The Basement View

  The New York Yankees are playing in the World Series for the first time since 2009. One of the major reasons why is trading for Juan Soto in the offseason and installing him in the batting order in front of Aaron Judge. The Yanks in 2023 were coming off their worst season in 30 years at 82-80, missing out on the playoffs, facing the never-ending pressure of the Yankee fan and New York media, and in need of an old-school Yankee power move. They did and it worked out. The three-run home run Juan Soto hit off Hunter Gaddis to win Game 5 of the ALCS is the reason you trade for Juan Soto. That at-bat and that home run is the entire Juan Soto experience in a nutshell. If you don’t match Soto’s neurotic competitive-ism at all times you will lose in a big way. Many “experts” who watch Juan Soto say he “settles” for walks. The Yankee right fielder doesn’t settle for anything. He wears out the pitcher to the point where the hurler would rather move past Soto to face Aaron Judge because the...

  The New York Jets season is over. Thanks to New York’s third consecutive heart-breaking loss, this time to the division rival Buffalo Bills, the once hopeful season has now crumbled into to a million pieces. It’s officially over! Sure, the Jets yesterday morning finalized a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders to land disgruntled wide receiver Davante Adams to team up again with Aaron Rodgers, but this move doesn’t solve the true problems with the Jets. The Jets are the most penalized team in the NFL this year with 462 yards. The second most penalized team is the Houston Texans with 429 yards. Houston has the most penalties in the league with 51 and the Jets are just one penalty behind them with 50. This includes Monday Night’s game which was the most penalized game this season with 22 accepted penalties between the Jets and the Bills and a combined 204 yards worth of laundry. I’ll agree with you that the officiating on Monday Night was perhaps the worst officiated game by NFL offici...

  Aaron Rodgers isn’t Superman anymore. On Sunday in London, it didn’t look like he was even league average anymore. Rogers threw three interceptions to the Minnesota Vikings defense, the first time he’s thrown three INTs since Week 9 of 2022, and the sixth time he’s thrown three picks in a game in his career. That isn’t very Man of Steel-esc. I’m the type of person that usually tries to find some reason why the interception was not the quarterback’s fault, don’t blame me, I’m a Jets fan. I’ve been subjected to poor quarterback play and when I do try to place blame elsewhere—it’s because the ball bounced off the receivers’ hands or shoulder pad. That was not what happened with Aaron Rodgers in London. All three interceptions were the fault of the quarterback. There were at times when Rodgers looked every bit of his age both physically and as he was trying to perform against Minnesota. With that, there are two silver linings for the Jets heading into Week 6. One is that Garrett Wils...

  The New York Mets are the most exciting team to watch right now in Major League Baseball. They aren’t the “best” team in the game but on a nightly basis you will get your money’s worth whether you’re at the game or paying your cable bill to watch from your favorite seat at home. Major League Baseball in recent years has had a problem with starting pitchers pitching past the 5 th inning. For me that’s where the story not only begins but is the reason for the turnaround that this ball club has been on since the beginning of June (the Mets have the best record in MLB since June 1 st ). Since the All-Star Break, the Mets have the eighth best ERA in baseball (3.56), the second most shutouts (8), the sixth fewest earned runs (245), and the second-best batting average against (.211). Yes, the Mets offense has been middle of the road during that span 17 th in average, 10 th in runs scored, 13 th in slugging, and eighth in strike outs, but they are winning games, and winning the way t...