Merciful, the NFL pre-season is over. For those who cared (not me), the New York Giants topped the New York Jets 22-6 in the annual Battle of New York. Yawn.
Neither team is expected to contend in their respective divisions and conferences. At leas with new coach John Harbaugh, it might be a bit more interesting to see how he does away from Baltimore with a fresh start.
Jets fans are already wishing that the franchise hadn’t hired Aaron Glenn nor brought back Geno Smith to be the stating quarterback. A few more wins might be in the offing. We’ll see how improved the team might be on September 13th when NYJ will visit former head man Robert Saleh, who now has the reins in Tennessee.
Let me quickly address the brouhaha emerging in college football related to the NFL. When a court ruled that certain players could come back for a fifth season of eligibility, a group consisting of those who were eligible in September 2022 were excluded.
A number of those affected sued and won the right to return to college even if they had signed with an NFL team. The reasoning was that if they knew that they had an extra year of eligibility, they would never have gone to the NFL.
So those that did go would have to return the money received by signing a pro contract if they sought to return to college. Some of the players may have been drafted; others may have put in for the NFL Draft but weren’t selected.
The school ready to benefit the most was LSU, where the greatest number of players who filed the lawsuit intend to go. Others similarly situated must file their own lawsuit and a termination must be made on a case-by-case basis.
I understand the aggrieved status the players claim they have. The logic has some merit.
What is really the case is the new era predicament of NIL money. These players stood to make a lot more in college for the extra year than with the limited chances they had to make an NFL roster.
Don’t be fooled by loyalty to and from the school. It isn’t there.
Nor is there any mention of academics and the need to maintain grades to play. It is more about how much better the team would be with a certain player, not the pursuit of a degree.
The major conferences have set up rules—after the fact—to exclude those trying to return. I can’t wait for that round of litigation to ensue; you can force injunctive relief forcing the conferences to take back those affected.
College athletics has become a bigger sham than ever. It is almost farcical how bad things become when money is involved. Until there is a body formed to legitimately police the collegiate sports scene, chaos will continue to reign in the pursuit of national championships.
Meanwhile, a plethora of games opened the college football season. Lafayette at Georgetown was declared a no contest outcome after constant lightning halted play. William & Mary defeated Villanova in the first Patriot League games for both schools. UNC gave Bill Belichick a must-needed win over TCU in Ireland. USC downed San Jose State and Virginia knocked off NC State.
This weekend is the last meeting for 2026 between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The two storied rivals are neck and neck for the top AL Wild Card slot as the season winds down.
Thus the four games became pivotal as to the post-season and which team would have leverage heading into the playoffs should they both remain ahead of other pursuers. NYY began the series 3 games ahead of Boston. The season series tiebreaker would also be determined with how things played out; if the Red Sox earned at least a split, they would secure the advantage and have home field over their rival.
Game 1 on Friday night brought a packed house at Yankee Stadium. Apple TV had the rights for this game, so, just like on Saturday night when FOX is broadcasting the game, a national TV audience had the opportunity to watch. NBC and Peacock opted to televise the Houston Astros and New York Mets from Citi Field on Sunday. Who knows why they did that.
To open the battle, New York went with their young stud, Cam Schlittler to take the mound in another pressure situation. The New Englander out of Northeastern has somehow owned the team of his youth since getting to the big leagues.
Schlittler didn’t author his best performance on Friday night. He lasted 5 2/3 innings and surrendered a career-tying five walks. Yet he left the game clinging to a 1-0 lead, courtesy of a home run by possible future Hall of Fame first baseman Paul Goldschmidt off Red Sox lefty Pedro Sandoval.
With the help of the top-rated bullpen and some awesome fielding, the Yankees ended repeated Boston threats. The nearly 100 mph throw by left fielder Cody Bellinger to cut down Ceddane Rafaela at home plate was spectacular and game-saving. Bellinger’s return to the lineup after his hamstring injury solidified the outfield defense.
Schlittler is now 3-1 against Boston in five starts. In 32.1 innings pitched, he has permitted 2 earned runs, struck out 39, walked 9 and sports a minuscule 0.56 ERA. That’s unbelievable.
While considered the frontrunner, Schlittler may not win the AL Cy Young Award. Toronto’s Dylan Cease has better statistics in terms of strikeouts and opponents batting average. Otherwise, the statistical edge at this point in the season goes to Schlittler. Of course, there is always the anti-Yankees bias to consider.
Each is likely to start five more times, as they both pitched on Friday—Cease secured a win over Seattle with six innings of one-run ball and he struck out 8 while walking just 1. This will be fun to watch; if Schlittler wins the award, he will become legendary in New York—more so than his playoff gem win over Boston last year.
Saturday’s games brought more full houses to the Bronx. The weather was fully cooperative. But the New York hitters were quieted in the afternoon game, managing four hits. Boston blew open a tight affair with 4 runs in the ninth inn the triumph by a 6-0 score.
The Saturday nightcap went New York’s way, Striking 13 singles, which included a 5 spot in the eighth inning, the Yankees won by a 9-2 score.
Sunday’s game was to determine which team would have home field should they meet in the playoffs. Behind Will Warren’s stellar pitching, the Yankees bats awoke in a 16-1 romp. NYY took the season series 7-6. The team will have a happy flight to Anaheim for sure.
On Thursday, my family braved thunderstorms and near-zero visibility at times on the roads to drive to Syracuse. The occasion was to assist our son who was manning the Richard C. Failla LGBTQ Commission table at the New York State Fair on Pride Day.
We dined at Pastabilities, a downtown Italian eatery which was very nice and offered sizable portions. That was the beginning of an epicurean chase which ended with Chinese food from our favorite restaurant in Denville which we brought home to watch the Friday night Yankees-Red Sox game.
I sampled the 25 cent cup of chocolate milk—offered in connection with the Cornell Agricultural Extension program. It was as smooth and good as advertised.
It didn’t hurt that the Pride Day tables were nearby the Dairy building. In the end, we shared delicious raspberry-chocolate cheesecake on a stick and took back to New Jersey a cream puff (disappointing) and cannolis (delectable) made on site.
I chomped on a pickle on a stick (fair). I sampled grilled corn in a folded husk (better with butter). We shared cheese pizza (not NJ!). And a lobster taco my wife and I had was scrumptious.
The Fair was bustling with activity. The admission prices were affordable—free for seniors and children under 12. A mid-morning downpour did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd. I found it to be way better than the Minnesota and New Jersey State Fairs I had attended.
Before the official Friday opening of the Fair, we were treated to speeches and the raising of the Pride flag—stopped at half-mast to honor Dolly Parton. The usual politicians were on hand.
One in particular caught my interest. That was the mayor of Syracuse, Sharon Owens. A four-sport athlete at Geneva High School, Owens starred as a member of the new women’s track and field team at Syracuse. She won three Big East Conference championships in the long jump and triple jump, was the team captain and qualified for the Olympics. She graduated in 1985 with a degree in economics and remained in the community before becoming the second female mayor of that central New York city. Very impressive and she spoke eloquently.
In the region, the people bleed Orange, the color of their beloved Syracuse University. Signs are everywhere supporting the school. Clothing at the Fair had a decided orange tint, even if there were the occasional SUNY Cortland items, as that school wasn’t that far away.
Driving up Interstate 81, you can’t miss the big white building which houses the Syracuse football, lacrosse and basketball teams. Once known as the Carrier Dome, it is now called the JWA Wireless Dome. That’s a mouthful to repeat.
It looked different than I remembered. The inflatable roof had been replaced in 1999 with a cable-supported one. It looked futuristic and massive.
Home to some of the biggest home college basketball crowds, I have actually been inside in one of my campus visits. It remains the largest on-campus basketball arena with a listed capacity of 35,642. To me, even with the Orange hoops languishing the past few years, the venue is legendary.
While in the city, and out at the fairgrounds, I thought of the late Syracuse Nationals NBA team. You in Philadelphia might know them as the 76’ers, as the franchise moved in 1963 from upstate New York to the City of Brotherly Love where it replaced the Warriors when that franchise moved West to the Bay Area.
Players on the first Sixers squad were by and large the same as the 1962-63 Nats team which went 48-32, finishing 10 games behind Bill Russell and the Boston Celtics. Cincinnati eliminated Syracuse 3-2.
The new Philly franchise slumped to a 34-46 mark. The team played in Convention Hall and the Philadelphia Arena until the Spectrum opened in South Philadelphia in 1967.
Those Nationals actually won the NBA title in 1954-55, defeating the Fort Wayne Pistons in seven games in the finals. It was the only one in franchise history until the team moved to Philadelphia—where it won the 1967 and 1983 championships—and nothing since.
The Nationals primarily played home games at three venues. The first contests were held at the West Jefferson Street Armory. That is now the Museum of Science and Technology. Pastabilities was just up the street from what is now called MOST.
Games from 1947-51 were played at the New York State Fair, in what is now named the Toyota Center. The arena held up to 7,500. Syracuse University basketball played there after the on-campus Archibold Gymnasium burned down in 1947. Now it houses the equestrian events.
In 1951, the Onondaga War Memorial Arena opened, and both teams moved in along with the local AHL franchise. It has subsequently been renamed the Upstate Medical University Arena, as the school and hospital have a large presence in downtown Syracuse. That building is on the National Register of Historic Places.
They also love one professional football team. That would be the Buffalo Bills.
While it is a 150 mile distance between Syracuse and Orchard Park, where the Bills play, that distance is virtually meaningless. Everywhere there were Bills signs and gear.
Western and Central New York—always enemies in minor league baseball between Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse—are unified when it comes to their Bills. Not the Buffalo Sabres of the NHL, the other major league professional franchise in New York State not located in and around New York City. They rock with the cheer “Let’s Go Buff-alo!”
The end of the NFL pre-season. The onset of college football. Yankees-Red Sox. The New York State Fair. Syracuse. I reported on a lot.
This definitely was sensory overload.
No comments:
Post a Comment