Weekly Mail April 11, 2021

 Hi everybody:

Hope everyone had an awesome Easter. We got to spend it with my folks, my sisters, brother in law and my niece Rachel. Hopefully we are getting closer and closer to the end of the pandemic and we can all spend time with the ones we love. 

Three things from the world of sports happened within hours of each other on Monday, so we will start there....

FOOTBALL: Jets Trade Darnold 

With the Giants and Jets having the 2nd and 3rd picks respectively, it's a unique opportunity for both teams to draft busts in the same year.-Weekly Mail April 22, 2018

Now maybe calling Sam Darnold a bust is unfair. After all in three seasons, he played for three head coaches, two general managers, and an interim owner. Not to mention a roster with more holes in it than a slice of Swiss cheese. Not exactly a blueprint for success. 

But the fact of the matter was he was the number three overall draft pick in 2018. When you are drafted that high you were expected to be a franchise quarterback, not somebody who gets himself traded three seasons later. 

Darnold was traded Monday to the Carolina Panthers for a 6th round pick this year, a 2nd round pick next year and a 4th rounder in 2023. Some are saying the Jets got a good haul for Darnold. I'm like, he was the 3rd overall pick in the draft and you're not even getting a 1st rounder for him? 

I have to say I was surprised to see that he actually threw 45 touchdown passes and 39 interceptions. I really thought he had thrown more interceptions than that. Seemed to me like every other throw was to the other team. 

What was more disturbing to me was the list of Jets 1st round draft picks the last 10 years...... 

2011: Muhammad Wilkerson

2012: Quinton Couples

2013: Dee Millner

2014: Calvin Pryor

2015: Leonard Williams

2016: Darron Lee

2017: Jamal Adams

2018: Sam Darnold 

2019: Quinnen Williams

2020: Mekhi Becton

Of these 10, only Quinnen Williams and Mekhi Becton remain. Couples, Milliner, Pryor and Lee were pretty much busts. Leonard Williams and Jamal Adams were considered the best players in their respective drafts, but both were traded away for (wait for it) more draft picks. 

Look at that list and tell me why I should have any faith that the Jets are going to hit the jackpot with any of these future draft picks. 

Darnold may turn out to be a very good QB. If the Panthers can surround him with a good coach, some weapons and protection. On the other hand these 3 years in NY may have scarred him for life (ala Mark Sanchez-another USC Bust) 

Like I said a million times before, I'm sick of draft night being the highlight of the Jets season. But it looks like that's what we have to look forward to for the foreseeable future. 

What a shame. 

BASEBALL: A tale of two Opening Days:

Because the Washington Nationals had several team members test positive for COVID-19, the Mets opening day was delayed from last Thursday in DC, to Monday night in Philadelphia. 

The Mets lost to the Phillies 5-2, and there were two schools of thought as I browsed social media that night and the next morning. The first was that it was only one game and surely only a fool were panic after one game. The second was that this was an unmitigated disaster and that heads should roll. 

I'm going to assume that you all know that I was in the latter camp as opposed to the former. But let me try to explain my reasoning (or lack thereof) 

Us Met fans don't have a hell of a lot to hang our hats on, but one thing we can boast of is our amazing Opening Day record. That was the Mets 60th season opener, and that loss dropped them to a still impressive 39-21 all time on Opening Day. Easily the best record in MLB, and one of the best in professional sports. 40-20 would have meant we have won 2/3 of our openers. 

Now factor in that the Mets lost their first 8 openers, and the record is even more impressive. 39-13  since 1970. 40-12 would have looked even better. 

And of course, it's not just that they lost it's HOW they lost. Another brilliant start from Jacob deGrom, more runners stranded on base, and of course another implosion by our always reliable bullpen. What did Led Zeppelin sing? The Song Remains the Same. 

And we can't even pin this one on Fred and Jeff anymore can we? With Steve Cohen taking over, we were all hoping for a change in culture. And I'm still hopeful that it will come. But that game could have been played any year between 2018 and 2021. And that's what's so aggravating. 

Then there was the home opener at Citi Field on Thursday afternoon against the Miami Marlins. Another game with disaster written all over it. 

The Mets starter on Thursday was the recently acquired Taijuan Walker, and similar to deGrom on Monday he pitched a gem. 6 innings, 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts. And with that line he was on the losing side since the Mets could only manage one measly run. 

Miracle of miracles though, the bullpen held, and Jeff McNeil led off the 9th inning with an upper-deck blast to tie the game at 2. The Mets got the bases loaded with 2 out and up stepped Michael Conforto. Conforto is playing for a contract this year, but so far all he is leading the league in is leaving runners on base. Against the Phillies on Wednesday afternoon, he left 9 runners on base. That's almost impossible to do. 

Conforto worked a full count before taking what appeared to be strike 3 to end the inning. But the home plate umpire said that the ball struck Conforto on the elbow, ergo the winning run scored when Conforto took 1st base. 

Marlins manager Don Mattingly was furious and I have to admit he had a case. Actually he had two cases really 1) Did Conforto do enough to get out of the way of the pitch, or more egregiously, did he lean his elbow into the pitch?  

The more compelling argument to me though is 2) Whether or not Conforto leaned or didn't lean, whether or not he made an honest effort to avoid being hit, if the pitch was in the strike zone, than the pitch was a strike and he should have been rung up. Indeed it looked like the ump was about to do just that. Until he didn't. 

The Met broadcasters, more specifically Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling, were so besides themselves, you would have thought they were Marlins broadcasters instead of the Mets broadcasters. And I give them credit for that, because I'm not sure Michael Kay and Paul O"Neill, David Cone et al, would have been so incensed if a play like that benefitted the Yanks. I know for a fact that the Braves announcers on TBS wouldn't have cared. Those guys were the worst homers you could ever listen to. 

But my attitude is screw the Marlins. I still remember how they celebrated on the field at Shea Stadium when they beat the Mets the last game of 2007 and 2008, losses which cost the Mets playoff spots. It was especially obnoxious in 2008 as the Mets were getting ready to close Shea for good that afternoon. I still insist the Marlins should be contracted, they are a poorly run franchise in a city where they are far behind the Dolphins, Heat, and Miami University Football on the sports food chain.

The Mets wasted another deGrom gem on Saturday, getting shut out by the aforementioned Marlins. 14 strikeouts in 8 innings and he loses. I really hope we all look back on this blogpost in the near future and laugh about how I overreacted. My guess is that we won't be. 

COLLEGE BASKETBALL: Gonzaga comes up short. 

Over the weekend, one of my Facebook Memories popped up in which I declared that the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers could rest easy, as they will be the last Men's College Basketball Team to ever finish as season unbeaten and win the National Championship. The last team that had a shot at it was the 2015 Kentucky Wildcats, and they were one of the greatest teams I had ever seen. Once they came up short, I really figured that the pressure on these kids is just way too intense, especially now where the tournament bracket is made up of 68 teams. 

Gonzaga it appeared, was about to lay another one of my fearless prognostications  to waste, as they prepared to face Baylor for the National Championship Game, coming into the game with a perfect 31-0 record. 

In fact, they were damn lucky to get there. UCLA, in what they are calling one of the greatest games in NCAA history, nearly knocked Gonzaga out on Saturday night. It took a wing and a prayer from Zags guard Jalen Suggs in OT to send Gonzaga to the Big Game on Monday. A half court bank shot at the buzzer. 

Meanwhile in the first game last Saturday, Baylor made a very good Houston team look like the Washington Generals. (on a side note, remember how I was telling you about what a disaster my brackets were? Well, I will have you know that my Final 2 were Houston and Gonzaga with Houston winning-So as bad as it was, I still had a shot to finish in the money as it were going into last Saturday)

So I knew Gonzaga would have their hands full on Monday night, but just seeing that FB Memory made me think I'd end up with egg on my face again. Baylor though was just too tough and they blew Gonzaga out as bad as they had blown out Houston two nights before. 

The only record in sports I can truly guarantee will never be broken is Cy Young's 511 Wins as a pitcher. Even if you won 25 games over 25 seasons, you'd still be 11 wins short. And since very few pitchers nowadays win 25 games in one season, I will guarantee that record will stand forever. 

But an undefeated team in the NCAA tournament? I don't know. It's been 45 years now. As I've said, that was a 32 team field and well before the tournament was perhaps the 2nd biggest sporting event in the country (behind the Super Bowl). Can it be done? I guess, but I really can't see it. There are just too many factors working against these kids. 

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RIP: Prince Phillip and DMX

On the surface it would appear the the Yonkers born rapper and the Duke of Edinburgh wouldn't have anything in common. However, both of these men had a tendency to get themselves into trouble for the controversial things they said. 

Some of DMX's lyrics would make the hairs on your arms stand up. I'm not going to get into them here, you can Google 'em up yourself. 

Prince Philip also said some things that would make you cringe. I suppose it had to be frustrating being 2nd banana all those years. 

Both men also had issues behind the wheel too. A 3 car pileup including a police car was DMX's 3rd driving offense in 2005. Prince Philip got into a fender bender in London a couple years ago. He was 97 years old at the time and oh, BTW, married to the Queen of England at the time! 

But both also had their upsides. Despite DMX's myriad of issues, he did manage to overcome horrible circumstances as a child to become a grammy winning artist. He also (and I admit I didn't know this) was an ordained minister and had studied to become a pastor. 

Prince Philip according to the New York Times, helped build playing fields for British kids and was somewhat of a conservationist, spearheading programs to protect wildlife. As much of a cold hearted snake as he could be, especially to his kids (Prince Charles in particular) he also carried his own luggage, I mean it's not much, but many famous people have people carry their bags. 

So maybe the fact that these two larger than life figures died on the same day was no mere coincidence. But what's sad is that while Philip was just two months short of the century mark, DMX had just turned 50 last December. That's too young. 

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Was off from work all last week. Back to the grind on Monday  

Stay Safe

Wear a Mask

and Have a Great Week