The CT sports editor sounds off: JONATHAN SAYS

BASEBALL

Good work by the New York Mets signing
former Twins ace pitcher Johan Santana.
Too bad it really won’t mean anything.
New York now has what is arguably one of
the best pitching rotations in the National
League with Santana, Pedro Martinez and
Orlando Hernandez; however, the Mets
have consistently under-achieved even with
good talent on their roster. Remember when
signing Mike Piazza was supposed to put
them on top? Mo Vaughn? Tom Glavine?
Carlos Beltran? The point being, the Mets
still have a lot to prove before they can
become the class of New York, let alone
the National League. Personnel decisions
don’t win titles – good and consistent
play does.

NFL

As ridiculous as this sounds, Al Davis’
drafting of a letter of resignation for current
Raiders head coach Lane Kiffin, is a great
idea. I don’t have anything against Kiffin, I
just think he needs to find a job that isn’t
going to kill him before he turns 40. He
would have been smart to return to college
ball (he was the offensive coordinator at
Southern Cal before heading to the NFL)
where his age would be more of a tool
(he’d be better connected with his players
and he wouldn’t retire any time soon)
than a brunt of a joke (he’s younger than
some of his players). In any case, since Al
Davis appears to be senile, crazy or some
combination of both, Kiffin will probably
be back next year – only to have a letter
of resignation waiting for him again.

AROUND CAMPUS

I had a quick reality check last week at
the men’s basketball game against Drexel.
In between Bruiser’s technical foul and all
the problems with the game clock, women’s
basketball players Quanitra Hollingsworth
and Krystal Vaughn were honored for
reaching the 1,000-point mark in their
careers. This is a great achievement, and
rightfully so – they received standing ovations
and applause for their efforts. What
caught me off guard was that despite the
fact the entire arena stood and cheered
for them during the men’s game, a very
small fraction of the same fans showed up
the next day to watch the women’s team
destroy Hofstra.

People, VCU’s women’s basketball team
is 16-2 and second in the conference. There
is no reason for me – sitting on press row
– to be able to hear someone’s conversation
from the concourse area. ATTEND THE
GAMES.

One last thing .

On a side note, thank you to everyone
at the recent men’s home games against
Drexel and Towson who refrained from
yelling ‘oh’ during the National Anthem.
No explanations needed.