Posts for July 1, 2011 -- The Sports Section -- Sports News on NYMag.com by Will Leitch and Joe DeLessio

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Posts for July 1, 2011

The Week the Mets Scored a Ton of Runs

By Joe DeLessio

Since losing to Roy Halladay on April 6 and falling to 3-3, the Mets had reached the .500 mark three times this season, only to lose their next game each time. But they could boast a winning record again this week after beating Detroit 14-3 on Tuesday night. And then, a night later, they'd win by another football score, routing the Tigers 16-9 for their fourth straight win. (We'll assume, for purposes of that sentence, that Terry Collins decided to go for two on both of his team's touchdowns.) They scored a franchise-record 52 runs in that four-game span, and though they'd lose yesterday to Justin Verlander, they enter this weekend's Subway Series on a little bit of a roll. But what happened this week that didn't involve Jose Reyes's continued awesomeness?

Plenty of things, one of which involved making Derek Jeter disappear from the Web. »

Rangers Sign Mike Rupp to Three-Year Contract

We're more than four hours into free agency now, and Brad Richards hasn't signed yet. (TSN's Darren Dreger thinks he'll take at least "much of the day and night" to consider his options, while Larry Brooks reports that the Rangers will get the chance to match any offer for Richards at the end of the day. The Globe and Mail, by the way, reports that the Rangers remain the front-runner, and that when Richards does sign, word is it'll be a big, heavily front-loaded deal and will "likely be eight or more years." Gulp.) Meanwhile, Jaromir Jagr has signed a one-year deal with the Flyers, and the Rangers have made their first move of this year's free-agency period, signing forward Mike Rupp away from Pittsburgh for a reported $4.5 million over three years. Martin Biron approves. [Blueshirts Blog/NYDN]

Those Bobby Bonilla Deferred Payments Begin Today

As Mets fans surely know, back in 2000, the Mets bought out the final year of Bobby Bonilla's contract, for which he was owed $5.9 million. And as part of that buyout, they agreed to defer payment, with interest, to Bonilla beginning ... July 1, 2011! And so today, Bobby Bo returns to the Mets payroll, and he'll stay there for the next 25 years, collecting an annual salary of $1,193,248.20. To quote Dennis Gilbert, who had represented Bonilla earlier in his career, from a Wall Street Journal article published a year ago today: "Bobby's a very smart person, and he understands the value of income." [Hardball Talk/NBC Sports]

Previewing the Hell Out of the Tour de France

By Jada Yuan

This Saturday, Le Tour de France will be upon us, with its men in spandex and French spectators running through the countryside in animal costumes. Below, everything you need to know when the local bartender decides to turn just one TV to something other than tennis or baseball.

It's mostly meat-related. »

It’s a Good Time for a Subway Series

By Joe DeLessio

These are good times to be a baseball fan in New York. With yesterday's win over Milwaukee — CC Sabathia dominated his old team, striking out thirteen in seven and two thirds shutout innings — the Yankees have now won five straight games and six straight series. The Mets, meanwhile, are coming off an impressive road trip, on which they went 4–2 and averaged more than nine runs a game. (Their four-game winning streak was snapped yesterday by Justin Verlander, who, like Sabathia, won his eleventh game.) Actually, perhaps we should clarify that headline: It's a good time for a Subway Series if you're looking for a weekend with a bit more electricity than these things normally involve. Both fan bases, after all, are feeling pretty good about their teams right now. But it also means one of these teams will lose at least twice this weekend. So there's that, too.

Ivan Nova faces off against Jonathon Niese tonight. »

Women’s Tennis Needs More Skittily-Shoo-Be-Bop-Bop

By Nick Sywak

How did women's tennis get so boring? Sitting slack-jawed through yesterday's stuporous semifinals, I had to wonder. Not so long ago, in the nineties up through the early aughts, I watched only women's tennis, the men of the era having abandoned themselves to a literal arms race to see whose serve could break the sound barrier, which, needless to say, wasn't much fun to watch. Whereas the women were a feisty, rivalrous lot whose styles were packed with personality: Monica, Steffi, Jennifer, Martina, Lindsay, Venus, Serena, Kim, Justine ... The mere fact that they are all as recognizable by their first names as their last says a lot compared with where we are today.

Was it the personalities or the game that changed? »

Sorry: NBA’s Still Locked Out!

By Will Leitch

It is fixed now, but for about eight hours yesterday, this is what NBA.com looked like. Sort of Geocities crossed with Grantland, we think, with more WNBA MVP race updates. It was the first vivid reminder that the NBA lockout was on: Now the sides don't have to play nearly as nice.

It's gonna be a long wait. »