This week’s installment can be summarized easily. Good and bad. That’s what we are seeing in sports. Good. And bad.
Let’s start with some bad. Some really bad. That would be the Chicago White Sox. Holders of the American League record for most losses in a season, the Pale Hose are on a mission to overtake the laughable 1962 New York Mets, a team which went 40-120 in its inaugural season and didn’t have to make up the two games postponed.
At least the Mets were an expansion team, loaded with rejects from other teams, playing in a resurrected, aged stadium abandoned by the New York Giants when the team fled West for richer pastures. The only things redeemable from that lot of losers was former Yankees skipper Casey Stengel entertaining the media with his almost non-sensical banter, and the trio of announcers—Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner—subjected to making the misdeeds of the junior varsity likable.
No such luck on the South Side of Chicago. Bad trades. Bad managers. Bad ownership. Plus having to play four AL Central teams which were fighting for a division title and wild card berths. One can point a finger in multiple directions and easily find fault for this travesty. One which may not get any better next season.
Conversely, we can say its mostly good from the rest of the teams in that division. Cleveland is assured of a bye with winning the AL Central. Kansas City has reversed a 106 loss season last year to make the playoffs. Detroit, managed by former Houston skipper A.J. Hinch, came back from the dead after trading its second best starting pitcher to the Los Angeles Dodgers and is the hottest team in baseball. And, oh yeah, the boys from the Motor City has the presumptive favorite for the AL Cy Young Award, Tarik Skrubal, to open its series. Look out!
One more thing in the AL Central. The nosedive of the Minnesota Twins. Once comfortably in playoff position, the Twins fell apart, destroying any chance for the post-season. So bad.
You want more good in baseball? Look no further than Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, the locks for the M.V.P. in their respective leagues. These guys have put on some show this season. Fans go to their games expecting magic. And they do not disappoint. So entertaining. Let’s hope that their marvelous, record-setting seasons continue in the playoffs, perhaps culminating in a Yankees-Dodgers World Series? How good would that be?
What would be bad is if Chris Sale, the superb left-handed pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, does not get to play October baseball. As outstanding as Skrubal has been, Sale has been maybe a tad better.
With Hurricane Helene having roared through the Atlanta area, MLB made a calculated guess that it might be better served to have the Mets and Braves play a doubleheader on Monday to complete the scheduled three game series and end the regular season.
Heading into the final weekend, Atlanta sits one game behind New York and Arizona for a playoff berth; only two of the three can go on. Atlanta host KC, a team still fighting for its playoff life and positioning.
Meanwhile, the Mets had to travel to Milwaukee, sit around for two plus days, then take on the Brewers, NL Central leader and a possible first round opponent. If the Mets cannot take care of business in Wisconsin and the Braves do their job versus the Royals, then New York must fly back to Georgia Sunday night for a traditional double header on Monday.
` Should that be the case, the Mets aren’t going to be in the playoffs. Because MLB could have had the teams move the games, playing a doubleheader on Tuesday and then an early game on Wednesday. So unfair. Bad. Bad. Bad.
You want more bad? The look in Oakland when the A’s played their last home game on Thursday. While over 46,000 were in the stands in a carnival-like atmosphere, it spelled the end of Oakland as a legitimate sports city. Gone are the Raiders and A’s, both headed to Las Vegas. And the Warriors became elitists, moving across the bay to San Francisco and into its own palace. Whatever becomes of Oakland, it is a city destined now to be second-rate. Certainly not good.
I went to the New England-New York Jets game at Met Life Stadium on Monday night. While allegedly a sellout crowd was in attendance, there were oodles of empty seats around the stadium, especially in the upper reaches. I saw the same type attendance in Pittsburgh, which was surprising given the historical connection between the fans and the team.
Possibly this is a league-wide trend. With the exorbitant ticket prices (at least in New York) to pay outlandish salaries and to enrich the coffers of the already-rich owners, who would really be surprised? Moreover, with the advent of streaming services to the NFL lineup and the majority of viewers needing cable to access the regular “free” channels, the cost to watch one’s favorite team is not close to free.
To me, this is a very bad trend. One which will only become worse if the owners do go forward and make the Super Bowl pay-for-view. That’s when greed and avarice are too much.
The Jets beat up on the Patriots. I don’t think NYJ is that good, no matter how mobile 40 year old Aaron Rodgers looked. For how bad are the Pats this season? The upcoming game with Denver won’t give me any more answers about the team other than winning a game that they were favored to win.
NYJ faces Minnesota in London on October 6. Minnesota has opened 3-0 behind former NYJ QB Sam Darnold. If only management could have given Darnold players like he has in Minnesota, maybe the Jets wouldn’t have had to go through the misery of Zach Wilson and praying that Rodgers has fully recovered from his Achilles tendon surgery and plays younger than his age over the course of a long, arduous season and into the playoffs. Good for Darnold thus far. Not too bad for the Jets either. It’s early.
Is Kansas City still the favorite to win it all? Their 3-0 start is riddled with question marks. Biggest one is iconic tight end Travis Kelce not having a good start. Numerous voices say he is out of shape from partying with and around his pop super star girlfriend, Taylor Swift.
Head coach Andy Reid and QB Patrick Mahomes have come to Kelce’s defense. No matter how he performs, Kelce will be under the glare of a spotlight like no other player. I hope he gets his act together—a great career does not need to be tarnished by innuendo.
Still, KC is unbeaten. Good for the team. And in reality, good for the NFL—the amount of detractors and pro-Chiefs fans seems to be about even. They might even be America’s Team, which would really upset Dallas Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones, a man lots of people love to hate.
The other unbeaten teams—Seattle and Pittsburgh—are feel good stories. For now. How long they stay on top is a big question. Just aa much as why highly-touted Jacksonville and Cincinnati squads are 0-3. There are so many stories to watch as the NFL finishes its September slate and gets to the heart of the schedule. For football fans, this is good. Unless your team falls on its face. Then that’s bad.
Finally, there are so many nice stories in college football. Surprise teams winning. The favorites chugging along. A big game is in Tuscaloosa on Saturday night when Georgia and Alabama clash. Losing might not be fatal for entry into the twelve team playoffs beginning this year. This is kinda good.
What is bad is what happened at UNLV. The starting quarterback abruptly left the team over a dispute of how much Name-Image-Likeness money he was promised. Pay for play is bad—beginning with full scholarships underwriting the cost to staff a team, coaches salaries and other necessities.
This where college sports is spiraling out of control. An esteemed ESPN basketball writer, Adrian Wojnarowski retired from the network to return to his alma mater. St. Bonaventure, as General Manager. That’s code for NIL operative.
Shed no tears for Wojo. He made his money at the cable giant. He wants to make the
Bonnies relevant again.
Maybe that’s good for the Olean, NY area and its fan base. May Bob Lanier rest in peace. But it’s bad for the college sports scene. Really bad.
With no end of this lunacy in sight. Just like the ongoing raiding of conferences for the insane TV money available. I still haven’t decided if Rutgers joining the Big Ten really was worth it.
So much of sports is a love-hate relationship. The state of sports is a microcosm of what’s happening in this country. It’s yet to be determined if it is good or it’s bad. But there are a lot of strong opinions.
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