January 26 will be a day that will forever live in infamy. At around 3 p.m. word came down that Los Angeles Lakers legend and five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant passed away in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. He was one of five people who perished.
One of the victims was Bryant's 13-year old daughter, Gianna Bryant, according to ESPN. The other victims are reportedly another player and a parent, their identities have not been released. Nobody survived the crash. Reports are that Bryant was on his way to his Mamba Academy.
Bryant, and his daughter, are survived by his wife, Vanessa and three children. The tragedy comes less than 14 hours after current Lakers star LeBron James passed Bryant for third place on the NBA's All Time Scoring List.
The tragic news is hard to stomach. Bryant was not only of the greatest players in the history of the sport, but was of the toughest competitors, and accomplished family men out there.
The accolades and shock has been widespread.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady Tweeted: "We miss you already Kobe RIP"
Jets safety Jamal Adams tweeted a picture of himself gesturing the number '24' - Bryant's old number, with his hands at the Pro Bowl.
The news has been shocking. Bryant was expected to be enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame this summer.
It's sad that he will not have the chance to experience it, and us watching him experience that honor. Let's be honest, I always thought Bryant would be one of those faces of the sport who we would see grow old, serving as a face of the league past, present and future much the same way Bill Russell is doing now. Now we will never get that chance. RIP Kobe.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning is stepping away from the game.
The two-time Super Bowl MVP retired Wednesday, ending a solid 16-year NFL career that had plenty of ups and downs, and was highlighted by two Super Bowl triumphs over the New England Patriots.
Manning leaves Big Blue holding almost every franchise passing record.
In what turned out to be his final NFL season, Manning started the first two of the season, both losses, before former Head Coach Pat Charmer benched him in favor of Daniel Jones in Week 3.
Manning wouldn't see the field again until Week 14 when Jones suffered a high-ankle injury, keeping him out of a Monday Night match-up in Philadelphia. Manning started the Eagles game and played well, despite the loss.
Manning's final start for the Giants came in Week 15 at home against Miami, where he completed 20 of 28 passes for 283 yards, a pair of touchdowns and three interceptions in the Giants 36-20 victory that snapped a nine-game losing streak.
It was clear all season that this would at least be Manning's final year in blue. The franchise is moving forward with Daniel Jones as its quarterback, and there was no longer room for the 39-year old on the roster.
Instead of testing the free agent market in March, Manning opted to hang up his cleats now, retiring as a Giant rather than opting to play and risk another benching in a new city.
"For 16 years Eli Manning defined what it's like to be a New York Giant both on and off the field," owner and CEO John Mara said in a statement. "EIi is our two-time Super Bowl MVP and one of the very best players in our franchise's history. He represented our franchise as a consummate professional with dignity and accountability. We are beyond grateful for his contributions to our organization and look forward to his induction into in the Giants Ring of Honor in the near future."
The Giants will hold a news conference on Friday at 11 a.m.
It is unclear when Manning will have his name put up in the ring of honor, or have his number retired, but figure something will happen next season, perhaps in a primetime game once the schedule comes out.
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Looking back at Manning's career it got off to a bumpy start in 2004. Remember he was originally drafted by the then-San Diego Chargers, but refused to play for them. The Chargers called the Giants and agreed to come up with a deal where the Giants would draft Philip Rivers and trade Rivers to San Diego for Manning. The deal ended up working out well for both sides. Rivers had a very good career in San Diego, but Manning has the brass rings.
Ironically Rivers faces a similar decision himself, having moved out of San Diego to Florida, perhaps intimating he is not going to play for the now- LA Chargers in 2020.
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Manning's rookie year in 2004 didn't exactly go as smoothly either. He sat the first nine games, watching Kurt Warner take the Giants to a 5-4 record before Tom Coughlin decided to roll the dice on the rookie Manning, basically sacrificing the Giants playoff chances at the same time. Big Blue finished 6-10.
Manning's second season went much better. He raised his completion percentage up four percentage points, and threw for 3,762 yards and 24 touchdowns. His comeback victory against Denver on a late Sunday afternoon in November was a preview of coming attractions. The Giants went 11-5 that season, before bowing out of the playoffs to Carolina in Manning's first playoff game.
Two years later the Giants were on the move again. After starting out 0-2, the Giants finished the season at 10-6 and snuck into the playoffs. As a sixth seed, the Giants beat back the Tampa Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers all in succession to get to Super Bowl XLII to face the undefeated, 16-0 Patriots. The same Patriots who beat the Giants in a tug-of-war four weeks earlier in Week 17.
The Giants hung tough with New England all night before Manning scrambled out of a sack, and heaved a ball down field onto the helmet of David Tyree. With safety Rodney Harrison all over him, Tyree trapped the ball on his helmet and fell to the University of Phoenix Stadium turf with a completion that would be immortalized forever. A few plays later, Manning hit Plaxico Burress in the end zone for the game winning touchdown.
Giants 17 - Patriots 14. 18-1.
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Four years later, the Giants were back in the Super Bowl, and again it was the New England Patriots as the opponent. The Patriots were not undefeated this time, but at 13-3 they were still the same formidable foe.
The Giants found themselves trailing 17-15 late in the game when Manning engineered another heroic comeback. His sideline pass to Mario Manningham set the stage for the rally as he marched the Giants 88-yards in nine plays for the winning score on Ahmad Bradshaw's tumbling, excuse me touchdown that put New York in front for good 21-17.
In the end Manning won the MVP trophy again.
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Since their Super Bowl glory years, things have not been as much fun for Big Blue. The Giants have had only two winning seasons since, and one playoff appearance. They have been through three head coaches and are on their fourth right now. The Manning Era had its peaks and valleys, but in the end he will always be one of the greatest quarterback's New York City has ever had.
The Mets search for a new manager after the termination of Carlos Beltran has concluded. New York chose long time minor league manager Luis Rojas as the club's new skipper, agreeing to a multi-year deal.
Rojas is not a name that is going to jump out to most Mets fans, in fact, many people probably have never even heard of Luis Rojas. Here is a little recap:
- Rojas spent eight seasons as a manager in the Mets farm system rising from Rookie ball to Single-A, High-A and Double-A, accumulating a .539 winning percentage and 555 wins on the way.
- He is well regarded by both players and front office personnel in the Mets organization.
Pete Alonso praised the move saying on Twitter:"Loved having Luis in '17 and '18 as my AA manager! It's awesome playing under him and having him on the staff last year as well!!"
Pitcher Marcus Stroman added: "Luis Rojas! Love, Love, Love it. Loved being around him on the bench last year. Always teaching and full of knowledge."
Rojas even drew praise from former Mets bench Jim Riggleman who gave the new Mets skipper a ringing endorsement in the New York Post.
In other words, let's wait and see what happens before we jump to judgement on Rojas. Fans have a tendency to rip a hire before it ever bears fruit. Just look at Joe Judge for example. The Giants just recently hired him to be their head coach and fans trashed it. Then once Judge spoke, suddenly fans were singing a different tune.
Give it a chance and see what happens.
Being 38-years old should not be looked as being a detriment, rather it could be looked upon as an asset. Rojas is stepped in analytics, and was in charge of disseminating that information on the coaching staff, meaning he is very much in line with the modern day thinking of most baseball organizations.
And honestly his hire should not come as any surprise at all. Once the Mets decided they were not going to invest in an outside candidate, it was clear the team would go in-house and Rojas' name jumped right to the forefront since he already interviewed for the job in November.
Will it work out? We'll see, but now the Mets have their new leader in tow.
You could almost hear the bellow of the late great Gene Shepherd announcing Derek Jeter to the plate. "Numbah 2"is heading to Cooperstown after locking down 396 of the maximum 397 votes needed for induction, or 99.7 percent.
Nearly perfect, albeit just one vote shy of joining his former Yankees teammate Mariano Rivera as unanimous entries into the Hall of Fame.
It is odd, and, even sad that even after the announcement all Yankees fans, and baseball fans in general for that matter, could talk about was the identity of the lone non-voter, as if it carried the kind of national importance like the identity of Deep Throat or the Zapruder tapes.
Really, seriously, who cares?
Whether it be 99.7 percent or 100 percent, it does not change the fact that Derek Jeter is in the Hall of Fame where he belongs after a storied career in pinstripes.
A lifetime .310 hitter, Jeter played all of his 20 years in Major League Baseball in the Bronx. He played with an old school flare in a era dominated by power and steroids. He excelled where most players faltered. He became the identity of clutch that same way Michael Jordan had ascertained during his storied career with the Chicago Bulls of the NBA.
Whether it be his uncanny ability to deliver the big hit in the big moment, or come up with a tremendous defensive play in the field - a la his back-handed flip in Oakland in the Division series in 2001, Derek Jeter was the definition of success for the Yankees in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
A winner of five World Series titles, a World Series MVP in 2000 against the cross-town Mets, and 14 times an All Star, it's hard not to think of the last 23 years of Yankees baseball and not think of Derek Jeter. He was the face and heart of a dynasty, that is now forevermore etched in baseball immortality.
What is happening with the Mets managerial search?It’s really the biggest question hovering
over the franchise since former Manager Carlos Beltran was named in the Houston
Astros sign-stealing scandal and subsequently lost his job last Thursday.
As we move into another week, it appears more and more
likely that the Mets are going in-house.
While almost everyone was busy watching the Kansas City
Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers stamp their tickets to Miami for Super Bowl LIV
on Sunday, presumptive managerial candidate Dusty Baker was busy hoping on a
plane to Houston to interview for the Astros job.
When asked by reporters if he had heard from the Mets, Baker
said he had not.
“Like I said, I’m busy, I haven’t heard from anybody and its
first come, first serve and everybody likes to feel like they are wanted,”
Baker said.
Then on Monday night, New York Post columnist Mike Puma
reported that the Mets front office has been stuck in “paralysis … on how to
proceed” because of the pending transfer of ownership from the Wilpon’s to
Steve Cohen.
Part of the problem as Puma writes is that Van Wagenen and
the front office is worried how the hire of the new manager will be perceived
by Cohen.
“…[T]here
is concern that if the Mets hire somebody who wasn’t originally considered for
the job, it will look bad to Cohen, reflecting poorly on a front office that
will be in limbo once the ownership transfer is complete,” Puma writes.
According to Puma, Cohen has chosen to
remain in the background while the Mets conduct the search.
“It’s
expected he will use this situation as a barometer in determining the front
office’s mettle and aptitude. The fear of team executives that Cohen would
question the hiring of somebody who wasn’t considered for the job when Mickey
Callaway was fired in October (veterans such as Dusty Baker and Buck Showalter,
among others, weren’t interviewed) had tilted the search in quality control
coach Luis Rojas’ favor as of Monday.”
It’s kind of hard to believe that Cohen
would be upset if the team were to interview veterans like Schowalter or Baker,
both of whom have considerably much more impressive resumes then some of the
in-house candidates being considered.
This might (and this is speculation) it
might speak to the fear the front office has in hiring a powerful manager who
could sway Cohen’s decision making when he takes over.
Regardless it is looking more and more
likely the Mets are leaning toward Rojas, who has been with the organization
for over a decade, and is well-liked with the current Mets brass.
Rojas has only one year of Major League
Baseball coaching experience as a quality control coach for the Mets in 2019.
He has coached and managed at several different levels of the Mets
organization.
The other in-house candidate being
considered in Hensely Meulens, the Mets new bench coach, who held the same job
title in San Francisco the past two years. Meulens has been rumored to be in
the running for the Boston Red Sox job as well.
Whatever the Mets decided to do, rest
assure Cohen will be in the background, evaluating not only Van Wagenen and his
front office but the manager he hires as well. Buckle up, this could be a very
crazy year for the Mets.
Giants vs. Cowboys is about to get a whole lot more interesting next fall.
Big Blue has finalized a deal with former Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett to become the club's offensive coordinator.
Garrett is no stranger to the Giants; he was a back-up quarterback for New York from 2000 to 2003, and is well regarded within the organization.
Garrett, of course was fired just two weeks ago by the Cowboys after a lengthy, and at times, bizarre 10-year stay as Cowboys head coach. Bringing Garrett into New York could be a huge boon for new Giants head coach Joe Judge.
Judge has never been a head coach at any level and will definitely pick the brain of Garrett who is very familiar with the personnel in the entire division, including Dallas.
Garrett's primary job will be to tutor quarterback Daniel Jones and get this Giants offense humming on a more consistent basis. While Jones showed flashes last season, he was troubled by turnovers, specifically fumbles. Garrett's experience as both a quarterback and quarterbacks coach could be extremely helpful to the Giants.
When will Garrett get a chance to avenge his old team? We'll have to wait until mid-April when the 2020 schedule is released, but rest assured the match-up will garner plenty of attention as one would expect. Heck, the Giants have opened up the schedule with the Cowboys in five of the last six seasons.
Now that Carlos Beltran tenure as Mets manager is over
faster than you can say “Bill Belichick,”the focus for the Mets turns to the
next challenge, finding a new manager as soon as possible with Spring Training
set to begin in less than four weeks.
Obviously this is not an ideal position to be in, but the
Mets find themselves in this spot because they hired a manager who was heavily
linked to the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal that has rocked the entire
sport.
Like it or not, the Mets had to move on from Beltran. The
pressure was mounting, the evidence could only become more damning by the day,
and to ask a first year manager in the pressure cooker that is New York to
handle it all was asking a lot.
This is not to say fans should completely write-off the 2020
season, quite the contrary. The Mets have an opportunity to truly get this
right, and hire a manager who can grab the reins, settle the turmoil and lead
the franchise.
Here are some candidates the Mets could be considering:
Hensley Meulens:
The Mets bench coach brings a lot of experience to the table. He was Bruce
Bochy’s bench coach for the previous two seasons out in San Francisco, before
serving as Giants hitting coach for eight years. In addition, Meulens was the
manager of the Netherlands team during the World Baseball Classic in 2013.
Fluent in five languages, Meulens would provide some stability being he was
already on Beltran’s staff, and would give the Mets the veteran leadership the position
needs right now.
Luis Rojas:
Consider Rojas the equivalent of the hot NFL coordinator that many people
believe will be great. Many have reported the Mets hold the 38-year old in high
regard since he has been in the organization since 2007. He has managed on
multiple levels of the Mets minor league system including Double-A Binghamton
in 2017 and 2018 where he compiled a record of 149-130. Rojas was a candidate
for the Mets top job this offseason, before the Mets settled on Beltran. Aside
from Meulens, Rojas could be viewed as a favorite for the job. His dad is
Felipe Alou the former manager of the San Francisco Giants and Montreal Expos.
Eduardo Perez: This
would be a very ironic choice especially at this point. Many believe that Perez
was the runner up to Beltran for the managerial spot, and there is reason to
believe the Mets would contact Perez again. Would he jump at the chance now? A
long time ESPN baseball commentator, Perez has a limited amount of coaching
experience: two years as a Marlins hitting coach in 2011 and 2012, one season
as a bench coach for the Astros in 2013, and manager in Puerto Rico during
winter ball in 2014-15. Not sure how Mets fans would take to the idea of
another ESPN personality (i.e. Jessica Mendoza) being in the organization, but
inside baseball folks seem to love Perez.
Joe McEwing:
According to Mike Puma of the New York Post, McEwing has let word filter down
through his acquaintances that he would love to be the Mets manager and views
it as a “dream job.” A scrappy bench player for the Mets from 2000 to 2004, McEwing
has been the bench coach for the Chicago White Sox since 2017. He is also a
good friend of David Wright, who is an advisor to the franchise, which helps.
Buck Showalter:
Yeah talk about a hire that is definitely not going to happen, but some dare to
dream. Showlater has everything the Mets need in a manager: experience,
leadership and baseball smarts. He knows the game better than anyone; the
problem is he would have to work with Brodie Van Wagenen and Jeff Wilpon. That
isn’t happening anytime soon.
The Carlos Beltran era is over before it ever truly started.
Beltran and the New York Mets mutually agreed to part ways nearly four whole days after Commissioner Rob Manfred named Beltran in his nine-page report on sign-stealing within the Houston Astros organization in 2017.
While Beltran was a player, and received immunity from punishment by the commissioner because of that status, he was named in the report for a reason and many believe he was an intricate member and participant in the cheating scheme.
On Thursday the Mets made it official, just minutes after COO Jeff Wilpon concluded a sign dedication ceremony for Mike Piazza, where the Mets boss got snippy with reporters over questions regarding the former star center fielder.
"We met with Carlos last night and again this morning and agreed to mutually part ways. This is not an easy decision. Considering the circumstances, it became clear to all parties that it was not in anyone's best interest for Carlos to move forward as manager of the New York Mets. We believe that Carlos was honest and forthcoming with us. We are confident that this will not be the final chapter in his baseball career. We remain excited about the talent on this team and are committed to reaching our goal of winning now and in the future."
Beltran issued his own statement: "I am grateful to the Mets for giving me this opportunity, but we agreed this decision is in the best interest of the team. I couldn't let myself be a distraction for the team. I wish the entire organization success in the future."
Bottom line is this had to happen. The fact Beltran was involved, even as a player, was too damning. The video of Alex Cora winking last summer when referencing Beltran's use of "devices" during the Red Sox London series against the Yankees was not a good look.
The Mets couldn't allow this to continue, and they had no choice but to move on from Beltran as manager.
In house candidates like Hensley Meulens and Terry Collins will definitely receive consideration for the job on an interim basis, and there is nothing wrong with that. The Mets need an experience baseball man running the show. That was the problem they faced before they hired Beltran, and it is the same problem now. Either Meulens or Collins will steady the ship for a year -- and if the team wins, perhaps longer.
Bottom line, Carlos Beltran could not manage this team.
Should the Mets fire Carlos Beltran? Will it happen sooner rather than later?
Well the pressure continues to mount three days after Commissioner Rob Manfred published a nine-page report detailing the League's decision to levy penalties on the Houston Astros for the sign-stealing scandal.
Since Manfred's decision to suspend Astros manager A.J. Hinch and General Manager Jeff Luhnow for a full year, both Hinch and Luhnow have been fired. Alex Cora, the supposed architect of the scheme was fired by the Boston Red Sox. Many believe Cora used similar tactics in Boston in 2018 -- the year the Sox won the World Series. MLB has yet to levy its penalty on Cora, but its coming.
As for Beltran, who was named in the report, the question over what the Mets will do has been the topic of discussion. And it isn't going away. Mark Teixeira an ESPN baseball analyst and former teammate of Beltran's when they played together on the Yankees, has joined a wide and long chorus calling for the Mets to fire Beltran.
On top of that a Twitter account, claiming to be the niece of Beltran, posted Wednesday that the Mets manager is planing to step down. How true, in a world where fake burner accounts have a tendency to run rampant (see Manish Mehta and Adam Gase) is anyone's guess.
Then there is the the report from ESPN's Buster Olney that the Mets are "wavering" on Beltran.
The Mets have been radio silent since Manfred came out. Jeff Wilpon is expected to speak to reporters Thursday in Florida for a street sign ceremony honoring Mike Piazza and the re-naming of the Mets spring training stadium. Clearly nobody is going to want to talk about the new stadium name, or Piazza's street sign, they will want to talk Beltran, Beltran and more Beltran.
The Mets have to get ahead of this and put this to bed. They need to take a stand one way or the other.
Fire Beltran? Keep Beltran? Agree to part ways? Fire Brodie Van Wagenen? Decisions have to be made and the Mets have to come out and face the music. If the Mets were lied to be Beltran about his involvement in the Astros scandal, yes, they will look bad. But it would look worse if they keep their heads in the sand and say nothing.
Major League Baseball has come down hard on the Houston Astros for the sign-stealing scandal, suspending Astros Manager A.J. Hinch and General Manager Jeff Luhnow for one year for their roles in allowing cheating to take place during Houston's 2017 World Series Championship run.
After the suspension was levied by Major League Baseball, the Astros turned around and fired both Hinch and Luhnow from their jobs.
In addition, ESPN is reporting Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who was an integral member of the Astros coaching staff in 2017 is in danger of facing a heavy suspension for not only his efforts in the Astros scandal, but a similar scandal with the Red Sox during their World Series run in 2018.
Mets manager Carlos Beltran, who was a player on the Astros in 2017, and was rumored to be an integral member of the scandal, is not facing a suspension because he was a player.
MLB is also fining the Astros $5 million and taking away their first and second round draft picks in 2020 and 2021.
Compared to the suspensions levied by the NFL for the Patriots Deflatgate and Spygate scandals, MLB came down very, very hard on the Astros, and deservedly so.
It is amazing that Beltran avoids suspension when reports indicated that he was a major part of sign-stealing scandal where the Astros used trash cans and video cameras to send out signals to hitters. In November Beltran even told New York Post writer Joel Sherman that the Astros stole signs legally without the aide of cameras.
It is also amazing that no players were suspended for their roles in the scandal, since they were the beneficiaries of it, and were involved knowingly.
Clearly Beltran said enough in MLB's investigation to avoid blame, and as a result will manage the Mets this season for all 162 games, unless MLB finds something to conclude otherwise.
This now ends a tense and terse period where we didn't hear a lot from Rob Manfred nor Major League Baseball and its Player's Union on the issue since the story broke in early November. With Spring Training just three weeks away, baseball's decision is going to have a very direct affect on the Astros and possibly the Red Sox seasons.
The Mets should consider themselves lucky that Beltran avoids suspension. Had that happened, General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen would have suffered a major public relations backlash for hiring a manager who ultimately would have been outed.
Instead the focus turns back to a Mets team with an inexperienced skipper, with a team that has major holes that still need to be filled before the start of the season.
It will be a day that will live in infamy in the minds of many Giants fans everywhere. The New York Giants settled on a new head coach Tuesday morning, but it wasn't the one many thought would come to the Big Apple.
Early Tuesday, Matt Rhule, the supposed favorite for the job, and media darling for that matter, opted instead to sign with the Carolina Panthers for a whopping $70 million over six years with full control of his staff. According to various reports he phoned the Giants with whom he was to meet today, and asked them to match the Panthers offer.
They didn't, and Rhule signed with Carolina.
As a result, the Giants went ahead and signed former Patriots special teams and wide receivers coach Joe Judge to be the head coach of this football team.
Joe Judge who virtually nobody outside of New England knows, and who comes to New York as another Bill Belichick wiz-kid disciple. How will this work out is anyone's guess, but one thing is certain the Giants don't look good.
This is not about passing on Matt Rhule as much as it about failing to even get the respect to garner an interview at the very least. The Giants job isn't nearly as attractive as many people once thought. Mike McCarthy left East Rutherford without a deal and signed with Dallas. Rhule spurned them before they even had a chance to meet him.
The Giants rolled the dice when they kept David Gettleman as the General Manager and putting him in charge of this coaches search has not produced the kind of fruit people had hoped. His tenure has been an outright disaster.
As for Rhule, there is no telling whether losing him to the Panthers is going to come back to haunt the Giants or not. The Panthers are taking a big risk throwing all kinds of big money and power his way, especially to a coach who has never once coached an NFL game aside from serving as an assistant for one season. Rhule was a good college coach, but he coached a Baylor team that didn't beat a power five team, and lost two games at the end of this season to Oklahoma and Georgia and it wasn't even close.
Who knows what kind of NFL coach he will be, but if history is any indication he will struggle much the same way coaches like Chip Kelley, Steve Spurior and many others have struggled.
As for Joe Judge, he's the Giants coach, whether the fans like it or not. And it sounds like he is going to be a package deal with Jason Garrett as the Offensive Coordinator. We have yet to hear from the Giants or Judge about what his plans are, how he plans to develop quarterback Daniel Jones, and what kind of leader he is.
Judge might be a good coach one day. He might be a total bust. We will know soon enough. But on the outset, this feels like the Giants settled for less just to get the process over with rather than deal with the fact they got rejected.
The New York Giants head coach search took a very circuitous twist Monday morning when news came down that the Dallas Cowboys hired former Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy for their vacancy.
The news came down just days after the Cowboys dismissed Jason Garrett after ten years on the job. As was reported by Fox Sports Jay Glazer on Sunday, Garrett refused to accept being fired by the Cowboys, despite Dallas brass telling him consistently that he was indeed out.
At the same time, Glazer reported McCarthy was interviewing with Dallas for a second straight day. That was on Sunday.
By Monday morning it was done deal, McCarthy was now the head man of the Cowboys.
Let's be honest this a brilliant move for Jerry Jones and company. They get an experienced head coach with a Super Bowl on his resume. Yes, McCarthy had his issues with Green Bay toward the end of his tenure, the infamous Bleacher Report story about McCarthy's final days with the Packers did him no favors, but there is little arguing over how good of a coach he is.
As was described by NFL.com writer Tom Pelissero, McCarthy has been itching to comeback. A video Pelissero posted on NFL.com shows McCarthy with his assistants hunkered down in his basement working on player charts, statistics and making a study of the landscape of the NFL in 2019-20. He was ready for this jump back into the mix. As McCarthy said in the interview, he and his family "needs football."
Unfortunately, the Giants didn't get that memo, or at least they didn't feel McCarthy was a fit. The Giants are the second New York team to pass on McCarthy; the Jets did the same last year settling on Adam Gase. That didn't work out for Gang Green.
And with the way things are playing out, it won't work out for Big Blue. The Giants are now in a division where three Super Bowl head coaches reside: McCarthy in Dallas, Doug Pederson in Philadelphia and Ron Rivera (who took Carolina to the big game four years ago) is in Washington.
And the Giants are going to settle on Matt Rhule? Josh McDaniels? Jason Garrett? Really? This is the answer the Giants are going to give to their suddenly abused fan base?
Giants fans should be upset over this news. Their front office doesn't appear to know what it is doing, and it is becoming painfully obvious that nobody wants to work with David Gettleman who is on the hottest of hot seats this season. Why didn't the Giants fire Gettleman along with Shurmur? It is anyone's guess.
The media favorite for the Giants job appears to be Rhule. The newspapers keep fawning over the idea of the Baylor coach coming to New York to take over the team, but we ask why? What is so special about Matt Rhule?
Yes, Rhule turned around Temple and Baylor in three short seasons at each stop, but it's not like either program is the next Alabama or Georgia. Baylor might become a National power one day -- if Rhule stays, but let's take it easy before crowning this guy the next great head coach.
People made that same mistake with Chip Kelly a few years ago when he went to Philadelphia. That worked out so well that the Eagles couldn't wait to get Kelly out of the building before hiring Pederson to get the franchise back on track.
College coaches don't necessarily work out in the NFL.
Nick Saban was 15-17; Bobby Petrino was 3-10 before quitting on the Falcons; Lane Kiffin was 5-15 in Oakland; Greg Schiano went 11-21 with Tampa Bay; Steve Spurior went 12-20 with the Redskins, and even Lou Holtz went 3-10 with the Jets way back in 1976.
Finding a Jimmy Johnson is hard to do. If the Giants hire Rhule and he proves to be the exception to the rule (no pun intended) the Giants will ask for plenty of apologies from people like me. Until then, the Giants are heading down a dark and dower road to nowheresville.
Brodie Van Wagenen is at it again. The New York Mets
braggadocios General Manager once again put people on notice with another blank
check statement that is sure to get him in hot water with both fans and the
press.
During the introductory press conference for reliever Dellin
Betances, Van Wagenen boastfully proclaimed the Mets current bullpen as one of
the best in baseball.
That’s right, the
same bullpen that still has Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia slated to patrol the
late innings is, according to Van Wagenen, right up there with the likes of the
Houston Astros and New York Yankees.
“This signing was
intended to blow the cover off our ceiling,” Van Wagenen was only warming up.
“we believe that a healthy and dominant Dellin combined with Seth Lugo, Justin
Wilson, Edwin Diaz, Jeruys Familia, Brad Brock and Robert Gsellman. This
collective group has the potential to be one of the best in baseball.”
You got to be kidding me, right?
That is one heck of statement by VanWagenen, considering the
Mets were ranked 25th in Major League Baseball in total bullpen ERA
at 4.95.How bad is that statistic? The
Detroit Tigers who lost 114 games last season had a better bullpen ERA than the
Mets.
What’s more the Mets were ranked 21st in all of
baseball in save percentage at 58.46 percent.
The biggest culprits in blowing games on a regular basis of
course were Diaz and Familia. Diaz had an ERA of 5.59 in 66 games, blowing
seven saves. Familia’s ERA was 5.70; he blew four saves and never once nailed
down a game. Things got so bad with Familia and Diaz last season that
then-manager Mickey Callaway had to go to Seth Lugo as the team’s late inning
reliever just to give his team a chance to win on a regular basis.
As for Betances, the Mets are taking a risk with a reliever
who spent almost the entire 2019 season on the injury list with arm and leg
injuries; the most serious being a partial tear of his Achilles Tendon in
September.
When he was healthy, Betances was indeed one of the most
dominant pitchers in the sport as the Yankees set-up man. But this is 2020 now,
the Mets have to see whether Betances has fully recovered and can return to
form. That is why they went with a short-term, one-year deal.
Meanwhile, the only other addition to the bullpen, Brad
Brach is a total mystery. He pitched to a 5.47 ERA last season with the Cubs
and Mets last season.
Brach has been the proto-typical reliever throughout his
career. Some years he has been really good, like he was for Baltimore in 2016
where he posted a 2.05 ERA in 71 games out of the pen.Other years, Brach has been less consistent.
In many ways the argument could be made that the Mets should
add at least two more arms to the pen before Spring Training even begins next
month. The more experienced arms the better.
For Van Wagenen to proclaim at this juncture that his
bullpen has a chance to be one of the “best in baseball” is a fool-hardy
statement by a man who wants so desperately for his acquisitions from last
season (Diaz and Familia) to work out, and thinks his fan base is either too
dumb or didn’t watch a single game last season to even notice.
And people wonder why the fan base sometimes labels Van
Wagenen a ‘used cars salesman.’
According to reports Stern passed away due to complications from a brain hemorrhage that he suffered three weeks ago. His passing was as sudden as it was shocking, sending shockwaves across the NBA.
Stern was considered by many to be the best professional sports commissioner of the modern era. In a time when Major League Baseball struggled with steroids, the NFL with the Patriots cheating practices, and the NHL with a season long lockout back in 2004 and 2005, Stern's NBA stood apart.
Yes, there were issues. The lockout of 1998 cut the 98-99 season to 50 games. And there was another lockout in 2011 that cut the season to 66 games. And surely Seattle fans are not going to forgive Stern for allowing their beloved Sonics to leave town for Oklahoma City.
But beyond that, the NBA became a revenue machine under his watch.
He helped make the NBA a global brand around the world, and was commissioner during the league's best decade of the 1990s when the Chicago Bulls were the kings of the sport, and teams like the Knicks, Heat and Pacers just wanted someone to be like Mike.
By the 2000s the NBA had expanded to seven teams, and Stern even helped launch the WNBA.
The cast of characters to play in the sport under Stern's watch is as long as it is legendary. Players like Michael Jordon, Shaquille O'Neil, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Kevin Durant. I could go on and on.
January 26 will be a day that will forever live in infamy. At around 3 p.m. word came down that Los Angeles Lakers legend and five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant passed away in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. He was one of five people who perished.
