The Lost Steppin' Out Sports Column.

So, I've been writing a weekly sports column for Steppin' Out Magazine for about a year now. It's been a great opportunity to write about Pro sports and meet some cool people week in and week out.

After spending a good portion of last night and rising at 6am to finish what I thought was going to be the Dec, 28th Sports Roundup, I later found out that this week, it's all models - The magazine staff had taken a vacation without noticing me... Whoops. No worries though. While I could have benefited from the sleep, I make it my mantra to not let little things get me down.

But I couldn't just let my work fall by the wayside, right? Especially when the subject of my article was largely my beloved Jets! So now, without further introduction, I present: "The Lost Steppin' Out Sports Column."



"Win-and-in!"

The Jets saw Santa Claus last week and his name was Curtis Painter.

Down 15-10 to the undefeated Indianapolis Colts, head coach Jim Caldwell said “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!” to Rex Ryan and the Jets when he pulled MVP caliber quarterback Peyton Manning in favor of Painter, as-well-as half the team’s starting players early into the third quarter of last week’s Jets’ game.

It was a mere two holidays ago when I had called the Jets as-done-as Thanksgiving dinner and begged someone to “stick a fork in them!” Hell, even their own coach had said it was impossible.

“We’re out of the playoffs, so obviously that hurts,” muttered Ryan following what seemed to be a season ending 10-7 loss against the Atlanta Falcons on Dec. 20.



But Ryan and the Jets soon found out that they were not exactly eliminated, rather, should a multitude of scenarios unfold in a very specific manner culminating with the Jets beating the NFL’s best team, then, maybe, they might be in. For a tired and battered fan base that routinely suffers underneath the moniker “Same Old Jets,” it just seemed out-of-reach.

Yet then, last Sunday, it started to unfold: The 7-7 Dolphins (who beat the Jets two times this season!) lost 27-20 to the Houston Texans; the 7-7 Jacksonville Jaguars lost 35-7 to the Patriots; the 8-6 Denver Broncos lost 30-27 to the Philadelphia Eagles. Then with a 29-15 win over the Colts’ backups, suddenly the down and out Jets became the favorite for a Wild Card playoff spot.

Forget all the tough losses. Forget the tough injuries. Forget that Mark Sanchez is Chaunce Hayden’s “Asshole Athlete of the Year.” For the Jets, 2009 has essentially become a one- game-season. The final NFL game – EVER – at Giants’ Stadium, the Jets versus the Bengals, was quickly flexed to the 8:20 p.m. nationally televised Sunday Night Football on NBC. Through the most-unusual path of events, which left most fans with a feeling they’d hold akin to seasickness, the Jets are one win from the playoffs.



Driven to the brink of madness by 40-years of losing and outrageous personal seat licenses charges, this will be the last game for many long-time Jets’ season ticket holders. As the excellent NY Daily News beat writer Rich Cimini wrote: “The Jets will beat the Bengals to complete one of the most improbable playoff berths in recent memory or they will choke their brains out, adding another devastating chapter in the ‘Same Old Jets" handbook…’"

The Giants would have needed help to make the playoffs, yet they couldn’t even help themselves last week in a 41-9 rout they suffered at the hands of the Carolina Panthers in their final game at Giants’ Stadium. They face a laundry list of areas that need improvement, starting with learning how to tackle. They’ll play Brett Favre and Vikings in a consolation game this Sunday at 1 p.m.

Finally, it’s week 17 – the last of the regular season – so all NFL games will be played on Sunday. However, it’s College Bowl week with great games on ESPN around the clock. Catch all day marathons on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, complete schedule at www.bcsfootball.org.

Cpl. Gonzalez's home: Truly special.

Second part of a two-part series I wrote for Pascack Press:

HILLSDALE

The outside view of Cpl. Visnu Gonzalez’s new Platinum Certified LEED home
which features some of the most cutting edge building technology in the country.
Photo courtesy William J. Martin

Put aside the fact that this home was given as a donation to injured Iraqi War veteran Cpl. Visnu Gonzalez. Or that it was built entirely through volunteer efforts and donations organized by the Massachusetts Charity Homes for our Troops (HFOT). The tremendous spirit of giving is only part of what makes this home truly special.

Thanks in part to a $1 million grant given by the Sierra Club Foundation to HFOT to utilize green building techniques, volunteers were able to craft Cpl. Gonzalez’s home in Hillsdale to be the first in the nation built to meet the Federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA)
Climate Choice Program standards. The partnership program recognizes innovative emerging technologies that can substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions once they are more widely adopted, according to the EPA.

“Regardless of whether you believe in global warming or climate change - whichever side of the political paradigm you’re on - I don’t think I’d find to many people that would argue that Americans should not be innovating and trying to create energy saving technologies to be used by everyone,” said Westwood Architect William J. Martin in a recent interview.

Martin, who volunteered to design the home for HFOT, said that this project gave him a chance to fulfill part of his initial inspiration for becoming an architect: to help people.

“Part of what we’re doing here is a public information campaign to an extent, to demonstrate to people what is really possible to do,” said Martin. “This money from the Sierra Club, along with the directive to ‘build it as green as you can,’ it was tremendous, it was terrific. There’s no real new technology here, but the technology is new in the sense that we’ve assembled it in a house for the first time.”

Mark McGrann, founder CEO of McGrann associates, which is a certified consultant with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), praised the home in granting it the highest level of ranking for efficiency that council awards. Likening energy ratings to golf where lower scores are better, McGrann said: “This house is like Tiger Woods!”

“We rate houses in our business based on a score of 100. So if you build a house to code today, just a typical house brand new, it would get a score of 100,” said McGrann. “Let me tell you how good this house is. Just on the energy efficiency part, just what we did on the walls and ceiling and what we did with the HVAC, this house gets a score of 41. And when you add the solar panels to this house, it gets a score of 21.”

“In my 25 years of doing over 40,000 certified energy star homes, this is the lowest rating that my company has ever put out,” he added.

From left to right, James Tortorelli of Caldwell Banker in Hillsdale
who volunteered on the project from start to finish; Westwood Architect William J. Martin,
holding the USGBC LEED-Platinum award; and Mark McGrann,
founder/CEO of McGrann Associates. Photo credit McGrann Associates

This was accomplished through a compressive approach of utilizing green techniques. Any casual observer would notice the presence of photovoltaic energy generating solar panels on the roof of the home. What one may not notice was the use of structurally insulated panels, a building practice referred to as SIP. The fully constructed walls were moved into place using a crane, and fit together much like a puzzle, creating a complete thermal envelope. The practice largely obscures the use of studs, or nails, which can facilitate the transference of internal heating.

Additionally, the house utilize two geothermal wells, or systems dug some 30-45 feet underground which utilizes the natural temperature under the soil to generate heat in the winter and cool air in the summer. It even features an irrigation system that collects and reuses rainfall.

The house has even drawn attention from Gov. Jon Corzine, who toured the building in August. Now it will be hooked up to a computer system where performance can be publically monitored on a Web site accessible through HFOT.

“This is sort of a new age in construction and it’s something we wanted to explore,” said HFOT President John Gonsalvez.

Standing with the Geothermal heating/cooling system to the left and the insulated plumbing
distribution in front, from left to right: John Gonsalvez, President HFOT; Gov. Jon Corzine;
William J. Martin; Rick Goyette of HFOT; and general contractor Gerald Godsil.
Photo courtesy Tim Larson

The volunteers were rewarded with their efforts by receiving Platinum rating, the highest offered by the USGBC Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Program. According to the USGBC, it’s the first suburban NJ home to receive the ranking and only the second in the state.

“This is the first platinum LEED home I’ve been in and this truly is an incredible home,” added Robert McKinney, Chair of the Sierra Club Foundation Board.

Martin said, now that the project is done, he’s very excited to monitor how it performs. He said part of the subtle beauty of this home was the deliberate effort to make it fit into the residential character of the neighborhood.

“This is an extraordinary house, but I deliberately designed it to look like an ordinary house,” said Martin. “To design it to look like an ordinary house was so that people would be more receptive to the idea of green design by creating something that people can envision living in.”

For the volunteers, the innovation was secondary to providing Cpl. Gonzalez with a home specially suited for him. For HFOT, it’s all part of their mission to provide for and help as many severely injured veterans as possible.

“I even said to John Gonsalvez: ‘who would have thought that a group of volunteers could come together to build something so technical?’ And he said to me, ‘I did!’” Martin said with a bellowing laugh. “We built the house and we used very high tech materials and it’s done. Now we need to see how well it performs.”

Cpl. Visnu Gonzalez and Veterans Day

Seldom have I had the honor to cover an event that is truly special. That is how I would describe the efforts on behalf of Homes for our Troops and 100's of community volunteers who worked to build and donate a specially adapted house for Cpl. Visnu Gonzalez in my home town of Hillsdale.

Feeling very patriotic, here's a copy of the article I just wrote for Pascack Press and Northern Valley Press which appears kindly at their courtesy.

(Here's a picture I took of Cpl. Gonzalez at the ceremony, but the newspaper
used the excellent photos by Tracy Jeffrey Photography)

HILLSDALE



It’s a special day when you’re handed the keys to your very own home, but seldom can that act touch the hearts of not only the recipients, but also an entire community.

As nearly 250 people gathered on Cross Street in Hillsdale on Nov. 10 at 11 a.m., one day prior to Veterans Day, spirits were high and pride was overwhelming as many dignitaries, volunteers and—most importantly—family, witnessed Cpl. Vishnu Gonzalez given the keys to his new home.

The ceremony culminated years of volunteer efforts organized by the Massachusetts charity Homes For Our Troops (HFOT) to furnish Gonzalez, a purple-heart recipient, with a specially adapted home after he was severely injured in the line of duty.

“What a special day, what a special community,” said HFOT Founder and President John Gonsalvez. “You’ve gotten together and embraced a very nice young Marine here, looking happy as can be today. It makes my heart proud to see that big smile on Vishnu’s face.”

Serving in the United States Marine Corps, Gonzalez was paralyzed when two snipers bullets hit him in one of the most fearsome battles of Operation Iraqi Freedom on April 21, 2004 in Fallujah, Iraq. Fast-forward five years of laborious rehabilitation to 2009 to the date of the 234th birthday of the Marine Corps where the crowd had gathered around the brand new home.

Lead by a procession of the Police Pipes and Drums of Bergen County and American Legion Post 162 of Hillsdale, Gonzalez made his way to the driveway of his new home at 28 Cross Street, accompanied with his mother Maria Baez and his former commanding officer, Sgt. Major William Skiles. The ceremony started with a powerful call, from the group of Marines in attendance.

“OORAH!” they cheered, followed by a 21-gun-salute, a lone bugler playing traditional music and “the Star Spangled Banner,” sung by Miss USO. It’s not the first time a ceremony had taken place at the property—a ground breaking had been held in January of this year—but, for now, it will be the last.

“In a time when we’ve been attacked and we have men and women who are still overseas, there’s nothing more important then to let those men and women who have worn that uniform know, that we care about you, that we will take care of you and we will not let you be forgotten,” said Gonsalvez in his opening remarks.

In an opening prayer, Rev. John Korbelak of St. John’s in Hillsdale underscored the spirit of volunteerism that lead to the completion of the house.

“The strength of this house is in the love which built it. It is a reminder of the kindness of people who seek to bless others in need,” said Korbelak.

What followed was incredibly moving as Skiles, a 28-year-active veteran of the Marines and a recipient of a Bonze Star with a "V" for valor for his heroic efforts in saving injured Marines under heavy enemy fire, took the podium.

“I was his first Sgt. to help Medevac [Gonzalez] off the battle field that day, 21 April, 2004. That was a long time ago. I just want to you know, in the Marine Corps, there’s two family’s. Always has been. He’s got his family with him, next to him, and he’ll always have us,” said Skiles.

“Over 78 wounded in one company in Fallujah—and I live for them everyday. And you live for them, right?” said Skiles speaking to Gonzalez.

Skiles then brought out three special guests whom he said were among Gonzalez’s closest friends and the people who saved his life in battle: Hospital Corps-man 1st Class Jason Duty, Staff Sgt. Jose A. Cruz and Gunnery Sgt. Oscar Nunez.

After a tearful embrace, the ceremony continued with words from Hillsdale Mayor John Sapanara.

“It’s rare that you have so many good and decent people here at one place at one time and it’s just overwhelming to see the outpouring of help and support, as well as people like we see in front of us who have served our country so nobly,” said Sapanara.

The home, which was funded primarily through HFOT, also relied on the donation of valuable services by countless professionals. General Contract Jerry Godsil who volunteered his services underscored the effect of the tremendous effort.

“A lot of things went into the home, but there’s one thing that nobody has to worry about and that’s a mortgage,” said Godsil.

The house is the 44th donated home by HFOT across the nation and it includes an elevator and many design elements specifically suited to enable Gonzalez to have increased mobility and independence.

“This is the 44th time that we’ve been able to do this in a community and we’re just so very proud of that,” said HFOT President Gonsalvez. “We’ve got a long way to go, but the miles that we have to go get shorter every time a community stands up and shows what’s great about this county.”

When asked to say a few words, Gonzalez, clearly overwhelmed as dozens of flashbulbs fired in his face, thanked the many volunteers who brought the house to fruition.

“I just want to say thanks to everybody, the volunteers, everybody that helped build this house from scratch. I don’t know. I don’t know what to say,” Gonzalez said as the crowd burst into a raucous applause.

“You don’t have to say anything, this is our way of saying thank you to you,” said Gonsalvez. “I think it’s very important that we stand before you, humbled as we do.
What we’ve done here pales in comparison to the mission that you took on for this country, the day you signed your name, willing to give up everything, including your life for us. For that, I’m eternally grateful and I know everybody here is, too.”

In closing words, Maria Baez, who has supported her son throughout these tough times underscored the significance of the good that came out of a tragic injury.

“My son’s new home is without doubt the result of insurmountable selfless acts of love from hundreds of volunteers from this community, as well as from all over the United States,” she said. “My son’s dream home is a reality. He begins a new chapter in his life full of promises and hope in his own cozy nest surrounded by comfort, independence and safety.”

Handing two sets of keys to Gonzalez and Baez, Gonsalvez drew applause with the following line.

“It’s time to say those wonderful two words: Welcome home!”

With that, many left the driveway and entered into the new home, past the sign mounted to the right of the front door, which reads: “The Home That Love Built.”

Gorilla Late Night

(This appears courtesy of Pascack Press and was originally published Sept. 6, 2009)

(Paul Costabile, host of Gorilla Late Night, interviews Cecile Monteyne in Times Square.)

Fresh out of College, with no job offers in his chosen field, 22-year-old Paul Costabile of Hillsdale is chasing his dream, live from Times Square, gorilla-style.

The aspiring actor, writer, comedian, host, improviser, MC and entertainer just launched his own show, “Gorilla Late Night,” self-broadcasting on the Internet at www.gorillalatenight.com.

“I just graduated college and I always wanted to do TV,” Costabile told Pascack Press. “So I haven’t been getting a job, I’ve been sending my resume out. You know, the economy sucks, so I’m kind of just like, ‘I have the power of the internet, why don’t I do it on my own?’”

The late night style show, filmed every Monday at 8 p.m. in the middle of Time Square, NY, features a monologue by Costabile, special guests and original comedy sketches. The show’s format in part, pokes fun at comedian Jimmy Fallon, the new host of NBC’s ‘Late Night’ and the subject of a reoccurring comedic vendetta Costabile harbors.

“I just felt like, ‘I could do this, why don’t I do it on my own?’ I’m kind of going after him [Jimmy Fallon],” says Costabile. “I want his job.”

In his first episode, Costabile jokes about his own situation by walking around the streets with a fake resume asking everyone from Elmo and Mickey Mouse to a street-side nuts vendor and a sleepy rickshaw driver for a job. The show, co-written and produced by Matt Pepe, even prods some controversial subjects.

“Final Destination’s coming out this Friday, it’s a horror movie. Everyone dies,” Costabile says in a monologue joke. “We’ve just heard news that there releasing a new one in 2010. The writers? Congress. The title? Obama-Care!”

The “Final Destination” joke was actually a precursor to Gorilla Late Night’s first guest, Cecile Monteyne, one of the actresses in the new movie.

“Me and [Cecile] actually had actually taken class together at the Upright Citizens Brigade, a famous improve theatre in the City,” said Costabile. “So I knew her and realized she was in the movie and was like, ‘Oh, she’d be perfect to come out for the show.’”

The two chatted outside the Police Both in Times Square, Monteyne in a lawn chair, Costabile behind a cardboard desk. The unique show is entirely self-produced by Costabile friends and family.

“Right now it’s kind off me-and-my-crew and so it’s cool because it’s my own thing, completely. I have control over what I want to create,” he said. “It’s not just for celebrities, there’s so much going on in New York and New Jersey. It’s also a good outlet for people who also want to get off the ground and come on and promote what they’re doing and have some fun in the middle of time square.”

As for the future of the show, Costabile has high expectations.

“I would say stay tuned because it’s only going to get better and the guests are only going to get crazier.”

Filmed Monday night, the editing process starts quickly and the easy to access show appears online a few days later. On Sept. 3, the first episode had viewed nearly 700 times. Costabile hopes to get exposure and have the show lead to a dream job. As he writes: “[I’m] looking to make you laugh. Then get hired. In that order.”


(Paul and Tony Yayo of G-Unit)

Look on the bright side

“You need to pick it up! People want to dance!”

Frantically shaking my shoulder, the man who had just booked us for Haverstraw’s Hudson Water Club may not understand what “pick it up” means.

By my account, we just had. With our drummer kicking along a disco beat at 250 beats-per-minute as I sang Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up,” this was about as up tempo as we get.

But what the agent meant was that people wanted to hear songs they knew. Pick it up was codeword for “pour some sugar on me,” and people want to dance meant “play something they know!”

“Theme from the TV Show ‘Rawhide,’” I was left to joke with my band.

Later reflecting on our little Friday night gig, I found the experience to be a microcosm of the different issues bands may struggle with on any given night.

There is an undeniably rich market for cover bands in the New Jersey scene. But for musicians looking to make a name for themselves through their writing, striking the right balance between original and popular music, while trying to reach new audiences, can be a struggle. Audience expectations and tastes may vary greatly from clubs and locations. Managing your own expectations, after both success and failure, is important.

This clip from Sept. 4 on the banks of the Hudson River illustrates the night perfectly. At the same time we were tearing through a jam that’s usually a big-hitter, this club patron angrily confronts me for the second time, leaving me a little confused and embarrassed.

We had made a mess of the gig by arriving late to a packed house because two-thirds of our band got caught in the hodgepodge of commuters displaced by a fatality on NJ Transit. Shortly after the club owners pulled the plug on the show and cut our pay, favoring a DJ spinning dance tracks.

The lesson; while you may not always hit a home-run, music is supposed to be fun. View the angry woman’s behavior through the lenses of a fatality and it’s easy to be happy. There will always be a better gig and a better day.

Relived our duties with some drinks in our hands and some cash in our pockets, the tension of the scene was then replaced with the serenity of the Hudson River Valley and the promise of a new day.

"WITHIN REACH"

This article appears courtesy of Pascack Press and was originally published on Aug. 31, 2009)

Photo caption: Caption: Mandy Creighton and Ryan Mlynarczyk, center, makers of the film “Within Reach” pose with their bicycles and Hillsdale host Rachel Wieland, left, and friend Meredith Kates, both of the Pascack Sustainability Group, on Aug. 24. For more information on the film, log on to withinreachmovie.com.)

 They’re anything but within reach of the life they left behind when they decided to pick up their bicycles, some solar powered electronics and set forth on a journey seeking the answers about sustainable living some 5,000 miles ago. Ryan Mlynarczyk, a former law student in 2005 in Santa Rosa, CA, and Mandy Creighton, a marketing and development professional through 2007, recall a time when they felt a void, swamped in the minutia of their everyday lives, until soon they began to formulate their plan, one that involved trading in their house and cars for a tent and bicycles. 

The film makers, after breakfast at their friend Rachel Wieland’s house in Hillsdale on the morning of Aug. 24, possess great resolve and enthusiasm, more than the average person, a source of intrigue considering the pair has spent the last 10 months biking down the Pacific Coast, across southern states and up the East Coast into Hillsdale. Within the next day they plan to set out once more, this time on a trip to Hartford, CT before heading to Burlington, VT and beginning their trip back west. 

“At least one day a week, we take a rest. But as far as getting a few days, that may come once-a-month,” said Ryan, clearly refreshed after taking a break from the voyage that started in October of 2008. 

The pair spent the weekend at Weiland’s home, discussing sustainability, bonding with local students over home cooked meals and catching up on work. Their trip is more than just a personal voyage for self-fulfillment. Advocates of sustainable living, Ryan and Mandy set out not just to find all the ways that people are living more sustainably across the United States, but to film it, too. 

“Our project is called, ‘Within Reach’ because it’s only once you reach within that sustainability becomes attainable,” says Ryan, looking the part of a traveling artist with an overgrown hair and beard. “And it’s only when you reach within and really kind of figure out what your question is and what your purpose is, that the universe will then conspire to help you become a better person, evolve and live a more sustainable life and if we all start doing that, collectively, all those efforts will make the world a better place.” 

Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, broadly, but poignantly, notes that sustainability is essentially defined as the capacity to endure. Advocates of sustainable living take multi-faceted approaches, not easily defined by one set of conventional standards. 

“The movement, at its core, is about sharing,” says Mandy. “What and how? Those answers are revealed over time.” 

But the ‘what’ and ‘how’ is exactly what’s examined in their film. Their documentary “Within Reach” is a story about their 12,000-mile bicycle journey in which they visit sustainable communities and document what their experience. However they’re hoping that human element - their journey - is what will make the film transcend to the mainstream. 

“We really hope that our personal story can be the glue that holds the movie together,” says Mandy. “It’s actually relatable because we’re two people who are really putting ourselves out there.” 

“Hopefully it’ll be a love a story,” she adds, joking in Ryan’s direction. The pair, who spend almost all their time together on the voyage, plan on wedding at the conclusion of the trip. Already, they’ve seen much, but are only slightly more than halfway home.

“Really we’ve been visiting projects; everything from green sustainable design development projects to really rural communes and everything in between. Eco-villages and co-housing and coops; just anybody who’s really committed to living a more sustainable life and who’s realizing, ‘wow, I can do it a lot better and more easily and more cost effectively,’” Mandy says. 

They hope their movie will get people asking the questions, but acknowledge the answers are still open ended and rely on the individual. 

“The form: green technology or the structure of sustainable community or eco-building may seem like ‘the answer,’ but in 10 years will it be the answer?” asks Ryan. “Maybe, maybe not. And so the only way that you can really get a timeless solution is by reaching within and finding out how to be a better person. Then the form will come.” 

One answer could be to start small and start locally. 

“You have to start with where you’re at,” says Wieland, their host and a board member of the Pascack Sustainability Group. “For our community, that might be like sending your kids to earth scouts, it might be working on the community garden down by Kings, it might be coming out to the Pascack Sustainability Group which is talking to other people in the community and seeing what they’re doing.” 

As for an impression of Hillsdale during their short visit, Ryan and Mandy left with renewed optimism. “There is a strong sense of community here,” said Mandy. “The fact that Rachel is in her childhood home and committed to staying where she’s at and making a difference is inspiring. As we travel, we’re finding that community needs to come first, before sustainability can become a reality.” 

Whether their stay in the Pascack Valley will make the documentary, will be decided in the editing process, but they’ll have some difficult choices in weaving together over a years worth of footage. If interested, they documents their movements, thoughts and experiences online at the Web site Withinreachmovie.com.

"The Bedroom Sessions"

In the midst of a bedroom session, imagination takes over. With the music quietly fusing like a Synaesthesia effect into the low hue of halogen lighting draped in a stagnant cover of pungent smoke, we three members of T.H.C. are no longer just three individuals, limited by what we can do with our own two hands.

The possibilities are endless and the creative mind is free, allowed to work unconditionally. Time is no longer passing in rapid succession, instead it’s frozen and we control it.

Outside, there is nothing but the sound of crickets and pervasive darkness, but during these sessions, there is no concern with the outside world.

This album represents a great creative achievement for our young band. Crafted entirely in either Josh or Pat's bedroom, completely formed of our own devices between 2008 and 2009 we hope you can share in journey through life, love, society and philosophy - transcended through music. I encourage you to take your own session break while listening to this record, sit back and allow time to slip away, for when you return, it will be waiting, as daunting as ever. 

-Tom Clancey, Aug. 24, 2009 

(The bedroom sessions is the upcoming recording from T.H.C. the now adopted acronym for the Tom Hartland Collective. The release is expected early 2010. To hear T.H.C. go to http://myspace.com/tomhartlandcollective or http://NJReggae.tumblr.com)

Just did a little work on a column for Steppin' Out magazine. Chillin out in SO-CAL. Life is good. Read the full magazine everywhere in New Jersey this Wednesday online at SO-MAG.com Mary Jo Butafuco on the cover this week I believe. Be well. -TC

It is with great pleasure I interrupt my sunny southern California beach vacation to bring you this sports roundup. Why so cheery to be working on one of my 10 annual vacation days, you may ask? It’s no other reason than the chance to reminisce about the resounding four-game-sweep of the Boston Red Sox and the 6.5 game lead the Yankees created last weekend.

As Journal News Yankee beat writer Peter Abraham pointed out on his excellent blog (Yankees.lhblogs.com), in all their illustrious history the Yankees have never lost a lead this big at any point of the season. So fans are rightfully sniffing playoffs.

It seems as if the team has finally struck the right balance between youth and big-money free agents. With a pitching rotation anchored by four top-notch starters (C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Joba Chamberlain and Andy Petite), a stacked-offensive lineup and the greatest closer-of-all-time in Mariano Rivera, 2009 could be remembered for a lot more than just “the inaugural season” at the new big-ballpark in the Bronx.

Even here in San Diego you couldn’t escape the influence of the Boston vs. New York matchup. It’s on in local bars and everyone got excited about Alex Rodriguez’s game-winning-homer in the 15-inning classic last Friday night. Even I, walking on a local pier, couldn’t help myself from cynically snarling “Sweep! Sweep” under the guise of a fake cough when passing a Boston fan in full Red Sox gear. It’s a big deal to post four wins after the Yankees dropped the first eight games against Boston earlier this year. The momentum is certainly strong heading into the final 40 games of the season.

Where the momentum is not strong, however, is with the boys from Flushing. The Mutts, 10-games-out of the playoffs, dropped two-out-of-three to the last place Padres last weekend, but I got the chance to see their one-win.

Dropping in on Petco Park last Sunday I bore witness to another gem by ace Johan Santana. Pitching eight strong innings, he even hit going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. It was a “what-could-have-been” moment as the star shimmered briefly in this disappointing 2009 season.

Barring a miraculous comeback, the Mets will be faced with some serious offseason issues. Pegged by many analysts to win-it-all this year, it’s been more like a fright-fest of injuries. When one-of-your best everyday players, Louis Castillo, trips and sprains his ankle walking down the dugout stairs, you know it’s just one of the those “Murphy’s Law” seasons where everything that could go wrong has.

Should the Mets break up their core of players (Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and David Wright) that had seemed so promising just a short time ago? Will they fire their general manager Omar Minaya after three-years with no postseasons plus a series of botched public relations incidences? Questions loom, but none higher, or should I say lower, than their 11-game deficit in the standings. It’s clear, something’s got to give.

Send feedback on Twitter @TomClancey