EL BRONX, EL BARRIO – Do not adjust your computer; it really is Monday and there is no DJ Eberle. Pinch-Hit Matt has been called in to, um… pinch hit? I would have been up on Saturday but the Ax Man (Grinding Ax Walter Hynes) thankfully stepped up, as I was struggling with a hangover (real one , not food this time) and daddy daycare. Not sure you needed to know that but I am in a sharing mood and you will get that kind of backstory from me here and there. Specifics for today? A Song of the Week before we get to the Sports Stuff – and that will include: David Bowie, Richter v Beezer II, Alex Smith and Sports Talk with Non-Fans.
Let’s begin with the music…
Song of the Week: I had to quickly piece together a theme for today’s piece and having watched the NCAA Final Four many times, I knew there would be a montage at the end of every game day. They often use all the same songs. Then I was watching an ad for a superhero show and BOOM… the Song of the Week came to me, “Heroes!” I thought about using the montage used for the video game NHL ’99 but I didn’t think it would be consistent with the NCAA basketball theme. I was going to use montage version but that turned out to be by the Wallflowers – not the original by David Bowie. I like the Wallflowers version but knowing the kind of cranks on this staff, I would get mocked mercilessly for choosing the Wallflowers over Bowie. So without further adieu, I present the Song of the Week is the David Bowie’s legendary track: Heroes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgcc5V9Hu3g
Now for the Sports Stuff… kinda.
Richter v Beezer II: In case some of you were you can’t remember, Richter v Beezer was the famous #1 NY Rangers goalie battle in the early 90s. A young, tenacious net-minder Mike Richter usurped long-time fan favorite John Vanbiesbrouck. It was tough on Ranger fans because the Beezer was such a team guy and gave it his all every game. However, you would be blind if you didn’t recognize that Richter was something special and had the ability to be the man for the next decade. Recently, I see Antti Raanta and can’t help but see a young Richter. Look, I love Henrik Lundqvist and his steadfast service to the club, especially during playoff time when nobody could score, or when no one wanted to play defense or block shots – leaving him alone. But… I think the idea of moving the King must be something the Rangers contemplate in the off-season. Remember: always better to move a player a year too soon than a year too late.
Alex Smith: Do you remember your first car? Growing up, I imagined it being a nice two-door coupe.. like something out of Miami Vice or maybe something clean and fancy like an old-school Mercedes-Benz. In the end it was 12-yearold (I got it in 2000 and it was a 1998) Chevy Cavalier. It wasn’t the two-door coupe I imagined but it got the job done. I bring that up because I look at Alex Smith being available and I hope the Jets get him! If it wasn’t for Cleveland the Jets are probably the franchise with the longest gap between having franchise quarterbacks. He was no Elway but I would take Ken O’brien over any Jets QB since O’brien retired. So with the options being Bryce Petty or Christian Hackenberg, assuming they get rid of Geno Smith, there is nothing to chose from. Smith is not the answer to everything but he is a safe and solid pair of hands that would give your defense the chance to win games. He won’t throw 6 interceptions in one game! As my old coach told me about my play “You may never make the play that wins the game for us, but I know you won’t make the mistake that costs us the game.” That is Alex Smith and the Jets should trade one of their QBs and a pick or two to get him if need be.
Sports Talk with Non-Fans: Every sports fan knows this pain. This is when a major sporting event is going on – like the World Cup or Super Bowl – and you have people that don’t know the difference between a dunk and alley-oop, pretending to care. I face this every NCAA tournament because my wife’s job does a pool and I am responsible for making her picks. They need to be good ones too, because she is super-competitive, even if she doesn’t understand what a seed is. This week I went to the next level because after showing her how to create an online account and have one of those website addresses to use for all the people at her job, the fun committee (don’t ask why they have a fun committee), decided to do it by paper! That’s right, they are going to deal with 40 pieces of paper for the tournament and hand-write the scores and leader board. I assume they will be calculating things with an a abacus by kerosene lamp. This is what happens when non-sport people get involved in sports stuff, it grinds your gears and you just want to yell at them to stop pretending and lets all just be who we are.
That’s all I have… Please feel free to leave your thoughts below and come back tomorrow for @BenWit8. You can also find us on Twitter – @JunoirBlaber & @MeetTheMatts, Instagram -@MeetTheMatts and Facebook– Meet The Matts.
