Suspensefulness

  Remaining in the afterglow (my first reference to Taylor Swift, who performed this song) of our son’s wedding and trying to regain some sense of normalcy, the first sporting event I watched was the Kansas City Chiefs visiting the New York Jets on Sunday Night Football. Far be it from NBC, who owns the rights to the broadcast, and the National Football League, which controls everything regarding its product, to not capitalize on the presence of Swift, merely the hottest singer/performer on the planet, as she cheered on her beau, Travis Kelce, at his job. That job happens to be in the NFL as the best tight end in the league, catching passes from probably the best quarterback in the league, Patrick Mahomes II.

Heading into the game, the hype about the romantic duo far exceeded the hype for the actual game. The press had a field day tracking Swift, as she ate in Manhattan with friends and Brittany Mahomes, Patrick’s wife. For his part, Kelce dined with teammates in Manhattan. 

The paparazzi noted that Kelce emerged from Swift’s Manhattan digs early on Sunday morning, rejoining the team at its hotel in New Jersey. I can only assume that the pair wanted some private time to reflect on what has been happening with their relationship. 

Both separately made it to Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford in plenty of time for the game. Swift was in New York Giants’ owner John Mara box with other celebrities. Kelce was confined to the field and the locker room. And not to despair, Donna Kelce, Travis’ mom and who Swift had giggles with in KC the week before, made it up from Philadelphia, where she sat next to “Jake from State Farm” (for the record, he eats chicken tenders with ketchup) and cheered on her other son Jason, a pretty fair center for the Eagles. For the record, Philly won in OT over Washington, which probably meant that Ms. Kelce had to scramble a little to make it up the New Jersey Turnpike. 

`Moreover, the Jets had a surprise celebrity visitor who addressed the team on Saturday night. Injured QB Aaron Rodgers flew in from California, was on the sidelines for warmups and was shown grimacing in owner Woody Johnson’s box when things weren’t going right for the team. 

Oh, yeah—there was a game to be played. A mere formality, it was presumed—Kansas City would romp over the offensively challeged Jets, which no longer had Rodgers at the helm, and relied upon Zach Wilson to lead the offense. Wilson had looked like anything but a better player in games against Dallas and New England, and his performance versus Buffalo was just okay. 

It sure looked like that rout was on when the Chiefs stormed out to a 17-0 lead. Until the wheels began to fall off the bus for the defending champs. Coupled with a number of mistakes and uncharacteristic throws by Mahomes, KC looked very vulnerable—even with the outstanding running from New Jersey native and Rutgers star Isiah Pacheco. 

Wilson and his mates capitalized on those errors and the defense did its part—and the game was tied 20-20. In fact, the Jets missed a 52 yard field goal at the end of the first half which clanged off the right upright and which would have crept the Green and White closer to its foe. 

Mahomes threw another interception on an ill-advised throw. New York could actually win the game. Except that there was a dubious pass interference call on Sauce Gardner which baffled most everyone except the official who called it. Kansas  City retained the ball and own the game. 

While Wilson had a really good night, he made a costly turnover in the fourth quarter when he fumbled a snap. This led the the winning KC score. 

NBC got what they wanted—ratings. Swift, Mahomes and Kelce got what they wanted—a win. Wilson received an apology from legendary Jets QB Joe Namath, who had ripped Wilson’s previous efforts. 

But Jets fans received nothing more that a glimpse into the potential of Wilson, who now faces an undistinguished Denver team looking to make it two straight victories after a come-from-behind win over hapless Chicago (I know the Bears ended its 346 days of futility with a 40-20 defeat of Washington on the road). Which Zach Wilson shows up on Sunday will largely determine if there is a faint chance that the Jets can compete the remainder of the season. 

Because the teams ahead all are capable of beating New York, with the possible exception of the Giants, who had their own misery the next night when hosting Seattle. We shall see. 

Of course, the question still persists—will Swift make it three straight games on Sunday when the Chiefs travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings? Stay tuned. 

The baseball playoffs began this week. All ended with two game sweeps. Road teams Texas and Arizona were victorious, while the Phillies bombed Miami and Minnesota ended its 18 game post-season losing streak by downing Toronto. 

What did I take away from this? The Phillies will be a challenge for the Atlanta Braves. The Dodgers, with their tattered pitching, should still make it to the NLCS by downing Arizona. Baltimore will have its hands full with Texas, and Houston should get past Minnesota—albeit with some degree of difficulty. 

Toronto, Milwaukee and Tampa Bay all disappointed their fans. Maybe in St. Petersburg the fans kind of knew the outcome. The attendance for both games was the lowest in the post-season since 1919, excluding the pandemic games when nobody was in the stands. And Brewers manager Craig Counsell will be very free to leave and take the New York Mets managerial vacancy, rejoining former Brewers executive David Stearns in Queens. Plus will the Blue Jays front office turn to bench coach Don Mattingly to return to managing and lead the Blue Jays past the first round with the team’s abundance off talent? 

College football will focus on the Red River Rivalry in Dallas when #3 Texas and #12 Oklahoma collide at the Cotton Bowl. Rutgers travels to Wisconsin to meet the Badgers; a first win over the home team would do wonders for the program. 

Maryland heads to Columbus to meet Ohio State. The Buckeyes are coming off a bye week after the thrilling win at Notre Dame. Maryland isn’t that bad. I am not saying upset here, but Ohio State will have a harder time than would be anticipated. 

I saw that the top three offenses in the collegiate ranks belonged to Washington, Oregon and USC. Again, who determined that the Pac-12 schools were lesser that the SEC, ACC or Big 12? Of course, the season hasn’t quite reached the halfway mark, so there is a lot of football left to be played among the title contenders.

Finally, with my daughter visiting, the television has been turned to Peacock and the World Gymnastic Championships in Antwerp. Simone Biles, arguably the greatest female gymnast ever, led the United States to a record-setting win over rival China in the team championship. 

I can hear my wife and daughter screaming as they watch the individual performances. Will Biles dominate as expected? 

I guess you will just be in suspense, like the legions of Swifties waiting on their hero for Sunday, or Jets fans, those “On the Banks” in Middlesex County, or baseball fans in eight cities.