Gilker

While others take shelter in the winter here in New York and other places around us, I’m one of the few maniacs that loves the cold. That wears shorts in 25 30 degree weather. But, there is a reason that I love the brutally cold. Combining with my love of hockey, it gives me hope. Hope, that maybe there will be a few weeks where the pond about 15 20 minutes away from my house will freeze over. Hope that I can connect with my dad in the one thing that can unite arch enemies. A simple game of pond hockey, where there are no rules, no res... read more...

The New York Mets came into last night’s game with a 9-game winning streak and a nice couple of days off. Many, myself included, thought they would start losing right away because they hadn’t played in a few days. And with Johan going just 4 innings and allowing 5 runs, I was getting pretty nervous. But my boy, David Wright, stepped up to the plate with runners on 2nd and 3rd with the Mets down 5-2. Wright scored both runs on a single to left to put the Mets down 1. Look out Jeter, there could be a new Mr. Clutch in the Big Apple... read more...

I’m sure we can all agree that the Golden Age of Baseball was the 1940’s-the early 1960’s. When New York City was baseball. When Willie, Mickey, and the Duke spurred arguments between Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants fans. But, once the Dodgers and Giants made their own Manifest Destiny to the West, baseball declined. When a grown men wore suits and those bucket like caps. When little boys would sit on their stoops and cling to their transistor radios. When they would play stickball in the streets during breaks. When baseball w... read more...

As I watched last night’s All-Star game with my friends, a thought crossed my mind. With the Mets winning 9 in a row, the same thought crossed my mind. As much as I hate the Yankees, I’m rooting for them to go to the World Series as well as the Mets. Yesterday, Newsday writer Shaun Powell wrote an excellent article about the perfect All-Star game. So I thought I should write one about the perfect season. The Mets start out slow with a resurgence at the all-star game but fall back to 3rd due to a slump after the break. But they make a near hi... read more...

Yahoo! Sports reports that Aaron Heilman could be used a chip for the Mets come deadline time with Boston, Arizona, Oakland, and the Cubs showing interest in Heilman. They think he is ”...miscast as reliever…”. Arizona calls the most and I’ll tell you one thing, I wouldn’t mind dipping into their minor leagues to get Bryan Byrne, a first baseman in AA who is hitting .314 with 7 homeruns and 36 RBI’s and he’s 24 years old. This could be a chance for the Mets to get a good major league reliever and one... read more...

I recntly read an article on Yahoo! Sports telling vans to either vote for one of the 5 team names or make their own. I decide to make one up. The team name I chose was the Oklahoma City Bombers. The first team name option they gave you was the Aviators due to their history of aviation. So you could consider the Bombers to be related to that or becaues of the Oklahoma City bombing. When the Nets move to Brooklyn, the names I have considered are; The Towers, The Jackers, The 11s (for United Airlines Flight 11, The Bombers, The Dodgers, or The... read more...

Well once again I’m kind of happy and kind of pissed. The Rangers made two more good moves the other day as they signed Markus Naslund, to replace Jagr, and they traded Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman to Columbus in exhange for Dan Fritsche and Nikolai Zherdev. Naslund was signed to a two year, $8M contract. He finished last season wit 25 goals and 30 assists for 55 points while Jagr finished with 25 goals and 46 assists for 71 points with much better linemates making it easier to get assists. Dan Fritsche posted 10 goals and 12 ass... read more...

Well I must say that I’m pretty happy. As I said in my first episode of the New York Minute, the guy I want the Rangers to get is Wade Redden. Although, I did say I think it was time for Rozsival to move on, I like that they brought him back. Wade Redden is an excellent defenseman and adds to Marc Staal, Mike Rozsival, Dan Girardi, Fedor Tyutin, (Paul Mara if he re-signs), Christian Backman, and Jason Strudwick (if he re-signs). However, I won’t be completely happy until they re-sign Avery and hopefully Jagr (if not Jagr, then Ho... read more...

I recently read an article on Yahoo that said Sather could live without Avery without paying him $4M for several seasons to bring him back. What is he thinking? I don’t think he realizes that every Ranger fan loves him, $4M isn’t that much with all of the cap space we’re freeing up, and we want him for 3-4 years. Sather is going to end up losing Jagr to Russia, Straka to the Czech Republic, Avery to another team, and he’ll sign guys like Mats Sundin. As of right now, my prediction for the Rangers, is that they’l... read more...

Listen, Reyes has a lot of talent. But, he is just way too lazy for me to feel any likeness towards him. The guy makes an error, he’s still smiling. I want to see him furious with himself, not kill himself over it, but show some emotion. Reyes loves New York but because of the parties. Honestly, Jose Reyes was expected to be a consistent .300 hitter with at least 20 homeruns and 40-50 stolen bases at least. In his first 6 seasons in the majors, he’s had just two .300 years (his first year where he only played 69 games and hit .30... read more...