Thank God for Thanksgiving but especial thanks for the day after. That’s the day the family’s all together but the company’s gone home. That’s the day for pancakes in the morning and no cooking or cleaning up to do. That it’s also about the time I overfill the furnace with water and spend the night with the comforting but eerie sounds of clanking pipes is even easily forgotten, so full of anticipation as I am for the coming day.
Yeah, Friday after. That’s the day you do reflect, the good things, the bad things, all that, and, for a sports nut, it’s an affirmation of the normal state of things. In the NFL, it’s the dominance of Dallas, and the putridness of Detroit. In most Fantasy Leagues, it’s the last week of the regular season, and Sunday we’ll find out which brainiacs made the playoffs.
It’s also a big, big day in college football, the only day in fact that some fans pay any attention at all. This day may not be as good as some of those I recall from the past, but it will still be pretty good. It’s the height of the season and usually chock full of regional matchups that decide who’ll have bragging rights for another year. And to hell with the BCS and Bowl Games.
Not that I’m even into college football. But I still remember with a good deal of fondness those Turkey Friday games between Alabama and Auburn and Oklahoma vs. Nebraska. I don’t see those on the schedule today, I suppose Nebraska has slipped and Auburn, who knows, I couldn’t really tell you.
But still, I’m watching Pitt against West Virginia right now and that’s not all bad. West Virginia (7-3 overall, 4-1 in the Big East) can tie an unlikely Cincinnati team for first place in the Big East with a win. Dave Wannstedt’s Pitt team is also 7-3 overall but just 3-2 in the conference. They’re leading 7-0 right now and WVU looks like it’ll be coming back.
LSU plays Arkansas later on CBS, and I have no clue as to why. Both teams just aren’t that good, not this year anyway, the same goes for Colorado playing Nebraska, although Nebraska still has some hopes. Then the late game features UCLA and Arizona State, both with no hopes whatsoever of winning anything, and this couldn’t even be characterized as a regional rivalry. If anybody can tell me what the sports networks are thinking, please drop me a line.
Still, I’m determined to enjoy the day. It’ll be this Pitt game and then Colorado-Nebraska. I’ll tune in to some NBA action later on, see what Charles is up to. (If you’re asking Charles who?, this column is not for you. Click elsewhere. Thanks). But Miami will be up against Phoenix at 8 and Shaq’s always a giggle. Then Dallas vs. the Lakers and there’s Dirk and Kobe. Life is good.
But maybe not if you’re a West Virginia fan. Pat White just got smacked down at the two and they’re settling for three. Geez, will Pat White ever graduate? He’s been around forever, it seems.
And we still have Sunday to look forward to. The G-Men might have a real battle on their hands at FedEx Field in Landover vs. the Skins, who’re 7-4 and feature a healthy (supposedly) Clinton Portis, the best running back in the league. Although the Giants beat the Skins in the opener, by a score of just 16-7, the Skins were awful in that game, the first under new coach Jim Zorn, and they’ll be missing the big mouth Brandon Jacobs and the big hamstring Plaxico Burress.
Can the G- Men do to the Skins what they did to the Cardinals a week ago? I don’t think so, especially in the aftermath of the Eagles convincing drubbing of Arizona yesterday. Arizona just couldn’t stop the run again, or any piece of the Eagles game, for that matter.
A look at the stats reveals some interesting data. The Skins rate very favorably on defense when compared to the Giants, both against the run and the pass. And, if they can stop Derrick Ward and maybe even Ahmad Bradshaw, who never seems to get enough playing time, it’ll get very hairy indeed.
The Giants are comfortably ahead. They don’t really have to win while the Skins will be fighting for their playoff lives. They play smart defense usually, but the Giants have some smart fellows themselves, especially at the receiver position with Toomer and Steve Smith and even Plax’s backup, Domenick Hixon, looked really good vs. Arizona.
Of course, you have to like the Giants chances, what with that offensive line, and Eli standing tall over center. I don’t think Jason Campbell measures up. But that’s why they play the game. Will a chance at knocking the Skins out of the playoffs be motivation enough for the Giants to overcome that bruising Skins running game? And if they do stop that, will they forget about Santana Moss?
The much-ballyhooed Jets will be playing at 4 on Sunday. They’re coming off two gigantic wins, versus the Pats and then the now once-defeated Titans. They’ll be going against the crazy Broncos, a team coming off a horrible 31-10 loss to the lowly Oakland Raiders.
But the Raiders do have a great defense against the pass, just ask Jake Delhomme. The Jets secondary may look like cake in comparison. Despite the presence of Darrell Revis in that backfield, they’ve allowed 148 first downs through the air.
And, if anybody can put the ball in the air, it’s Denver QB Jay Cutler. He’s got some nifty receivers too, a fast and huge fella named Brandon Marshall on one side and a tricky Eddy Royal on the other. They’ve got two tough tight ends that can both catch the ball in Scheffler and Graham too. It could be that they’ll master the porous Jets passing defense.
Yeah, Thanksgiving Friday, the best day of the year.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
NFL Coaches - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Bad coaching seems to be running rampant in the NFL this year. Some of them have been bad for years. Herman Edwards of Kansas City comes immediately to mind, of course, and Jack DelRio is most certainly another, despite winning some games with some terrific personnel in Jacksonville.
Some are just recently bad. Lovie Smith of “da Bears” would seem to qualify this year and the Cowboys Wade Phillips would almost certainly be another. Oh yeah, I think you can throw San Diego’s Norv Turner in there too. Anybody who’d hire Ted Cottrell as his defensive coordinator wears blinders.
All this comes to mind as I tonight witnessed te Green Bay Packers get totally annihilated by the sometimes equally inept New Orleans Saints. Any defense that surrenders over 50 points in a game is just not doing the job, I’m sorry to say. I don’t care how good Drew Brees may be.
The Vikings absolute man-handling of the Jaguars was ridiculous. Atlanta’s destruction of the Panthers was almost beyond belief. How can you let Michael Turner score four touchdowns? Didn’t the first three give you a clue?
The Cowboys destroyed the 49ers too, which, maybe you could say was predictable but why let Owens catch all those long balls? Was anybody watching the game unfold, or was Singletary busy watching the behavior of his tight end?
In order to see just how bad the coaching problem is in the NFL, if anything could be worse than the referee-ing, I’ve gone down the list of teams and their respective coaches(courtesy of SportsFrog.com) and classified them as either good, bad, or ugly as follows:
The Good
1.Arizona Cardinals – Ken Wisenhunt – took a chronically bad team and made it good, had the courage to start Kurt Warner over Matt Leinart.
2.Atlanta Falcons – Mike Smith – maybe a great coach, judging by the great shape of every aspect of the Falcons game, running, passing and defense
3.Baltimore Ravens – John Harbaugh – he’s given that great defense a reason to believe, he recognized some good things in QB Joe Flacco and nursed him and his team to victories.
4.Indianapolis Colts – Tony Dungy – if all the titles don’t sway you, what about his handling of this team after all those injuries?
5.Miami Dolphins – Tony Sparano – great job this year marred only by his single coverage all game long on none other than Randy Moss on Sunday. Geez.
6.New England Patriots – Bill Belichick – maybe the best coach of them all – unless you totally surprise him, as Miami’s “wildcat” did earlier this year
7.New Orleans Saints – Sean Payton – injuries hurt him this season but his team is hanging in there, and his defense appears to be getting better.
8.New York Giants – Tom Coughlin – his better treatment of his players had to be forced on him but you apparently can teach an old dog some new tricks.
9.Pittsburgh Steelers – Mike Tomlin – seems to have retained all the good things about the Steelers, except maybe for the absence of a big jaw.
10.Seattle Seahawks – Mike Holmgren – top three or four – injuries decimated receivers this year.
11.Tennessee Titans – Jeff Fisher – his teams have always been ready to play; this year he had the smarts to make Kerry Collins his starter and let Vince Young watch.
12.Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Jon Gruden – remarkable consistency and great Chucky face.
13.Washington Redskins – Jim Zorn – despite looking foolish in the season’s first game vs. the Giants, he and the Skins have come on strong.
The Bad:
1.Chicago Bears – Lovie Smith – stayed too long with Rex and has seemingly no head for offense at all, not to mention defending the pass.
2.Green Bay Packers – Mike McCarthy –mishandled Favre situation, signed Rodgers for six years and team can’t stop the run OR the pass as evidenced by last night’s Saints debacle.
3.Houston Texans – Gary Kubiak – does this team EVER get better?
4.Philadelphia Eagles – Andy Reid – yeah, I know, blah-blah-blah re coaching record, but what has he done lately? When will his team get some real receivers and running backs? And then there’s the McNabb-Kolb thing, time to go home for a while.
5.St Louis Rams – Jim Haslett – this team seems to have quit, ‘nuff said.
6.San Diego Chargers – Norv Turner – good team-underperforms in all areas.
The UGLY:
1.Jacksonville Jaguars – Jack Del Rio – I still recall the “ax incident” and good personnel that plays either badly or inconsistently.
2.Kansas City Chiefs – Herman Edwards – good motivator, terrible bench coach, terrible time management, as coach, makes a great cornerback.
3. Oakland Raiders – Tom Cable - anybody who’d coach for Al Davis has to be listed in this category despite impressive recent win over Shanahan’s Broncos.
4.Cleveland Browns – Romeo Crennel – has totally botched the QB situation, and now a quick hook on Brady Quinn.
5.Dallas Cowboys – Wade Phillips –his team displays no toughness in bad times; even in good times can play with no heart.
6.Minnesota Vikings – Brad Childress – excellent personnel plays very inconsistently on a consistent basis, terrible offense when the run is stopped, terrible bench decisions.
Jury Still Out:
1. Buffalo Bills – Dick Jauron – inconsistent teams but injuries too, QB Trent Edwards may someday turn the corner.
2. Carolina Panthers – John Fox – not convinced that this team is as good as its personnel, plays inconsistently very often.
3. Cincinnati Bengals – Marvin Lewis – hard to like but cursed with head cases and injuries.
4. Denver Broncos – Mike Shanahan – yeah, I know, what a surprise, but his teams are always very strange and play that way, witness last loss to Raiduhs..
5. Detroit Lions – Rod Marinelli – winless but horrible personnel and losing culture will be hard to overcome.
6. New York Jets – Eric Mangini – over-thinks situations, bad bench coach despite good team, we’ll see if he can advance in playoffs.
7. San Francisco 49ers – Mike Singletary – not enough time in job, could be great with right staff.
For those teams listed as bad or ugly, ask yourself if you couldn’t imagine that team being a lot better with a different coaching staff. Happy Thanksgiving!
Some are just recently bad. Lovie Smith of “da Bears” would seem to qualify this year and the Cowboys Wade Phillips would almost certainly be another. Oh yeah, I think you can throw San Diego’s Norv Turner in there too. Anybody who’d hire Ted Cottrell as his defensive coordinator wears blinders.
All this comes to mind as I tonight witnessed te Green Bay Packers get totally annihilated by the sometimes equally inept New Orleans Saints. Any defense that surrenders over 50 points in a game is just not doing the job, I’m sorry to say. I don’t care how good Drew Brees may be.
The Vikings absolute man-handling of the Jaguars was ridiculous. Atlanta’s destruction of the Panthers was almost beyond belief. How can you let Michael Turner score four touchdowns? Didn’t the first three give you a clue?
The Cowboys destroyed the 49ers too, which, maybe you could say was predictable but why let Owens catch all those long balls? Was anybody watching the game unfold, or was Singletary busy watching the behavior of his tight end?
In order to see just how bad the coaching problem is in the NFL, if anything could be worse than the referee-ing, I’ve gone down the list of teams and their respective coaches(courtesy of SportsFrog.com) and classified them as either good, bad, or ugly as follows:
The Good
1.Arizona Cardinals – Ken Wisenhunt – took a chronically bad team and made it good, had the courage to start Kurt Warner over Matt Leinart.
2.Atlanta Falcons – Mike Smith – maybe a great coach, judging by the great shape of every aspect of the Falcons game, running, passing and defense
3.Baltimore Ravens – John Harbaugh – he’s given that great defense a reason to believe, he recognized some good things in QB Joe Flacco and nursed him and his team to victories.
4.Indianapolis Colts – Tony Dungy – if all the titles don’t sway you, what about his handling of this team after all those injuries?
5.Miami Dolphins – Tony Sparano – great job this year marred only by his single coverage all game long on none other than Randy Moss on Sunday. Geez.
6.New England Patriots – Bill Belichick – maybe the best coach of them all – unless you totally surprise him, as Miami’s “wildcat” did earlier this year
7.New Orleans Saints – Sean Payton – injuries hurt him this season but his team is hanging in there, and his defense appears to be getting better.
8.New York Giants – Tom Coughlin – his better treatment of his players had to be forced on him but you apparently can teach an old dog some new tricks.
9.Pittsburgh Steelers – Mike Tomlin – seems to have retained all the good things about the Steelers, except maybe for the absence of a big jaw.
10.Seattle Seahawks – Mike Holmgren – top three or four – injuries decimated receivers this year.
11.Tennessee Titans – Jeff Fisher – his teams have always been ready to play; this year he had the smarts to make Kerry Collins his starter and let Vince Young watch.
12.Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Jon Gruden – remarkable consistency and great Chucky face.
13.Washington Redskins – Jim Zorn – despite looking foolish in the season’s first game vs. the Giants, he and the Skins have come on strong.
The Bad:
1.Chicago Bears – Lovie Smith – stayed too long with Rex and has seemingly no head for offense at all, not to mention defending the pass.
2.Green Bay Packers – Mike McCarthy –mishandled Favre situation, signed Rodgers for six years and team can’t stop the run OR the pass as evidenced by last night’s Saints debacle.
3.Houston Texans – Gary Kubiak – does this team EVER get better?
4.Philadelphia Eagles – Andy Reid – yeah, I know, blah-blah-blah re coaching record, but what has he done lately? When will his team get some real receivers and running backs? And then there’s the McNabb-Kolb thing, time to go home for a while.
5.St Louis Rams – Jim Haslett – this team seems to have quit, ‘nuff said.
6.San Diego Chargers – Norv Turner – good team-underperforms in all areas.
The UGLY:
1.Jacksonville Jaguars – Jack Del Rio – I still recall the “ax incident” and good personnel that plays either badly or inconsistently.
2.Kansas City Chiefs – Herman Edwards – good motivator, terrible bench coach, terrible time management, as coach, makes a great cornerback.
3. Oakland Raiders – Tom Cable - anybody who’d coach for Al Davis has to be listed in this category despite impressive recent win over Shanahan’s Broncos.
4.Cleveland Browns – Romeo Crennel – has totally botched the QB situation, and now a quick hook on Brady Quinn.
5.Dallas Cowboys – Wade Phillips –his team displays no toughness in bad times; even in good times can play with no heart.
6.Minnesota Vikings – Brad Childress – excellent personnel plays very inconsistently on a consistent basis, terrible offense when the run is stopped, terrible bench decisions.
Jury Still Out:
1. Buffalo Bills – Dick Jauron – inconsistent teams but injuries too, QB Trent Edwards may someday turn the corner.
2. Carolina Panthers – John Fox – not convinced that this team is as good as its personnel, plays inconsistently very often.
3. Cincinnati Bengals – Marvin Lewis – hard to like but cursed with head cases and injuries.
4. Denver Broncos – Mike Shanahan – yeah, I know, what a surprise, but his teams are always very strange and play that way, witness last loss to Raiduhs..
5. Detroit Lions – Rod Marinelli – winless but horrible personnel and losing culture will be hard to overcome.
6. New York Jets – Eric Mangini – over-thinks situations, bad bench coach despite good team, we’ll see if he can advance in playoffs.
7. San Francisco 49ers – Mike Singletary – not enough time in job, could be great with right staff.
For those teams listed as bad or ugly, ask yourself if you couldn’t imagine that team being a lot better with a different coaching staff. Happy Thanksgiving!
Friday, November 21, 2008
Nets Bring Magic to Toronto
I had been looking for inspiration all day. Even the clever cap-clearing moves engineered by new Knicks GM Donnie Walsh didn’t really do it for me. I had loved watching Jamal Crawford the last two years, and I’d recognized some renewed efforts put out by Zak Randolph this year.
That the Knicks would get a former NJ wunderkind named Al Harrington and a still very serviceable Cuttino Mobley in exchange didn’t really do it for me. Although things will be much more exciting two years from now for the Knicks, it’ll be pretty much the same story for the rest of this 2008-2009 season.
I had thought I could salvage something from the NFL Thursday night game, but as the Steelers rolled over the hapless Bengals rather easily, my inspiration wouldn’t come from there. The most notable aspect of that game was the Bengals coach’s decision to kick a field goal rather than go for a touchdown embarrassingly late in the game.
Maybe that’s what’s wrong with the Bengals. They have a head coach who’s just as happy to cover the spread as he is to win the game. After the Pittsburgh-San Diego refereeing debacle of the previous week, in which the referee “mistakenly” called back a touchdown that would have enabled the Steelers to cover the spread, it was another unpleasant reminder that we may not be watching what we think we are. It may be rather well-disguised professional wrestling.
The Giants and Jets prospects can usually move me, but as it was still Friday, and with both teams facing rather uncertain futures on Sunday, the Jets having to play the undefeated Titans and the Giants having to face the pass-happy Arizona Cardinals, I wasn’t quite ready to wax prosaic just yet about those contests.
But tonight, quite by chance, amid some channel surfing, I witnessed a furious battle in Canada, an NBA basketball game that reminds me of what purpose there could be in sportswriting. Someone needs to chronicle the heroism displayed in only those contests decreed by God to be special.
Such was the battle between the Nets and Raptors last night. Who would have expected it, such drama, such intensity, such athleticism, such talent, such strategizing, all being played out before my wondering eyes on what otherwise could have been a dreary Friday night.
Just for the record, the Nets won 129-127 in overtime. But that says nothing. It was the ebb and flow of the game that was mesmerizing, and the heroics of Nets point guard Devin Harris in the third quarter and perennial All-Everything and Toronto pariah Vince Carter in the fourth quarter and overtime that eventually decided the matter.
But for all their heroics, it was the inbounds pass from Bobby Simmons to the very sneaky Vince Carter that eventually ended this marathon. It was seemingly an impossible scenario, being that Vince was electrifying all night and had sent the game into overtime with his last-second high arching jumper from the top of the key.
Carter seemed to just disappear as he glided away and behind his defender, and Simmons waited until the last possible moment to loft his perfect inbounds Alley-Oop pass to Vince directly in front of the basket. Carter simply jammed it in backwards and didn’t even smile really. His face just radiated contentment and a realization that his had been a job well done.
Right behind Carter in the line for accolades had to be the mercurial Devin Harris. It was Harris who mobilized the Nets in their comeback in the third quarter, Harris who charged past defenders, Harris who made the pull-up jumpers, Harris who made all the right passes to bring his team back from a huge deficit.
Despite the flair exhibited by the Nets in coming back, at no time was the miraculous ending an expected one, if only because of the unbelievable efforts of Toronto forward Chris Bosh. Every time the Nets did something, it was Bosh who’d answer back. Sometimes, he’d defer to Bargnani or Calderon, but it was Bosh who was running the show, and he fought the good fight.
That it was Carter providing most of the spectacle was especially fitting, given that the Toronto fans continue to boo the man for having had the temerity to abandon their team those many years ago, this despite Vince’s admitted lack of enthusiasm for the game in those days. The fans’ vitriolic treatment of Carter, though, certainly made the win sweeter for Vince, sweeter for the Nets, and sweeter for yours truly.
Nets coach Lawrence Frank was predictably ebullient in the game’s aftermath. He of course praised his big guns but also had kind words for the less evident aspects and players of the game. He certainly had many good reasons to be happy.
Jarvis Hayes got 32 minutes off the bench and contributed 14 points, a late and timely three-pointer, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Rookie Brook Lopez contributed 14 points and 6 rebounds and Sean Williams, though the box score may not reflect it, contributed a great deal to the win with physical play in the paint.
Williams certainly let Jermaine O’Neal know he was there. Williams’s not so flagrant flagrant foul on the Toronto center contributed to some pain O’Neal had been already feeling in his knee and hip and sent him to the bench.
Coach Frank’s biggest problems may be just determining his starting lineup, a happy dilemma to be sure. The young Nets are now 6-6 and seem to have a lot of talent, not to mention height, power, a dynamite speedster in Harris and the magic that Vince Carter can still bring to the court more often than not.
Yes, sometimes you get some magic in the unlikeliest of places and so it was last night in Toronto. I most certainly appreciate the Nets effort. I know I’ll be looking to watch those Nets some more in the months ahead, especially when I might need some inspiration.
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That the Knicks would get a former NJ wunderkind named Al Harrington and a still very serviceable Cuttino Mobley in exchange didn’t really do it for me. Although things will be much more exciting two years from now for the Knicks, it’ll be pretty much the same story for the rest of this 2008-2009 season.
I had thought I could salvage something from the NFL Thursday night game, but as the Steelers rolled over the hapless Bengals rather easily, my inspiration wouldn’t come from there. The most notable aspect of that game was the Bengals coach’s decision to kick a field goal rather than go for a touchdown embarrassingly late in the game.
Maybe that’s what’s wrong with the Bengals. They have a head coach who’s just as happy to cover the spread as he is to win the game. After the Pittsburgh-San Diego refereeing debacle of the previous week, in which the referee “mistakenly” called back a touchdown that would have enabled the Steelers to cover the spread, it was another unpleasant reminder that we may not be watching what we think we are. It may be rather well-disguised professional wrestling.
The Giants and Jets prospects can usually move me, but as it was still Friday, and with both teams facing rather uncertain futures on Sunday, the Jets having to play the undefeated Titans and the Giants having to face the pass-happy Arizona Cardinals, I wasn’t quite ready to wax prosaic just yet about those contests.
But tonight, quite by chance, amid some channel surfing, I witnessed a furious battle in Canada, an NBA basketball game that reminds me of what purpose there could be in sportswriting. Someone needs to chronicle the heroism displayed in only those contests decreed by God to be special.
Such was the battle between the Nets and Raptors last night. Who would have expected it, such drama, such intensity, such athleticism, such talent, such strategizing, all being played out before my wondering eyes on what otherwise could have been a dreary Friday night.
Just for the record, the Nets won 129-127 in overtime. But that says nothing. It was the ebb and flow of the game that was mesmerizing, and the heroics of Nets point guard Devin Harris in the third quarter and perennial All-Everything and Toronto pariah Vince Carter in the fourth quarter and overtime that eventually decided the matter.
But for all their heroics, it was the inbounds pass from Bobby Simmons to the very sneaky Vince Carter that eventually ended this marathon. It was seemingly an impossible scenario, being that Vince was electrifying all night and had sent the game into overtime with his last-second high arching jumper from the top of the key.
Carter seemed to just disappear as he glided away and behind his defender, and Simmons waited until the last possible moment to loft his perfect inbounds Alley-Oop pass to Vince directly in front of the basket. Carter simply jammed it in backwards and didn’t even smile really. His face just radiated contentment and a realization that his had been a job well done.
Right behind Carter in the line for accolades had to be the mercurial Devin Harris. It was Harris who mobilized the Nets in their comeback in the third quarter, Harris who charged past defenders, Harris who made the pull-up jumpers, Harris who made all the right passes to bring his team back from a huge deficit.
Despite the flair exhibited by the Nets in coming back, at no time was the miraculous ending an expected one, if only because of the unbelievable efforts of Toronto forward Chris Bosh. Every time the Nets did something, it was Bosh who’d answer back. Sometimes, he’d defer to Bargnani or Calderon, but it was Bosh who was running the show, and he fought the good fight.
That it was Carter providing most of the spectacle was especially fitting, given that the Toronto fans continue to boo the man for having had the temerity to abandon their team those many years ago, this despite Vince’s admitted lack of enthusiasm for the game in those days. The fans’ vitriolic treatment of Carter, though, certainly made the win sweeter for Vince, sweeter for the Nets, and sweeter for yours truly.
Nets coach Lawrence Frank was predictably ebullient in the game’s aftermath. He of course praised his big guns but also had kind words for the less evident aspects and players of the game. He certainly had many good reasons to be happy.
Jarvis Hayes got 32 minutes off the bench and contributed 14 points, a late and timely three-pointer, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Rookie Brook Lopez contributed 14 points and 6 rebounds and Sean Williams, though the box score may not reflect it, contributed a great deal to the win with physical play in the paint.
Williams certainly let Jermaine O’Neal know he was there. Williams’s not so flagrant flagrant foul on the Toronto center contributed to some pain O’Neal had been already feeling in his knee and hip and sent him to the bench.
Coach Frank’s biggest problems may be just determining his starting lineup, a happy dilemma to be sure. The young Nets are now 6-6 and seem to have a lot of talent, not to mention height, power, a dynamite speedster in Harris and the magic that Vince Carter can still bring to the court more often than not.
Yes, sometimes you get some magic in the unlikeliest of places and so it was last night in Toronto. I most certainly appreciate the Nets effort. I know I’ll be looking to watch those Nets some more in the months ahead, especially when I might need some inspiration.
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Giants Eat Ravens - Mangini Eats Crow
Gee, if it weren’t for the economy going to hell and everyone’s retirement money going into the abyss, no jobs around or even on the horizon and state and local budgets going farther into the red, we’d have to be happy campers here in New York, unless you have to rake the leaves, of course. Then you have a real problem.
What can you say? The G-Men look invincible, the Jets refuse to lose and even the Knicks and Nets aren’t going down without a fight these days. Every day seems to bring with it new wonders. Even baseball fans can look forward to the next big signing, after Nick Swisher, that is.
Invincible? I don’t know that that’s the right word for it, but those Giants surely made some kind of statement against the Ravens on Sunday. Everyone seemed to be expecting a very close game as the Baltimore defense had been allowing almost nothing on the ground. It was Ray Lewis this and Ray Lewis that, and surely the Ravens stable of running backs, featuring Willis McGahee and Rutgers own Ray Rice would challenge the G-Men’s front seven.
It sure didn’t turn out that way. The Ravens running game was stuffed. Jersey’s own Joe Flacco, the rookie QB, was the leading rusher with 57 yards, the rest were in the teens. In fact, the biggest surprise in every respect was Flacco, who gave the Giants fits, both with his arms and legs.
But the issue was never in doubt. The tone was set from the first drive of the game, when Jacobs got hit behind the line, shrugged it off, and wheeled around to his left for about 40 yards, rendering quite a few Ravens tough guys on the ground before going out of bounds. When he crashed into the end zone a few plays later, it was pretty much all she wrote.
The Jets were less awesome to be sure, but they managed to beat their perennial nemesis, New England. I would have preferred a game with less Jets lead squandering and more convincing defense but it wasn’t to be. Favre had to save their butts in overtime after some Mangini over-think allowed the Pats to tie the game on its last play.
I won’t belabor the point but the Genius abandoned what had been working all game to present the most appropriate possible defense for the situation, classic over-think, and of course he ate crow.
In fact, the best characterization of the weekend is to say that the Giants ate the Ravens while Mangini ate crow. Not to be cruel but the Jets should be winning more easily with the talent they have. They’ll make the playoffs but Mangini will make every game an adventure. Not that I don’t like the man. Heh-heh.
Oh, and Leon Washington is just super. So is Kris Jenkins. Okay, enough about the Jets. They’re almost certain to be a disappointment in the final analysis.
How good is it to see Mike D’Antoni’s influence paying off for the Knicks? Although they lost a tough one last time out against the tough Mavericks, when Dirk Nowitzki went crazy and the Knickerbockers went very very cold (for the first time), they are 6-4 and will face the Celtics tonight sans Kevin Garnett, who was suspended a game for hitting Andrew Bogut in the face. (Yeah, I know, just a game suspension for hitting somebody in the face)?
The Nets are a very surprising 4-5 after beating what had been thought to be a tough Atlanta Hawks team twice in a row. The guard they got in exchange for Kidd, Devin Harris, has been pretty phenomenal and is making the Nets management look very good indeed, especially considering the fact that draftees Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson are both proving they play some pretty good basketball in those West Coast colleges.
Hockey? Sorry, I don’t do hockey. And neither do the Devils this year by all accounts.
Then, of course, there are the Yankees. Let me remind my readers that I truly hate the Yankees, not the players, of course, but the management. No, let me be more specific than that, it’s GM Brian Cashman who bugs me (lately).
Nevertheless, I do pay attention to their doings, if just to be able to pick on Cashman a little bit more. I hate that the Yanks are going after Sabathia, one of the very best pitchers in the game, but who is just not a good fit for the Yankees. (Time will prove me right on this one if he is stupid enough to take their offer). Sabathia’s a free spirit whose fire will go out on that humorless team.
But I must say I love their signing of free agent Nick Swisher. Here’s a guy who is coming off a very mediocre last year but who had two pretty good years before that. Here’s a guy who plays the game hard, takes a lot of pitches at the plate, and can play any outfield position in addition to first base. For a team with needs at both positions,it was a brilliant move, and one that will be a good fit for both team and player. Good move, Brian, for once.
My favorite team, the Mets, will make its fans agonize for a month or so before GM Omar Minaya gets us a closer, and probably make us wait even longer than that to fill out the rest of the bullpen. I remain concerned that the Mets will trade Beltran, my favorite Mets player. (What’s not to like? He does everything well).
While there has been talk of the Mets acquiring a bigtime closer in free agency (Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes), there have also been rumors of trading for Bobby Jenks. While I’d love to get Jenks, it makes me wonder who’s on his way to Chicago. And the White Sox will be needing an outfielder.
I’m thinking I should brace myself for disappointment.
What can you say? The G-Men look invincible, the Jets refuse to lose and even the Knicks and Nets aren’t going down without a fight these days. Every day seems to bring with it new wonders. Even baseball fans can look forward to the next big signing, after Nick Swisher, that is.
Invincible? I don’t know that that’s the right word for it, but those Giants surely made some kind of statement against the Ravens on Sunday. Everyone seemed to be expecting a very close game as the Baltimore defense had been allowing almost nothing on the ground. It was Ray Lewis this and Ray Lewis that, and surely the Ravens stable of running backs, featuring Willis McGahee and Rutgers own Ray Rice would challenge the G-Men’s front seven.
It sure didn’t turn out that way. The Ravens running game was stuffed. Jersey’s own Joe Flacco, the rookie QB, was the leading rusher with 57 yards, the rest were in the teens. In fact, the biggest surprise in every respect was Flacco, who gave the Giants fits, both with his arms and legs.
But the issue was never in doubt. The tone was set from the first drive of the game, when Jacobs got hit behind the line, shrugged it off, and wheeled around to his left for about 40 yards, rendering quite a few Ravens tough guys on the ground before going out of bounds. When he crashed into the end zone a few plays later, it was pretty much all she wrote.
The Jets were less awesome to be sure, but they managed to beat their perennial nemesis, New England. I would have preferred a game with less Jets lead squandering and more convincing defense but it wasn’t to be. Favre had to save their butts in overtime after some Mangini over-think allowed the Pats to tie the game on its last play.
I won’t belabor the point but the Genius abandoned what had been working all game to present the most appropriate possible defense for the situation, classic over-think, and of course he ate crow.
In fact, the best characterization of the weekend is to say that the Giants ate the Ravens while Mangini ate crow. Not to be cruel but the Jets should be winning more easily with the talent they have. They’ll make the playoffs but Mangini will make every game an adventure. Not that I don’t like the man. Heh-heh.
Oh, and Leon Washington is just super. So is Kris Jenkins. Okay, enough about the Jets. They’re almost certain to be a disappointment in the final analysis.
How good is it to see Mike D’Antoni’s influence paying off for the Knicks? Although they lost a tough one last time out against the tough Mavericks, when Dirk Nowitzki went crazy and the Knickerbockers went very very cold (for the first time), they are 6-4 and will face the Celtics tonight sans Kevin Garnett, who was suspended a game for hitting Andrew Bogut in the face. (Yeah, I know, just a game suspension for hitting somebody in the face)?
The Nets are a very surprising 4-5 after beating what had been thought to be a tough Atlanta Hawks team twice in a row. The guard they got in exchange for Kidd, Devin Harris, has been pretty phenomenal and is making the Nets management look very good indeed, especially considering the fact that draftees Brook Lopez and Ryan Anderson are both proving they play some pretty good basketball in those West Coast colleges.
Hockey? Sorry, I don’t do hockey. And neither do the Devils this year by all accounts.
Then, of course, there are the Yankees. Let me remind my readers that I truly hate the Yankees, not the players, of course, but the management. No, let me be more specific than that, it’s GM Brian Cashman who bugs me (lately).
Nevertheless, I do pay attention to their doings, if just to be able to pick on Cashman a little bit more. I hate that the Yanks are going after Sabathia, one of the very best pitchers in the game, but who is just not a good fit for the Yankees. (Time will prove me right on this one if he is stupid enough to take their offer). Sabathia’s a free spirit whose fire will go out on that humorless team.
But I must say I love their signing of free agent Nick Swisher. Here’s a guy who is coming off a very mediocre last year but who had two pretty good years before that. Here’s a guy who plays the game hard, takes a lot of pitches at the plate, and can play any outfield position in addition to first base. For a team with needs at both positions,it was a brilliant move, and one that will be a good fit for both team and player. Good move, Brian, for once.
My favorite team, the Mets, will make its fans agonize for a month or so before GM Omar Minaya gets us a closer, and probably make us wait even longer than that to fill out the rest of the bullpen. I remain concerned that the Mets will trade Beltran, my favorite Mets player. (What’s not to like? He does everything well).
While there has been talk of the Mets acquiring a bigtime closer in free agency (Francisco Rodriguez and Brian Fuentes), there have also been rumors of trading for Bobby Jenks. While I’d love to get Jenks, it makes me wonder who’s on his way to Chicago. And the White Sox will be needing an outfielder.
I’m thinking I should brace myself for disappointment.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Curiouser and Curiouser
Well, tomorrow's another big football day and things just get curiouser and curiouser in the National Football League. Where's the defense? How many teams really have one worthy of the name? Certainly not the Jets, who, while they won their game against the Pats in overtime, let the Pats and Randy Moss tie it up on the last play of the game.
The Giants, too, would seem to be a little suspect after allowing the Eagles to score as many as they did. I mean, gimme a break, they won much because of overly conservative Herman Edwards-like play calling.
Yeah, I know, both teams are leading their divisions and who cares about defense anyway. Well, besides me, most successful playoff teams of yesteryear have cared rather passionately about defense. Need I mention the '85 Bears? Nah! How about the 2007-08 GEE-Men?
In the Jets case, their coach just overthinks everything. What had been successful against Moss all day was abandoned on that last play. Because he had thought, "well, there's no time on the clock, the qb can't afford to scramble, the ball can't go to the middle of the field, yada, yada, ad infinitum, and he forgot that he had put Moss to sleep all day by smashing him at the line of scrimmage.
Randy looked like a kid who's just gotten his first bike for Christmas. And, when he snared that pass from Cassell (and indeed, Randy was the only guy who could have caught it), he got his bike, and a Christmas goose too. Wait...check that, it was the Jets who got the goose. That they came back to win in OT was great, but somehow that bad taste lingers for me. Can the Jets really go much further?
The G-Men will finally see some real defense played tomorrow. The Ravens are unbelievable, a fierce defense, no over-thinking going on. I don't see Brandon Jacobs or Derek Ward doing much, not that Coughlin won't try. Hopefully, he will change his game somewhat in the face of some furious realities in the forms of Ray Lewis and his band of renown.
What's most curious about football is the emotion involved in the game. The fact that the G-Men have a nice little cushion in their division will surely alter the metabolism of each and every man on that field. The same will apply to the Baltimore crew, of course, and their collective chomping at the bit can only bode well for them.
The other curious thing is the affect of injuries. Who could even figure out who's playing? "Questionable" means everything from "no way" to "definitely in". Take Clinton Portis, for example. He's questionable every week. The G-Men have some questionable secondary people for tomorrow. I have no idea who's playing.
And, speaking of curious, let me turn to baseball for a second. Isn't it a little strange that C.C. Sabathia may be practically forced by the Players Union to accept the highest salary offered? When did the players give up their individuality? Who authorized that?
<>What if C.C. hates the Yankees? I can’t think of a team that less suits him. I have followed C.C. since his first year in the majors, if just for the size of him and the tilt of his cap. Will the Yankees make him straighten it out? Probably. Never was there a more serious bunch than these Yankees. Never was there a group that appears to be having less fun.
Shouldn’t C.C. be allowed to take that Milwaukee offer? Sure, it’s millions less but what about job satisfaction? Shouldn’t that really be the first consideration? C.C. won’t like the Yankees, I know, and, as hard as this may be to believe, I don’t think the Yankees will like him.
<>Money, money, money. It’s keeping Stephon Marbury in limbo, if a very rich and comfortable limbo. Last on the bench, first in the bank account. Isn’t he a basketball player? Doesn’t he care about that?
Whether Stephon may eventually get bought out or not, the Knicks’ fortunes have certainly been changing for the better. They seem reborn, these D’Antonians. Defense once again graces the floor of Madison Square Garden. No more Marbury or Curry, these Knicks have guys who actually leave their feet.
<>Wilson Chandler seems to be the biggest difference, an under-sized power forward who does it all, rebounding, scoring, blocking shots, and yes, thank goodness, defense. The most curious thing, though, is that much of the personnel remains the same, Jamal Crawford, Zak Randolph, yada yada. Oh, and a guy who cares not so much for money, an unselfish point guard named Duhon, Chris Duhon.
On the other side of the river, the Nets look horrible one night, terrific the next. While that inconsistency is supposed to be normal for a young team, a kind of consistent inconsistency, it still seems awfully strange. I’m glad I don’t gamble. I’d never have picked them to beat the Atlanta Hawks.
<>The world of sport is filled with curiosities, of course. New York has no monopoly on strange. The Cowboys could be the weirdest of the bunch (if you don’t count the Raiders and the Lions). How can a premiere team neglect to get themselves a decent backup quarterback?
Tomorrow, we’ll see another curious but interesting phenomenon, the positive affect that the quarterback return can have on a team. The Redskins, though much improved themselves this year under new coach Zorn, will have to deal with a Cowboys team that should be angry, fed up, and just delighted to have good old Tony back behind the center. I think they’ll totally forget the PacMan, and maybe even their crazy owner, even if he does place himself front and center on the sideline.
Enjoy Week 11 (including the bye week, another curious thing), sports fans. I know the fans in Miami will, what with Chad at the helm and in Atlanta, where a Yankee named Ryan seems to be taking the Falcons to the heights.
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The Giants, too, would seem to be a little suspect after allowing the Eagles to score as many as they did. I mean, gimme a break, they won much because of overly conservative Herman Edwards-like play calling.
Yeah, I know, both teams are leading their divisions and who cares about defense anyway. Well, besides me, most successful playoff teams of yesteryear have cared rather passionately about defense. Need I mention the '85 Bears? Nah! How about the 2007-08 GEE-Men?
In the Jets case, their coach just overthinks everything. What had been successful against Moss all day was abandoned on that last play. Because he had thought, "well, there's no time on the clock, the qb can't afford to scramble, the ball can't go to the middle of the field, yada, yada, ad infinitum, and he forgot that he had put Moss to sleep all day by smashing him at the line of scrimmage.
Randy looked like a kid who's just gotten his first bike for Christmas. And, when he snared that pass from Cassell (and indeed, Randy was the only guy who could have caught it), he got his bike, and a Christmas goose too. Wait...check that, it was the Jets who got the goose. That they came back to win in OT was great, but somehow that bad taste lingers for me. Can the Jets really go much further?
The G-Men will finally see some real defense played tomorrow. The Ravens are unbelievable, a fierce defense, no over-thinking going on. I don't see Brandon Jacobs or Derek Ward doing much, not that Coughlin won't try. Hopefully, he will change his game somewhat in the face of some furious realities in the forms of Ray Lewis and his band of renown.
What's most curious about football is the emotion involved in the game. The fact that the G-Men have a nice little cushion in their division will surely alter the metabolism of each and every man on that field. The same will apply to the Baltimore crew, of course, and their collective chomping at the bit can only bode well for them.
The other curious thing is the affect of injuries. Who could even figure out who's playing? "Questionable" means everything from "no way" to "definitely in". Take Clinton Portis, for example. He's questionable every week. The G-Men have some questionable secondary people for tomorrow. I have no idea who's playing.
And, speaking of curious, let me turn to baseball for a second. Isn't it a little strange that C.C. Sabathia may be practically forced by the Players Union to accept the highest salary offered? When did the players give up their individuality? Who authorized that?
<>What if C.C. hates the Yankees? I can’t think of a team that less suits him. I have followed C.C. since his first year in the majors, if just for the size of him and the tilt of his cap. Will the Yankees make him straighten it out? Probably. Never was there a more serious bunch than these Yankees. Never was there a group that appears to be having less fun.
Shouldn’t C.C. be allowed to take that Milwaukee offer? Sure, it’s millions less but what about job satisfaction? Shouldn’t that really be the first consideration? C.C. won’t like the Yankees, I know, and, as hard as this may be to believe, I don’t think the Yankees will like him.
<>Money, money, money. It’s keeping Stephon Marbury in limbo, if a very rich and comfortable limbo. Last on the bench, first in the bank account. Isn’t he a basketball player? Doesn’t he care about that?
Whether Stephon may eventually get bought out or not, the Knicks’ fortunes have certainly been changing for the better. They seem reborn, these D’Antonians. Defense once again graces the floor of Madison Square Garden. No more Marbury or Curry, these Knicks have guys who actually leave their feet.
<>Wilson Chandler seems to be the biggest difference, an under-sized power forward who does it all, rebounding, scoring, blocking shots, and yes, thank goodness, defense. The most curious thing, though, is that much of the personnel remains the same, Jamal Crawford, Zak Randolph, yada yada. Oh, and a guy who cares not so much for money, an unselfish point guard named Duhon, Chris Duhon.
On the other side of the river, the Nets look horrible one night, terrific the next. While that inconsistency is supposed to be normal for a young team, a kind of consistent inconsistency, it still seems awfully strange. I’m glad I don’t gamble. I’d never have picked them to beat the Atlanta Hawks.
<>The world of sport is filled with curiosities, of course. New York has no monopoly on strange. The Cowboys could be the weirdest of the bunch (if you don’t count the Raiders and the Lions). How can a premiere team neglect to get themselves a decent backup quarterback?
Tomorrow, we’ll see another curious but interesting phenomenon, the positive affect that the quarterback return can have on a team. The Redskins, though much improved themselves this year under new coach Zorn, will have to deal with a Cowboys team that should be angry, fed up, and just delighted to have good old Tony back behind the center. I think they’ll totally forget the PacMan, and maybe even their crazy owner, even if he does place himself front and center on the sideline.
Enjoy Week 11 (including the bye week, another curious thing), sports fans. I know the fans in Miami will, what with Chad at the helm and in Atlanta, where a Yankee named Ryan seems to be taking the Falcons to the heights.
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Tuesday, November 11, 2008
QB's - Turning On The Jets (and Boyz)
Everybody's talking about the Jets these days, especially after their stomping of the lowly Rams on Sunday leading up to their AFC East showdown with their perennial nemesis, the New England Patriots on Thursday night. Things looked even brighter when it became apparent that the Pats star linebacker Adalius Thomas would be unable to play. And it seemed like piling on when the Jets picked up free agent and former Patriot All-Star veteran cornerback Ty Law.
<>I should preface all my remarks by first telling you that I’ve soured on the Jets for the past two years. There was all that nonsense with the offensive line for starters last year, and then the genius Mangini proved he couldn’t coach. Then I was very impressed with their free agent pickups in the off-season, Faneca and Woody, Calvin Pace and of course Chris Jenkins, the mammoth defensive tackle.
I was so happy for Pennington at the time. Chad would finally get some help, a LOT of help, on both sides of the ball. No more would I wake up on Monday morning to read about Chad’s failures, when it was really a thinly-disguised team failure. No more would Chad have to be humiliated by sitting while a raw Kellen Clemens got the starts. Surely Chad would excel in this new environment.
<>And then they picked up Brett Favre, the aging wonder from Green Bay. Chad went to Miami and has been terrific for them, so he has at least landed on his feet. Favre has been up and down, in and out, as has been his history. He threw six touchdown passes against a pretty good Arizona team but managed to lose to a horrid Oakland team. Then he managed to eke out a narrow victory against the lowly Chiefs (thank God for Herman Edwards and his conservative nonsense down the stretch) but did beat Buffalo pretty soundly before the pounding of the Rams on Sunday.
So Favre has been Favre. But, to me, it’s really been about Jenkins and Pace and that improved Jets defense. The offensive line has been improving each week as further evidenced on Sunday by the running of Thomas Jones over, under, around and through the Rams.
<>But they did lose to New England in Week Two, 19-10. And Favre was instrumental in the loss. A poorly thrown ball and subsequent interception led directly to a Pats score, while Mangini’s obsessive-compulsive decision to run Jones into the sturdy heart of the Pats defense three times in a row from the three made sure the boys in green wouldn’t catch up.
Of course, that was Week 2. The Jets seem to have come a long way since then. And now for the rematch Adalius Thomas is out. That means it’ll be easier for the Jets to run the ball. There will be less pressure on Favre as well. While I don’t think that Ty Law can significantly change the Jets fortunes in this particular contest, his addition certainly bodes well for the future.
<>But the Pats will still be pretty darned good. Theirs is a Bellichick defense, and that means smart. That means tough. If their defense can stand the pounding of Jones and catch up to the shifty scatback, Leon Washington, they’ll probably be able to win again, even if the Pats are stuck with a rookie running back with a whole lot of names.
This game will be the benchmark for Favre, and Mangini too, the game by which both will eventually be measured. Can Favre show that he’s finally learned the offense? Can he lead the team to victory against that determination that Bellichick seems to inspire? Can Mangini out-think Bellichick…..if just for one day?
<>The game will be in Foxboro. That should make things that much tougher. It could possibly rain, another potential roadblock to what has been a very nice running game the past couple of weeks. The team that takes advantage of the conditions will have the edge. Can Mangini think that far ahead? Can he make the in-game adjustments that his coaching mentor surely will? Can they find a hole in Matt Cassell’s game? Mr. Cassell surely didn’t show much weakness against Buffalo.
Whatever the outcome, it should prove to be a very intense game, a very competitive game, one that may ultimately determine the AFC East winner, and maybe even the AFC representative to the Super Bowl. I’m going to thoroughly enjoy the game, hopefully as much as I’m enjoying just the prospects of the game.
<>Once again, I’ve been down on the Jets. I haven’t liked Mangini and I’ve liked Tanenbaum even less. It seems to me that they’ve focused most of their attention on burying their popular players to solidify their hold on this team. The new emperor buries the sword…..
The Jets game will just be the kickoff to an exciting schedule of NFL games this weekend. I’m most looking forward to the return of Tony Romo to the Cowboys fold. I’m hoping his pinkie will hold up against the outstanding defense that the Skins will bring.
<>It had better. If it doesn’t, the Cowboys will be done. Stick a fork in them. That much-ballyhooed team with all the Pro Bowl representatives may as well go home again. It won’t be easy either. They haven’t been able to stop the run, something the Skins like to do, with Clinton Portis doing most of the damage. It’s a bit hard to believe he won’t play, something that is supposedly a distinct possibility as this is written. And then, of course, there is the disturbing news (for Boys fans) of CB DeAngelo Hall, formerly of the Raiders, joining the Redskins.
Can a quarterback change the entire complexion of a football team? I’m betting that he can, that just the Romo presence on the field will boost not just the Cowboys offfense, but the defense and special teams as well.
I’m a little less sure that Favre can do the same this Thursday.
<>I should preface all my remarks by first telling you that I’ve soured on the Jets for the past two years. There was all that nonsense with the offensive line for starters last year, and then the genius Mangini proved he couldn’t coach. Then I was very impressed with their free agent pickups in the off-season, Faneca and Woody, Calvin Pace and of course Chris Jenkins, the mammoth defensive tackle.
I was so happy for Pennington at the time. Chad would finally get some help, a LOT of help, on both sides of the ball. No more would I wake up on Monday morning to read about Chad’s failures, when it was really a thinly-disguised team failure. No more would Chad have to be humiliated by sitting while a raw Kellen Clemens got the starts. Surely Chad would excel in this new environment.
<>And then they picked up Brett Favre, the aging wonder from Green Bay. Chad went to Miami and has been terrific for them, so he has at least landed on his feet. Favre has been up and down, in and out, as has been his history. He threw six touchdown passes against a pretty good Arizona team but managed to lose to a horrid Oakland team. Then he managed to eke out a narrow victory against the lowly Chiefs (thank God for Herman Edwards and his conservative nonsense down the stretch) but did beat Buffalo pretty soundly before the pounding of the Rams on Sunday.
So Favre has been Favre. But, to me, it’s really been about Jenkins and Pace and that improved Jets defense. The offensive line has been improving each week as further evidenced on Sunday by the running of Thomas Jones over, under, around and through the Rams.
<>But they did lose to New England in Week Two, 19-10. And Favre was instrumental in the loss. A poorly thrown ball and subsequent interception led directly to a Pats score, while Mangini’s obsessive-compulsive decision to run Jones into the sturdy heart of the Pats defense three times in a row from the three made sure the boys in green wouldn’t catch up.
Of course, that was Week 2. The Jets seem to have come a long way since then. And now for the rematch Adalius Thomas is out. That means it’ll be easier for the Jets to run the ball. There will be less pressure on Favre as well. While I don’t think that Ty Law can significantly change the Jets fortunes in this particular contest, his addition certainly bodes well for the future.
<>But the Pats will still be pretty darned good. Theirs is a Bellichick defense, and that means smart. That means tough. If their defense can stand the pounding of Jones and catch up to the shifty scatback, Leon Washington, they’ll probably be able to win again, even if the Pats are stuck with a rookie running back with a whole lot of names.
This game will be the benchmark for Favre, and Mangini too, the game by which both will eventually be measured. Can Favre show that he’s finally learned the offense? Can he lead the team to victory against that determination that Bellichick seems to inspire? Can Mangini out-think Bellichick…..if just for one day?
<>The game will be in Foxboro. That should make things that much tougher. It could possibly rain, another potential roadblock to what has been a very nice running game the past couple of weeks. The team that takes advantage of the conditions will have the edge. Can Mangini think that far ahead? Can he make the in-game adjustments that his coaching mentor surely will? Can they find a hole in Matt Cassell’s game? Mr. Cassell surely didn’t show much weakness against Buffalo.
Whatever the outcome, it should prove to be a very intense game, a very competitive game, one that may ultimately determine the AFC East winner, and maybe even the AFC representative to the Super Bowl. I’m going to thoroughly enjoy the game, hopefully as much as I’m enjoying just the prospects of the game.
<>Once again, I’ve been down on the Jets. I haven’t liked Mangini and I’ve liked Tanenbaum even less. It seems to me that they’ve focused most of their attention on burying their popular players to solidify their hold on this team. The new emperor buries the sword…..
The Jets game will just be the kickoff to an exciting schedule of NFL games this weekend. I’m most looking forward to the return of Tony Romo to the Cowboys fold. I’m hoping his pinkie will hold up against the outstanding defense that the Skins will bring.
<>It had better. If it doesn’t, the Cowboys will be done. Stick a fork in them. That much-ballyhooed team with all the Pro Bowl representatives may as well go home again. It won’t be easy either. They haven’t been able to stop the run, something the Skins like to do, with Clinton Portis doing most of the damage. It’s a bit hard to believe he won’t play, something that is supposedly a distinct possibility as this is written. And then, of course, there is the disturbing news (for Boys fans) of CB DeAngelo Hall, formerly of the Raiders, joining the Redskins.
Can a quarterback change the entire complexion of a football team? I’m betting that he can, that just the Romo presence on the field will boost not just the Cowboys offfense, but the defense and special teams as well.
I’m a little less sure that Favre can do the same this Thursday.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Of Mets Follies and Football Too!
You're probably asking yourself how anybody could be writing about baseball when there are so many exciting things happening in football, and even basketball. I'm wondering myself actually. My only excuse is that I'm worried bigtime that Mets GM Omar Minaya will make another "brilliant" move, one on the order of his Moises Alou or Luis Castillo ploys.
Who knows if it's true but I keep hearing rumors that the Mets will trade Carlos Beltran and are listening to proposals concerning the Mets great centerfielder. Not only that but I hear the suitors are the Yankees and the principal Yankee for the Mets would be Robinson Cano and a couple of relief pitchers. What a mistake that would be, but just the kind of mistake for which Minaya has become famous.
GM’s sometimes lose the forest for the trees. The Mets need two relief pitchers and a closer. Period. There is Kerry Wood of the Cubs. There is Brian Fuentes. There are a few other short relievers in free agency.
The Mets have second basemen. Damion Easley plays second base as does Luis Castillo and an exciting fellow named Argenis Reyes, all of whom are already on the roster. Second base, while not a comparative strength, was not the reason the Mets folded again.
Need I remind anyone? It was relief pitching. We need relief pitching. Hello Omar, are you there? We need those guys who come out after the starter and before the end of the game. For most teams, Omar, the end of the game was not coincident with the appearance of the first relief pitcher.
To lose Beltran at all would be a grievous loss but to lose him for a disgruntled attitude problem such as Cano would be unforgivable. I'd stop rooting for the Mets. That would be one step over the line for even this stout fan. If Beltran is requesting a trade, I'd be surprised. But, if he indeed is requesting a trade, I'd like to at least be aware of it.
It's not outrageous to think that Beltran may have had enough of Mets fans. He may be ready to move on. And the Mets do have an outfielder down in the minors who's probably ready. If this is the case, if Beltran is begging for a trade, I'd try to accommodate him, if just because the Mets do have a young fellow they've been bragging about for years.
But I'd only accommodate him if we could get equal value, or even nearly equal value. Robinson Cano is a Yankees problem they're trying to unload. Carlos Beltran is a legitimate star, the best all-around centerfielder in Major League Baseball. Equal value would mean a position player acknowledged to be one of the best in the game. Pitchers are too fragile.
The only player out there I'd seriously consider would be the Rockies Matt Holliday. Now he's a star. Not a centerfielder but a star. Holliday could provide even more than Beltran at the plate and adequately cover left field. He could be the clutch hitter the Mets have so desperately needed. There are no second basemen who could compare to Beltran at the plate, certainly not Cano.
It would be totally unacceptable to watch Carlos Beltran cruising around in centerfield for the Yankees, especially knowing that we received Robinson Cano in return. It would be a constant reminder of the Mets incompetence. I couldn't root for a team that had no brains whatsoever at the top.
Okay, enough about the Mets. After all, it’s November. The Giants play the Eagles Sunday night. It should be a nice game, totally different from the first Thursday night game we witnessed last night on NFL Network.
While we did get to witness the remarkable debut of Browns’ quarterback Brady Quinn last night, it was accomplished against a very suspect Broncos defense. That the Broncos managed to win the game was not so much a tribute to the Broncos as it was an indicator of how truly bad is the Browns defense. It was dramatic, though, and a kick in the face for Quinn in his Browns debut.
If you like defense, though, tune in to the Giants game Sunday night. Unlike the Browns-Broncos debacle, the quarterbacks won’t have ten seconds or so to get rid of the ball. There will be plenty of blitzes and plenty of scrambling by McNabb and Manning.
There will be legitimate running games displayed too. Both teams feature huge offensive lines and either powerful running backs, in the Giants case Brandon Jacobs and Derrek Ward, or shifty running backs such as the Eagles Brian Westbrook.
I keep remembering last year’s second game with the Eagles though, a totally boring affair, boring because McNabb had Giants linemen in his face all night long. But the most omnipresent of all was Osi Umenyiora, and he will not be on the field Sunday. That’s why I am picking the Eagles on Sunday to beat the Giants.
The Eagles will stop Jacobs and Ward, the self-styled Thunder and Lightning or Earth, Wind and Fire (with Ahmad Bradshaw). The Giants will try to stop everything the Eagles and McNabb do, but alas, they’ll come up short, if only because the Eagles will be hungrier, and have vivid memories of last year fresh in their minds. Oh, and did I mention the new Eagles cornerback from the Pats, a fellow named Samuel?
Oh, and let me not forget basketball entirely. The Knicks have been just as expected. Playing unevenly, playing out of control many times but they are moving the ball, going nowhere very quickly. The Nets can’t even say that much, at this juncture anyway, with all those young fellows.
Yes sirree…it’ll be a nice November and December, if you don’t expect too much. Most of the football action will center around the Cowboys, what with Tony Romo returning, but the real action will be right here in New York down the stretch.
Who knows if it's true but I keep hearing rumors that the Mets will trade Carlos Beltran and are listening to proposals concerning the Mets great centerfielder. Not only that but I hear the suitors are the Yankees and the principal Yankee for the Mets would be Robinson Cano and a couple of relief pitchers. What a mistake that would be, but just the kind of mistake for which Minaya has become famous.
GM’s sometimes lose the forest for the trees. The Mets need two relief pitchers and a closer. Period. There is Kerry Wood of the Cubs. There is Brian Fuentes. There are a few other short relievers in free agency.
The Mets have second basemen. Damion Easley plays second base as does Luis Castillo and an exciting fellow named Argenis Reyes, all of whom are already on the roster. Second base, while not a comparative strength, was not the reason the Mets folded again.
Need I remind anyone? It was relief pitching. We need relief pitching. Hello Omar, are you there? We need those guys who come out after the starter and before the end of the game. For most teams, Omar, the end of the game was not coincident with the appearance of the first relief pitcher.
To lose Beltran at all would be a grievous loss but to lose him for a disgruntled attitude problem such as Cano would be unforgivable. I'd stop rooting for the Mets. That would be one step over the line for even this stout fan. If Beltran is requesting a trade, I'd be surprised. But, if he indeed is requesting a trade, I'd like to at least be aware of it.
It's not outrageous to think that Beltran may have had enough of Mets fans. He may be ready to move on. And the Mets do have an outfielder down in the minors who's probably ready. If this is the case, if Beltran is begging for a trade, I'd try to accommodate him, if just because the Mets do have a young fellow they've been bragging about for years.
But I'd only accommodate him if we could get equal value, or even nearly equal value. Robinson Cano is a Yankees problem they're trying to unload. Carlos Beltran is a legitimate star, the best all-around centerfielder in Major League Baseball. Equal value would mean a position player acknowledged to be one of the best in the game. Pitchers are too fragile.
The only player out there I'd seriously consider would be the Rockies Matt Holliday. Now he's a star. Not a centerfielder but a star. Holliday could provide even more than Beltran at the plate and adequately cover left field. He could be the clutch hitter the Mets have so desperately needed. There are no second basemen who could compare to Beltran at the plate, certainly not Cano.
It would be totally unacceptable to watch Carlos Beltran cruising around in centerfield for the Yankees, especially knowing that we received Robinson Cano in return. It would be a constant reminder of the Mets incompetence. I couldn't root for a team that had no brains whatsoever at the top.
Okay, enough about the Mets. After all, it’s November. The Giants play the Eagles Sunday night. It should be a nice game, totally different from the first Thursday night game we witnessed last night on NFL Network.
While we did get to witness the remarkable debut of Browns’ quarterback Brady Quinn last night, it was accomplished against a very suspect Broncos defense. That the Broncos managed to win the game was not so much a tribute to the Broncos as it was an indicator of how truly bad is the Browns defense. It was dramatic, though, and a kick in the face for Quinn in his Browns debut.
If you like defense, though, tune in to the Giants game Sunday night. Unlike the Browns-Broncos debacle, the quarterbacks won’t have ten seconds or so to get rid of the ball. There will be plenty of blitzes and plenty of scrambling by McNabb and Manning.
There will be legitimate running games displayed too. Both teams feature huge offensive lines and either powerful running backs, in the Giants case Brandon Jacobs and Derrek Ward, or shifty running backs such as the Eagles Brian Westbrook.
I keep remembering last year’s second game with the Eagles though, a totally boring affair, boring because McNabb had Giants linemen in his face all night long. But the most omnipresent of all was Osi Umenyiora, and he will not be on the field Sunday. That’s why I am picking the Eagles on Sunday to beat the Giants.
The Eagles will stop Jacobs and Ward, the self-styled Thunder and Lightning or Earth, Wind and Fire (with Ahmad Bradshaw). The Giants will try to stop everything the Eagles and McNabb do, but alas, they’ll come up short, if only because the Eagles will be hungrier, and have vivid memories of last year fresh in their minds. Oh, and did I mention the new Eagles cornerback from the Pats, a fellow named Samuel?
Oh, and let me not forget basketball entirely. The Knicks have been just as expected. Playing unevenly, playing out of control many times but they are moving the ball, going nowhere very quickly. The Nets can’t even say that much, at this juncture anyway, with all those young fellows.
Yes sirree…it’ll be a nice November and December, if you don’t expect too much. Most of the football action will center around the Cowboys, what with Tony Romo returning, but the real action will be right here in New York down the stretch.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
So You Want Crazy?
So many sports going on and almost no focus this Election Day. How can sports compare with today's Obama-McCain duel? Even with Obama seemingly firmly in control, one must only think back to Bush's surprise win, and his steal of Florida, to keep tonight's interest solidly on election results.
Not that there's nothing happening, especially on the New York sports scene. The Mets picked up Delgado's option, thank God, and are, by all accounts, avidly seeking Brian Fuentes, if not Francisco Rodriguez, to shore up their bullpen. Shore up may not really be the right term; an entire replacement might certainly be in order.
Then, of course, there are the NY Football Giants, yes, your favorite team (probably) and mine, the GEEEE-Men. Even after a decisive win over the Steelers, and then the Romo-less Cowboys, who looked pathetic on Sunday, all the news is about the misbehaving Plaxico Burress, whose production has been down and who has (gasp!) missed meetings and practices (as Iverson says "It's just practice, man").
And speaking of Iverson, you'll notice that the Pistons traded for Iverson, not Stephon Marbury, to replace Chauncey Billups in their backcourt. And a certain N.Y. Times sportswriter says the Knicks have to do something with Marbury. It's apparently more than his sensitivity can bear to see him sitting on the end of the bench, in shorts or in a snazzy 3-piece suit.
Life is crazy. It's always been crazy and seldom is it really fair. It's crazy that one of the Super Bowl heroes should get a nice contract extension and raise, and then seemingly lose all perspective, despite his teammates' pulling for him. But Burress will always be Burress, much as Manny has always been Manny. It can be painful to live with him, but it sure is nice to have him double-covered all the time.
It's crazy that one of the best Knicks guards should occupy the bench when lesser players run around not doing very much. But people make their own beds and Steph is on record as not willing to accept one penny less than the 21 million he has coming to him. And Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni is on record as wanting to play an up-tempo game with good defenders, hardly a Marbury forte.
You want crazy? How about the Browns benching their quarterback Derek Anderson for 2nd-year man Brady Quinn? Anderson's leading receiver, Braylon Edwards, drops more balls than he catches. His All-Star tight end is more concerned with staph infections, and their origins, than with playing. His defense can't stop the run (except, inexplicably, against the Giants) and two of his other potential receivers, Donte Stallworth and Joe Jurevicius, have been hurt. Not only that, but it's a short week, and the Browns need to play Denver on Thursday night. And a loss might kill this year's playoff chances for the Brownies. That's really crazy.
It’s crazy that the Pistons should trade possibly the single biggest reason for their success these last five years or so, point guard Chauncey Billups. Iverson certainly won’t take them over the top. I guess Iverson’s expiring 21 mill contract was a consideration, a huge one, but it certainly isn’t fair to Billups, or the rest of his teammates for that matter.
Of course, all this craziness pales in comparison to other more important considerations in our lives. Take the war in Iraq, for example. A pointless and unwinnable war, it killed and maimed our youth, drained our financial resources, weakened the dollar, and went a long way towards totally destroying our world image.
You want crazy? How about lending billions and billions of dollars to people who couldn’t possibly handle that kind of debt? And then bailing out these criminally-inept companies with our hard-earned money. And doing so without really consulting the populace; after all, we’re too stupid to understand the reasons and the consequences.
You want crazy? One of the questions on my ballot is whether we should take further action to make sure our legislators have to consult the public on any of their fantasy projects, not just some of them. The crooked politicians in New Jersey find a way around everything.
Crazy? How about paying huge site license fees for the right to purchase a seat to a Giants or Jets game? How about the folly of building a new stadium at all? None of these stadiums were really needed, not the Giants/Jets new un-named stadium, not the new Yankee Stadium, not the new Mets home(although it was time for Shea to bite the dust), and not the new arena in Newark that the Devils call home.
Crazy? How about a new stadium for the Rutgers football team? Don’t we have better things on which to spend our money? That this team plays totally forgettable football is not really the point. Who really asked for a new stadium?
Oh, and who can forget the Dallas Cowboys? Jerry Jones is getting a new stadium too, maybe the biggest of them all. Did he really need to take on a guy named Pac-Man? How was that helpful, except to make Terrell Owens look like Mr. Rogers in comparison? Backup quarterbacks? Not for Jerry. Surely, Brad Johnson and that other guy would be able to hold the fort.
Ah hell, I don’t care. Let Marbury stew on the end of the bench. Maybe he can chew on his money, or his contract, while he’s sitting there. Maybe he can contemplate the wisdom of getting himself an agent. I know he’ll enjoy watching Larry Brown come to town on Wednesday.
Play or sit Burress, I don’t care. Personally, I think the Giants would have a lot more trouble winning without him. It’s those long arms, and the speed, and the sticky fingers on those hands, and his teammates really do seem to like him. Is he an idiot? Probably, but I think he’s no crazier than Coughlin in the final analysis.
Yeah, life, it’s as crazy as the choices we have today.
Not that there's nothing happening, especially on the New York sports scene. The Mets picked up Delgado's option, thank God, and are, by all accounts, avidly seeking Brian Fuentes, if not Francisco Rodriguez, to shore up their bullpen. Shore up may not really be the right term; an entire replacement might certainly be in order.
Then, of course, there are the NY Football Giants, yes, your favorite team (probably) and mine, the GEEEE-Men. Even after a decisive win over the Steelers, and then the Romo-less Cowboys, who looked pathetic on Sunday, all the news is about the misbehaving Plaxico Burress, whose production has been down and who has (gasp!) missed meetings and practices (as Iverson says "It's just practice, man").
And speaking of Iverson, you'll notice that the Pistons traded for Iverson, not Stephon Marbury, to replace Chauncey Billups in their backcourt. And a certain N.Y. Times sportswriter says the Knicks have to do something with Marbury. It's apparently more than his sensitivity can bear to see him sitting on the end of the bench, in shorts or in a snazzy 3-piece suit.
Life is crazy. It's always been crazy and seldom is it really fair. It's crazy that one of the Super Bowl heroes should get a nice contract extension and raise, and then seemingly lose all perspective, despite his teammates' pulling for him. But Burress will always be Burress, much as Manny has always been Manny. It can be painful to live with him, but it sure is nice to have him double-covered all the time.
It's crazy that one of the best Knicks guards should occupy the bench when lesser players run around not doing very much. But people make their own beds and Steph is on record as not willing to accept one penny less than the 21 million he has coming to him. And Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni is on record as wanting to play an up-tempo game with good defenders, hardly a Marbury forte.
You want crazy? How about the Browns benching their quarterback Derek Anderson for 2nd-year man Brady Quinn? Anderson's leading receiver, Braylon Edwards, drops more balls than he catches. His All-Star tight end is more concerned with staph infections, and their origins, than with playing. His defense can't stop the run (except, inexplicably, against the Giants) and two of his other potential receivers, Donte Stallworth and Joe Jurevicius, have been hurt. Not only that, but it's a short week, and the Browns need to play Denver on Thursday night. And a loss might kill this year's playoff chances for the Brownies. That's really crazy.
It’s crazy that the Pistons should trade possibly the single biggest reason for their success these last five years or so, point guard Chauncey Billups. Iverson certainly won’t take them over the top. I guess Iverson’s expiring 21 mill contract was a consideration, a huge one, but it certainly isn’t fair to Billups, or the rest of his teammates for that matter.
Of course, all this craziness pales in comparison to other more important considerations in our lives. Take the war in Iraq, for example. A pointless and unwinnable war, it killed and maimed our youth, drained our financial resources, weakened the dollar, and went a long way towards totally destroying our world image.
You want crazy? How about lending billions and billions of dollars to people who couldn’t possibly handle that kind of debt? And then bailing out these criminally-inept companies with our hard-earned money. And doing so without really consulting the populace; after all, we’re too stupid to understand the reasons and the consequences.
You want crazy? One of the questions on my ballot is whether we should take further action to make sure our legislators have to consult the public on any of their fantasy projects, not just some of them. The crooked politicians in New Jersey find a way around everything.
Crazy? How about paying huge site license fees for the right to purchase a seat to a Giants or Jets game? How about the folly of building a new stadium at all? None of these stadiums were really needed, not the Giants/Jets new un-named stadium, not the new Yankee Stadium, not the new Mets home(although it was time for Shea to bite the dust), and not the new arena in Newark that the Devils call home.
Crazy? How about a new stadium for the Rutgers football team? Don’t we have better things on which to spend our money? That this team plays totally forgettable football is not really the point. Who really asked for a new stadium?
Oh, and who can forget the Dallas Cowboys? Jerry Jones is getting a new stadium too, maybe the biggest of them all. Did he really need to take on a guy named Pac-Man? How was that helpful, except to make Terrell Owens look like Mr. Rogers in comparison? Backup quarterbacks? Not for Jerry. Surely, Brad Johnson and that other guy would be able to hold the fort.
Ah hell, I don’t care. Let Marbury stew on the end of the bench. Maybe he can chew on his money, or his contract, while he’s sitting there. Maybe he can contemplate the wisdom of getting himself an agent. I know he’ll enjoy watching Larry Brown come to town on Wednesday.
Play or sit Burress, I don’t care. Personally, I think the Giants would have a lot more trouble winning without him. It’s those long arms, and the speed, and the sticky fingers on those hands, and his teammates really do seem to like him. Is he an idiot? Probably, but I think he’s no crazier than Coughlin in the final analysis.
Yeah, life, it’s as crazy as the choices we have today.
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