COVID. Again.

  A lot to cover. Baseball. Football. Hockey. Basketball. And as I write this week’s blog, it’s Taylor Swift’s 34th birthday. So let’s dig right in. 

It was a week in the NFL which made those who follow it scratch their heads. Upsets and unexpected results, plus some boneheaded play were in the forefront. 

For the New York teams, they both won at home. Over quality opponents. It is a rarity that they are both home during the same weekend. Then again, it is a rarity that they win, period. The records of the Jets and Giants are the same—5-8. 

While each team isn’t mathematically out of the playoff hunt, Giants fans are actually thinking that if the three game winning streak continues, there could be a shot at the post-season. The NFC has seven teams within two games of the G-men. But for right now, the team’s chances are at a lofty 3%. 

It sure is nice to see local kid Tommy De Vito guiding a resurgent Giants offense. On Monday night, he had little time to get the team into field goal range. Which he did and it resulted in a dramatic win for the Giants on national TV. For this he was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week. 

De Vito is a phenomenon. He lives at home. His agent looks like he is a character out of The Godfather. (He actually was a good athlete at Marist and is a legit certified sports agent who does a lot of philanthropy) And like Anthony Volpe, another Italian local hero, he loves his mother’s chicken parmigiana. 

This is slightly reminiscent of Jeremy Lin when he took the area by storm in 2011-12 when he went on a scoring rampage for the Knicks. Undrafted like De Vito, he created a mania which hasn’t been seen again until now. Linsanity only lasted a short time. I hope that’s not the case for “Tommy Cutlets.” (Memo to ESPN—find real chicken cutlets to show; what appeared on the TV screens was embarrassing and the Mannings had a field day with that visual)

The Giants have the Eagles (twice), Saints and Rams left to play. It sure would be a nice, miraculous story if the success continued, let alone how it would totally muck up the Giants QB situation, with Daniel Jones, the incumbent starter, presently on IR. Have some fun, if only in the short term, Giants fans. 

As for the Jets, they have way too many teams to climb over the AFC, as Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Houston and Denver have better records. It sure was nice to see Zach Wilson excel for one day; I don’t root against the kid succeeding. He was put into an impossible situation once Aaron Rodgers went down with his injury.

Other stories around the league include the Miami implosion versus Tennessee on Monday night. The Dolphins absolutely choked at home up by three scores with 5:00 to go. The question arising is this: how good are the Dolphins? The team hasn’t beaten any team with an over .500 record at the time they played. The remaining schedule has the Jets visiting on Sunday; Dallas at home on Christmas Eve; a trip to Baltimore on New Year’s Eve; closing out the schedule at home with a desperate Buffalo team which might need to win to make the playoffs. We will learn plenty about the Dolphins in the final four games. 

Kansas City lost a game it should have won. Down to Buffalo and needing a score, Patrick Mahomes found favorite target Travis Kelce downfield. (Will he and Tay become engaged soon?) Before he could be tackled, Kelce, using his high school quarterback talents, tossed a spiral to Kadarius Toney. Toney caught the ball and sprinted into the end zone to put the Chiefs ahead. 

Except that Toney, who the Giants found they couldn’t coach despite his wealth of talent, had lined up inside of the neutral zone. The officials had to call the penalty. It was clear. Mahomes’ rant and Coach Andy Reid’s post-game complaints were non-sensical. Toney screwed up again, and this time it cost his team a game. 

The Chicago Bears trounced the NFC North-leading Detroit Lions. Detroit remains ahead in its division, with the suddenly hot Denver Broncos in town this week, and games with the Vikings (twice) and Dallas on the schedule. If the team keeps playing like this, they will be more like Paper Lions come playoff time. 

What’s with Philadelphia? Suddenly the team suffered consecutive big losses to San Francisco and Dallas, arguably the two best teams in the NFC. If I was an Eagles fan I would worry a little more if the team lost to Seattle on Monday night. Philly is still a good team. Perhaps not a Super Bowl team. 

Joe Flacco, who couldn’t make it with the Jets and seemingly was finished with his career, has been named the Cleveland Browns quarterback for the remainder of the season—even if he is on the practice squad. He could sign with other teams if he wished—the Chargers, Vikings and Texans might need him with C.J. Stroud in concussion protocol. If he stays with the Browns, he could lead the team to a playoff berth, and with the tough defense the Browns have, they might be a difficult first round opponent. 

I have to say this about the Yankees securing Juan Soto. New York gave up way too much for him. San Diego will be a much better team in the future with the talent it acquired. And Soto better produce, or the New York fans will once more excoriate a player. For he has to—Soto and tough super agent Scott Boros are looking at a free agent market which just jumped in value for a player of Soto’s age and consistency.

Why is that? Shohei Ohatani took his bat (and glove for when he recovers from Tommy John surgery and can pitch again) up Interstate 5 to cash in on the money a rich team like the Dodgers could offer. Ten years and $700 million. 

I do not care if $680 million is deferred and payable in the ten years after the contract ends. Even if this results in making the Dodgers an even better team by having cash to keep its talent happy. The money is obscene. Period. 

With prized recruit Dylan Harper’s commitment to Rutgers, the school has a top 5 recruiting class for next year. It may be a one-and-done year, but it is the most promising season to look forward to. If somehow RU could make the NCAA’s this season, the fan base will be even wilder in anticipation. 

Just don’t count on it—the Big Ten is quite good this year, although, as I always point out, the conference is not going to win the NCAA title. Right now Arizona is number one. For how long until the Wildcats are toppled? Handicapping this college hoops season right now is a crapshoot. 

The Lakers won the inaugural In-Season Tournament, defeating the Indiana Pacers. Lebron James was named M.V.P., as he should have been. He wanted this on his resume, and when The King is into it, as he was in the seven games played, he can motivate a team enough to win. The bigger issue over this Lakers’ title was resolved—the team will hang a banner for the win even though the franchise’s rule was that only NBA championships merited such an accolade. 

Want to watch a team in free fall? Look no further than the Golden State Warriors. Losers of 10 of the last 13, the aged stars look like they have lost a step. Steph Curry cannot do it alone. And Draymond Green has acted out again, probably meriting another suspension. He needs to go—enough with his antics; they destroy a team’s chemistry no differently than Kyrie Irving anywhere or James Harden in Philadelphia. This is not a playoff team. 

My son and I spent a whirlwind 50 hours traveling to and from New Jersey to Calgary on our yearly See The Devils In Canada adventure. Our second trip to Alberta marked our sixth game in Canada. Only Montreal is left for the conclusion of our Devils/Canadian hockey journeys. 

I found Calgary to be a beautiful city. Plenty of history, which we experienced by hiking to Fort Calgary, as well as walking through the Calgary Stampede, adjacent to the Scotiabank Saddledome, the home of the Calgary Flames. We saw where the 1988 Winter Olympic medals were presented—Calgary was the host to this installment of the Games, which included use of the Saddledome. 

Oil money is abundant in Calgary, apparently even more so than Edmonton. Beautiful towers permeate the downtown sky in an architectural delight. We ate at our favorite Canadian breakfast place, a chain named O.E.B. which has U.S entities in Arizona and California for those who escape the Alberta cold. I satisfied my son’s palate with a visit to Nando’s, his favorite South African fast food place from his semester at the University of Cape Town. (The service was anything but fast)

Speaking of cold—it was near 10 degrees F on Saturday when we started out touring. There was snow on the ground and we slipped numerous times on ice patches during our trek. I knew that we would be back to New Jersey warmth by Sunday afternoon, which made the jaunt, as my son called it, more tolerable. 

The Devils won 4-2, making our record in Canada also 4-2 in favor of New Jersey, thus assuring us a winning record for our efforts in Canada. The Saddledome was older looking and will be replaced by 2027 if plans go through. It is the third oldest arena in the NHL, after Madison Square Garden and Rogers Arena in Vancouver—another Winter Olympics site and a venue also in need of replacement. 

It was a great trip, no matter how long the flights were. I will always remember this one more so than any other one. 

Because I am home in isolation with COVID. Again.