An Islander scores his first goal; the NBA gets ready to shine; and the Giants manage to ruin a two-game winning streak
For years, on the waves New York sports talk radio stations and the pages of New York sports sections and in the mind of many of their loyal fans, the Giants have held the title of “classiest organization in football.”
They don’t rush to fire coaches, and have had just three in my memory (Fossil, Coughlin and now mustache McAddoo). They don’t operate with the bluster or arrogance that’s been seen in the Green home locker rooms from time to time. They do things “the right way.”
So what the hell have the past two months been?
There’s been plenty said at this point about the way the Giants have handled themselves during the Josh Brown saga, by those much more qualified than I to say it.
It’s not exactly clear what they knew and when they knew it. Which is how these things always seem to go. What is crystal clear is that they knew. They knew the NFL felt the need to get involved; they knew he had committed some pretty disturbing acts in the past.
They decided to give him a second chance. Maybe a third or a fourth, we don’t know. And it’s their right to do so. They are a football team, after all, and not a charity, no matter how badly we wish they could be both. If they thought Brown was able to help the football team and thought he either had or could be improved and make reforms, they are fully within their rights to employ him.
It’s their decision to make, and they chose to make it. But now, it’s going to be awfully tough to stand but and say they stand among the moral elite of the league.
2. Welcome to the big time, Beau
From the worst part of sports to the best.
The New York Islanders’ Anthony Beauvillier scored his first NHL goal his week, and that kind of achievement is exactly what we actually like talking about here on ChinMusicPod.com.
As you can see above, it was a #tough and #gritty play by the just 19-year-old forward, as he followed his own shot, batting a rebound out of midair and towards the net. Hopefully, we get something a little prettier to drool at soon, but I’ll take goals any way Beau can score them.
The youngster’s line had a good week from start to finish. He was on the ice when the much-beleaguered Ryan Strome potted one against his brother Dylan’s Arizona Coyotes for an important win to keep the Islanders close to .500 in the early part of the season.
If Beau and Strome connect for a pair of good seasons while sharing a line, Isles fans maybe, just maybe, can rest a little easier.
#JustGottaBeaulieve, baby.
I think I’m a bigger Andrew Miller fan now than I was during his time in the Bronx.
As great as it’s been to watch the Cubs make this run (and it’s been incredible, but we’ll get to that in a bit) if there is one thing that makes we want to see the Chicago Curse-Breakers fall just short, it’s the Andrew Miller show.
He’s been nothing shy of unhittable in the playoffs so far, making child’s play out of two of the most prolific American League offenses during the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Indians have had a long drought in their own right, and seeing the Indians take home the city’s second title of the year on the back of the late season addition would be the stuff they make Disney movies about.
All I know is, Clint Frazier better be Babe Ruth. Either way, I’m getting an Andrew Miller jersey.
Finally, after a summer of debating the morality of joining a super team (hint: it’s not about that) and watching the US once again sleepily dominate an international basketball tournament, NBA basketball is back.
Even with our expanded new crew (more on that soon as well) I feel the need to hold the Association candle here on ChinMusicPod. And hold it I shall.
Say what you will about the NBA, but it’s still the sport that gives us the most stunning feats of athleticism on a nightly basis. And while naysayers (looking at you, Tim) will tell you the league is boring and devoid of competition, there are plenty of competitive storylines to watch.
Can the Warriors actually bring their Dr. Frankenstein’s monster of a super team to the promised land? Can maybe the three best shooters in the NBA share one ball? Can the Wizards put it together while they have the mercurial John Wall? Can a young Celtics team take the next step? Can Mike D’Antoni recreate the Pheonix fun of the seven-seconds-or-less offense with James Harden and a Howard-less Rockets? Can LeBron silence the haters (looking at me, Brendan) with a second title in Cleveland?
Lace up your high-tops. It’s going to be a fun year.
We are all witnessing history.
It was undeniably cool to be a sports fan on Saturday night, and Sunday morning, unless you were a Dodgers fan, I guess. The clips of Cubs fans from grandmotherly users to Bill Murray to lifers to new diehards, bathing in the first glow of their first World Series appearance in half a century, were why the Internet was invented.
Everybody is a Cubs fan, even, when it comes right down to it, yours truly. But I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t a dark, twisted, disturbed part of me that is hoping to see some clips of some brokenhearted Chicagoans at some point.
After all, the clips of their tears are practically why the Internet was invented.
The record may not indicate it now, nor may it at the end of the season, but make no mistake: the Toronto Maple Leafs are back.
The team is bursting at the seams with young, fun, marketable and exciting stars in names like Matthews, Marner, Reilly, and a few more. It will more than likely be rough seas ahead the next season or two, as the young guns go through growing pains and the brass fills out the rest of the line chart with players that can support what will be a very star-heavy first two lines.
But is there any hockey team, other than your hometown favorites, that you’d rather watch on any given night?
Me neither.
I went to my first concert since the summer last night, getting to catch a glimpse of the fast-talking rapper known as Watsky at Boston’s House of Blues.
The most striking part of the performance, at least to me, was the backing band. I’d yet to see a hip-hop outfit employ a live unit in front of my eyes, and it was an absorbing sight to see just how in time they were.
Watsky’s quick and entertaining words were as intelligent as they always are, but the band was where it’s at, man.
8. The ChinMusicPod.com family gets a little bigger (and a little more dysfunctional)
In case you missed it earlier, this week, we debuted a pair of new features here on ChinMusicPod.com this week: Matt Tardiff’s weekly look at the numbers behind the games in Tuesday’s Just The Stats and Tom Dragani’s weekly….um…..culture…..column, appearing each Thursday.
Both bring something much different than what Tim Culverhouse, with his Wednesday Hot TakesWednesday Hot Takes, and I bring to the site. Not better mind you, but different.
Welcome to the team, boys.
9. At least the play on the field was okay
On Twitter, as the Giants finally kicked off their London morning special, I asked one very specific yet seemingly simple task of the team:
https://twitter.com/MurraySportTalk/status/790182475771371523
Don’t get me wrong; they tried their best to disobey that request to start the game. Larry Donell fumbled the ball once again, and the Rams found points on each of their first two possessions.
But, slowly but surely, they put it together.
And it may have been ugly, but a win is a win.
Cruz showed some flashes of his former brilliance in what has been a quietly impressive comeback season, but on the whole, the offense was dreadful in every sense of the game. They barely had zs many rush yards as the number on running back Rashard Jennings’ jersey, and the passing game netted one truly exciting play, a big catch from Odell Beckham in the redzone.
Instead, it was the defense’s time to shine. The d-line for the first time looked like something the Giants invested so much money in over the offseason, netting a few sacks and pressuring Case Keenum throughout. But really, it was the maligned defensive backfield that won them the contest against the Rams.
Four interceptions, a pair a piece for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (you down with DRC?!) and Landon (more like London) Collins. Collins has by far the best player on the defense this year, and got some stats to show it today, and almost singlehandedly won the Giants the game. Eli Manning in particular should be thankful for Collins’ performance, as it probably saved him from being the subject of countless “what the hell is wrong with this guy” columns this week.
It was ugly, but a win is a win.
At least the team’s performance was better than that of the front office. Then again, they really couldn’t be any worse.
Have a good week, everybody. For more, follow @MurraySportTalk on Twitter.
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