Busy sports weekend. Here is what’s top-of-mind for SU:
- You can’t win ’em all. The Yankees took 3 of 4 from Tampa Bay and you would have signed up for that at the start of the series. Sure, would have been great to sweep but remember, the Yankees still play to a negative runs differential for the whole season. Their margin for error has always been small. Girardi deserves a tremendous amount of credit for mixing and matching his line-up. He has created competition for playing time which has been the key to this run.
- The next week will tell the story for the Yankees. 3 with the 1st place Dodgers and then 4 with first-place Boston up at Fenway. Tyler Austin needs to play and Aaron Judge should be platooned. His confidence level must be slipping by now.
- The Mets are taking care of business with an easy, easy schedule. They will be dangerous once again come October. Credit to Terry Collins for keeping his team steady as she goes.
- The Jets blew an opportunity to start out well this year at home – especially with New England’s surprising win in Arizona who many are predicting will win the Super Bowl.
- Conversely, SU was shocked that the Giants won in Dallas facing a rookie QB. That is just the type of game that they always lose. That has to be a positive sign as they have lost just this type of game for about the last 5 years. The defense is clearly a work-in-progress but the offense should just get better.
- SU watched the whole US Open finals yesterday. Very good match with some interesting twists and turns. I think Djokovic is losing a little bit of his nerve now. When he was trying to break through Nadal and Federer, he would often take some risks in big moments. Now that he is on top, he’s a bit more defensive. It’s subtle but you wonder if he will become like Federer who once he hit 30, started to lose that nerve a bit in the finals matches. Djokovic has had some stuff going on which we don’t know fully both personally and physically. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in 2017. Wawrinka is a good guy who had paid his dues and has an amazing records in finals. However, he doesn’t get to that many and can be streaky. But he is fun to watch and does not get cheated on his swing.
- SU has been surprised at how many of the early season college football match-ups against the lesser teams have been close or have ended in upsets. Central Michigan beating Oklahoma State is huge and Nichols State almost beat Georgia. It’s good for the sport. SU would still prefer to see better match-ups early in the season but understands that most powerhouses will shy away from that. No team wants to be out there on its own playing a tougher schedule which will haunt them come Bowl time if they lose one.
So, Met fans: are you feeling confident? And Yankee fans: are there moral victories for just playing meaningful games in September?
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Curious on SUs take regarding Djokovic’s “foot or toe” injury. I don’t know what was more interesting – watching the interaction between the two players or listening to the commentators….. Good to see Stan the Man pull through.
Sasha, I actually did not know the rules about “cramping” and how players cannot be treated for that by the trainer. That is interesting. Djokovic had a reputation early in his career for taking advantage of medical timeouts. However, since 2011, I haven’t seen him do that at all. During this year’s tournament, he was treated for a million things. His toes were bleeding – he clearly had something going on with his feet. Now, was that a cover for buying time for the cramping? Patrick McEnroe certainly thought that and believed he was faking the toe issues. I am not sure and didn’t think it was cut and dry. I am a big Djoker fan and would hope he wouldn’t resort to that as a tactic but I am also not naive nor do I put any athlete on a pedestal. Wawrinka said afterwards that he was cramping also but wouldn’t show it. They are good friends so my gut says he wouldn’t use gamesmanship there. But my gut is not always correct.
I agree on Judge. I’m not sure if he is taking too big a swing. maybe he should choke up a tad. You know hose Mt;. Everest pop ups… one day he will connect and hit the ball 500 feet. I just hope he doesn’t turn into a Dave Kingman. We need contact hitters.
Meanwhile, since may 1st Headley has been batting 275. I know 3rd basemen in general should be your 30 home run 90-110 rbi spot, but his glove has been quite solid all year. Maybe he can continue next year playing here on the cheap.
The Yanks have the toughest remaining scehdule amongst all the contenders. Good luck !!!
Djokovic pulled a sly one before Wawrinka’s serve. Both his feet needed attention… really? However, before that Wawrinka should have beaten Djokovic during his last serve leading up to his taking an injury timeout.
Looks like both ladies and men’s tennis have multiple players who can win a tournament now…. more on the ladies side. Serena can be beat. Did you know that her serve is harder than Wawrinka’s serve? She is a beast and looks even more so when she shakes hands wither her adversary. Her thigh is bigger than most women’s waist line.
Lots of positives coming out of the Giant game. Lets hope they build on them. Its so much better going into the next game with a huge victory behind you… especially with only 16 games in the schedule. Hopefully, Dallas will self-destructs quickly now.
Belichek is simply the greatest NFL coach ever.
Mets fan here. Yes, I’m confident, especially given the easy schedule. However, note that in the last month, they took 2 out of 3 against the Giants, Cards, and Nats… so they are showing they can beat playoff-grade teams, too.