NIAGARA FALLS, NY – Happy Easter Monday, I actually never heard of Easter Monday until I was much older. It seems to be an American term, similar to Boxing Day and the metric system. Anyway, let’s get to it. On tap today: Weekly review of the Mets, the NY Rangers’ form, and the NCAA basketball championship.
Mets Week in Review
The Mets had a solid week. After taking the first game on Monday against the St. Louis Cardinals, they went into a three-game losing streak—losing the next two against the Cardinals on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then their opening game against the Giants on Thursday. They weren’t really getting hits; guys weren’t getting on base.
But they rectified that from Friday through Sunday, making sure they got some timely hits, some really strong pitching, and some great defensive work. They won three in a row against the Giants to end the week, feeling good.
NY Rangers Review
The Rangers had won three games in a row, and I hadn’t quite been able to watch those games or the highlights, but I was happy for them. You know, people had given up on them.
I finally got to watch a game, and of course they lost 3-2 to the Canadiens—although they did put together a comeback until the end. Then I saw them bounce back with a dominant performance against the Red Wings, before they just smashed the Capitals 8-1.
This winning streak has also been part of a seven-game homestand, so they finally figured out how to win at home when it doesn’t matter anymore. This is all well and good, but too late to make any difference except maybe in draft seeding. But a bunch of young players from Hartford have been called up, and they’ve been playing very well. They had nine guys 24 and under on the roster.
Does this mean good things for next season? I don’t know. I don’t want to start believing these young players are going to turn into anything, because I wouldn’t put it past Chris Drury to trade any of them. As I’ve said before, I’m not a big fan of Drury and the way he works—so public about everything. I think he ruined the Rangers a couple of years ago, but we’ll see what happens next. Season 100 has been terrible. Hopefully, season 101 is better.
NCAA Basketball Final
On the women’s side of the bracket, we have a new champion for the first time in their history. UCLA, who were number one seeds last year, still went in as underdogs against perennial powerhouse South Carolina—well, perennial since Dawn Staley got there about a decade ago. Anyway, UCLA absolutely dumped a mud hole in South Carolina, winning by 20. It was not close from start to finish.
On the men’s side, you have UConn versus Michigan. UConn has no business being there—not because they aren’t great; they played some great basketball. But I watched the last two minutes of their game against Duke, and I’m still shocked at how Duke blew that game. UConn took that miracle win into Saturday, dominated, and now they’re three hours away from the final.
Michigan also looks good. It’s a big deal up this way because there’s a local kid from Western New York named Gayle who’s Michigan’s sixth man. One of the Michigan guards looks to have severely rolled his ankle, and although the guy played through it, you can bet that UConn will be going after him. So the local kid will really have to step up.
Thanks for coming. Stay tuned tomorrow for The Big Aristotle with another great take.
