"What Francesa does is crude theater on the level of pro wrestling, with him playing the part of both Face and Heel."

Amazin Avenue with a great post about the bombastic Mike Francesa:

"Francesa's ultimate intent was not to give vent to a fanbase's frustrations, but to exploit them for press and ratings. That's his right as a radio host--his duty, really. But let's stop pretending this is a Peter Finch in Network moment, or an expression of a grass-roots movement. It is astroturf at best. It is a reflection of real feelings, but only in a third-hand venal fashion, like a table full of cheap souvenirs sold across the street from an historical site."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Team Captains for the New York Mets?

The ever optimistic Rich Coutinho gives another reason to be optimistic about the 2012 New York Mets:

"Remember this Mets fans — I know you feel beat up right now and naturally your expectations have been lowered. But Johan Santana does not have low expectations and wants nothing to do with any players who possess those tendencies. He intends on being on the mound on Opening Day and plans on making his next start five days later because that is what he was made to do...To me, that is best reason Mets fans should be optimistic — Johan Santana is hell-bent on carrying this pitching staff."

Couple that with this quote from Metsblog.com today about David Wright:

"It’s worth noting that Wright did a lot of hanging with and goofing around with the younger guys, specifically [Cesar] Puello."

The Mets haven't had a real team captain since Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter (R.I.P. Kid) They had John Franco but I always felt he was too chummy with management and did more to undermine the team than to lead them. Let's face it, John Franco may have worn the 'C' on his jersey but it was Mike Piazza's team all those years.

Does it make sense to Terry Collins to anoint Johan Santana and David Wright team captains this season and let them lead the team? Or would that undermine Sandy Alderson's ability to trade them (and, more importantly, their contracts) during the season?