Happy Father’s Day!
To all my fellow dads out there, I hope you all had a great day. I sure did, got to spend time with the family on Sunday, including my own dad, who, as many of you who read this every week (or so) know is not only my personal hero, but as a military veteran, an American hero as well. The reason I need to brag about that, is really because he never does.
Like ever.
So again, a very happy day.
And now for the complaints….
Both the NHL and NBA seasons came to an end last week in Finals that turned out to be complete duds. The good news is that there were no victory parties in South Beach (though I’m sure there was any other party you could want, at least according to Will Smith) as the Denver Nuggets and Vegas Golden Knights both cruised to 5 game series wins. I have to admit, I’d love to see what a victory parade in Vegas is like, I’m guessing gambling, strippers, lounge acts, or in other words, a typical day in Vegas, just with the Stanley Cup making appearances along with Celine Dion and Wayne Newton.
As for the Nuggets, as I said previous, I’m more happy the Heat lost than I am that the Nuggets won, though I have to admit that Nikola Jokic was a privilege to watch. Every once in a while you get a championship series where one player elevates themselves to the point where you remember their performances almost as much as which team won the title. That’s where I think Jokic stands today.
More locally, we had some hockey news as well…
RANGERS NEW COACH:
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss
The Who-Won’t Get Fooled Again
The Rangers hired Peter Laviolette to be their new coach. To be fair, there really wasn’t any slam dunk choices for the Rangers to choose from, and it’s hard to argue that he wasn’t the best of the slim pickings there were. But to me he is the textbook definition of retread.
This will be Laviolette’s 6th head coaching job in the NHL, having previously coached the Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, Nashville Predators and Washington Capitals.
He’s made three trips to the Finals, with the Flyers and Predators, and winning the Cup with the Hurricanes, so maybe retread is a tad harsh. But I’m wary of someone who has been shown the door as much as he has, there have been plenty of lean years that he has coached too. And the Rangers have been going through coaches in Steinbrennerian fashion lately. Laviolette will be the third new coach in the last 5 years.
I had my issues with Gerard Gallant, and my heart didn’t break to see him go after seeing my Blueshirts get bounced in the first round against the Devils. But I think firing him, only to bring in another guy who seems to get recycled a lot? Not sure that’s the way to go here either.
But as my Post colleague CJ Sullivan pointed out, every once in a while, you bring in a retread and he turns out to be Joe Torre. That’s true. Sometimes you bring in a recycled coach and he turns into Rich Kotite.
Yikes!
BASEBALL: Mets fading fast
Things could have been worse. The Mets could have lost both games to the Yankees last week at Citi Field, which might have seriously sent me over the edge. Last year, when both teams were doing well, it was less important to me that we beat the Bronx Bombers, being that we had bigger and better things to look forward to.
But this year has really been a mess, starting with Edwin Diaz going down in the WBC. We could have overcome that if our vaunted starting pitching was performing the way we hoped (especially at these prices). Instead Max Scherzer has been awful, Justin Verlander inconsistent (though he pitched a gem against the Yanks on Wednesday) Kodai Senga being either brilliant or awful and not help from any of our young arms. Combine that with little to no help from Francisco Lindor our $300 million shortstop, and Pete Alonso getting hurt and this has been a real tough team to watch this year.
There’s still hope. As I said Verlander pitched great, hopefully he’s found his groove. I’m praying Senga finds some consistency and that Jose Quintanilla comes off the injured list and gives us a boost. Scherzer and Cookie Carrasco may have seen their better days go by. Lindor needs to start hitting, like now, and the same goes for the Squirrel Jeff McNeil.
But we are a couple weeks from July 1 and after that, a couple weeks from the All-Star Game. That’s halfway through the season. That’s when the panic button might get hit. And it’s coming quick.
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I wanted to discuss more the whole Donald Trump documents fiasco, but you know what? Not tonight. It’s Father’s Day, let’s just enjoy. Maybe next week.
Thank you to all who sent Father’s Day love.
Stay Safe
and Have a Great Week
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