NEW YORK, NY – It has been a shitty week. So shitty that the MTM Censors are leaving the word shitty in tact and not watering it down with sh!tty or sh*tty. Yet, the everyday things that made my week suck suddenly transitioned to petty or insignificant with the painful news that Trevor Herrick finally lost his brutal battle with brain cancer. For those familiar with what we do and have done for years here, you’d know him as Replacement Matt, Aussie Matt, Angus Matt, Canadian Matt or Dude. He was the vital third party in our version of a sports’ version of Three Stooges. Like Matt O’Shea and yours truly, he was a bald white guy. Throw any of us in a blue, orange or white suit and sunglasses and voila… you had The Matts. Trevor was mostly shooting our shenanigans – often while withstanding verbal assaults and thrown objects in other teams’ venues. That just made him grin. As Bruce Springsteen said about the death of Clarence Clemons, losing Trevor was like losing the rain. The real heartbreak is for his wife and two little kids, though. They are left hollowed out, incomplete and turned upside down. Perhaps they can find some peace in having had 15 unfathomable months to say goodbye. On all levels, however, Replacement Matt is Irreplaceable. Life can just absolutely suck sometimes, with inexplicable events leaving you breathless in your tracks. This is one of those times. BUT… Trevor would be patting my ass and saying, “Fumble, Guy!” if I didn’t get back to the MTM business of sports entertainment. He’d say, “Guy this site is here for people to get away from it all for thirty seconds, guy. Get on with it, guy!” With that, let’s get to: NBA Mea Culpa, Brent Musburger, Daniel Jones.
NBA Mea Culpa
Pigs are flying! Snowballs are being thrown in Hell! Congress is working together in a bi-partisan way for the good of the people! Okay, at least the first two are possible… They all pale in comparison, however, to the NBA publicly admitting that their officials likely cost the New York Knicks a win vs crosstown Brooklyn Nets. They are now saying that Harden fouled Randle, agreeing with the Knicks forward. Jumpin Julius was fouled in the waning moments of a 2-point Brooklyn victory… but no call. He gave the ref an earful and boom! He got hit with a technical. That’s a 4-point swing, pending successful free throws. With wins coming at premium for the Knickerbockers, this could impact the playoff picture come next August… (that was a sarcastic slight of the NBA calendar). Dude was a huge Knicks fan, along with Big Al Sternberg. Hopefully they are together nodding “I told you so!” in Sports Heaven.
Brent Musburger
Gotta admit, I didin’t realize ol’ Brent was still at it. One quick way to let people know you’re still working is to say something stupid re a lose-lose situation. And that’s just what he did, by unnecessarily throwing him into the Jon Gruden mess by calling it a “…malicious and orchestrated campaign.” Good golly, Brent, the guy still authored all that no-longer-Kosher stuff. Does it really matter how it came out? If you wanted some press, you got it. You’ll also likely be facing a firestorm yourself now, though. Fumble.
Daniel Jones
Have we seen the last of Daniel Jones under center for the New York Football Giants? Maybe… but probably not. A neck injury being quoted as “a strain” means 6-21 Mike Glennon will be sucking as the signal-caller for the Jints this weekend. While my wife would look at Glennon’s record and positively point out that “He has won 6 games!” most football fans would see the 21 losses as a red flag. But what of Danny Dimes? Some are speculating that he may miss the remainder of the year. If that’s the case, do the Giants continue patiently waiting for his injury-pocked progression to once and for all meet their expectations? Hell, Aaron Rodgers and Russell Warren Russel Wilson might be available next year. Before you get too excited, Big Blue has no cap space for a either of those guys right now. Nor should they trade away what could be two picks in the top ten of the NFL Draft. Further, it doesn’t matter who is under center if you have a shitty line and shitty running game. There’s that word again.
On that note, we’ll end here. Feel free to leave your comments below and come back tomorrow for Grinding Ax Walt, who along with you, are dared to watch this:
