* @return a metric object
*/
public MetricMutableCounterLong getLongCounter(String counterName,
long potentialStartingValue) {
// See getLongGauge for description on how this works.
MetricMutable counter = metricsMap.get(counterName);
if (counter == null) {
MetricMutableCounterLong newCounter = mf.newCounter(counterName, "",
potentialStartingValue);
counter = metricsMap.putIfAbsent(counterName, newCounter);
if (counter == null) {