We are back home, safe and sound. Our trip began at the ungodly hour of 3:00 a.m. on September 1. Because of Delta Airlines upsetting our carefully crafted journey which would have started with an 8:15 a.m. flight to Salt Lake City, we were now on a 6:00 a.m. flight to Hartsfield-Jackson in Atlanta.
There was good and bad from this change. We missed the chaos of the evening and night, which led to the disastrous events and tragic deaths throughout the path of Tropical Depression Ida.
We did see the pictures in our hotel room that evening and we could not believe our eyes.We began to worry about the safety of our house and the car we had driven to off-site parking near Newark Airport, a consequence of not being able to book a Lyft or Uber for 3:30 in the morning. Route 1 in Newark had cars floating near the lot we had left our Rav 4. That worry was only partially abated with our son reporting over the weekend that the house was fine.
Look, I think I know weather pretty good. Along with another friend who is a weather buff, we taught ourselves meteorology using the great tome of C. Donald Ahrens, Essentials of Meterology—An Invitation to the Atmosphere. My son jokingly refers to me as “Accu-Weather Sperber.”
I followed the path of Ida when it nearly became a Category 5 hurricane before striking land in Louisiana. This was a mean and nasty storm with plenty of feeder bands from the warm Gulf of Mexico waters. Places in its trek inland were drenched with the torrents of water associated with the storm.
Watching the local forecasts and seeing the differences between the Euro and GFS models, I recognized the potential for heavy rain. There were predictions of rain amounts of at least 7” in some parts. What was not clearly predictable was the way the rain struck New York and New Jersey—with over 6” in one hour.
Where we arrived at Newark early Thursday morning—again, thank you Delta for making me come in way after midnight and not get to sleep until nearly 3:00 a.m.—our car started and we were able to make it home safely (For the record, our mechanic gave us the thumbs up on Friday as to the safety of the vehicle). Evidence of the storm’s impact was everywhere; rocks and debris in Newark and Union, and plenty of damaged items by the curb awaiting collection.
We escaped the destruction and we were fortunate. My sympathies and prayers go out to those who didn’t fare as well.
Being in New Mexico didn’t stop me from knowing what was going on in the sports world. Watching the local TV announcers gave me a flavor of the New Mexico sports world.
High school football on Friday and Saturday was number one. University of New Mexico sports was second. The New Mexico United soccer team was seemingly always on—the team broke a 7 game winless streak last weekend. And the Albuquerque Isotopes, the AAA team for the Colorado Rockies, was clobbered by the Oklahoma City Dodgers in a series in OKC—which mirrors the distance between the parent clubs in the NL West.
UNM downed Houston Baptist in their opener under the lights of cute University Stadium (evidently there is no naming rights deal). Led by a transfer QB from the SEC by way of the University of Kentucky, the Lobos looked sharp. They will face in-state rival New Mexico State this Saturday in Albuquerque in the Rio Grande Rivalry—also called the I-25 Rivalry since both schools are proximate to the North-South route (the river looked appropriately muddy in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque areas). The two schools have met 110 times prior to this meeting, with UNM on a current 2 game winning streak. The Lobos lead the series 72-33-5, though the then New Mexico A&M downed UNM 110-3 in 1917. The score of the last game played between the schools was 55-52 in 1919.
It is a spirited rivalry. The head coach of UNM is a local, and he said it repeatedly—he hates New Mexico State. With the apparent talent gap between the rivals, the 1-0 Loos should maul the 0-2 Aggies.
While getting my 10,000 steps in the ABQ Jetport, I saw the UNM Lobos Women’s Soccer team assembling for a trip to Phoenix for contests against Northern Arizona and Grand Canyon University. The women sport a 3-2 mark, including a win over the University of Washington. The team was traveling on Southwest Airlines, so a mad dash for the open seats preceded their boarding.
The Women’s cross-country team at UNM is ranked #4 in the nation. Baseball has been pretty good at UNM, although last season they were 16-24. And Richard Pitino, the former men’s basketball coach at Minnesota and the son of the legendary Rick Pitino, is in his second season at the helm for UNM. Sports is big at UNM.
It didn’t mean that we didn’t watch some college football or check our cell phones for scores during our stay. What else to do when our daughter was working her long stints on a Netflix project and we weren’t sightseeing, exercising or unwinding in a pool on the beautiful 80 to 85 degree days.
I wanted Rutgers to demolish Temple. RU needed to make a statement. Miraculously, this game was played, despite the Raritan River having overflowed its banks and lapping at the entrance to SHI-Stadium by River Road because of the Ida deluge. Somehow AD Pat Hobbs got the job done.
RU nailed the visiting Owls by a 61-14 score. Olakunle Fatukasi was named the top linebacker in college football by the Maxwell Football Club. Fatukasi recorded nine tackles, four for loss, forced a fumble and a safety in the victory over Temple. Punter Adam Korsak, a native of Australia, was the recipient of the Ray Guy Punter of the Week award, averaging 49.7 yards per kick without a return in six attempts, repeatedly pinning Temple down.
The Scarlet Knights travel to the noisy Carrier Dome to meet ACC member Syracuse. Both schools used to compete in the Big East Conference in all sports. RU will have to step it up a notch to down the Orange, winners on the road at Ohio University.
An interesting twist has occurred at RU. Gavitt Wimsatt, a highly touted high school four star QB from Kentucky, left his high school team after two games and enrolled at Rutgers. This kid is supposed to be the best-ever QB at RU.
He is not immediately eligible to play per NCAA rules, but he has practiced and he will accompany the squad when they head to upstate New York this weekend. RU has plenty of QB’s on its depth chart, led by the incumbent starter, Noah Vedral, a transfer from Nebraska.
Wimsatt will be eligible to play next week versus Delaware, although that is unlikely. He came here to escape the hounding he received by not accepting a scholarship to the University of Kentucky, and to see if he can lucratively find a deal for NIL—name, image and likeness.
Whatever happens this season and going forward will be interesting. Head Coach Greg Schaino and Offensive Coordinator Sean Gleeson must navigate a high wire act here—keeping Winsatt happy and giving him significant playing time to retain him for the future. Of course, he must also massage the egos of the other QB’s on the roster. It isn’t going to be easy, but bears plenty of watching.
In the first full weekend of college football, there were upsets galore. Six FCS teams downed 6 FBS opponents. The Montana Grizzlies arrived in Seattle to whip the then #20 Washington Huskies. The others included East Tennessee State over Vanderbilt; Holy Cross defeating UConn, prompting the immediate retirement of Head Coach Randy Edsall; UC Davis winning at Tulsa; FCS runner-up South Dakota State easily handling Colorado State; and Eastern Washington triumphing over UNLV. Additionally, #7 Iowa State, Wyoming and Oklahoma State had trouble with FCS opponents. Hooray for the other side!
We did watch two games involving the big boys. #5 Georgia dominated #2 Clemson. #9 Notre Dame was taken to OT by Florida State; former UCF QB Mc Kenzie Milton, who suffered a horrific leg injury in 2018 which nearly cost him his life, came all the way back to miraculously lead the Seminoles to the near upset. A great tale with an almost a storybook ending.
Of course, I checked in on Franklin and Marshall. Playing on the road, the Diplomats fell to 0-1 with a loss up in Annville to Lebanon Valley. The Dips take on mighty Susquehanna in the home opener at Shadek Stadium.
The NFL season is upon us. Tom Brady and Dak Prescott engaged in an aerial war on Thursday night. Naturally, Brady engineered a final drive to lead the Buccaneers to an opening night win.
The pundits do not think very much success will be in the offing for either New York team. Or for that matter, in Philly, too. Of interest is the battle between the Jets new QB, Zach Wilson, who has all of the promise in the world, and the former Jets QB, Sam Darnold, now the leader in Carolina.
I would dearly love for the Jets to win for a myriad of reasons, the most prominent one being validation of the selection of Wilson at number 2 in the recent NFL Draft, which led to the jettisoning of Darnold. Besides, I want a reason to root for the team this year after an extended period of lousy play.
I have saved baseball until now. Down is where the Yankees are headed. Losers of 9 of 11 after the brilliant 13 game winning streak, they are playing miserably. The hitting stinks. The folding is horrible. The pitching is terrible.
Yes, there are injuries. Yes, they ran into a hot team in Toronto, which came to town and dominated the Bombers so much so that New York never led in any of the four home games. The Yankees resemble the Baltimore Orioles during the O’s recent big losing streak. And the Orioles came to New York and won their recent series with the Yankees.
It is disheartening to see the Yankees, once world beaters, become so bad. Let’s face it—there are so many things wrong with this team that I cannot fathom how GM Brian Cashman will correct them. If Cashman has the same title next season.
Fortunately for the Yankees, the Red Sox are playing very average ball right now, leaving New York in a Wild Card spot for the moment. The red hot Blue Jays, Seattle and Oakland are in the mix for Wild Card spots. Either New York gets better fast or they will be on the outside looking in.
Meanwhile, the Rays keep on winning. Phenom Wander Franco extended his rookie record on base record to 39 before exiting the game with a leg injury on Friday night. The former record holder was a guy named Mickey Mantle. The NL record holder has the name Frank Robinson attached to it. Some heady names. Watch this Franco kid—he’s the real deal.
San Francisco has put some distance between itself and the Dodgers. SFG hold the tie breaker by virtue of winning the season series. I guess the Giants are legit.
Finally, Novak Djokovic punched his ticket for possible tennis immortality with a 5 set win over Alexander Zverev. Djokoic is one win away from the Grand Slam—winning all four Majors in the same year. Plus a win in Queens will be his 21st major title, putting him ahead of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. As much as he is disliked by the New York crowd, Djokovic will become the greatest ever. Deservedly so.
As I write this blog, I await the rescheduled start of my high school, Highland Park, and my kids school, Jonathan Dayton. Two lowly Group I schools with some distant football past, meeting 5 minutes from my house. I’ll go, because of their significance to me.
What is more significant is that as I finish this piece, it is September 11. This morning echoed the crystal clear day 20 years ago. I was driving to work, when I noticed smoke coming from the World Trade Center as I rounded the bend transitioning from I-78 to Route 1. I saw a plane headed towards Manhattan, flying oddly low. We all know what that was.
Soon, after watching the grainy pictures on our office TV, I was home. My editor, whose law practice was near Ground Zero, called frantically seeking advice.
Our whole world was turned upside down. My neighbor’s daughter’s boyfriend is a son of one who was lost rushing into the towers trying to save others.
On Friday night I saw the beam of light emanating from lower Manhattan. A somber reminder of what was lost on that fateful day.
I will never forget. We will never forget.
There it is. Plenty of sports to recap.
I’m back from New Mexico.
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