Okay, so I am an unabashed fan of Aaron Judge. And yes, I did get down on him a couple of weeks ago, wondering if he was just a fluke. All along I was hoping he was what I saw, a potential generational talent, a man blessed with tremendous size, strength and coordination.
Well, he is that kind of talent. I was reminded first hand on a hot, humid Wednesday night when we went to Yankee Stadium for the end of the homestead against the Texas Rangers. In his second at bat, Judge homered to right field, putting New York up 2-0. Later in the game, he played a carom off the wall and fired a strike to nail the Texas runner at second base. Judge also contributed a nice running catch to his nightly total.
Even if he had three strikeouts, Judge settled the game by himself. It is a rare player who leads by example, and has the full attention of his teammates. Judge now has 20 homers in an injury-shortened season. In the final 20 games, Judge believes he can hit another 10. If that happens, look out American League and the NL opponent in the World Series.
I have to make mention of Gleyber Torres. Seemingly every day he is breaking a record owned by Joe Di Maggio in Joe D’s youth. He is also making some fine plays on hard hit shots. Torres swings hard and tries to knock the cover off of the ball every at bat. His one downfall is the lack of effort at times—he coasted to first base on a ball hit to the Texas shortstop; had he hustled, he could have made the Rangers’ player hurry the throw. You never know. His talent is too great to waste on sulking.
In a game which defied explanation, the Mets surrendered a 6 run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning to lose to Washington in DC. The next day, the Mets came back to win 8-4. Talk about stars—Pete Alonso has 45 homers, and his sights are set on Mark McGwire’s rookie record of 49. I hope he passes it.
With their elimination this past Wednesday when the Cleveland Indians defeated the White Sox, the Seattle Mariners added another year to the longest playoff drought in North American professional sports. The Mariners have not been to the playoffs since 2001. The second longest MLB streak belongs to the Marlins, who haven’t made the playoffs since 2003. In the NBA, Sacramento currently has a 16 season streak; Buffalo has an 8 year span of not making the Stanley Cup Playoffs; and most pundits believe this is the year which the Cleveland Browns make their first appearance in the NFL post-season since 2002.
Last blog I talked about the Big 3 in men’s tennis being alive at the U.S. Open. As the round of 16 closed, only Rafael Nadal was alive. Both Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer seemingly had injuries which led to their downfall. This appears to be Nadal’s tournament to win, as he gets closer to Federer in all time major wins. It was fun seeing Tiger Woods in Flushing Meadows, fist pumping and encouraging Nadal.
I was glad that Serena Williams was headed towards that elusive and perhaps final Majors championship. There was high drama inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. In the end, Canadian teen Bianca Andreescu emerged the winner in a slugfest, one which she simply outgunned her opponent and withstood the solid American backing from the crowd.
I also made mention of the U.S. team in the FIBA World Championships. In the opening round, the U.S. avoided a colossal upset when Kris Middleton sank two free throws with .01 left in OT versus Turkey. The team may still be the best in the world, but it is nowhere nearly as dominant as in the past, due to the absence of the best U.S. players.
I will shelve college football for this week, because it is finally time for the NFL to begin its 100th season. With all of the off season drama, changes and the ongoing lunacy of Antonio Brown along with the megabucks signing of Ezekiel Elliot this week by Dallas, the training camps are in the rear view mirror and the games are for real.
Kicking off the season was a marquee matchup of two ancient teams—the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. NBC and Soldier Field was heavy with nostalgia to denote the occasion—the 1985 Bears Super Bowl champions ran onto the field; a vignette from Bears founder George Halas’s daughter; and some other fun stuff marking the heated rivalry. The visiting Packers went home a 10-3 victor due to just enough Aaron Rodgers leadership and too little from Mitchell Trubinsky for the Bears.
So, in honor of the 100th year of the National Football League, I am going to offer the three best players for each franchise, in no particular order as to the players, but organized by AFC and NFC Divisions. It might spark some thought from those who read this blog, although, outside of the persistent criticism of Fan X, I hear very little from my loyal readers.
Starting with the AFC East, I offer theses franchise players:
BUFFALO: Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas
MIAMI: Dan Marino, Larry Csonka, Jason Taylor
NEW ENGLAND: Tom Brady, Ron Gronkowski, Ty Law
NEW YORK JETS: Joe Namath, Curtis Martin, Darrelle Revis
Next up is the AFC South:
BALTIMORE: Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs, Ed Reed
HOUSTON: J.J. Watt, Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins
INDIANAPOLIS: Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Johnny Unitas*
JACKSONVILLE: Fred Taylor, Tony Boselli, Maurice Drew-Jones
- Unitas starred with the Baltimore Colts
Following the AFC South is the AFC Central:
CINCINNATI: Anthony Munoz, A.J. Green, Boomer Esiason
CLEVELAND: Jim Brown#, Otto Graham#, Joe Thomas
PITTSBURGH: Jack Lambert, Joe Greene, Troy Palamalu
TENNESSEE: Earl Campbell%, Warren Moon%, Steve Mc Nair
# Brown and Graham played on the Cleveland Browns team which became the Baltimore Ravens
% Campbell and Moon were members of the Houston Oilers, the Titans predecessor
Lastly for the AFC is the AFC West:
DENVER: John Elway, Terrell Davis, Von Miller
KANSAS CITY: Derrick Thomas; Tony Gonzalez, Will Shields
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS: Antonio Gates, Junior Seau, LaDainian Tomlinson
OAKLAND: Ken Stabler, Howie Long, Marcus Allen
Meanwhile, the NFC East goes like this:
DALLAS: Emmitt Smith, Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman
NEW YORK GIANTS: Lawrence Taylor, Eli Manning, Michael Strahan
PHILADELPHIA: Chuck Bednarik, Reggie White, Brian Dawkins
WASHINGTON: Darrell Green, Art Monk, John Riggins
For the NFC North:
CHICAGO: Walter Payton, Dick Butkus, Brian Urhlacher
DETROIT: Barry Sanders, Calvin Johnson, Dick Lane
GREEN BAY: Reggie White, Bart Starr, Brett Favre
MINNESOTA: Randy Moss, Cris Carter, Adrian Peterson
The top players for the NFC South are:
ATLANTA: Julio Jones, Deion Sanders, Tony Gonzalez
CAROLINA: Steve Smith, Luke Kuechly, Julius Peppers
NEW ORLEANS: Drew Brees, Rickey Jackson, Morten Anderson
TAMPA BAY: Derrick Brooks, Walter Sapp, Ronde Barber
Finally, the best in the NFC West are:
ARIZONA: Larry Fitzgerald, Kurt Warner, Patrick Peterson
LOS ANGELES RAMS: Eric Dickerson, Kurt Warner^, Marshall Faulk^
SEATTLE: Russell Wilson, Steve Largent, Marshawn Lynch
SAN FRANCISCO: Jerry Rice, Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott
^ Warner and Faulk played in St. Louis when the Rams were there
By no means is this necessarily the absolute, definitive statement about the best players for the franchises. There are plenty of arguments which could be made for some very fine performers who are or will be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. And there are some pretty fine athletes who may never make the Hall of Fame but who could enter the top three for their particular franchise.
Of interest are the players like Kurt Warner, Reggie White and Tony Gonzalez, who are in the top three for two different teams. Somebody like Deion Sanders could have also made the Dallas Cowboys’ top three. One kicker made the list—Morten Anderson of the Saints. There were a few linemen, a few defensive backs and linebackers, and a whole lot of running backs, wide receivers and quarterbacks who made the honor roll.
Guys like Sonny Jurgensen, Ollie Matson, Herschel Walker, Tony Dorsett, Don Maynard, Mike Singletary, Ray Nitschke, Marcus Allen, Champ Bailey, Buck Buchanan, Ray Guy, Bobby Mitchell, Lenny Moore, Bronko Nagurski, Ozzie Newsome and even O.J. Simpson could have made the lists.
There are plenty of current players who could invade the top three: Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Donald, Khalil Mack, Philip Rivers, Cam Newton, Alvin Kamara among others have distinguished themselves such that they may be worthy of a top three position. Plus there are rookies, second and third year players who can make the grade.
The fact is that the debate can rage on forever. For now, as the NFL turns 100, it is a great topic for discussion.
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