Autumnal Equinox

It has happened. The Autumnal Equinox took place mid-afternoon this past Wednesday.  Days are getting shorter. After the vicious line of training thunderstorms passing through New Jersey Thursday afternoon and evening, the skies are crystal blue and the morning temperatures were below 60 degrees. Perfect for an exercise walk before breakfast. 

This change in the atmosphere in late September is a harbinger of what is to come. I love the weather now, but I am fully aware that in a month or so daytime temperatures may not climb out of the 50’s and there could be frost on the pumpkins. And in less than 90 days, we experience the Winter Solstice. Then Christmas and New Year’s Day 2022. Perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. 

For the sports world, it is a crossroads time. Baseball is down to its final 9 to 10 games of the regular season. With very little decided. And a lot more is going to happen beginning today until the finale on October 3 (unless there are ties and more games must be played to set the playoff pairings). 

Here is what is certain: The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers have secured spots in the playoffs. The Chicago White Sox clinched the A.L. Central with a win over the Indians on Thursday. Milwaukee and Tampa Bay are also definitely in the playoffs. That’s it.

This leaves a significant number of meaningful game left on the schedule. And in some instances, the final playoff pairings may be decided on the last day of the season, or as I alluded to above, even beyond that date. 

Let’s examine where Major League Baseball stands entering the penultimate weekend. 

I will start with the N.L. West. It is simple. The Giants lead the Dodgers by 1 game. Both teams will surpass 100 victories this season, yet the one which finishes second is relegated to hosting the Wild Card game and could see its season go up in flames after one game. 

SFG has its final road series in Colorado starting on Friday. The Giants conclude the season with home games against Arizona and San Diego, the former mired in last place in the N.L. West and the Padres can be classified as the biggest disappointment in baseball while the Giants ascension may be the greatest surprise.

LAD has its final road series this weekend at lowly Arizona. Then they are home against the Padres and the team ends its season with Milwaukee in town for three games— which might be pivotal if the Brewers go on a losing streak and the St. Louis Cardinals continue to vanquish opponents—their winning streak had ballooned to 12 games as play began on Friday. The Cardinals need to overcome a 7.5 game lead by Milwaukee to win the N.L. Central. Highly improbable, but a month ago, no one really gave St. Louis much of a chance to make the Wild Card game.

Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the Cardinals have a 4.5 game lead over Philadelphia and 5.5 games over Cincinnati for the final N.L. Wild Card slot. What St. Louis has accomplished is great, but they haven’t clinched anything. Their schedule includes 7 games with the Cubs—while they are hated rivals, the Cubs are playing for very little right now. There is a three game series during the week with the Brewers, which could become interesting if Milwaukee stumbles this weekend. 

Did I just mention Philadelphia? Those Phillies came back on Thursday night to win big over visiting Pittsburgh. This places the Phils 2.0 behind the first place Atlanta Braves in the N.L. West race. 

The Pirates and Phillies met 3 more times this weekend. Atlanta has 4 games in San Diego, including the completion of a suspended game.

Obviously what happens this weekend is very important for the teams’ chances to win the N.L East. Then the Phillies and Braves collide for a crucial 3 game set in Atlanta beginning on Tuesday. Philadelphia finishes with 3 road games in Miami. The Mets come to Atlanta to end the season. Could this come down to the final Sunday?

Houston (insert your boos and hisses here) leads the A.L. West by 7 games over Seattle. The Astros will likely eliminate Oakland this weekend—the A’s are 9.0 games out with 9 to play. Seattle could be gone from the picture by Tuesday when they begin a series in Oakland. Their remaining games are home in Seattle and Anaheim with the Angels.

Which leads us to the A.L. East. Heading into Friday, Tampa Bay has a 6 game lead over Boston. The Rays have played to a 5-5 record in their last 10 games while Boston has been on fire with an 8-2 mark. The Rays host their in-state rival Miami for 3 games this weekend before ending the season on the road at Houston and Yankee Stadium. Boston starts with New York visiting Fenway Park this weekend, then goes to Baltimore and Washington to conclude the calendar.

While it is a long shot to believe that the Red Sox can catch the Rays, it is not impossible even if improbable. What is more concerning for Boston is the Wild Card. As it is for the Yankees and the Blue Jays. 

With 9 games left, Boston maintains 2.0 game over the Yankees. Their lead over Toronto is 3.0, which by mere mathematical calculations, places the Jays 1.0 behind the Yankees. 

This is a horse race for the two A.L. Wild Card spots. And I wouldn’t be giving great odds for any of the contenders. 

New York is suddenly resurgent with a 3 game sweep of the Texas Rangers. Aaron Boone’s squad is 7-3 in their last 10 games, although the 3 losses are to the Mets on September 12, and include 2 blowout defeats by Cleveland last weekend. 

The pitching looks healthier with the addition of two former starters, Luis Severino and Domingo German to what was a beleaguered  bullpen. Suddenly set up man Chad Green looked like his old self and closer Aroldis Chapman had fire in his eyes again. The starting pitching is not overwhelming and it is pressure time for ace Gerrit Cole to deliver in Game 1 at Boston. 

For at least this week, the slumbering bats have awoken. Again, it was lowly Texas as the opponent. 

To win, the pitching must remain solid and the bats must maintain their potency. Playing a rigorous schedule which starts with Boston, then on to Toronto before ending up at home with the Rays isn’t very helpful. 

The Yankees held their destiny in their hands merely a month ago when they managed that torrid 13 game winning streak. And they fell apart. So much so that they fell behind the Red Sox and Toronto is nipping at their heels.

Too many games lost that should have been wins. Too many games where either the pitching didn’t show up, tor he hitting didn’t show up, or both weren’t present. The Yankees put themselves in this unenviable position and now they are playing catch up with the schedule dwindling fast. At a minimum, they need to win 2 of 3 in Boston and then 2 of 3 in Toronto to give themselves a fighting chance to make the Wild Card game. Anything less puts the season in real peril and if the team desperately needs wins versus the Rays, that makes advancing even more problematic. Not very pretty. Especially for a tried and true Yankees fan like me and so many others. 

I went with Fan X to Met Life Stadium last Sunday to see the Jets and New England Patriots. Jets rookie QB Zach Wilson looked green, especially when he threw 4 interceptions to effectively take away any chance New York had to compete in this game, let alone win. It was ugly and, but for the company of Fan X, mostly unbearable.

Fan X was right—the Jets needed to keep he offense on the field and to do that, the running game seemed to be working. Instead, Wilson tried too hard to be heroic, and his efforts failed miserably. 

His counterpart on New England, Mac Jones, the less heralded rookie from Alabama (if coming from Alabama is a secret), played a more controlled game which incorporated short passes and that opened the field for him. The difference in approaches showed in the final score.

I can tell that Fan X wants Wilson to succeed. He is frustrated with the lack of wide receivers of any merit on the Jets, as he invoked the names of former starts like Wesley Walker, Don Maynard, Al Toon and Wayne Chrebet as standards of excellence. His comment that he’d have them play now, in whatever shape they are presently in, was comical but also a sad commentary on how bad the Jets are.

The stadium was about 70-75% filled on a gorgeous late Summer day. Unless the team starts to improve greatly beginning with this week’s game at the 2-0 Denver Broncos, there are not gong to be many opportunities for wins this season. The defense was adequate at times. They aren’t going to create enough turnovers to make a difference. And with the growing pains suffered by rookie QB’s like Wilson, Justin Fields in Chicago and Trevor Lawrence in Jacksonville, those franchises are going to have long seasons and they will be battling for high draft choices in the 2022 NFL Draft. 

I am tired of repeatedly rebuilding the Jets. I always continue to hope for the team to one day turn the corner. I repeatedly remind myself that the organization has had one Super Bowl appearance eons ago (1969). 

Tom Brady is gone from the division, plying his trade in Florida. Already, Mac Jones is looking like a capable successor, although I don’t see the Patriots as a playoff contender. Buffalo has Josh Allen, who is a very fine QB, and the Bills, angry from the home opening loss to Pittsburgh, went to Miami Gardens and demolished the Dolphins 35-0 and sending Tua Tagovailoa to the sidelines with an injury. 

In a weak division, the Jets are the weakest. Even with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tua out, I think Miami is a better team than New York. Could the Jets win both games against Miami, plus pick up victories against Atlanta, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Houston, Philadelphia and Jacksonville? As I heard repeated in court—anything is possible. Just not very likely with the Jets, currently the epitome of mediocrity in the NFL. 

Oh, and by the way, last year’s QB has his Carolina Panthers team at 3-0. Although they haven’t played good teams and two important players, including running back Christian Mc Caffrey, suffered injuries which will sideline them for a while. 

Was I afraid of COVID at Met Life Stadium? I wore my mask and social distancing was non-existent virtually everywhere. I would estimate that about 10% max wore masks inside of the stadium. Far too few. 

That is why I am almost relieved that it appears that Rutgers Men’s basketball is only offering partial loans in the 300 sections. Those are way up in the building and have no seat backs. My wife indicated a few years ago that to go to RU games, we had to have seat backs. 

What troubles me is that New Jersey has no crowd restrictions indoors, no proof of vaccination and no mask mandate. In researching our 2021-22 father-son hockey excursion, we saw that our destination in Calgary mandates proof of vaccination. Which allows us much more peace of mind. 

And which makes me happy to hear that the New York Knicks announced that the entire team is vaccinated. I hope they market that around the NY Metropolitan area so that those reluctant to be inoculated take heed and do the right thing. 

Don’t be a dolt like Andrew Wiggins, presently of the Golden State Warriors. He is refusing to be vaccinated and San Francisco requires proof of vaccination for large indoor events. Put the team first and earn that big paycheck accompanying your talent that ownership is willing to pay. It isn’t that difficult.

I will make some quick observations about college football. Rutgers is at Michigan this weekend. Minus two starting DB’s who were arrested in a paintball incident last weekend. They face second and third degree charges for this unfortunate escapade that injured 3 RU students. Head Coach Greg Schiano immediately suspended them indefinitely from the team.

What should have been a glorious chance for RU to possibly upset a ranked team on the road has a definite distraction. Behind QB Noah Verdal, the Scarlet Knights almost downed the Wolverines in Piscataway last season, losing in OT. 

One hopes that the team learned from that tough loss and knows that it can compete equally with a vaunted program like Michigan. Yet the spectacle of the two players acting immaturely reminds me of something a wise judge once said—that just because you turn 18 doesn’t make you any smarter than you were when you were 17 a day ago; it’s just that the Legislature made the penalties for being older much greater. 

I so want a big effort from RU this Saturday. I just don’t know if they are ready and the paintball suspensions are of no help. 

Franklin and Marshall won its first game shutting down Mc Daniel in Lancaster. Up next is a trip to Ursinus, who won on the road over then #8 Muhlenberg. Tall task for the Diplomats, who have number #18 Johns Hopkins in Baltimore next weekend. 

Everybody seems to be playing in college football. The NESCAC and Ivy League are back. 

Wisconsin and Notre Dame, 2 ranked teams, meet in Soldier Field in Chicago Saturday night. First time playing each other since 1964.

Old Southwest Conference foes Texas A&M and Arkansas, also both ranked and now in the Southeastern Conference, meet at the Dallas Cowboys home in Arlington, Texas. Arkansas is Cowboys owner Jerry Jones alma mater—he played football in Fayetteville. A&M is a Texas team likely to pack the stands. It sound exciting. 

While the WNBA is in its playoffs and NHL teams have started training camp, we are exactly where we need to be in the sports world—the Yankees and Jets notwithstanding. 

After all it is the Autumnal Equinox.

September Tidings

I am a lousy footbal lprognosticator. Which is why this past weekend, the NFL pool which I join my daughter in was horrible. That’s mainly because I don’t see what others obviously see. And which is why I don’t dare go into any fantasy teams in any sport—I would suck at that too.

My first error is always the most basic. I let my emotions carry me when I decide what to do about the New York Jets. A season ticket holder since 1977, I have seen only glimpses of good teams during my tenure. The present team isn’t one of those good teams. Nowhere near good.

Yet I went with the Jets over Carolina, because I thought that new QB “phenom” Zach Wilson was the real deal, and Sam Darnold, the former incumbent at Florham Park, was not going to get better. Wrong. 

Four years of work in the NFL has a direct effect on a QB of even modest talent like Darnold. Compared to a kid out of college, no mater how good his pedigree, one should go with the established veteran. 

Darnold needed a change in environment. The Jets were poorly coached during his time there, and the supporting cast was mediocre. Not that it is much better now. 

Also, Darnold benefits from having Christian Mc Caffery, the former Stanford stalwart, as his top running back and very able receiver. Wilson has no one of that caliber on his squad. Nor did Darnold when he was a Jet. 

The Carolina defense is bigger and quicker than the Jets defense. Wilson was harassed throughout the game. He made some good plays overall and actually brought the Jets within 8 of the Panthers.

In the end, there was too little firepower for the Jets, a very average defense and the Panthers were simply the better team. I kind of knew this but I wanted the new kid to win and give Jets fans some real hope. For at least until this week. 

That’s when the first of two games with the New England Patriots occurs. No matter how down a Patriots team might be—ergo last year’s squad which had Cam Newton at QB instead of the ageless wonder, Tom Brady—the Jets seemingly hardly ever beat the Patriots. 

New England leads the overall series 69-54-1, which dates back to 1961, when the pair were original members of the American Football League. Believe it or not, in 1999 into 2001, NYJ actually had a four game winning streak versus Bill Belichick and company. Otherwise, NE has a 33-8 record in games against the Jets, with a current winning streak of 10.

This is not your standard New England team. The Pats failed to make the playoffs last season. Now they are led by the highly touted rookie Mac Jones, formerly  of the University of Alabama and strongly recommended to Bill Belichick by his good friend Nick Sabin, the Crimson Tide Head Coach. 

In last week’s matchup of two great Alabama QB’s, Jones lost at home to Miami and Tua Tagovailoa by a score of 17-16. Tua went 16-27 with 1 TD and 1 INT. Jones put up very good numbers, going 29-39 for 281 yards and threw for 1 TD. 

Neither team is a world-beater. If the Dolphins and Patriots hadn’t played each other, the AFC East could have gone 0-4 in the first week. 

Yet I am picking the Patriots to beat the Jets this Sunday at Met Life Stadium largely on the lack of a credible running game for New York and a better defense for New England. Besides, I don’t think that NYJ is quite ready to break the winning streak of the Patriots. 

Since it is a divisional weekend, surpassingly 0-1 Buffalo travels to Florida to meet Tua and company. Buffalo was hands down the favorite of the experts to win the AFC East. Except nobody told the Pittsburgh Steelers, who came to upstate New York and convincingly defeated Kathy Hochul’s favorite team—yes, New Yorkers, your Governor attended the season opener in Orchard Park, as to quote her: “I love the Bills and the Bills are here to stay.” The last potion of her remark refers to the ongoing battle for a new stadium for New York’s only pro football team.

Anyway, despite the hype over QB Josh Allen and how well the Bills fared last year, I have picked the Dolphins to win their home opener. I don’t know that the AFC East is that good, and the winner could win maybe 10 games and afford to lose two early. 

Thursday night’s game involved the Giants and Redskins in the NFC East. 3 of 4 teams lost their opening games, with only the surprising Philadelphia Eagles coming away winners. Dallas played very well against Tampa Bay. The Giants were pathetic at home losing badly to Denver, a solid but certainly not spectacular team. Washington lost to the Chargers, a pretty good club, when aging QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, he of Harvard and the Jets among the plethora of teams he has led, suffered a hip injury. 

Daniel Jones and Saquan Barkley showed little last Sunday. With the short week and travel, I expected once more to see very little from Joe Jones’ team. 

Conversely, I can see the Washington Football Team in the hunt for the NFC East title—Dallas has already lost some key players and I don’t know how good the Eagles and Jalen Hurts really are. So I went with Taylor Heinicke and the WFT to win. It took until the final seconds, with a huge miscue by the Giants on a missed FG attempt, but the WFT emerged victorious. 

I didn’t pick Dallas to win because they journey to So-Fi Stadium to take on the Chargers. Every team in the AFC West (and NFC West too) won last week. I saw no reason to buck that trend. 

Similarly, I picked the Chiefs to win in Baltimore, largely on the fact that Patrick Mahomes II is undefeated in his career in September, the Ravens are desperate on offense and defense and QB Lamar Jackson is trying to do too much. I am also going against the Raiders, who downed the Ravens on Monday night, largely because of the 10:00 am start in Pittsburgh—and they are playing a very talented Steelers team. 

As an aside, way to go Derek Carr. The Raiders QB disputed the sacred “Immaculate Reception” by Franco Harris against Oakland as being complete. He belongs in the Kyrie Irving Hall of Shame—you recall that Irving related that the Earth is flat. 

I have also picked a lot of winners from last week to keep it up this week. The Saints won a “home” game played in Jacksonville against the Packers , with the maligned James Winston coming up big in a steamrolling of Aaron Rodgers and his Green Bay mates. 

Too bad Rodgers didn’t get the Jeopardy hosting gig; but he was out of his league compared to Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings, the current duo in charge of the iconic TV show. The bigger questions are whether Rodgers is losing it at age 38; does he want to play anymore in Green Bay given his acrimony with management; and is this a good GB team? I picked the Lions to win at Lambeau Field— Detroit is a better team with Jared Goff now out of LA and they gave the 49’ers a big scare in a comeback attempt last Sunday. Plus Detroit is 3-3 in its last 6 games in Green Bay, even if the Pack leads the series 104-72-7.

I also like Cleveland’s chances to bounce back against the Texans. Houston beat up on a bad Jacksonville team. I thought Trevor Lawrence would play better and Urban Meyer might succeed at the pro level. Wrong choice in selecting the Jags over the Texans. 

Likewise, I think the Rams and Matthew Stafford are a super team and will down the Colts in Indy. Joe Burrow looked good in an OT thriller win at home versus Minnesota; I think they are a better team than the home standing Bears. My upset special is Philly topping the Niners at the Linc; I am playing a hunch that the Eagles are better than people believe. 

I am going with the Cardinals over the Vikings in Glendale; I think that with the COVID vaccination issues and some spotty Kirk Cousins play at QB, Minnesota is going to struggle a bit. My last selection is Seattle over the depleted Tennessee Titans. Because Russell Wilson is that good.  

On ESPN2, the Monday Night Football game has an alternative telecast starring the Manning brothers. It is cutting edge stuff, deep in football, anecdotes, humor and humanity. Check it out this Monday night when the Lions and Packers meet—you might really like it. 

College football saw a fairly huge set this past weekend. Oregon rolled into the Horseshoe in Columbus and emerged the victor over a highly-touted Ohio State team. The Buckeyes had struggled the week before at Minnesota, so I guess that is no fluke. 

It is my opinion that the vaunted Big Ten is overrated. Match them against SEC teams and the SEC is going to win. I know that Auburn journeying North to Happy Valley is a rarity. But it is not too improbable that the Tigers will leave State College with a victory over a Penn State team which could win the Big Ten.

I saw that Texas A&M is a 27 point favorite over visiting New Mexico. I am following the Lobos, who were victorious over intra-state rival New Mexico State. I am not a bettor; yet I think New Mexico might give A&M fits, especially when they are looking ahead to the SEC schedule, which begins with a contest at #22 Arkansas. The #7 Aggies have a 41-10 rip over Kent State and struggled last week at Colorado, eking out a 10-7 win. 

Rutgers did win at Syracuse in an ugly game. This week Delaware, #7 in the FCS rankings, comes to SHI Stadium. This is the proverbial trap game for RU; the next game is at #25 Michigan. RU leads the series which began in 1901 by a 15-12-3 record. The two schools have not met since 1973, when the Scarlet Knights recorded a 24-7 victory. 

In the last 10 matchups, which covers a period from 1961 to 1973, the Blue Hens are 6-4. I remember how difficult it was for RU to down the David Nelson-Tubby Raymond coached teams. 

Head Coach Greg Schaino must have his team maintain their focus to win this battle. Delaware’s two wins are at Maine and at home versus St. Francis. After all, 9 FCS teams have beaten FBS teams, including Florida State inexplicably losing at home to Jacksonville State University the week after nearly upsetting Notre Dame. Be careful, RU. 

The Yankees are again punishing me. After losing the series to the Mets over the weekend, the team rebounded with late heroics in a makeup game against Minnesota on Monday, then won two in Baltimore. But they couldn’t win the finale, dropping a 10 inning affair after heading into the 9th inning with a one run lead, only to surrender the tying run on a wild pitch with a full count and 2 outs. 

There are 15 games left. Toronto is playing exceptional ball now that they are back in Canada. Vlad Guerrero, Jr. is leading MLB in home runs and batting average. He has a ton of runs batted in, too. I realize that Shohei Ohtani is the AL M.V.P. front runner for his incredible exploits. Guerrero is the one player, on a team which may make the playoffs, whose performance outshines Ohtani at the plate. Plus Ohtani has been shut down from pitching for the remainder of the season due to soreness. Don’t cede the award just yet to Ohtani. Look at the numbers.

The St. Louis Cardinals have come from deep in the pack to now claim an N.L. Wild Card spot for the moment. Suddenly red hot, the Redbirds are just ahead of NL Central rival Cincinnati along with San Diego and Philadelphia for the second Wild Card spot. The final series of the season puts the Cardinals at the Dodgers, with huge implications as to who plays where. LAD is still chasing the Giants and could conceivably catch them, although SFG has put together a 9-1 run to blunt the LAD 7-3 surge in the last 10 games. 

Things get kind of fun around now. Even if you are a Yankees fan wondering what the heck is going on. Football, college football and baseball. All together again.

These are September tidings.

I'm Back From New Mexico

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.