New York Islanders

Well NY sports fans, this is the time of the year we have all been waiting for. MLB playoffs, NHL season getting under way and the NFL season is in full swing. Granted, the Mets haven't been respectable since June, the Yanks are doing what they do best: winning games in October. They swept the Minnesota Twins to move onto the American League Championship Series, awaiting the winner of the Tampa Bay Rays/Texas Rangers series.

I've been trying to generate some feelings—vitriol, despair, disgust, frustration—over the latest developments concerning the Lighthouse, but I just can't do it. It's like trying to light a fire with a wet match and a cinder block. I'm done.

All of this talk seems extremely preliminary, but perhaps there is something to it. There have been rumors over the past couple of days involving either the Mets buying the Islanders, or simply the Mets building an arena next to Citi Field that would house the Islanders and perhaps a Major League Soccer team as well.

Almost one full year.

That's how long it's been since Rick DiPietro has been on the ice in an NHL game for the Islanders, 364 days since a 5-4 loss in Phoenix. Now, rising from the ashes, DiPietro will try to win the Isles some games, while proving to the many doubters, that his pro career is far from over.

Hard to believe it's been that long, but as a Mets fan, I've become accustomed to seeing my team's top players out of action for longer than anyone expected (hello, Jose Reyes).