With Eli Manning's great career winding down, and their once-vaunted defense having collapsed, the Giants have traded their one good player with long-term value, received Odell Beckham Jr., to the Cleveland Browns for safety Jabrill Peppers and picks in the 1st and 3rd rounds of the upcoming NFL Draft.
Beckham is going to love receiving passes from Baker Mayfield, and helping rebuild one of the grand old institutions (if not a grand old franchise) in the NFL.
Unless the Giants can use those draft picks to mirror the effect that the 1989 Herschel Walker trade had on the Dallas Cowboys, and the Browns handle Beckham as badly as the Minnesota Vikings handled Herschel, this is going to look like a very stupid move in the long run.
And, even in the short term, the Giants are likely to have another very bad season in 2019, at a time when the Jets are still in rebuilding mode.
The Knicks are a joke. They have the worst record in the NBA by a full 3 games, 13-55. They seem to be pinning their hopes on winning the draft lottery for Duke superstar Zion Williamson. Because, the 1st time they won the draft lottery, they won so many titles with Patrick Ewing, right?
Their organizational disarray led their hope for the future, Kristaps Porzingis, to demand a trade. It was similar to the Beckham move, but with more players involved: Porzingis, Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Courtney Lee to the Dallas Mavericks, for DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews, Dennis Smith Jr., and 1st round draft picks in 2021 and 2023.
"Ko ellē notiek šeit?"
(Roughly, "What the hell's goin' on out here?" in Latvian.)
So the Knicks traded their best player and 3 decent role players -- combined, they could have become the core of a good team -- for 3 other decent role players and picks the Knicks won't see for 2 and 4 years, respectively.
The Brooklyn Nets currently stand to have the 8th and last Playoff seed in the Eastern Conference, but is that really encouraging?
The Devils played away to the Calgary Flames last night, and turned a 3-1 lead into a 9-4 loss. It was the worst single-game collapse in franchise history, and that includes the early years in Kansas City and Denver.
Mackenzie Blackwood, now the backup to Cory Schneider since GM Ray Shero traded away Keith Kinkaid (who should have been the starter) for a 5th round pick in 2022 (about as dumb a 1-for-1 trade as you can make), was left with virtually no protection. To borrow an old joke, "What time is it? Almost ten past Blackwood!" And hardly any of it was his fault.
The Devils have been woefully short on defense since 2005, when the lockout led to the retirement of Scott Stevens and then-general manager Lou Lamoriello trading Scott Niedermayer.
The Atlantic Division titles of 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010, and the Eastern Conference title of 2012, merely covered this up, and it's become painfully obvious since.
Yet the current GM, Ray Shero, refuses to address this, either through the NHL Draft or trades. This 8-goal onslaught came after the trading deadline.
His father, Fred Shero, coached his way into 4 Stanley Cup Finals in the 1970s, 3 with the Philadelphia Flyers (including their only 2 Cup wins ever) and 1 with the New York Rangers. I'm guessing Ray got his hockey sense from his mother's side of the family.
Don't tell me he helped build the current Pittsburgh Penguins golden age. That's Commissioner Gary Bettman fixing things for his beloved Sidney Crosby.
The Rangers aren't much better at this point, and will also miss the Playoffs. The Islanders, after leading the Metropolitan Division for much of the season, have failed off a little, and may have peaked much too soon.
The Yankees are likely to start the season with both CC Sabathia and Luis Severino on the disabled list, meaning there's 2 big holes in the starting rotation, and GM Brian Cashman still won't pursue the top free agent pitcher remaining, Dallas Keuchel, a proven American League winner.
The Mets are not as infuriating to their fans at the moment, but neither do they show much reason for optimism, especially now that the Philadelphia Phillies have added Bryce Harper.
The Red Bulls got knocked out of the CONCACAF Champions League last night, losing to Santos Laguna of Mexico. They usually manage to have good regular seasons, but always flop in the Playoffs. And New York City FC, for all their money and all their hype, don't even do as well as the Red Bulls.
No team in the New York Tri-State Area, none of the 11, looks ready to challenge for a championship.
Look, I understand observing another Lombardi quote: "We may not win, but we won't be losing with the same people." But, at some point, you have to ask if the same people who are the problem are the guys responsible for personnel changes.
Which seems to be the case for the NYTSA teams, especially the Yankees, the Giants, the Knicks and the Devils.
What the hell's goin' on out here?
*
Days until Arsenal play again: 1, at 4:00 PM New York time Tomorrow, home to Stade Rennais, a.k.a. Rennes, in the 2nd leg of the Round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League. Arsenal lost the away leg 3-1, so must at least win 2-0. That would get them to 3-3 on aggregate and advancement on away goals. A 3-1 win would send it to extra time. A 2-1 would be a 4-3 aggregate loss, and, with an international break coming up, would kill the momentum from Sunday's great 2-0 win over Manchester United.
Days until the New York Red Bulls play again: 3, Saturday afternoon at 3:30, at Red Bull Arena, in the home opener, against the San Jose Earthquakes, Major League Soccer's team in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Days until the U.S. national soccer team plays again: 8, a week from tomorrow night, a friendly against Ecuador at Orlando City Stadium. Under 2 weeks.
Days until the Yankees' 2019 Opening Day: 15, on Thursday, March 28, home to the Baltimore Orioles. A shade over 2 weeks. Come on, Brian Cashman: Sign Dallas Keuchel!
Days until the New Jersey Devils next play a local rival: 19, on Monday night, April 1, against the New York Rangers, a.k.a. The Scum, at the Prudential Center, in the regular season home finale. The Devils are not scheduled to play the New York Islanders or the Philadelphia Flyers, a.k.a. The Philth, again during the regular season.
Days until the next Yankees-Red Sox series begins: 34, on Tuesday, April 16, at Yankee Stadium II. Under 5 weeks.
Days until the Red Bulls next play a "derby": 38, on Saturday night, April 20, against the New England Revolution, at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The next game against the Philadelphia Union will be on Saturday night, June 8, at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pennsylvania. The next game against New York City FC will be on Sunday night, July 14, at Red Bull Arena. The next game against D.C. United will be on Wednesday night, August 21, at Audi Field in Washington.
Days until the next Women's World Cup kicks off: 86, on June 7, in France. A little over 12 weeks. The U.S. team is 3-time and defending Champions, but has struggled in its warmup friendlies and in the recent SheBelieves Cup, drawing with Japan and England before beating Brazil, while England beat Japan and Brazil to win the Cup.
Days until the Yankees and Red Sox play each other in London: 108, on June 29. A little over 15 weeks.
Days until the next North London Derby: Unknown, as both Premier League matches, and a League Cup match, have been played this season. The next season starts on August 10, which is 150 days from now, but the PL never puts a Derby on the opening weekend. The Gunners and Spurs usually play each other in N5 in October or November, and then in N17 (presuming Spurs finally get that new stadium open by then) in February or March.
Days until Rutgers University plays football again: 171, on August 31, home to the University of Massachusetts. Under 6 months.
Days until East Brunswick High School plays football again: Unknown, because the 2019 schedule hasn't been released yet. Usually, the next season begins on the 1st Friday in September, which would be September 6, which would be 177 days. It has been announced that East Brunswick and its arch-rivals, Old Bridge, will no longer play each other on Thanksgiving Day. That game will now be played earlier in the season, but we don't yet know when. And it will be under a new head coach, because Bob Molarz, in charge for the last 6 seasons, has resigned.
Days until the next Rutgers-Penn State game: 262, on Saturday, November 30, at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Under 9 months.
Days until my 50th Birthday, at which point I can join AARP and get discounts for travel and game tickets: 280, on December 18, 2019. A little over 9 months.
Days until the Baseball Hall of Fame vote is announced, electing Derek Jeter: 314, on January 21, 2020. A little over 10 months.
Days until the next Summer Olympics begins in Tokyo, Japan: 499, on July 24, 2020. Under a year and a half, or a little over 16 months.
Days until the next Presidential election, when we can dump the Trump-Pence regime and elect a real Administration: 601, on November 3, 2020. Under 2 years, or under 20 months.
Days until a fully-Democratic-controlled Congress can convene, and the Republicans can do nothing about it: 662, on January 3, 2021. Under 2 years, or under 22 months.
Days until Liberation Day: 679, at noon on January 20, 2021. Under 2 years, or a little over 22 months. Note that this is liberation from the Republican Party, not just from Donald Trump. Having Mike Pence as President wouldn't be better, just differently bad, mixing theocracy with plutocracy, rather than mixing kleptocracy with plutocracy.
Days until the next Winter Olympics begins in Beijing, China: 1,059, on February 4, 2022. Under 3 years, or under 35 months.
Days until the next World Cup is scheduled to kick off: 1,349, on November 21, 2022, in Qatar. Under 4 years, or a little over 44 months. The charges of corruption against Qatar may yet mean that they will lose the tournament, in which case it will be moved to a nation where it would not be too hot to play it in June and July.
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