The Muppets take a stand. A night at Citi Field. And remembering the great George Jefferson.

Even though I’m a Yankees fan, I’ve been to more Mets games than Yankees games this year.
It’s partially because of the company I’ve been with, but partially because I (gasp) really enjoy Citi Field, home of the now-sliding Mets (Tuesday they lost their 10th game out of the last 11).
I went to the slightly smaller of New York City’s major-league stadiums again on Tuesday, and had a great time despite the home team playing badly again.
Couple thoughts on life at Citi Field:
– The food court is the best I’ve seen at a major league stadium. Excellent variety, the lines aren’t as long because there are so many options, and Carvel soft-serve is never a bad choice. My only quibble: Some of the Nathan’s hot dog stands don’t sell the equally-famous french fries. Folks, it ain’t the same experience if you only have the hot dog.
– Very different feeling from Mets fans at Citi, as opposed to Yankees fans at Yankee Stadium. In the Bronx, when a Yankee screws up, the fans boo, yell things at him, and groan loudly. Yankees fans expect perfection or close to it.
Mets fans? Well, when Jason Bay, the most overpaid/underperforming player in the majors, struck out, Mets fans just sort of groaned. When catcher Mike Nickeas allowed a run to score by misplaying a throw home, Mets fans just sort of grumbled.

I guess when you’ve seen so many screwups for so long, you lose the energy to hate your own players.

— One thing I’ve never understood at a baseball game: Why the hell are people still doing The Wave? Seriously, it was stupid in 1986, it’s stupid now.
– Finally, it is fun watching R.A Dickey, a knuckleballer, pitch. We sat behind home plate, pretty high up, but even from our seats you could see the ball dancing and swerving and totally befuddling the hitters.

**One day after Sally Ride died, another 1980s legend died Tuesday. Sherman Helmsley, who of course played one of my favorite-ever TV characters, passed away.
George Jefferson was loud, obnoxious, and bigoted against white people. But he was damn, damn funny on “The Jeffersons,” a show that still endures in memory.

Quick story: this spring when I was student-teaching at a junior high, one of the essays we studied on an overhead was called “Movin’ on Up.” When I read the title aloud, I half-silently said to myself “to the East side…” And much to my amazement, two kids in the back continued, “to a deluxe apartment in the sky.”

I was so proud, I could’ve given them A’s right there.
Rest in peace, Sherman. And thanks for the million laughs.

**Finally, I’m always looking for reasons to write about “The Muppets,” and I found one the other day. You’ve probably heard about restaurant chain Chick-fil-A and its president’s recent declaration against gay marriage.
Well, Kermit and friends are just the latest group to publicly disavow the disgusting company.  Jim Henson Co. announced this week that it will cease working with Chik-fil-A, after previously agreeing to help design a line of kids’ toys for them.

Good job, Kermit.

A kid with cancer plays catch with a big-leaguer, thanks to Twitter. The Muppets are coming back for a sequel! And a teacher gets an apology from a student

**Note: I wrote most of this blog before Game 7 of Rangers-Senators hockey, so it’s going to be more coherent than if I wrote it afterwards… But I am ecstatic that my Blueshirts pulled it out. 2-1, and I don’t think I breathed for the final 10 minutes. Hell of a series, very happy Rangers are moving on…

The strangeness and awesomeness of the Internet and the world we live in never ceases to amaze me.
Check this out: A Colorado Rockies pitcher named Jeremy Guthrie had an off-day recently, and was at Coors Field in Denver with no one to play catch with. He really wanted to get some throwing in, so he put this out on Twitter:
“Anybody on lunch break & up for a catch with me?” #OffDay#NoThrowingPartner

And then a 21-year-old kid named Woody Roseland, who spent 2 1/2 years going through cancer treatments and relapses, who has a prosthetic leg as well, answered Guthrie on Twitter. And a short time later, Woody Roseland was playing catch at Coors Field with a major league pitcher.

Totally sounds made up, but it’s true. Rick Reilly of ESPN.com tells the rest of the story here. Truly beautiful, and a heart-warming start to my Good News Friday.

**Can’t tell you how much I love the Muppets. Well, I’ve already told you several times on this blog that I love them. And I loved last year’s “Muppet Movie,” bringing our furry friends back from a far-too-long hiatus.

So it’s great news that Disney has announced a sequel. Apparently the 2011 movie made more than $140 million, so why not do it again?
I just hope they make the villain a little less “over the top” this time.

**Finally, this story really moved me. It’s a happy story in its resolution, but it takes a little while to get there. From Pulitzer Prize winner Tom Hallman Jr., it’s about a student and a teacher, reuniting after 39 years, with the student trying to apologize for what he had done.

Truly worth your time. It’s never too late to undo damage you’ve done to someone else.

The Muppets hit SNL, and soon a movie theater! A disgusting abuse of police power at UC-Davis. And “Sexiest Man Alive” confuses me.

Yeah, I’m pretty damn excited about the new Muppets movie. More than excited; downright giddy.
Love the Muppets. Always have, always will. My favorite? Sometimes it’s Kermit, usually it’s Fozzie, and in the right moment, it has even been Animal.
I have been very impressed by how much the studio, Disney, has been promoting the movie, and all the trailers look really good, too. (Of course, I already love the Muppets and will see the movie regardless, so I’m probably not the target audience.)
Anyway, the film comes out this week and with star Jason Segel hosting “Saturday Night Live” last weekend, well, this happened. And it was awesome.

**There is a moment in every protest movement that galvanizes a country. I’m not so sure America is able to be moved in one direction anymore. But if we are, well, this ought to do it. At the University of California-Davis last Friday, police pepper sprayed a non-violent student demonstration. Watch as an officer of the law named John Pike calmly sprays dozens of students (11 were treated for injuries, and two went to the hospital) for absolutely no reason. There was no violence, Officer Pike was in no danger, and yet he casually decides to injure protesters who are sitting on the ground.

Disgusting and disgraceful doesn’t even begin to cover it. (Andrew Sullivan has a typically terrific take here.) This kind of behavior, this kind of police brutality, should not happen her in the United States of America. And yet it does. And watch how quickly people forget about this incident, and gloss it over.Please don’t.
Watch this video, and take a look at America.

**Finally, I am once again puzzled while standing in a supermarket checkout line. I see People has named Bradley Cooper the “Sexiest Man Alive. ” First, congrats, Bradley.
But I now am filled with questions. First of all, did all the previous winners die? Or have they been hideously disfigured in some kind of accident? Because I’d like to know what caused them to lose their title. If I’m Ben Affleck or Hugh Jackman (past winners), I’d like to know what’s made me less sexy.

Then I got to wondering about how “Sexiest Man Alive” is chosen. Is there criteria? A secret formula (even more secret than the Coke formula?) Do judges sit around in a conference room for hours, debating the hotness of Colin Farrell vs. Paul Rudd? Are there scores kept? Does it get violent, with one judge arguing for her man and another disagreeing?

These are the things I wonder about.