Hold Onto Your Hats, Sports Fans!

  I am going to open with baseball. Largely because I am seeing something unusual happening.

In my youth, the American and National Leagues each consisted of eight franchises. By the time I really became interested in MLB games, a number of those eight franchises had relocated. 

In the American League, the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City before ultimately residing in Oakland. The first Washington Senators franchise found a new home as the Minnesota Twins. Before that, the St. Louis Browns left town, finding a warm reception in Baltimore as the Orioles. 

National League teams which left their home cities were the two most important ones. The Dodgers vacated Brooklyn for the sunny climate of Los Angeles. The New York Giants flew West to San Francisco. Prior to that exodus, the Boston Braves relocated in Milwaukee. 

The other twelve teams stayed put. The Yankees were in the midst of dominating baseball, with the Chicago White Sox leaping in to win the league in 1959. Everyone seemed to be good in the National League except for the Cubs and the Phillies. Milwaukee split the World Series with the Yankees in 1957 and 1958. The Dodgers won in 1959. Pittsburgh downed the Yankees in 1960. New York came back to win in 1961 versus the Reds and 1962 over the Giants, before losing to the Dodgers in 1963 and Cardinals in 1964. 

What does this have to do with today’s MLB? In the National League, the perennial cellar dwelling Pirates, with the exception of the 1960 squad and some teams in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, are once more miserable. But the Braves, Dodgers, Phillies, Cubs, Reds and Giants are alive for playoff spots.

It’s little different in the American League. Baltimore, Minnesota and Boston are the only ones of the original eight above. 500. And it is unlikely that the Red Sox are going to make the playoffs. Cleveland, Detroit and the White Sox are way below .500. Oakland is just dreadful.

What I find interesting is that the two teams with the most World Series wins—the Yankees and Cardinals—are mired in last place. I cannot recall the last time this has happened to the two great franchises. Mentioning them with the dregs of baseball is unheard of. They only have themselves to blame. 

Also from my childhood, the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45’s came into existence in 1962. Both teams were abysmal. New York went 40-120 that year. The Mets righted the ship for improbable titles in 1969 and 1986. Owner Steven Cohen’s money got this season’s edition nowhere except in the cellar—just with more wins than the 1962 team.

It took Houston until 2017 to win its first. At least the Astros have remained really good (even if there may have been some cheating involved), as they won it all last year and are contending once more in 2023. 

College football started last weekend. Navy absorbed another punishing loss to Notre Dame—this time it was in Dublin where one would think the Irish have magic. USC showed it is strong on offense but the defense surrendered more points to San Jose State than it should. Don’t get your hopes up too high Trojans fans—Oregon and Washington could beat you and the teams left behind sure want a piece of you and UCLA as you say bon voyage. 

The rest of the collegiate world looks at the Southeastern Conference for guidance. How strong will Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and LSU this season? 

Those who believe Ohio State and Michigan are national title contenders forget that the Big Ten is a nice place to play traditional rivals and make some big TV money. Just not where a school can win national championships.  

Who knows where the ACC stands? They are making more news trying to decide about admitting Stanford, Cal and SMU (which the league Presidents supposedly have okayed). Those thinking that Texas might be a dark horse out of the Big 12 will find that next year the Longhorns will have plenty to beef about when in the SEC—they aren’t ready yet.  

For right now, the hatred of Texas by its Big 12 brethren is at an all-time high. Commissioner Brett Yormark implored Texas Tech’s head coach to “take care of business” with the Longhorns. 

University of Houston Head Coach Dana Holgorsen holds Texas and Texas A&M responsible for the Cougars not entering the Big 12 until this season, Texas’s last hurrah in the conference. This grudge goes back to the end of the Southwest Conference, for which Holgorsen says “those two (schools) are the specific reason why we haven’t been in the Big 12 the last 28 years. Screw them. They can go where ever they want. They don’t want us, and we don’t want them. So move on.” While Texas has won the last seven games between the programs, circle October 21st, the date when the rivals engage in Houston. Payback could be sweet.

There is a cute opener Friday night. Miami hosts Miami. That would be Miami (Ohio) playing Miami (Florida). An announcer’s nightmare. 

My wife and I are going to see Northwestern and Rutgers play on Sunday. The Wildcats were rocked with scandal over the spring and summer. Rutgers, a school which had 22 players on NFL teams during summer camps, needs to step up with a convincing win over a damaged foe in order to raise themselves to the next level—in the middle of the pack of the Big Ten. 

Franklin and Marshall, my alma mater, opens with local rival Lebanon Valley. This year will be interesting for the Diplomats; no more Susquehanna to fend off; only Johns Hopkins, Muhlenberg and Ursinus to defeat to make the NCAA’s. 

But what makes the season that much more interesting is the addition of three New Jersey Athletic Conference schools to the schedule as part of the cooperative venture between the Centennial Conference and the NJAC to offset the Centennial’s loss of Susquehanna, Moravian and Juniata. F&M plays Kean and TCNJ at home while visiting Montclair State. This seems like a step up in completion for the Diplomats. 

Saturday night in North Jersey was a big sports night. Mere miles apart, soccer superstar Lionel Messi and his Miami teammates invaded Harrison for a match with the Red Bulls. Meanwhile, at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, future Hall of Fame QB Aaron Rodgers made his pre-season debut for the New York Jets. 

Neither disappointed. Messi rested much of the game, to the chagrin of the throngs which paid outrageous sums of money to see him on the pitch. When he came in, the roar was deafening. And of course, he scored easily in helping Miami to a 2-0 win.

Rodgers played two series for the Jets. In the second series, he hooked up with last year’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Garrett Wilson on a beautiful scoring play. Jets fans salivated. 

The Jets went on to defeat the other tenant in the stadium, the New York Giants. An odd statistic came from that game. For the first time since 1969—and the two teams meet every pre-season—the Jets held a double digit advantage in the first quarter at 14-0. Maybe something really is different in Florham Park this season. When I drive by, the building seems to glow brighter. 

Let’s not get too silly. The AFC East, where the Jets reside, is a tough place to play. Buffalo and Miami have championship aspirations. New England may not be what it was when Tom Brady was there—but Bill Belichick hasn’t lost the ability to outthink his opponents.

There is defending champ Kansas City and Patrick Mahomes. Joe Burrow and Cincinnati, too. The Chargers are real good. There is a lot of competition for the playoffs in the AFC. Just because Rodgers looked good doesn’t mean anything once the games begin for real. Remember the last old Green Bay QB who came to the Jets—he didn’t win a title and he’s in a heap of trouble in Mississippi. 

Giants fans should temper their expectations as well. Philadelphia and Dallas reside in their division. Washington is no cakewalk. The 49’ers are strong, very much so once defensive stalwart Joey Bosa ends his holdout. The NFC Central could send multiple teams to the playoffs. 

Yes indeed—the NFL is shaping up to have a great season. Just like the boys at 345 Park Avenue in Manhattan and their TV partners would want. 

We have Labor Day in our sights. Football is upon us. Baseball is in the homestretch. Even the United States has put a good squad in place in Manila for the FIBA Championships. And how about the turnout for the Nebraska women’s volleyball game—92,003 red-clad fans in Lincoln’s Memorial Stadium, making it the largest crowd ever for a women’s sporting event. The US Open is into the middle rounds and Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic seem destined to meet once more while the comeback story of Caroline Wozniacki has made the women’s draw intriguing. 

It’s September. This is prime time for hurricanes. Both on the gridiron and in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. Hold onto your hats, sports fans.