Category: Sports

Not that we didn’t know it already, but the outcomes during last week’s huge sports weekend once again showed how unfair sports can be. Despite infuriatingly losing two of three to the worst team in baseball during the final week, their best pitcher spitting the bit in both final-week starts, including just lasting into the third inning on Sunday, and Alex Cora yanking Tanner Houck with a slim 1-0 lead in the season’s biggest game after just five innings and 53 pitches on Saturday with a perfect game in progress, the Red Sox somehow managed to move on to play in Tuesday’s play-in game vs. the Yanks. Meanwhile, with their beleaguered coach abandoned by the memory-challenged in Patriot Nation showing the returning hero he doesn’t have all the answers to every test as he was being mostly outplayed Sunday night by a prodigy QB, the luckless Patriots lost 19-17 to the TB Brady’s when the 56-yard game-winning field goal attempt faded just enough to doink off the upright and away, instead of in.

Those were the news highlights of the big week and here are a few others.

News Item: Wickersham Book on Pats No Sham       

The post-Brady Patriots are in the crosshairs with ESPN reporter Seth Wickersham back with his second tome on the Patriots dynasty. Despite skepticism throughout Patriot Nation at the outset of the last one, it is being heavily scrutinized now after almost of all what he said last time was proven true. Given some of the disagreeable things that have leaked out, some unpleasant moments are ahead after some things owner Bob Kraft allegedly said to others about Coach B. For his part Bill Belichick says the relationship is solid. But if that’s fake news, you have to wonder where the end of Kraft’s rope might be if the 1-3 record during what was supposed to be the easiest part of their schedule continues to go south. Stay tuned.

News Item: Sox Exceed Expectations; Still Many Aren’t Happy

Got to love the expectation game in sports, where when things go bad it’s “I told you so” but when they go far beyond what many anticipated before eventually coming up short it’s not “thanks for a better season than I expected,” it’s instead “thanks for ruining our summer.” Granted a last-week Red Sox fold would have left a sour taste behind. But I’ll ask many in the media and cheap seats how many wins they were expecting in March. Given the obvious holes everywhere, Chris Sale injury questions and last year’s debacle, I doubt it was 92. I had them in the low 80’s and was bracing for worse. But they unexpectedly held the AL East lead into July and fought to the final out in Game 162. Not perfect and there’s still work to be done but it’s thanks for a great summer.

News Item: Low Expectations Greet 2021 Celtics

Speaking of expectations, with a 10-deep lineup and seven first-round draft picks over the next three years the Celtics had the ammo to compete for an NBA title going into 2018. But, after their second dumpster fire season in three years, Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens squandered that chance, which led Ainge to, ah, retire, Stevens to be kicked upstairs and a boatload of roster changes. First was the hiring of a guy I never heard of as the head coach, Ime Udoka. That he worked under legendary coach Pop is reassuring to some, but given that Gregg Popovich is in his own “Brady vs. Belichick” debate, as his team hasn’t done much since Tim Duncan retired, I’ve got see for myself what Udoka can do. Then there is the belief Stevens only became GM because the owners still owe him tons of money, something that was fortified when Brad had his lunch money stolen in his first three trades. We’ll leave the specific details to the season preview. But for now, Celtics expectations are at the lowest point since about 2015.

News Item: Worst Great Pennant Race Ever  

You have to understand the logic to get this headline. “Great” pennant races are defined here as those that go down to the final weekend with multiple teams involved. Like the AL race of 1967 when five teams entered the final week with a chance to win the pennant. When Yaz concluded the most inspirational season by a player since DiMaggio in 1941 by going 7 for 8 and knocking in the winning runs both times vs. Minnesota to eliminate them during the final two days of the year. The other way is a titanic two-team battle that pushes them to heights epitomized by what Reggie Jackson told Jerry Remy and Carlton Fisk as he entered the Sox locker room to thank them after the famed 1978 playoff game: “I hate to play you guys, but I love to play you guys.”

This year had both, with the Giants and Dodgers bringing to mind not only 1978 but their own rich history that saw them in special playoffs to determine the pennant in 1951 and 1962. And with the Yanks, Sox, Blue Jays, Mariners and A’s bunched together to start the final week the AL was more like ’67, though it’s been more of a study in bad baseball, where everyone survived terrible stretches to fall out of it before going on runs to get back in it, only to stumble again. It was like watching a slow-motion game of musical chairs where when the music stopped the Yanks and Sox just fell accidentally into their seats. Still, it had drama that lasted to the ninth inning of the final game.

All of which was fitting for the craziest baseball season I’ve ever seen.   

The Brady Bowl finally arrives Sunday night at the razor, though with a little bit of the luster gone after twin disasters last Sunday. The media is making a big deal of it as usual, but for me given all the Super Bowl wins, big games to get to those SB’s, the Manning-vs.-Brady games and even a few with the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets, it’s hard to rank what the most anticipated game has been since the Patriots became worth following every Sunday over the last three decades.   

If it’s for being driven by off-field drama like this, the Brady Bowl doesn’t top Bill Parcells’ first visit to Foxboro after defecting to be the HC of the NYJ’s microseconds after the Pats got creamed by the Packers in SB 31. Thanks to his one foot out the door, ah, effort during SB week everyone in the stadium was out for blood that night because Tuna was viewed as the villain who had ignited the border. Sunday will be the exact opposite where TB-12 will be treated like a hero coming home from war. And after he does the aw-shucks routine, even those on the Coach B side of the “Was it Brady or Belichick?” debate will be happy to see him. And, after all the thrills he gave us, why wouldn’t they? So there won’t be any sports hate Sunday and that’s a vital ingredient for great drama.

So what we actually have to all but the anti-Bill crowd is more like a college homecoming game with people on hand looking to see old friends like Brady and the great Rob Gronkowski. Here’s the skinny on that.

The basics: After respective bad games last Sunday the Bucs enter at 2-1, with the local 11 coming in 1-2 and the natives getting restless.

Big Mac: The big yack coming in from those looking to knock his early-season play is about not throwing the ball down field. Really? Then consider this Rookie Tom vs. Rookie Mac comparison. In the first five games Brady started in 2001 he threw for 167, 86, 334, 202, 206 with no TD passes or picks. In the first two he threw for 253 to Big Mac’s 476 while completing 59 percent of his passes to Mac’s 73 percent. Both were 1-1 with each losing to Miami. Brady by 20 (30-10), Mac by 1 and only after he’d gotten them inside the 10 with three minutes left before a fumble killed it. Thanks to awful protection and two drops that turned into picks, Sunday was a rough one for Mac, which was similar to Brady’s 4-picks loss to Denver in Week 5. But he’s being brought along exactly like Brady, and how’d that turn out?    

Gronk: Before getting drilled in the ribs on Sunday he looked like vintage Gronk scoring 2 TD’s in each of his previous three games. I’m not sure why, but it makes me sadder to see him in another uniform than Brady. And not just because the Hunter Henry-Jonnu Smith combo has hardly resembled the dynamic Gronk-Hernandez double tight end duo.

Brady: Even with Sunday’s loss he’s already thrown for 10 TD passes and over 1,000 yards, 432 of which came against the Rams’ stingy defense. So beware because at 44 he looks as good as he did when he was 27.

Coach B: I wish this game came closer to the end of November after all the new guys had played together in the system a little more, as it’s obvious everyone is not quite on the same page as yet. Even so, I can’t wait to see what the game plan is. Forget what Bill does to rookie QB’s; we get to see the plan against a guy he’s seen play over 200 times. If that hasn’t shown him where to attack nothing will.

Outside noise: The Brady camp was heard from in the lead-up. I don’t know about you but I’m a little tired of old man Brady. Yapping about his son’s vindication is a little like a guy barking before halftime arrives when he should be waiting until the game is over. On the other hand business partner Alex Guerrero is dead right about why the split happened in saying “Bill never evolved” because even though you want everyone to be treated alike you just can’t treat a 44-year-old 20-year veteran the same as a 24-year-old kid — it just doesn’t work. That’s definitely on Bill. Alex must read this column because that’s exactly what I said when the relationship started to rupture during the summer of 2017. 

Predictions  

Defense game plan: The two teams that had the greatest success against TB-12 while here were, as you know, the (gulp) G-Men under Tom Coughlin and the Ravens when Tex Rex Ryan was there. Both ran pressure up the middle to try and push the pocket in his face with the DB’s pressing on the short routes to make him hold it longer. I expect something similar, though since he/the Bucs probably expect that, only time will tell whether it works.

Offense game plan: Unless they fix the protection issues they’ve had all year on the offensive line it won’t matter. But I think they’re going to play action pass early to attack TB’s injury-riddled secondary and try to slow down its very good front seven.   

Key to the game: (1) Pressure on Brady. (2) Protect Jones — so it would be a good idea for all you Catholics out there to say an extra novena for the return of Trent Brown from his injured calf muscle. (3) Hit some shots down the field to Nelson Agholor. (4) Win the turnover battle — short fields help struggling teams and Brady eats them alive.

Outcome: After last week both teams need to win, though the Pats need it worse. Heart says Pats 18-16. Head says TB 31-16.

Baseball is in the final two weeks of the regular season. And while it’s not quite 1967 or 1978, with the (sliding) Yanks, Blue Jays and (maybe stabilized) Red Sox bunched together at the top of the wild card standings, with Seattle and Oakland lurking just behind there’s an engaging race underway for the winner-take-all game playoff to qualify for the ALDS. That is if you don’t mind teams staying in it because everyone else is losing more than they are. Which could make this, if you can follow the logic, the worst good pennant race in history.  

Here’s a recap of what’s happening as we go down the stretch.   

Whether you like their approach or not you have to give Tampa Bay credit for the results. They were the first to 90 wins in the AL which was the 9th time that’s happened for them since 2007, which is pretty good given since their miniscule payroll is about $100 million per year less than the Yanks and Sox spend.
The first to 90 wins was San Francisco, who also was the first to clinch a playoff spot. And even though they may have 100 wins by the time you read this, after looking over the roster and their individual and team 2021 stats I still have no clue how they’ve done it. If you want to know why, ask my friend the insurance mogul Dick Lombardi, who just sent me an email with so many stats/reasons it made my head hurt. But they do make sense.

The Manchester F-Cats alumni association is behind the Blue Jays roaring down the stretch with an offense that scored 42 runs in a three-game sweep of the Orioles two weekends ago and 108 as they went 12-2 in their first 14 games in September to climb back into the wild card race. Leading the way are alums Vlad Guerrero Jr., who may win the Triple Crown as 46 homers and .321 average lead though he’s 8 back in the RBI race, and shortstop/F-Cat teammate Bo Bichette, who has 22 homers and 88 RBI. Plus second baseman Marcus Semien has 40 homers and 95 RBI to make him the best free agent signed of the year.  

On the other side, how in the name of Bucky Dent can a team win 11 in a row to take control of a playoff spot and then immediately lose 10 of their next 12, as the Yankees did from the last days of August through the first 10 days in September? Made worse by getting swept four straight by Toronto when they never led even one batter during the entire series. That hadn’t happened to a Yankee team since 1924, which for the mathematically challenged is a whopping 97 years ago!   

Given that mess, should talk radio still be slobbering over Brian Cashman’s trade deadline brilliance to spend big in prospects for crazy Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo while Chaim Bloom got killedfor getting Kyle Schwarber? Gallo does have 10 homers, but he’s hitting .151 in 180 at-bats with 18 RBI, while it’s .203 after an e-covid illness hot 10 games for Rizzo, but overall he’s got 6 homers and 17 RBI to Schwarber’s .276 with 4 homers and 13 RBI in less at bats.   
Arguably the year’s top feat goes to San Diego’s Blake Snell’s 13.2 consecutive hitless innings pitched on Aug. 31 and Sept. 7, the longest such streak since Johnny Vander Meer pitched back-to-back no hitters in 1938. It also reinforced how wrong the Tampa Bay stat geeks were to force Kevin Cash to yank Snell in Game 6 of last year’s World Series because they didn’t want him to face the Dodgers order a third time to blow the series. This time after walking a pair he got yanked in the 7th inning of the first game with a no-hitter in progress. The relievers gave up three hits but the Pads held on to beat Arizona. But they lost Game 2 to the Angels when after surrendering his lone hit to lose a PERFECT game he was yanked and the pen immediately gave up four hits!

Speaking of needlessly yanking guys early. With the bullpen in free fall, why would Alex Cora take out E-Rod after just six innings and 90 pitches with a 4-0 lead vs. Tampa Bay while pitching his best game of the year? Ditto for Chris Sale after five innings, one run allowed and 79 pitches on Friday.

I love the Shohei Ohtani story where at 9-2 with a 3.34 ERA, 44 homers and 94 RBI he’s had a pitch-hit year few in history can match. But two major names give him a run for his money. In 1919 Babe Ruth was 9-5 with a better ERA (2.97) in his last year as a pitcher when he also led the AL in runs scored (103), homers (29) and RBI (113) during the final year of the dead ball era. On the other side was the great Walter Johnson, who was 20-7 with a 3.07 ERA while hitting .433 when the Senators won their second straight World Series in 1925. Yes I said .433! He did it in 107 at-bats with two homers and 20 RBI, which projects to 12 and 120 in a full season. And remember Ohtani DH’s when he doesn’t pitch while Babe had to play in the field, and with 115 innings pitched he won’t get near the 229 the 37-year-old Big Train threw in 1925.  

While the above gives Ohtani my Player of the Year vote, sorry, when your team is out of it after the first two months you can’t be the MVP. Thus I’m good with Vlad Jr. or teammate Marcus Semien as the most valuable player for stellar play during Toronto’s September push. But get ready for the WAR-infatuated stat geek shut-ins still voting for Ohtani.

As Frank Costanza would say, SERENITY NOW!

We got a glimpse of what the 2021 football season will be like on TV all through Thursday’s season opener when Cris Collinsworth slobbered over Tom Brady from the opening kickoff to after Ryan Succop’s game-winning FG. Not that he doesn’t deserve high praise for playing like he’s still 27, but enough already. Because if the usually solid Collinsworth continues like this unabated through the entire season the Bucs kicker ain’t gonna be the only answering to the name suck-up.  

It continued ad nauseam on CBS Sunday from the pregame show to game’s end when all involved did everything but nominate Mac Jones for the Nobel prize. Again, a very encouraging Game 1 for Big Mac, but let’s pump the brakes a bit, please. That let us know that right behind Brady/Tampa Bay in the news caravan will be his former team/coach and their QB heir apparent. After that are a host of interesting stories that trail the first two by about the distance the runner-up finished behind Secretariat as he finished off his Triple Crown win at the Belmont in 1973.

Here are a few random observations on some of them as we head to Week 2. 

By the way, sorry, Cam, forget “Mac and Cheese.” I nominate Big Mac as a better nickname. More descriptive and the endorsement possibilities are endless.

I think the biggest Patriots story is not the kid, it’s can Coach B pull all the new pieces together quickly enough to reclaim the AFC East?

Brady’s bunch of stories: First, got to say that Crypto FTX commercial with Tom and Yoko was pretty good. From the local barkeep — “I wouldn’t take you back.” Brady — “yes you would.” Funny.

TB is now in Babe Ruth territory. Meaning when the Babe passed Roger Connor’s home run record in 1922 every time he hit one after that broke his own record. With No. 2 man Drew Brees now retired, it’ll be the same for Brady every time he throws a TD pass. With active leader Aaron Rodgers 173 behind Brady’s 585 he’ll break his own record every time he throws one for the rest of his career.
Brady will soon go by Brees’ 80,358 yards to become the all-time leader in career passing yards. And it’s possible that (gulp) the record could fall in Game 4 at Gillette. Fitting I suppose. But just don’t make it happen on a TD pass to win the game!     

To the ceaseless “what’s Mac’s ceiling?” chatter from the yakers. First tell us what you had for Brady’s ceiling in 2000. If you got his right I might listen. But no one got it right. Ditto for Joe Montana, Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Drew Brees, Brett Favre and Russell Wilson.

Just an idle thought watching Dak Prescott having a 400-yard passing day as he came back from an injury just as gruesome as the one suffered by Gordon Hayward a couple of years ago in the Celtics 2016 opener. It’s like he didn’t even remember it happened while it took Hayward a full playing season to mentally recover. Does that say something about football players vs. hoopsters or Zach’s mental toughness vs. Hayward’s lack of it? 

Tampa Bay is just the 6th SB winner to bring its entire team back for the next year. However, given that the 1992 Redskins were the last to do it, their feat is much harder to pull off having been the lone one done in the salary cap era.  

It’s more obvious by the game thatGronk needed that year off to rehab/refresh his body. He looked old and slow in 2018, but he was the nearly unstoppable real Gronk again on Thursday night. It makes me sadder to see him in a different uniform than Brady.  

An amazing unreported story is the QB turnover around the NFL where an astonishing 15 of the 32 teams will have a new Game 1 starter from 2020.  

Sorry, I’ll never get used to them being called the Las Vegas Raiders.    

Talk all you want about the five QB’s who got drafted but the Chargers QB Justin Herbert is likely to be the biggest breakout story among all the young QB’s.    

The saddest news of the week was the death of David Patten in a South Carolina motorcycle accident. He was a big contributor in the first three SB wins and huge in the run to the first title with TD catches vs. Pitt in the AFC title games and vs. the Rams in the SB. Gone too soon at 47. RIP.   

Predicted division winners: NFC: Washington, Minnesota, SF and TB. Wild card qualifiers:L.A., GB, Seattle. AFC:Buffalo, Tennessee, Cleveland, KC. Wild card qualifiers: NE, Pitt and Baltimore.      

MVP: Josh Allen. I’ll pat myself on the back for being the earliest guy I know of to say this guy has “it” when everyone else was saying he doesn’t after an uneven first year. Now among the league’s best.

Biggest wish for the season: Tampa Bay vs. New England in the Super Bowl. That would be the most anticipated SB since the first one.   

Bet of the year: With gambling now OK’d by the NFL, I’ll bet anyone out there that unless he gets injured and misses time Jones will surpass what Brady did statistically in 2001 when he threw for 2,843 yards and 18 TD’s in 2001 and I think the 86.3 QB rating is possible too.     

Back to Big Mac’s ceiling for a second. Here’s my take: See what I said about Josh Allen. Different game. Same result.

After the 2019 season I said the Patriots were about to undergo an 18-month renovation. The Brady-Belichick divorce was happening to bring a major change at QB, and with them up against the cap, they couldn’t replace the larger than normal number of guys about to leave in free agency until the winter of 2020, when they had a boatload of cap room.

Well, that turned out to be right on the, er, money. While I’m not sure the house is totally finished, the remodeling is mostly done and on Sunday vs. Miami we’ll begin seeing how good the re-done team is.

The Big Story: With the surprising release of Cam Newton, Mac Jones is now the biggest story and ready or not it’s his job now. Having said that, while he played better than Camin pre-season I think the main reason he got the job is because he does what they want in a QB better than Cam — quick decisions, quick release and accurate. Thus, as I said a couple of weeks ago, this is going to be the dink and dunk Brady 2.0 to play ball control on O with the D being the biggest part of the equation to start. Said another way, if this year were a movie it would be Back to the Future 2001.    

Strengths

Offensive line: Ultra-durable Joe Thuney has moved on and while that’s is a big loss, second man Michael Owenu slid over from tackle to his spot with little apparent change. So with guards who can play tackle, and two tackles who can play guard, the line is versatile, good in the passing game, outstanding in the run game and big. All are important, because with a rookie QB the run game and play action passing that comes with it is vital because that controls the clock and buys Jones more time to throw. How this group does is a big key to how the season goes.   

Running backs: I’m on record for being against the Sony Michel trade because it drained their depth. Having said that, the situational benefits offered by the combination of short yardage/goal line power of Rhamondre Stevenson and explosiveness of J. J. Taylor made Michel the odd man out. Plus there’s the reliable James White with a clearer head in the third down back role. Now, if lead back Damian Harris can stay healthier than his first two seasons, when he’s missed 16 games, they have something. But if he can’t, you’ll see why I would have kept Sony over special teamer/RB Brandon Bolden. 

Linebackers: Keeping nine LB’s shows this is the deepest and more versatile part of the team. Some want to include the line here to say it’s the front seven, but I’m wait and see on them. Kyle Van Noy, Josh Uche, Chase Winovich and newcomer Matthew Judon give them four quality edge rushers, while Van Noy and Judon will help the returning Dont’a Hightower and Ja’Whaun Bentley fortify the run D.  

Weaknesses

Wide receivers: Aside from Jakobi Meyers no one, especially speedy newcomer Nelson Agholor, did anything to dispel fears they could again be a weakness. So beyond the evolving Meyer they’re totally wait and see.

Injury concerns: Durability is important and while I like the new tight ends, both Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith have injury histories, as do Isaiah Wynn, Trent Brown and Damian Harris. There are also the concerns expressed last week about whether the slightly built rookie QB can last amid NFL pounding for 17 games. So there is a hold your breath quality for some key parts of the team. 

Backup QB: Given what I just said, with Cam gone they have a big hole behind Jones until either Jarrett Stidham makes it back from the PUP list sooner than later, or they trade for someone like Nick Foles because Brian Hoyer isn’t up to it.

Kicker: Speaking of hold your breath issues, how about keeping the big-legged but inconsistent Quinn Nordin, who made just 72 percent of his FG attempts in college? Especially when Nick Folk made his last 26 kicks a year ago, including two game-winners as time ran out. So his course seems like a risk.  

Stephon Gilmore: Seven months seem like an awfully long time for a quad not to heal; his absence feels a lot more like a holdout than injury. Which makes the six weeks he’ll miss a test to see how they play without him during the softest part of their schedule and how JC Jackson stands up as the number corner. Both are up for contracts next year and only one at most will be re-signed. So my guess is if Jackson does well, Gilmore could be traded by the time he’s ready to come off the PUP.  

Other stuff 

The Division: It’s much tougher now because they’re competing against good coaches in Sean McDermott and Brian Flores as opposed to the band of doofuses Coach B mostly faced for 20 years. With Josh Allen at QB Buffalo is a SB contender and Miami likely takes another step up, thus the division is much tougher now, Meanwhile, the Jets should be better, but they’re not ready yet.  

Outlook: It’s harder to predict than in the good old days when you start with 12-4 and subtract, or more likely add, a win or two. They start with the softest part of the schedule with four home games (including vs. you know who) and have the Jets and quarterback-less Houston on the road. So it could be a 5-1 start. Tougher over the next 11, but they do get the Browns and Titans at home, along with the Jets, Falcons and Jags — so there’s five more wins. Then the battle for the AFC East plays out in December when they face Buffalo twice and Miami, where they win one of those three.

Prediction: 11-5 and a wild card berth.

We have begun one of the most interesting months on the sports calendar. I love September because it’s where the rubber hits the road in baseball and football begins.

It finally gives baseball the sense of urgency it mostly lacks during five interminable months of non-drama game after game. While each game played has the exact same value, wins and losses in September seem so much bigger — an irony for a game that brags it’s best because it has no clock. But it’s actually made much better as sand slips through the hourglass over the final 30 days. That ratchets up the tension and reduces the room for error to make baseball’s final month better than any other sport because they play almost every day.

The opening week of the NFL is exactly opposite of baseball, because with so few games a loss really matters, instead of just being one of 162. So the pennant race starts immediately. And while we pretty much already know who’ll be in the college football Final 4 — Alabama, Ohio State, Georgia and Clemson — it offers a pageantry and excitement unmatched in other sports. Plus it gets major points for having marching bands at halftime instead of the “entertainment” shows pro sports are so married to. And with local lads Chip Kelly, Ryan (make my) Day and Dan Mullen head coaching UCLA, Ohio State and Florida respectively, there are many local rooting interests as well.

So that’s what lies ahead starting in the year’s ninth month, which, as you can probably tell, I’m jacked and pumped for! These were some of the big stories as we entered September.

Sox are in the hunt, but… The Red Sox enter the final month running on fumes as they’re not just losing to the good teams, they’re losing to the bad teams, and even when they win it’s been scary. Like winning by just a run over the 55-71 Twins on Wednesday when they yanked closer Matt Barnes four hitters into the 9th inning after blowing a 9-4 lead. The biggest reasons are (1) maybe he had to because the starters were so bad, but Alex Cora has blown out the bullpen, (2) they needed two “good” arms for the pen and Chaim Bloom got them two flamethrowers instead, (3) the big boys aren’t hitting consistently, (4) they’re terrible defensively and make dumb mistakes. Not sure how they’ll turn that around in the next 30 days.   

Sailing along: coverage: The lone piece of good news the Red Sox got in August was Chris Sale blasting out of the blocks to win his first three starts with a 2.35 ERA. That was most encouraging. And as someone who absolutely hates when a pitcher in the pitch count era wastes a pitch trying to get someone to swing at a bad pitch on an 0-2 count, you know I loved seeing him strike out three Twins on nine pitches in the third inning on Thursday. It made him and the great Sandy Koufax the only pitchers to do that three times in their career.  

Cam gets axed: Well, I didn’t see that coming. But whether sooner than later, it was inevitable that Mac Jones would eventually be the starter. Guess Coach B overcame concerns outlined by Greg Bedard in the Boston Sports Journal about the under-developed physically developed Jones could last the rigors of a 17game NFL season. Similar concerns were why Tom Brady red shirted his rookie year as the fourth QB because they knew he needed a year under an NFL training program to get stronger and sturdier. But in the end, Cam Newton’s refusal to get vaccinated and Jones outplaying him in the preseason were viewed as the more important factors. I’ll have more on this in next week’s season preview.  

Sony forecast in L.A.: Given that J. J. Taylor and Rhamondre Stevenson have demonstrated far more explosive speed and power on short yardage and plays around the goal line, the combination offers more utility than the departed Sony Michel. But, given their intent to ground and pound, I’m not sure that was the smartest move of the pre-season. The banging style of lead back Damian Harris has forced him to miss 16 games in his first two seasons and that could put their depth to a test. Yes, Brandon Bolden is a special team ace, but with him having been with Miami in 2019 and taken a Covid pass last year, they’ve survived without him for two of the last three years. So, if they are searching for help at RB due to injuries in November, tell me then whether getting picks in rounds 5 and 6 for Michel was worth it.   

Jackie Mac hangs it up:Pioneering female sports writer and one-time UNH hoopster Jackie MacMullen hung up her ESPN notepad the other day. She was a trailblazer in the once male-dominated profession who became one of the most respected voices around the NBA. She earned my respect for two observations she made soon after she began covering the Celtics for the Boston Globe. I’m a skeptic by nature and doubly so because she was a “girl” then, so I thought saying Larry Bird shouldn’t be playing hurt with his back problems was too dainty for me. She also kept talking about how good this guy Xavier McDaniel of the Seattle Supersonics was, and I didn’t think he was that good. But it just took a few games after he joined the Celtics following Bird’s retirement for me to say, “I like this guy — he’s tough and a leader.” So Jackie was right about X, and since Bird was forced to retire early because of his back issues, she was right about that too. Both observations earned my respect from then on. So congrats on a job well done, and happy retirement.