The Giants continue to make life difficult for themselves and their fans this year.  In addition to blowing several games earlier in the year due to poor clock management and some questionable play calls, they had a chance yesterday to grab control of the NFC East.  SU had its doubts as the Giants have played poorly coming out of the bye week for about the last 400 hundred years.  They were truly unwatchable yesterday until late in the 4th quarter.  Then, when just needing to make a stop on 3rd down, of course they couldn’t and you end up with a well-earned loss.  Truth be told, they are not a good team but Eli is having a great season running a hurry-up style offense where he can change plays at the line of scrimmage – something SU has been pushing for several years.  Kevin Gilbride held him down for a number of years but he has thrived this season despite having little running game and a revolving door in the offensive line.  They still have a shot at the division as 8 wins may very well be enough.

This week’s Jets-Giants match-up is now a huge game for both teams who are on the bubble for the playoffs.  We will unlikely see any big hugs at Met Life Stadium come this Sunday.  Is it just me or does it seem wrong that Carmelo Anthony had Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh over for  Thanksgiving dinner when he would be facing them in a game the next night?  Did Bernard King have Larry Bird over for dinner?  Was Bill Russell welcome at Willis Reed’s house?  Is it just the fans who care nowadays about winning and rivalries?  SU believes that professional athletes all belong to the same fraternity in this era and there is too much Big Papi-like hugging going on.  The exception is the NFL where the level of spearing and head-hunting is scary.

The Patriots finally went down to defeat as Brady continues to lose all of his offensive weapons.  SU does not believe they will come out of the AFC for the Super Bowl as you have to wonder who will still be standing on that roster come January.  While it’s not obvious who might beat them in Foxboro (long-time SU subscriber J. Gross is putting his money on the Pittsburgh Steelers who are great on offense but give up a lot of big plays on defense), you have to think even Tom Brady needs a few of his receivers to still be healthy to get to the Super Bowl.

On the college front, all of a sudden, there is a clear path to a final 4 of Alabama, Clemson, Michigan State/Iowa and Oklahoma.  You would have to think that Ohio State belongs in that group but they will likely pay the price of just playing a bad game last week in the rain at home.  Going to the 4-game playoff system is a major improvement and college football continues to be a lot of fun to watch – especially late in games where no lead is safe.  Of course, if North Carolina beats Clemson or if Alabama is upset by Florida, chaos will reign.

SU was reading some additional articles about Robinson Cano and his season in Seattle.  Check out these comments from recently fired Seattle first base coach Andy Van Slyke:

“Robinson Cano was the single worst third-place, everyday player I’ve ever seen… for the first half of a Major League Baseball season,” the former Mariners’ first-base coach said in a radio interview. “He couldn’t drive home Miss Daisy if he tried. Couldn’t do it. He couldn’t get a hit when it mattered. He played the worst defense I’ve ever seen at second. I mean, I’m talking about the worst defensive second baseman ever, I’ve ever seen in 20 years in the big leagues.”

Followers of baseball know that fired coaches and managers usually don’t throw players under the bus like this as they are angling to be hired for another job in the future and you start to limit possible destinations if one of these players is on the roster of that potential new team.  There are stories floating around today about a possible Ellsbury for Cano trade but for the Yankees, the math doesn’t work given the 10-year Cano deal which has 8 years remaining.  You wonder if some GM will bail out Seattle on his contract.  You also wonder how Cano’s numbers will continue to deteriorate playing in a big stadium in cool, damp weather for much of the year.  The Yankees had offered 7 years and $175 million which was more than fair and probably still too long a contract.  Note to Jay-Zee: it’s not always about the money and how much is enough?

The Yankees need to not engage here.  Plus there are always the LA Dodgers who are more than happy to pick up a ridiculous contract.

I know: this is shocking news!  Shocking, I say.  Who would ever have expected this to happen after Cano left for the big money and joined a losing team?

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2015/11/23/robinson-cano-mariners-yankees/

The Yankees apparently feel they need an upgrade at 2nd base.  SU predicted 2 years ago that he would be back with the Yankees in a few years.  If Seattle agrees to pay half his salary for the remainder of the contract, does Cashman bite on this?

Tell the truth.  On draft night, did anyone really feel like Porzingis would turn into a franchise, stud player?  He has made the Knicks relevant again.  SU didn’t see the game Saturday night but in addition to the 7 blocked shots, did you catch the running hook shot?  Let’s compare this to most of the big men coming out of college today who have no jump shot and at most some type of jump hook.  After all their years of playing, all they can do is dunk and throw up some type of jump hook.  Porzingis can shoot the three, has a mid-range jumper and can put the ball on the floor.  And he plays defense.

Of course, now you need him to stay healthy and you need Derek Fisher to keep him on the floor in the 4th quarter.  Carmelo Anthony is being the good teammate so far and is saying all the right things.  But SU predicts the day is coming when he will not be so happy allowing Porzingis to have the spotlight at MSG.  Luckily, the team cleared out some of the knuckleheads like JR Smith who would only have made that situation worse.  This roster has mostly good guys who will put team first over ego.  SU is tuning in again to the Knicks just to see Porzingis.  Build around him and keep going younger.

SU loved the Ohio State meltdown by some key players after their loss to Michigan State.  Always good to see how players and coaches deal with losing.  SU will be interested to see how Urban Meyer deals with his star running back, Elliott, who openly questioned the play calling after the game.  Unfortunately for Meyer, he was right – the play calling was ultra-conservative and Ohio State was basically playing not to lose against an under-manned Michigan State team in bad weather conditions.  Michigan State is not good but they now have a path to the final 4 playoff.

SU prediction: Urban Meyer is going to be heavily wooed by the NFL in the off-season to take one of several open head coaching slots.  You wonder how much he will be tempted if this episode leaves a bad taste in his mouth?  I say he goes.

No doubt, few of you watched Novak Djokovic complete one of the most dominant seasons ever in men’s tennis history by winning the ATP Championship season ending event.  Consider these stats:

• record of 82 – 6 for the season
• reached the finals of every tournament he played since early January
• won 3 majors and lost in the finals of the French
• won 11 tournaments in total
• $20 million in prize money
• something like 33 – 5 vs. the top 10 players

He gets SU’s vote for SI Athlete of the Year and if they give it to Serena, that is just wrong.

Finally, lots of Brett Gardner trade rumors with the latest being Gardner to the Cubs for Starling Castro to play 2nd base.  Say what?  Give Refsnyder a chance or platoon him with Ackley and save some money.  If you are going to move Gardner, at least get a starting pitcher out of it.  Hopefully, this is just a New York Post inspired rumor with no legs.

SU caught a little college hoops action last night as Michigan opened its season against Elon College on ESPN3 (just watching ESPN3 was a major development for SU).  John Beilein’s teams always play a team first style with lots of passing and cutting – must see tv after watching too many NBA games.  But what caught my attention was the 30-second shot clock for the men’s game being introduced this year.  What a positive development!  More possessions and no more walking the ball up the court (SU pet peeve).  Push the ball and run your offense.  Why limit yourself to fewer seconds to try and score?

No doubt the 30-second clock will make it harder for lesser teams to slow the game down try and to limit possessions.  We have known for a long time that 35 seconds was way too long for mens’ teams.  Long overdue.

While the Giants came up short against the Pats on Sunday, SU was impressed how Tom Coughlin gets his teams to compete despite all the injuries.  Over the years, he has never used injuries as an excuse.  It’s always “next man up” with him.  If not for his safety’s inability to pretty much fair catch a duck thrown by Brady in the last 2 minutes, the Giants win that game.  Edelman’s injury will be huge for New England coming on top of the Lewis injury last week.  They are still the best team out there but everyone else just got a lot closer.  The Giants have a million holes but Eli is having his best year and no one will want to play them should they make the playoffs.  They have lost some killer games this year but appear to be very resilient.

The college football season is coming down the home stretch and the one thing we know is that there is no sure fire, dominant team this year.  It should be a fun playoff and bowl season with any number of teams in the mix.  Right now, it would be hard to bet against Alabama but a lot of football to be played.

Finally, for those Tennis Channel viewers out there (we are having a meeting in a phone booth next week), check out the ATP Men’s end of year tournament in London this week.  Some great match-ups.  SU says if Djokovic wins out, he should be in the conversation for SI Athlete of the Year.  His record against the top 10 players this year is something like 27-4, 3 grand slam titles and lost in the finals of the French.  He is deserving.

Brian Cashman has wasted little time as he starts to tinker with the Yankees roster.  If I were him, I would focus on the following:

• The 2015 team was historically boring.  Really.  The Stadium was dead, the team was dead and the ratings were way down.
• The Chase Headley signing was a big mistake.  The Ellsbury signing was a bigger mistake.  Headley can be moved.  Surely there is some GM that admires Cashman and thinks there was some gold in Headley based on his one big season when he clearly spent extra time in the weight room to hit 30 homeruns.  But Ellsbury is going to be a Yankee for life.  He will show some flashes of greatness during his hot streaks which will be followed by the freak injury and then the long ramp-up period to get back to some level of normalcy.  110 games a year, .280 batting average and low power numbers.  Not bad for $22 million a year.
• SU liked John Ryan Murphy.  They needed a right-handed bat and he had some pop.  McCann is the kind of player that will wear down over time now and he was running on fumes in September.  But some say this guy Hicks from Minnesota can hit and is starting to figure things out.  SU likes to root for the youngsters and is ok with this move.  Plus, we can now find out if Gary Sanchez, their top catching prospect who has maturity issues, is the real deal.  SU says worth the risk – good move and let’s see.
• Is Brett Gardner the next to go?  SU has never been a huge fan although he is a gritty player, shows up every day and gives his all.  Another guy who runs hot and cold.  If you can use him to get a younger pitcher, probably worth exploring the trade market.
• The Yankees have 2 more years of CC and A-Rod (or is it 17 for A-Rod?) and Tex is finally down to his last year.  SU will be very upset if Greg Byrd starts the year in the minor leagues.  But that may very well happen.

Bottom line: we are probably 1 year away from a major revamp of the roster.  Look for more zzzzzz in the Bronx in 2016.

SU was pumped by Jeremy Lin’s performance last night.  He played the last quarter and a half of the game (what a concept! Go with the hot hand instead of conforming to the typical player rotations.  Coaching creativity!) and played great at both ends of the court.  It’s why Charlotte is SU’s team for 2015-16.  Of course, I was rooting hard for Porzingis and he was oh, so close on that last shot.  By the way, that was a very quick NBA officiating replay over-rule.  That was not obvious at all and to me, it was too hard to over-rule.  But the refs had given the Knicks a break the night before and there was no way they were going to double-down.

SU anti-moral compass Stephen A. Smith (right up there with the New York Times’ William Rhoden) went on a rant the other day that the Knicks should absolutely not trade Carmelo.  This reinforces my thinking that they should do it.  Tell the truth: wouldn’t it be so much more fun to see them featuring Porzingis down the stretch of a close game (and paging Derek Fisher: can you please put him on the court?) than watching Melo do his jab stab thing?  If you are going to be a .500 team at best, play the youngsters and showcase something new.

Jets – Bills tonight.  The NFL should do away with Thursday night football.  The teams are ill-prepared to play these games – especially on defense.  We don’t need NFL games 7 days a week.  Time to reset on that.

SU was actually going to say that the Knicks were “once again” watchable but I couldn’t remember when that was so I changed it (I feel like the NY Post now).  I like the kid Porzingis – he has skills, put on a lot of weight just since July (no doubt hanging with Jason Giambi) and can play both ends.  Of course, he has a lot to learn but much better than I thought he would be.  I also like watching the 2nd unit – they play hard, push the ball and run the court.

Now would be the PERFECT time to move Melo’s contract for an expiring contract.  Get young and push the ball.  Have you watched Golden State and the Clippers?  It’s like a whole new game out there.  Be athletic and take advantage of your speed.  The reason the Knicks do not run is because Melo is slow and doesn’t want to run.  It’s been that way for years.  No reason the Knicks can’t be like those West coast teams and must see tv.  The 2nd unit has that capability and they get after it.  Let them play 25 minutes a game.

There is hope!  But Phil needs to make the brave move.

Mets’ manager Terry Collins will have all off-season to ponder his late game pitching moves for the World Series.  Like most managers, it comes down to who do you trust out of your bullpen.  For Collins, it was Familia and his starters who weren’t starting in this series (Colon, Niese) and Reed who melted down last night.  Joe Torre was always very clear about his go to guys but truth be told, he had many more options than Collins.

Surely, Grady Little is smiling somewhere this morning.  He had to deal with Pedro in 2003 in the ALCS 7th game vs. the Yankees just as Collins had to deal with Harvey last night.  SU says you can’t fault him for putting Harvey out there for the 9th inning given Familia’s track record in the series thus far.  But after the lead-off walk, that was the time to make the move.  In the end, that was his mistake and as mistakes go, not the worst of all time.  He kept him in one batter too long.

SU read on Twitter this morning that the Royals advance scouting report said Duda should be challenged on his throwing, and that Murphy’s fielding would come into play at some point.  Good scouting.

When you play close, low scoring games, it’s going to come down to 1 or 2 plays late.  If you have Mariano Rivera in your bullpen, life is easy.  If you have no bridge to the closer, every game is stressful and unscripted.

The Royals were the better team.  After watching the Yankees all season, it was refreshing to see hitters move runners along with ground outs.  What a concept!  They are not a dynasty but it’s fun to watch a bunch of younger players play as a team with a lot of passion.  Free agency will break them up as it does all teams these days.  Enjoy them for the moment.

Met fans should be ecstatic for their success this season and strong 2nd half.  They will now have some interesting moves and decisions to make with the payroll – as do the Yankees of course.  We look forward to the hot stove season to come.

Sure, coming back from being 3-1 down in any professional sports playoff format is hard to do and is rarely seen.  But the Mets do have their three young stud pitchers lined up for the next 3 games.  The problem is that Tyler Clippard is also lined up to pitch the 8th inning and there are no obvious replacements for him.  Much is being made of Daniel Murphy’s error on the slow ground ball last night but it was Clippard’s 2 walks that set up the inning.  Every outing for him is a high wire act and at this level, you just can’t afford it.  If Collins is committed to having Famillia make 1+ inning saves, then he might as well let him start the 8th inning and roll the dice.  He wasn’t hit hard last night except for the Perez single but they all count in the end.

SU would expect the Mets to force a game 6 and then we will see if they have a miracle finish.  I don’t believe the Mets are the better team in this series but they have had late leads in games 1 and 4 and could very easily be in the lead.

SU was glad to finally see Carmelo Anthony with a strong stat line this season.  While he obviously shot better, it seems like his offensive efficiency was much higher (a lot of points on fewer shots) and that makes for a more pleasing style to watch.  You really have to wait for Afflalo to start playing before you can evaluate what they have this season.  SU is still not sold and will continue to watch its fave players on the NBA Season Pass channels.

Exciting finish to the Michigan game last night vs. Minnesota as the Gophers’ coach totally mismanaged the clock at the end of the game.  I think it negates the end of the Michigan State game the week before.  Should have won that one; should have lost last night.  But as SU has said many a time, it’s what makes college football so much more exciting at the end than the NFL.  Just look at the kick-off return at the end of the Miami – Duke game.  Great stuff.