there is some sort of defense for him (he is at the top of the league in put outs). But is there a real baseball guy in the world that thinks Jeter is better defensively than Juan Uribe or Orlando Cabrera? Find me one and I will start writing a blog about hating the Mets.

Vaya con dios.