Uecker. Ichiro. The NFL.

 

Before I get going on the NFL results and other miscellaneous items related to pro football, I have some baseball items I neglected. They relate to two former players—both having something to do with the Hall of Fame, with one of them recently voted in by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The pair I refer to are the late Bob Uecker and Japanese-born star Ichiro Suzuki. 

Bob Uecker passed away earlier this month at the age of 90. If ever there was a man whose life was blessed with good fortune, kindness and joy, it was Uecker. 

Forget that his statistics were not really very good. It gave him a reason to be funny with self-deprecating wit that others came to recognize as wonderful. 

Yes, he actually won a World Series title as a member of the 1964 St. Louis Cardinals, where he was a backup catcher. Uecker signed with his hometown Milwaukee Braves, where he first tasted the major leagues after nearly six years in the minors. He also spent time with Philadelphia and ended his playing career in 1967 with the Atlanta Braves in a not-quite-full circle moment, emblematic of Bob Uecker. 

Uecker never really strayed from his Wisconsin roots, returning home and embarking on a career as an announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers, a position he held through this past season. It was there he was honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame with the Ford C. Frick Award in 2003 to recognize his marvelous broadcasting career, which also included stints with the networks and being paired with the nearly-indomitable Howard Cosell, who Uecker somehow managed to get the upper hand over on a few occasions. 

America got to know him as “Mr. Baseball,” a title facetiously given to him by the late Tonight Show host, Johnny Carson, who loved Uecker’s stories, humor and timing. Moreover, he actually was the lead in a TV series, Mr. Belvedere. 

But his most iconic roles were two things which personified how we got to know this man. First, as announcer Harry Doyle in the classic movie Major League. We still get to hear his description of the wildness of Charlie Sheen’s character Rickey Vaughn. Uecker would sound like himself but call Vaughn’s pitches nowhere near the strike zone as “just a little bit outside.”

And of course, there were the Miller Lite beer commercials. Uecker would act like he was sitting near the field in great seats. “ I must be in the front row!!”  he would articulate. Only to be removed and sent to the uppermost region of the ballpark. There is a statue of him in Section 422 of the Brewers home field, now known as American Family Field. It is an obstructed view. 

For his humor and tireless devotion to the ball club, there is also a statue outside the stadium, with the luminaries who played in Milwaukee. Deservedly so.

Bob Uecker lost his battle to cancer. His memories will last forever. 

Ichiro Suzuki. Or just plain Ichiro to so many baseball fans. Talk about the exquisite hitters of all time, he deserves to be in the midst of the discussion. Ted Williams; Pete Rose; Tony Gwynn; and Rod Carew. He didn’t hit for power; that wasn’t his thing. But with a grace and flair coupled with tremendous speed, he could make a five hop grounder up the middle into a base hit.

Ichiiro was an accomplished player when he arrived in the United States, a true star in Japan. He showed us how good he was in his rookie year by winning the American League batting title with a .350 average from 272 hits. That translated into both the AL Rookie of the Year and M.V.P. awards. 

Ichiro won 10 Gold Gloves for fielding excellence in the outfield. He accumulated 3 Silver Slugger awards as the best hitter at his position. And Ichiro appeared in 10 All Star games, winning the 2007 M.V.P. for that game. 

Known mostly as a Seattle Mariner, Ichiro played for the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins. He bonded with Derek Jeter, the Yankees captain, who he will join in Cooperstown. The guy was cerebral, uber talented and a pleasure to watch. 

The Japanese star shared another thing with Jeter. Both were voted into the Hall of Fame in their first try. Both were not unanimous selections—there was one holdout for each.

To which I once more vent my outrage, as I did with Jeter’s voting. How could anyone not think this guy was not worthy of enshrinement? It boggles my mind. Then again, in the world we live in, much seems to boggle my mind. 

Nonetheless, Ichiro is now a Hall of Famer. As he should be. Despite some idiot not seeing fit to vote for him.

Now time for some football. My New York Jets did the right thing in signing Aaron Glenn, former defensive star for the team, to become the new head coach. He wanted to come back and he wants to turn the franchise around. We agree on that. 

In more of a small surprise, Darren Mougey was selected as the next General Manager. Experienced as a talent guru with Denver, he is tasked with getting the right players on the roster for 2025. We will find out if Aaron Rodgers returns for one more season or if the rebuilding or reenforcing starts anew. I am pulling for this duo to succeed. By the time I have had season tickets for 50 years—in 2026. It’s been way too long for the mediocrity to continue. 

Just about every head coaching vacancy has been filled. I am stunned that the Las Vegas Raiders picked 73 year old Pete Carroll to lead the team on the field. No matter how much energy he has—he’s not there for the long term. Just like Bill Belichick at North Carolina. 

We have our Super Bowl set. Philadelphia and Kansas City. A reprise of two years ago when the Chiefs won the Kelce Bowl (or was and still is the Andy Reid Bowl, as he is the winningest coach for both franchises). There will be one less Kelce playing as Jason is now retired and a media celebrity. He is replaced by his brother Travis’ girlfriend, Taylor Swift, or Tay as Travis affectionately called the rock star. 

Philadelphia blew out a game and overachieving Washington team. I don’t think the Commanders were quite ready for this game while the Eagles were primed and acted like it. Jalen Hurts directed and Saquon Barkley danced through the Washington defense, essentially putting the game away early. 

Barkley is averaging an astounding 7.9 yards per carry in the playoffs, thanks to his ripping off long runs against both the Rams and Commanders. He is not likely to win the 2024 NFL M.V.P. award, as quarterbacks tend to bring home the hardware. I am willing to bet that some of those voters might be second guessing themselves for not choosing Barkley as their top choice. 

In the heavyweight battle, Kansas City prevailed by 3 points over Buffalo. Many people, including two in my household, wanted the Bills to finally overcome the Chiefs and make it to a Super Bowl. 

I know that there is a belief that the NFL and its referees want KC to go for the unprecedented three-peat. I sure want that. Big audience appeal for FOX. 

Let’s be real. The Chiefs have a dynamic team. They are the defending champions and they played like they were on a mission for the entire season. And they profited from two reviewable calls—one in the opening week against Baltimore by a wayward toe and the fourth down stop  of Bills QB Josh Allen by inches. 

Yes, Buffalo is a really good team. Maybe the second or third best team in the NFL. They handled KC in Western New York earlier in the season. And the Bills, led by Allen, nearly got to the Super Bowl despite not playing their best game of the season. On a desperate heave, Allen almost miraculously connected with his tight end Dalton Kincaid deep in KC territory. (If you recall, the Bills Mafia donated to Baltimore TE Mark Andrews’ charity after he dropped two passes in the loss to Buffalo; Ravens fans are doing the same for Kincaid’s charity.)

We haven’t seen the end of the Bills as a top flight team. I think that no matter what happens in less than two weeks, this Chiefs team won’t get this far next year. 

Get ready for the unending hype and shifting betting lines. Stories within stories. Coaching comparisons. New Orleans as a Super Bowl site after the tragedy to start the New Year. It’s going to be fun.

Uecker. Ichiro. The NFL. Pretty darn good subjects for a blog. 

Three Football Games To Go

  I begin this blog with an apology. My cousin correctly noted that it was late fall in 1965 when the Great Northeast Blackout happened. It wasn’t a warm sunny day at all. The temperature on November 9 was in the mid-40’s. The facts I recited remain the same. 

Now that I got that out of my system, there was a whole heck of a lot of football this past weekend. Four NFL Playoff games plus the College Football Playoffs Championship on Monday. I felt like I needed a respite after Sunday’s contests; thankfully it was a college game to end this pigskin fiesta. 

There was one upset winner and a lot of thrills along the way. And I am not talking about social media heating up over Taylor Swift and Caitlin Clark embracing in the Travis Kelce suite in GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City with family and friends. 

So what about the Chiefs? The top seed in the AFC handled the challenge from the Houston Texans, AFC South champions. Just a few weeks earlier, in Week 16 of the NFL regular season, KC defeated Houston in the same venue by a 27-19 score. Thus there was familiarity between these opponents facing each other in the opening game of the Divisional Round. 

Kansas City completed the regular season with a 15-2 mark, which tied for the best record in the NFL with the Detroit Lions, the top seed in the NFC. Kansas City lost the season finale to Denver on the road by a 38-0 score, with Head Coach Andy Reid opting to rest his starters.

There are a whole lot of naysayers regarding the Chiefs. The offense wasn’t very good despite the star power of QB Patrick Mahomes and TE Kelce. The Chiefs failed to score more than 30 points in any game during the regular season—they scored 30 twice versus Tampa Bay and Carolina. Those critics claimed the defense was overrated. 

To which I point out that they won a lot of close games and were battle-tested for the entire season. Sure, the points for the season was low—385. But the points scored against Kansas City was only 326, which placed the team third in the AFC and NFL, behind AFC West foes Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos. That number included those 38 points in what amounted to a regular season exhibition game. 

Steve Spagnuolo is maybe the best defensive coordinator in the league. The Springfield College grad is the only coordinator—offense or defense—to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises and also to win four Super Bowls as a coordinator. New York Giants fans clearly recall his defense stopped the undefeated New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady in Super Bowl XLII. 

This KC defense is highlighted by three top tier defensive linemen in George Karlaftis, Chris Jones and Tershawn Wharton. The linebackers are stellar, with Nick Bolton, Drue Tranquill and Leo Chenal. The fine defensive backfield is anchored by Trent Mc Duffie, Bryan Cook and Justin Reid. 

This unit is a force. Spags, as he is called, knows what stunts and blitzes to call. They are the rock of this team.

As for the offense, the conspiracy theorists who claim that the NFL favors the Chiefs and Mahomes in particular with penalties called against their opponents are wrong. The NFL rebutted that falsehood on Sunday after announcers and fans questioned roughing the passer penalties agains Houston. 

Kansas City’s rival, the Buffalo Bills, is the team standingin the way of another trip to the Super Bowl. Buffalo, led by talented QB Josh Allen, gave the Chiefs their only blemish on their impressive record besides the loss to Denver with a thrilling 30-21 win by the Bills on November 17th in Orchard Park, New York. 

The Bills first had to overcome the Baltimore Ravens on another cold night in upstate New York. Baltimore, led by the all-worldly and reigning NFL M.V.P. (and likely to be a repeat winner) Lamar Jackson, had lost to KC on Opening Night by the width of a toe on a pass that was called incomplete, and had handed the Bills a resounding defeat back in September in friendlier weather conditions in Baltimore. 

Forcing the Ravens offense into uncharacteristic turnovers by Jackson and sure-handed tight end Mark Andrews, who fumbled a catch and then couldn’t haul in what would have been the game-tying two point conversion, Buffalo survived to reach the AFC title game. 

Predicting this upcoming game isn’t easy. The Bills can be dominant on both sides of the ball. What looms bigger is how the KC defense performs against the Bills. 

Stopping Allen and causing turnovers wins games for a team. Which is exactly what the Chiefs need to do. 

Conversely, Buffalo must limit the effectiveness of Mahomes while controlling the tempo of the game. Which won’t be simple. 

Meanwhile, look at the Washington Commanders. Victors over Tampa Bay on the road in the Wild Card round, QB Jayden Daniels, the second pick in the most recent NFL Draft, has demonstrated a maturity and ability beyond his years and NFL experience. This team, in the mold of Head Coach Dan Quinn, is rough and ready. Quinn loves to go for it on fourth down, and the results have been overwhelmingly favorable for the Boys of Old D.C. 

In a high-octane performance on Saturday night, both the offense and defense clicked against top-seeded Detroit. Repeatedly, the Commanders took the game away from the Lions and partisan crowd inside Ford Field. They forced the Lions into uncharacteristic miscues and headed off rallies while scoring 45 points and holding a good Lions offense to 31. 

For their win, the Commanders have a third game against division opponent and #2 seed Philadelphia. The Eagles, behind the early running of RB Saquon Barkley and QB Jalen Hurts, held on against a game LA Rams team which threatened to score in the waning moments of the game to take away a win for the embattled Southern California people. When Matthew Stafford’s fourth down pass fell incomplete, the Eagles fans could merrily sing “Fly, Eagles, Fly”, and anticipate the matchup with Washington. 

Can Washington continue an impressive post-season run? Or are the Eagles really the best team in the NFC—and maybe in the entire league? Those questions will be answered on Sunday afternoon in South Philadelphia. 

The last game of the quintet was held inside a NFL site, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Heavily-favored Ohio State, seemingly the best team in the country, had to get past one-loss Notre Dame to claim the championship trophy. 

In a testament to why the system needs to be tweaked, the #7 team (Notre Dame) met the #8 seed (Ohio State). With #8 holding on to thwart the luck of the Irish with a crucial long pass which caught the Notre Dame defense by surprise, then hitting a field goal to ice the game for the Buckeyes. 

OSU should have won the game much easier. Except that the play-calling became too conservative and Notre Dame took advantage of the tiring defense in an attempt to mount a comeback. 

In the rankings, OSU deservedly is number 1. While Notre Dame, Texas and Penn State made the final four, I don’t know if they could have beaten Oregon, losers to Ohio State in a rematch, and which had soundly defeated Penn State in the Big Ten Championship game. Those are definitely my top five teams. 

Agree or disagree with the playoffs as they played out. At least the champion is a worthy one. 

ABC showed all of the Ohio State Head Coaches, many of who were present at the game, along with Irish mentor Lou Holtz, the last Notre Dame leader to win a national title. What ran through my mind was how, at each school, the pressure to win is undeniable. Each Buckeyes head man had to flee the pressure or be removed—from Woody Hayes to Urban Meyer. 

Even with his win, Ryan Day will not escape the loud murmurs from the OSU faithful—largely because he has only one win in five tries against arch-rival Michigan. Sadly, for some badly disturbed fans and alumni, even winning this title game isn’t enough. Why should he have to protect himself and his family with security when it is merely a football game?

Again, the answer is money. The expectations are now outrageous and with the transfer portal and NIL cash for the best players, it is a cauldron which must be tempered down. Or good people, like Ryan Day, will be forced out of a job he seemingly can handle. 

That’s it for me. I won’t even talk about the Golden State Warriors’ 40 point loss at home to the Boston Celtics or how college basketball is transpiring now that conference play is being conducted in earnest. Or how the Jets search for a head coach and general manager may be winding down. Nope. 

Three more football games to go.

I Endured A TV Sports Blackout

  This has been a small nightmare.  A TV blackout in the midst of the College Football Playoffs semi-finals, along with a rematch of the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New York Knicks. 

No matter what methods I tried, which included enlisting the remote assistance of Verizon, there was no meaningful television from Thursday morning to Saturday morning. A bit over 48 hours that felt like a week’s time. 

Not that I haven’t endured blackouts before. The Northeast blackout of August, 1965 was my introduction into the underworld of darkness. Except that it didn’t darken New Jersey.

In Highland Park, located in the heart of Central Jersey, we were fine. The day went like any other hot, summer day. I played baseball. I hung out with my guys. I went home for a swim. 

Except for one big difference—all of the New York television stations in New York City weren’t on the air. Because Con Ed couldn’t supply them with the necessary power to broadcast. 

I caught the news through the Philadelphia stations. They weren’t clear and the sound was muffled. But I got the gist of what was going on.

The fuzzy, grainy screens were usually reserved for stations which didn’t operate overnight. Remember, this was way before the advent of cable. 

It happened again in 1977. This one was confined to NYC. It was marked by widespread looting, injuries and some deaths. 

Then we actually experienced a blackout in New Jersey. That happened in 2003. Fifty-five million people were affected when a substation in Ontario blew out, shutting an entire grid down. The power came back relatively soon the same evening, although it wasn’t pleasant since the event happened again in August. 

One more big blackout was the greatest of all. Superstorm Sandy hit us in late October. Everything went dark instantaneously on a Friday night. It would take over seven days to have power restored to our home in Springfield. We were lucky. Others on our block had to wait even more days before they were no longer in the dark or the generators stopped humming. 

We adapted to the cold of late October into early November. Eating became a bit of an adventure. We went to powering stations to keep our cell phones alive and functioning. All the while waiting for that moment when the lights would shine and we could return to normalcy. 

More outages left me in the dark, provoking me to invest in a tri-fuel generator designed to keep on the lights and refrigerators for an extended time. It is connected to a natural gas line, but alternatively I can also use gasoline to power the generator. So far, I have not had to use it; I run it once a month to ensure operability so that I am ready to roll when necessary.

It’s not that I didn’t keep up with sports during this interlude. I used my cell phone and under 5G connectivity to receive all the sports news and scores I would regularly read.

But there was a void which I felt—more so than the aforementioned blackouts. Because everything else was working, The power was on. The lights and heat worked. I could use my microwave. I just couldn’t connect to the outside world during the day as I usually do—local news and of course, televised sports.

What was the culprit which kept me away from the television? It wasn’t a squirrel biting the wires. Too cold. However, when it does get too cold, outside lines freeze inside the box connecting me to the Verizon feed. The technician had to play around with the wires, even defrosting them to restore my connection. As modern and advanced a society that we are, there remains a lot of comparatively primitive technology from a much earlier date and time. 

It wasn’t that I didn’t have plenty to do. I began reading a funny book. I cleaned. I went to my ENT to have wax buildup in my ears removed. I even caught up on my sleep and I continued to exercise. 

I missed two episodes of Pardon The Interruption. ESPN highlights weren’t readily available. There was no NBC Nightly News to monitor the horrific fires in Southern California or the funeral of the late President, Jimmy Carter. 

Plus I missed two of the more exciting games in the CFP. Notre Dame came back to defeat Penn State on a field goal after an interception in the waning moments of the game. And Ohio State flexed its muscles in the second half to defeat Texas. 

Let’s start with the fact that none of the four teams had really defeated any team of significance in the regular season. I know perhaps a case can be made for Ohio State having defeated Penn State and played then-#1 Oregon so close on the road. 

OSU had that blip at the end, losing to arch rival Michigan in a game which ardent Buckeyes fans will hold against Head Coach Ryan Day even if the team defeats Notre Dame for the national title. Which is stupidity in its worst form and led to an article in The Athletic advocating for Day to head to the NFL after garnering that title, sticking it to the undeserving OSU jackals. 

We have over a week to wait for the big game. A lot will be discussed and debated. One thing for sure—there isn’t a Southeastern Conference team in the finals for the second year in a row. Let the Commissioner and the aggrieved coaches bellyache all they want for not being included in the festivities.

Besides, their representative in the Final Four was still in the Big 12 a year ago at this time. The best teams may reside in the Big Ten after all, and they aren’t overly spectacular. Could the dreaded word “parity” be creeping into the collegiate football ranks? 

And no kudos to the CFP people crying over what a great job they did. The matchups weren’t thrilling in the first two rounds. Moreover, anybody thinking that OSU and ND are 6 and 7 seeds should know better. Hence the need to seed better as I advocated in the last blog. 

With my TV and Internet restored, a complete weekend of sports awaited. Everything from F&M basketball on the computer, as the Diplomats, coming off a road victory at Hamilton College, hosted Mc Daniel, the team in the Centennial Conference with the best record so far (F&M won), to a full slate of NFL playoff games on three days (The home teams won except that Washington had a last second field goal bank off an upright to win at Tampa Bay on Sunday night). And my daughter was happy that college gymnastics could be watched. We even returned to watching Wicked, which we began on Wednesday night.

Maybe it was for the best that I didn’t see Rutgers lose badly to Purdue in men’s basketball. Or that upcoming foe UCLA, was soundly beaten by Maryland. That would tug even more with my negative emotions towards this overrated Scarlet Knights team. 

I have become so used to viewing the NFL. Yet I am more than old enough to remember the local blackout rules which prohibited loyal fans from watching Giants and Jets home games—even if they were sold out. I once again had to resort to Philadelphia TV to see the Jets home playoff games in 1968 and 1969 en route to their lone title in Super Bowl III (The Verizon tech who made the repairs to the line was also a long suffering Jets fan; he wanted owner Robert Wood Johnson III gone to thus enable the franchise to move forward instead of relying upon “Madden” statistics from Woody’s sons to decide which players should populate the roster).

While those rules technically remain in effect with some modifications, the NFL has been suspending them yearly beginning in 2015. Which is why when Met Life Stadium looks empty and it is not a sell out, the games are available in the NY area.

Lastly, I make light of my experience not watching TV and sports. It pales in comparison with what has transpired on the West Coast. Games were rightfully postponed or moved. Those unfortunate people are dealing with real life tragedies. With no significant end to the blazes in sight. 

A cruel irony regarding the NHL this season was that when the Tampa area was hit with a hurricane, the Lightning was to play the Carolina Hurricanes in a home-and-home pair of games. Now the Los Angeles Kings were to play the Calgary Flames in a home-and-home set. You can’t make this stuff up. 

The Monday night Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams game was moved out of Southern California to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. Lots of people affected by the fires have had their insurance cancelled by companies like State Farm. Couldn’t the NFL come up with a better optic than this? 

Lakers and Clippers games were affected. LAL Head Coach J.J. Reddick lost his Pacific Palisades rental home to the fire. Comedian, actor and sports enthusiast Billy Crystal’s home of 47 years is no more. The list is endless.

I feel petty when I talk of 48 hours without TV sports. I hope that those who lost everything can get back on their feet. 

This is my story. I endured a TV sports blackout. Damn the squirrels and the freezing temperatures. Comparatively, I am fine.