Wasssup!
I was back in the city on Sunday morning to watch Tim compete at the Molloy Stanner Games. This and a few other indoor meets are held at the Amory Track and Field Center on 168th Street in Washington Heights.
I was here the same weekend last year for the same meet, and it's just a cool seeing Tim on the big jumbotron as it was when I first saw him on it last year. It's just an amazing experience.
He ran in a 4 x 800 relay and took 2nd in his heat.
So much fun. That's all for the dad brag, now onto the rest of the week..
NY FOOTBALL WRAPUP
The Jets and Giants have both had much worse seasons than the one that just passed. The Jets have had 1-15 and 2-14 seasons, and the Giants had a 1-12 season in 1966 and a couple of 2 wins seasons in the 70's. Looking strictly at the records, the Jets at 7-10 and the Giants at 6-11, things could have been a lot worse.
But for a season of sheer disappointment, this season has to rank at or near the top. Last year on this weekend, Big Blue went up to Minnesota and knocked off the Vikings. They had a coach who seemed to get the most out of Daniel Jones and they looked like they were set up for success.
The Jets, while missing the playoffs (again) looked like they had some young studs in Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner, and Breece Hall. All they needed was a solid QB, which they supposedly got when they went out and traded for Aaron Rodgers. We know how that turned out.
So on Friday the Jets officially became the team (of the four I root for) with the longest championship drought. The 55 years between January 12, 1969 and today now passes the 54 years between Cups for the Rangers. The Knicks at 50 years are also closing in on that tragic number.
But I digress.
I still think the Tommy DeVito story was a fun one. That win vs the Packers was awesome. There were some folks out there who poo-poo'ed the whole Tommy Cutlets phenomenon. I thought it was great. I still do.
And for all the crap he took, Zach Wilson had a couple of nice wins this year too. And look, I know that we really could have used an experienced QB after Rodgers went down, but killing the Jets for not re-signing Joe Flacco is, well pardon the pun, Monday Morning Quaterbacking. Anyone who watched him play at the end of last season could clearly see he was done. The Browns took a flyer, but even they have to be stunned at how well he played for them. Alas, he crashed back down to earth Saturday afternoon against Houston.
But this wasn't supposed to be about Tommy Cutlets and a nice win or two, this was supposed to be a playoff year for both our teams. Instead it was just another year of also-ran-dum. Too many of those with too many of our teams.
I have a chart on by Bar Room BS blog that tracks the 9 major men's sports teams by year since 1968. Basically I looked to see how often one of those 9 teams made it to the conference finals of their sport. From 1968 till 1985 believe it or not, at least one team made it to their sport's "Final Four"
Think about it, you had the 68 Jets, 69 Mets and 70 Knicks. From 1971-1974, the Rangers made it to the Conference Finals (Losing the Cup Final in 72) The Knicks made the Finals in 72 and won in 73, the Mets made the WS in 73. The Islanders came back from 0-3 to the Penguins in 1975 to make it to the conference Finals. The 76, 77 and 78 Yanks won the AL Pennant, the latter two teams won the World Series. The Rangers made the Cup Finals in 79, the Isles won 4 Cups between 80 and 83 and made it back to the Finals in 84.
1985 was the first year since the NHL expanded and the NFL merged that no NY team made it to the conference final. And really that was a great year, as both the Mets and Yanks were alive for the division going into the last weekend of the season, and the Jets and Giants both lost to their conferences eventual representatives in the Super Bowl.
Since 1985 there have been a handful of times we haven't had one of our teams make it to the final four. 2023 was one of those years. Hell, only the Knicks and Devils made it to the 2nd round of their respective playoffs. The Rangers, Islanders and Nets got knocked out in the 1st round, and all our other teams got bupkis. In fairness, the NY Liberty made the WNBA Finals. But I think you get my point. 2023 was a crap sports year.
Both the Jets and Giants have committed to bringing their coaches and GM's back for 2024, which is probably the right call. Though this week, a bunch of new candidates emerged.
THE END OF AN ERA X 3
During the pandemic when there was no sports, WFAN's Evan Roberts put together a tournament called Joe Beningo's Bracket of Pain. 68 of Beningo's most painful sports memories. Since Joe B and I root for the same teams, I filled it out as well.
Joe's "winner" was Charles Smith's missed layups against the Bulls in the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals. And while that was pretty painful for me as well, my final 2 was the Mets 2007 Collapse vs Bill Belichick resigning as HC of the NYJ. In choosing my "winner" I described it thusly..
The 2007 Mets collapse was a single kick to the groin. Bill Belichick has been punching me in the gut for the last 20 years.
So when the news broke on Thursday morning that the Patriots and Belichick had decided to "mutually part ways" I had to tune in to the presser to make sure it was actually true. Sure as hell, it was.
And it was typical Belichick. He left the same way he came in, mumbling incoherently. Just as full of baloney as he was the day he left the Jets.
The accolades came pouring in, greatest coach of all time, all his ex-players talking about what a great guy he is, blah blah.
And I know people will tell me I'm full of shit, but I still don't think he's the greatest coach of all time. He made the luckiest draft pick in NFL history, drafting Tom Brady in the 6th round of the 2000 draft. And only that Jet Mo Lewis sent Drew Bledsoe to the IR, did Brady even get a chance to show what he could do.
Bill Parcells rebuilt 3 NFL franchises (and arguably a 4th), won a Super Bowl with a backup QB and also gave Belichick his start in the NFL. To me he's the greatest to ever do it. Vince Lombardi, Don Shula and George Halas are right up there too.
I'm sure people are reading this and chalking it all up to jealousy, spite and pettiness. That's your right. All I know was that he resented the Jets so much that he had his coaches record their signals and did everything he could to screw them over. He acted like he was the one who got screwed by the Jets when it was he who violated the contact he signed with them in 1997.
To me he'll always be a lying cheating creep. Just a louse of a human being. I hope he does get another coaching gig. Just to prove how overrated he is.
On Wednesday night, in a somewhat surprising move, Alabama coach Nick Saban announced his retirement. I can't stand him almost as much as I can't stand Belichick, but to be honest, I couldn't quite remember why.
I mean, he left the Dolphins to go to Alabama, which on the surface shouldn't have bothered me, after all the Dolphins getting screwed should be a good thing for me right? (Tim recently asked me about the Dan Marino fake spike game-speaking of the Bracket of Pain-and asked me if it still bothered me. Yeah Tim it does)
But again, Saban denied up and down that he was talking to Alabama when it was clear that he was. He even admitted later that when Miami refused to trade with the Chargers for Drew Brees, he had decided to leave at season's end. That he went to one of my least favorite college football programs just made it worse.
Saban won 6 National Championships at Alabama. including beating my Fighting Irish 42-14 in the BCS Championship game on January 7, 2013, which given everything going on in my life at that time, I needed like I needed a hole in my head.
Then there was Pete Carroll, who agreed to part ways from the Seahawks. Unlike Belichick and Saban, I actually really like Carroll, a guy who unlike Belichick, really did get a raw deal from the Jets, Leon Hess somehow believing that Rich Kotite was a better choice to coach the team than was Carroll.
Still, I have a beef with him too, as I believe he owes me $350.00. His boneheaded decision to pass on 2nd and goal from the Patriots 1 with 25 seconds left in Super Bowl XLIX, rather than hand the ball to Marshawn Lynch not only handed that scumbag Belichick another Lombardi trophy, it prevented me from winning the Super Bowl pool I was in. The pool administrator even said in the e-mail that play cost me the win and the $$$.
All 3 of these guys are in their 70's, which reminds me of Casey Stengel, who upon being let go by the Yankees after losing the 1960 World Series supposedly said "I'll never make the mistake of turning 70 again." Saban says he's done (we'll see) Carroll is (for now) taking a position in the Seahawks front office, and Belichick is very much available. ESPN says that either the Commanders or Falcons are the early favorites to land him.
Should make for some interesting storylines after the Super Bowl. Which I think they're playing on Easter Sunday this year.
As for the playoffs themselves, the Cowboys and the Eagles were the big losers of the week, both getting upset, especially Dallas, who lost to Green Bay at home. The Eagles lost on the road to the Bucs, a game they should have made at least more competitive if not outright won. Not sure what happened to the Eagles, at one time this year, they looked like the team to beat.
The Chiefs beat the Dolphins in a game that was 1) played in sub humanly cold conditions, 2) had Taylor Swift cheering on her man Travis Kelse from the comforts of a heated luxury suite*, and 3) most controversially, was broadcast only on NBC's streaming service Peacock. This led to an internal debate here at WM... to watch or not watch. I had subscribed to the WWE Network so that Tim could watch Wrestling, but Peacock took over the WWE streaming, so I kept it. I've watched a couple of Notre Dame games on it and maybe a show or two. But many folks don't have it and I think it sux that you have to pay to watch an NFL Playoff game, on top of what you are already paying for TV service.
So even though I thought it was a good matchup, I was curious about the weather conditions and yeah, I get a kick out of Taylor Swift, I watched the Knick game instead of KC-MIA. Doesn't look like I missed much, as the Chiefs won pretty easily.
I also caught the first half of the Lions-Rams game on Sunday night before I turned in. Was glad the Lions won, but it would have been nice if they covered the spread for me (jus sayin). Also, Governor Hochul ordered the Bills-Steelers game moved to Monday afternoon because of inclement weather in Buffalo. I'm sure Vince Lombardi was turning in his grave, but it was the right call. My pal Ed Robinson referred to the Bills plan to have fans bring their own shovels to rid Highmark Stadium of snow "A lawsuit waiting to happen." When I suggested that the headlines would read " STEELER FANS ATTACKED BY A PACK OF SHOVEL WEILDING BILLS FANS" Ed responded he was thinking more along the lines oof Bills fans having heart attacks, which I should have known being that shoveling is a big no-no for me. The game was played on Monday and the Bills won.
BASEBALL-Buddy Harrelson 1944-2024
June 22, 1982. Shea Stadium. I was 8 years old. I went to the game with Bob Reilly, his son Michael and one of Mike's friends. Before the game we got autographs from several Mets, including former Twins/Tigers skipper Ron Gardenhire-who was awesome, George Foster (who wasn't), and Craig Swan, then the Mets ace.
Before I left the house that night, my dad said "If you see Baby Bud Harrelson tonight, tell him I said hi.
When I saw him come out of the clubhouse, I got all excited. "Excuse me Bud? Bud?"
He turned around and said "Bud! Bud! Ok, you got me kid! What can I do for ya?"
I asked him if I could get his autograph for my dad.
They had given us a ball for the guys to sign. But I had also brought some index cards. Bud took one of the index cards. He asked what my dad's name was and wrote "Hey Bill, remember the good old days? Buddy Harrelson."
42 years later, I can still remember that. I remember how excited my father was when I gave him the index card. "I just told ya to say hi for me" Dad told me.
Derrell McKinley Harrelson will never be enshrined in Cooperstown. But as far as all time Mets, he's right up at the top in terms of fan love. He was the only Met to be in uniform for all of their first four post-season appearances. (as a player in 69 and 73, as a coach in 86 and 88.) He was the infield glue in 1969, and in taking on Pete Rose during a bench clearing brawl during the 1973 NLCS, he became the symbol of the team. The ultimate underdog. The David to Rose's Goliath.
He took over as manager of the Mets in 1990 in a thankless role. It was the end of the run that had began in 1984 with the arrival of Davey Johnson and Dwight Gooden, who joined Keith Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry. Two NL East titles and four near misses later, Buddy took the reins from Johnson. Hernandez and Gary Carter had left, Strawberry was about to join them, and really the heart and soul of the team was gone. Wally Backman, Lenny Dykstra, Roger McDowell and Jesse Orosco had also been traded away. Nobody could have managed that team successfully. By the end of his time as manager, he was sending his coaches out to make changes because the fans were booing him.
He didn't deserve that.
Thankfully, as the years went on, his time as manager was forgotten, and his standing up to Pete Rose, his Gold Glove in 1971) fielding, and his character and personality was remembered and celebrated. He was an absolute treasure for us Mets fans. It was heartbreaking to hear of his passing this week
POLITICS-The Raucous Iowa Caucus
Hard to believe that we have arrived at the 2024 Primary/Caucus season, which kicked off Monday in Iowa. The real drama was seeing who would finish second behind Captain Orange, either Florida governor Ron DeSantis or former UN Ambassador Nicky Haley.
After what happened in 2016, I've stopped treating these things as sporting events. I enjoyed the races when they were competitive, and the debates were about real issues. I still say that one of the things I'd like to do before I die is spend a couple weeks in Iowa covering the run up to and the actual caucus.
Orange won 51% of the state, winning all but one of Iowa's 99 counties. I don't get it and I guess I never will. They say it's evangelicals who determine who wins Iowa, (see Mike Huckabee and Ted Cruz's wins in 08 and 16 respectively). Trump is the 7 deadly sins rolled into 1, so I'm not sure how that all joshes.
Haley had a slight lead in the polls for 2nd place, but DeSantis ended up the "winner" of that "battle", New Hampshire is next on the 23rd. Whoever finishes third there may drop out.
Fasten your seatbelts. And grab a helmet if you have one.
BTW: Since I've already pissed off half my readership, I may as well go all in- Did you all catch Hunter Biden showing up at his contempt of Congress hearing, then turning around and walking out when it was the whore representing Georgia's 14 Congressional District's turn to speak? That was brilliant. Walk out, along with the cameras and microphones, so that the attention whore loses what she needs to be relevant.
Attention.
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I didn't watch last week's Golden Globes, for that matter, I don't think I have ever watched the Golden Globes, (maybe once while working at the Post, but I don't remember). Apparently, the host, someone I've never heard of named Jo Koy, didn't exactly have 'em rolling in the aisles with his jokes. The one line I heard, and I actually thought was pretty funny, was the one about the NFL showing Taylor Swift too much. She apparently didn't find it as funny as I or Jo Koy did. You can't go by me though, I'm one of the few people who thought David Letterman wasn't awful hosting the Oscars.
Sorry for the huge delay on this. We'll have another one hopefully tomorrow or Monday.
Till then, Stay Safe
and Have a Great Saturday
*someone called into WFAN's morning show last week complaining about all the camera shots of Taylor Swift during Chiefs games. He said "Whenever the camera points up to Taylor Swift's box..." and the hosts cut off the call. Greg Gianotti even acknowledged that the caller probably didn't realize the double entendre, but "I'm such a child I had to get rid of him. "
