Sunday, January 10, 2021

IT'S CHAMPIONSHIP MONTH

 It's the start of the NFL Playoffs where it's win or go home. Tomorrow, the college championship is on the line, where it doesn't matter, win or lose and both teams go home.

**We'll start with baseball. The Mets blew up the Silly Season by completing a monster trade with Cleveland for arguably the best shortstop in baseball and a front line starting pitcher. Not to be outdone, the Yanks went out and traded for a 6th outfielder from the Padres, Greg Allen. Allen is noted for his speed which will come into play when the Yanks send him to Scranton in mid-March, by foot. Where's George when you need him?

**The Buffalo Bills won their first playoff game in some 20 years. If Annie-O is any judge, Bills fans are ecstatic but were very nervous at the end. Annie-O bit her fingernails down to the first knuckle. She says not to worry, they'll have time to grow back by next weekend, when she'll find something else to bite. I think I'm nervous.

**In other games, Tom Brady (remember him?) led Tampa Bay to their first playoff win since 2002, over Washington. Next week, we'll get to see how Brady does against a professional football team.

Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson is contemplating retirement. Based on his performance last night, I'd say he retired at halftime. The usually mobile quarterback was sacked five times by a usually slow-footed Rams defense. He completed just 11 passes for a mere 174 yards. That's a tough way to go out, Wilson has been a class act his whole career. I wish him luck.

**The Syracuse Orange squeaked out another win. Boeheim plays his starters a long time and it shows at the last 7-8 minutes of the game. They get tired and that allows the other team to stage a come back. I'll tell you one guy I like to watch and that's Marek Dolezaj. He has a great soft touch around the basket, is a great passer and can run the floor with any guard in the country. He's too skinny to play in the middle but that kid is TOUGH. Last night, he got elbowed in the mouth and ended up with a chipped tooth and a bloody mouth...oh, and a smile on his face. He never missed a minute. 

** Former Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda has passed away a age 93. He was quite a character and always fun to listen to. Smart baseball man, too, so you had to pay attention. He had his feuds too. He hated the Phillies Phanatic, the Philadelphia mascot and he really disliked Reggie Jackson, stemming from an incident in the World Series against the Yankees when Reggie stuck out his hip to deflect a throw to first base...and got away with it. Tommy went absolutely ballistic. Some years later, he and Reggie happened to appear in the booth with Tim McCarver and another announcer, during a televised baseball game, to be interviewed. The discussion immediately turned to that play in the World Series and Tommy went bananas again. Reggie shut up, knowing anything he would say would set  Lasorda off again. This went on for about five minutes, at which point, I wanted to personally shoot a smirking McCarver for letting it go on. McCarver should have shown the respect Tommy deserved by shutting down the interview. I'll never forgive McCarver for that. I apologize for the rant.

**Here's a headline that's hard to believe: "Doug Pederson in danger of being fired by Eagles"

Here's a coach who led his team to last place in the very weak NFC East and basically tanked the last game of the season, a game that held major importance to two other teams, and he's only "in danger"  of being fired? I'm surprised he still had a job when he walked off the field after the last game.

**Two more new sports terms that have no true meaning but sportscasters use them just to sound hip (which they're not).

"Targets" - A football term meant to indicate who the ball was being thrown to. In itself, it's okay, but statisticians are now keeping track and listing it. Who gets to be a target when the QB throws the ball out of bounds to avoid a sack? How about spiking the ball? (The ground got two spikes today)

"Scoring the basketball" - What they mean is, he threw the ball into the basket and scored points. I envision a guy with a knife cutting the basketball. The ball then becomes as useless as this term.

***THEY SAID IT***

 "Michigan signed football coach Jim Harbaugh to a five-year extension. To be fair this WAS the first year the Wolverines didn’t lose to Ohio State."  -- Janice Hough

 "Dodgers star Mookie Betts just got engaged to his childhood sweetheart, Brianna Hammonds. If you're scoring at home, that's 15 years to turn a single into a double."  -- RJ Currie

 "The best thing about not being rich is that you’ll never have to write million dollar checks to pay undeserving players on the team you own."  -- Phil Mushnick

"Yankee GM Brian Cashman continues to work around the contract of Giancarlo Stanton, which sometimes makes Yanks fans think an oil derrick has been built in the middle of Yankee Stadium."  -- Mike Lupica

 "Lions DB Mike Ford got penalized for taunting after teammate Jamal Agnew’s 74-yard punt return cut the Buccaneers’ lead to 40-7.They had to rule it taunting, because there’s no such thing as 15 yards for stupidity."  -- Dwight Perry

"Not sure how this happened, but my old company touch-football team has a chance to make it into the NFL playoffs as a wild card."  -- Alex Kaseberg

"Packers QB Aaron Rodgers says  he can squat 405 pounds. Last time I squatted 405 pounds, I kneeled in church."  -- Nick Canepa

 "So after last night’s in game tank job can Philadelphia’s NFL team change their song to “Lie Down Like an Eagle?” -- Janice Hough

"Aaron Rodgers is the NFL’s MVP; Buffalo’s Sean McDermott is Coach of the Year. No arguments will be entertained."  -- Bob Molinaro

"Crowds attending a festival of lights event in Essex, England, reportedly went home disappointed because organizers lost track of the “on” switch. This might also explain the Jacksonville Jaguars. -- RJ Currie

"Jim Harbaugh has reached an incentive-laced contract extension to coach Michigan football coach through the 2025 season. No truth to the rumor that Ohio State boosters bankrolled the whole thing."  -- Dwight Perry

Chad Picasner


 

 

No comments: