Niagara Falls, NY – Happy Monday. Didn’t get much digital sleep this weekend. Tomorrow, let’s keep it Steinberg from short and simple. Today’s topics: the Mets, the Jets, and Manchester United.
New York Mets Update
The Mets have been the Mets, picking the perfect time to go on an eight-game losing streak. After losing two of three to the Reds, they went ahead and got swept by the Phillies in a four-game series, absolutely eliminating any hope they had for the division and putting them strictly in the Wild Card competition. Then they went on to lose the first two of the series to the Texas Rangers, which cut their lead to one game. Thanks to an extra-inning, walk-off home run from Pete Alonso yesterday afternoon, they ended the streak and are now a game and a half up in the final Wild Card spot.
I don’t even know what to say at this point. I just keep watching the team, especially the relievers—they just can’t hold a lead. I understand there’s a lot of pressure in a 2-1 or 3-2 game, but this is what you’re paid to do. Edwin Díaz is rusty, he’s missing opportunities, and Ryan Helsey has just been the worst. I’d almost rather we never have traded for him. But everybody else has been pretty bad, too. The submarine pitcher whose name escapes me hasn’t been consistent, nor has Reed Garrett or Ryan Stanik.
All we can do is hope that they can hang on. My heart wants to believe; my head knows better. We’ll see what happens in a couple of weeks.
NY Jets
Man!! Just as last week gave you some hope, this was a reminder of how far behind you are. The Jets got a mud hole stomped in them. The Jets’ only touchdown until garbage time was scored by backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor. In that one drive and he had more passing yards than starter Justin Fields the whole game.
The Bills are on another level. They’ve made the AFC Championship game three of the last four years and have won the division four years in a row. This is just a reminder of how far the Jets have to go.
Manchester United
This rivalry game (against Manchester City) actually occurred before the Jets game. I made a faceboook post that I would take one of two. I got nothing of two. United lost three-nothing and it was uninspiring.
We have a good young coach, Ruben Amorin. He won a lot in the Portugal, but now he’s in England and he’s changed the team’s formation and we’re still just knitting. People are wondering if we’re getting overloaded in the midfield, so he adds an extra man there. The other problem is that he’s a young manager who hasn’t had his spirit broken and learned to be pragmatic yet, so he’s very stuck on this philosophy. But Man City is a top team, you know? We’re not on that level. I’m just waiting to see if we can start beating the teams we’re supposed to. I understand that; I’ll take that. We are not going to win a bunch of stuff, but this should be good enough.
Please feel free to respond in the comments. Come back tomorrow for Ben Whitney, who will draw a line between an incident in his formative years and something that happened in the past week.
