Sundays are often the best sports days of the week. Today we’ve got a full baseball slate, the conclusion to an important golf tournament (so I’m told), plus Game 2 of Warriors-Cavaliers. So as I get ready for my second cup of coffee and finish up my morning workout before the temperatures here move into the 90’s, I needed to air out a few things on my sports mind.
- Are we witnessing the worst bullpen in Mets history right now? Major League Baseball history maybe? MLB History is probably bigger than my intended quick blog post can handle right now, so I’ll stick with the Mets. My frame of reference for watching Mets baseball doesn’t make it all the way back to the Casey Stengel days, so I’ve got to stick with what I know. For me, that means how does this pen compare to the Skip Lockwood/Neil Allen perennial last place, post-Seaver bullpen days of the late-’70’s? The fact that I even have to pause here before continuing is my answer. The term “dumpster fire” keeps getting tossed around when it comes to the Mets 2018 bullpen. I like that term. However, I don’t think that does it justice. How about “dumpster fire during a garbage strike going on two months long, where the dumpster is outside the loading dock where liver-flavored baby food is produced?” And poor Jacob deGrom, while we’re on the subject of disastrous pens. I almost want to see him traded to spare him any more pain. He’s in a tie game in the 7th, approaching his 13th strikeout and he has to know there’s literally no way he’s getting anything better than another no decision. The fact that we kept it close into the 14th is small solace, as every Mets fan stupid enough to keep tuned in (yeah, like me) just knew there was no chance we would score another run. So Buddy Baumann (what??? who???) comes in to put us out of misery in the 14th. Good night.
2. Why does it make me happy to see Tiger Woods losing his hair? I’m not sure, but it does. I saw Jack Nicklaus being interviewed late last night, and he has more hair (and he’s gotta be pushing 80, right?) than Tiger does today. And while I’m on the subject, would it really kill Tiger to slap hands with a kid or two when he’s walking from one hole to the next? C’mon. You are a middle of the pack tour player these days. Granted, one with the second most majors ever (and it also makes me happy typing “second most”), but make a kid’s day for gosh sakes. And oh by the way, his receding hairline and disgraceful attitude doesn’t mean I won’t still be rooting for him to win the U.S. Open in a couple of weeks. That’s what one wager on a business trip to Vegas will do to influence my support…
3. What should we expect from J.R. Smith today? Beware Dubs fans. I’m still sticking to my prediction of a Warriors sweep (also not great news for Golden State fans, but what the heck?), but if the Cavs get off the mat today and even the series going back to Cleveland they need someone, anyone, to give LeBron some help. The most likely guy is J.R. As much as I can’t stand the guy, he’s really dangerous heading into this afternoon’s matchup. First, he doesn’t have a conscience, so J.R. probably cares less about how Game 1 ended than any of the rest of us. And second, because he’s notoriously streaky and unpredictable he may just end up sticking it to the entire Bay Area, who have been shamelessly ridiculing him for the past two days. If he unleashes one of those 8 for 10 from three-point land nights, it could be enough to swing things Cleveland’s way. I’m not saying it will happen, and I certainly don’t want it to happen, but it absolutely could happen. Expect the unexpected when dealing with Mr. Smith. I’m looking forward to finding out later today. And one last “while we’re at it” — I can’t help but wonder if Steve Kerr, who has an awesome sense of big picture humor, will acknowledge my incessant emails imploring him to matchup Swaggy P on J.R. tonight. A knucklehead showdown of extreme epic proportion sits at Kerr’s fingertips! Just for a few minutes in the second or third quarter, Steve? C’mon coach, just for the fun of it. I could actually lose consciousness over the delicious prospect of who to scream at through my TV more. And the potential for pie in the face-style humor and something so absurd it becomes memorable will be off the charts! Let them have at it — pretty please. A boy’s gotta have dreams, right?
Enjoy your Sunday everyone!
The Sports Attic 