This is the life of a sports-crazed retiree. Three football games in person in New Jersey in one week. Not all turned out to be what I wanted. Yet I had a blast (otherwise why would I be tormenting myself like I did?).
Do not think that I didn’t watch other games. The Yankees took three of four from the Red Sox. I managed to see parts of all four contests. Plus I tuned into the games from Seattle, as the Yankees visit the Pacific Northwest and then head to Oakland on the final road trip of the regular season.
I wouldn’t say that the Yankees have righted themselves as much as division rival Baltimore remains mired in an ongoing skid—at the worst possible time. The Yankees contributors are many—it appears that Aaron Judge awoke from his slumber, belting homers against Boston including an awe-inspiring shot off the restaurant glass in center field on Sunday which even caused Judge to be a bit amazed how far that baseball went.
While the offense periodically worked right—Gleyber Torres batting leadoff has been a good thing to create a spark and catcher Austin Wells hitting in there cleanup role has bolstered his chances to win AL Rookie of the Year based on his contributions—the team needs consistency from Judge, a slumping Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton, the sluggers on the team. Also, youngster Jasson Dominguez needs to flash some power in his own right to make the lineup even more dangerous in the post-season. And Anthony Volpe has returned to his enigmatic ways—unable to hit like he did for torrid stretches at the beginning of the season and after the All Star Game.
I am not enamored with the pitching. The shift to Luke Weaver as the closer has been good, but still remains stressful. Tommy Kahnle had to come in on Sunday to induce a double play in relief of Jake Cousins, who is normally reliable. Nestor Cortes has reclaimed a rotation spot for now, with Marcus Stroman the odd man out. Reigning Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole was lit up by Boston on Saturday in a head scratching performance. So much to sort out with a little over a week to go.
One goal has been reached. The Yankees clinched a playoff spot. Now the next two steps are to win the division, preferably before the penultimate series with the Orioles beginning on Tuesday. And the team needs to hold off Cleveland to secure the top seed, a bye and get ready for what they believe will be a deep run into the playoffs.
Boston and the Mets seem to torment Cole. The other New York team, the hottest team since the ASG, is making a concerted rush for the playoffs. The problem for the Mets is that they have to face Philadelphia four times at home—a team which punished them this past weekend at Citizens’ Bank Park—and has the best record in baseball. And if that isn’t enough, the team from Queens has to travel to Atlanta to square off with its closest rival for the final NL Wild Card berth before finishing the season in Milwaukee where the Brewers, already NL Central champs, will have a direct say if they want it face the Mets in the playoffs.
The Mets have a better overall lineup than the Yankees. When Francisco Lindor is healthy. Except that Lindor has been plagued with back issues at the worst possible time. Combined with the loss of Jeff Mc Neil for the season, NYM has its work cut out for it despite the great starting pitching which has carried the team to this point—along with Lindor’s outstanding bat. They sure do look really good.
With football in full swing, I feel like I have a split personality—devoted to baseball and watching tons of football. Both on TV and in person.
Let me discuss major college football. When Quinn Ewers, the starting QB at the University of Texas went down versus UTSA, heralded youngster Arch Manning, son of Cooper, nephew of Peyton and Eli and grandson of Archie came in and seamlessly led the Longhorns in a rout.
Whichever quarterback plays—and Ewers injury is cause for concern—Texas is going to be fine. For right now, having watched Georgia struggle mightily at Kentucky, I am of the belief that two losses might easily get teams into the expanded College Football Playoffs. And when I say that, I am directly pointing at the Southeastern Conference, where premier teams like UGA, Alabama, LSU, Texas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas A&M will continue to bang heads, with a likely outcome that no school goes unbeaten in the SEC in 2024.
A similar story might play itself out in the Big 12, where UCF, Arizona State, BYU, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Utah and Iowa State are unbeaten thus far. It will prove to be less complicated in the Big 10, where each school is at or above .500 now and like in the SEC, conference games will break down the contenders fast, and unlike the SEC, the Big 10 team are not as good as the SEC or in some instances, the Big 12.
Now that I covered those items, let me turn to pro football. First, my heart hurts for Tua Tagovailoa. Tua suffered another concussion in a loss to Buffalo. His future is in jeopardy—even if he desires to return to the field. One more hit to the head could be worse than problematic.
Te NFL has been surprising in its first two weeks. Did anybody see New Orleans becoming an offensive juggernaut? Or that Kansas City would win two games at home by the barest of margins? That Baltimore is 0-2? Sam Darnold finally looks like an NFL QB after languishing for so many years after his New York Jets bad experience? Tampa Bay put a beating on a supposed Super Bowl contender in Detroit? And the Steelers are 2-0 behind Justin Fields and stingy defense?
Buffalo and Texas were expected to start fast. The Chargers are unsurprising, too. But Cincinnati and Jacksonville, two playoff teams a year ago, are now 0-2. Kinda like the hapless New York Giants, whose kicker had issues in practice and promptly hurt himself on the opening kickoff, resulting in no field goals and no extra points and an overtime loss to Washington in a winnable game?
The New York Jets started to get untracked in Nashville, coming back from a deficit to overtake the Titans. Next up would be New England. Which I will get back to in a moment.
Friday started my football odyssey with a stop around the corner to see my high school take on the boys from Springfield. I talked about that game in my previous blog.
Less than 18 hours later, I was in Ewing, New Jersey on a sun-baked afternoon to see my college, Franklin and Marshall, try to defeat the homestanding Lions of The College of New Jersey. F&M had won last year in Lancaster and was coming off a convincing win over Lebanon Valley in the season opener. TCNJ had downed Eastern on the road in its first game.
Euphoric from my high school’s big win, I went to Mercer County expecting another good day for the Diplomats. Except that I was to learn that TCNJ was a hungry and veteran team ready for revenge. I should have known when the GPS was giving me trouble and that we arrived just as the National Anthem was being played that this day wasn’t going to be so much fun.
TCNJ has a fifth year senior QB out of Paramus who was second team NJAC last year in a season when he set numerous TCNJ and conference records. Watching him continually shred the F&M defense, connecting with a corps of sure-handed receivers and complimented by a quick running game and a hard-hitting defense, I marveled that F&M stayed with the Lions and actually took a lead in the second half. Dominating the final eight plus minutes of the game and holding the F&M offense in check, TCNJ earned a 17-12 victory.
It was a good Division III game between two fairly good teams. F&M gets Montclair State at home this weekend while TCNJ travels to Allentown to face #18 Muhlenberg in a very interesting contest.
I was happy to see how seriously TCNJ takes football. The home stands were filled. There was tailgating. They had a pep band. And the dance team and cheerleaders were as good as I have seen at that level. At least my wife had comfort food when we got home. The Corleone Style Tomato Pie from Marcello’s Pizza Grill in Hamilton Square was excellent.
So my next in person football game was New England at the Jets. Time to see Aaron Rodgers at home for my first time. Hoping he would continue to stay upright and give long-standing Jets fans some hope this season.
Rodgers and the Jets gave the fans in the stands serenaded by a brilliant full moon over the Meadowlands (Met Life Stadium was far from filled) and a Thursday Night Football audience streaming the game on Amazon or, if your provider permitted, on FOX in the NY Metro Area. He was in complete control of the offense, which gained major yardage on a New England team that either had a very off night or isn’t very good.
As a Jets fan, the karma was nice. The team had rebounded from its struggles in the opener versus the 49’ers. While the sample size of three games may not prove anything and with an underwhelming Denver team next up at home, for now the Aaron Rodgers Era is moving in the right direction, like it was expected last year until derailed five plays into the Monday Night Football opener against Buffalo.
I just want, like I was thinking a lot when Rodgers rolled out, scrambled or was sacked, that he gets up and plays the next down. I have the suspicion that feeling will be pervasive for the remaining games.
Two final notes from this week. Caitlin Clark and company clinched the sixth seed in the upcoming WNBA playoffs. I hope her on the court performance merits a first team selection.
Then there is Shohei Ohtani. Likely the best player in baseball. He has accomplished a feat like no other—50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in a season. While going 6 for 6 on Thursday on the road in Miami, slugging 3 homers, swatting 2 doubles, stealing 2 bases and driving in 10 runs. An incredible coda to an amazing year.
The naysayers will point to his only being a designated hitter. That’s because they are searching for reasons to deny Ohtani his due. I merely point out the no player—whether one who also plays the field or is a DH—ever came close to these numbers. Wait until he resumes pitching next season.
There you have it. More TV Baseball… while attending three football games in a week.
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