Best of WatchDog

Fred Wilpon talks good game

The Mets' big news conference Monday revealed that the team's most underutilized public-relations weapon is owner Fred Wilpon himself.

Given his inaccessibility and age (74), many naturally have wondered whether the guy still is with it. Clearly, he is. He bluntly and effectively articulated ownership's frustration, and empathized with fans.

Wilpon even veered into an interesting tangential discussion of SNY's editorial independence.

"We tell them, 'Tell the truth. Run your program. Tell the truth,' " he said. "We have never told them anything different than that.

"Sometimes they are critical about players, and sometimes they're critical about us. We hope it never gets personal. But it does sometimes. It comes with the territory."

Tiki on boos: 'If they hate me, they hate me'

Tiki Barber appeared on Showtime's "Inside the NFL'' to discuss being booed during the Giants' Ring of Honor ceremony.

Not surprisingly, he offered no apologies for his public critiques of the Giants.

"I never wanted to come into broadcasting and be the guy who says a whole lot but says nothing,'' he said. "I have always wanted to be succinct and to the point about what my opinion is based on what my experiences are.

"If people hate me for that, they hate me.''

Phillips didn't trust Bobby V.

Steve Phillips' Sirius XM show premiered Monday. Good timing! He weighed in Tuesday on several aspects of Mets news, including the notion of a second tour of duty for Bobby Valentine.

"He lacked that filter between his brain and his mouth, that 'no-filteritis,' that dreaded disease, and in New York, that's tough,'' Phillips said.

The Mets' former general manager called Valentine a "high-maintenance'' guy who more often than not motivated players to succeed "in spite of him, to spite him, to kind of say, 'Screw you, Bobby, I'm going to do this.' Either way, it works, but that method, that style, doesn't have long-lasting impact.''

Phillips also said, "It got to the point with Bobby I did not feel comfortable to share personnel thoughts with him because it ended up in the paper."

Heat is on at ESPN

ESPN finally has decided to start covering LeBron James in depth after taking its usual low-key approach to chronicling his free-agency decision in July and more recently his first week of camp with the Heat.

It's about time, people! Monday, ESPN.com will launch The Heat Index, a section dedicated to daily coverage of the team.

Among the hires for the new section is Brian Windhorst, formerly of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, who has written two books about James and has covered him since middle school.

Wow. I met Stephon Marbury when he was 10, but that didn't do much for my career.

Divac, Petrovic were 'Once Brothers'

"Once Brothers," premiering Tuesday, is one of the best films in ESPN's "30 for 30" series.

Narrated by Vlade Divac, it looks back at the Yugoslavian national squad of the late 1980s and early '90s and the war that tore apart the nation and its team, including Divac and his friend Drazen Petrovic.

"I always thought the day would come when Drazen and I would sit down and talk, but that day never came," Divac says.

Petrovic, then a rising star with the Nets, died in an automobile accident in 1993.

Islanders' son greets Islanders' fan

A leftover anecdote from my Friday story about actor Kevin Connolly, originally of Medford, and his well-known support of his hometown hockey team:

"Every player in the NHL knows; I might as well wear an Islanders jersey,'' he said. "I was playing blackjack in Vegas and I got up from the table and this guy says, 'Hey, I know you're an Islanders fan. I'm in the NHL and I play for the Devils.'

"I'm like, 'Oh, what's your name?' He's like, 'Zach Parise.' Zach Parise! I was like, 'Buddy, we can still talk and be friends even if I'm an Islanders fan.' "