Two more baseball icons have died. COVID-19 is starting to affect major college football. The Lakers are World Champions. Baseball plods on to its conclusion—with the World Series set to start next week. And there are just over 2 weeks left until the voters finally decide who will lead this country for the next four years.
So what am I upset about? For starters, my alma mater, Highland Park High School, a once great football power, was scheduled to come to Springfield on October 16 to face the homesteading Jonathan Dayton Bulldogs. A matchup of two smaller programs struggling to achieve wins. Except that the game was canceled. Thankfully, because it rained very hard on Friday, and even with the artificial turf, it would have been a big mess.
I am guessing that HPHS is not playing fall athletics due to the coronavirus. With my birthday 9 days away, it would have been so much fun to watch my school against my kids’ school. Just a five minute walk away from my house. Sigh.
What else am I upset over? Try my perpetual angst with the New York Jets. This team is horrible. Really horrible. While dispatching malcontent and manipulative Le’Veon Bell to find a new location to play (Kansas City) is a good thing, the talent level is not enhanced by the move and the salary cap hits absorbed by the team hurt.
NYJ is in the running for the top spot in the NFL Draft, with the prize being Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence. After 5 games played, they have company in Atlanta and the Giants, who also sport no wins on their resume. Typical for the Jets would be to lose out the remainder of the season yet lose the chance to get Lawrence to another team by a coin toss gone awry.
The Jets schedule has been altered by the virus. This week they are in Miami instead of playing the Chargers in LA. The plane ride is shorter, but the outcome will be the same. Furthermore, Joe Flacco will be under center, with the regular starter, Sam Darnold, still ailing from the hit he took to his right shoulder in the Denver game. Pundits are already circling the Jets, advocating that the team should trade Darnold now, perhaps to the Indianapolis Colts, where the team can get multiple 2nd and 3rd round draft picks in return.
Sportswriters and sportscasters are blaming the triumvirate of Head Coach Adam Gase, GM Joe Douglas and temporary managing owner Christopher Johnson, standing in for his brother, the current Ambassador to Great Britain, Woody Johnson. Sure, the previous GM, Mike Mccagnan was bad. He gave the coaching reins to Gase, who cannot reach his players. All with ownership consent.
With oodles of free cap money to lure free agents, who wants to come to the dysfunctional New York Jets? Can this group change the mindset around the league that the Jets are a bad team to play for? Will it take a draft choice like Lawrence to turn around the franchise like Hall of Fame QB and Super Bowl III guarantor, Joe Willie Namath, the one megastar star in team history, and exciting established starts to come join the rebuild?
When they face the Dolphins on Sunday, the Jets will be decided underdogs to Miami. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who was more than serviceable before the decision to go with Darnold was made, has looked more than good enough in leading the Dolphins to a couple of wins, including a blowout of the 49’ers in California last Sunday—a team which humiliated the Jets in Met Life Stadium. I see a woeful result in the offing.
I can empathize with Giants fans. They so desperately are trying to make something out of nothing, first with old and mediocre GM Dave Gettleman and new Head Coach Joe Judge, who is less than ready for prime time NFL coaching. With star RB Saquan Barkley out for the year, there is little to look forward to. QB Daniel Jones, seemingly always running for his life with no offensive line protection, makes bad, hurried plays as a result, which kills drives.
Have no worries Giants fans—your division is the absolute worst in the NFL and it does not include the Jets. The Cowboys, saved by former Bengals star QB Andy Dalton salvaging a win over the G-men in Texas when Dad Prescott suffered a gruesome ankle injury, have the most wins. Philadelphia isn’t too good; Carson Wentz may be gone before the boo birds of Lincoln Financial Field are back in their seats after the pandemic ends.
And Washington has no real QB—Alex Smith’s heroic comeback from his horrific leg injury culminated in his playing when Colt Mc Coy was injured and Highland Park native Dwayne Haskins has been a bust. The Washington Football Team, WFT for short, though I am sure that their fans have turned the initials around just slightly when describing the team, is actually an underdog to the Giants this Sunday. Only in 2020 could this happen in the once formidable NFL East.
Let us not forget COVID-19. Atlanta had to close down its facility, placing Sunday’s game in Minnesota in doubt. This comes in a week when the coach and GM were fired. Plus there is another doubleheader on Monday, the result of the rescheduling havoc Tennessee created with its COVID-19 troubles.
Speaking of Tennessee, they dismantled the previously undefeated Buffalo Bills on Tuesday night in Nashville. QB Ryan Tannehill has looked so good since relocating from Miami to Tennessee. Probably because he was rid of former Dolphins Head Coach Adam Gase, who did not like Tannehill very much. This would be the same Adam Gase, currently head man with the Jets. Perhaps there is a pattern here—Gase can take a talented QB and make him look really bad and destroy his confidence in the process.
While The Titans looked very much like a potential Super Bowl team, everyone’s darlings, the Kansas City Chiefs, were upset by a determined Las Vegas Raiders team, which won at Arrowhead Stadium for the first time since 2012. Jon Gruden’s team was so excited with the very deserved win that the buses circled the stadium twice in an impromptu victory celebration before heading to the airport.
Not quite time to worry about the Chiefs. The loss to division rival Las Vegas coupled with an OT win in LA against the struggling Chargers may be a trend. We need further study and results to reach a conclusion. Let’s see how they fare in Buffalo on Monday night in a game of redemption for both teams.
A couple more NFL pieces. The Patriots, who were to see the return of QB Cam Newton and RB Steven Gilmore from the coronavirus, shut their facility down on Friday with the onset of a new positive test. This places their rescheduled Sunday contest at home versus Denver in question. The Colts have re-opened their facility after re-tests on initial positives came back negative. For now, the Colts’ home game with Cincinnati is a go.
SEC notes for this week center around COVID-19. With an influx of positive tests, the LSU at Florida game has been postponed. Same is true with Vanderbilt at Missouri.
#3 Georgia at #2 Alabama is the highlight of this weekend’s schedule. Except that legendary Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban and the AD both tested positive for the coronavirus. Hopefully they will be okay. How this will affect the Alabama team, now led by former Washington and USC Head Coach Steve Sarkasian, remains to be seen.
All totaled, 31 contests have been postponed or canceled due to COVID-19. Besides the two SEC tilts, Oklahoma State at Baylor, Cincinnati at Tulsa, FIU at Charlotte and Southern Mississippi at UTEP are off this weekend.
With the second wave starting to hit in full force, expect this number to increase. Plus, beginning next weekend, the Big Ten and Mid-American Conferences start play and in a couple of weeks, the Pac-12 joins in. What the college football landscape will look like in November is anybody’s guess, even if the signs are pointing downward for a full slate to be played.
The Lakers coronation happened on Sunday night. A tired and overwhelmed Miami Heat squad finally could not keep up with the better team. Lebron James won his fourth M.V.P. trophy, leading Los Angeles to its crushing win. The dedication of the win to Kobe Bryant and his daughter was beautiful.
I don’t root for James when he plays the Warriors or Knicks. I wanted to see the Heat win, but I knew that this was nearly impossible. He is the best player in the game—even now at age 35, a veteran of 17 tough grinds in the NBA. James has led 3 franchises to championships: Miami, Cleveland and now LAL. Have all the debates you want about whether he or Michael Jordan is the NBA G.O.A.T. Definitely the two best ever to play the game. Possibly the most important for the pro game, although Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kobe and Shaq, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul Jabbar among others demand consideration with Jordan and James.
So bye bye, basketball. No NBA until at least January 18. Where is TBD. COVID-19 and a vaccine will likely make the call on how the NBA proceeds.
Right now, I have no real clue as to what is happening with college hoops. We know it is a shorter season upcoming, but no one has released a schedule. By this time, my Rutgers ticket rep would have contacted me. Not this season. No fans are destined for the RAC right now, if the basketball season even starts. Plus, even if tickets were available, that is a non-issue for me, just as it was for me going to Jets games if a crowd was permitted.
Tampa Bay rocketed out to a 3-0 ALCS lead on those dastardly Houston Astros. But Houston and its stars have awoken and have made this a possible 7 game series. I hope they aren’t cheating their way to victory once more.
The Dodgers were considered a shoo-in for the NL title. This is the team which won the most games in the shortened 60 game schedule. Someone forgot to inform the young and hungry Atlanta Braves. LAD’s hitting has been either great or horrible. They managed to come up with a 5 run 9th inning in Game 2, which still resulted in a loss. Then LAD torched Braves pitching for 15 runs, including a post-season record 11 run 1st inning to win Game 3. Atlanta responded with its own offensive outburst to emphatically take Game 4 and grab a 3-1 lead. Either the Dodgers’ bats awaken, or this will be a long off season to contemplate what went wrong.
Finally, MLB lost two icons. Edward Charles Ford, better known as Whitey to the legions of Yankees fans and baseball aficionados, die at the age of 91 last week. The Yankees are prominently known for their hitters in the Hall of Fame. Ruth, Gehrig, Di Maggio, Mantle, Jackson and Jeter are synonymous with Yankees baseball. As far as pitching goes, there are two revered names—Ford and Mariano Rivera.
In my youth, Whitey Ford was the best post-season pitcher. He may have cheated by scuffing the ball, but he sure was crafty and a winner. The nickname “The Chairman of the Board” aptly suited him as much as it did crooner Frank Sinatra another ’50-’60’s legend. It was a pure pleasure to watch him down opposing batters while compiling win after win.
Old Timers Day isn’t going to be the same without Whitey, Yogi, Joltin’ Joe, the Mick. My childhood Yankees heroes have gone on to baseball heaven. The games must be something up there.
Joe Morgan died this week at age 77. Maybe the best second baseman in the game, he combined power, speed and defense in helping the Big Red Machine Cincinnati teams of the early ’70’s to 2 World Championships. A 2X M.V.P., 10 time All-Star and 5 time Gold Glove winner, he played with the Reds, Astros, Giants, Phillies and A’s in a career which stretched from 1963 to 1984. Famously, Morgan, a lefty winger, was known for his unusual “chicken flap” with his left arm, a timing mechanism which undoubtedly helped his hitting.
To a whole lot of others, Morgan had a fine broadcasting career, starting in 1985 and ending in 1990. He called many national games for NBC and ESPN. Morgan astutely analyzed the action, with a no-nonsense approach. He will be missed.
With all that is going on in this country and in the microcosm known as sports, how we yearn for normalcy, which is hardly in sight. Which is why, begrudgingly, I accept Hal Steinbrenner’s apology to the fans for the Yankees not winning the World Series again and apply it to everything that is going on right now. These are unsettling times.
No comments:
Post a Comment