Hopefully, Aaron Judge Hasn't Abandoned New York

It’s Thanksgiving. Time for turkey and overloading with food. 

It also is time for some NFL football. Three games. Pretty good ones, too. Resurgent Detroit takes on Buffalo at Ford Field. Because of the snowstorm which buried Orchard Park and the Bills’ home stadium, Buffalo actually played in Ford Field more recently than the home team, which went to the Meadowlands and walloped the Giants. 

This is no gimme for the Bills. Blessed with good field conditions inside the arena, the Bills pasted the Cleveland Browns. And with the New York Jets doing the unbelievable in losing to New England for the 14th straight time, there is a logjam in the AFC East. Idle Miami sits atop the division. Buffalo is second because it lost to the Dolphins. Suddenly, New England is in third because of the Jets’ ineptitude. New York slid from potentially being in first with a win over the Patriots, to now residing in fourth place.  

Buffalo can stake its claim to first place with a win. On Sunday, Miami hosts the lowly Houston Texans in a game the Fish should win. New England, fresh off of its gift win via the Jets stupidity, is in Minnesota on Thursday night. The Vikings had their heads handed to them at home by the Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota should be smarting from that embarrassment and would be expected to give the visiting Patriots a very rough time. 

The other game for Turkey Day is the Giants and Cowboys in the annual Dallas Thanksgiving Day game. Dallas is on the rise. The Giants looked challenged against Detroit, which isn’t as bad a team as their 4-6 record might suggest. Dallas is maybe the best or second best team in the NFC. New York has suffered some key injuries, and perhaps has played over its head thus far. A loss here imperils the G-Men’s chances to make the playoffs. A win puts them back into the NFC East title chase. This is a very important game for both squads. How many times will I be nauseated by shots of Cowboys owner Jimmy Jones happily cheering his team from his suite at AT&T Stadium? Answer: too many. 

Let me get to the Jets. A once promising season is now in tatters. Zach Wilson, drafted second overall just a few short years ago, played horribly again when facing Bill Belichick’s team. 

The defense was outstanding. Once more a play which could have changed the game went against the Jets. Unlike the interception touchdown at Met Life Stadium which was negated by a penalty, this near TD fumble recovery was ruled an incomplete pass. Two questionable calls. Both going against the Jets. Naturally. 

There was 00:20 left on the clock before the 3-3 tie could head to overtime. Jets punter Braden Mann needed to merely kick the ball away from the New England returner, and the clock would have run out and the teams could have resumed the battle in the OT. 

With the windy conditions, Mann was having difficulties. Instead of booting the ball away, it went right to Marcus Jones. In 15 seconds, Jones had eluded all of the Jets on the field and scored the winning TD with five seconds left. 

A mere observer would say that play was incredible. Except that the Jets are tied to the butt fumble by Mark Sanchez when he ran into his own teammate, allowing the Patriots to win a game they shouldn’t have. 

We just marked the tenth anniversary of that disaster with a new one. Which shouldn’t be surprising given the recent history with New England—the Jets snatching defeat from the arms of victory, has now lost 14 straight to its nemesis. And NYJ has sunk into last place in the AFC East, where almost all pundits had placed them at the beginning of the season. 

Wilson looked so lost out there. His post-game press conference, like the previous one versus New England, was bizarre. Head Coach Robert Saleh had seen enough with Wilson and is sitting him down this week when the Chicago Bears visit Met Life Stadium. 

Second-stringer Mike White, who has performed okay in limited action over the last couple of years, is now the number one QB. To me, this is a panic move. I may not like how Wilson has been playing or acting lately, but he has dealt with injuries and his growth has been slowed as a result. 

Nevertheless, if the franchise is to succeed, that success is tied to the maturity of Wilson. Yanking him from the starter’s role will do nothing for the team or Wilson. 

I have heard the rumbling that the team was not happy with Wilson’s putrid performance—he only threw for 77 yards and was a shambles in the pocket as he went through his progressions, never getting the ball to receivers accurately or timely. I get it. 

Maybe Saleh thought he would lose the team if he didn’t make this move. But just like the Giants, this team has way overachieved and the fact that both teams are still in the playoff hunt is way beyond expectations of both fan bases. 

Saleh and Brian Daboll the Giants’ first year coach, have been mentioned in the Coach of the Year conversation. Then again, Nick Siriani of Philadelphia, Mike Zimmer in Minnesota, and Mike McDaniel, the Yalie who is the head man in Miami, have all been discussed as possible winners. With seven games still remaining in the season, this will change. 

But the fortunes of the Jets took a tremendous hit on Sunday in Foxborough, a place of horrors for them. Chicago comes to New Jersey wounded—literally. QB Justin Fields, having a tremendous year, suffered a left shoulder injury late in the loss at Atlanta last week. He has been diagnosed with ligament damage in that shoulder. 

While Fields is optimistic about playing versus the Jets, this could turn out to be a battle of backups, as Trevor Simien could well start for the Bears opposite White. Doesn’t that sound delicious?

Whatever reasons went into Saleh’s decision to bench Wilson—maybe he didn’t want the QB to face the wrath of perpetually disappointed Jets fans when they take out their long term frustration encompassed in this latest disaster—it changes the dynamic greatly. Chicago is very weak on defense. Wilson could have had a good comeback game. The Jets could have vaulted themselves back into playoff contention with a win. 

With White leading the offense, things are much murkier. The future of the team and Zach Wilson is in limbo.

Yet in my 47 year tenure as a Jets season ticket holder, this is not uncommon. Somehow, the Jets have not had that leader to take them to the promised land like the great Joe Wille Namath did in 1969. Which is why he is revered whenever he appears at Met Life. 

I liked Chad Pennington. His career was shortened by injury. Sanchez was never the same after the fumble, and his fortunes plummeted, as did those of Head Coach Rex Ryan.  

This same spiraling appears on the horizon. Just when I thought there might be a glimmer of hope, a beacon of light which could free Jets fans from the playoff exile in which we have been entrenched, this time it is a bad punt which has once more doomed us. 

Evidently Zach Wilson, the next savior, isn’t that in the eyes of the team and the coaches. And probably Jets fans too. Not surprisingly.

Enjoy the football. Enjoy your turkey and the trimmings. Hopefully, Aaron Judge hasn’t abandoned New York. That could totally ruin the holiday. 

Football

  I didn’t watch a ton of football this past weekend. But what I did watch was beyond surreal in parts, and exciting for sure. And I am talking about both the collegiate and professional ranks. 

Sure, when the dust cleared for the colleges, the top four unbeaten squads remained that—unbeaten. Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and TCU. Ohio State and Michigan, square off next week, likely ending any playoff hopes for the loser, barring some miracles regarding Georgia and TCU, as well as the teams directly below them. In essence, the loser requires big time help to make the Final Four. 

Ditto for TCU. The Horned Frogs cleared a big hurdle when they downed Texas in Austin. Are they a championship caliber team? Hard to tell, because I believe this is a down year for the Big 12. The boys from Fort Worth still have to down Baylor and last-place Iowa State, then beat the team which finished second in the conference for the 2022 title. That group includes the aforementioned Baylor Bears, Kansas State, Texas and Oklahoma State. Not exactly world beaters, but nonetheless very capable of pulling off an upset. 

Returning to the Big Ten, the winner of the Buckeyes and Wolverines wins the East, and faces the winner of the West. That is somewhat complicated, as four teams sit with 4-3 conference marks and Wisconsin is 3-4. It is conceivable that Iowa, Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota along with Wisconsin could all end up with identical 5-4 records. I would love to see that tiebreaker system. 

I did see the conclusion of the Oregon-Washington game from Eugene. The Huskies handled the Ducks, jeopardizing the once-promising chances Oregon had to possibly invade the Final Four. In a scheduler’s delight, which will have the folks at FOX and ESPN very happy, the top four teams in the conference square off this weekend. Utah heads to Oregon, while USC travels to Pasadena to play UCLA in the Rose Bowl.

With this weekend’s game, USC has completed its conference schedule. Notre Dame comes to Southern California for the two teams’ regular season finale. Then there is the conference title match in Las Vegas, which could include the Utes, Ducks, Bruins, Washington or Oregon State if the sky falls. It still would take a lot to happen before the Pac-12 to reach the playoffs, with the four unbeaten ahead of them and a bevy of SEC teams still ready to pounce. 

What is certain is that Georgia plays LSU in the SEC Championship battle. LSU is surging, but they have a formidable final game at Texas A&M, no matter how poorly Jimbo Fisher’s team has fared this season. The Bulldogs travel to Lexington to take on Kentucky, then host Georgia Tech. Georgia should handily win the games, yet each is a trap for the Bulldogs as they set their sights on the Tigers and winning the National Championship.

So while we are in the next-to-last weekend of college football’s regular season, very little is decided and a whole lot can happen to change the current rankings and final pairings. With losses by Georgia or TCU, the whole fabric of the four teams in the playoffs changes. If you are a true college football fan, this is your time. 

And maybe I am a bit prejudiced here. I think the most underrated team is Alabama. I know that the Crimson Tide has two road losses this year—both on game-winning plays at Tennessee and LSU. By the margin of four points, Alabama could be 10-0 and potentially headed for a showdown with next door neighbor Georgia. Instead, Nick Sabin and his troops should get a nice New Year’s Day bowl game as a consolation prize. A down year in Tuscaloosa, which could at least be partially salvaged by whomping on Auburn in two weeks. 

I watched a bit of the Tide’s game at Oxford, where they came from behind and prevailed over a rough Mississippi team. Remember, Alabama still has the Heisman Trophy winner from last year leading the team at QB—his name is Bryce Young and he is one heck of a football player, one who is destined to make a lot of money in his future playing on Sundays. 

While I don’t have a vote in the Heisman balloting, I have my own clear favorite. He is Stetson Fleming Bennett IV, currently the quarterback for the undefeated and defending champion Georgia Bulldogs. 

His stats may not be gaudy. And he is undersized, listed at 5’11”. What he is is tough and talented. For without his leadership and play-making ability, Georgia wouldn’t have won the crown last season and wouldn’t be in position to win it all again. I watched him make a move last week versus Mississippi State where he faked the defender out of his socks en route to an easy touchdown. 

Nothing would make me happier than for this kid to win the championship and the Heisman Trophy to end his college career. Looking at him, he doesn’t possess the physique of a prototypical NFL QB-see the Mannings, Dan Marino, John Elway, all who would have towered over the diminutive Bennett. In fact, Bennett looks like he would be a great college offensive coordinator right now, with a future of becoming a very successful collegiate head coach some day. 

Yet I am reminded that while it was in a different era, another Georgia QB who was not tall, managed to make a Pro and College Football Hall of Fame career. Francis Asbury Tarkenton, a home boy living in Athens, matriculated at his hometown college and was a third round draft choice of the Minnesota Vikings. He was listed at 6’0” and he ran for his life and could throw the ball with tremendous accuracy. I am going to guess that Bennett and Tarkenton have talked about the things they have in common now and might in the future. 

I will just point out a few things more in the collegiate ranks. Check out the story of the Gallaudet University Bison football team. A school primarily for deaf students, the Bison has cowed its way into the Division III play-offs this season. While they have drawn Delaware Valley, ranked #8, this is a winning season. Gallaudet is know for the creation of the huddle due to the players impairments.  (The origin of the ball and stake calls in baseball is attributed to Gallaudet, too). Seeing them overcome so many obstacles, I am especially enthralled with the Bison—their long-snapper is 5’ 4”—I am taller than him!! Count me as a fan of the kids from DC this weekend and going forth. 

A couple of more college football notes. The Centennial Conference only sent one team to the Division III Playoffs. Perennial power Mt. Union remained undefeated with a desperation heave that bounced off a Baldwin-Wallace defenders helmet, resulting in a game-winning score. 

Ithaca defeated Cortland in a battle of the unbeaten for Cortaca Jug 2022, held at Yankee Stadium. An eye-popping 40,232 witnessed this event. Both teams made the NCAA’s. 

Williams beat Amherst in a battle of the under .500 NESCAC schools. The Colby White Mules ended a 4-5 season with a loss to Bowdoin College in the 133rd renewal of their ancient rivalry. Such a promising start ended in a dud. 

Yale’s win at Princeton gave the Tigers their first loss. The Bulldogs square off with Harvard in The Game, with the Ivy League title on the line with a Yale win; should they lose, Princeton can still be Ivy champs. So much to report. 

I know a lot happened with pro football, most notably the wild ending of the Minnesota-Buffalo game, the loss by Philadelphia to Washington on Monday night, and the surprise comeback by the Packers over the Cowboys. I could write a book on this wagon and the past weekend. 

Plus the World Cup begins in Qatar next week. The United States is not expected to get very far. My soccer fan friends says the USMNT uniforms are “disappointing.” Nonetheless, its players have the support of that noted English soccer coach from Kansas, Ted Lasso; there are billboards and full page ads in local papers for each player who made the squad. I bet that isn’t the case with Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese super star embroiled in a fight with his club team, Manchester United. (You should see the Peyton Manning Frito-Lay commercial regarding football/soccer-it’s hilarious)

Yeah, I know that Aaron Judge deservedly won the American League M.V.P. That’s great and I hope that the Anthony Rizzo re-signing is an omen for Judge’s return to New York.

However, this blog was about something else. Football.

There Is Always Yale

  I’m back from Atlanta. Not a minute too soon. I like the comfort of my home. 

On Friday, when we were in Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the amount of Tennessee fans resplendent in Orange and White was great. But the number of Georgia Bulldogs fans far exceeded the Volunteer faithful en route to Athens for Saturday’s game. 

Based on a very non-scientific algorithm, I had great faith in third-ranked Georgia prevailing at home over the visitors, then top-ranked in the polls. Moreover, given how the disparity was tilted heavily in favor of the ‘Dawgs, I believed that this would be not much of a contest. 

It really was not a very close game. The Bulldogs are vastly superior to Tennessee, and probably the rest of the SEC, as well as Ohio State, Michigan and TCU, the teams which followed them in this week’s BCS rankings. I expect Georgia to win out in the remainder of the schedule—the next two contests are on the road at Mississippi State and Kentucky, with the latter being the more formidable foe, before ending the season at home in the traditional match with Georgia Tech. 

TCU may not be number four for very long. While the Horned Frogs are 9-0, they have to play at #18 Texas this Saturday, with a road trip to ever-dangerous Baylor on November 19th, before concluding the regular season at home with the Iowa State Cyclones coming to Fort Worth. 

Tennessee, which dropped to the fifth slot this week, finishes up the home schedule this week with Missouri before traveling to South Carolina and Vanderbilt. Winnable games for the Vols as they seek to vault back into playoff contention. 

Second-ranked Ohio State meets Indiana in Columbus this weekend, then takes a trip to College Park to take on Maryland before the big game with Michigan in the horseshoe. The Wolverines, coming off a second half pasting of Rutgers after trailing at the half, are home to Nebraska on Saturday then host West leading Illinois on November 19 before going to Ohio State.

Alabama lost a close match to LSU on the road on Saturday night. I caught the end of the game, and it was a gutsy call by Tigers’ head coach Brian Kelly to go for the two point conversion and the win in overtime. LSU now has five wins over the Crimson Tide since Nick Saban, a former national championship winning coach in Baton Rouge, has been in Tuscaloosa. 

For now, LSU leads the SEC West. The Tigers have to play at Arkansas this weekend, which is going to be a tough test. Left on the schedule is a home game versus UAB before a clash with Texas A&M in College Station to close the regular season. 

For Alabama to reach the SEC playoff game versus Georgia, the Tide has to down Ole Miss in Oxford on Saturday afternoon then take care of business at home versus Austin Peay and arch rival Auburn and hope that LSU stumbles. It is a down year for Saban’s team in losses—two—but they have lost those games by a total of four points. 

I feel that Alabama would give Georgia a stiffer test in the SEC Championship game than LSU. If the Tide can get there. The winner of OSU and Michigan will prevail in the Big Ten Championship game and make the playoffs. The loser will go to a nice bowl game.

So Georgia and the Big Ten champ will be one and two in the rankings. A lot depends on who does what in the next three to four weeks to fill out the remaining two playoff slots. A wild card to this might be Clemson, but after their disastrous drubbing by Notre Dame in South Bend, I don’t see them making the Final Four. Ditto anyone from the Pac-12, where Oregon, USC and UCLA all sport 8-1 records overall, with the Ducks having the only unblemished conference record. 

It ought to be a real interesting time as college football winds down. As it should be. Of course, there will be a lot less speculation when the playoffs are expanded to include 12 teams in 2026. 

I liked that on our flight to Atlanta, with mostly clear skies, I could see the football stadiums of James Madison University, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Georgia State (formerly known as Turner Field, the home of the Atlanta Braves and the 1996 Summer Olympics). I also saw Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the home of the Atlanta Falcons, both from the air and while driving on I-75 & 85 in downtown Atlanta. 

Being true sports and weather geeks, we drove to see Truist Field, the new suburban home of the Atlanta Braves. Very nice. And not far from the site of the stadium was the home of The Weather Channel. A huge monument in my life. 

It made me think of what arenas I have seen in Atlanta. First off, we have seen the Peach Bowl in the former Georgia Dome. I attended a baseball game at Turner Field when the Braves played there. We have been to the Omni, the former home for the Atlanta Hawks and  the NHL Flames before they skipped town to Calgary. I have driven by the Hawks current home, State Farm Arena, as well as have been inside McCamish Pavilion, the Georgia Tech basketball coliseum, where the Hawks began their tenure in Georgia. Then there are the venues on the Georgia State and Georgia Tech campuses which remain from the Olympics. Not to mention Emory University, which hosted some practices in 1996. 

Atlanta is a strong sports mecca for the South. The SEC likes to hold its major championships there. The PGA and NASCAR make stops there. The WNBA has a team in town. The Peach Bowl is now a major bowl game. The Super Bowl periodically makes visits to the Peach State. Heck, there is a highway named after Braves’ Hall of Fame pitcher and 

FOX broadcaster John Smoltz. Plus there were girls’ softball and lacrosse tournaments in the area. 

No wonder I a number of Los Angeles Chargers fans returning after the team’s victory over the Falcons on Sunday afternoon as I awaited our return trip to New Jersey on Sunday night. There were a lot less college football fans in the airport on Sunday evening, and the line at the Avis desk for a car was a trickle compared to the 2 and 1/2 hour wait we endured on Friday, which forced us to skip lunch in order to secure our vehicle for the weekend journey to Alpharetta. 

Just a few other things to touch on. The Houston Astros won the World Series, dominating Philadelphia in the final three games, one of which was a combined no-hitter, the second in Series history. This was the best team in baseball. 

Now we can all turn to baseball free agency and sweat out what happens with 

Aaron Judge. It was nice to see that his wife ran the New York Marathon, rooted on by teammates Giancarlo Stanton and Anthony Rizzo, who opted out of his contract and whom the Yankees hope to resign. 

The Jets came back from the New England debacle and shocked the Bills, one of the NFL’s premier teams. Buffalo QB Josh Allen has suffered an elbow injury which places his season and the hopes of the team to win the Super Bowl in jeopardy. 

Don’t get too carried away, Jets fans. The road ahead is littered with difficulty. Away games at New England, Miami, Buffalo, Seattle and Minnesota are as tough a schedule as can be. Home games are a bit easier with Chicago, Detroit and Jacksonville at Met Life Stadium. The question is this: are this season’s successes true growth or merely a mirage?

We watched the Chiefs come back against Tennessee while on the plane and then in the comfort of our den. So much fun to watch the Chiefs, year after year. Andy Reid’s team is definitely in the Super Bowl hunt. 

        Kudos to the LA Galaxy for an exciting MLS Cup victory over the Philadelphia Union. Not such a great week for securing titles in Philly.

One last mention. Shockingly, Columbia defeated Harvard 21-20 in Cambridge on Saturday. With two blocked field goals, one of which caught the fingertips of a Lions player and  struck the left upright, Columbia secured its first victory in Harvard Stadium since 1995. A big win for a historically victory-starved program. 

The loss did not sit well with the followers of the Crimson. Oh well, there is always Yale. 

Pre-Bat Mitzvah Thoughts

  Early blog this week. That’s because  most of our family is headed to Georgia, my birth state, for a family bat mitzvah. 

That’s the place which seems to be the epicenter of the political and collegiate football worlds. And by the way, don’t look now, but the Atlanta Falcons, led by the suddenly rehabilitated Marcus Mariota at quarterback, are in first place in the NFC West with a 4-4 record. They are actually favored to win on Sunday, when Atlanta hosts the Los Angeles Chargers, a disappointing team which many had picked to be in the Super Bowl. Matt Ryan, it seems like Falcons fans hardly knew you—and now you are a casualty of a generous contract which would pay you handsomely for 2023, which Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay has made clear he doesn’t want to pay up on. 

Yes, I will be many miles away from Albany, where I last visited in February. By and large I will be in Alpharetta, a northern suburb of Atlanta, provided my escape isn’t too traumatic from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, merely one of the busiest airports in the world. Georgia traffic can be very unkind on any day, but especially on Friday afternoon. 

But the focus will be on a game on Saturday about 50 miles east of downtown Atlanta. The suddenly resurgent Tennessee Volunteers head to Athens, Georgia to take on the Georgia Bulldogs. 

In the first BCS poll, Tennessee, largely based on its monumental win at home over the Alabama Crimson Tide, sits in first place. Most polls had Georgia and Ohio State at one and two, Not so, says the BCS, as Georgia has tumbled to the third slot.

While initial polls are hardly going to reflect the final one, it is noteworthy that Georgia, at home and defending between the hedges, has even more motivation to put Tennessee in its rightful place—behind the Bulldogs. Almost everything will come to a stop on Saturday around 3:30 EST when the two SEC powerhouses clash. 

As you may know, a former Georgia student running for U.S. Senator has been in the news. Republican nominee Herschel Walker, football royalty in the Peach State, is trying to take the seat currently held by Reverend Raphael Warnock. ‘Dawg Nation is very proud of their adopted son, Walker, a Heisman Trophy winner, as he attempts to unseat his Democratic opponent. I am sure that if I watch the game on Saturday, the CBS broadcast will be saturated with commercials for the two candidates and for Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp as they once more vie for the governorship, held by Republican Kemp. I wouldn’t be surprised if I see former President Donald Trump on the screen, touting his former New Jersey Generals star running back. Ditto for the probably smaller audience checking out the Falcons-Chargers game. 

The bigger question for this trip is something which arose at my 50th college reunion at Franklin and Marshall two short weekends ago. Will there be pigs in blankets or am I going to see more grits than I want to?

Before the big game on Saturday, we might have a World Series champion. With a rainout forcing the game schedule to be compressed, either team could be in position to walk away with the trophy. 

Many are surprised at how the Philadelphia Phillies, the team which virtually snuck into the NL playoffs, seem to be dominating the Houston Astros with home runs. That appears to be out of the New York Yankees playbook—crush your opposition with the long ball. Some have called them the South Philly Bombers, which is a little sarcasm thrown at the Bronx Bombers, who could not compete with the Astros and weakly went out in four games in the American League Championship Series. 

Could it be that the Astros, even while winning their previous series handily, might be a bit deflated? Or could it be that the Phils have a could-care-less attitude and nothing seems to faze them?

Whatever moves them, the Phils became a very formidable opponent for the vaunted Houston team, an offensive juggernaut with some pretty fair pitching. The two best-known bats in the Phillies lineup, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, are big boppers and they are leading the attack. With the rain delay, the Phillies were able to even more favorably align their pitching rotation, which seems to throttle the hard outs in the Houston batting order. 

Then there are the fans. Rowdy, loud and mean. So much so that two eateries refused to serve the Astros when they tried to order food. As one of my favorite comedians, Rodney Dangerfield, used to say on The Tonight Show, “Tough crowd!” I would think he would say that even the girls in Philly hit like guys. 

Which might not be far from the truth. We had a woman at the Public Defender’s office, a daughter of a Philadelphia cop, who was an All-American defender at Johns Hopkins in women’s lacrosse. While I liked to joke with her, may she rest in peace, I was always careful to not offend her lest she level me. Based on that sort of mentality, I bet Houston cannot wait to leave for the safe confines of South Texas.

Philadelphia fans face a major dilemma on Thursday night. Game 5 of the World Series is on at 8:00 pm. Airing directly opposite is the Eagles-Texans contest on Amazon Prime. What a rarity—teams from two sports clashing on the same night and it’s a Thursday. Can you imagine the fights which could break out in area bars as to which game should be shown? 

Thankfully, the Sixers and Flyers are both off—the proximity of their arena to the Phillies ballpark would have been a nightmare. And the NFL fortunately scheduled the Eagles to be away, although I seriously doubt that anybody on Park Avenue in NFL HQ really believed that the Phillies might be hosting the Astros in the World Series. 

It is bad enough that the baseball season is ending in November. Luckily, the nights have been mild thus far in the Northeast. I don’t like it, and I don’t know if the schedule will be different next season, unaffected by the strike which caused the 2022 season to start late—and added a couple of playoff berths, to the great benefit of the the Philadelphia Phillies. 

A lot of noise has been generated about Daniel Snyder, the embattled owner of the Washington Commanders, enlisting Bank of America to solicit offers for the team. Then there is Kyrie Irving, the Nets’ guard who has squarely placed himself in the line of fire for his support of an anti-Semitic film. Two boorish individuals who deserve all of the criticism which heads their way. 

The debacle in the tunnel last Saturday at Michigan Stadium which both Michigan State and Michigan used was ugly. Eight Spartans have been suspended for their role in this horrific scene. Previously, trouble was brewing in the same tunnel when Penn State and Michigan players congregated. 

Something like this should never have happened. Staggering the use of the tunnel could have avoided this unseemly mess. Certainly the Michigan State players were wrong. So, too, is the University of Michigan to blame for not better policing the area and to not let the teams meet in such a confined space. The Wolverines come to Piscataway, where the same kind of situation exists at SHI Stadium. Let’s hope all have learned a sad lesson from this mess. 

Such are my pre-bat mitzvah thoughts.