Touch gloves and come out fighting

I wish I was referring to the fight in either of the teams I root for, but alas it's just another boxing reference - a dead sport to title a rant about teams playing dead.

Since I'm on the theme of death, I'll start with my beloved first place Mets. For the past three weeks, ever since they went to Atlanta after losing four straight and swept the dreaded Braves, I've been thinking about just how I would write the eulogy of Atlanta.

Yes Virginia, the Braves are dead and buried and I'm happy to say that the Metropolotians were the ones to do it.

Yeah, you could blame it on the departure of Maddux, Glavine and Leo Mazzone. You could look back to the lack of premier prospects coming up and making a difference. The days of Rafael Furcal, Marcus Giles, Adam LaRoche, Johnny Estrada, Jason Schmidt, Kevin Milwood and John Rocker (Crazy as he was, the guy was a nasty closer) coming up from the minors and fitting in right away are gone.

I'm in Mississippi, 20 minutes from the home of the Braves Double-A franchise and have watched as Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur (who I just hate to look at with that stupid look on his stupid face), and Salty were here for weeks before heading north. I'm not saying the cupboard is bare, but there's no Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones or Steve Avery brewing down here...

You could just blame it on age. Eventually John Smoltz is going to get old - not this year, but soon enough. The Jones boys are the same way and looking back, I'm amazed to realize how many years it was Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux in this rotation.

It was a great run, a record-setting run. One that desereves its own space and time, but not here and not now is the battle cry. The final wound was a three-game sweep at the Ted, half-empyt as usual for a late-season series against the No. 1 division rival, so much so that as I watched from home, I wondered just how close to the field I could have gotten if I was in the ATL on that day.

But alas, while the curse of the Braves may appear to be broken, it has just switched places to another venue that doesn't fit well with my Mets. What was Andruw Jones patroling center field at Turner Field is now Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins snagging grounders up the middle at that band box of a field Citizens Bank Park.

While the Mets may appear to have sluggers, we're a lineup built for Shea and the 390 gaps to left and right center that turn doubles into triples, that score runners from 1st base, that bodes well for all-around players like David Wright (30 HR, 98 RBIs, 31 steals), Carlos Beltran (29 HR, 99 RBIs, 23 of 25 steals) and Jose Reyes (need I say more?).

Short porches bode well for overpaid losers like Pat Burrell, for fat slow sluggers with emmence talent like Ryan Howard and for the Phillies two best players, Rollins and Utley (either of whom could sneak the MVP award away from Wright, the league's front runner).

Everyone talks about what their eight-game win streak against the Mets will mean if the two teams were to met in the NLCS. To which they usually preface or add later at some point, IF THE PHILLIES MAKE THE PLAYOFFS AND REACH THE NLCS.

I should and do say the same thing about the Mets. I mean, we're a pretty good shot to make the playoffs at this point, but with a stockpile of 6-inning pitchers and little to no confidence in anyone between a great starting rotation (Pedro, Glavine, Maine) and Wagner, we might not make it past whoever unless the Phillies do win the wild card, meaning we would get the NL Central winner, teams we've played well against recently.

You would think it would be a joyous day, the day the Braves died. Instead my worries have only shifted north.

As for the Giants, let me just say this - In my preview, I was torn with the belief that the hands of Thor and Loki would help prevent the defense from looking this bad. I would love to add early, but let's be real. They're going to be this bad all year.

The cornerbacks can't defend anyone and we're not gaining any pressure with a four or five-man rush, so it doesn't matter if we can stop the run if you can throw short, medium and long.

The real question becomes, with a Top 5 pick in next year's draft, does Reece look for a running back like the kid from Rutgers or a linebacker, then hope to sign someone like Ashanti Samuels, who's been dying to play for (Insert your favorite unemployed coach here) all his life.