NIAGARA FALLS, NY – Happy Monday!ThThis may be the best Monday I have had in years. I’m still tired—my kid’s insomnia is killing me—but you already know why I’m smiling this Monday. Our topics: the Knicks are world champions, the Mets’ week in review, and the World Cup.
Knicks Are World Champions
No lead too large and no guard too small. That was a quote from the Knicks’ play-by-play guy to describe the team as they won Game 5 and became NBA champions for the first time in 53 years.
There was a lot of joy from a lot of fans. A lot of guys were finally able to celebrate something they’d waited their whole lives for. For me, of course, it was ’96, and then there was the Sprewell/Houston era around ’99, but a lot of thoughts run through my head, so let’s go.
One: I owe Mike Brown an apology. I wasn’t against him, but I didn’t see him as the guy to take us to the mountaintop. But he did some really good coaching—brave calls like putting Brunson on the bench for defensive stops late in the game and going with Jose Alvarado.
Two: Leon Rose deserves immense credit for putting together this team with trades that nobody quite saw the pieces coming together. The trade for OG Anunoby, giving up Immanuel Quickley, seemed questionable. The move for Alvarado when the point guard was hurt. All these guys became crucial, and it was just well done. Heck, the trade for Josh Hart—he was a decent role player bouncing around the league, but Rose saw the heart of a guy who was going to change the Knicks, and it happened.
Three: Jalen Brunson being so awesome—I don’t think anybody saw it. Even when Dallas let him go, I thought he was going to be good, but I don’t think anybody thought “future Hall of Fame.” The debate for greatest Knick ever has changed. I mean, you’ve got Walt Frazier up there, and you’ve got a Patrick Ewing who’s definitely in the conversation, but now Jalen Brunson is in that top-five conversation, and you have to figure out where.
Again, this is a credit to Brown and Rose. The way the team was just so deep—I mean deep. Even if it was just two minutes of Shake Milton out there, he really trusted the guys to go, and they all stepped up.
This city was begging for it. The city desperately needed this, and it was so unifying and great to see so many different New Yorkers from all over—all races, religions, ethnicities—celebrating this team. I can’t get enough of that stuff on my TikTok and Instagram.
And being a witness to this long winning streak, which was only interrupted by the President being silly—I’m not going to argue about liking or not liking the President. I’m just going to argue that as a true sports fan, if your team is winning and something is happening in your life—like you keep getting caught in overtime at work so you can’t watch the game live, and the Knicks keep winning—you would skip missing it. There was a guy who made himself go to sleep, and his wife woke him up to tell him the Knicks won a championship because work kept him from watching the game. So you do that. As a fan, if you think there’s something you’re doing to change the cosmic balance of the universe in your team’s favor, you absolutely do it, even if it makes no goddamn sense. So that’s what I hate about changing up the vibe and the flow of that Game 3, but I’ll take a gentleman’s sweep.
And lastly, I just want to thank my good buddy Mike for buying me my Knicks jacket years ago when he saw it at a state sale. I’ve never been prouder to rock Knicks gear than this jacket.
Mets Week In Review
Now for the other orange and blue team that’s not quite as celebrated. The Mets went 3-3 this week. They lost the first two to the Cardinals before winning the last one, and then they won the opener against the Braves, lost the second, and won the rubber game. They played really well against the Braves, which for a long time has been a good sign for them. They could have possibly gotten the sweep, as Christian Scott did a great job pitching that second game, but the bats just weren’t alive as they were in Game 1 and Game 3.
A little more consistency with the bats and a little more consistency pitching. I think Sean Manaea is slowly slipping himself back into the number five starter spot. I don’t know whether it’s going to be Christian Scott or Kodai Senga (the Japanese pitcher “Mr. Ghost Fork”) who gives it up when he comes back, but I think that’s going to be a key. I’d just like to see this team get hot and win 10 out of their next 12 or something and get back to .500 by the time the All-Star break comes. That will give me hope for the second half of the season.
World Cup USA Style
The World Cup kicked off this weekend in America, and as long as it’s here, I’m going to talk about it. Canada and Mexico are also helping host, which is weird. Mexico has hosted it on its own before, as has the US, so the fact that they’re combining hosting it is a little bit of overkill, but whatever.
First games: Bosnia vs. USA (USA dominated), and Mexico beat South Africa. There’s been a lot going on—this has not been good from a PR perspective. It’s been a nightmare. Fans are struggling to get to games because tailgating and other things are making it impossible for people to drive unless they take public transportation, and public transportation has been raising its rates stupidly. The resale value of tickets is insane. You’ve got the top team in all of Africa having visa issues for some reason (we all know it’s nonsense), and then a talented footballer who’s allowed in the US but Canada denied him, so he’ll miss the game. It’s all madness.
I’m just really not impressed or overly excited about this World Cup, but you know FIFA knows what they have. Football is a drug, and people vent their frustration and whatnot, but they’ll be back when their national team plays because our patriotism dictates that we pay attention.
Thanks for coming. Stay tuned tomorrow for The Big Aristotle
