I don’t know about you but I find it hard to make it through a full NFL game these days.  The TV ratings are still strong and the NFL is still the #1 professional sports league by a wide margin.  But SU has issues with the quality of the product:

• Quarterback play: there are traditionally about 15 QBs who are top tier.  If you play Fantasty Football, you know there are a few elite guys like Brady and Aaron Rodgers and then another 10 or so that consistently put up big numbers.  But it seems like the performance level drops off dramatically after that and you are left with a lot of Charlie Whitehurst level QBs who struggle to just complete a pass.  Once injuries set in (see Tony Romo), the number drops to about 10 – 11 and some games become just unwatchable.
• Injuries: we are at the point where pre-season predictions are silly in the NFL as injuries play a huge part in determining team success.  Sure, you can have depth and that helps but increasingly it feels like it’s the luck of the draw whether you have the right guys standing come playoff time.  It’s true that teams like the Patriots are there year after year but others come and go based on the health of a few key players.
• 3rd Down Success: SU does not believe that it was so hard to make a 3rd and 7 first down 30-40 years ago.  Now, it’s cause for celebration when a team can complete a pass and will actually throw it past the 1st down marker.  The blitzes and pass rushers with their intricate schemes make it that difficult.
• Celebrations: enough already.  You get a sack and even if your team is down 35-3, it’s a reason to dance wildy.  Same for a tackle, breaking up a pass and making a first down.  SU says act like you’ve been there before.  Hey, score a touchdown and have at it.  But at some point, it’s just silly and just constant attempts by playes to draw attention to themselves.

SU admits that I am also starting to feel this way about NBA games.  Perhaps I am just getting old or deep down I’m old school and don’t appreciate all the dancing and preening.  I am curious if anyone else feels this way.

The Peyton Manning HGH story is out there and he was quick to react.  Naturally, we are all skeptical of players who deny the story so vehemently given the track record of those who have come before them (see A-Rod).  For me, Peyton falls in the Derek Jeter category when it comes to drug usage – just can’t be right?  On the other hand, I am long past the point of being shocked by any story and time will tell if this story has legs.  If his wife used it, that’s her business – it’s not illegal if prescribed for the right reasons.  And no doubt MLB will be investigating its players that have been mentioned in the story.

So, what the hell was going on with Odell Beckham Jr. yesterday?  He totally lost it and just could not regain his composure for an entire game.  At some point, you are hurting your team and someone needs to take you aside and set you straight.  SU says that 5 years ago, Tom Coughlin is that guy and he is riding the bench – must game or no must game.  Surprisingly, he let it go and even after the game, he sure didn’t sound like Tom Coughlin to me.  I guess he sees the hand-writing on the wall and the finish line is in sight.  Beckham is his best player and he just doesn’t want to bring the hammer down on him.  In past years, there would have been some senior citizen on the roster who had the respect of the team who could have taken care of this.  But other than JPP, hard to put a finger on who that might be this year.

He will surely get suspended for a game and that just hurts the Giants’ playoff chances even more.  As a fan, you like the fight and the passion but it’s misplaced.  Coaches at every level have pulled guys off the court or field for the last 2,000 years when they start acting this way.  SU doesn’t feel there will be any long-term effects.  Beckham is a smart guy and he knows his brand will suffer if he keeps letting defenders get under his skin.  He will make the adjustment and move on.

The Giants lost in predictable fashion.  No pass rush means having to blitz all the time and they still couldn’t get to Newton.  Oh well, only a couple more weeks of torture from this year’s group.  The Jets meanwhile still have a pulse and find ways to win.  You have to give Bowles a lot of credit in his first year as coach.  Rex may be on the way out after just one year up in Buffalo.

SU was glad to see Rob Manfred not reinstate Pete Rose and allow him to be involved in MLB which also puts the kabosh on his Hall of Fame chances.  The guy has had tons of chances over the years to come clean and express some remorse for betting on games including his own team’s games.  But he is so arrogant – which probably also made him a great player for so many years.  He just cannot bring himself to do it.  SU would like to see MLB release the full contents of the investigation that was done many years ago. I am sure that would be very enlightning.  As we know, the public is always willing to forgive but he just does not seem to understand that.

SU is predicting that the Giants will end Carolina’s perfect season this Sunday.  No particular reason other than the Giants falter when they are supposed to win and seem to play better in the underdog situations.  I recognize that most of their players couldn’t start for other NFL teams and that their offensive line is decimated.  But Eli is really thriving this year and can put points on the board.

In terms of Super Bowl predictions, SU’s preseason pick was Denver over Green Bay and I will stick with that as is my custom.  Clearly, neither team is dominant at this point although Denver’s defense is very strong.  If Petyon Manning can get healthy enough to play come January, then this could be his swan song and a Super Bowl win is a great way to go out on top.  It should be a great NFL playoff tournament as the field is wide open this year given New England’s injuries.

SU respects Bo Ryan at Wisconsin but the mid-season retirement is an odd move.  SU says finish what you started.

Finally, SU is binging on the series Friday Night Lights.  If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth a look on Netflix.  Given the length of the NBA season and that we are still in pre-conference NCAA play, a welcome distraction at this time of year.

SU was encouraged to see that the Mets had a plan B after the Cubs grabbed Ben Zobrist.  $56 million for 4 years is too much for Zobrist who is already in his mid-30s, and I was glad that the Yankees also took a pass.

But the Mets moved quickly in response:

• The trade of Jon Niese for Neil Walker takes care of 2nd base with Daniel Murphy moving on.  Niese was an extra piece and Walker’s numbers are as good as  Murphy’s.  He is also seen as a better defender.  SU ran into long-time subscriber and big Met fan S. Brett on the train and his reaction to the trade was definitely “meh.”  But the Mets have a top prospect in the minors who can inherit this spot in the next couple of years and Walker seems to be a good stop gap move.  He’s also cheaper than what it would have cost to re-sign Murphy.

• The Mets then went out and grabbed an everyday shortstop by signing Asdrubal Cabrera in a 2-year deal.  Some writers do not like this move as Cabrera is not seen as a good defender.  But SU has seen its share of Cabrera over the years with the Indians and he can hit.  He was always a guy you worried about in a big situation with RISP.  I know you want to have a strong defense given the pitching staff but truth be told, with pitchers that throw 95 mph+, you are going to get more pop-ups than ground balls.  SU likes this move.

Over in the Bronx, the Yankees traded one of their 3 trusted relievers, Justin Wilson, for 2 minor league starters.  Wilson was pretty one-dimensional with a plus fastball (as Al Leiter likes to say) but he generally got the job done.  He was going to be arbitration eligible and Cashman made some remark that they save some money in this trade as well as restock the minor league system with some starters.  SU has to believe that Cashman is going to flip at least one of these guys plus Gardner for a starting pitcher.  I mean are they the Kansas City Royals now worrying about an extra $5ook?  Otherwise, they must have a lot of confidence in the relievers who were shuttling back and forth to Scranton last year – none of whom distinguished themselves.

Surely, there is a bigger move in the works here.

SU has had a little time to digest and ponder the Starlin Castro trade by the Yankees.  I am not that familiar with Castro.  I know he was a highly regarded player who was elevated to the major leagues at a young age.  He had a couple of good years in Chicago and then plateaued and probably wore out his welcome.  He will only be 26 at the start of next season and appears to have some pop in his bat.  He will play 2nd base and given that he is really a shortstop, he can back up Didi Gregorius.

One of the bonuses of this trade is that Brendan Ryan gets moved out of NY.  He was brought in a couple of years ago as part of Cashman’s initiative to have a team of just utility infielders.  Just another .200 hitter who was always on the DL.  Probably good buddies with Stephen Drew.

But here is what makes SU a little uncomfortable.  Adam Warren has proven that he can pitch in NY – both out of the bullpen as well as in a starting role.  And unlike CC, Pineda, Nova, Tanaka and Eovaldi, Warren has been healthy.  This is the part that I don’t get.  The Yankees’ rotation, health-wise, is a mess.  None of these guys can make it through a full season and Tanaka has a tendon that can go at any point.  Wouldn’t you want to hold on to a pitcher that can be slotted in a variety of places including the rotation?

SU says there has to be another move coming for a starting pitcher involving Brett Gardner.  There has to be.  Otherwise, come mid-May, you will be hearing the following: “I’ll bet the Yankees wish they had held on to Adam Warren now.”  Thus, SU will hold final judgment til then.  IF there is no other trade, I don’t like this move as they will be scrambling to fix the rotation all year or scrambling to fix the bullpen.

Thoughts?  Opinions?  Anyone care to weigh in?  The floor is open.

As the MLB winter meetings continue in Nashville (if you can call this weather “winter”), the trade and free agent rumors are hot and heavy:

• Some team has offered Ben Zobrist $80 million for 4 years.  This cannot be true.  Even at $60 million that is a crazy figure for a player like Zobrist.  No doubt, he can play just about every position but he is getting up there in years.  SU predicts the Mets will reel him in.
• The Yankees may or may not be in the hunt for Jose Fernandez on the Marlins.  Luis Severino’s name is being floated as part of the Yankees’ offer.  The Yankees are denying it all – they had better be.  They finally have a home grown stud pitcher and you will trade him?  Plus the Marlins will want Byrd or Aaron Judge as part of that.  SU says no prospects are going anywhere.
• The Yankees are apparently hot on the trail of Tyler Flowers as a back-up catcher.  This is what it’s come down to now in the Bronx.  Zzzzzzzzz.
• And of course, there are the non-stop rumors about 2nd basemen for the Yankees.  SU says give Refsnyder the chance to play every day in Florida.  You already have rich data from the Stephen Drew experiment to see just how unproductive a position can be and still have a team make the playoffs.  As a fan, SU appreciated the Yankees spending 2 years to conduct this research.  Hitting .150 wasn’t good enough in 2014; it was necessary to give it one more year to see if a sub-.150 average would do it.  Drew messed that up by pounding out a .190 season.  No doubt teams all over baseball are lining up to sign him to a long-term deal now.  OK, I will stop – he’s not here anymore – at least for the moment.

SU is lining up the outdoor hobbies for 2016 and will stockpile some good books to read.  The YES Network may not be getting much action next year in the SU household.

A Happy Hanukkah to all.  The Final Four are set for college football and SU has no complaints with these selections.  Is Ohio State better than some or all of these teams?  Probably, but they earned their way out of the games.  Michigan State had a bunch of close wins including the improbable one over Michigan but they did beat the two finalists from last year’s football championship series (Oregon and Ohio State).  SU sees Alabama winning it all although they are not the usual powerhouse on offense that we have seen in past years.  Long-time SU subscriber T. Potter passed along this interesting note over the weekend: “Texas (5-7) has more top 15 wins this season than Ohio State, Alabama, Iowa and North Carolina — combined.”  Of course, they also lost to some horrible teams along the way but certainly an oddity in this unusual season.

The Giants found a new and refreshing way to lose yesterday.  Tom Coughlin clearly has zero confidence in his defense and went for the touchdown in the 4th quarter already up by 10 points.  Surely, 13 points is a big enough lead against a Ryan Fitzpatrick-led offense, right?  But he put up nearly 400 yards passing yesterday and the Giants collapsed yet again.  Their offensive line is in shambles and at this point, they are not even close to a playoff caliber team.  I don’t think Coughlin is coaching his normal way this year given how bad the defense is.  He will likely go but GM Jerry Reese should be right behind him as he has done nothing with this roster for 3 years now.

The Pittsburgh Steelers continue to excel on offense and they will be a scary match-up in the playoffs in the AFC.  The Pats are missing all of their skill players and at some point, you just can’t continue to plug in players even as good as Brady is.  They have now lost the top seed and won’t have the championship game in Foxboro.  The Bengals will likely have that game but Dalton is no world beater.  Carolina is rolling towards a perfect season but SU is not sold on Cam Newton.  Plus he is throwing to Ted Ginn who must hold the all-time record for dropped passes.

Baseball’s winter meetings are starting in Nashville and there continue to be all kinds of rumors about Andrew Miller being traded by the Yankees.  SU does not understand this.  Their margin for error was so small last year in winning 87 games.  They were as perfect as you could be between Betances and Miller.  If you deal Miller, his replacement won’t put up those types of numbers.  Given the absence of any other moves at least to date, this will be another dismal year in the Bronx.  It appears that Hal and Cashman are aiming for 2017 when a lot of money comes off the books.  Til then, the Yankees will be “must-not see tv” for another year.  And to long-time subscriber Evan’s point from Friday, in a free market system, the fans will stay away in 2016 and the YES Network ratings will tumble even further.  SU agrees that they can charge what they want for tickets and hot dogs but the Yankees have reached a critical point now.

Brian Cashman continues to speak very bluntly and SU loved this comment from yesterday.  Asked about Ellsbury’s benching in the Wild Card game, Cashman said “He had earned not playing that game.  Compared to the other options we had … he just played the worst out of the crew we had, so, it’s why he didn’t play.”  Exactly.

For those of you that are paying attention, there were some good comments in response to yesterday’s SU posting.

• Always nice to once in a while see that some members of the SU intergalactic subscriber base actually agree with me (thank you T. Potter).  Regarding the college football playoffs, I am not sold on Clemson and would have no  problem seeing them out of the mix if they lose to UNC tomorrow.  I actually feel that Ohio State could run the table just as they did last year if given the chance.  Their roster is stacked and the truth is that they have under-achieved all year.  The post-game comments after the Michigan State loss may have finally awakened them but alas, could be too late.  I agree that Stanford should not be in the mix.  Prediction: Alabama is the last man standing.
• I don’t think that Daniel Murphy is going to set any records with his free agent contract.  While someone will likely overpay in years and money, I think he will land in the 4 years, $48 million range.
• While David Price can opt out after 3 years, it’s hard to see why he would want to do that unless the Red Sox go into the tank or if the fans hate him which is unlikely as Price is a good dude.  But that is just a bad contract and the rest of their staff as it stands today is not scaring anyone.  It will now be interesting to see what Scott Greienke commands.
• Pete, I think in the big market cities, any price increase in tickets or beer/hot dogs are no longer noticeable.  At some point, it’s just a rounding on an already ridiculous price point.  I can see how in Atlanta it would be more of an issue.  But you have a new stadium on the way so your day will be coming shortly.
• Finally, I agree with A. Grossman that the Red Sox have a lot of holes to fill to get back to the top of the division.  Even though Toronto is directly weakened with the Price signing and the Orioles are in decline, Boston is still not there on paper or in reality.

Don’t get caught napping on Brian Cashman.  He is the master of misdirection and he keeps talking fiscal responsiblity and his “process” whatever that is.  SU predicts at least 2 major moves – not necessarily big dollar investments – but via trades as he knows what he is giving Girardi is not even 90 wins worth.  This is NY: home of the $29 2 hot dogs and a beer combo.  We expect more.

Finally, SU checked out Stephan Curry the other night on the NBA League Pass (worth the investment Knick fans as there is good basketball being played in other cities).  28 points in the 3rd quarter alone and something like 21 consecutive points for his team.  What a shooter.  How youngsters are not studying his shooting form (and if you watch college basketball, you know that 95% of them are NOT) is beyond me.  True, he has Dell Curry genes to work with but his motion is simple and effortless.  And, he passes the ball and wait, get this, moves without the ball.  What a concept!  The Warriors are a lot of fun to watch.

It’s good to see that MLB owners are no longer giving ridiculous free agent contracts to older pitchers (not).  David Price, he of the woeful post-season won/loss record, just got a $217 million, 7-year deal from the Red Sox.  He will be 37 years old at the end of his contract.  You don’t even want to do the math.  Think of it this way: if he stays healthy all year, that is $1 million per start assuming 31 starts for the regular season.

SU was relieved to learn that the Yankees were apparently not involved in the bidding.  They are trying to get younger and after the next couple of seasons, will have a lot of money coming off the books.  As I have said many times, it’s time to field a more interesting team and for the fan base, that means getting younger.  Brian Cashman seems to be on the right path now.  Until he’s not.

SU reaction to the Kobe Bryant retirement announcement: great scorer; me-first player; never afraid to take the final shot (and miss it); got his rings; and is a possible rapist.  I don’t feel he will receive the type of affection that a Derek Jeter received or what a Big Papi will get in 2016.  I admire his competitiveness but his selfishness outweighs that.  Clearly sees his skills are eroding.  Note to Kobe: please don’t come back next year with the Knicks.

Should Johnny Manziel be starting for the Browns this week?  SU has been surprised by how many people feel he should be (but not his coach).  SU asks at what point do you punish a player and make it stick?  Why is it necessary to always roll over?  SU said from the beginning pre-draft that he was a Ryan Lief type of QB.  Buyer beware.  Not a good guy.  But given his persona, Cleveland will not be his final stop in the NFL.  There just aren’t enough good quarterbacks out there and some owner/GM will always be willing to take a flyer on him.

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.