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1.  Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame? Why, certainly. And as a good Catholic boy from Chicago whose grandmother once told a college roommate he'd "burn in hell" if he didn't back the Irish, I'm ecstatic over the news that former ND receiver/recent Cubs callup/pride of Valparaiso Each weekday, let's rise and shine together with the latest and ... well, just the latest in big league baseball. Today's Roll Call started a long time ago, Jimmy Rollins, and where the heck are you? The Phillies got a series to lose to the Mets. C'mon, move it, move it, move it.

Game of the Day: Mets 3, Phillies 1

Next time, take the bus: Rollins was late, late, late for a very important date — he missed the 10 a.m. report time for Thursday's noon-ten p.m. game at Shea. He drove his own car, instead of taking the team bus, and arrived about an hour before the first pitch. That's great, even early, if you're sitting in section 104 with the Mad Men. But this guy is supposed to be in a defensive stance between third base and second. Rollins attributed his being tardy to bad luck with traffic lights. Tell me about it, J-Roll. Between the fine from Charlie Manuel and the cost of valet in mid-town Manhattan, J-Roll's peeling off some Benjamins. Todd Zolecki of the Philly Inquirer has a verbatim Q&A on his Phils' blog. Q&A, eh? That gives me an idea! Just need a moment ...

Mr. Pizza Guy's here: When a dude is late, it always reminds me of Jeff Spicoli and Mr. Hand in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Only, this is Rollins — who was benched and later pinch hit — and Manuel. So, sit back, grab some pizza and learn about Cuba J-Roll's day:

Mr. Manuel: Am I hallucinating here? Just what in the hell do you think you're doing?

J-Roll: It's the same thing I do all the time. I usually leave about 10 minutes after the bus as usual if I drive myself, but you can't change lights and stuff. Oh, well.

Mr. Manuel: Mr. Rollins, you're on dangerous ground. You're causing a major disturbance on my time.

J-Roll: I've been thinking about this, Mr. Manuel. If I'm here, and you're here, doesn't that make it "our" time?

Mr. Manuel: That's one of our rules: Hustle and be on time. That's all I want to say about [it,] Jimmy. We've got other things here.

J-Roll: Well, we're not going to agree on this one.

Meet the first-place-by-themselves Mets: Rather than build on a stunning come-from-nowhere victory in the series opener, the Phillies drifted in the final two games. The Mets pounced, and now are