Arenas and Stadiums

There were a few things which struck me as odd, and a few things which seemed to be normal. I guess that is to be expected in the sports world as it heads towards Thanksgiving Day.

Arenas and stadiums are always a hot topic for me. First, the New York Islanders just completed a 13 game season-opening road trip, necessitated by the construction delays at the gleaming new UBS Arena at Belmont Park. The Isles finished the trip a tad under .500, which isn’t bad for a team without a home game in a compressed schedule due to Olympic participation by NHL players in February. The 5-6-2 record garnered 12 points, positioning them in last place in the Metropolitan Division. In comparison, the 3 top teams, Washington, Carolina and the New York Rangers have 25, 24 and 23 points, respectively. Philadelphia, the New Jersey Devils and Columbus maintain above.500 marks in equal or fewer games played. Only Pittsburgh sports a below .500 record in the division, and the Penguins have had major injuries to their stars. 

While the Islanders have suffered their share of injuries, the prospect to rejoin the hunt after this protracted stay away from home is encouraging. The reward for the early season away games is that a whopping 25 of the next 32 contests will be on Long Island (and that is very technically Long Island, because the building is right by the Cross Island Expressway, which is the border between New York City and Nassau County). Through the end of December, the longest trips they make are to Detroit and Ottawa, which are very short hops out of La Guardia. 

This will help the team get adjusted to their new surroundings on game days. They will still be practicing at the NorthwellHealthIC located in Eisenhower Park. And for the fans, there is a new Elmont LIRR station to shuttle those fans who come by train from Long Island and the City and beyond. 

UBS Arena is a state of the art building. It will have all the new bells and whistles that one would expect, especially in the New York market. But it will have sight lines and a roof that will be reminiscent of the Nassau Veteran Memorial Coliseum, the team’s home except for some already-forsaken games at the Barclays Center, the home of the Brooklyn Nets, a building designed for basketball and concerts, not hockey.

I have been to the Coliseum 5 times—having seen the Canadiens, Capitals, Red Wings, Rangers and Devils play there. It served its purposes for me—for three of the occasions  I was either seeing somebody who lived on the Island or met somebody who was going to be married out there. I persuaded my wife to go to the Coliseum to see the Rangers, and my son and I drove to Uniondale on a Saturday for a 1:00 game for which we barely got to our seats in time. 

Because of the way Barclays Center was promoted, I had no desire to go there to see hockey. For that matter, I have very little desire to go there to see basketball. 

Since my interest in sports began when I was 7 years old, there have been many arenas and stadiums dotting the landscape in the New York Metropolitan area. The Nets have been in at seven places—the vagabonds of the area. I never made it to the Commack Arena or the New Jersey Armory in Teaneck. Yet I have seen them at the Rutgers Athletic Center and the Brendan Byrne/Continental Airlines Arena. Just not at the Barclays Center or the Coliseum. 

The baseball and football teams have gone through a number of buildings in their day. With the New York Football Giants, they have played at the Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium, Giants Stadium and now Met Life Stadium. The Jets have the same stadiums, swapping out Shea and Yankee Stadiums. Yankees fans have sat their fannies in three Yankee Stadiums and spent two uncomfortable years at Shea while the renovations to Yankee Stadium were completed in the 1970’s. Mets fans endured the ravaged Polo Grounds for two excruciating seasons until Shea Stadium rose up in Queens, adjacent to the 1964 World’s Fair site in Flushing. I do not lament  not having seen the New York Giants play at the Polo Grounds nor the Brooklyn Dodgers at ancient Ebbets Field before the teams departed for California. 

Hockey and basketball in New York were centered at Madison Square Garden, first on 8th Avenue and West 49th Street, before migrating to its present spot above Penn Station, with one renovation in its fold. The Knicks played some games at the 69th Regiment Armory on Lexington Avenue when the Garden was booked; that practice ended in 1960. I did not make it there but I have driven by with a bit of awe that the Knicks, lousy as they were in my youth, played games there.

And the Devils came to the Meadowlands to share the arena with the Nets. When the parties believed that the facility was too antiquated, the Prudential Center in Newark was born. Even the Nets made a pit stop there from 2010-2012. 

But the UBS Arena intrigues me. Probably because it is the last arena I foresee being built for professional teams in this market in my lifetime. Everything else is new or reconditioned. I am not counting soccer in this discussion, nor tennis. The U.S.T.A. is not about to move out of their cozy arrangement, and the Red Bulls have their own place in Harrison; I don’t see N.Y.F.C. moving away from their owners, the Yankees.

Am I happy about the way the new properties look? Nope. Met Life angers me every time I enter, because the Giants refused to allow a dome to cover the building. Frigid temperatures await the meaningless Jets home games starting this Sunday with Miami and that continue until January 2 when Tom Brady comes to New Jersey to torture his pets. Seat licenses which mean very little, ugly gray seats, parking and train hassles up the wazoo. The list is seemingly endless. And don’t get me started on convicted and disgraced former NY politician Sheldon Silver, who didn’t get enough graft to allow the Jets to have their own building over the West Side train yards. 

Citi Field is nice but already looks a bit antiquated. The newest Yankee Stadium is a mausoleum—a monument to the late George Steinbrenner in its grandiosity. It’s beautiful, but it’s more the centerpiece of the event, rather than the ball game itself—augmented by outrageous prices attendees would possibly need an adjustable rate mortgage to afford. 

So UBS Arena is the promise to the future for the long-starving Islanders faithful. It is a $1.5 billion private investment, with optimistic goals of projecting $25 billion into the regional economy, along with the first newly constructed L.I.R.R. station in over 50 years. 

So if I have made it to Islanders games in the midst of Nassau County over the years, in rain and ice, cold and warmth, why not try a game there? There could be a lot worse places to see the Devils play a road game—my upcoming trip to Calgary in March might be just one of them, or that our trip to Winnipeg that might fall in the dead of winter comes to mind. 

All this euphoria is contrasted with the recent name change at the Superdome, from Mercedes-Benz sponsorship to that of Caesars. Way to promote gambling outright. That wasn’t enough. 

What really got me was the announcement that the Staples Center, the home for the Lakers, Clippers and Kings, will now become crypto.com Arena, for a mere $700 million. This company has aggressively promoted the new wave in currency for the next ten years. We’ll see. Does anyone remember Enron Field, a.k.a. The Ballpark at Union Square, Astros Field and now Minute Maid Park in Houston? 

Good luck, Islanders fans. You have a beauty to behold. And the team will right itself. You will sooner than later get out of the 40 year slump which has lasted since the glory days of Trottier, Nystrom, Bossy, Potvin, et. al. 

Enjoy the first game and the pageantry when Calgary come in on November 20 to kick off the new era in Long Island hockey (the Flames are a great pairing; the Long Island and Atlanta franchises joined the NHL together in 1972).

LA fans, you’ve been sold out. But what’s new about that? Evidently history means little in Southern California. Only a matter of time before Dodger Stadium gets a name that erases its past. As a commercial on New York radio many years aptly stated: “Money talks, nobody walks…”

Off until the weekend of December 10th. Enjoy your Thanksgiving!! Stay safe!!

Smart People Outsmarting Themselves

Since I published my previous blog I have done a lot of thinking. I will try to be smart about my thoughts.

I put myself on the IR. Due to my own cheapness and stupidity, with a slice of stubbornness thrown in. So I am taking the blame here. 

I tweaked my hamstring walking last Friday. I have tried twice to wear my running shoes for a normal 3 month period, since it is difficult to track my real daily mileage in the footwear. Both times I have been woefully unsuccessful at finding a point where I can comfortably switch to new Asics or Brooks shoes and not suffer an injury. 

Part of the reason for the injury is my being chintzy. We all know that running shoes aren’t the P.F. Flyers or Keds we grew up with. Nike didn’t become a multi-billion dollar industry with a magnificent campus in Beaverton, Oregon by catering to longevity in their products. In layman’s terms, sneakers ain’t cheap. 

Had I recalled my last brush with injury by trying to get every last mile out of my running shoes, I would have avoided this situation. Instead of four pairs of running shoes a year, I would have to buy six. $250 buys athletic tranquility and here’s that word again: longevity. 

That is enough to cringe over. What I did afterwards was further stupidity, with that touch of bullheadedness. 

Of course, when I felt the twinge, I didn’t stop the walk. Can’t do that, lest I don’t derive the full benefit of the workout, nor could I maintain that really good physical shape I had rounded into via exercise and diet. Gotta have those 10,000 steps a day. 

Go and elevate and ice the leg—not so fast. Aleve, Advil or Tylenol—nope; I had my booster shot coming on Tuesday and I worried that this could affect the results. I learned afterwards that taking Tylenol would have been fine. 

So I took most of the weekend off, walking a half mile on flat ground at a very slow pace on Sunday. That had been recommended by my Physical Therapist friend. 

Come Monday, I decide to walk a bit and go to the gym. The walking seemed to be okay. But near the end of my workout, I felt the twinge come back. Did I stop or did I complete the workout? I am a Sperber male, so the question is completely rhetorical. 

After my Moderna COVID booster on Tuesday, I walked a mile with just a small twinge. I should have rested, because the aftereffects of the shot floored me. At least it forced me to just do simple chores and cook on Wednesday, even if that involved some walking. 

I felt better on Thursday morning and walked 1.5 miles, then worked out in the basement with lighter weights and cords. Not good. Once more, I felt the uncomfortable feeling originating in the back of my upper R thigh. I completed my workout. 

On Friday, I dared to walk another 1.5 miles. Which I gutted out, as the pain came early into the walk. 

What have I learned? To stop walking. Which I will do. To elevate the leg and to ice it more often. And to contact a doctor on Monday for further evaluation.  

Nothing like taking seven days to figure this out, considering this is not my first rodeo with leg injuries. Especially considering that I graduated from a prestigious liberal arts college, went to law school and became a member of the New Jersey Bar. Which shows what native intelligence really does for allegedly inherently smart individuals.

Exhibit #2 is everybody’s favorite truth teller, Aaron Rodgers. The Green Bay Packers QB is set to return this Saturday from his COVID respite. Maybe a tad bit chastened, and certainly $14,000 poorer as the result of his stunt. 

Rodgers is smart. His football IQ is off of the charts. What he has fallen prey to is his intelligence burnishing his massive ego, while putting others at risk for infection and the serious consequences which could follow. 

I saw what the booster did to me—putting me in bed and giving me a 101.5 temperature as my body tried to adjust to the antibodies. From that snippet of interaction with COVID 19 in terms of its magnitude—and I am in very good shape—anyone who mistakes the severity of the consequences of an infection isn’t getting it right. 

When Rodgers went to an unsecured and unauthorized Halloween party knowingly unvaccinated, he abrogated the trust of his teammates. For which there were consequences, which included a loss at Kansas City to a surprisingly average Chiefs team. 

There are rules. And then there are rules for the others. Rodgers placed himself into that latter category based on his intellect and football acumen. Evidently the Green Bay brain trust made those other rules, in avoidance of clear NFL mandates and protocol, to assuage their disgruntled superstar. 

I would want to believe that these are very smart people. Yet collectively, what did they care about being smart? 

Thus I have little use for Rodgers and I won’t be rooting for the Packers to make the playoffs or go very far in them. Because they haven’t learned from their mistakes. I can identify with that.

Finally, the college basketball season tipped off this week. There were some good matchups—George Washington and Maryland played a close game—these teams should be regulars on each other’s schedule. Duke beat Kentucky and Kansas defeated Michigan State in battles of heavy weights. 

For every good offering, there were mismatches. Why did Princeton, a notoriously good Ivy League basketball school, or for that matter a notoriously great college, play Rutgers-Camden, a Division III school whose notoriety was once having had the longest college basketball losing streak at 117 games? Maybe a better opponent would have been Cal Tech, owners of a past 310 game SCIAC losing streak—the Tigers would not necessarily have been the smarter team on the court despite the lopsided score that would have eventuated. 

On the opposite side of the ledger were schools like Virginia, a pretty fair academic institution, inviting Navy to Charlottesville and losing. Arizona State, coached by Duke All-American Bobby Hurley, had UC-Riverside, not a national powerhouse, come to Scottsdale, where the visitors sank a game-winning 70 foot shot, shocking their hosts. UC-R is now ready to take on La Sierra (who?) In their home opener.

Even Rutgers, a legitimately good Big Ten team, looked to bring in a cupcake in Lehigh, picked to finish in the cellar of the Patriot League. RU escaped with a three point OT win.

All examples of smart people outsmarting themselves. When all they needed to do was get off on the right foot. 

"Misty Watercolor Memories..."

A lot to write about in this later-than-normal blog. Thank you to my editor, who has returned from a sabbatical but could not edit earlier due to a robust schedule involving grandchildren and other social obligations. 

Before I get to the rapid fire review of the week and where sports is right now, it is time for another stroll down memory lane. When I first thought about this episode in my life, the beautiful theme song from the movie The Way We Were, sung by the incomparable Barbra Streisand, came to mind. 

Picture a 21 year old Washington Semester student at American University/congressional intern (now unpaid, unlike my more lucrative summer gig for my Congressman) living in a sports-wild city where the sports editor of the prestigious paper in town, The Washington Post was a guy named Shirley. (You might have heard of his son, Maury Povich and Maury’s bride, Connie Chung) Which reminds me of the line in the movie Airplane, uttered by the late Peter Graves when called that name. I digress. 

So the Congressman made it known earlier in the year that he had season tickets for the-then Washington Redskins. You might now know them as the Washington Football Team; so many supporters have been known to scream the team’s initials out loud in anger when the WFT sucks once more. 

He approached me in the first week of November and asked me if I wanted his ticket for the home game against the Philadelphia Eagles at R.F.K. Stadium, a memorial to the slain U.S. Senator and Presidential candidate. As much as I had my adult friends in D.C. and the college guys in the Washington Semester, I still was starved for entertainment. There is only so much diversion that repeated trips to the Smithsonian, visits to the monuments, or walks around the city can provide. 

No, D.C, Maryland (but not near Baltimore where the Colts were kings) and Virginia was Redskins territory. R.F.K. was packed to the brim, full of throaty fans cheering on their charges. After all, sports was really two teams—the Redskins and the Senators, and the latter had fled town after its September 30th game, which I chronicled in an earlier blog. 

My lack of hesitation to the Congressman’s inquiry couldn’t have been too obvious. I was going to an NFL game. But not just any NFL game. To see the Washington Redskins play. Because the Redskins were quite good, playing in the NFC East. 

Washington had come out of the gate with five wins in a row. They were derailed by the Kansas City Chiefs on October 24, losing 27-20 in KC at the old Municipal Stadium (I had actually seen Municipal Stadium the one time my father drove through Kansas City on one of our cross-country trips. It was green, small and didn’t compare to the temple I knew—the old Yankee Stadium. 

The Redskins downed the New Orleans Saints the next week t raise their record to a very nice 6-1. A young QB from Mississippi named Archie Manning played unspectacular in that contest. You might have heard of his sons—they host an alternative version of Monday Night Football on ESPN2. Oh, and his grandson Arch is the hottest recruit in the country. 

This set the stage for the game I was going to. The 2-5 Eagles were coming to town. Ed Khayat was the Philly coach at the time—I bet a handful of readers would recognize his name. 

Meanwhile, Hall of Fame Head Coach George Allen was  guiding the home team. Allen went 67-30-1 in his time at the helm of the team. This was a star-studded group, unlike the Eagles. NFL fans were quite familiar with the names Kilmer, Larry Brown, Dowler, Jefferson, Alston, Hauss, and Snowden on offense. The defense, the pride of D.C., included luminaries like Mc Dole, Sistrunk, Talbert, Biggs, Pardee, Pottios, Hanburger, Fischer; Bass, Petitbon and Owens. 

But I will give Philadelphia credit for the kicker—at east in name. “Happy” Feller from the University of Texas. That made the Redskins kicker Curt Knight sound ordinary. 

Up unit a few days before the game, the Washington fall weather was still warm. Then, with a swift burst of rain and wind, that was over in the overnight of November 7th. 

The day dawned cold and windy. I was given access to the Stadium Club with the seats. I was also told that I needed to be in a blazer since I was in a Congressman’s seat. 

I had done football statistics for F&M for three years. There was a game at Muhlenberg to end the season. It was cold. It was gray. And unlike our rickety old press box above Williamson Field at F&M which had some basic heaters inside, the Muhlenberg press box lacked any amenities. Especially heat. 

So I hadn’t quite grasped the concept of layered socks, long johns, gloves or even hand warmers and a hat. Which led to a painful sunny day in the shade—I was seated in the baseball press box in the second tier, and the wind whipped through the stands, tossing aside wrappers like they were—-hot dog wrappers. 

I recall the game time temperature being 42 degrees. There was plenty of sun. My research did show that the wind averaged 20 m.p.h. And the change in weather affected the outcome. 

Billy Kilmer was the Washington QB. He was a good game manager, having come from the single wing offense his college team, UCLA, had employed. In the wind and the defense that the Eagles put on the field, Kilmer tossed 4 interceptions, to the utter disgust of the fanatics dressed in their Indian headdresses and other paraphernalia. He went 12-24 for 153 yards with 1 TD. His opposition at QB, Rick Arrington and then Pete Liske, threw for 124 yards and 1 TD along with 1 interception. 

Bill Bradley and Tim Rossovich, defensive backs for the Eagles, were Kilmer’s tormentors . Bradley had two picks while Rossovich had one. The last Bradley interception sealed the fate for the Redskins. The game would end in a desultory 7-7 tie, with the Redskins scoring their TD in the middle of the final stanza. The tie was the only tie Coach Allen had in his time on the Washington sideline. 

That would be the last NFL game I went to until my sister and I secured Jets tickets in 1977. I have thus learned how to dress in tons of layers for cold weather games—I have two upcoming with New Orleans and Jacksonville visiting Met Life Stadium. It may not have been the coldest game I have ever attended—the honors go to a 1978 game at Shea Stadium with Dallas and a 1985 game versus the Chicago Bears at Giants Stadium—both in December and both Jets losses. But I learned my lesson from this game—no more dressing chic and trying to warm up in the Stadium Club—my seats would not allow me that pleasure. 

Let me continue with quick hitters. Speaking of the Jets—when overnight sensation QB Mike White went down with a wrist/hand injury, the Jets, despite a run with Josh Johnson under center, really had  no answer on defense for the Indianapolis attack. 

Is there a QB controversy with the Jets when Zack Wilson returns as soon as the Buffalo game on November 14? Will Head Coach Robert Saleh go back to the big investment with Wilson, or is he willing to risk his luck with White, who looks so comfortable with the Jets offense? With the defense that is on the field, now minus Marcus Male in the defensive backfield, whatever way he goes won’t be as wrong as it will be right. Remember—there are 4 QB’s in the fold—Wilson, White, Johnson and Joe Flacco, a panic pick up from the Eagles when there were doubts about the capacities of White and Johnson. 

Sticking with the NFL—the Aaron Rodgers controversy is as stupid as it can be. Rodgers is demeaning to all intelligent people—and he counts himself among the elite intellects. He is costing his team, tarnishing his reputation and he will be punished as much as he will be applauded. Like I have heard repeatedly about Kyrie Irving—he made his decision and he has to live with the consequences. 

Rodgers even belittled Irving with the “world is flat” comment. I know the man aspired to be the Jeopardy host. I know that Mayim Bialik is catching a ton of flack for her hosting the show—could Rodgers replace her? Wait-no!! You have to be vaccinated in California to be in that kind of environment. Which protects people who choose to attend.

Another miscreant—Ben Simmons—is back in the Sixers dog house. He has had psychological issues and he needs to see a professional. Except he won’t share that info with the team, see team doctors, or report to the team. So GM Darryl Morey is maintaining his stance and docking Simmons again—to the tune of $360,000 per game. The money goes into an account, potentially payable when he rejoins the team.

Simmons wants out. His leverage is weak. The team has gone 7-2 in its first nine games. This is proof that the Sixers are not in desperate need of his defense and ball handling. 

I say let him sit. Let him sue for his release. 

Let him bargain like Odell Beckham, Jr., the former star WR for the Giants and Cleveland Browns, whose father posted video of QB Baker Mayfield not throwing to him when Beckham was wide open. 

Beckham is another WR with talent who thinks more of himself that his talent represents. Terrell Owens comes to mind—gifted but a wild erratic personality. 

Whatever happens with Beckham will never be sufficient for him. I just don’t want him on the Jets. He would ruin the bruised ego of Wilson and affect White greatly. 

I should point out that backup QB’s did quite well last week. In addition to White—Denver and New Orleans won without their starting QB’s. 

And I must pay homage to Colts RB and emergency QB Tom Matte, who passed sway this week. The former Ohio State QB nearly won the NFL title when the great Johnny Unitas was injured. Matte was the first to wear a wristband with plus written on it—now commonplace int the NFL. 

The Giants had a scare.. 11 positive COVID tests. A second round proved all but one to be false positives. Finally something right for the G-men. 

This weekend, the NFL has arranged for teams which met previously in a Super Bowl to face each other. In addition to Jets-Colts, there is Green Bay-Kansas City; Dallas-Denver; Titans-Rams; and Patriots-Panthers. Good job, NFL. 

By the way, the 45-30 score of the Jets-Colts game was another number that hadn’t happened before. The Jets have been involved in two of those new scores this season. 

Some love for the Atlanta Braves. That would be the World Champion Atlanta Braves. Deservedly so, taking out the vaunted Houston Astors in six games. I watched some of their victory celebration. The teammates begged the GM, Alex Anthopoulos, who missed games when he contracted COVID despite being vaccinated, to sign now-free agent Freddie Freeman, the heart and soul of the club to a new deal. Which he should do.

Brett Gardner is a now a free agent. Is this the end of the line for Gardy—with the Yankees—or will he retire?

Buster Posey retired. The San Francisco catcher won 3 World Series crowns, a N.L. M.V.P. and N.L. Rookie of the Year. His name is mentioned with the greats at catcher—Bench, Berra, Campanella, Piazza, Fisk. A sure shot Hall of Fame inductee. 

College football of note. Army owns the Commander-in-Chief Trophy with a triumph at Air Force. Rutgers squelched bowl talk for the moment when Wisconsin came to SHI Stadium and won 52-3. 

Lehigh won its first game by a convincing score at Bucknell. There is hope for the Mountain Hawks in two weeks when they meet arch rival Lafayette, a big loser on the road at Holy Cross. 

Princeton’s dream undefeated Ivy League season came crashing down in Hanover, New Hampshire on Friday night when the Dartmouth Big Green whomped the Tigers. Harvard rebounded from its oozing ways and demolished Columbia in New York. Yale outscored Brown. 

Dartmouth and Princeton sit tied for the league lead with Yale. Dartmouth has Cornell and Brown left to play. That’s easy. Princeton has Yale at home then Penn on the road. Yale visits the Tigers then hosts Harvard in The Game. This is Dartmouth’s title to lose.

In the NESCAC, Williams handled Wesleyan at home. This sets up the chance for an unbeaten season when the Ephs travel to Amherst to face the Lord Jeffs. In a nice twist, Maine rivals Bowdoin and Bates played on Saturday evening at 5:30. There may be a bit more drunkenness in Brunswick this weekend as a result. 

Ithaca, with a 14-11 loss to R.P.I. on its record and with a win over a ranked Union squad today, will face arch rival S.U.N.Y Cortland next week, hoping to drop the Red Dragons from the undefeated ranks. It’s always a match with something on the line when these two rivals meet. 

I had a spy at the Johns Hopkins-Dickinson game in Baltimore. He gave me scores as I fed him F&M scores. I chose the word fed for a reason—he was duly impressed with the pre-and post-game spreads provided by the Hopkins football parents. 

For the record, Hopkins won easily, F&M clung to a 14-10 victory at Moravian, and league-leading Muhlenberg disposed of would-be-title-pretender Susquehanna in Selingsgrove. I still see Hopkins and Muhlenberg making the NCAA playoffs if they win out. 

A moose warning was sounded prior to the Dakota Marker game between South Dakota State and North Dakota State. I hope the moose behaved before caught, or there would be another marker for this game. 

Lebron James is now out with an abdominal injury. Time seems to be catching up with him. Sadly. I miss his play and histrionics. 

Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, along with the Miami Heat and Utah Jazz are the only one loss teams left in the NBA. It’s early. I went to bed on Friday night with the warriors playing horrendously and ahead only by 4 at the half. The final result was a 41 point win. Jordan Peele has played outstanding ball; I hope that when Klay Thompson returns, Peele maintains this level of performance. 

College hoops begins this week. Rutgers now has signage at the RAC. The building is now named Jersey Mike’s Arena. At last, some decent food in the joint. My wife still is mad at AD Pat Hobbs for banning outside food a couple of seasons ago.  

“Misty watercolor memories…”