Hence, I generally don't ruminate about the rise and fall of humanity - Elon Musk, Taylor Swift, the Kardashians, Putin, Hunter Biden, Mean Marge Greene, the Golden Bachelor, or that pear-shaped lady who sings about "the little pill with the great big story to tell." Instead, I ask who will next year be the 5th starter at Scranton. (Mitch Spence?) Trust me: It's a barren and lifeless task.
Today, however, I must step outside my comfort zone. I must acknowledge - and bow down to - the utter degradation of the human spirit that comes with following all New York sports.
To root for any NY sports teams is to be eternally lashed to a rock, while an eagle (Jalen Hurts?) relentlessly pecks at your liver and forces you to watch the end of civilization, because the channel-changer needs batteries.
Yesterday, as a Giants fan, I suffered one of the most excruciating losses of my rooting life. I mean, this one goes up there with Mazeroski, Altuve, Griffey Jr., the humpback liner, the 2004 Redsocks - some of the worst moments of watching I have endured. And it was New York, New York -the city's pro football teams, pecking at each other's liver, devouring themselves, bit by bit, alive and aware.
Technically, the Giants lost to the Jets. I won't belabor the details. If you don't follow football, you're better staying that way. Basically, a million microscopic cuts - from coaches, players and juju gods -killed the Giants, who lost the lead in the last second of regulation, and then the game in overtime.
But Jet fans should not celebrate too lustily. They won a four-hour, pitched battle of two tomato cans, decided because one team couldn't kick a routine field goal, and the other secured a pass interference penalty. The difference between the Jets and Giants: The Jets aren't going anywhere this year, the Giants aren't going anywhere this decade.
But I wonder: Will the the Knicks, Nets, Rangers, Islanders, Devils, Mets or Yankees ever rise again? Or is it something in the water? We just watched our best chance, the NY Liberty - the power of the WNBA - fall because the greatest player of her generation, Brianna Stewart, shot 3-for-17 in the finale. The Liberty was supposed to be our failsafe. Et tu, Stewie?
The Curse of The Apple.
I'm sorta amazed that this hasn't gotten more attention. It is bigger than the Bambino, the Billy Goat, the Sports Illustrated cover, and the Madden Football game. It's so insidious that it covers not just a franchise, but an entire city... in multiple sports. That's one big-ass curse.
Lemme put it this way: This Curse is so intense that even when two NY teams play, they both manage to lose.
So, the question today? Who will be that fucking 5th starter at Scranton? I suppose it will be Mitch Spence, or somebody like him, though maybe Gil Drew Thorpe will emerge. Yeah, Gil Thorpe! That's a cool name. Maybe he'll rise! Can a Thorpe break The Curse of The Apple? Can he save a city? Dear God, who shall lead us from this darkness?
I have $160-cheap-seat tickets to see the Knicks play the Nets in March. I sure hope this curse is lifted for at least that game.
ReplyDeleteAs for Gano choke, even if he'd made it, I wouldn't have trusted the Giants to keep the Jetropolitans out of the endzone. I still remember that last-second Cowboys TD on 4th and 14th, like, five years ago, was it?
Arright, I looked it up. December 30, 2018. The TD was with 1:12 left to play, but still.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteDuque you are right. Yesterday's loss was right up there.
I'd like to add the following two to your list of soul crushing WTF defeats...
Pisarcik.
Patrick Ewing misses layup in Game 7.
There's more but, damn.
BTW found this tidbit:
Gano missed six of 17 field goals this season after missing only eight of 97 the previous three years combined.
Think it's time for a backup to Gano?
ReplyDeleteOnce Taylor got knocked out of the game, it was a shitshow. Is DeVito so bad that he isn't allowed to throw passes? Yes, he is a rookie, and yes, that can make a coach nervous, but come on.
What a disaster. But sooooo Giants-like. I can't remember the number of times the defense has blown the game at the very end. How does that happen, as players and defensive coordinators change over time? No matter who is involved, the same thing happens. Over and over and over again.
It's like sending El Chapo out in a close game. Or any game, for that matter.
Rumor is Gano's hurt. Should have gone for it.
ReplyDeleteYes what happened to Gano? As for a backup, most teams can't afford a backup to their PK.
ReplyDeleteAt least the Rangers have had a good start as they sit on top of the Metropolitan Division...
LGR!
Not to inject too much FB here, but even if Gano he made it, the Jets still would’ve gotten the ball back with an opportunity to win. If they made the 1st down, they wouldn’t even had to run another play. Bad call by a bad coach. Boone-like, if you will (or even if you won’t)
ReplyDeleteBut the game was excruciating to watch no matter who you root for. The basic problem with NY sports team are the ownerships and managements, which we as Yankee fans live, breathe, and eat every day. One question: when they built Met Life Stadium, why no roof? Was it because it was built primarily to create more luxury boxes for the wealthy and big corporations? Meanwhile, fuck the average fan and allow the product on the field to degrade due to the weather.
BTR, I'm fine with football in the open air and whatever weather happens by. I grew up watching the Packers play in snowstorms (on TV, from our nice, warm upstate NY home). Rain, snow, mud, hail, ice...that's one of the things that made football different from the other sports. You played through, no matter what.
ReplyDeleteThey still shoulda let the kid throw a few downfield. That was really stupid.
Not a curse, Duque. Stupidity by owners and the GMs and coaches they hire.
ReplyDeleteJM, the fact that DeVito was out there was a failure of cashman-like proportions. If Daboll and staff couldn’t trust him to throw the ball past the line of scrimmage, why is he on the active roster? Weeks ago, Why didn’t Schoen sign an adequate NFL backup, maybe someone like Matt Barkley who was already familiar with the offense from his in Buffalo? Both Daboll and Schoen seem unprepared for their jobs, so no wonder the team has collapsed and is already done for the year.
ReplyDeleteI don't even watch the Jet games any more. I saw the highlights at night. What a comic shitshow that was. Glad I missed it. If I'd watched it, I'm sure the Jets would've found a way to lose.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever seen a QB (unintentionally) throw a pass to himself and then get run over by a truck? I've seen the Jets do some mighty crazy stuff, but that one by the Giants QB was golden. Ever heard of throwing the ball away, kid?
Ah, the New York Jets. There's nothing else in the universe like this football club. They somehow manage to always give you some tiny reason to hope. And then they lose six straight to wipe out another season. More than forty years of insanity is enough. How many times can a guy rip his hair out? So I will continue to shun watching the Jet-pocalypse. The highlight show is enough for me. It's only a few minutes of torture, as opposed to four hours of roller coaster hell.
I dunno if the call was so bad. Someone pointed out that the FG would've been 3 yards longer than an extra point. Gotta make that. If Gano was hurt...he should've been replaced. No, NFL teams don't carry back-up kickers. But what player is easier to replace?
ReplyDeleteTo go for it on 4th down with a third-string, inexperienced QB would've meant everybody knew a run was coming. The Jets would've stacked the line and stuffed whoever tried it. A really daring move would've been to throw a pass in that situation...but even if the kid throws a beauty, there's always the chance it's dropped, and then the clock stops.
Don't despair, Hammer! I have the feeling that this is, somehow, the Jets' year. At least they won the game from hell. And the NFL seems to have discovered the perfect parity that still eludes MLB. The Broncos give up 70 points to Miami, then beat KC?
ReplyDeleteNo form means a chance for the downtrodden!
Hoss, if I was the HC, my call would’ve been a quick snap QB sneak, but to not at least hand the ball your best player and give him the chance (and having a K who will have knee surgery after the season) was something Boone would do. And playing the last 3 weeks with out a legitimate backup QB is analogous to the Yankees playing without a LF-er.
ReplyDeleteTo circle back to Duque’s original point, I’ll say this: NY sport fans deserve better than what we’ve been given the last decade.
I am convinced that Joe Namath sold his soul to the devil in exchange for the Jets sucking, supremely and disappointingly, forever. Yesterday was classic Jets, but they normally lose games like this. It usually isn't until December that they perform their death leap from the bridge.
ReplyDeleteForever locked in my memory will be the sight of Saleh hiding his face in a towel in disgust (tears? rage?). He seems like a good guy and will make a fine coach somewhere in another time and place.
Hey, at least, like most of you, I'm not a Giants fan this morning.
I've got that going for me today, but not much else.
Winny, come sit down beside me and we can comfort one another in our flacid old age.
Normally I would have attempted the fg and taken the three points and force the Jets to score a TD BUT if I knew that my kicker was hurt and given that it was raining and the wind was blowing I would have tried for the 1st down.
ReplyDeleteDabol made a bad decision.
Also it's too bad that the defensive player who made the final tackle before the field goal didn't tie up the receiver and drag out the tackle a little longer. Actually one second longer would have done it.
And as long as this is a football thread
ReplyDeleteGiants traded Leonard Williams to the Seahawks for a 2nd and a 5th and cap relief. That's an insanely good return for a guy who was leaving at the end of the year.