How can you be interested in a sport if you have no team in the hunt?
In the case of college football, I don’t know why I watch college football at all. If it were just for Rutgers, there would be no way I could watch it. It’s hard to get interested in a game for which your local representative plays so poorly. Speaking as a Rutgers alumnus, thank you very much but I’d rather have no football program at all than have to be embarrassed every week by Rutgers and the complacent Greg Schiano. Just to put perspective around how bad Rutgers really is, Schiano’s defense against the likes of Cincinnati was torched for 60 or so points while Connecticut just held them to 17 points. I could grab a couple of kids off the street who’d play better pass defense than Schiano’s sorry group in the secondary.
Nevertheless, I’m sitting here watching Michigan State start to pound Penn State (it’s now 21-10) . And why exactly? Well, Penn State after all has Joe Paterno as the head coach and it’s a clean program too, as far as anyone can tell. What’s not to like about Penn State? They always play defense and very seldom embarrass themselves. They are the anti-Rutgers.
Ohio State too in the Big Ten gets some of my attention if only because my son went to school in Ohio and I can recall a great time watching an OSU game in a shopping mall in Columbus. I also had a friend and co-worker whose daily fervor for the Buckeyes was easily enough to get me excited. But if it weren’t for those two teams, I wouldn’t be watching at all. You have to have a team in the hunt…some skin in the game. That rooting interest can spring from locale of course but only as modified by a team’s ownership and management and players from year to year. Oh yeah, and whether they win or not.
If loyalties depended entirely on wins and losses though, everybody’d be a Yankee fan. Happily for human nature and pocket books everywhere, that is not the case.
My chief interest this time of year goes to professional football, mostly, to be honest, because that’s where my skin in the game resides. We live in the New York area, of course, so why would I like any other team besides the Giants or Jets?
The answer lies in fantasy football, of course, a place to field my very own team. So my rooting interest this Thanksgiving was firmly with the Saints and Drew Brees, who had the skill and moxy to throw long down the field on a third down to hit Bobby Meachem in stride for about 60 yards before delivering a perfect strike to, who else, Lance Moore for a touchdown. And I managed to get a glimpse in the 4 o’clock game of Miles Austin, wide receiver for Dallas and Dem Crabs, racing around the end for about 60 yards and a TD against the Lions.
But overall it was a bad day. The Saints scored mostly on the ground and Jahvid Best didn’t play at all, making my decision to bench Ahmad Bradshaw look ridiculous, despite Coughlin’s foolish decision to punish him. My opponent didn’t fare too well either though, starting with Mark Sanchez, who didn’t exactly shine in the Jets victory over the Bungles. And his star player, Jacksonville’s Maurice Jones-Drew, has to face the Giants on Sunday, a matchup that should favor the Giants, who aren’t as yet totally decimated on the defensive side of the ball.
If I can be said to have a team at all in the NFL, it is the Giants, who are in trouble now after losing several key players to injuries. The Giants are owned by one of the most venerable football families in the universe, the Maras. They’ve won multiple Super Bowls and have brought us great players and great management too. They have a long-time philosophy that stresses the running game and defense. Their GM’s and coaches have generally excelled over the years. Although they might not quite match the Rooneys in Pittsburgh, they are a team well worthy of commanding my attention.
On the other hand are the Jets. Although I like the head coach, the owner’s a little too theatrical for me. He’ll always take the hit in my mind for Brett Favre becoming a Jet, thus single-handedly taking them out of the playoffs. Their GM is totally heartless, a reflection of ownership too, I guess, as he has shown year after year, most recently in the dumping of Leon Washington. The players themselves are a mixed bunch. They have a bunch of guys that are hard to warm up to, Bart Scott, Braylon Edwards, and yes, even Santonio Holmes and his remarkable elusiveness in the end zone. But their success is hard to ignore despite their frailties in the character department.
My point is, it’s easy to be an NFL fan, less so for NCAA football and, heretofore at least, it’s been almost impossible to follow any brand of basketball, be it NBA, NCAA or otherwise. Once again, those feelings can be directly traced to the sorry state of the Knicks, Nets, Rutgers and Seton Hall. If our local team in either MLB league were the likes of the Chicago Cubs, it’d surely affect your love for the game and the league bringing it to you.
Happily for basketball fans, the Knicks mismanagement has considerably improved and the Nets have changed dramatically for the better. The Knicks finally have some players D’Antoni actually likes and the Nets under Avery Johnson have begun to show some predilection for playing on the defensive side of the ball. I’m enjoying basketball again.
I now find myself watching the local games, the NBA Network and yes, I even crave the witticisms of Charles Barkley. I even joined a public fantasy basketball league. Who’s next? Hubie Brown?
Showing posts with label Rutgers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rutgers. Show all posts
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thursday, November 12, 2009
On Sports and New Notebooks
Yeah, yeah, sports, I know, sports. There’s so much going on, right? Rutgers is playing South Florida soon and they’re still in the running for a bowl, no, not that kind of bowl, but close. And BIG game tonight on the ol’ MLB Network, the Niners and da Bears. Be still my heart. Then the Mets are apparently making some noises in Chicago, noises that’ll eventually translate into a player or two or three. That’s the major news of the day.
In other new, the Yanks are considering Damon and Matsui (notice I didn’t say versus) and basking in their newfound World Series glory (for, what is it, the 27th time, who cares, I mean, really). And the football Giants ponder their carelessness and stupidity while the Jets just seem to send Mark Sanchez out to the podium to blame himself for everything… very tricky.
Aah, but let me digress for a moment. it’s so nice to finally have this notebook (an HP 2.2 meg big-screen screamer)working as it should. My docked configuration is working just great now. My old HP keyboard works just great (I’m converting from an old HP desktop) for typing and my wireless mouse makes it one hell of a lot easier to navigate around the screens, no matter how terrific these new touchpads are. A cheap USB hub makes all this a snap, by the way. Printer?... no problem, just stick it in the USB hub. Now, if I just had one more USB cable, I’d be set.
The logistics of the whole thing are slightly problematical though. Wires are, after all, still wires and they have to go somewhere. You’d think all that time I spent as a satellite TV installer would have helped in this regard, but, alas, so far it has not, not on a conscious level at least.
And it took me quite a while to figure out how to get a docked config at all as there are no hardware profiles included in Windows 7. (The answer was to change the way the notebook behaved when the AC power was engaged and the cover was down (closed) position).
Going from Windows XP to Windows 7 is a trip too. Learning those differences along with changes incorporated in the Microsoft Office 7 has been a real challenge and….do I really need all these menus and dropdowns and couldn’t they have included Outlook (the e-mail program) somewhere? I mean, Windows Live Mail looks familiar but am I going to be able to synch the two? Microsoft, what the heck are you doing to me? That Apple store at the Mall is calling me…..”Jimmy…..Jimbo…..look at this”)!
Pardon the lengthy aside but I’m all excited now…and then there’s the HDMI connection to my hot-stuff new Panasonic 42 incher yet to come. And should I get that Google Chrome?
But let’s get back to sports and the Mets, my favorite subject. The word coming from WFAN and ESPN is that the Mets are talking about Matt Holliday and Roy Halladay and there may have even been a trade for Castillo. And, if Bengie Molina is your catching cup of tea, you’re a happy Mets fan right about now.
Let me first throw my blessing upon getting either or both Holliday/Halliday(s). Acquiring one of the best pure hitters in the game in Matt and perhaps THE premiere pitcher in the game in Roy would be just exquisite. Even John Lackey would be quite an upgrade in our starting pitcher rotation.
Bengie’s getting a little long in the tooth though, isn’t he? Or are we just stocking up on power so we can continue our experiment with Murphy playing first base? Whatever the motivation, the man can hit and that’s something Mr. Schneider was never able to provide. And there may be no better alternatives on the free-agent market after all.
Then there’s the second base situation. Luis Castillo had a very creditable 2009. I certainly wouldn’t make replacing him a priority. I’m going to assume he was included in a potential trade for somebody else, maybe a catcher or a first baseman. I’ll throw my hat in for getting a real-live first baseman. Being the Mets, after all, wouldn’t Murphy be a nice pinch-hitter candidate and part-time first baseman?
It will be difficult for Omar Minaya to maintain his focus amongst so many alternatives. I’m assuming he does have his priorities firmly set despite a plethora of needs. Hopefully, power-hitting outfielder is one. First base and catcher would be tied for two.
After all, we have two incumbents who haven’t been too terrible at each spot, if either is not quite capable of being considered a real starter. But both Murphy and Omir Santos show promise. (They could probably start for Kansas City).
Whatever our Metsies wind up doing, it would have to be a step up, wouldn’t it? I’m going to assume our hard luck won’t continue and we’ll have a somewhat healthy Carlos Beltran in center and Jose Reyes at short.
While I can’t get overly excited about Rutgers, they did show some remarkable skill against Connecticut in their last. Beating the Huskies in the final seconds on a long touchdown pass was very impressive even if they made themselves beatable after building up a big lead. I think they’ll nip South Florida.
The Niners certainly have had a lot to say about their matchup with da Bears. Who do they think they are….the Jets? They seem to think they’ll dominate on both sides of the line and I hope they’re right but what about that secondary? Didn’t Vince Young just have his way with you? I think Jay Cutler could carve himself a nice 400-yard game out of this one.
The Giants have a bye and thank God. Hopefully, they’ll take Coughlin’s blaming of himself to heart as I think the head coach is right. It’s largely his fault.
And could some Jets besides Sanchez start looking in the mirror? It’s high time.
In other new, the Yanks are considering Damon and Matsui (notice I didn’t say versus) and basking in their newfound World Series glory (for, what is it, the 27th time, who cares, I mean, really). And the football Giants ponder their carelessness and stupidity while the Jets just seem to send Mark Sanchez out to the podium to blame himself for everything… very tricky.
Aah, but let me digress for a moment. it’s so nice to finally have this notebook (an HP 2.2 meg big-screen screamer)working as it should. My docked configuration is working just great now. My old HP keyboard works just great (I’m converting from an old HP desktop) for typing and my wireless mouse makes it one hell of a lot easier to navigate around the screens, no matter how terrific these new touchpads are. A cheap USB hub makes all this a snap, by the way. Printer?... no problem, just stick it in the USB hub. Now, if I just had one more USB cable, I’d be set.
The logistics of the whole thing are slightly problematical though. Wires are, after all, still wires and they have to go somewhere. You’d think all that time I spent as a satellite TV installer would have helped in this regard, but, alas, so far it has not, not on a conscious level at least.
And it took me quite a while to figure out how to get a docked config at all as there are no hardware profiles included in Windows 7. (The answer was to change the way the notebook behaved when the AC power was engaged and the cover was down (closed) position).
Going from Windows XP to Windows 7 is a trip too. Learning those differences along with changes incorporated in the Microsoft Office 7 has been a real challenge and….do I really need all these menus and dropdowns and couldn’t they have included Outlook (the e-mail program) somewhere? I mean, Windows Live Mail looks familiar but am I going to be able to synch the two? Microsoft, what the heck are you doing to me? That Apple store at the Mall is calling me…..”Jimmy…..Jimbo…..look at this”)!
Pardon the lengthy aside but I’m all excited now…and then there’s the HDMI connection to my hot-stuff new Panasonic 42 incher yet to come. And should I get that Google Chrome?
But let’s get back to sports and the Mets, my favorite subject. The word coming from WFAN and ESPN is that the Mets are talking about Matt Holliday and Roy Halladay and there may have even been a trade for Castillo. And, if Bengie Molina is your catching cup of tea, you’re a happy Mets fan right about now.
Let me first throw my blessing upon getting either or both Holliday/Halliday(s). Acquiring one of the best pure hitters in the game in Matt and perhaps THE premiere pitcher in the game in Roy would be just exquisite. Even John Lackey would be quite an upgrade in our starting pitcher rotation.
Bengie’s getting a little long in the tooth though, isn’t he? Or are we just stocking up on power so we can continue our experiment with Murphy playing first base? Whatever the motivation, the man can hit and that’s something Mr. Schneider was never able to provide. And there may be no better alternatives on the free-agent market after all.
Then there’s the second base situation. Luis Castillo had a very creditable 2009. I certainly wouldn’t make replacing him a priority. I’m going to assume he was included in a potential trade for somebody else, maybe a catcher or a first baseman. I’ll throw my hat in for getting a real-live first baseman. Being the Mets, after all, wouldn’t Murphy be a nice pinch-hitter candidate and part-time first baseman?
It will be difficult for Omar Minaya to maintain his focus amongst so many alternatives. I’m assuming he does have his priorities firmly set despite a plethora of needs. Hopefully, power-hitting outfielder is one. First base and catcher would be tied for two.
After all, we have two incumbents who haven’t been too terrible at each spot, if either is not quite capable of being considered a real starter. But both Murphy and Omir Santos show promise. (They could probably start for Kansas City).
Whatever our Metsies wind up doing, it would have to be a step up, wouldn’t it? I’m going to assume our hard luck won’t continue and we’ll have a somewhat healthy Carlos Beltran in center and Jose Reyes at short.
While I can’t get overly excited about Rutgers, they did show some remarkable skill against Connecticut in their last. Beating the Huskies in the final seconds on a long touchdown pass was very impressive even if they made themselves beatable after building up a big lead. I think they’ll nip South Florida.
The Niners certainly have had a lot to say about their matchup with da Bears. Who do they think they are….the Jets? They seem to think they’ll dominate on both sides of the line and I hope they’re right but what about that secondary? Didn’t Vince Young just have his way with you? I think Jay Cutler could carve himself a nice 400-yard game out of this one.
The Giants have a bye and thank God. Hopefully, they’ll take Coughlin’s blaming of himself to heart as I think the head coach is right. It’s largely his fault.
And could some Jets besides Sanchez start looking in the mirror? It’s high time.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Around the New York Sports World
So what’s new in the sports world?
The Knicks come immediately to mind, they’ve been trying to stay with the Lakers and Cavs of the world and now the Celtics…bad luck…and the Celtics just lost to the Lakers by a point in overtime…they won’t be thrilled with that. The Knicks are in trouble.
But just in the short term. Some of these new guys can really shoot, it seems. Gallinari and Harrington and Chandler and even Lee….I think they’re in 10th place in the East now…and I’m beginning to think they have a chance. If Harrington starts to pick up some assists in his game, things might be better….
It seems the good teams, the best teams, always have their share of assists. The bad teams never have good assists numbers. Fantasy players, take note.
Speaking of assists, Kevin Garnett was out of the Celtics lineup and Paul Pierce was trying to do everything….and made a pretty nice job of it…that Allen and Pierce and Garnett trio might be the best thing in pro hoops right now…I know most folks like Kobe and LeBron but geez…how much can you take of them? The NBA needs to realize there’s more to the league than just Kobe and LeBron. There are some great stories around the league besides just LeBron and Kobe.
Hey! The Pro Bowl’s coming up….heh-heh….
Yeah, football’s over…which is a good thing because I’m ready for baseball. Not just the Mets, my team, but the Yankees too. And I do hate them and always will….they buy everything…shotgun approach…throw enough brown stuff on the wall and sumthin’s gotta stick…..
I mean, really, they pick up Sabathia and Burnett and Teixeira, re-sign Pettite, and are now supposed to be shopping Nady because they have their new addition Swisher. Just like the Yankees to be so disorganized. Swisher was insurance at first base, I guess. And then they picked up Teixeira…..
So their lineup will be pretty awesome. I wouldn’t be thrilled with a couple of things myself though, if I were them. To me, there’s no real leadoff hitter on that roster. Damon’s getting a little long in the tooth, I think. And he does seem to be injured quite a bit. They’ve picked up guys with speed in the past and sat them on the bench.
So, let’s see, Damon, Jeter, Teixeira, Arod, Matsui (as a DH), Nady, Posada, Cano and Cabrera/Swisher, not a bad lineup at all and chock full of lefty-righty combinations. And it just struck me that Swisher could play center but Nady never could….of course, then there’s Andruw Jones…but he wasn’t interested in the Yankees….haha…gotta love an old National Leaguer.
Damon had 29 stolen bases in ’08 but was caught 8 times. He played in 143 games, more than I would have guessed. Maybe he is a real leadoff hitter….at least he’s easy to talk to….
And, speaking of talking, Joe Torre sure seems to have said more than was absolutely necessary…I love hearing from indignant Yankees fans that he broke the clubhouse code….
The Mets I have talked about enough…but have I mentioned that Wright and Reyes are both first-rounders in most fantasy leagues…that says something good…but Beltran will only be a second or third-rounder….fielding doesn’t count in 99% of fantasy leagues.
The U.S. Government is showing its stupidity once again in court, trying lamely to introduce into evidence things they knew never had a shot….but it did make all the newspapers, didn’t it……hmmmm.
I’m thinking now that Bonds will walk. He admitted to using “the clear” and “the cream” and the U.S. can’t prove differently. You have to admire Anderson, his druggie trainer, who decided jail was better than testifying against his friend, or client, whatever….could make a good TV movie……
I just heard the Jets might be showing interest in Ray Lewis! He’d have to be better than Favre, wouldn’t he? It’s hard to judge a Jets defense when a QB turns the ball over so much…and I hope Pennington lights it up again next year too….M-A-R-S-H-A-L-L ..
The Giants are quiet except for losing Spagnuolo and making some noises toward bringing Plaxico back…can’t say I’d be sorry to see it….(if I’m feeling some sympathy for a guy like Bonds, you know I feel sorry for a guy who catches the winning TD against the hated Patriots in the Super Bowl and then shoots himself in the leg…..too bad it wasn’t the foot…’cause he really “shot himself in the foot”, as it were….
And I won’t have Herman Edwards to kick around anymore….that’s sad in itself…I just heard that Larry Johnson wants to leave…..don’t think the Chiefs will be crying too much about that one…..but I will miss those ridiculous play calls from Herm…
The Nets are making the best of things….getting more than their share of injuries..now Najera and Yi out but Carter and Harris have been playing hurt…and why aren’t they playing at the Prudential Center? I have no idea but I wouldn’t miss the parking fees…
It should be interesting to see who’ll wind up higher in the standings, the Knicks or the Nets. The Knicks just took a hit with their losses to the Cavs and Lakers but are still just two games behind the Nets in the win column….
And Seton Hall beat St. John’s…their second win in the Big East…of course it’s probably too much to expect 60% shooting from 3-point land most nights…Jeremy Hazell sure is lighting it up though….
Rutgers hasn’t shown much at all but it’s really a tough conference….that’s as nice as I can put it…
And somebody besides the Dodgers has expressed interest in Manny, if you can believe the news reports (or that agent of his)….only when his lips are moving….
That’s it for me this Friday. I should just go skiing. Of course, there’s the 4-hour drive, the lift ticket(s), the hotel…the drinks…the tolls, the gas….maybe I’ll just take a nice long walk. Healthy stuff.
The Knicks come immediately to mind, they’ve been trying to stay with the Lakers and Cavs of the world and now the Celtics…bad luck…and the Celtics just lost to the Lakers by a point in overtime…they won’t be thrilled with that. The Knicks are in trouble.
But just in the short term. Some of these new guys can really shoot, it seems. Gallinari and Harrington and Chandler and even Lee….I think they’re in 10th place in the East now…and I’m beginning to think they have a chance. If Harrington starts to pick up some assists in his game, things might be better….
It seems the good teams, the best teams, always have their share of assists. The bad teams never have good assists numbers. Fantasy players, take note.
Speaking of assists, Kevin Garnett was out of the Celtics lineup and Paul Pierce was trying to do everything….and made a pretty nice job of it…that Allen and Pierce and Garnett trio might be the best thing in pro hoops right now…I know most folks like Kobe and LeBron but geez…how much can you take of them? The NBA needs to realize there’s more to the league than just Kobe and LeBron. There are some great stories around the league besides just LeBron and Kobe.
Hey! The Pro Bowl’s coming up….heh-heh….
Yeah, football’s over…which is a good thing because I’m ready for baseball. Not just the Mets, my team, but the Yankees too. And I do hate them and always will….they buy everything…shotgun approach…throw enough brown stuff on the wall and sumthin’s gotta stick…..
I mean, really, they pick up Sabathia and Burnett and Teixeira, re-sign Pettite, and are now supposed to be shopping Nady because they have their new addition Swisher. Just like the Yankees to be so disorganized. Swisher was insurance at first base, I guess. And then they picked up Teixeira…..
So their lineup will be pretty awesome. I wouldn’t be thrilled with a couple of things myself though, if I were them. To me, there’s no real leadoff hitter on that roster. Damon’s getting a little long in the tooth, I think. And he does seem to be injured quite a bit. They’ve picked up guys with speed in the past and sat them on the bench.
So, let’s see, Damon, Jeter, Teixeira, Arod, Matsui (as a DH), Nady, Posada, Cano and Cabrera/Swisher, not a bad lineup at all and chock full of lefty-righty combinations. And it just struck me that Swisher could play center but Nady never could….of course, then there’s Andruw Jones…but he wasn’t interested in the Yankees….haha…gotta love an old National Leaguer.
Damon had 29 stolen bases in ’08 but was caught 8 times. He played in 143 games, more than I would have guessed. Maybe he is a real leadoff hitter….at least he’s easy to talk to….
And, speaking of talking, Joe Torre sure seems to have said more than was absolutely necessary…I love hearing from indignant Yankees fans that he broke the clubhouse code….
The Mets I have talked about enough…but have I mentioned that Wright and Reyes are both first-rounders in most fantasy leagues…that says something good…but Beltran will only be a second or third-rounder….fielding doesn’t count in 99% of fantasy leagues.
The U.S. Government is showing its stupidity once again in court, trying lamely to introduce into evidence things they knew never had a shot….but it did make all the newspapers, didn’t it……hmmmm.
I’m thinking now that Bonds will walk. He admitted to using “the clear” and “the cream” and the U.S. can’t prove differently. You have to admire Anderson, his druggie trainer, who decided jail was better than testifying against his friend, or client, whatever….could make a good TV movie……
I just heard the Jets might be showing interest in Ray Lewis! He’d have to be better than Favre, wouldn’t he? It’s hard to judge a Jets defense when a QB turns the ball over so much…and I hope Pennington lights it up again next year too….M-A-R-S-H-A-L-L ..
The Giants are quiet except for losing Spagnuolo and making some noises toward bringing Plaxico back…can’t say I’d be sorry to see it….(if I’m feeling some sympathy for a guy like Bonds, you know I feel sorry for a guy who catches the winning TD against the hated Patriots in the Super Bowl and then shoots himself in the leg…..too bad it wasn’t the foot…’cause he really “shot himself in the foot”, as it were….
And I won’t have Herman Edwards to kick around anymore….that’s sad in itself…I just heard that Larry Johnson wants to leave…..don’t think the Chiefs will be crying too much about that one…..but I will miss those ridiculous play calls from Herm…
The Nets are making the best of things….getting more than their share of injuries..now Najera and Yi out but Carter and Harris have been playing hurt…and why aren’t they playing at the Prudential Center? I have no idea but I wouldn’t miss the parking fees…
It should be interesting to see who’ll wind up higher in the standings, the Knicks or the Nets. The Knicks just took a hit with their losses to the Cavs and Lakers but are still just two games behind the Nets in the win column….
And Seton Hall beat St. John’s…their second win in the Big East…of course it’s probably too much to expect 60% shooting from 3-point land most nights…Jeremy Hazell sure is lighting it up though….
Rutgers hasn’t shown much at all but it’s really a tough conference….that’s as nice as I can put it…
And somebody besides the Dodgers has expressed interest in Manny, if you can believe the news reports (or that agent of his)….only when his lips are moving….
That’s it for me this Friday. I should just go skiing. Of course, there’s the 4-hour drive, the lift ticket(s), the hotel…the drinks…the tolls, the gas….maybe I’ll just take a nice long walk. Healthy stuff.
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