The World Series is two games in, football is obviously in full swing and...the Association is back in action as they had their opening night last night. That said, time for another blog entry.
On the World Series: We're two games in, and there is a long way to go and certainly the Mets have the players to get back in this series when it shifts to Citi Field, but there are a lot of things working against them right now.
A big factor against them right now is that, for all of the Mets young pitching talent (and they have it in bunches), the Royals approach is working against them. Mainly what's happening is that those swings and misses that Matt Harvey and Jacob deGrom are used to aren't happening so far.
To wit: in the National League playoffs Jacob deGrom's swing and miss ratio was 36.5%. Last night, just 6 percent of his pitches were swung and missed at and the Royals didn't strike out swinging once. Matt Harvey, the game 1 starter, had a swing and miss ratio of 37.5% in the NL playoffs, but Tuesday night it was just 17%.
Another factor working against the Mets is that Yoenis Cespedes is struggling...badly. He hit .286 the first two rounds of the playoffs and was a huge reason the Mets won the NL East this year, but he is just 1 for 10 in this series. If he isn't doing what they need him to do, they're in trouble because then they're basically what they were before they traded for him in July...an average team with an impotent offense.
Maybe the biggest thing though is experience; KC learned a lot from their first run in the postseason last year and the Mets act like a team that hasn't been here. They could get it going at Citi Field, but they almost certainly have to win all three games to have a chance to come back.
On the National Football League, this particular thing I'm about to speak of just burns me up. DeAngelo Williams of the Steelers lost his mother to breast cancer a year ago. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month in the NFL. So, for putting "we will find a cure" and the breast cancer ribbon put on his eye black...get this...Williams was fined over $5,000 Wednesday. I still can't believe it just thinking about it. That to me is totally absurd.
Meanwhile, the NBA and the sport of basketball lost a great coach last weekend, Flip Saunders, who passed away at 60 due to lymphoma. The NBA agreed to let the Minnesota Timberwolves, who Saunders spent two tenures with, to wear a commemorative patch to honor the late coach. On this one, the NBA beat the pants off the NFL...and I'm a football guy.
Speaking of Minnesota and coaches with health issues, from college football, Jerry Kill has stepped away as the head coach of the Golden Gophers football team due to health issues. Health issues aren't a novelty for Kill, who has dealt with kidney cancer, seizures, and dehydration spells. I'm glad he is deciding to step away because his health has been a hindrance for him at doing his job at times in the past, and I would hate to see something like that again in the future. He was and is a very respectable coach.
The NBA had its real opening night last night (yeah there were three games Tuesday but IMHO Wednesday with just about everyone playing is the real opening night); long season but a few takeaways...
1. Southwest Division had themselves a bad night except for the Mavericks who won at Phoenix, but New Orleans dropped its second in a row to begin the year at Portland, the Spurs were beaten by OKC, the Memphis Grizzlies lost by 30 at home to Cleveland and maybe the most embarrassing one of all, the Rockets lost by 20 at home to Denver on their opening night.
2. That Rockets game was so bad that Rockets GM Daryl Morey was on the Jim Rome show today and he was not happy. Very easy for someone to say, it's just one game, but that's not what he said. He was legitimately concerned and after that effort, I share his opinion. They need to play MUCH better than that.
3. The Milwaukee Bucks, coming off a playoff season, got embarrassed at home by 25 points by the Knicks on opening night, WOW.
4. Very early, but the Chicago Bulls look stout to open the season. Beat the Cavs at home, then went on the road to the Barclays Center and won by 15 over the Nets. I still wonder if Hoiberg should have stayed at Iowa State, but if the Bulls win I'm sure any regrets will disappear.
5. Lakers got beat on opening night by the Timberwolves, but the big talk after that game is that Kobe Bryant didn't get the last shot. It makes me laugh. He can still produce but people have to remember he's well above 35 years old and can't do what he used to do anymore.
Until next time....
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