Angry Ward Wednesday: Tempered Metspectations, A Giants/Vikes Snoozefest, and Another Holmes Mystery

Mariano Rivera, Secretariat, Pete Alonso & Brian Cashman walk into a bar...

NEW YORK, NY – These days I’m finding it increasingly difficult to occupy my mind with sports. Apparently there’s this thing that happens when you get older. Your responsibilities change and you no longer are able to fill your days and nights with endless frivolities? How come no one ever told me about this? I mean, I’m not asking for you to predict the future or anything, but would a small heads-up kill you? So, here I am again with another Wednesday staring me down finding it tough to muster any enthusiasm (positive or negative) about anything related to athletics. Here goes anyway.

The Mets are My Only Hope? This is what it has come down to in baseball. My Mariners can barely scratch out more than two to three hits a game, let alone runs, so it looks as though the New York Metropolitans are my best chance for a team I like to make the post season. *sigh* Their upcoming 10-game road trip could (and probably should) be the end of all that, but I can’t get ahead of myself. As I said here recently, Francisco Lindor isn’t the problem. He’s had a good year. There’s no denying it. But just about everyone else has been wildly inconsistent. Alvarez pulled himself out of a second-half funk with a walk-off Monday night and Vientos has been solid. But, if Pete Alonso is playing for big bucks for his next contract, he’s going to have to close like Secretariat.

Vikings at Giants. The Minnesota Vikings open the season at the New York Football Giants. A high school friend of mine, who’s been living in Minnesota since college, called to ask me if I was going to the game. He’s eternally optimistic (loved Kirk Cousins, nuff said) and is coming in for the game. I told him I’d consider it, but the thought of going out to Jersey (Met Life Stadium sucks) to see Sam Darnold take on Daniel Jones, just sounds downright depressing. There’s just no way. If the weather’s nice that day, I doubt I’ll even watch it on TV. Gotta live, and this match-up doesn’t exactly feel like life… except maybe in purgatory.

Clay Holmes. New York Yankees “closer” Clay Holmes has 10 blown saves this year… and he was an All-Star. Nothing else to report, really, except that Yankees fans will forever remember what they had with Mariano Rivera and will never come close to equalling it. That’s about as obvious as you can get. I told you I didn’t have much to say.

Brandon Aiyuk. I’m so tired of this story. Listen, 49ers, either sign him or trade him. Stop freaking talking about it. And, Mr. Aiyuk, you’re in a wayyyy better position to win in SF than you will be in Pittsburgh, that is if you care about those things. Russell Wilson needs to retire, for starters.

I probably need to retire too, but there will be none of that. Come back tomorrow for Buddy Diaz, I think fresh off vacation (?), who will explain all the mysteries of the universe and why Paul George keeps getting paid a ton of money.

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About Angry Ward 770 Articles
Angry Ward, who has admirers at the New York Times, is the quintessential angry sports fan but for one exception... he's flat-out funny. And the angrier he gets, the more amusing his work becomes. Psychiatrists say, "Angry Ward's 'anger' is a direct result of "Bronx/Mets syndrome: growing up in the Bronx as a Mets fan." As if that weren't enough, his Minnesota North Stars abandoned him for Dallas, forcing him to embrace The Wild the way Nancy Pelosi embraces Mitch McConnell at charity events. And while his Vikings only tease him with success, his Golden State Warriors actually win these days. A-Dubya is MTM's longest-tenured indentured servant, its Larry David and quite simply, "The Franchise." (Junoir Blaber disputes this). Vent, curse and giggle with him on Angry Ward Wednesdays.