WESTCHESTER, NY – I don’t think my wife appreciated the Homer Simpson butt print in our couch, but it was a great sports weekend. With some white knuckle college games, the NY baseball teams coming on strong, and an exciting start to the NFL season, there were plenty of big moments. Let’s get to it.
College football: The end of the TCU/Oklahoma State game was nuts. TCU pulled off the double OT comeback, which included a 6’10 offensive lineman blocking a chip shot FG at the end of regulation to send it to OT. There was CMU’s shocking upset of Oklahoma State on a last second HMHOL (Hail Mary Hook and Ladder) that should not have happened. How the refs gave an untimed play to TCU, after an intentional grounding penalty with no time on the clock, is more than baffling. My 5-year old nephew knew the game should have been over. But the big winner of the week was this guy. Sources vary, but some say he got over 3,000 people to send him beer money. His parents must be proud of the resourcefulness he’s learning in college.
Baseball: The New York baseball teams took 3 of 4 over the weekend to slam back into the playoff discussion like a couple of party crashers who show up empty handed and eat all the shrimp. After Sunday, the Bronxites own the better record than the Queensies by a half game, but the latter is in better playoff position.
Mets: The Mets also have the much easier schedule, with a whole lot of duds on the menu after this upcoming series with the Nats. Unheralded Seth Lugo has been a revelation for the Mets, coming up big again on Sunday. Did I mention this guy is unheralded? He still has student loan debt. Yoenis Cespedes is also finding some of last year’s magic, but I’m still sad that he wasn’t able to hold onto his fire breathing Lamborghini. How cool is this thing?
Yankees: Exactly the opposite of the Mets, the Yanks have only one series left against a sub-par team, and all other remaining games are against playoff contenders. The good news, as Joe Girardi keeps reminding us, is everything is right in front of them. The expanded roster has helped the Yanks, as Girardi has acted like a drunk at an orgy, impulsively trying any combination that pops into his head, mixing and matching right and left. It seems unlikely that these no names will keep getting it down the stretch against good teams, but the fact that we’re having this conversation at is something. The only starter giving them innings is Masahiro Tanaka, who’s been an absolute ace down the stretch. If the Yanks were to get in as the second wildcard, I’d feel good about giving this guy the ball in the one game playoff. Of all the MtM writers, I’m the only one that didn’t write off the Yankees a month ago. There’s no need to look at the archives to check that, just take my word for it.
Giants: It was nice to see the Giants run the ball a little late in the game with the lead. Jennings came up one first down and a yard short of victory formation, but the two first downs they did get were huge. A big MtM shot out goes to Terrance Williams for not running toward the sideline on the last play. Dan Bailey had already hit a 56 yarder, so the 60 or so yarder it would have been was not out of the question. DRC made a smart, veteran play in jumping out to protect the sideline, but Williams still should have gone for it.
Imagine the chatter had the ‘Boys pulled this one out – “Giant late game clock management issues continue…”. Thanks Terrance for sparing us. It was great to see Victor Cruz salsa dancing in the end zone on the winning touchdown. It looked grim for Cruz a few short weeks ago, but he looked good on Sunday. The Giants face the Saints next week in a rematch of game from last year which featured less defense than the infamous 1982 fight between Rocky Balboa and Clubber Lang. That game was decided on a face mask penalty by the punter on a punt, giving the Saints one more play to kick the winning FG. Yeah, that happened.
https://youtu.be/2GBeEO6ZdjY
Jets: Ryan Fitzpatrick picked up right where he left off last season, falling apart in crunch time, throwing a key late game pick with the Jets down by one. Particularly disconcerting for Jet fans was AJ Green’s big day. With Cincy losing two of its top WRs to free agency and their stud TE to injury, the game plan was simple – shut down AJ Green and take your chances with Brandon Lefell, rookie Tyler Boyd, etc. But Revis Island is not the uninhabited, sparse wasteland it once was. There’s a casino now, bring the family! From bubble screens to bombs, the Jets had no answer for Green. The Jets better get switched on for the quick turnaround Thursday game with Sexy Rexy and the Bills. With a pretty rugged early season schedule, the Jets need this one. The loser of this game is already in trouble.
I could go on, but I’d better shut her down there. Come back tomorrow for Angry Ward and his weird St Louis Cardinal obsession. And please follow us on Twitter – @BenWhit8 & @MeetTheMatts and like our Facebook page, Meet The Matts.
