EL BARRIO, EL BRONX – I actually thought I would be done with this piece early this week but such is life. Half of my talking points came to me this week and the others were left over from last week. But you don’t care about that – you want to get to the nitty-gritty, which is… Rex Ryan v Tom Coughlin, Lakers V Celtics II, Tennis’ Big 4 and Young Sports Fans.
Rex Ryan vs Tom Coughlin – These two guys were coaching in New York at the same time but only played each other once, with Coughlin defeating Ryan on the way to winning a second Super Bowl. The reason those two pop into my head is because of the 2016 Presidential race. Donald Trump is easy to see as the Rex Ryan of the two. Brash talker, he is not afraid of Putin like Ryan wasn’t afraid of Belichek. He talks like he built the Baltimore Defense when Marvin Lewis had a key role like Trump plays down his dad’s million dollar loan to start his company. Ryan was born into football like Trump was born in real estate. Ryan talks up his good season and down plays his bad ones like Trump and his business deals compared to bankruptcy. In the other corner, you have Hillary “Tom Coughlin” Clinton. Coughlin has been coaching in the pros in some capacity since I was in high school in the early 90s, much like the Clintons. You know he believes in a big running game, good defense, chewing up the clock and asking the QB to be clutch when need be. He is stuck in his ways and is a lifer much like she is. He lives for the game like she lives for politics. These are your choices America/New York. As a Jets fan, I go with Tom because he won twice.
Lakers vs Celtics Redux – Watching the build-up to the Warriors v Cavaliers in the first game of NBA Finals, it felt like it was the 80s and it LA versus Boston. The two best players in the league, in two different conferences. The main difference though is that Steph Curry is Bird and LeBron is Magic. Curry is the most clutch shooter in league since Bird. Michael Jordan was a scorer – not necessarily a shooter- like Bird or Curry. LeBron is a big guy that can play guard and has dribbling/passing ability… but can post up and score like Magic. Before this decade is out, these two will meet in two more finals.
Tennis’ Big 4: In Physical Therapy this week, I overheard The Most Insane Stat Ever. Apparently in tennis there are a quartet of men’s singles players Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray known as the big four. Apparently between them, they have won 40 of the last 44 men’s major singles titles, from the 2005 French Open through to the 2015 US Open (the only times they didn’t win being at the 2009 US Open, the 2014 Australian Open, the 2014 US Open and the 2015 French Open); they have also won 11 of the previous 13 World Tour Finals (previously Tennis Masters Cup), with Federer winning six and Djokovic winning five, with a record 4 consecutive from 2012 to 2015. That is impressive and sad all in the same breathe. Also Djokovic just became the first player to reach 100 Million in prize money.
Young Sports Fans: This piece came into my mind after reading DJ Eberle’s piece last week. It pooped into my mind (MTM Edit Staff chose to leave this as is) because of how adorable he is. Don’t we all remember when we still believed in our team? DJ wasn’t even alive to witness the 4 lost Super Bowls by Buffalo (I don’t think). He doesn’t know the heartache of all of that but he feels it as a Western New Yorker and believes the Bills will go back and win it soon. First it was PJ Losman was the real deal, then EJ Manuel, now it is Tyrod Taylor and Rex Ryan. I am not picking on him, I just find it cute that his heart hasn’t been darkened yet. Like meeting a 18 year old Red Sox fan in 1981, he thought they would get good soon and the curse would be broken in the next few years. I find it refreshing as someone that has given up hope of ever witnessing the Knicks or Jets win a super bowl in my lifetime, though I still support and watch. I am just glad I saw the Mets and Rangers do it, though I doubt they will do it again.
That is it for now. Come back tomorrow for Cheesy Bruin, who has been MIA –like me – from here this week.
