SU says do not draw too many conclusions from the first week of NFL action. My experience is that a win creates unrealistically high expectations for teams that win, and for teams that lose, well “there goes the season” is usually just too negative. The truth is somewhere in the middle unless you are talking about the NY teams where the 1st series of the game is representative of what the season will bring.

SU does make this observation. The desire of NFL head coaches to avoid injuries in the preseason games (which is certainly justified) causes the simplest plays to become challenging in the first game of the season. Did you see the Bengals try and kick and extra point or a game winning field goal in OT? Yikes. There were so many missed field goals and fumbled snaps yesterday.

For NY fans, you have to get the Red Zone Channel. Of course, you need to be ready to be over-stimulated with scoring plays for 6 hours which as we get older is not a great thing. But it is just not fair to generally be limited to watching the Jets and Giants for 17 weeks. SU must admit that I tuned in to the Giants game for most of the 4th quarter and give props to the new coach for going for the 2-point conversion and the win. This strategy probably won’t work next time but no doubt he won his players’ hearts and minds with that move even if the Titans had converted on that last second field goal attempt. Good for NY football fans to get that first win out of the way before we are into October.

The men’s tennis world anointed 19-year old Carlos Alcaraz as the next great thing with his US Open win. He has the whole game, can volley at the net and is super fast. Will he win 20 grand slams? Hey, it’s still early but he has the mindset and attitude to do it. He also has the #1 target on his back now and big expectations so we will see. But he seems like a great kid and is respectful of his opponents following in the footsteps of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic who certainly have always carried themselves well on the court whether winning or losing. SU is also hoping that Tiafoe can continue to improve and polish his game now that he has had a taste of winning a Grand Slam. He is the consummate entertainer but needs to show that he can do this in the other tournaments. His strokes are a bit unorthodox but he is good for tennis and especially American tennis.

Finally, the Yankees have righted the ship for a week. Thank goodness for the Minnesota Twins. Aaron Hicks also did Aaron Boone a major favor by not hustling after a dropped fly ball on Friday night causing the fans to erupt (when they are chanting “Joey Gallo, Joey Gallo” at you, well, that is not a good thing). Boone pulled him from the game and that will make it easier for Boone to never play Hicks again this season (could happen). Gleyber Torres has reawakened and Stanton is showing signs of getting hot and we know that when he gets hot, it lasts for several weeks. The Rays have a lot of Toronto and Houston on the schedule down the stretch and it’s hard to see them running the table. SU likes having the rookies play and I am interested to see what Harrison Bader is all about as he is about a week away.

At this point, a “successful” season for the Yankees has to mean getting to the World Series. The Mets are hanging on to their first place lead with the Braves in hot pursuit. That is actually a big deal as the first place team avoids the Dodgers until the NLCS while the wild card will have to go through the Dodgers in the Division round. That is a reason to do what is necessary to win the Division at the expense of resting players for the playoffs.