The Sports Insanity Network

The Lighting is Leaving The NY Mets

Noah Syndergaard heads to Angels

By Mark Halpern

The New York Mets fans got some bad news this morning: All-Star pitcher Noah “Thor” Syndergaard has decided not to sign with the Mets and instead decided to sign with the Angels. It’s a one-year $21 million contract with no options. So yes, like many players in the NFL, this season will be a showcase for him to earn him a more significant deal, so a return to the Mets won’t be but of the conversation if he indeed has a great return.

Noah Syndergaard came to the Mets organization via a trade with the Blue Jays, which involved star pitcher R.A. Dickey. He was lighting on the mound from the moment he got with the organization till he made his first major league start. With his long blond hair, he resembled the Marvel superhero Thor. That is how he got his nickname, and it fit because when the ball left his hand, you could see the lighting trail flow from the ball. His career with the Mets has been a good one. He pitched his way to a 47-31 record in 121 games with a career ERA of 3.32, 777 strikeouts, and a 1.18 WHIP. These numbers are for a number 1 or 2 starter in the rotation. His fastball can top out at 102mph. He has a good change-up, a great slider, and has been working on a curveball to add to his pitch selection. The Angles now have a great 1-2 with Shohei Ohtani and Him.

As most Mets fans know, two years ago, Noah suffered an injury that can kill a pitcher’s career, and he needed Tommy John Surgery to repair his UCL in his pitching elbow. He recovered during the 2020 season, and Mets fans were expecting a massive resurgence from Noah this year. However, in his minor league rehab warmups, he felt tightness in that recovered elbow and was shut down for most of the season. It wasn’t till September that Thor made his return, and by that time, the Mets were really out of contention. Thor didn’t pitch bad through the last three weeks and proved he could throw.

When the season ended, Noah had expressed his want to stay with the Mets, and the Mets {Like Most Teams would have} only offered the Qualifying Offer of $18.4 million. For a one-year offer, that’s a lot, especially for someone who has not pitched in two years. Once he was offered the deal from the Mets, it looked like he would accept it. Until this morning when all of the Metropolitans fans saw that he chose to go to the Angles. I was deeply saddened to see that Noah is leaving, and I wish him nothing but the best with his endeavor with the Angels, and I hope he can return to his form and maybe make a come back with the Mets, and That Is How The Old Man See It.

DALLAS VS FALCONS

DALLAS D FREEZES MATTY ICE

RECORD 7-2

By Mark Halpern

The Dallas Cowboys took on the Atlanta Falcons yesterday, and the outcome was what this team needed to right the ship. The Cowboys blew out the Falcons 43-3 on Sunday. From the get-go Cowboys fans had a little to be concerned that the Cowboys were going for it on fourth down after failing multiple times last week versus Denver. This goes to show you that even though the Cowboys signed a kicker they still had no faith. However, in this game, the 4th down plays worked, and Dallas was on the board first.

The Dallas offense was on fire from the first drive, which ended in a Dak to Lamb touchdown. This was just the first one by Lamb on the day he would add another at the end of the second quarter. Zeke Elliot didn’t have a huge game {. This is mainly because the Cowboys were so far ahead} yards-wise but had two touchdowns. Dak Prescott showed that last week the rust was thrown off and Dak Came back firing. Dak had 292 yards and 2 passing, and 1 rushing touchdown. Michael Gallup made his return since his week 1 injury and got back into rhythm with Prescott early, and did well on blocking up field. Cooper had a relatively quiet day, but his catches came at well-needed times, especially on third down.

However, the Dallas offense was primed for a big game but, so was the defense. Last week the Dallas defense collapsed and let a weak Denver team walk all over them. This week, however, the defense froze Matt Ryan. Ryan, who has been in the league a long time, has had a few games this season {even with a put-together crew} still has been putting up 300 yard games. The Dallas secondary “The No Fly Zone” shut down the passing game entirely. The secondary, which has been making plays all season, got 3 interceptions {two of Ryan 1 off Rosen}, two sacks, 4 tackles for loss, not to mention the ton of pressure put on Ryan the whole game and the several hits he took. Jordan Lewis had an excellent breakout game with a few pass deflections and great coverage. Treyvon Diggs captured his 7th pick of the year and is making a run at Cowboy’s history. The Cowboys held the Flacons to a total of 234 yards of offense and gave up only 3 points on the entire day.

Now yes, Cowboys fans enjoyed this ass-kicking, and after last week’s performance, they deserved it. However, this wasn’t the Atlanta team of 2-3 years ago. Next week is the test of test for the Cowboys as they head to Arrowhead Stadium to face a Chiefs team that’s defense is close to last in the NFL, but their offense is potent. If the Dallas team that has been playing all along shows up, they can beat the Chiefs, and if they do, Superbowl bound they are.

Mets Offseason To-Do List

By Mark Halpern and Michael Rifkin

When Steve Cohen took over last season, there was a ton of excitement around the fanbase. The Mets led the division for 103 days and yet finished eight games under .500 at 77-85, the first team in history to do this. Luis Rojas was fired after the season, and the fanbase is getting impatient. 2015 and 2016 seem like a lifetime ago, and the fans are sick of the losing and organizational failures.

Since 2003 every team in the National League East has won the World Series except the New York Mets.

To make things worse, the Mets have made it their top priority to hire a President of Baseball Operations and General Manager, yet everyone they like either has not taken the job or declined even having an interview. I will not say who I think should be in these roles because that is too difficult. It should be noted the team did offer the qualifying offer to Right Fielder Michael Conforto and Starting Pitcher Noah Syndergaard. I think Syndergaard will accept the qualifier, and Conforto will not. Here is what I think the rest of the offseason should go for the Mets.

Let’s start with the hiring of a manager. Since Terry Collins retired, the Mets have hired two first-time managers in Mickey Callaway, and Luis Rojas failed to make the playoffs in their four years combined. I think the organization should look to someone with experience. Bob Melvin’s name would have been thrown around had Billy Beane taken the president of baseball ops role, but Melvin decided to take the San Diego Padres job. Three interesting names for me would be Ron Washington, Mike Shildt, and Buck Showalter. Washington, the current third base coach for the World Series Champion Atlanta Braves, managed the Texas Rangers from 2007-14, making the playoffs three straight seasons, including back-to-back World Series appearances. The Rangers had four consecutive 90 win seasons under Washington, who had a 664-611 record. Mike Shildt was fired after this past season after the Cardinals lost in the Wild Card game for a second consecutive season.

The Cardinals went on a remarkable 17 game winning streak to get into the playoffs. Shildt went 252-199 in his three-plus seasons as manager but did spend over 15 seasons in the Cardinals organization and was National League Manager of the year in 2019. Buck Showalter has managed the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rangers, and Orioles and has a career record of 1,551-1,517. Showalter is a guy who is very good with young talent, and the team usually has some form of success, whether it’s in the record or player development. After being let go by the Yankees, they went on their run of four consecutive World Series titles; after being let go by the Diamondbacks, they won the World Series.. Whoever the organization hires, they have to have the ability to take the big stage of New York and keep this team’s mind and business on the field. Mark’s pick: Buck Showalter. Mike’s pick: Washington but wouldn’t have an issue with any of the 3

Re-sign Marcus Stroman. Who had opted out of the 2020 season and took the one-year qualifying offer. Stroman bet on himself and was tremendous in 2021. His 10-13 record is not indicative of how well he pitched. Stroman had a 3.02 ERA and a WHIP of 1.145.
Re-sign Javy Baez Baez, who in 47 games as a Met hit nine home runs and drove in 22 runs. He also put up a slash line of .299,.371, and .477 in Queens. Baez was more disciplined at the plate as his time in New York went on. He turned it around after the whole thumbs-down situation (which is something else I wrote about). Baez is a shortstop by trait, but this Winter has a star-studded shortstop market. Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, and Trevor Story are all free agents. Francisco Lindor might be able to keep his buddy in Flushing. Having Lindor and Baez up the middle can seriously help the Mets defense.
Re-sign Aaron Loup. Loup was the most consistent reliever the Mets had last season. Posting a 6-0 record with a 0.95 ERA and had 57 strikeouts in 56.2 innings pitched. Would I expect him to put up those same numbers? Loup was so well last season, and the Mets can undoubtedly use a lefty in the bullpen.
Trade or buy out the contract of Robinson Cano. Cano missed all of last season due to a second suspension due to steroids. This would be a salary dump for the most part, but maybe a team would take Cano if no takers just buy out the contract.
Sign Starling Marte, Nick Callestanos, Kris Bryant, or Tommy Pham. As I said earlier, the Mets extended the qualifying offer to Michael Conforto, but he has declined it and is free to sign elsewhere. Now, if the Mets were to sign Castellanos or Bryant, they can move him back to third base in his natural position and sign Marte or Pham to play in the outfield and give the Mets some speed at the top of the lineup. Bryant also gives some versatility to play all three outfield positions, third base, and first base.
Sign Dylan Bundy, Zach Davies, Carlos Rodon, Justin Verlander, or Jon Gray. Gray and Rodon do not have a qualifying offer attached to them. But the last two seasons, the Mets rotation depth was tested. Guys like David Peterson and Tylor Megill, who pitched well for the Mets, need some time at Triple-A to season them a bit. With the curious case of Jacob deGrom, the Mets need starting pitching depth. They expect Carlos Carrasco to pitch better. Taijuan Walker had an All-Star first half but struggled post-All-Star break, where he gave up 20 of his 26 home runs.
Re-sign Jonathon Villar and Kevin Pillar. Both guys gave the Mets more than what was expected of them due to injuries. But both guys were tremendous and are guys the Mets should bring back.
Sign Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo to long-term deals talked about the team’s core earlier, and these two players fit the narrative. Alonso has the making of being the next captain of the team. Nimmo plays the right way, always hustling down the line and has an infectious smile, but he is the engine that makes it go at the top of the lineup. When he was out due to a finger injury, the Mets offensively was offensive to watch, but when he came back, they righted the ship. Having these two plus Lindor long-term is a plan.
Trade JD Davis for a starting pitcher, outfielder, or third baseman. This decision comes down to who you prefer between Davis and McNeil. For me, I would rather keep McNeil because of his versatility. But McNeil has to return to the guy who can hit .330 and not worry about hitting the ball out of the ballpark. So I said if the Mets were to sign Castellanos, he could move to third. But if he or Kris Bryant don’t sign, the Mets should explore the trade market. Oakland has said Matt Chapman is available, and depending on the price, the Mets should make a phone call regarding one of the best in the game. Oakland is selling a ton of other pieces, including members of their pitching rotation. While the Mets do need to upgrade at third base Brett Baty and Mark Vientos are in their system, and depending on how far away the organization feels they are could put a damper on a significant upgrade at the position unless they sign the versatile Bryant or Castellanos to move to the outfield.
Bullpen depth is significant in baseball today. Adding one more explosive arm to Edwin Diaz, Seth Lugo, and Trevor May at the backend of the bullpen would be wise. Signing Kendall Graveman, Yimi Garcia, Ryan Tepera, Jakob Junis, or Michael Lorenzen. Jeurys Familia is a free agent, but I don’t think that is a road the Mets want to go down again.

The fanbase is tired of losing, and it is time for the Mets to turn the ship around. What will the Mets do this offseason? Stay tuned and find out.

Dallas vs Denver

Cowboys forced to eat humble pie

Record 6-2

By Mark Halpern

Well, Dallas Cowboy fans were riding a massive high after last week’s win over the Vikings. That win drilled it into everyone from fans to sportswriters that this Dallas team is legit. The fans got the great news that star Quarterback Dak Prescott would be returning from injury and ready to play the Broncos. The atmosphere was unreal, with fans enjoying the high the Cowboys were on, and the feel for the players had to be euphoric. Dallas lost the coin toss and had an impressive return from Pollard to start the game, and then it began.

Dallas took their first two offensive drives and drove down into field goal range, and instead of putting the points on the board, Mike Mcarthy decided to go for it on 2 consecutive 4th downs, and both of them resulted in the loss of downs. If you are willing to pay for a kicker as good as Zuerlein to kick field goals, use him. I understand that he has had a rough start to the year, but points on the board are points. You could see that Dak was still not 100%; Zeke took a shot to his right leg and had been considered questionable to return did come back in the middle of the 4th quarter to help finish the day. Still, with the cowboys down 30 points, I felt he should have been let rest his injury and live to fight another day. The receivers did their best to get open and, at times, made it possible for Dak to make good throws, but they weren’t there for them. Dak threw for less than 50% completion percentage. His throws were all over the place; whether he was high, low, or just way off didn’t help that there were numerous drops on this game. The high-powered offense we had come to know looked like a team that should have been 1-6.

Now the offense couldn’t take all the blame. The Dallas defense gave up 190 yards rushing to Melvin Gordon and Jevonte Williams. The Dallas defense had been doing pretty well against the run. However, once a solid rushing game is established, it’s hard to cover the receivers correctly, and that’s what just happened. With the success of the running game, the Denver passing game started to emerge and take advantage. This defense reminds me of the defense from last year.

If there was a Brightside to this game, Micha Parsons continued his reason why he will win defensive rookie of the year. Parsons tallied 10 tot tackles with 2.5 sacks and three tackles for loss. On the offensive side, Malik Turner caught 2 touchdowns from Prescot with about 6 minutes to go.

Look, Cowboys fans, if you think we weren’t going to lose again this season, your eyes are too big for your stomach. I would rather have a loss like this happen now than much later in the season. The Cowboys will face a stingy Atlanta team next weekend and should rebound nicely.

This Week In Wrestling IV

By Jeff Knapp

Before anything, to be the biggest news story in wrestling is what is going on with Ring of Honor. On Tuesday, ROH issued a statement announcing that the company is going on hiatus and making significant changes to its business operations. They will still hold Final Battle in December, and that wrestlers would be let go from their contracts and not resigned at the end of the year. Those with more extended contracts past this December will continue to be paid

This is sad. I only went to one ROH show, and that was back in the early 2000s. Samoa Joe, Raven, AJ Styles, CM Punk, and Jeff Hardy were just some of the wrestlers on the show that night.

If they become just another indy promotion, that would be a horrible thing. ROH has helped give WWE, A.E.W., and Impact amazing talent and gave those men and women much-needed T.V. exposure. I’m hoping that they all find a home elsewhere and go on to have amazing careers. I’m curious what will happen to the current title holders? Will they return after the hiatus? What could the reimagining be?

Impact Wrestling – Bound for Glory – Saturday 10/23.

We witnessed Jordynne Grace become the 1st ever Impact Digital Media Champion after defeating Chelsea Green, Crazzy Steve, Fallah Bahh, John Skyler, and Madison Rayne by pinfall.

The inspiration (Cassie Lee fka Peyton Royce in the WWE and Jessica McKay fka Billie Kay in the WWE) defeated Decay (Havok and Rosemary) to become the new Impact Wrestling Women’s tag team champions.

Mickie James defeated Deonna Purrazzo to become the new Impact Women’s world champion.

Josh Alexander submitted Christian Cage, what could be considered a match of the year candidate, to become the new Impact Wrestling World champion…for 5 minutes.

Congratulations to Moose on cashing in his call your shot opportunity a few minutes after that match to become the new Impact Wrestling World champion

WWE – RAW

Triple-Threat Number One Contender Tag Match: the Street Profits vs. the Dirty Dawgs vs. the Alpha Academy – Dirty Dawgs won

We had the Queen’s Crown Victory Celebration & Coronation OF Zelina Vega; then she got interrupted by Dewdrop.

Zelina Vega vs Doudrop – Zelina Vega won after Zelina hit Doudrop with her Queen’s scepter

United States Champion Damian Priest vs. T-Bar in a non-title match – Priest wins by DQ

Carmella vs Liv Morgan – Carmella picks up the Victory

Keith “Bearcat” Lee vs. Cedric Alexander – Keith Lee picks up the pinfall victory

Dominik Mysterio vs. Austin Theory – Theory wins by pinfall, hitting his ATL finisher

Raw Tag Team Championship Match: RK-Bro(c) vs. the Dirty Dawgs – RK-Bro picks up the pinfall victory

Main Event Ladder Match: Fatal Four-Way Number One Contender for the WWE Championship: Rey Mysterio vs. Finn Bálor vs. Seth Rollins vs. Kevin Owens – Rollins reaches the top of the ladder 1st and unhooks the contract, picking up the win to become the #1 contender for the WWE Championship.

NXT – Halloween Havoc

The Chucky doll welcomes us….not very exciting. I wouldn’t say I liked a movie or the millennial remake for television, but it’s on the U.S.A. Network, so I understand the cross-branding reason.

NXT Women’s Tag Team Championship Triple Threat Scareway to Hell Ladder Match: Io Shirai & Zoey Stark(c) vs. Toxic Attraction vs. Indi Hartwell & Persia Pirotta – Winners and NEW NXT Tag Team Champions, Toxic Attraction (Jacy Jayne & Gigi Dollin)

I wasn’t sure how this match would go, but I was happy to see Gigi win her 1st title. But I love Io Shirai.

Joe Gacy vs. Malik Blade – Gacy picks up the pinfall victory

Imperium does a backstage interview in both German and Italian. I couldn’t wait for that tag team match. Those two men are great together and would immediately be broken up for no real reason if ever brought to Raw or Smackdown.

NXT Women’s Championship Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal Match: Raquel Gonzalez(c) vs. Mandy Rose – Your winner and NEW NXT women’s champion, Mandy Rose. They picked up the pinfall victory after a mystery person wacked Raquel in the back with a shovel. The mystery person turns out to be the returning Dakota Kai.

NXT Tag Team Championship Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal Match (Lumber-Jack o’ Lantern Match: M.S.K. (c) vs. Imperium – Winners and NEW NXT Tag Team Champions, Imperium after Aichner hit the Imperium Bomb on Lee for the pinfall.

Main Event – NXT Championship Match: Tommaso Ciampa(c) vs. Bron Breaker – The ending saw Ciampa hit Breaker with three running knee shots consecutively to the face, then connects with a Fairy Tale Ending and pick up the win and retain his NXT Championship. This was a great match, excluding Bron slipping off the 2nd rope. He has a very bright future.

A.E.W. – Dynamite

Bobby Fish vs. CM Punk – CM Punk picks up the victory after connecting with the G.T.S. I loved this match. I’ve been a fan of Punk since his days in the original MLW, Bobby Fish is from the Albany area, and I’m from the Hudson Valley area, and there is only a 45-mile difference, so I had to root against the hometown guy sadly. I see there being a 2nd match because I believe Bobby kicked out at two and the ref made a mistake. These two men had me throughout the entire match.

M.J.F. vs. Bryce Donovan – M.J.F. made the pinfall with one finger.

Trick Or Treat Match Announced For A.E.W. Rampage – Tony Schiavone informs Dr. Britt Baker D.M.D. (with Jamie Hayter and Rebel) that per Tony Khan, at A.E.W. Rampage this Friday, it will be Britt Baker vs. Abadon in a Trick or Treat match where if Abadon wins, she gets a title match. The trick is, the match will be a no disqualification match.

T.N.T. Championship – Ethan Page vs. Sammy Guevara (c) – Winner via pinfall and still T.N.T. Champion: Sammy Guevara

After the match, Jericho and the others inform Page and Sky that it will be a six-man tag match at Full Gear in a Minneapolis Street Fight American Top Team vs. The Inner Circle.

The Lucha Brothers accept FTR’s challenge for the A.E.W. World Tag Team Titles at Full Gear.

T.B.S. Women’s Title Tournament – Serena Deeb vs. Hikaru Shida – Shida picks up the pinfall victory, becomes the 1st woman to reach 50 wins in A.E.W., and will face Nyla Rose in the next round.

A.E.W. World Title Eliminator Tournament – Dark Order’s 10 vs. Jon Moxley – Winner and advancing in the A.E.W. World Title Eliminator Tournament: Jon Moxley via pinfall after connecting with the Paradigm Shift.

There is another great promo from Cody Rhodes, who continues to hear the boos from the crowd. I’m not optimistic why. I get that he’s responsible for the crowd turning on Cody, but I’m not sure what he did to garner that reaction. It looks like we will see a tag match, maybe at full gear, between Maliki Black & Andrade El Idolo vs. Cody Rhodes and Bastard P.A.C. due to them getting involved after the match.

Main Event – Stu Grayson, Evil Uno, John Silver & Colt Cabana vs. Kenny Omega, Adam Cole & The Young Bucks (who came out as the Ghostbuster) – The Dark Order get the pinfall victory after Adam Page, who reveals himself as the Stay puft marshmallow man, hits the Dead Eye and then Silver follows up with the spin doctor for the pinfall victory.

IMPACT

Usually, Impact starts with a pretty exciting match, but this week we get an in-ring promo by the new Impact Champion, Moose.

Moose talks about doing some bad things, such as breaking the neck of a man he used to call a friend. He says at Bound For Glory, and he might have done the worst thing yet. Moose states that right in front of Josh’s beautiful wife and young child, he took everything Josh Alexander ever worked for — and he has no sympathy after doing so.

He also said, “it doesn’t matter how elite you are or what tribe you are a chief it doesn’t matter if you’re the boss, the man, a woman, a king, the queen. It doesn’t matter what day you hold a title, and they could add a new day to the week, and he’s still the greatest champion in all of professional wrestling.”

I loved his calm demeanor and how he got his point across. Great job.

X-Division Championship – Rocky Romero vs. Trey Miguel (c) – Miguel hits a brainbuster then heads to the top rope, where he connects with a Meteora once again. – Winner and STILL X-Division Champion: Trey Miguel

Tasha Steelz vs. Rachael Ellering – Ellering picks up the pinfall victory with a backslide on Tasha. Let’s keep the victories going to Rachael. She has the size, strength, and lineage to be a champion.

Joe Doering (XL Kid Rock) vs. Heath – The match is a no-contest after the rest of V.B.D. and Rhino all get involved. The great news out of this is that Eric Young is back and looks to be healthy.

It looks like we will be seeing Mickie James vs. Madison Rayne somewhere down the road after this week in ring confrontation.

Main Event: Ace Austin vs. Chris Sabin – This was one hell of a match, and I’ve been saying for a while that when Impact puts its premier wrestlers in a match, they are as good as any other promotion bell to bell – Winner via pinfall after interference from Madman Fulton, Ace Austin.

WWE – Smackdown

Charlotte and Banks verbally go at it to start the show-off but get interrupted by Shoti Blackheart. She wants to face Charlotte since they have never wrestled with each other before.

Championship Contenders Match – Charlotte Flair vs. Shotzi – Charlotte picks up the pinfall victory after connecting with Natural Selection. After the match, Sasha attends to Shoti and gets attacked by her. Leading into what one would imagine is a heel turn for her.

WWE Official Adam Pearce has informed the WWE Universe that Brock Lesnar has not only been indefinitely suspended for his attack on him and other officials but has been fined 1 million dollars.

Open Challenge – Drew McIntyre vs. Mustafa Ali – Drew picks up the submission victory via the Kimura lock.

Halloween Trick Or Street Fight – Rick Boogs & Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Happy Corbin & Madcap Moss – Moss picks up the pinfall victory on Boogs after being attacked by men in Halloween costumes.

We then find out that those men are Hector Garza and Humberto Carrillo

Naomi vs. Shayna Baszler w/ guest referee Sonya Deville – Shayna Baszler picks up the submission victory with help from Sonya.

Main Event: Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. King Xavier Woods and Sir Kofi Kingston (non-title) – In the end, King Woods gets a blind tag. Jimmy Superkicks Sir Kofi. In confusion, King Woods rolls up Jimmy for the win.

A.E.W. – Rampage

A.E.W. World Championship Eliminator Tournament – Bryan Danielson vs. Eddie Kingston – Danielson picked up the victory due to ref stoppage when Danielson trapped Kingston in a modified triangle choke and elbowed him in the head until the referee had no choice but to call for the bell.

Dante Martin (with Lio Rush) vs. Matt Sydal – Dante Martin picks up the victory via pinfall. I’m telling you that when Dante leaps in the air on a Friday, he doesn’t land until Sunday.

Main Event: Trick Or Treat Match: Dr. Britt Baker, D.M.D. (with Rebel and Jamie Hayter) vs. Abadon – Britt Baker wins when she goes for the Lockjaw, but Abadon bites her hand. Hayter attacks Abadon, and Rebel distracts her; Baker rolls Abadon up for the win. I love Abadon’s gimmick, and I hope to see more of her.

Goodell Shows Where His Loyalty Is

By Michael Rifkin

The NFL is still looking to recover from the fallout of the Jon Gruden email situation. At the NFL owner’s meetings on Tuesday, Roger Goodell said the league would not release any findings into the investigation of the Washington Football Team from the summer. Goodell said Tuesday, “We’re very conscious of making sure we’re protecting those who came forward.” Two former Washington employees were at the hotel where the meetings took place, handing out letters they sent to the league in regard to them releasing the findings into the investigation. Carolyn Maloney and Raja Krishnamoorthi of the Oversight Committee have asked for the findings to be sent to Congress. In the letter, Maloney and Kirshnamoorthi write, “We have serious concerns about what appears to be widespread abusive workplace at the WFT and about the NFL’S handling of the matter.”

This summer, the Washington Post reported that former female employees came out with reports of sexual harassment and verbal abuse from 2004-2019. Claims included Richard Mann, the second assistant director of player personnel, asking a woman if her breasts were “real or fake” and that this employee wanted to “squeeze her butt.” Will Hobson, the reporter who broke this story, said, “The sales staff were encouraged to wear low cut blouses, tight skirts, and heels.” Larry Michaels, the Senior Vice President of the team, asked employees to make a video for owner Daniel Snyder that included partially nude photos of cheerleaders from a 2008 swimsuit calendar. Attorneys Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, who represent 40 women who have made the allegations, wrote a two-page letter urging Goodell to release the findings. They wrote that Goodell “misrepresented the wishes of our clients, and likely those of the other women and men who came forward, to justify your decision to bury what you know would be a damning report.” With all of the pressure from the attorneys and the public, Goodell said Tuesday that he felt team owner Dan Snyder had been “held accountable and more importantly that steps were taken in place so this never happens again.”

The problem people should have with this is when a player does something, we get full transparency. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated points out, “We got 243 pages on Tom Brady and Deflategate. We got 144 pages on Richie Incognito and Bullygate. We got 96 pages on Ray Rice. Anyone with WI-FI and Google can find those reports readily.” The difference here is the subject of this investigation is someone who helps pay Goodell. This is a double standard for the league to take if you are to hold players accountable for their actions, then the owners should be held to that same standard or an even higher one. Banks and Katz also say in their letter, “Your continued refusal to produce the findings of the investigation, ignoring the repeated pleas from those who put themselves at great risk to participate in this investigation, suggests strongly it is not they who you are determined to protect.” Goodell needs to make this information public and quickly. The longer you drag this out, the more guilty he looks. The public deserves to know what happened during this investigation because the buck doesn’t end with Jon Gruden, which begs this question: Who else is implicated in these emails?

Baker: A True Winner

By Michael Rifkin

For the third time in five years, the Houston Astros are going to the World Series. Before the 2020 season, MLB discovered that the Astros had been stealing signs by using a video camera in the center field to steal signs from the catcher and banging trash cans to tell hitters what pitch was coming. The aftermath was that the organization was fined $5 million, General Manager Jeff Luhnow and Manager AJ Hinch were suspended for the 2020 season, and both were subsequently fired. After serving his suspension, Hinch was hired to be the Detroit Tigers manager, and another team has not hired Luhnow.

Dusty Baker replaced Hinch. Baker had not managed in MLB since 2018 when the Washington Nationals announced he would not return. Baker was a finalist for the Philadelphia Phillies managerial opening, but Joe Girardi got that job. Dusty had a .540 winning percentage in 14 seasons with the Giants, .497 in four seasons with the Cubs, .524 in six seasons with the Reds, and .593 in two seasons with the Nationals. Since coming to Houston, he has had a .559 win percentage.

Dusty said when he first took over, “I depend on the league to try to put a stop to seemingly premeditated retaliation that I hear about. In most instances in life, you get reprimanded when you have deliberate anything. I’m just hoping the league puts a stop to this before somebody gets hurt.” Dusty showed his new players that he had their backs early on, and they rewarded him by getting to the ALCS before losing to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Astros had to deal with fans returning in 2021. Whether fans brought trash cans with them to the ballpark or made signs directed towards them & During a game with the Angels in Anaheim, fans threw a couple of inflatable trash cans on the field. After the game, Baker said, “ I think sometimes we need to look at ourselves before you spew hate on somebody else. To me, it’s a sad situation for America when you hear things- I mean, what the kids in the stands are supposed to think? And some of them are kids following their parents. It’s sad to me. People make mistakes. We paid for ours, and I wish they’d let it go.” Fans of the game will not let this go, and neither will current players. White Sox reliever Ryan Tepera had thrown out an accusation during the ALDS. Dusty called them serious allegations.

In 2002 Dusty Managed the Giants to the World Series before losing to the Angels in 7 games. Dusty is currently 12th in all-time wins for a manager. The one thing he is missing is a World Series Ring. A World Series ring will be the cherry on top of a Hall of Fame career.

This Week In Wrestling III

By Jeff Knapp

AEW – Dynamite

This past Saturday, we saw a special weekend edition of AEW Dynamite, and just like on Wednesdays, I wasn’t disappointed. I’m not saying everything is perfect, but I love it when a wrestling show starts with a match. This week they started with one of my favorites, and the fact that Malakai Black loves the darker side of music and walks the left-hand path, he never disappoints. We saw Malakai Black take on Dante Martin. Dante goes for a dropkick on Saturday and lands on Monday. This kid has all the athletic talent in the world, but I’m terrified by some of the moves he performs. The top rope to top rope springboard can go wrong 100 different ways. I’m very interested to see where this heads with Lio Rush in his corner, and we get the feeling that these two will face each other somewhere down the road.

We saw the Lucha Brothers lose their AAA Tag Team titles to FTR with some help from Tully Blanchard, so congratulations to Cash Wheeler and Dax Harwood (One of my personal favorite tag teams in all of wrestling)

There was footage of Cody Rhodes in the ring with the Nightmare Factory and Arn Anderson (on the outside). Arn instructs everybody to attack Cody. After Cody takes out the factory, Arn shows Cody footage of his father Dusty being violent in the past. He asks if he heard any fans booing him. Arn tells him that Malakai needs stitches in him too.

MJF continues to egg on Darby and cuts a promo like nobody’s business. Anytime MJF has the pic, I’m glued to the television.

Adam Page talks up his AEW World title match at Full Gear against Kenny Omega and how he will give Kenny his blood, sweat, tears, heart, and soul, but he will give him at the end of the day Cowboy shit. He had the fans right in the palm of his hands throughout, and he will have the AEW faithful in his corner at Full gear.

We saw the American Dragon Bryan Danielson take on the newly signed Bobby Fish in another Dynamite classic at the end of the night. This shows you the difference between what we see on Dynamite and Raw or Smackdown. I’m not saying one is better, but that there is a huge difference. Bryan finally locks in a heel hook and forces Bobby to tap out.

Lastly, we were given the brackets for the AEW World title elimination tournament.

Dark Order’s 10 VS Jon Moxley

Orange Cassidy VS Powerhouse Hobbs

Dustin Rhodes VS Bryan Danielson

Lance Archer VS Eddie Kingston

WWE – RAW

Once again, I’m sure I’ll say this many more times, but Raw starts with an extended promo with Bianca and Charlotte. They are exciting what could be an excellent main event. I love Bianca, but I’d rather see this a little later in the show.

We also see Xavier Woods vs. Jinder Mahal face Finn Balor at Crown Jewel in the King of the Ring Finals on Thursday.

The Street Profits return to Raw, and if given the right push, I believe these two men can have a great run as tag team champions, but singly, Montez Ford has everything right there to become the breakout star of that team, and we all know that Vince loves to break up tag teams if one of them stands out. I’d hate to see them break up at any point, but Montez is uber-athletic and over-the-top entertaining and can bring it when needed.

The WWE fans finally got to see the fire in the eyes of Monsoor. This is something that we’ve been waiting for. I think his match against Mustafa Ali at Crown Jewel could be a sleeper gem. I can’t picture him losing in his home country. He brought the fire and rage on his promo and kicked it up a notch when he started yelling in Arabic. I’m hoping this feud goes beyond Crown Jewel.

The stage is set for the crowning of the 1st winner of the queen’s cup Doudrop defeated Shayna Baszler and will face Zelina Vega in the finals. I love Doudrop, but I was hoping to see Shayna win the entire thing.

The main event of Charlotte vs. Bianca was a great match, but when you learn from the dirtiest player in the game, there is a 100% chance you will do whatever you need to do to retain your championship, and that’s just what Charlotte did. Now, I would like to see where this was leading, but Bianca and Charlotte will be on different brands as of Friday. All that buildup for what, will there be a payoff? Time will tell.

NXT

Just like Raw, NXT starts with an in-ring promo. Don’t get me wrong, as of now, Carmelo Hayes is one of the most significant breakouts from this newer roster. He and Trick seemed like they were trying to get heel heat, but the crowd didn’t have it. Outcomes Johnny Gargano who lost his way… I liked the play on words. He has his sights set on the NXT North American Championship. When Carmello shoots, he doesn’t miss. When he finally faces Johnny Wrestling, will that be his 1st miss?

Almost 20 minutes into the show, we finally get our 1st match of the night, Odyssey Jones vs. Andre Chase…next.

We are then treated to Imperium vs. the Diamond Mine’s Creed Brothers. The Creed Brothers are another pair that are standouts in the new NXT. This was a great tag team match, and I’m a big fan of tag team wrestling. Imperium picked up the win thanks to an ongoing feud with Ikemen Jiro (Mr. jacket on during the match for no reason at all) & Kushida. Imperium is as solid as any wrestling team, and the Creed Brothers have a huge ceiling. I can’t wait to see where they go.

Another week, another week of forced Von Wagner. I pushed the fast-forward button.

Santos Escobar and the rest of Legado Del Fantasma come out to cut a promo on Carmello Hayes, and Santos is also coming for him. I’m thinking possible triple threat (Carmello vs. Santos vs. Gargano) in the near future or at the subsequent takeover. After that, “La Madrina” Elektra Lopez is interrupted by Cora Jade, which leads to a match that Lopez is victorious in. I’m a fan of Elektra Lopez, so I’m banking on her to go far in NXT.

Next, there is a three-way match to see who spins the Wheel of Misfortune. Io Shirai vs. Persia Pirotta vs. Toxic Attraction’s Jacy Jayne go at it, and at one point, I thought Persia died when she took a NASTY spill when she got caught up diving through the ropes. Not everybody should be making that move.

Io Shirai picks up the victory, spins the wheel, and next week at Halloween Havoc. There will be a “Stairway to Hell” ladder match for the NXT women’s tag team championship.

The main event was a tag Match featuring the NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa & Bron Breaker vs. the Grizzled Young Veterans. This match was a great way to set up Bron as an actual threat to Tommaso’s championship. Bron was solid, and it shows that having the Steiner Brothers as your dad (rick) and your uncle (Scott) has its advantages. If Vince wants me to get excited over a newer wrestler after moving on from the likes of Carrion and Bronson Reed, then count me on board for this guy.

IMPACT

IMPACT has been doing a great job of getting their shows off on the right foot with what is usually good to a very good match, and this week was no different. We have Finjuice (Juice Robinson and David Finley) take on Chris Bey and Hikuleo. I know they are members of the Bullet Club, but it just doesn’t carry the weight it once did, especially when they are wrestling in front of 100 fans at the most.

The match was really good, but I have a problem with the outcome. I like the idea of the triple threat at Bound For Glory, but how they got there was just messy and seemed a little too far-fetched. Why would two refs count a pinfall at the same time right next to each other? At least put them at opposite sides of the ring, let the pin falls happen, but force the first ref to count them both.

One of my biggest complaints of the night was the ending of the triple threat tag team match with Jordynne Grace & Fallah Bahh vs. Tenille Dashwood & John Skyler vs. Chelsea Green & Crazzy Steve. How in the world am I supposed to believe that Tenille picked up a clean pinfall victory over the likes of Fallah? At least have him get knocked out or let John Skyler get the pinfall. He’s huge, so some illegal cover should have been used.

They are trying to hype Mickie James & Deonna Purrazzo at BFG, but I’m just not feeling it. I believe this match should be great, but having Matt Rehwoldt banned from ringside because he broke the spirit of the no-contact clause seems a bit much. Personally, his character does nothing for me at all. If Deonna weren’t there, the fast forward button would be used, or I’d leave the room.

To be honest, the segment that had Sam Beal getting kicked out of the learning tree was pretty funny and entertaining. Be on the lookout for sam vs. brian at some point down the road.

The show ends with a face-off between Josh Alexander and Christian Cage. I’m very excited about this match. Josh carried the X-Division for a while and did a great job with that. I am not a fan of Option C and wish they got to this match differently. To me, Christian Cage is like a modern-day Ricky Steamboat. I’m already putting this match in a MOTY candidate box.

Will we see the debut of any monster or titan at BFG? I’m just hoping that.

WWE – Smackdown

Once again, the WWE started the show off with another promo, but our Tribal Chief was on fire this time. He called out everybody he has smashed since Wrestlemania. I was surprised he mentioned Daniel Bryan (Bryan Danielson), though. He questioned Paul’s loyalty, and that’s when Brock came out and destroyed everything, including refs and other officials. This led to Adam Pierce having to suspend Brock until further notice. That opening was grand and was one of the few shows opening promos that I loved.

Tonight was the debut of new and returning faces. We saw Drew Mcintyre, the coming soon promo for Xia li, who I think is a stone-cold fox and one hell of an athlete.

Hit Row made their debut and saw Swerve and Top Dolla crush two local nobodies.

Xavier had his coronation. I’d love to say hail king woods, but Finn Balor, the prince, should have won that match…the prince becomes King. Maybe Woods can put the crown on the line against him at Survivor Series or a different PPV down the road. We’ll see.

Happy Corbin? Changed the channel. I’d love to see him return to a darker version like he was in NXT. This madcap thing is also a dud. I’m not sure if this is regular heel heat or “this is horrible” heat?

The night ended with the WWE Women’s title exchange between Charlotte Flair and Becky Lynch. The WWE officials want Becky booed so severely, but the crowd is still behind her. The titles finally get exchanged but not before the boss Sasha Banks comes out and gets involved. Sasha vs. Charlotte for the SD women’s title, and that winner will face raw women’s champion Becky Lynch at Survivor series.

Red Sox vs Astros: A Yankee Fan’s worst nightmare

By Bill Murphy

If anyone has read Dante’s Inferno, there are nine circles of hell, this year’s American League Championship Series was my tenth circle of hell, It was the Boston Red Sox vs. The Houston Astros. As a die-hard New York Yankees fan watching this series hurts. On top of that, it hurts that both my predictions for the American League Division series were wrong (I had the Rays in four and the White Sox in five ). As a Yankee Fan, I intended not to watch this series, but as a sports Journalist, I must watch it to give you the best content I can give you. Asking me who I wanted to win is like asking me would I rather eat Spam or dog S**t.

The Houston Astros, where do I start? We all know that in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, the Astros were stealing signs while using trash cans and other signals and using technology. It got to the point where Jose Altuve was allegedly wearing a device under his jersey. Something that puts salt in the wound was in the three seasons that this was speculated. This was during the season that the Astros beat the Yankees in both the 2017 and 2019 ALCS. If it were just an ordinary loss under normal circumstances, I would’ve just brushed it off and moved on. Still, knowing that it was done by cheating thanks to the outcome of the MLB’s investigation that was launched into this, it makes me even angrier that this happened, knowing they beat my beloved Yankees. On top of that, I have to say watching this season when the Astros returned to Yankee Stadium and hearing the fans chant Fk Altuve was music to my ears.

Now the obvious one, to save you time reading this, I am just going to say in good conscience as a Yankee fan, I can not root for the Boston Red Sox. Over the past 17 years, I had to see the Red Sox win four world series titles. Two of those, they beat the Yankees in the playoffs. There was, of course, the 2004 American League Championships Series when the Yankees were up to three games to none. Then a David Roberts stolen base, Big Papi, bloody sock, and Damon Grand Slam later they were going to the world series and breaking the curse of the Bambino. Then 14 years later, they beat the Yankees again in the American League Division series and eventually beat the Dodgers in the World Series. Then, this season, the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the one-game wild-card playoff, in which the Yankees just played a crappy game, especially the play that cost Phil Nevens his job. Thankfully, with the Red Sox losing, that didn’t happen again and giving Alex Cora his first postseason series loss as Red Sox skipper.

As I said in the opening, I was not excited about this series. In comparing who is the spam and who is the Dog S***t, I think it is easy to say that the Astros were my spam. Not that I am excited that they won, but at least it’s not the red sox. I will be rooting for whoever wins the NLCS.

NFL Culture Issues

By Mike Rifkin & Bill Murphy

On Monday night, October 11th, 2021, Raiders head coach Jon Gruden resigned. Gruden was in his fourth season of a ten-year contract. His resignation comes as the New York Times uncovered Emails Gruden had sent using homophobic and misogynistic language.

Gruden released a statement Monday saying, “ I have resigned as the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. I love the Raiders and do not want to be a distraction. Thank you to all the players, coaches, staff, and fans of Raider Nation. I’m sorry, I never meant to hurt anyone.” Gruden was in the fourth season of a ten-year contract. He went 22-31 in those three-plus seasons. The emails were sent to Bruce Allen, the former president of the Washington Football Team, while Gruden worked for ESPN as an analyst on Monday Night Football from 2009 to 2017.

In one of the emails, Gruden called NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a “ Faggot” and a “clueless anti-football p***y,” saying Goodell shouldn’t have pressured Jeff Fisher, the then head coach of the Rams, to select “Queers” in reference to Michael Sam who was the first openly gay player ever drafted. This offseason Carl Nassib of the Las Vegas Raiders was the first active NFL player to say he was gay. On Wednesday, Raiders general manager Mike Mayock said that Nassib had requested a personal day. Nassib told Mayock, “ This is a lot to process.”

Gruden also sent emails about Demaurice Smith, the NFLPA executive saying, “Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of Michelin tires.” Other emails include Gruden saying safety Eric Reid, a player who knelt during the National Anthem, that he should be fired. He criticized many owners, Goodell, coaches, and journalists throughout the league.

Gruden also sent emails denouncing women as referees. He was also a part of an email chain with Bruce Allen and others that included photos of women only in bikini bottoms, two of which were Washington team cheerleaders. Washington has been dealing with a toxic work environment for years which was revealed in last summer’s report from the Washington Post that 15 former female employees came out with sexual harassment and verbal abuse from 2004-2019. Claims included Richard Mann, the second assistant director of player personnel, asking a woman if her breasts were “real or fake” and that this employee wanted to “squeeze her butt.” Will Hobson, the reporter who broke this story, said, “ The sales staff were encouraged to wear low cut blouses, tight skirts, and heels.” Larry Michaels, the Senior Vice President of the team, asked employees to make a video for owner Daniel Snyder that included partially nude photos of cheerleaders from a 2008 swimsuit calendar. With all of this information, the league decided to fine Washington 10 million dollars. In light of the Gruden situation, the NFLPA is asking the league to release more findings, and the league is not complying.

Both situations are awful looks for the NFL, but this is not just an NFL issue, Raider issue, or a Washington issue. The issue here has now become a cultural issue in our society. The fact that people in power believe they can do or say whatever they want is a problem. We cannot let people degrade others based on their sexual orientation or the color of their skin. Also, we cannot allow men in power to degrade women this way the Washington Football team did.

The real reason the NFL will not release the findings into the Washington Football team are the owners will not turn on one of their own and because it makes you wonder how many front offices think this way, not just in sports but in companies all across the world. Jon Gruden will never coach in the NFL again, and Bruce Allen will not be back as an executive. What will happen to Daniel Snyder? Pressure is on Roger Goodell to release the findings and see what the court of public opinion says.