College Football Vs Baseball

  I don’t know what it is. Maybe it’s the Name-Image-Likeness aspect of the game. Perhaps I find the NFL more entertaining. Or maybe the MLB races in the last week of the regular season have been more compelling. 

I’m just not into college football right now. Which is surprising for me. 

Sure, I am aware of the comings and goings of the sport. Between CBS Sports, ESPN and DIII Football, I am keeping abreast of the games and related news. 

Yet there is something keeping me from watching more of the many televised games. Maybe because I know how things will turn out. 

Example number one was Rutgers hosting Iowa in the teams’ Big Ten opener. RU battled the Hawkeyes hard, even maintaining a lead into the fourth quarter. Yet, when faced with a choice to continue watching or going to sleep, I chose the latter. Why? Because I knew that as talented as this Scarlet Knights team may be offensively, the defense wasn’t stopping Iowa. Which meant that RU was destined to lose again to a team it should beat at least once (RU is now 0-5 versus Iowa). 

My second example was the Arkansas-Memphis contest on Saturday. I was watching it while doing some indoor cycling at my gym. Largely because I didn’t choose to take the remote and channel surf. 

This was an interesting matchup between a middle of the road SEC team and a top tier American Athletic Conference squad. A back and forth affair, Memphis was ahead when I left the gym. 

But I didn’t turn the TV on to ESPN to see the end of the game when I returned home. Largely because the announcer said that the Tigers have been winning against SEC teams when playing them in Memphis. I felt the outcome here was a foregone conclusion in favor of Memphis. Which I was correct.

In fact, I was more intrigued about the renovations to the Simmons Liberty Bowl Stadium. It was clear that luxury suites were being built and a new scoreboard was in place. The changes won’t be completed until prior to the 2026 season. I that looked up when I came home. 

To be competitive, the market demands seemingly require updates to facilities. The stadium was first used in 1965. But even with these changes and a 4-0 record with the Tigers running the table against a strong AAC schedule which includes Tulsa, Tulane, USF and Navy at home—all schools which have quality programs—and getting into the College Football Playoffs,  this will not necessarily be enough to move Memphis to the Big 12, as the school had made major financial sacrifices in a bid that was rejected by the Big 12 schools. 

Franklin and Marshall College has a football program which is the ninth-winningest all-time in Division III (although a thorough analysis of the teams F&M has played will show a number of Ivy League schools, the service academies, Rutgers, Syracuse, Virginia, Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Delaware, Villanova and the Carlisle Indians of Jim Thorpe fame; F&M did not fare well in most of those contests), hasn’t been at the top of the Centennial Conference since 2017; the Diplomats have won seven CC titles and when a member of the Middle Atlantic Conference, they also won seven championships. Five teams went undefeated; the last was in 1974.

F&M has been to the Centennial-MAC Bowl Series seven times, which includes wins in the past two seasons. Overall, F&M has an 11-6 record in bowl games. Not too shabby. 

Yet I find that my present college football disassociation extends to my school. Normally, I check out the games via computer. Which I did when the Diplomats traveled to Annville, Pennsylvania and secured a win over local rival Lebanon Valley. 

For the home opener, F&M hosted Westminster (PA). The schools had never played each other, largely because the Titans resided in the NAIA, and crossover games with NCAA teams were few and far between. Westminster has a rich football tradition from the NAIA, where it won numerous titles, to its memberships in the Presidents Athletic Conference since joining the NCAA in 2000.

That should have piqued my interest. If nothing more than to see the colors and uniforms  and how F&M would match up against a squad which went 8-3 last season with a bowl game victory over Marietta College. But I didn’t find the time to check in on the game, which the Titans won in a romp. 

Up next was Catholic University, which came to Lancaster as the Homecoming opponent. I had never seen F&M play Catholic, which has a winning record against the Diplomats. Once more, I didn’t find the time to watch the game, which F&M won handily. 

My school has a winning record. The teams have had some reasonable recent success. 

Nonetheless, it makes me feel cheated. Why? The two large elephants in the room—Johns Hopkins University and Carnegie Mellon University. Larger schools with great academics and a penchant for winning even better than F&M. 

Because F&M has never gone to the NCAA Division III Football Playoffs, while JHU is a fixture representing the Centennial Conference. When F&M won the title in 2017, the CC didn’t send its championship to the playoffs.

Moreover, new conference member (for football only) CMU went to the NCAA playoffs last season, falling to Mount Union in the third round. The Tartans are ranked #20 and are 2-1. Oh, and by the way, Hopkins is 3-0 and ranked #3. 

There is a good likelihood that both schools will make it into the NCAA playoffs, although CMU may need to defeat the Blue Jays when they tangle in Baltimore on October 11. Moreover, with the conclusion of non-conference play, Muhlenberg and Ursinus sport unblemished records, with Dickinson 2-1 like F&M. 

F&M would have to run the table to make it to the big dance. They face a bigger whammy in that they play CMU in Pittsburgh on November 8 and JHU visits Shadek Stadium the next week to conclude the regular season. Do I hear maybe the Centennial-MAC Bowl for a  third year? 

Instead my focus has been more on pro sports. I watched the New York Jets come from behind to take a late lead against Tampa Bay, only to let QB Baker Mayfield exact one of his patented late game rallies to overcome the Jets defense and eke out a win. NYJ is 0-3 and headed nowhere—fast. 

I let the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Giants put me to sleep on Sunday Night Football. Patrick Mahomes isn’t playing to his previous exceptional level and the team is barren without reliable wideouts and getting the ball more to Travis Kelce, who once more had words with fatherly Head Coach Andy Reid on the sidelines. 

As for the Giants, it is a good move benching Russell Wilson and installing rookie Jaxson Dart at QB for the rest of the season. The G-Men may not win much, but if Dart is the QB of the future, the time is right for him to get experience. Maybe the Giants will strike lightning again with an Ole Miss QB—Eli Manning wasn’t too shabby playing for them. 

Thankfully I won’t have to upset myself with the Jets until Monday night when they play at Miami. Early night for sleep?

Maybe some upcoming games will get me watching college football. Two highly-ranked squads, Oregon and Penn State, meet on Saturday night in a “White Out” game at State College. Perhaps. 

Or would I want to see Notre Dame play in Arkansas versus the Razorbacks? Alabama going to Athens to play the Georgia Bulldogs—we’re not going to see this game every season with the new SEC schedules starting in 2026. That might pique my curiosity.

Even F&M at Gettysburg might get a view. F&M didn’t play them when I was in school, as the Bullets were in the MAC University Division and didn’t join DIII until 1974, two years after I graduated.

It’s just that the baseball season is winding down and the games this weekend will have meaning for a number of teams, especially the New York Yankees, currently tied with Toronto for the AL East lead. I find that to be far more captivating. 

College football vs baseball. I guess I haven’t completely really lost my interest in college football. But right now, baseball seems to give me more.

Such Is The Lot Of A True Jets Fan

  This past Sunday, I made my first visit to Met Life Stadium. To see my long-time team, the New York Jets, host a rival that goes back to the start of the American Football League where both teams began their journey. Buffalo came out a winner in this clash. 

I am in my 49th year as a season ticket holder for the Jets. I have seen them play at Shea Stadium in Queens. The Jets shared the facility with baseball’s New York Mets, who had a sweetheart deal with the building’s owner, the City of New York. To preserve the turf and not move the mechanical lower tier seats, no football would be played in the ballpark until the baseball season concluded. 

That clause was eventually modified, but the infield dirt would remain in place until at least mid-October or once the Mets finished the post-season. Then sod would be hurriedly put in place to make the field look more like a football field rather than a football field superimposed on a baseball diamond. 

The trip to Flushing was onerous—whether it was from Highland Park, Avenel or West Orange—where I lived when the Jets called Shea home. Driving was hellacious, and taking the subway on the interminable 7 train was no pleasurable excursion after taking the bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal on Eighth Avenue or parking my car on the streets of Midtown Manhattan. 

But these were the New York Jets—still somewhat respectable with Richard Todd as the quarterback. And only ten or so years removed from the team’s historic upset win over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. 

Yet I should have realized that my introductory year at Shea Stadium would have produced a woeful 3-11 record. Maybe that was how the team might trend now that they were full-fledged members of the National Football League. 

Another signature moment was the day after I met my future wife. On December 27, 1981, I watched the Jets host the Bills in a noontime Wild Card game. Which they lost 31-27 in excruciating fashion. 

Then in 1983, just after we were married, the Jets won big over Cincinnati in the first round, then followed up the road success with a win in Oakland by a score of 17-14. We settled in to watch the AFC Championship game in Miami as newlyweds—only to see hope vanish by a final score of 14-0.

At the end of the 1983 season, the Jets were ready to vacate Queens for New Jersey, where they would become a co-tenant with the New York Giants at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford. I was present for the final Jets game at Shea Stadium—a loss to Pittsburgh when the fans ripped out seats and bleachers along with turf as the game concluded. 

The 1984 season gave me tremendous promise, It was close to home—no more treks to Flushing and arriving home at a reasonable hour. Or so I thought. 

The traffic pattern to and from the Meadowlands were not made for thousands of automobiles descending onto Route 3 and towards the New Jersey Turnpike. Unless you were prepared to fight your way through drunken and crazed fans—it didn’t matter much if the team had won or lost—you might sit in the parking lot s darkness fell and overwhelmed the area until you could finally make a break for home. When you would hope that the traffic had receded enough to move at a 30 mph clip on the aforementioned highways or the Garden State Parkway. 

That 1984 season produced my first home playoff win, as the Jets pounded the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card game. Only to bitterly end the season by losing at Cleveland in double overtime.

From 1984 to 1997, there was only one playoff appearance—a loss at Houston. 1996 might have been the worst year, with a 1-15 record. It was not a ton of fun going to the games during that stretch. 

Then there was 1998. Incredibly, this moribund franchise actually finished first in the AFC East, compiling a 12-4 record. The Jets romped over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional Game. The cold at the game was made bearable by the result. 

My euphoria increased when I won a season ticket holder lottery for Super Bowl tickets. The Jets went out to a halftime lead in Denver and I began to think, Florida, here I come as I consulted airline schedules while thinking of how far away I would have to stay to get to the Super Bowl site in Miami. 

That’s when my hopes and dreams were crushed. Final score: Denver 23 New York Jets 10. That would be the closest I would ever come to see my team in person playing in the biggest championship game. 

I’ve had my heart broken repeatedly by this franchise. The possibility of a domed stadium on the West Side of Manhattan where the Jets would be the sole tenant seemed to be surreal. It never became a reality due to the greed of politicians and the angst over the facility from community groups protecting the area, and  MSG head James Dolan’s  not wanting any competition from events merely blocks away from his building. 

The Jets experienced much success in the early part of this century. An AFC East crown in 2002. A pair of trips to the AFC Championship game—losses. The last loss—in Pittsburgh in 2011 to end the 2010 season, was the last playoff game this franchise has seen. 

There hasn’t been a home playoff game since 2002 when the Indianapolis Colts were shut out by a score of 41-0. That’s 22 seasons since I last attended a playoff game. I have never seen an AFC title game in any of the three stadiums the Jets have called home in this 49 year span. Let me repeat that: NEVER have I seen an AFC champion crowned in person. 

Of course there have been plenty of players and coaches whom I have liked. And maybe more whom I have never liked. Yet one of them has found the winning combination to even make it back to the Super Bowl after Joe Willie Namath boasted how his team was going to defeat the big, bad Colts from the NFL. 

I’ve had to put up with the superiority in New England during the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick years. As philanthropic as the owners of the Patriots are, I cannot stand to see the Kraft family gloating over another Super Bowl win or Belichick ’s smugness and I don’t see hope through the leadership of Jets owner Woody Johnson. 

Home games are in a sterile facility which does not have a roof because the cost would have been astronomical and the partners—Jets, Giants and New Jersey—couldn’t agree to that kind of expenditure without greater promise of recouping the money with Super Bowls and other events. Additionally,, there was the misplaced belief that the cold weather would favor the home teams in the late season and playoffs; a fallacy if I ever heard one. Why is it that all new stadiums seem to be designed with roofs? Kansas City, Chicago, Washington and Cleveland all have unveiled plans where games can be played inside when the weather isn’t cooperative or cold.

I thought this might be a promising year with a new head coach (former Jets DB Aaron Glenn) and new management. Plus acquiring the young QB Pittsburgh jettisoned (Justin Fields) to upgrade the offense.

However, a part of me worried that if I selected the season opener versus Pittsburgh, where former QB Aaron Rodgers landed, the Jets would find a way to lose. Which they did. 

So I took the second game—against a seasoned Buffalo team which hungers for an AFC title and a Super Bowl win. With the Bills eking out a late win over Baltimore, another AFC powerhouse, it made me foolishly think that the Jets could be competitive last Sunday. 

Dumb thought there. I should have known better. This a franchise which has compiled a 445-572-8 all-time record. The playoff record is 12-13. 

While NYJ was flat on Sunday, Buffalo converted its opportunities. 

Fan X, a loyal Jets fan like me, muttered about how there was no spark. He asked me when was the last time we saw the Jets win, given that we always go to an early season game (I think it was in 2017).

So here I am, holding onto what could prove to be worthless (and expensive) tickets for a number of remaining games, now that Fields suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s debacle. At least I didn’t choose to see the team play Denver in London on October 11, nor did I buy a seat license anywhere in the stadium. That is money better not spent. On the Jets. 

I want to see the team play on the road once—maybe this year or next. Because I am looking for closure as 50 years of being a season ticket holder fast approaches and I won’t want to schlepp to East Rutherford as I age and trips will be that much more difficult. 

Do I want the chance to freeze for an AFC title? Yes. But unless there is a dramatic change in the culture in Florham Park, it isn’t going to happen as soon as I would like.

I will be watching on Sunday when the team visits Tampa and old NYJ head coach Todd Bowles, a genuinely nice man whom I root for. QB Baker Mayfield won a game his team shouldn’t have won on Monday night in Houston. The odds aren’t in the Jets favor with backup QB Tyrone Taylor under center. 

I will take it one game at a time. Even if, besides Buffalo, the AFC East is a weaker division and the chances to win are ever present. 

I may have become accustomed to losing. I never said I liked it. I will wear my hats, jerseys, T shirts and continue to root for the Green and White. Maybe, after all of these years, I still haven’t realized that there are better things to do on a Sunday…Thursday…or Monday night in the Summer, Fall and into the cold weather. 

Unfortunately, such is the lot of a true Jets fan.

Can You Avoid Eye Strain?

  Once more, I open with baseball. I’m going to start with the New York Yankees. 

My first batter is Aaron Judge. New York Yankees Number 99. Played baseball at Fresno State. Was all-everything in high school. 

You might have heard that he broke the American League record for home runs. That he is a giant among his peers with his monumental size. Along with his quintessential leadership skills as the Captain of the winningest franchise in MLB history. 

Judge has hit more home runs faster than anybody. After slugging two balls over the fence versus Detroit as I write this blog, he now has 361 home runs. That is the fifth most homers in Yankees history after he passed Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra’s 358 round trippers and tied Hall of Fame outfielder Joe Di Maggio. 

Mickey Mantle, Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth are comfortably ahead of Judge—for now. Remarkably, this is the first time the order has changed on that illustrious list since 1957. 

Why am I a bit pessimistic about Judge this year? Since his torrid start of the season after his right flexor tendon injury, Judge hasn’t been quite the same player. 

His average has suffered; his batting eye is a little bit off; and his throwing speed has been questioned. All of which is not good for the team.

This is a highly flawed team. Detroit, the leaders in the AL Central Division, has exposed the lack of relief pitching and hitting. Scores of 12-2 and 11-1, with 12 total hits showed that when hitters like Anthony Volpe (benched and now nursing a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder), Ryan Mc Mahon (pinch hit for) and Jazz Chisholm, Jr aren’t producing, the offensive woes of Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Cody Bellinger become more pronounced. On Tuesday, NYY batters struck out 12 times and left 6 runners stranded. It was even worse on Wednesday when the Bombers struck out 13 times and left 18 runners on base. 

Yet in both games, the starting pitching by Will Warren and Carlos Rodon was more than acceptable and kept the team in the game until the seventh inning in both games. It was the bullpen which failed miserably—surrendering 9 runs before anyone was out in the seventh inning on Tuesday and 9 runs in the seventh inning and beyond on Wednesday.

The Yankees will be lucky to survive the next four games with the Tigers and then three in Boston, where the Red Sox would dearly love to pass its rival and secure home field for the Wild Card playoff games. Even games in Minnesota and Baltimore along with home games to end the season with the White Sox and Orioles are must wins. The precarious position the Yankees are in is made even more pressing by the surge of the Texas Rangers, 1.5 games behind Seattle for the final Wild Card berth.

So, with good starting pitching, this team needs to beat up on teams early and now hope that the leaky bullpen will stabilize just enough to secure wins. This may be wishful thinking. 

As my wife likes to say, the Yankees win when Judge is on. I agree. They cannot afford a collective slump from him, Bellinger, Grisham, Stanton, Ben Rice and Chisholm. Judge may not win the AL M.V.P. award with the performance of Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, Jr.

Anthony Rizzo was the Yankees first baseman last season. He slumped terribly, perhaps the result of concussions he suffered. A free agent for 2025, no team tendered him a real offer. So on Saturday, Rizzo is retiring as a Chicago Cub, at Wrigley Field, and is assuming a role as an ambassador for the team. 

Rizzo was an instrumental part of the 2016 World Series championship team. Although he ended his career in New York and became close with Judge and others. He should always be remembered for his exploits as a Chicago player. Good for him. 

This made me think of future Hall of Fame inductees and their loyalty. For instance, Giancarlo Stanton—will he be more prone to realize his greatest performances were with the Marlins even if he tops 500 home runs while a Yankee? What about Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander—they played for multiple teams—is Scherzer more a National than a Tiger and Verlander more a Tiger than Astro? How about Freddie Freeman—is he more a Brave than Dodger? What about current Yankee Paul Goldschmidt—Arizona or St. Louis? Manny Machado—Oriole or Padre? Too much idle time, I guess. 

A little ado over nothing in college football. ESPN College Game Day selected Knoxville for its broadcast this weekend. #6 Georgia travels to meet #15 Tennessee. Sounds fine to me.

Except that fans in Florida feel robbed. That’s because upstart #18 South Florida goes to Southern Florida to face #5 Miami. All well and good—I know that USF has beaten formerly ranked Boise State and Florida. UM has a defeat of Notre Dame on its resume. If USF defeats UM, then they could go undefeated and yet never have a chance of being on Game Day, since their schedule is not daunting. Oh well.

And enough of the clamor from Baton Rouge. Florida is now unranked, so that eliminates them from consideration. Besides, if South Carolina stays unbeaten as does LSU, October 11 would be a good bet for Game Day to visit. 

The Big Ten has some cute intra-state matchups this week. Ohio is at #1 Ohio State. The guys from Athens are 0-3 lifetime against the Buckeyes. And soon to be 0-4, unless they are better than expected after playing Rutgers tough on the road and defeating West Virginia at home. I don’t think Indiana State and #22 Indiana will be that close. Neither will Central Michigan at #23 Michigan, Villanova at #2 Penn State and Towson facing Maryland be close. 

The NFL started off with a bang. The Philadelphia Eagles downed the Dallas Cowboys, but only after a spitting incident. Star Eagles’ defensive lineman Jalen Carter was ejected before the game for spitting at Dallas QB Dak Prescott. His suspension was the loss of playing in the game and his fine was $57,222. What role Prescott had in this has never quite been defined. (In college, a Florida player was also ejected for spitting on a USF player this past weekend) 

There is no place for spitting at an opponent in any contest. No matter what is said. Keep your cool and then take out your anger during the contest. Similarly, when Baltimore QB Lamar Jackson was wrongfully engaged by a Buffalo Bills fan, he needed to step away. Just like the female fan in Miami who accosted the father of a young boy, berating him until he surrendered the baseball he had gotten in a scrum and gifted to his young son. We can do better. 

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell must be so happy after the way the games turned out on Week 1. Philly prevailed in a close contest on Thursday. The Chargers finally defeated AFC West nemesis Kansas City in Brazil on You Tube; the experiment drew 16.2 million viewers. 

On Sunday, Pittsburgh did just enough to defeat the New York Jets with a 60 yard field goal in the last two minutes of the game. Aaron Rodgers exacted his revenge. NYJ needs to circle the wagon, for tough division rival Buffalo invades Met Life Stadium on September 14. 

How good are the Jets and Steelers? It’s hard to say. Buffalo is the only team in the AFC East to start the season with a win, barely escaping Baltimore at home. Pittsburgh’s defense regrouped enough to stop the Jets when needed. A very good Washington team comes to Pittsburgh on Thursday night, which should measure how improved the Steelers are. 

Minnesota came back with a vengeance in the fourth quarter to down the Bears at Soldier Field. J.J Mc Carthy survived an early interception returned for a touchdown and led a Vikings comeback for the win. The guy has a tremendous winning record in high school, at Michigan and now is 1-0 in the NFL. I think the Vikings might be the sleeper in the loaded NFC North. 

There are a lot of good games on tap this weekend. Besides the Commanders-Steelers, Bills-Jets, the Seahawks go to Pittsburgh; Denver is at Indianapolis; a huge game between the Eagles and Chiefs is on tap—KC could go 0-2 and then what? And on Monday night, Tampa Bay visits Houston and the Chargers return to the US and meet the Raiders in Pete Carroll’s home debut. 

One NBA item of note. Kawhi Leonard of the Los Angeles Clippers is under investigation for a purported no show job arranged to circumvent the salary cap. For $28 million. Supposedly Leonard and his family tried to arrange something similar in Toronto when he was there and won the NBA title. If shown to be true, what will NBA Commissioner Adam Silver do to both Leonard and Steve Ballmer, owner of the Clippers?

The spotlight is on the NFL. College football has some nice contests, but it isn’t quite as glamorous right now. Baseball is still three weekends away from its regular season concluding. 

There is a lot to digest on TV. Can you avoid eye strain?