Feedback

  Sometimes I get feedback from these who read my blogs. Some of it is good. Some of it is middle of the road. And there are those who complain I don’t cover a particular topic that interested them. 

Such was the case this week. I took heat about my coverage of the recently concluded World Cup. Look, I am not a soccer aficionado. I kinda understand offsides. I don’t have a grasp as to why a referee holds up a yellow or red card in a wildly discretionary manner. Strategy is something foreign to me. 

Nor do I comprehend how a player writhes on the ground, in immeasurable pain which would require a stretcher and a trip to the hospital, yet if no penalty is assessed they are up and running at full speed. Not my type of drama. 

Don’t even get me going on how they add up extra time in a soccer match with running time. I am clueless on that topic. 

I am an American. I was brought up on the 4 major sports. In some way I have played them all. I played football as a freshman in high school, then I wisely turned to statistics through college as there was no place on a football field when there are bigger players than 5’5” me. 

Basketball was something I could navigate at certain levels. Certainly not with guys twice my height. I could shoot, thanks to the backboard and hoop my father put up over our garage door. But again, at a short height, offensive players could shoot over me. So I knew that  statistics and managing at the high school level while participating in some drills and an exhibition game here and there was enough. 

With hockey, I had a stick, a puck and some skates. I could go to Johnson Park along the Raritan River and skate on a pond as a boy. It was fun pretending that I knew how to skate up the ice, shoot a wrist shot or make a pass. I didn’t have the other necessary equipment. And I lacked one other key component to play hockey—I could not stop and start on skates. Thus I stuck to being a hockey fan—first the New York Rangers and then the New Jersey Devils. 

But there was baseball. Nobody told me I couldn’t play. Yes, there were coaches who went with bigger players, but in my hometown of Highland Park I was a good summer league player. I morphed what I thought was a measurable bit of talent into walking onto the freshman and varsity teams at Franklin & Marshall until an injury derailed me. 

Baseball was instrumental in getting me into the New Jersey Public Defender’s Appellate Section, as they needed a replacement player on their softball team. It made me friends in 1971 in D.C. when I interned in Congress. I loved baseball and baseball, to quote that sage, Chico Escuela, “been berry berry good to me.”

Thus it is no surprise that I didn’t develop an affinity for soccer. I may have seen one or two F&M matches. Our high school didn’t have a soccer team in the 1960’s—we were a football powerhouse and that’s where everybody went to on a Saturday afternoon. 

Gym class didn’t exactly peak my interest for the game. A brown ball that didn’t feel right. Loose shin guards which failed to really protect the shins.  Uneven dirt and gravel fields which didn’t allow for anything other than losing one’s dribble. 

Nope, soccer was just not my cup of tea. The U.S. didn’t have much of a national team. The furor over Pele and Giorgio Chinaglia and the New York Cosmos playing at Giants Stadium in the 1970’s was only mildly interesting to me. Besides, the New York Yankees and the New York Knicks were more fun to watch when there was minimal TV coverage of the fledgling NASL. 

I took notice in 2006, when we visited South Africa. The World Cup was on SATV. It was something to watch that wasn’t necessarily broadcast in Afrikaans. 

But I also knew that the FIFA process in awarding sites the privilege of hosting a World Cup was rife with politics which ere designed to enrich politicians and FIFA. I had my share of United States politics; getting interested in FIFA’s nefariousness was a non-starter. 

Even when the United States hosted the World Cup in 1994, I wasn’t drawn to going to Giants Stadium on sweltering days to watch a game which I knew very little about. I had invested my capital in trips around the country with my family and New York Jets football—a dubious choice of an investment if there ever was one. 

Where my son was doing a summer legal internship in South Africa in 2010 which coincided with the World Cup being in Cape Town, I followed his exploits from afar. I even snuck a peek at the US team’s games while using my computer in my OPD office in Elizabeth. It was more nationalistic pride which moved me to watch than an appreciation for the game the world seems to love. 

Heading into this year’s matches, I knew that Argentina had won it all in the heat of Qatar in 2022. That didn’t necessarily make them the team to beat this quadrennial, but they had to be among the favorites. 

It didn’t hurt that sentimentality was on the Argentine side. Superstar Lionel Messi, who plays for Inter Miami in the US, has widely been called the G.O.A.T. of his sport and still could flash his brilliance on the international stage. If Argentina played well behind Messi, it would have been a fitting send off with a repeat win for the guy wearing #10 in the blue and white striped shirt. 

An enlarged field came to North America for the World Cup. Americans falsely thought they could make a serious run in the draw. Belgium, a more seasoned team, saw to it that dream would end. 

Mexico, nearly invincible at home, found its comeuppance when the England team paid a visit. The Brits were that good, dispatching with Mexico, then Norway and their star, Erik Haaland. 

Haaland, a 6’5” striker who became the fastest ever to score 100 goals in the ancient English Premier League, showcased his talents in this World Cup. But as well as he acquitted himself on the pitch, Haaland may be more remembered for his taxidermied raccoon which he carried aboard planes for all to see. 

Argentina took out England in the semi-finals when the English coach went into a defensive shell after taking a 1-0 lead, only for Argentina to score two late goals to secure the win. Messi was at the heart of the comeback for Argentina . 

Spain, which made a great defensive effort throughout the tournament, was lucky in its own way to get to the finals. They struggled with upstart Cape Verde in a 0-0 tie. The only time their defense was penetrated was by Belgium with a first half goal in their quarterfinals match. 

It was apparent how good defensive midfielder Rodri was during the tournament. His stellar play led to his being awarded the Golden Boot trophy as the best player in the World Cup. Deservedly so.

Shutting down France and then Argentina in the manner which La Roja did was outstanding. The fact that Messi and his teammates were repeatedly thwarted before getting  shots on goal was amazing.  

Yes, the third place game was a scoring epidemic. England did just what it had to in holding off France. 

In the Finals, Argentina’s goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez was outstanding. Repeatedly he repelled the Spanish attackers with remarkable saves. His social media sites took off after his remarkable performance. 

He was the pillar for Argentina, unlike Messi, who could not get untracked, no matter how much he tried. The expectations were so high for Messi, in what like was his swan sing on the international stage, to lead Argentina to another title. 

In the end, those thoughts were really unreasonable. Spain gave a tour de force, the likes of which had never been seen before in World Cup competition. 

In summation, while I watched much of the end of the consolation match and almost all of the Finals, the level of play, while outstanding, didn’t move the needle forward as to me even watching more soccer. Which is okay, anyway. NFL training camps open next week. 

Then there was the harping of my cousin about his beloved Boston Red Sox. A previously team mired in last place in the AL East has done something miraculous. To the tune of 15 straight wins, which has moved the team into third place. 

That puts them within striking distance of the Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays, the two top teams in the division. If the season ended today, the Red Sox would be the final American League Wild Card team, only a game behind Cleveland for the second Wild Card spot. 

I give Boston its props. Minus a few key players, they have resurrected their season after former Manager Alex Cora was fired. It took some time to adjust, but once they got on a roll, the winning began before the All-Star game and continued into this week before the Baltimore Orioles, who entered the series with Boston on its own 7 game winning streak (we saw win #2 when we were in Camden Yards on July 10), defeated the Red Sox. 

The Red Sox were supposed to be in contention with Cora at the helm. Then again, the Toronto Blue Jays, the defending American League champions, were supposed to be contenders as well. Baltimore added some pieces, including first baseman Pete Alonso;  the O’s too, were expected to be good. In a division which the Yankees were the prohibitive favorite and Tampa Bay was an afterthought. 

Nobody on the Boston roster who has been playing regularly has an average over .300. Firebrand Willson Contreras sports a .293 average along with swatting 22 home runs and driving in 66 runners. Ceddanne Rafaela is next, hitting at .280 with 9 homers and 43 R.B.I. Conversely, while batting only .190, Jarren Duran has still managed to club 13 home runs and accumulate 52 R.B.I. It has been more about timely hitting which has contributed to Boston’s turnabout. 

Boston’s pitching has come around. Sonny Gray and Connelly Early anchor a starting staff which has given the Red Sox and its fans hope—especially with ace Garrett Crochet out for the bulk of the season. Ranger Suarez and Payton Tulle are additional talented arms on the starting staff. 

Aroldis Chapman has been lights out as the closer, converting 23 out of 25 save opportunities. Greg Weissert has been a reliable arm in the bullpen, as the Bosox stitched together wins. 

The streak also coincided with away games in Anaheim and in New York against the Mets—two bottom feeders. Yet the Red Sox swept the AL Central-leading White Sox in Chicago and took four games from one of the teams they are looking up at—Tampa Bay. 

Wins are wins, no matter how good or bad the opposition is. It is now a 60 game sprint to the finish. New York hopes to have Aaron Judge back at some time. Giancarlo Stanton, too. Pitching aces Gerrit Cole and Max Fried combined for 18 strikeouts on Wednesday in a doubleheader against a decent Pittsburgh team. I fully expect that NYY will make some moves at the trading deadline; Boston, too. Even Tampa Bay may be buyers rather than sellers. 

NYY is in the throes of a 22 game schedule against teams with records over .500. The Yankees looked overmatched at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers ands struggled with the Pirates. Next up is a long road trip beginning with a stop in Philadelphia and then a 7 day stay in Chicago with games versus the White Sox and Cubs. St. Louis and Atlanta come to the Bronx, along with AL West contender Seattle. 

New York and Boston meet for the final time at Yankee Stadium at the end of August for four crucial games. In September, the Yankees have a West Coast swing to play the Angels and Padres. NYY ends the season with 6 home games against division foes Tampa Bay and Baltimore. Boston is at Fenway Park to end the season, against Cleveland and the Chicago Cubs in games which should be meaningful to all concerned. 

I anticipate Boston and New York battling it out. Tampa Bay might have a say in how the race ends. Maybe even the Orioles too. 

If you’re a Yankees fan, you flirt with doom even with a 57-45 record. Red Sox fans feel euphoric. Especially my cousin. 

And to the readers who wondered about the depth of my sports knowledge, it is only as good as what I remember at times or read in the moment. I do know that the crossword answer for the pitcher on the Minnesota Twins named Bradley is Taj. He’s 9-4 and might not be with the Twins for long, given his favorable trade stature. 

Thanks for the feedback. It has given me something to write about this week that’s not related to LeBron James.