| It's been a week since the Mets' scheduled Opening Day at Citi Field and so far, every day has ended in a loss or a rainout.
How's that for a bleak start to the year?
They started off the year with a washout in Queens last Thursday and followed that up with losses the next four days before rainouts on Tuesday and Wednesday.
New manager Carlos Mendoza has more games suspended (one) than wins (zero).
Team owner Steve Cohen declined to push the panic button, saying Wednesday during an interview on CNBC, "It's only four games into the season. It's early. During the season, you're gonna have losing streaks. We just happened to have one at the beginning."
 The Mets spent several days over the first week of the season waiting for the rain to stop at Citi Field.
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They have a chance to finally get things going in the right direction Thursday, when they host the Tigers for a makeup doubleheader at Citi Field, but the signs aren't good.
As hitting coach Eric Chavez said when talking about the lineup's rough start to the year, "Momentum is big, and it works both ways. We have to get our momentum going in a different direction."
That goes for the entire team, which is one of only two, along with the Marlins, left without a victory on the season. Miami fell to 0-7 with another loss on Wednesday.
And we get it, it's only four games into a long season, but of the six worst OPS numbers in the majors among qualified hitters, three of them belong to Mets: Jeff McNeil (.166), Brandon Nimmo (.230) and Francisco Lindor (.230).
The Mets have no choice but to believe Lindor and Nimmo will turn things around — and soon — but they've shown at least some concern about McNeil. Mendoza bumped McNeil down from the cleanup spot to No. 7 in Tuesday's lineup for a game that ended up being washed out.
 Jeff McNeil's struggles at the plate may push him down the batting order.
Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
Another potential worry for the Mets is the pitching staff has exceeded expectations — compiling the third-best ERA in the majors (2.43) — and they still haven't won a game. Nine of the nineteen runs they have allowed were unearned.
The rotation is a mess: Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill are both on the IL, and Julio Teheran was signed Wednesday out of desperation.
One of the few bright spots has been the early performance by Edwin Diaz in his return from the torn patella tendon that cost him all of last season.
What good is an elite closer, however, on a team that doesn't have late leads to protect?
 Jose Quintana and his fellow starters have little to show for their surprisingly solid performances.
Robert Sabo for the NY Post
After Thursday's doubleheader versus the undefeated Tigers, the Mets hit the road for the first time to play a solid-looking Reds team for a three-game series, followed by four games in Atlanta — which doesn't sound promising.
It's all part of a daunting 15-games-in-14-days stretch that could put the Mets in a huge early hole in a season they entered with a ton of questions, not many of which have been answered positively.
Today's back page  New York Post
Fist things first What a night at Madison Square Garden.
Can you imagine another sport that starts off with a premeditated fight with every starting player? It's unfathomable.
And if it did happen, it would result in weeks-long suspensions for the players involved — and most likely the coaches, as well.
But the archaic notion in hockey that it's OK to drop the gloves and start brawling is still not only acceptable, but often applauded.
Wednesday night's atrocity between the Rangers and Devils should be the final straw. Much like baseball occasionally allowing pitchers to throw at hitters without serious consequences, it's time to move on.
Everyone on the ice dropped their gloves within seconds of the puck dropping.
 The fight between Matt Rempe and Kurtis MacDermid was the highlight attraction among five fights between the Rangers and Devils to open Wednesday night's game.
Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post
This one came 12 years after the last pre-game brawl between the Rangers and Devils, but was even worse. The 2012 battle was a 3-on-3. Wednesday's featured all 10 starters.
It started with Rangers designated goon Matt Rempe and the Devils' Kurtis MacDermid, who battled in March.
Jacob Trouba, K'Andre Miller and Barclay Goodrow joined in on the fisticuffs and were ejected from the game, as were the Devils' Kevin Bahl, John Marino, Chris Tierney and MacDermid.
And let's not forget Jimmy Vesey's fight with Curtis Lazar. They earned fighting majors, but ended up staying in the game because they fought first and didn't receive additional punishment.
"Our guys were reacting to what was happening on the ice," Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette said after the Rangers' eventual 4-3 win. "I thought they did a fantastic job. All five of them."
Rempe has now been ejected from all three games he's played against the Devils.
It's enough.
Hoops hell  The Nets have gone 15-32 since they were last at .500 on the day after Christmas.
AP
On the day after Christmas, the Nets won their second straight game to get back to .500. Five days later, the Knicks traded for OG Anunoby from Toronto, giving basketball fans on both sides of town reason to believe the rest of the season could be something to watch.
The Nets almost immediately unraveled as soon as the calendar turned to 2024, and with no first-round pick to look forward to in the upcoming NBA Draft, have proven themselves to be perhaps the most uninteresting team in the league — unless you like occasional Ben Simmons medical updates.
Despite securing a 115-111 win over the Pacers on Wednesday night, the Nets were officially eliminated from playoff contention after the Hawks beat the Pistons earlier in the evening.
And while the Knicks are still on track for the playoffs, their recent performance might be even more frustrating.
They've been among the best teams in the league when Anunoby is healthy, but that hasn't been the case lately.
 The tight playoff race in the Eastern Conference could see the Knicks finish with home-court advantage in the first round or fall into the play-in.
AP
And with Julius Randle also out (plus Josh Hart added to the injury report due to a wrist sprain), the Knicks are in jeopardy of squandering a top-six seed in the Eastern Conference and dropping to the play-in tournament.
If the Knicks don't get Anunoby and Randle back soon, it's difficult to see much basketball being played in New York in the postseason.
Diggs this For the second time in four years, Stefon Diggs was traded, this time from the Bills to the Texans.
Diggs helped transform the Bills' offense with Josh Allen, but there were issues throughout Diggs' time in Buffalo, just as there were when he was in Minnesota.
Now he heads to Houston to play with C.J. Stroud, who's heading into his second season with the Texans after a stellar rookie year in which he led Houston to a surprising appearance in the Divisional round of the playoffs.
For the Jets and Giants, both looking to add to their receiving corps, a Diggs trade didn't work.
 The Bills dealt No. 1 wide receiver Stefon Diggs to the Texans on Wednesday.
AP
The Bills likely wouldn't have wanted to ship Diggs to another team within the same division, so the Jets, who have already brought in Mike Williams to play with Aaron Rodgers, continue to look at receivers they might be able to draft later this month. The Jets hold the No. 10 overall pick.
And the Giants likely would have had to do too much maneuvering with their limited salary-cap space to make a Diggs trade worthwhile.
They have been linked to wide receivers with the No. 6 overall pick, though pivoting to quarterback isn't out of the question with Daniel Jones' status beyond this year in doubt.
The departure of Diggs from one of the best teams in the AFC East figures to be good news for the Jets, though it remains to be seen how the Bills replace him. They'll no doubt look for another high-profile weapon for Allen.
What we're reading 👀 ⚾ The Yankees improved to 6-1 by winning the rubber game against the Diamondbacks, 6-5 in 11 innings. Aaron Judge (home run, game-winning RBI double) led the way with his best game of the young season, and Alex Verdugo added (and admired) his first Yankees homer.
⚾ Gary Sheffield reflects on the family joys and tribulations wrapped up in his uncle, Dwight Gooden, getting his number retired this month by the Mets.
🏈 Could the Giants target a second-tier quarterback — think: Michael Penix Jr., Bo Nix, Spencer Rattler — in the middle rounds on the NFL Draft?
🏀 UConn's most dangerous opponent this month might turn out to be the jets.
🏀 The best March Madness team no one's talking about: South Carolina, two wins away from the first undefeated women's season in eight years.
🏒 Ilya Sorokin talks about his recent slump as the Islanders need their No. 1 netminder to rescue their playoff fate.
⚽ Striking scenes as USWNT leaders Lindsey Horan and Alex Morgan publicly chastised teammate Korbin Albert for her social media activity.
🏀 Vince Carter is going to the Hall of Fame.
🏀 Angel Reese is going to the WNBA.
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