EL BARRIO, EL FALLS – The dog days of summer suck. There is literally nothing to talk about. But I am being compenstated to write so I have to come up with something. Well not really compenstated but promised a friend I would so I have to come up with something. So I will do some quick hitters on the 4 New York teams people care about then some prognosticating on the upcoming football(soccer) championship games. On today’s menu: NY Mets, Jets, Knicks & Rangers Plus Soccer Predictions.
NY Sports Teams: The group logo (below right) includes three NY teams I don’t care about but since they’re intruding, I’ll give my two cents on them.
Teams I don’t care about:
Brooklyn Nets – Well-played, Front Office. I can’t deny they have made the moves to make themselves contenders, especially in a Kawhi-less Eastern Conference.
NY Yankees – Ugh! They will go deep into the playoffs, maybe even make the series. The performance without the big bats have provided depth and that will be key, still questions on bullpen.
NY Giants – They will be better than last season. By how much? No one knows but they can get to 6-10 maybe 8-8.
Teams I care about:
New York Rangers – There seems to be a plan this time. I don’t like the latest big money signing but you do need some proven fire power with all that developing talent. Upfront the Rangers will go through some growing pains but they look set to be really dangerous in a year or two. Between the pipes, they need to make a call on the future of the team because the current #2 has potential, as well as the Russian KHL kid that has been assigned to Hartford. Maybe consider a buyout of The King. The defense is getting better and can match the offense in a year or two. The problem is too many albatross contracts on vets that need to be sold. Maybe this year’s trading deadline will be good to them again.
New York Knicks – So they lied to us all this time. They were gonna get big names but the long-term plan was always to sign short-term contracts with mid-tier free agents. Someone must have talked sense into Dolan on the Rangers and Knicks side. The Knicks look like they will build through the draft, let their young players develop and hope that in 2 years, they have a player in RJ Barrett that can be Pippen level good and just needs a Jordan. And the rest of their drafts picks are solid role players. It is not crazy, just seems too sensible for the Knicks.
New York Mets – Talk about re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic! I mean, moving Steven “Meet The” Matz to the bullpen?! That’s a band-aid on a gash. I say blow-up the bullpen. Bring up some AAA pitchers to fill in the long relivers and the closer from Triple A as the set-up man and make Familia and Diaz battle to be closer. Mickey Callaway is promoted beyond his station and Jason Vargas should be cut! I can’t believe we let Big Sexy go just to have this bum!
New York Jets – They will also be better than last year. They have more talented people in key positions. However, I don’t know about the coach. I don’t like Adam Gase at all, but I do like Gregg Williams and he will make this defense a pain. I can see the Jets getting to 8-8 and maybe 10-6 with playoffs.
Soccer Predictions: This Sunday will see the final of the Women’s World Cup, The Gold Cup and Copa America. Here are my predictions for each match:
Gold Cup: USA v Mexico – This will be Mexico. They didn’t look as good in their semi-final as did the USA but Mexico have the better coach.
Copa America: Brazil v Peru – Peru have between the odds to get here. But taking on Brazil in Brazil is a hell of a task. They will not be able to get over this hill.
Women’s World Cup: USA v Netherlands – The reigning World Cup Champs vs the reigning European Champs. This will be close and don’t be surprised if it comes down to an extra time goal or penalty kicks. I pick the USA in a squeaker.
Share your thoughts and come back tomorrow for the aforementioned Short Matt. You can also find us on Twitter: @JunoirBlaber, @MeetTheMatts & @Matt_McCarthy00, Instagram– @MeetTheMatts – and Facebook – Meet The Matts
