In NYC, fans worry about game's integrity

BY KARLA SCHUSTER | karla.schuster@newsday.com

December 14, 2007

The din and clatter of the first-floor bar and restaurant at ESPN Zone in Times Square fell quiet just after 2 p.m., all eyes trained on TV screens showing George Mitchell stepping to a lectern.

Close to a dozen news crews filmed fans in the first- and second-floor bars watching coverage of the report's release. Waiters squeezed past photographers, cameramen sidled up to patrons, and everyone else watched and waited.

Yes, they were curious about Mitchell's recommendations. Sure, they wanted to hear about how the investigation was conducted. But in the end it all came down to the names.

Yes, most said they were curious about how the investigation was conducted. But in the end, it all came down to the names.

"I just want to see the names, so we can move on," said Mets fan John Dawkins, 45, of South Ozone Park. "This is damaging baseball, which I love."

Upstairs, Yankee fan Sam Brunswick, 13, and Red Sox fan Tyler Bolander, 12, both off from their Riverdale private school because of a snow day, munched anxiously on fries and bantered.

So which Red Sox did Bolander think would be named?

"I don't want to say it out loud," he replied, wrinkling his face.

"Come on," Brunswick prodded. "Say it! Say it!"

Bolander paused, then gave in. "Papi. Big Papi," he said, referring to slugger David Ortiz, whose name did not appear in the report. "I can't believe I just said that."

Brunswick had by then heard that at least two Yankees -- Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte -- had been implicated.

"I think it's sort of depressing, because they're both really good," he said, "and now we don't know if they really are."

But Mets fan Marc Zarasky, 44, of East Rockaway, wasn't about to write off players such as Clemens as frauds. "Does it help a 44-year-old play a little longer? Yes. But it's still very hard to win 20 games," Zarasky said.

He sat at the first-floor bar with his business partner, Rob Leuck, 39, of Emerson, N.J. The two men had arranged their day around Mitchell's announcement and where they would watch it.

"To me, the big question is 'Who kept their heads in the sand?'" Leuck said. "You talk about integrity of the game. Well, what about the commissioner and everyone else who knew and did nothing? They are as much to blame."