TWIW – This Week In Wrestling VIII

Before I get into wrestling, I’d like to send my condolences to the family and friends of Blackjack Lanza who passed away on December 8th was 86

Blackjack Lanza was a 2006 WWE Hall Of Fame inductee and a 2016 inductee to the Professional Wrestling Hall Of Fame

He was a champion during the glory days of the territories in promotions like the AWA, WWA, NWA, GCW and the WWWF

RIP Blackjack

NWA – HARD TIMES 2

NWA World Women’s Tag Team Championship: The Hex (c) vs. Kylie Rae & Tootie Lynn vs. Missa Kate & Natalia Markova vs. Jennacide & Paola Blaze w/Taryn Terrell – The Hex plants Lynn with Hex Marks The Spot to pick up the pinfall victory and retain their titles

Homicide won the Battle Royal to qualify for the upcoming NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament

NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament Qualifying Match: Austin Aries vs Rhett Titus – Aries sends Titus into the ropes then hits a Rolling Elbow, followed by a Corner Dropkick. Finally Aries connects with The BrainBuster to get the 1-2-3

ROH World Tag Team Championship: The OGK (Mike Bennett & Matt Taven) (c) vs. Aron Stevens & JR Kratos – Bennett rocks Stevens with a forearm smash followed by Taven rolling Stevens for the pinfall.

Colby Corino w/The Fixers vs. Douglas Williams – Corino sends Williams shoulder first into the steel ring post then he plants Williams with The Sonsetter for the win

IMPACT Knockouts Championship: Mickie James (c) vs. Kiera Hogan – Hogan climbs to the top turnbuckle and attempts a flying crossbody block, but Mickie rolls her over to pick up the victory

NWA Worlds Television Championship: Tyrus (c) w/Austin Idol, BLK Jeez and Jordan Clearwater vs. Cyon (No DQ w/The Pope as Special Guest Referee) – Tyrus lands the Heart Punch and gets the 1-2-3

NWA National Championship: Chris Adonis (c) vs. Judais w/Father James Mitchell – Adonis applies the The Master Lock submission but Judias passes out and the ref calls for the bell

NWA World Tag Team Championship: La Rebellion (c) vs. The End – Wolf connects with a 450 splash on Parrow for the win

Nick Aldis vs. Thomas Latimer (If Either Man Is Disqualified, They Will Be Suspended For 2 Months) – Aldis connects with The Jackknife Hold to get the victory.

NWA World Women’s Championship: Kamille (c) vs. Melina – Kamille connects with The Spear to get the pinfall.

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship: Trevor Murdoch (c) vs. Mike Knox – In the corner Murdoch hits Knox with clubbing headbutts then connects with The Flying Bulldog to get the 1-2-3.

After the match, Matt Cardona appears. Knox then delivers a low blow to Murdoch. The Popes comes out and Knox starts to brawl with The Pope. Cardona attacks Pope from behind. Cardona throws the Pope into the steel ring steps. Finally, Knox kicks Murdoch in the face. Cardona poses with Ten Pounds Of Gold to end the show.

NXT – WAR GAMES

This is Beth Phoenix’s last night on commentary for NXT

WOMEN’S WARGAMES MATCH: Raquel Gonzalez, Io Shirai, Cora Jade & Kay Lee Ray vs. Dakota Kai, Mandy Rose, Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jayne – Early on Cora took a nasty landing off the top onto the tables with Jacy on them and I believed she legit damaged her arm, but she the rest of the team never gave up and hurt arm and all, Cora Jade got the pinfall on Jacy Jayne

NXT Tag-Team Championships: Imperium vs Kyle O’Reilly & Von Wagner – Aichner and Barthel connect with a double-team Imperium bomb for the pinfall on O’Reilly to retain their NXT tag-team titles

After the match Wagner turns on O’Reilly by trying to attack him, but O’Reilly got over on him then said, “This is a brotherhood” while he did the classic Undisputed Era taunt.

Hair vs. Hair Match: Cameron Grimes vs Duke Hudson – In the end Hudson gets Grimes up in the Razor’s Edge position but Grimes escapes and gets a roll up victory for the 1-2-3

Hudson tried to turn the tables on Grimes and shave his head, but Hudson finally gets his head shaved.

NXT Cruiserweight Championship: Roderick Strong (C) vs Joe Gacy – Strong connects with his double knee back breaker for the pinfall victory

Backstage Kyle O’Reilly Challenges Von Wagner To Steel Cage Match on the next episode of NXT

Men’s WarGames Match: Team Black & Gold (Tommaso Ciampa, Johnny Gargano, Pete Dunne & LA Knight) vs. Team 2.0 (Bron Breakker, Carmelo Hayes, Grayson Waller & Tony D’Angelo) – Bron Breakker Spears Ciampa through a table for the win.

This is going to set up a definite rematch between Ciampa and Breakker for the NXT Championship in the near future I believe

WWE – RAW

Steel Cage Match: Big E vs. Kevin Owens – Big E nails a Big Ending from the top rope and then crawls out of the ring for the victory. 

After the match, while E is celebrating, he gets attacked from behind by Seth Rollins, who then turns his attention to Kevin Owens. As Rollins is leaving Big E connects with a Belly to Belly Suplex on Rollins, then a Big Ending for Kevin Owens. Bobby Lashley then makes his way down to the ring and attacked all three men on his own.

Queen Zelina (w/ Carmella) vs. Nikki A.S.H (w/ Rhea Ripley) – Nikki A.S.H. lands a neckbreaker but misses a flying crossbody. Zelina then counters as she hits Code Red for the three count.

WWE Raw Tag Team Championship #1 Contender’s Tournament Semifinal Match: AJ Styles & Omos vs. Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) – Omos attacks Ford on the outside, but gets counted out as Ford gets back to the ring in time. 

After the match AJ tells Omos he has to listen better and pay attention. Omos just walks away. Will we see one turn on the other in the near future?

United States Championship: Damian Priest vs. Robert Roode (w/ Dolph Ziggler) – Priest attempts a springboard onto Roode who quickly counters with a spinebuster. Priest is the 1st one up, grabs Roode for The Reckoning and the 1-2-3

Bianca Belair vs. Doudrop – Belair gets Doudrop up for the KOD, but Doudrop escapes and leaves the ring. She just keeps going and the ref counts her out

MizTV with Edge. These two verbally go back and forth and Edge brings up how Miz was treated and acted as a rookie in 2006. This will eventually lead to a match as the Day 1 ppv

RK-Bro-Nament: The Mysterios vs. Alpha Academy – The finish saw Chad Gable go up top and attempt a moonsault but Dominik moves and gets the pinfall

With that win, the Street Profits will face The Mysterios next week in the finals of the RK-Bro-Nament and who will become the #1 contenders.

Backstage, Austin Theory is warming-up inside Vince’s office as Mr. McMahon is on the phone. Vince tells him to sit and tells him thatunfortunately he won’t have a match tonight because he wasn’t ready on time. Vince tells him he’ll need to figure out some way to impress him. Vince tells Theory to use his brains to impress him and Theory leaves with a smile on his face.

Finn Balor vs. T-BAR – Balor goes up to the top and lands his Coup de Grace

After the match, Austin Theory jumps him from behind and starts taking a selfie with Finn

RAW Women’s Championship: Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan – after a great back and forth match, Becky gets the 1-2-3 with assist from the rope that the ref doesn’t see

NXT

Steel Cage Match: Von Wagner vs. Kyle O’Reilly – Wagner nails Kyle with a low blow then follows that up with a powerbomb for the pinfall

After the match Von continues to attack Kyle and hangs him in the tree of woah facing the cage door and then Von smashes his face with the door. This is probably the last time we see Kyle in NXT / WWE. Will he be AEW or Impact bound?

We are informed that Harland will make his in-ring debut next week

Breakker comes out and talks about the respect he has for the black and gold of NXT but he has one fall apiece against Ciampa and will anything to get to him again. This brings out Malcolm Bivens and lets him know that Roderick Strong is “THE” champion of NXT. He says he has his sights set on him. And will face Strong next week

Brooks Jensen & Josh Briggs vs. The Creed Brothers – while distracted, Briggs rolls up Creed and gets the pin fall victory.

Duke Hudson and Cameron Grimes go back and forth about their hair vs hair match in which Hudson is wearing a wig. Grimes challenges Hudson to a no holds barred match

Carmelo Hayes vs. Dexter Lumis – Trick Williams interferes from the outside to break up the potential pinfall giving Lumis the win via DQ

MSK (Nash Carter & Wes Lee) continue looking the Shaman, who has been confirmed to be revealed tonight. We see them knock on a door and when it opens, it turns out the Shaman is actually Matt Riddle

Valentina Feroz & Yulisa Leon vs. Gigi Dolin & Jacy Jane – Jane connects with clothesline to Feroz and then a big kick right under the jaw for the 1-2-3.

Tiffany Stratton coming soon promo

Tony D’Angelo is challenged By Andre Chase for a match next week

Xyon Quinn vs. Santos Escobar – Lopez sneaks a pair of brass knuckles onto his hand of Quinn while he’s down, but both men eventually get up and Quinn realizes he has the knucks. As Quinn prepares to finish the match members of Legado Del Fantasma provides a distraction. Quinn heads over and knocks them off the apron with the knucks but then turns to Escobar, who hits his finisher and scores the pin fall victory.

Johnny Gargano addresses the audience. He’s not sure what the future holds, but right now he’s stepping away to be a father. As he’s finishing up he is attacked by Grayson Waller and put threw a table. Will this be the last time we see Gargano? His baby is due in February, so is anything, he’ll return to the ring hopefully by June or July at the latest. Time will tell

AEW – DYNAMITE

CM Punk starts things off in Long Island cutting a promo on MJF. There were loud boos in the building I’m guessing because MJF is from Long Island and came off as Long Islanders being superior and he’s returning as a hero of sorts. Punk insults the NY Islanders hockey team and puts of the Blackhawks. I’m guessing things will return to mainly cheers once out of Long Island.

Dynamite Diamond Battle Royal – Some of the participants were MJF, Shawn Spears, Wardlow, Lee Moriarty, Jay Lethal, Matt Hardy, Dante Martin, Lio Rush, Ricky Starks, Powerhouse Hobbs, and Frankie Kazarian. During the match MJF eliminates Wardlow, who did not look happy and Dante Martin eliminated Ricky Starks.  When Dante eliminated Starks that left MJF and Dante Martin as the final two participants in the battle royal and will face each other next week. 

After the match Starks attacks Dante, who is also a member of Team Taz and is joined in by MJF which leads to Punk coming down to get involved

Jurassic Express & Varsity Blonds vs. The Acclaimed & Team 2point0 – During the match Eddie Kingston run down to the ring to attack Daniel Garcia and Team 2point0 who attacked him last week. After Eddie leaves Jungle Boy applies his snare trap submission finisher for the submission.

The Young Bucks vs. Rocky Romero & Chuck Taylor – The Bucks connect with a Meltzer Driver on Romero for the 1-2-3

We are informed that next week we will see Ruby Soho, Tay Conti and Anna Jay vs Penelope Ford, The Bunny and Nyla Rose. 

We also find out that next week Sammy Guevara’s Next TNT Title Open Challenge will be against Cody Rhodes, but Ethan Page and Scorpio Sky have something to say about it. Will they get involved?

Jamie Hayter vs. Riho – Riho picks up the pinfall

We go to Taz who announces that Fuego Del Sol will wrestle next week on the Winter is Coming special against Taz’s son, the “secret weapon” of Team Taz, his son, Hook

Main Event: Bryan Danielson vs. John Silver – Danielson wins via submission

After the match Bryan won’t release the hold which prompts Adam Page to come down and runs of Danielson. Page promises to defeat him next week and retain his AEW World Title.

IMPACT

Chris Sabin & Mickie James vs. Matthew Rehwoldt & Deonna Purrazzo – Coming off the top-rope, Mickie hits her double knees splash onto Deonna, but Deonna reverses the pin and uses help from both Rehwoldt and the ropes for leverage behind the referees back for the 1-2-3

Backstage, Gia Miller is with Matt Cardona. She talks to him about being added to the Impact World Championship match at Hard to Kill, which makes now makes it a triple-threat match against                     W. Morrissey and Moose.

Matt talks about that the only thing he has wanted since coming to IMPACT is a world title shot.                    W. Morrissey comes over and says that it’s typical of Mid card -Cardona taking something he didn’t earn. He says that’s why he’s at the spot he’s always been in his career. He says he deserves a one-on-one match at Hard to Kill. Matt has had enough and tells Morrissey that they can go to the ring and have a match, and if Morrissey wins, Cardona is out of the match. 

Rohit Raju vs. Lawrence D – No Contest since Josh Alexander comes to the ring and takes out both men.

After Josh takes out Raju and D, he calls out Jonah. Scott D’Amore comes out and tells him Jonah isn’t here tonight, but they will have a match at Hard to Kill. Josh says it isn’t enough and needs to take out Jonah before refocusing on Moose and the title. D’Amore tries to get through to Alexander, calling him family and saying he needs to get his emotions in check. Alexander heads out of the ring and he grabs Raj Singh and brings him in the ring. He nails Raju with a Falcon Arrow and gets back on the mic and tells D’Amore that this is an example of him keeping his emotions in check

The Learning Tree vs. FinJuice – Finnjuice get the pinfall

Moose offers to help Morrissey take out Cardona and make their match one on one, but he doesn’t trust Moose and will do it himself

Street Fight: Eric Young vs. Rhino – Heath, Swann, Willie Mack, Doering and Deaner all come down and get involved. This distraction allows Eric to his a low blow on Rhino, then a piledriver to the 1-2-3

The IInspiration & The Influence vs. Decay – Spear on Madison Rayne for the victory

Lady Frost is introduced as the newest member of the Impact roster

After that Gail Kim informs everybody that Lady Frost, Rachael Ellering, Jordynne Grace, Chelsea Green and Rosemary will all be in the 1st ever Knockouts Ultimate-X match

Main Event: (Hard To Kill Title Shot On-The-Line For Cardona) W. Morrissey vs. Matt Cardona – This was a real hard fought match but in the end Morrissey takes out the ref causing Matt Cardona to get the DQ win and will stay in the triple threat match.

WWE – SMACKDOWN

The show starts off with Sami Zayn in the ring recapping what happened to him last week. Paul Heyman comes in and talks to Sami, which leads to Brock Lesnar coming out as well. By the end, Lesnar hits another F5 on Sami before he leaves the ring

Los Lotharios (Angel Garza & Humberto Carrillo) vs. Rick Boogs & Shinsuke Nakamura – Nakamura connects with a Kinshasa on Humberto for the pinfall

Sheamus vs. Drew McIntyre – McIntyre nails Sheamus with a Claymore kick for the 1-2-3

Naomi vs. Sonya Deville (w/ special guest ring announcer Natalya and special guest ref Shayna Baszler) – Before the match starts Naomi goes after Natalya and Shayna before she gets back in the ring.  Sonya Deville takes off and runs away. Natalya, Shayna & Sonya surround Naomi when Xia Li debuts and helps out Naomi. 

Championship Contender’s Match: SmackDown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair vs. Toni Storm (If Toni wins, she gets a future shot at the champion) – In the end, Flair slams Storm’s head into the ring post. Storm isn’t moving. Flair stomps Storm against the ring post. The referee counts to five but Flair won’t stop. Which leads to Charlotte being DQed and Toni gets the win and future shot at the title

AEW – RAMPAGE

AEW World Tag-Team Championships: The Lucha Bros (C) vs. FTR – Fenix dives into a rolling cutter onto Harwood, then tries the same on Wheeler, but Wheeler counters with a Gory Bomb. Wheeler heads over to Penta, who hits him with a back-body drop. Penta looks for Fear Factor after that, but Wheeler avoids it. Penta and Fenix hit a double foot stomp off the top into a big finish for the pinfall. Was Cash’s foot under the rope?

Ruby Soho, Anna Jay & Tay Conti vs. Penelope Ford, The Bunny & Nyla Rose – Nyla connects with a powerbomb for the 1-2-3

backstage  Darby Allin & Sting are attacked by FTR and Tully BlanchardHook vs. Fuego Del Sol – Hook is making his in ring debut and is the son of Taz. The crowd is fully behind Hook, since this is in Long Island and Taz is an ECW original and from Brooklyn – Hook looked really good and I was very surprised and happy for him. Hook locks in the Kata ha jime aka the Tazmission

Time For A Change

By: Mike Rifkin

On Thursday night the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-28.  The Steelers battled back in the second half and even had an opportunity to tie the game, but Harrison Smith made a tremendous play. But the play people will talk about is that in the final moment Chase Claypool got a fourth down conversion and made a first down signal. Here is the problem: the Steelers were trying to spike the ball and they were out of timeouts. Earlier in the game Claypool was called for Unsportsmanlike Conduct, Coach Mike Tomlin said postgame that he benched Claypool because of the penalty. Claypool did lead the team with 8 catches for 93 yards. This wasn’t the first time Claypool and Tomlin saw eye to eye.

In November Claypool suggested that the team should play music during practice to make it more fun. Tomlin’s response was “Claypool plays wide out and I’ll let him do that. I’ll formulate the practice approach and I think that division of labor is appropriate.” You would have thought the Steelers would have learned from the antics of 2020. In 2020 there were viral videos of wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster doing TikTok dances pregame. One game Smith Schuster danced on the Bengals logo and that game he had three catches 15 yards and a fumble. Tomlin said after that game he “he was aware and planned to talk to Juju.” Tomlin went on to say “But we’re professionals. I doubt any of those antics and things of that nature are legitimate motivating factors as you step into professional stadiums. But it’s about respect so we will have a conversation. But I understand it’s about the quality of play inside the white lines.” The Steelers had Antonio Brown and that is not the hole we are going down right now, but his antics rubbed off on Smith Schuster whose antics rubbed off on Claypool. 

The Steelers last season started the season 11-0 before losing four of five to end the regular season before getting manhandled by the Cleveland Browns 48-37. It was 28-0 in the first quarter, but after all the ups and downs the Steelers said they were ok with bringing back basically the same group this season and after last night’s loss have a record of 6-6-1 including a sweep at the hands of the Bengals. The Steelers are known for stability, they have had three coaches in 30 years. Maybe it’s time for the Steelers to blow this up. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has already talked about this being his last season according to reports. But maybe Roethlisberger isn’t the only one to blame. I know Mike Tomlin has never had a losing record, this year that can change. The Steelers have been one of the standard setters in the NFL over the last 15 seasons, but maybe it’s time for a rebuild and let Ben walk into the sunset and have a new voice of direction because this is not Bill Cowher or Chuck Noll’s Steelers.

They Got It Right

By: Mike Rifkin

On Sunday the NCAA announced the four teams competing in the College Football Playoff. The four teams will be Alabama, Michigan, Georgia, and Cincinnaitti. Those four teams will play each other on New Year’s Eve with the winners playing for the National Championship on January 10th. I usually give the committee a hard time and believe there needs to be expansion at some point, but this year they got the four teams correct. Now if you want to argue Michigan over Alabama for the number one seed we can have that conversation, but for now they got this right.

Let’s start with the defending National Champions the Alabama Crimson Tide. They went 12-1 7-1 in SEC play and beat then number one Georgia thoroughly 41-24. There were a lot of positives in this game including quarterback Bryce Young cementing himself as the winner of the Heisman Trophy throwing for 421 yards and three touchdowns. On the season Young had a 68.0 completion percentage 4,322 yards 43 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Alabama’s defense had two interceptions on the day and with this win claimed a playoff spot .The defense led by Sophomore Will Anderson who led the country with 15.5 sacks was eight in the country in total defense. The major negative in the game was losing receiver John Metchie to a torn ACL. Metchie, a Junior, had 96 catches for 1,142 yards and 8 touchdowns. Even with Metchie down the Tide still have Jameson Williams who this season had 68 catches 1,145 yards and 15 touchdowns and Brian Robinson the running back 1,071 yards and 16 total touchdowns. Also they have this Nick Saban guy as their coach (he is pretty good.)

Now to Michigan who won the Big Ten Title after drubbing Iowa 42-3. Personally this stunned me because I had a feeling after finally defeating Ohio State Michigan was primed for a letdown, but they decimated the Hawkeyes the same way they beat the Buckeyes they ran the football for 211 yards and scored four touchdowns on the ground. The Running game is led by Hassan Haskins who had 1,288 yards and 20 touchdowns.  Michigan comes into the playoffs as the lowest scoring offense of the four teams averaging 37.7 points per game. They are tied for fourth scoring defense allowing 16.08 points per game. Defense is led by edge rushers Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo who had 14 and 11 sacks respectively putting them both in the top 10 in the country. Yes Jim Harbaugh got the monkey off his back by finally beating the Buckeyes, but this is what Michigan fans have anticipated since he took over. 

Then there is Georgia who was the number one team in the country until they played Alabama, that loss makes Kirby Smart 0-4 vs his former boss. Georgia’s defense was first in a lot of categories, but one category they were not first in was third down defense and Alabama took advantage of that by going 7- 14 on third downs. Georgia averaged 195 yards per game rushing in this game they were held to 109, which meant quarterback Stetson Bennett had to beat Alabama and he had two interceptions that really cost Georgia.  The Michigan Georgia game should be a dandy because it will be all about who is the more physical team.

Last but not least Cinderella crashes the party. The Cincinnati Bearcats defeated the Houston Cougars in the AAC title game 35-20 giving the Bearcats a perfect 13-0 record. Finally a non power 5 school breaks into the playoffs. Coach Luke Fickell who should be the national coach of the year brought his team in with a chip on their shoulder. In 2020 the Bearcats went undefeated and weren’t invited to the playoffs and lost to Georgia 24-21 in the Peach Bowl but they showed they can play with the big boys. This year they didn’t leave things to chance and scheduled two difficult road games at Indiana and at Notre Dame and with those signature wins the Bearcats are now heading to the playoffs. The Bearcats averaged 38.8 points per game which is ninth in the country led by quarterback Desmond Ridder who had a 65.9 completion percentage with 30 touchdowns and 8 interceptions, he also had 6 rushing touchdowns. They are fourth in scoring defense and seventh in total defense. The defense is tied for seventh in turnover margin which is the highest of the playoff teams.  

Here is my question to you: had Houston won the game, if Oklahoma State still lost, who is the fourth team? Is it Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Baylor,etc… We can give the committee grief another day and talk about playoff expansion then because for 2021 they got all four teams in the playoffs right. Until then we wait until New Year’s Eve to watch the four best teams in College Football play.

Garret’s firing and the future of the New York Giants  

By Bill Murphy 

After their Monday night loss against the Tampa Bay Bucs ,The New York Giants fired Offensive Coordinator Jason Garrett after just two seasons with the team.  Since Garrett took over as offensive coordinator, the Giants offense has been anemic. In the 26 games, that  he has been offensive coordinator of the Giants has scored an average 18.2 points a game ranking them 25th in the league this year 23rd in yards , a league low of 42 offensive touchdowns , and have only had one game where they had scored 30 points or more and Daniel Jones has only thrown two deep passes per game  . When asked why Garrett was fired , head coach Joe Judge said “the offense needs to be more productive .”

Freddy Kitchens is now taking over for Garrett , who came to the  Giants last year after his stint as  Cleveland Browns head Coach .  While he is  considered  an offensive guru  , last he year he  was the offensive assistant to Garrett and took his spot during the game against the Cleveland Browns while he was on the Covid list and only scored 6 points during that game .  So we will have to see what will be the outcome of the rest of the season . Maybe Kitchens can provide more explosion to an offense that in the words of my father “ lacks imagination. “ As we look ahead to 2022 the big question would be who will be Garrets replacement , if Kitchens can get this offense going , than I say hire him back this year , if not I am hearing some buzz from fellow fans of many potential  candidates including Bills QB Coach  Ken Dorsey  and Alabama ‘s offensive coordinator Bill O Brien . Whoever the  new offensive coordinator  is going to have two big priorities and that is shaping Daniel Jones and fixing the offensive line . With Sunday’s win against the Eagles, The Giants offense still has a lot to work on as the offense has a new coordinator to work  with . 

After a week of craziness with Jason Garrett . news  broke before the game against the Eagles that the Giants General Manager David Gettleman will most likely not return for  the 2022 season . This will be a big move and maybe a sign of improvement to this franchise who is struggling right now , but there is one big question, what would be the future of Joe Judge and Daniel Jones?  If a new  general manager   comes in , they are going to want to bring their own head coach and potential quarterback. If  I was John Mara , I would give Judge another year because it turns out that  Judge and Garrett were not working out . If  Judge has another losing season then it is time for  a new coach . As of now , Mara  needs to tell all potential candidates that they want to keep Judge and Jones . 

The final thing is that there are talks that the Giants are considering trading up some first round draft picks for 2022 and 2023 for Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson. To be honest, as much as I love Russell Wilson , the Giants priority in the draft should be to get offensive linemen to build up an already weak line.  While they can find offensive linemen in the later picks of the draft and maybe bringing Wilson to New York will bring  linemen  who want to play with him , The big concern is that Wilson is getting up there in age  and is right  now having an abysmal 3-8 season with Seattle . With six weeks left in the season , There are a lot of decisions that need to be made in the meadowlands for 2022 .

Signs Of Life In Miami

By: Mike Rifkin

On Sunday the Miami Dolphins pushed their winning streak to 4 games with a 33-10 drubbing of the Carolina Panthers. This recent winning streak has pushed the Dolphins record to 5-7 and on the outside looking into the wild card hunt. There are two major reasons the Dolphins have won four in a row and are trying to make a run to a wild card: the defense and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Let’s start with the defense that was a major factor in the team going 10-6. In 2020 the defense was third in the league with a turnover differential of +9, over the last four games the defense has forced 10 turnovers bringing this season’s turnover differential to -1. Let’s start with two rookies on defense showing up. In the first round of the NFL Draft the Dolphins had two selections the first was a wide receiver from Alabama (more on him later), but the second was Jaelan Phillips a defensive end from the University of Miami. As the season has gone along Phillips has been getting more comfortable in this defense. On Sunday against Carolina Phillips had three sacks, and over the four game winning streak he has five sacks giving him six and a half sacks on the season.  On the opposite side of him there is Emmanuel Ogbah who in 2020 had nine sacks, has six so far this season and three and a half have come during this winning streak. Ogbah is a free agent at season’s end and it would be smart of the Dolphins to bring back a player who has been so good for them. Now let’s go to the secondary. In the second round the Dolphins selected Jevon Holland, a safety from Oregon who had opted out of 2020 due to Covid and to prepare for the draft. Holland has really played well over the last four games with two fumble recoveries and two interceptions during the win streak and was all over the field in an upset win over the Baltimore Ravens a few games back. Then there is Xavien Howard who in 2020 led the NFL with 10 interceptions (should have been defensive player of the year). In the offseason he wanted more money and the Dolphins were able to restructure his contract. Early in the season Howard had a groin injury that hampered him but over the four game win streak Howard has a forced fumble, fumble recovery and an interception. 

Tua Tagovailoa deserves a lot of credit for what he has been through this season. Whether it’s an injury, horrendous offensive line play or Deshaun Watson rumors Tua has played his best football recently. Since 1950 there are four quarterbacks who had back to back games with 80% completion percentage or better with a minimum of 30 passing attempts. Their names are Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Kyler Murray and Tua Tagovailoa. This year the Dolphins drafted a player Tua is very familiar with in receiver Jaylen Waddle from Alabama. Waddle on Sunday had 9 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown. During the four game winning streak Waddle has had over 60 yards in each game. At the trade deadline there was talks that the Dolphins were going to acquire Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson who is currently in a legal situation due to 22 women who have accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate behavior. Watson would like to be a Dolphin from all reports, but if Tua plays as well as he has over the last four games will they do it? Yes Deshaun Watson is a top tier quarterback in the NFL when he plays, but with a bad offensive line and limited weapons Tua Tagovailoa is making it a difficult decision for the front office. Here is the ultimate question for Tua’s doubters: if the Dolphins win out and make the playoffs or just miss, will that show them enough? The Dolphins will look to push their winning streak to five on Sunday when they take on the New York Giants at Hard Rock Stadium

New Look Mets

By: Mike Rifkin

When Steve Cohen bought the New York Mets fans were thrilled because they knew and were told he was willing to spend his money. Last offseason the big splash was trading for Francisco Lindor and signing him to a 10 year 341 million dollar contract. This offseason Steve Cohen really spent on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 

Let’s start with what happened on Friday: the Mets signed three players in Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha and Starling Marte. Escobar signed a two year 20 million dollar deal with the Mets to play third base, but also can play second base and last season played some games at first base. Last season Escobar had a slash line of .253 average, .314 on base percentage and .472 slugging percentage with 28 home runs and 90 RBI for the Diamondbacks and Brewers. Escobar’s arrival might signal the end for either Jeff Mcneil or JD Davis returning, but both could be impacted depending if the team brings back Javy Baez. 

The Mets also signed Outfielders Mark Canha and Starling Marte from the Athletics to contracts. Canha signed a two year 26.5 million dollar contract to play one of the corner outfield spots. Canha last year had a slash line of .231 average, .358 on base percentage, and .387 slugging percentage, with 17 home runs and 61 RBI. His .358 on base percentage was 14th in the American League.  Marte signed a four year  78 million dollar contract with the Mets. After being traded to Oakland from the Marlins Marte slashed .315 average, .389 on base percentage, and .464 slugging percentage with 12 home runs and 52 RBI. Marte brings the Mets an element they didn’t have: Marte last season stole 47 bases while the Mets as a team only stole 54. Marte, a 2 time gold glove award winner, should be at the top of the lineup and playing Center Field which should move Brandon Nimmo to the other corner thus eliminating any thoughts of Michael Conforto returning. Does this make Dom Smith available? But my thought would be if the Universal DH came into play the Mets could put Smith or Pete Alonso there while the other plays first base. 

The Cherry on top of all this was Monday when the Mets signed three time CY Young award winner and future hall of famer Max Scherzer to a three year 130 million dollar contract. Scherzer has been one of the best pitchers in baseball in the last decade. Last season he was traded from the Nationals to the Dodgers at the trade deadline posted a career best 2.46 ERA. Scherzer signed the fifth largest deal in Mets history behind teammates Francisco Lindor and Jacob Degrom as well as David Wright and Johan Santana. Scherzer also broke Gerritt Cole’s record of average annual value at 43.3 million dollars. Pairing Scherzer with Jacob Degrom who currently is the best pitcher in baseball gives the Mets the best 1-2 punch in baseball. 

These moves from Steve Cohen shows that he is not afraid to spend money if it means his team will win. These moves should excite the Mets fan base  because under the Wilpons the Mets wouldn’t have been in the mix. There is still some work to do, but for now it’s a new day in Queens and Steve Cohen has become the King of Queens.

TWIW – This Week In Wrestling VII

By Jeff Knapp

Before anything, I’d love to take this moment to congratulate WWE wrestler Mustafa Ali on the birth of his and his wife’s brand-new baby girl Dua. Those of us who are fathers, know how lucky we are. Much love to Mustafa and his family

Now onto the wrestling….

IMPACT – TURNING POINT PPV

FinJuice vs Rohit Raju & Raj Singh –  FinJuice pick up the pinfall victory

IMPACT Digital Media Championship:  Jordynne Grace vs Chelsea Green – Jordynne Grace gets the 1-2-3 

Chris Sabin vs Ace Austin – Sabin gets the pinfall victory

Violent By Design vs Heath & Rhino – VBD get the pinfall 

Rich Swann vs VSK – Swann gets the 1-2-3

W. Morrisey vs Matt Cardona – Morrisey picks up the pinfall

IMPACT Knockouts Tag Team Championships: The IInspiration vs Decay – Inspiration get the pinfall

IMPACT X-Division Championship: Trey Miguel vs Laredo Kid vs Steve Maclin – Miguel get the pinfall over Laredo Kid

IMPACT Knockouts Championship: Mickie James vs Mercedes – Mickie Retains the championship after a pinfall victory

IMPACT Tag Team Championships: The Good Brothers vs Bullet Club (Chris Bey & Hikuleo) – The Good Brothers retain after a Magic Killer

IMPACT World Championship Full Metal Mayhem Match: Moose vs Eddie Edwards – Moose gets a hard-fought pinfall victory over EE. Excellent match

WWE – SURVIVOR SERIES

IC Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs. US Champion Damian Priest – Nakamura wins via DQ when Priest uses a guitar

Raw Women’s Champion Becky Lynch vs. Smackdown Women’s Champion Charlotte Flair – Becky pics up the pinfall victory with the help of the ropes

Team Raw (Bobby Lashley, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, Kevin Owens & Austin Theory) vs. Team SmackDown (Drew McIntyre, Jeff Hardy, King Woods, Happy Corbin & Sheamus) – Seth Rollins is the lone survivor giving Raw the victory

Vince McMahon brings a golden egg worth $100,000,000 to the show but is later stolen

25 Man Battle Royal – Omos wins, but his pizza party is ruined

Smackdown Tag Team Champions The Usos vs. Raw Tag Team Champions RK-Bro – Randy with an RKO out of nowhere on one of the Uso for the 1-2-3

Team Raw (Bianca Belair, Rhea Ripley, Liv Morgan, Carmella & Queen Zelina Vega) vs. Team SmackDown (Sasha Banks, Shayna Baszler, Shotzi Blackheart, Natalya & Toni Storm) – Bianca is the lone survivor giving Smackdown the victory

Main Event: WWE Champion Big E. vs. Universal Champion Roman Reigns – After connecting with a spear, Roman picks up the clean pinfall victory

WWE – Raw

Vince arrives and say that whoever brings him the egg will earn a WWE championship shot tonight against Big E.

Riddle Orton (he dressed like Randy) w/ Randy Orton vs Dolph Ziggler w/ Robert Roode – Riddle Connects with Randy’s RKO for the pinfall, then after the match, Orton hit’s Riddle’s Bro-Derek on Roode

Bianca Belair vs Tamina w/ Natalya – Bianca hit the KOD for the 1-2-3

Seth Rollins vs Finn Bálor – Rollins get the pinfall after connecting with the curb stomp

After the match Rollins is assaulted by a “fan” These people who do this now are not fans and neither was this person. I’m not going to go into what caused him to attack Rollins, but I’m sure he wasn’t playing with all 52 cards. I’d love to see how this would have been handled by the wrestlers of the 70s and 80s. I know Jim Cornette talks about the riots they would cause in the days, but the police were there and the boys would have handled things that would have never made the news. As far as recently goes, I could only guess what a man like New Jack would have done. RIP

Sami Zayn informs Vince that he knows who has the egg and will bring him to Vince

The Street Profits vs AJ Styles & Omos – Styles and Omos get the DQ victory after Dawkins uses a fire extinguisher

Women’s Tag Team Championship Match: Super Brutality vs Queen Vega & Carmella – Zelina pins Nikki ASH with a code red. Zelina and Carmella are you NEW WWE Women’s tag team champions

Backstage Zayn brings Vince the thief. It was Austin Theory. Theory informs Vince he just wanted to take a selfie with it. Vince says he admires his honesty and gives him the championship match instead of Sami. When asked why, Vince says that nobody likes a snitch.

24/7 Championship Match: Reggie vs Cedric Alexander – Cedric connects with his lumbar check back breaker for the victory to become the new 24/7 Champion, but this brings out everybody from the back, but Dana Brooke is the 1st one there and pins Cedric and becomes the new 24/7 Champion

2-on-1 Handicap Match: The Mysterios vs Bobby Lashley w/ MVP – Bobby locks in the Hurt Lock on Dominik for the submission

United States Open Challenge – United States Championship Match: Damian Priest vs Sami Zayn – Priest connects with the Reckoning (or South of Heaven – not sure what they’re calling it, but as a Slayer fan I prefer South of Heaven)

WWE Championship Main Event Match: Big E vs Austin Theory – Rollins and Owens get involved, thus distracting the ref, but Big E still hits Theory with the Big Ending for the 1-2-3

NXT

Non-Title Match: NXT Champion Tommaso Ciampa vs Grayson Waller – Ciampa hits the Fairy Tale Ending for the pinfall victory

We find out that Cameron Grimes will face Duke Hudson in a Hair vs Hair match at War Games – With Vince involved more now, I’m sure Grimes will see his air get cut win, lose or draw

Kacy Catanzaro & Kayden Carter vs Persia Pirotta & Indi Hartwell-Lumis – Kacy picks up the pinfall victory over a distracted Indi

We next find out that there will be a triple threat match at War games for the NXT Tag Team Championships (Wilde & Mendoza vs Kyle O’ Reilly & Von Wagner vs Imperium)

Non-Title Match: NXT Women’s Champion Mandy Rose vs Cora Jade – Kay Lee Ray comes down and causes a distraction, which in turn helps Cora with a victory over Mandy Rose

We now find out that Kay Lee Ray will join Cora Jade, Io Shirai, Raquel Gonzalez as the 4th member in War Games against Fatal Attraction and Dakota Kai

Briggs & Jensen vs the Grizzled Young Veterans – Briggs pick up the pinfall

North American Championship Triple Threat Main Event Match: Carmelo Hayes vs Johnny Gargano vs Pete Dunne – Dunne hits the Bitter End butTony D’Angelo runs down to the ring and drags Dunne out, beating him at ringside, allowing Hayes to hit Gargano with a top-rope leg drop and pick up the win.

After the match Hayes, Williams, Grayson Waller and D’Angelo beat down Gargano and Dunne until Tommaso Ciampa hits the ring, chair in hand. LA helps clear the ring. Bron Breakker comes out, gets on a mic and yells “WarGames!” So, at War Games it will be Bron Breaker, Carmello Hayes, Grayson Waller, and Tony D’Angelo vs Tommaso Ciampa, LA Knight, Johnny Gargano & Pete Dunne

NWA – POWRRR

Nick Aldis vs. Chris Adonis – Aldis picks up the submission victory via the The Kings Lynn Cloverleaf

Thomas Latimer w/Kamille vs. Jaden Roller – Latimer connects with the piledriver for the 1-2-3

Taryn Terrell vs. Kenzie Paige In A Social Distance Match (both wear masks) – Paige wins via count out when Terrell blinds Paige with the hand sanitizer, then Paige removes her mask. Paige runs after Terrell. Terrell hides behind the podium and gets intentionally counted out.

JTG & Colby Corino vs. The Rude Dudes – JTG connects with The Brooklyn’s Edge to pick up the pinfall victory

Trevor Murdoch & Crimson vs. Jax Dane & Jeremiah Plunkett – Murdoch hits the Flying Bulldog for the 1-2-3 on Plunkett

We now have an updated card for NWA Hard Times 2 

Mickie James vs. TBD

Colby Corino vs. Douglas Williams

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship Tournament Qualifying Match: Austin Aries vs. Rhett 

ROH World Tag Team Championship :The OGK (c) vs. Aron Stevens & JR Kratos

NWA World Women’s Tag Team Championship: The Hex (c) vs. Kylie Rae & Tootie Lynn vs. Lady Frost & Natalia Markova

The NWA National Championship: Chris Adonis (c) vs. Judais w/Father James Mitchell

NWA World Women’s Championship: Kamille (c) vs. Melina

NWA World Tag Team Championship: La Rebellion (c) vs. The End

NWA Worlds Television Championship: Tyrus (c) w/Austin Idol vs. Cyon (No DQ) The Pope Will Be Serving As The Special Guest Referee

Nick Aldis vs. Thomas Latimer. If Either Man Is Disqualified, They Will Be Suspended For 8 Weeks

NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship: Trevor Murdoch (c) vs. Mike Knox

AEW – DYNAMITE

CM Punk & MJF start things off with one of the most entertaining promos I’ve heard recently. You’ll never get this on other shows and I’d love to hear it though. MJF calls Punk PG Punk and Punky Brewster. Saying that he’s always #2 behind him, the you can’t see me man and the king of kings. As PG Punk he might as well preach hustle, loyalty and respect. Punk stats MJF isn’t revolutionary, and he’s just a less famous Miz. The crowd popped huge for that. He also states that MJF will never be the man around here because there isn’t enough time for Tony Khan to have a daughter for him to marry (a shot at HHH). This was amazing, I’d suggest looking it up on youtube while you can)

CM Punk vs. QT Marshall – Punk hits the GTS for the pin fall victory

The Gunn Club vs. Bear Country – after some interference from Austin Gunn, we see The Gunn Club pick up the win via pinfall.

After a few weeks of Taz trying to get Dante Martin to join Team Taz, Dante finally decides and leaves Lio Rush

TBS Women’s Championship Quarterfinals: Jamie Hayter vs. Thunder Rosa – Thunder Rosa gets the 1-2-3 and advances in the tournament 

Colt Cabana vs. Bryan Danielson – Bryan Danielson gets the submission victory via the LeBelle Lock

Malakai Black, Andrade El Idolo & FTR vs. Cody Rhodes, PAC & Lucha Brothers – PAC climbs to the top but Malakai sprays the black mist in his eyes. This blinds him as he stumbles off the ropes. Andrade hits his finisher on him gets the pin fall victory

IMPACT

Wrestle House II: James Mitchell is the narrator, first HE recaps Wrestle House 1, which ended with the engagement of Rosemary and John E. Bravo, which would later on lead to the attempted murder of Bravo at the hands of Lawrence D, which in itself would lead to the rise and fall of Swinger’s Palace.

In Wrestle House II, there is Black Taurus, Crazzy Steve, Havok, and Rosemary from Decay. Johnny Swinger, Hernandez, Alisha Edwards, the Swingerellas from Swinger’s Palace, Madison Rayne, Kaleb, Chris Sabin, and John E. Bravo. Sabin is the sexy hunk of the house. Decay kept them all hostage until they made Swinger be happy and thankful, since Decay will gain Bravo’s virgin blood. 

Kaleb tried to recruit Riley of the Swingerellas as a reality TV star, but when he noticed that she only had eyes for Sabin, so Kaleb challenged him to a match.

Chris Sabin vs Kaleb – Sabin hits the Cradle Shock for the pinfall victory

Downtown Daddy Brown (Willie Mack) vs Johnny Swinger – Mack with the 1-2-3

After the match, everyone was transported back to the house but when they got back Alisha accidentally revealed to Swinger why they were in the house. Swinger got very angry and told everyone that now he was going to keep them all imprisoned in the house because he was never going to be happy, on purpose.

On the fourth day, after some arguing, the house divided itself between the ones who wanted to leave and the ones that wanted to help Swinger. Rayne asked for a 5-on-5 match and if they win, they will get sent back. Alisha asked that the 5th person on her team was Eddie Edwards.

Decay (Rosemary, Havok, Black Taurus, & Crazzy Steve) & Chris Sabin vs The Influence (Madison Rayne & Kaleb), Eddie Edwards, Alisha Edwards, & Hernandez – Rosemary speared Alisha for the win.

Madison Rayne brought in Swinger to Locker Room Talk to have him meet Swinger’s hero, Gene Simmons. It was actually The Demon, but Swinger wasn’t smarted up about it. The Demon told Swinger about finding love and never letting go once he did. Swinger was now motivated and asked Swingerella #1 out, but since Lawrence D was still there, he got jealous, so Swinger challenged him to a match for the love of Swingerella #1.

Johnny Swinger vs Lawrence D – Swinger picked up the pinfall

After the match, Swinger proposed to Swingerella #1, but Rosemary said that no one was leaving until they went to the altar. 

The next day, Alisha Edwards was worried that Eddie was going to ruin the wedding. Swinger asked Hernandez to be his best man, which he accepted, but he then talked to Alisha about being worried that there was something else going on. 

Hernandez found out that Rosemary was trying to steal Bravo’s soul, but when he tried to stop them, Rosemary transported him to a match with Black Taurus. Decay surrounded Hernandez.

Black Taurus (with Decay) vs Hernandez – Decay distracted Hernandez and allowed Taurus to take out his leg and rolled him up for 1-2-3

Santa Claus showed up. They try like the devil to entertain us…good or bad

WWE – Smackdown

The night starts out with Kayla Braxton in the ring with The Bloodline & Paul Heyman. She mentions the rumor that Brock Lesnar may have suspension lifted. The angers Heyman who asks her for proof and annoys Roman Reigns.

Jeff Hardy and Drew McIntyre vs Happy Corbin and Madcap Moss – McIntyre nails Moss with a Claymore, tags in Hardy who nails a Swanton Bomb for the pinfall win

Ridge Holland w/ Sheamus vs Cesaro – Cesaro get the roll up pinfall victory. Ridge loses his debut match on Smackdown after being called up from NXT

Thanksgiving Leftovers Throwdown Match: Rick Boogs w/ Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura vs Angel w/ Humberto – Angel nails Boogs with a Superkick followed by his Wing Clipper finisher to pick up the win.

Charlotte Flair is interviewed but is interrupted by the marvelous Toni Storm. In classic wwe form, Toni gets a pie in the face, but it seems like Toni could be Charlotte’s next opponent. 

 Naomi & Sasha Banks vs Natalya & Shayna Baszler – Naomi hits Natalya with a jaw breaker and then rolls her up for the win.

Black Friday Battle Royal Number One Contender’s Main Event Match – Sami Zayn eliminates Jeff Hardy to win the battle royal and is the number 1 contender. Backstage, Reigns is shown laughing

After the match Kayla Braxton interviews Zayn but quickly cuts to the bigger breaking news–the suspension has been lifted and Brock Lesnar will be at SmackDown next week. Roman is shown once again in the back giving Paul Heyman the death look

AEW – RAMPAGE

Adam Cole & Bobby Fish vs. Orange Cassidy & Wheeler Yuta – Bobby connects with a top rope falcon arrow on Yuta for the 1-2-3

Former WWE 205 member Tony Nese is backstage. He informs Tony Schivone that he’s in AEW to answer the open challenge for the TNT Championship. When he wrestles Sammy Guevara next week on Dynamite, that should be one amazing match

Black Friday Deal Match: Riho vs. Britt Baker – Riho wins with a roll up and now has a shot at the AEW Women’s World ChampionshipDaniel Garcia vs. Eddie Kingston – Kingston nails Garcia with a Saito suplex then connects with a spinning back-fist for the pin fall victory

The Lighting may have left NY.

But, The Sun shined through like a beacon pointing to CITI FIELD.

   So with December 2nd is rapidly approaching, and teams are scrambling to sign free agents before a possible work stoppage could happen. Two weeks ago, the Mets believed that their qualifying offer to Noah Syndergaard would be enough to retain the fireballer but, Mets fans were surprised when he signed at 1 year deal with the angels for $21 million. This was a slap in the face to the organization that didn’t give up on him when he needed Tommy John surgery. He had only pitched 2 innings since that, and he decided to leave. Last weekend it looked as if the Mets were the top contender to bring back Steven Matz, and as it looked, the contract was going to be signed, and at the last minute, he went elsewhere. Again another slap in the face to the Mets Organization. However, Mets fans Eppler, Sandy, and Steve were getting ready to open the flood gates unbeknown to us.

    Steve Cohen had enough and told Eppler and Sandy to do whatever it takes to bring in a winning team. On November 26th of this year, Mets fans across the world were given three presents by Eppler and the organization.

  1. First was the signing of Eduardo Escobar. He had played with the Diamondbacks and was traded to the Brewers, where he hit .253 with 28 home runs. He can play second or third and has had a handful of games at first base. The ball explodes off his bat, and he can hit to either side of the diamond. His deal is 2 years for a total of $20 million with a club option for a third. 
  2. The second gift was the signing of Ketel Marte. He is an explosive outfielder with tremendous speed {something the Mets have been lacking} a powerful bat. He hit .310 last year, and for his career, he is .300 hitter. He is a center fielder by trade, and he will be roaming it for the next 4 years. His deal is 4 years for $78 million and worth every penny.
  3. The third gift I said would be a Met is outfielder Mark Canha who can play all three positions in the outfield and some first base giving them some versatility. His batting average is not the best, as he hit .231 last year but, his play on defense is superb, and he is a good fit in NY.

   Now I know what some Mets fans and sportswriters are thinking. What are the Mets going to do with Brandon Nimmo and Dom Smith? As of now, Center and Left Field are penciled in. Nimmo has played right field before and can still fit there. We need him at the top of the lineup as he is a great leadoff hitter and gets on base. As for Dom Smith, he has been a fan loved player but room for him is dimishing. I feel it might be time to trade him and get some prospects for him.

   The next issue that needs to be resolved is the starting rotation. As of right now, DeGrom is #1 {as long as he recovered from injury} Carlos Corasco at #2 and Megil #3. This is not going to do it. There are many names out there, and the most intriguing is Max Scherzer. I know that Max wants to stay on the west coast, but he wants to win another championship. It will cost a lot to ring him to NY. I am thinking of a 2year deal $80 million with a club option for 3rd, making it a possible $120 million. Also, you can expect the Mets to get in touch with Kershaw’s agent and Rondon and Gray’s agents. 

    I will address this next person quickly cause I feel it in my gut that he will be back with the Mets, Javy Baez. Many teams are courting him, and the feeling most teams are getting is he wants anywhere 7-8 years and $225 Million. That’s a lot of money, but I say he’s more than worth it.

The Bullpen needs help as well, and there are many names. The Mets have to see who is going to come back from arbitration. There are a plethora of names that would fit this team. I like A.J. Cole, and Jacob Junis are the two whom I would love to join, but there are plenty of others that fit the bill, and we will see what direction we head to after December 2nd. This will be one of the more exciting free agencies in a while; if everything gets done quickly and with no problems with a work stoppage or CBA being held up, the fans are in for a real treat, and That Is How The Old Man Sees It.

Cowboys drop two games they should have won

Record 7-4

Over the last two weeks, the Dallas Cowboys played two games they should have won. One easily and the other we knew would be a challenge. Coming off a monstrous game against Atlanta, it looked like Dallas was primed for another long win streak, but that was foiled by the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders.

     Let’s first dive into the Kansas game, and stats are not something to discuss because both sides didn’t put up any real numbers that mattered. The Kansas City defense was one of the worst defenses in football, sitting at the league’s bottom three. Dallas, coming off a shellacking handed to the Falcons, the Cowboys were riding high, hoping to keep the trend going. That trend ended and not a blowout by any means, but the offense during this game couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat. Zeke got injured on the third play; you had no Cooper or Tyron Smith but, that’s not the reason they lost. The Chief’s defense played like a top-tier defense and stopped the most potent offense. I am not saying the Cowboys underestimated them, but Dallas could get the ball down the field. The Dallas defense showed up and held Mahomes to no touchdowns. That is an accomplishment in his self, and any coach could tell you that. One man doesn’t make the team, and even though Mahomes is the captain when you have a potent offense like the chiefs do, points will be scored one way or another. However, they still put up points on Dallas turnovers, and that was what cost Dallas that game. This game they should have won by 9

    Moving on to Thanksgiving, this is a game Dallas needed to get back on track. Now Dallas was sitting 7-3 and needed a game where they could show the league and the fans themselves that Dallas is still the team to believe. The Raiders came in and moved the ball from the first drive, and scored. Deshawn Jackson, whom I can’t stand, caught a pass down the sideline for a 56-yard score in the opening quarter. We all know that Jackson has been a thorn in Dallas’s side for many years and pretty much the NFC East. In the first few drives, the Dallas defense looked like they did against Denver by allowing long runs and completing many third downs that should have been stopped. 

   Dallas got off to a prolonged start but began waking up be the second quarter. All night I had to listen to haters saying Dak is overrated and his bad decisions lead to their loss. I hate to use foul language in a blog but BULLSHIT. Prescot threw for 373 yards and 2 touchdowns with no interceptions. I can think of 10 quarterbacks who would kill to be able to games like this. Since Dallas was behind, they passed the ball more, and everyone handled a catch. Zeke and Tony couldn’t get it done on the offense, but Tony Pollard ran a kickoff back for 98 yards and a touchdown on special teams. Pollard has become a mainstay in Dallas, and I am sure they will be locking him up soon enough to a long contract. Dallas was missing two of their prime weapons. Cee Dee Lamb {Concussion} and Amari Cooper [Covid} were missed from this game, and that is like missing Mike Trout and Aaron Judge from their respected teams in a day. Cedrick Wilson, Michael Gallup, and Dalton Schultz had good games with Gallup and Wilson, eclipsing the 100-yard mark. Dalton Schultz had a quiet day but did score another touchdown. In the end, Dallas lost in OT 36-33. 

    This game was longer than most because the F****** refs threw more yellow on the field during this game than any game that was held this season. The penalties were not just called on the Cowboys but, on the Raiders, as well. It seemed every other play there was a flag. Now some penalties were deserved, but Dallas got flagged for 6 Pass Interference penalties 4 at the hands of Anthony Brown {which were inexcusable} which led to 14 points. However, there were so many phantom calls on Dallas that you would think something was amiss. On the Raiders side, a few Pass Interference plays should have been called that weren’t especially two around the goal line late in the fourth quarter, but the Raiders were flagged for so many holding calls. Some were warranted, and others were not even close. I think both teams were cheated in this game. At the sound of the final gun, Dallas lost to the Raiders 36-33 in OT. 

     Dallas has a nice long ten-day break to get Cee Dee Lamb and Amari Cooper back on the field. The O-line needs a break, and they will get it; Zeke needs to heal up, and the big news is that Randy Gregory and Demarcus “Tank” Lawrence should return for their next match that will be against a New Orleans Saints team that at times has shown some real flash. Dallas needs all its weapons ready and at full health because with Philly and Washington on a small winning streak, they can climb right back into the race, and we pretty much can say the Giants are definitely out of contention.

Feast Or Famine For Harbaugh

By: Mike Rifkin

Thanksgiving means spending time with family and college football rivalry games. The best rivalry in college football and one of the best in all of sports, is Michigan vs Ohio State. This game also looms large in the College Football Playoffs. The latest rankings has Ohio State in the playoff at number two in the country while Michigan is on the outside at number five. 

After successful runs at San Diego University and Stanford Harbaugh went to the NFL to coach the San Francisco 49ers. Harbaugh went 44-19-1 in four seasons with the 49ers and took them to a Super Bowl where they were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens and his brother John. In December of 2015 Harbaugh signed a seven year deal worth 52.1 million dollars to become the coach of his alma mater the University of Michigan. In January of this year Harbaugh signed a four year extension at a lower salary. 

Harbaugh’s record at Michigan is 59-23 but that doesn’t matter. What matters is how you play against rivals Michigan State and Ohio State. Harbaugh is 3-9 against the Spartans and Buckeyes combined. All 3 of those wins are against Michigan State Harbaugh has never defeated Ohio State. 

In order for Michigan to win this game their defensive backs have to play good coverage against the Ohio State receivers Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Olave and Wilson both should have been nominated for the Biletnikoff award for best receiver in the country and both will be first round picks in the NFL draft in April. But if the Michigan defensive backs do their job it allows Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo who have combined for 19.5 sacks to get pressure on CJ Stroud. Michigan needs quarterback Cade Mcnamara to make some plays through the air, Erick All, Mike Sanistril, Cornelius Johnson and company need to help their quarterback out. The third key is to avoid the big mistake every year in these games it feels there is one play that Michigan never recovers from and it enables the Buckeyes to pull away. 

This is the best rivalry in college football. With a spot in the Big Ten title game and potentially a shot in the College Football Playoffs on the line it is time for Jim Harbaugh to earn his money.