-Okay, so it’s been a while. I just haven’t had as much time lately due to the SI Yanks and U.S. Open tennis coverage. But with the rain canceling work for a night, I figured I’d jot down some stuff that’s on my mind. So in no particular order:

-I just want to say kudos to my Islander co-host Gary Harding for what he said in one of his recent entries on his Section 317 blog. We’re entering our second season of the NY Hockey Report which premieres tomorrow night on what for me, will be wild. Being that there’s an SI Yankee doubleheader at 6 and a chance they clinch their second straight division- plus I’ll be handing out fliers of our show to fans and taking part on the air from 8:05-9 PM on a new day- Wednesday! So it’s going to be hectic. But I am really excited for this upcoming season. So much so that I had it produced and ready to go three weeks prior. Yeah, I’m nuts. What can I say. LOL…regarding the show itself, we do have a surprise planned for our Islander insider at the beginning. But it’s looking more and more like it might be a little different. Gary is a passionate fan and last year during our debut season there were times he took it on the chin from both me and host Joe McDonald. More so Joe who sometimes would go into his anti-Islander schtick. Was it entertaining? Absolutely. Did it sometimes go too far? Sure. I understand where Gary’s coming from. He was concerned about this ’surprise.’ I told him it was just to be fun for the beginning and then develop into serious discussion for our opening seg. I really think Joe’s a great guy. He is different than either of us in what he brings to the airwaves. Just entertaining and can create heated debates which always is a plus. Like Gary, I’m very appreciated of what he’s done for my journalist career and media as well. It’s been a blast getting more experience and showing what I am capable of. I really believe I have what it takes to make it in this industry. Where it goes who knows. You can never predict.
I just want to say I really like what Gary said about me and what I added to our first year. Coming from a classy Isles fan, it meant a lot. We might root for rivals and I have to cover the Devils which makes it even more interesting. But I have the ultimate respect for him. Do I feel Year 1 was perfect? No. But I feel we all made progress and had some moments. And we developed better chemistry as it went on and landed some credible guests. I am very excited about the show returning and hope to do some great things with my two co-hosts. If you are interested in tuning in, check us out at www.allinbroadcasting.com and tune in live tomorrow from 8:05-9 PM by clicking the NY Hockey Report link. If you can’t catch us live, please subscribe to our podcast show archives at www.nyhockeyreport.com. Any support and feedback is appreciated.

-A-Rod has finally hit the way he can and silenced even his biggest critics. Remember when Daily News columnist Mike Lupica asked who was having a better season between the two NY third basemen? Amazing what can change when the rating 2005 AL MVP actually goes off like he did to the tune of five home runs in three games against a quality opponent like the Twins. More than you can say when David Wright snaps out of a month long slump against the Rockies. Sorry but that’s the truth. I like Wright a lot. And for most of the year, he was better. If the two are right, that guy who’s second to only Jimmie Foxx for most consecutive 30+ HR 100+ RBI seasons is the guy you want at this point. Maybe that changes down the road. Let’s see how the Mets’ wiz kid does in his first October.

-Even Coach K couldn’t get a gold medal out of Team USA basketball at the World Championships, which tells you all you need to know about today’s players. Stick to the NBA.

-Has anyone thought about Jermaine Dye for AL MVP? He paces the White Sox in three key offensive categories: average (.326), home runs (39) and RBI’s (107). Guess it depends if the defending World Champs make the postseason. They trail the Twins by 1.5 for the wildcard. Of course, Justin Morneau and Derek Jeter are prime candidates as well. Unless Boston has a great finish to somehow get in, it looks like another huge Big Papi season will go by the boards as will Manny Ramirez. Has there ever been a better hitter than Manny never to win an MVP award? Just some food for thought.

-Regarding NL MVP, it can’t be anyone other than Ryan Howard. You can toss out Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes all you want. But the Mets lineup is much better. If anything, Albert Pujols is second cause of what he means to St. Louis. When Howard has what (53 HR, 134 RBI and even .309 avg) and has carried his ballclub for over a month since the Bobby Abreu deal (remember that was supposed to finish the Phils), it doesn’t even matter if they get in as the wildcard. He’s so superior to anyone and clearly deserving. This is like when Andre Dawson won it, except he was on a last place team with Montreal. Or similar to A-Rod winning with Texas even though they stunk. Difference being Howard has his team contending for a playoff spot.
-So the Marlins continue to hang in there at 69-69. And if any manager outside Joe Girardi wins NL skipper of the Year, Lupica fixed it.

-So Evgeni Malkin signed on the dotted line with the Penguins after his month long disappearance from his Russian SuperLeague team. He’s going to be a great player and should be a lock for the Calder. Definitely exciting for the NHL and for the Pens to have this guy to team up alongside Sidney Crosby. But can’t you see the Russian Federation putting up even more of a fight and making Malkin’s life even more difficult? Why does it always have to be a controversy with the NHL anyway? Oh well.

-Andre Agassi showed a lot of class in how he lost his final match to Benjamin Becker (no not Boris) of Germany at the U.S. Open Sunday. His 20-year career was great and filled with unusual peaks and valleys for a tennis star. From the Image is Everything Rebel days to the baldheaded clean shaven professional who gave his all every point, he really evolved into a great ambassador of the sport. There’s no telling how many majors he might’ve won if he had actually harnessed his talent in his prime. But the eight he cranked out including only the fifth male player to win a career Grand Slam was plenty. And along with some of the epic matches he took part in to the enormous back discomfort he absorbed just to take the court three more times in front of his favorite New York crowd at his most loved tournament will leave quite a mark. To how beautifully he spoke (was that emotional or what) after it was finally over. You can tell how much it really meant to him. This wasn’t about a player wanting the attention. This was about a player wanting to go one last time as hard as he could (body withstanding) for all the legions of people who threw their overwhelming support to him. It made it extra special. Words cannot describe Agassi the man. Off the court, he’s done so much for the community creating his own Academy for kids back home in Las Vegas to the tons of charity work raised for good causes. This guy just gets it. In a day where so many athletes have become self-absorbed due to the whole ESPN SportsCenter craze, Agassi is a throwback for what’s right. And the crazy thing about it is he once was brash and didn’t play up to his potential and even tanked matches or took sets off. It was an amazing transition. I’ve said it before. But sports needs more Andre Agassis.

-So is this NFL season ever going to start? ESPN has been overhyping it for three months (what seems like a year) because they got nothing else better to do. Between them and MTV and their moronic celebration this past week at the latest Music Awards which should be renamed stupidity because that’s what it’s become, I don’t know which network is worse. Enough propaganda. I still think the worst thing I ever witnessed was the whole SC 25,000th show hype when I actually worked as a researcher up in Bristol. The moronic ads you got with paychecks was just so off the wall. Or how they would hype up that epic Bob Knight movie Season On The Brink (Season On The Stink). After it finally aired (that idiotic celebrated show), my favorite part was the next day when  longtime regular Linda Cohn mocked it and spoke about how some of the handshakes at the end were forced because of the immense hatred between some unnamed colleagues. When even your own loathes what it became and jokes about it, you know how overdone it really was. But the people behind the scenes just don’t care to what great lengths they’ll make total asses out of themselves. This isn’t to say that they don’t put a lot of effort into their various shows. The people who work behind the scenes are as quality a bunch as you’ll ever meet. So knowledgable and passionate about sports and take their jobs very seriously and do it with a smile. Those are the real heroes. The ones you’ll never see in the credits. Next time you watch SC, think about the people who busted their asses behind the scenes to make things as good as possible.

-The Staten Island Yankees look to wrap up the McNamara Division Wednesday in a doubleheader against Tri-City. My question as someone who’s passionately covered this superb ballclub all summer: How many Staten Islanders really care? It’s just amazing that they can’t draw more. I understand that attendance dwindles as the summer finishes and now it’s basically miniscule. But this is a good team once again in a very nice ballpark down by the water out at St. George. I just can’t fathom why they don’t get more support. Maybe some people would still be working. Oh. And they busted their asses every night from what I saw. I hope the new ownership change has a positive impact on the franchise’s future. It would be ashame if they didn’t last.

-You really got to hand it to Andre Agassi. After already winning one exciting match to extend his farewell tour here in New York, he did it again in even better fashion in a five set match against Marcos Baghdatis which had more twists and turns than the Cyclone. I knew this would be a good match but it sure didn’t look like it after Agassi captured the first two sets against the struggling Baghdatis. Would a match against such a talented player who reminds many of a young Andre be routine? The 21 year-old Australian runner-up provided that answer when he fought off two break points in the seventh game of the third set to hold and then finally broke Agassi and then served out the set to get back in the match. But when Agassi recovered to surge ahead 4-0 in the fourth set, it looked like he would cruise to a four set win. But you have to give it up for Baghdatis. The fiery Cypriot never quit and pulled off a remarkable comeback by taking seven of the final eight games to force a dramatic final set which was eerily reminiscent to last year’s Agassi-James Blake quarterfinal epic. So you thought Baghdatis’ comeback was great? When he broke Agassi in the opening game, it was the player 15 years younger that needed treatment for a cramp in his hip. Talk about an inopportune time for that. He had the momentum and then needed a five minute break. With the Ashe Stadium crowd chanting, “Let’s Go Andre,” the two-time U.S. Open champion gave them what they wanted by breaking back right away. The dramatic conclusion of seeing Baghdatis cramp to the point where he was literally playing on one leg trying to break Agassi in a crazy ninth game which featured eight deuces and four break points was unbelievable. And to think the crowd booed the guy. Anyone could see how much pain he was in. And he still almost pulled off the incredible and might’ve served it out. Instead, Agassi held and would pull it out with one last break, keeping Baghdatis from reaching a winner take all tiebreaker.

And so it lasted almost four hours and concluded at about 12:45 AM here. For the 23,000+ who were there standing and cheering, worth every penny. And that’s what sticks in the mud like The Post’s Phil Mushnik will never comprehend. Was it late? Sure. But if you’re a diehard fan and it doesn’t matter what sport. If the event is that exciting, you’re staying for the duration. So you lose a couple of extra hours of sleep. Sports are fun and a way to get away from the everyday life cycle.

I think what I liked most about the match was how much respect they had for each other after it concluded. That kind of sportsmanship is great to see. Much like Blake last year, it was a pity there had to be a loser. But that’s the breaks sometimes as Baghdatis now knows. He’ll be back as USA’s John McEnroe pointed out in studio earlier tonight. He’s that good. If he’s smart, he’ll get in even better shape so that in his next big match, he doesn’t cramp. And maybe that’s what’s amazing here. Agassi had the bad back and needed a cortisone injection just to play last night. He’s the one who you’d think might wear down. But it hasn’t happened yet because outside of that back, he’s in phenomenal shape. It’s ashame the back hasn’t allowed him to play a full schedule and go out the way he would’ve liked. Still, he is doing the next best thing and finishing at his favorite tournament where some of his biggest supporters come out and treat him the way they treated the incomparable Jimmy Connors during that unreal semifinal run at the age of 39. Now comes word that Agassi was laid up in bed the whole day and didn’t even get out to practice due to how stiff his back was. And he had an anti-inflammatory shot just to try to relieve some of the pain. So you think he could use the predicted rain that’s coming tonight and tomorrow to get an extra day off? Maybe God’s working with him in this last quest. Who knows?

Final thought on Agassi. What his matches the past two years have done for the Open and tennis is bring the kind of attention it deserves. When you have fans calling up WFAN the last day to discuss his latest great match, you know what it means. It is a great sport. But it certainly helps that it’s a popular player who’s done as much off the court as he has on the court. With raising so much money for charity and opening a school for troubled kids back home in Las Vegas. This guy gets it. If there were more Andre Agassis, the world would be a better place.