No Curt-ain Call Yet

By : Mike Rifkin

On Sunday night the Contemporary Era Committee of the Baseball Hall Of Fame elected Fred McGriff to the Hall Of Fame. To get voted in by this committee you need 12 of 16 voters to vote you in. Guys who missed on this ballot include Don Mattingly, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling. I don’t like the fact that the voters just ignore the steroid era. But that’s not my biggest issue, my issue is how you don’t put Curt Schilling in the Hall Of Fame. 

Schilling in his career won 216 games and had a ERA of 3.46 during the steroid era. But Schilling’s argument starts with being one of the best postseason pitchers of all time. Schilling was 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA and had 120 career strikeouts in the Playoffs. Schilling was NLCS MVP in 1993 with the Phillies and shared World Series MVP with Randy Johnson in 2001. Schilling won three World Series in his career including the only one in Diamondbacks history and being a member of the 2004 Boston Red Sox that broke the Curse of the Bambino. Who can forget his performance in Game six of the ALCS better known as the “ Bloody Sock game.” 

In 2021 Curt Schilling received 71.1% of the necessary 75% to get inducted into the Hall Of Fame. Afterwards he asked the Hall to take him off the ballot because of his politics and things he had said, so he decided to take his chances with one of the veteran’s committees.  The Hall Of Fame is a museum of Baseball history. People can disagree with what Schilling has said and things he’s done, but he should be included in the Hall Of Fame, He was one of the best big game pitchers of his generation, he should go into Cooperstown because he was one of the BEST BASEBALL PLAYERS of All time.

Heavyweight Showdowns

By : Mike Rifkin

We have reached December and while it may be cold outside, the NFL season is getting hot down the stretch run. Two of the biggest games this week will feature a reunion of sorts in these AFC VS NFC showdowns.

The first one takes place in Philly as the 10-1 Eagles welcome the AFC South leading Tennessee Titans. The Eagles are coming off a 40-33 win over the Packers. Jalen Hurts had 310 total yards and two passing touchdowns. Miles Sanders had 143 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The Eagles as a team ran for 363 yards and averaged 7.4 yards per carry. 

The Titans are coming off a 20-16 loss to the Bengals last week. The only touchdown the Titans scored in the game was when rookie receiver Treylon Burks recovered a Derrick Henry fumble in the end zone, outside of that the Titans were held to three field goals. Ryan Tannehill was 22-34 for 291 yards. Derrick Henry had 117 total yards on 20 touches. 

This game will be the first time AJ Brown will play the Titans since being traded during the first round of the NFL Draft. Brown spent the first three seasons of his career in Tennessee and had over 1,000 yards his first two seasons. Last season Brown was limited to 13 games because of injury and had career lows with 869 yards and five touchdowns. Brown and Titans were in a contract dispute and during the first round of the draft Brown was traded to the Eagles for their first round pick and the Titans selected Treylon Burks. Brown signed a five year 100 million dollar contract with the Eagles soon after. Brown has flourished in Philly posting 53 catches for 831 yards and seven touchdowns so far this season for the Eagles.  

Another showdown takes place in San Francisco, as the Miami Dolphins come for a visit. The Dolphins are coming off a 30-15 win over the Texans. Tua Tagovailoa continued his impressive play by going 22-36 for 299 yards and a touchdown. Former 49er Jeff Wilson ran for 39 yards and a touchdown; Jalen Waddle and Tyreek Hill had 85 yards receiving each and the Dolphins defense forced three Texans turnovers.

The 49ers are coming off of a 13-0 shutout win over the Saints. Jimmy Garoppolo was 26-37 for 222 yards and a touchdown. The Niner defense had a sack and forced two Alvin Kamara fumbles in the win. The last time the Dolphins and 49ers got together was week 3 of 2020 season and it was a day to forget for Jimmy Garoppolo. He was 7-17 for 77 yards with two interceptions and was sacked three times in the 43-17 loss to the Dolphins. 

This is another reunion of sorts. Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel was the 49ers Offensive Coordinator the last few seasons and has worked under Kyle Shannahan for a long time. The Dolphins offense features former 49ers Raheem Mostert, Jeff Willson, Trent Sherfield and River Cracraft. 

Four teams, two from each conference with Playoff hopes on the line in December it doesn’t get any better than this. If you look at each game the Eagles and Titans are similar in how they want to ground and pound. The 49ers and Dolphins are similar the way they have a ton of speed on their offenses, so these two games should be a lot of fun.

Week 13: Can The Jets Conquer The Vikings?

By Ross Mazin

We are into December and this is a really good matchup on paper, Two teams in the thick of the playoff race.

The Jets are coming off a huge 31 -10 win Sunday against the Bears. The offense was explosive. Mike White had a great game. He was 22 for 28 for 315 yards. He had 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. Garrett Wilson had a great game with five catches for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Jets fans also had a Elijah Moore sighting, as he had two catches for 64 yards and a touchdown. Zonovan Knight had 14 carries for 69 yards. The Jets as a team had 158 rushing yards and averaged 4.9 yards per carry. 

The Vikings are coming off a huge 33- 26 win against the Patriots. Kirk Cousins was 30 for 37 for 299 yards. He had 3 touchdowns and one interception. Justin Jefferson had nine catches for 139 yards and a touchdown. Adam Thielen also had nine catches and a touchdown. The Viking defense had three sacks. The Viking defense is third in the league with a +6 turnover differential. 

There are a ton of fun matchups in this game including Sauce Gardener against Justin Jefferson. I expect a very fun matchup this week. December football and it doesn’t get much better than this. 

 My prediction is Vikings 22- Jets 20

Boiling Over

By : Mike Rifkin

The New York Rangers were defeated by their rivals the New Jersey Devils 5-3 on Monday night. The Rangers squandered yet another multi goal lead, as they scored two goals in the first three minutes of the hockey game. The Devils responded with four unanswered goals. For the Rangers it was the second consecutive game with a multiple goal lead squandered, after giving up four goals to the Oilers on Saturday. 

For the Rangers this was their third consecutive loss. Frustrations were shown post game especially after by goaltender Igor Shesterkin. After the game Shesterkin said “ Goalie played a shit game again. I feel so bad and play so bad. I’m ashamed.” Shesterkin went on to say “ Every goal is easy play for me. I have to stop those. If our team wants to win the game, I have to play better.” So far this season Shesterkin has a 10-4-3 record with a 2.58 GAA, .913 save percentage and a shutout.  Last year Shesterkin was 36-13-4 with a 2.07 GAA, .935 save percentage and six shutouts on his way to the Vezina Trophy. I can’t put all the blame on Shesterkin, the defense has not helped him. Jacob Trouba, who had an awful turnover that led to a Devils goal is a -6 so far this season, his defense partner K’Andre Miller is a -5. Last season that pairing was a combined +48. Last season the Rangers gave up 2.49 goals per game, this year they’re giving up 2.87. 

Offensively the Rangers are averaging 3.00 goals per game, last year they averaged 3.05 goals per game. They were led by Chris Kreider’s 52 goals. This year Kreider has 10 goals so far, and has had plenty of great opportunities that haven’t gone in. Artemi Panarin, who led the team with 96 points, broke his 12 game streak without a goal last night, now has six on the season. Panarin I think had played his best game in a while at five on five after being paired with Filip Chytil and Kappo Kakko. Also if Panarin starts shooting the puck more it can open up the Ranger Power Play more. The power play broke an a 0-11 stretch when Vincent Trocheck scored. Last year the Ranger power play clicked at 25.2 percent, this year they are at 21.3 percent. Part of the decline is Kreider’s numbers are down, but teams are keying in on Mika Zibanejad’s one time shot, so the way to open that back up is to have Panarin and Adam Fox look for their shots a little bit more. 

Two guys the Rangers need more offense from are Kappo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere who have combined for seven goals and 18 points on the season. Now this is not all on them because they get very limited time on the power play and at even strength they have been moved around the lineup. Both players showed a lot in the Rangers run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. 

I do think head coach Gerard Gallant needs to shake up his lines because what they are throwing out there isn’t exactly working. So here is how I feel the lines and defense pairings should shake out

Kreider – Zibanejad – Lafreniere

Panarin – Chytil – Kakko

Goodrow – Trocheck – Kravtsov

Vesey – Carpenter – Gauthier 

EX: Blais

Fox – Lindgren

Schneider – Miller

Trouba – Jones

The Rangers next three games are two against the Ottawa Senators and at home against the Chicago Blackhawks. They have to win at least two of those games and get their act together. Otherwise something big could happen with a team that had high expectations after their improbable run to the Eastern Conference Finals.

BECKHAM YES OR NO FOR DALLAS?

By Mark Halpern

     The Dallas Cowboys are 8-3 on the season and two games behind the Eagles for the NFC East division race. The Cowboys have been doing the work on both sides of the ball. The defense is one of the main reasons the Cowboys are in the spot they are in. That is not saying that the Offense isn’t doing its job. The Offense since Dak has come back from that thumb injury in the first game is ranking near the top of all offensive categories. The question on the table is, does Dallas need to sign Odell Beckham Jr?

     It’s hard to say no, as Odell would make any team better for several reasons. The guy is another Diva football player, and the league has had its fair share of names like Terrell Owens, Dez Bryant (who needs to sign a one-day deal and retire as a Cowboy), Amari Cooper, and I can go on and on. However, the guys I just named all have one thing in common: they have all been on the Dallas team and have caused drama regarding how often the ball is thrown to them (sound familiar.) Odell did this throughout his time in Cleveland, and eventually, they had enough and allowed him to leave, and then he went to the Rams, and they won the Super Bowl. Is that all because of Beckham? Well, Yes and no.

   On the positive side, everyone knows Odell is a very talented receiver and would command the coverage of a #1 cornerback. This note makes Cowboys fans drool, knowing that Cee Dee Lamb might not have the top corner on him. Cee Dee Lamb is the #1 wide receiver in Dallas and will not give up that moniker even with the signing of Odell, and I believe that Jerry Jones will make that clear. So you have Cee Dee at the #1, and you are bringing on Odell. Does he take the #2 spot? No, that won’t happen, either. Gallup has made it clear he has returned to form after the same injury as Odell (ACL Tear) and is playing at a very high caliber. So Odell would come on to the team, and we would think he is the #3 ahead of James Washington, who will return by the end of the season as neither of them has played a down all season. We know Odell is comfortable being a combo player like Deebo Samuel of the 49ers, and so is Cee Dee. Let’s not forget we have Zeke and Pollard in the backfield, and the combos of offensive plays with these five would be the most dangerous offensive talent in football. I think the way he was used in the Rams offense will be close to what he would be in Dallas, which is the slot-wide receiver. This would give so many options for Dak Prescott, and with the time he is getting from his offensive line, this is a no-brainer of a decision.

     Now with every up, there are even more downs, and Odell brings drama baggage. During his time in N.Y., CLE, and LAR, his demands for the ball caused problems in all three teams he has been on. As I said above, T.O. and Dez did that, so Dallas is used to it, but do you want to mess up a good thing? Odell also hasn’t stepped on a field and practiced at all really with any team. So he will need time to acclimate to team life, team practices, and the playbook.

     Is it easy to get him 10-12 easy plays to know to get started? Sure, but going to take time to learn it all. Odell has done well when he gets the receptions he wants and is one of the best in the game when fully healthy. We don’t know how healthy he is. This becomes a problem because of the salary he wants. I wouldn’t pay him $20 million to see him in one game, maybe two. However, any team that he is going to will be getting him playoff ready because that is where he is going to make a difference. The hardest thing Odell has to do is get on the same page as Dak because a player like Odell will have no problem calling Dak out for not throwing his way to not having sync with him. Dak doesn’t need this, and neither does the Cowboy organization.

   So on one side, I want Odell, and the Cowboys, if they are going to do this, have to get him now and get him ready to play the pivotal game against the Eagles on Christmas Eve this year. Odell could be the difference that makes Dallas win the division if he comes in with a positive attitude. If he comes in the same old Odell, it could ruin the chemistry this talented Cowboys team already has. The Cowboys need another strong receiver, and he is it. If Dallas signs him, I have predicted he will own the most remarkable catch for the Cowboys and the most outstanding catch against them. This decision comes down to Jerry and Stephen, and we will have to deal with whatever decision they make, and that is how the old man sees it.

Pack To The Future

By : Mike Rifkin

During Sunday night’s loss to the Eagles, Packers Quarterback Aaron Rodgers left the game with a rib injury. In relief of Rodgers, former first round pick Jordan Love was 6-9 for 113 yards and a touchdown. Love connected with rookie Christian Watson on a 63 yard touchdown pass, giving Watson six touchdowns in his last three games. 

The Packers now have a record of 4-8 and their playoff hopes are very slim. In 2020 the Packers traded their first round pick (30th overall) and fourth round pick to move up to the 26th pick to select Love. Love has played in nine games and only started one. In those nine games Love has a 58.1 completion percentage, 411 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. 

The Packers have been very lucky to go from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers, essentially having two quarterbacks over the last 25 plus years. Now it might be time to see what the future holds with Jordan Love, Rodgers is 38 years old, but with the recent drama between himself and the organization it might be best if the two sides split up. Prior to this season Rodgers won back to back league MVP’S, but this offseason the Packers traded star receiver Davante Adams and the offense hasn’t been the same. It might be time the Packers shut Rodgers down and just play Love for the rest of the season. 

I’m not sure if Rodgers wants to keep playing or retire or host Jeopardy. I don’t believe he will or should be the Packers quarterback in 2023. The Packers need to see what they have in Jordan Love and Rodgers can either retire or go play for a team that has a chance to win a Super Bowl. There are a few teams that could use the future hall of famer, but if he wants to call it a career that’s his call I just can’t see him playing in Green Bay next season.

Goalie Interference

By : Mike Rifkin 

Prior to the 2015-16 season the NHL incorporated challenges (like the NFL ) for two specific plays offsides and Goaltender Interference. While both were interesting when they first came into play, now they come marred with controversy and fans questioning both. Offsides is pretty clear cut, but goalie interference is where fans get confused. 

Goaltender interference is defined as when an opposing player initiates contact with a goalie, whether intentionally or unintentionally and therefore impairing the goalie’s ability to move freely. 

During last Wednesday’s Devils Maple Leafs game, the Devils had two goals taken away on goalie interference challenges. On one play Tomas Tatar ran over goalie Matt Murray who was out to play the puck. The other one was on a shot from the point but the refs deemed the presence of Nathan Bastian in the crease disrupted Murray from making the save. In Friday’s Bruins Hurricanes game the Bruins originally had a goal waved off, but after they challenged the call was overturned. Last year in Game one of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs the Rangers lost a goal when Kappo Kakko looked like he got pushed into the goalie, but the refs overturned the goal and the Penguins eventually won the game. 

So the question becomes how can we fix the rule itself, because all the fans want is consistency. Maybe have the crease become a trapezoid area for skaters, unless the puck is loose. Have the Situation Room in Toronto handle the calls. I know the refs are paid to make the calls, but the Situation Room can piece together all the images in one video to determine whether it’s a goal or not. I think the coaches challenge has confused people even more to a certain extent. I also would like for each television network to get the same shots the Situation Room has, just so the fans understand what is going on. At the end of the day everyone wants the calls to be correct, but at the same time having the calls explained would also benefit the game a lot. 

On A Roll

By : Mike Rifkin

Last year when the Dolphins and Texans matched up, it jump started Miami’s seven game winning streak. The two teams combined for nine turnovers, but Miami found a way to win a 17-9 game. Both quarterbacks who started that game are not the starters for this game. Last year Jacoby Brissett started against the Texans, this time it’s Tua Tagovailoa. Tua, who heard his name brought up while the Dolphins were pursuing then Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. All Tua has done has played MVP caliber football so far this season. 

The Dolphins are coming off a 39-17 win over the Browns. Tua Tagovailoa was 25-32 for 285 yards and three touchdowns.The Dolphins were also able to really run the football for the first time this season rushing for 195 yards and averaged 5.9 yards per carry. Jeff Wilson ran for 117 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. 

The Texans are coming off a 23-10 loss to the Washington Commanders. Quarterback Davis Mills was 19-33 for 169 yards no touchdowns and two interceptions. Mills was also sacked five times. Head Coach Lovie Smith has announced Kyle Allen will make the start. Last year with the Washington Football Team Kyle Allen started two games and had a 63.2 completion percentage, 120 yards and a touchdown. In 24 career games Allen has a 63.1 completion percentage 4,318 yards 24 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. The Texans are last in total offense and are 30th in total defense. 

Can Miami continue their winning ways and keep Tua undefeated in games he starts and finishes or can Kyle Allen spark the Texans to the major upset victory.  In their history the Dolphins are 2-8 against the Texans.

Week 12: Packers at Eagles 

By : Ross Mazin

The Packers make a trip to the Linc for Sunday Night Football. This should be a good matchup. 

The Packers are coming off a 27-17  loss to the Titans last week. Aaron Rodgers was 24 for 39 for 227 yards. He had 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Aaron Jones had 12 carries for 40 yards and Christian Watson came off of his first three touchdown game, with another two against the Titans.. 

The Eagles are coming off a 17-16 win over the Colts last weekend. Jalen Hurts was 18 for 25 for 190 yards. He had 1 touchdown and no interceptions. Hurts also ran for 86 yards and a touchdown. 

The Eagles defense is top five in yards allowed, sacks and turnover differential. It might be another difficult day for Mr. Rodgers and company on offense. 

My prediction is Eagles 33-Packers 12

Week 12: Jets Vs Bears Preview 

By : Ross Mazin

The Jets take on the Bears Sunday afternoon at MetLife. This should be an interesting game. Both teams are coming off losses and are looking to bounce back. 

The Jets are coming off an awful loss at the hands of the Patriots. The defense was really good holding New England to three points The Jets defense sacked Mac Jones six times as well.. Zach Wilson wasn’t good at all. Zach Wilson was 9-22  for 77 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. But could have been picked off three times. The Jets were able to muster TWO yards of total offense in the second half. After Wilson’s awful start and what happened during the postgame the Jets have announced that Mike White will start this week and Joe Flacco will serve as the backup. Mike White, who played in four games for the Jets last season had a 66.7 completion percentage 953 yards, five touchdowns and eight interceptions. 

.The Bears are coming off a loss at the hands of the Falcons. Justin Fields 14-21 for 153 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Fields also rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown. Fields also suffered a shoulder injury during the game and is a game time decision. If I was in the Bears front office I don’t think I would play Fields because h has shown glimpses of becoming a franchise quarterback the past few weeks, why waste that in a game that really doesn’t matter for them? If Fields cannot play Trevor Simiean, who used to play for the Jets would start. David Montgomery had 67 yards rushing and a touchdown as well. 

Two teams who are looking to bounce back after tough losses last week. I expect a good game Sunday. 

My prediction is Jets 15- Bears 3