As we move on from last night, would you rather be:
- The team who blew a 20-point lead and is now down 2–0 against the defending champs, defending champs who happen to have the best player in the world on their team.
- The team who blew a five-point lead in the final thirty seconds in a moment of absolute chaos, one where the officiating left a very bad taste in your mouth.
- The team who blew a 3–0 lead and allowed the tying and winning goal in a span of ten seconds against the Stanley Cup favorites.
I think I’d rather be the Sixers, because they at least get to be favored in Game 3, but man. A lot of gutting losses last night.
I have done very little research on this, and what I found brought no answers, but I wonder what the success rate is of teams immediately following an especially gutting loss. The Heat won Game 7 last year against the Celtics. I guess there’s that. But was that as bad as anything last night? And isn’t the Heat’s whole deal embracing immense amounts of pain? Beyond that, I’m struggling to think of examples that weren’t elimination games.
Caleb Williams and Eli Manning
The idea that Caleb Williams should force a trade from the Bears was back in the discourse yesterday. I think Robert Griffin III brought it back up. Should Williams do this? At this point, it’s probably too late. Williams seems fine going to the Bears. But as a rule, if you’re a quarterback, it’s probably a good idea to try to not play for a terrible franchise. The issue for Williams is that I don’t think there’s an obviously great destination? Maybe Minnesota or Denver, but it’s easier to force a trade from a terrible situation to a solid one than to another that’s still shaky.
Williams is doomed in Chicago. It’s hard to see any way that he comes out of that franchise looking good. But that’s the deal with drafts. Sometimes, they pin players into can’t-win situations. It is both inhumane and not about to change.
Zach Wilson: Designated Scapegoat?
Lost, at least to us, amidst yesterday’s jokes about the Broncos’ new uniforms was that Zach Wilson will evidently be wearing one. I guess Zach Wilson’s probably a depth pickup behind Jarrett Stidham and whoever they get in the draft. It’s just really easy to see Stidham underwhelming, a rookie not being ready, and Wilson going in there to lose games, at which point it’s also easy to see Sean Payton saying, “Well how do you expect me to win with Zach Wilson?” As though he doesn’t have more power than George Paton.
April’s Place Among the Sports Months
Great night last night in the sporting world. Great week this week. Great month this month!
I’m not sure if April’s better than May for sports. You usually get the NIT Final Four (and the other one, I suppose), but you don’t always get Opening Day and you get neither the Kentucky Derby nor the Indy 500. Also, there’s still some NBA regular season to deal with. April’s up there for a podium finish, though. September, October, and November are all good. March is good but in concentrated fashion. April and May are good. Is April top-three? I think so. But I think it’s stronger in the “fun” category than the “greatness” category, if that makes sense. You don’t get inspired by a melee at the end of a Knicks game the way you get inspired by LSU vs. Alabama.
I’m ranking them: October, May, April. Then I’d say March, September, November. College basketball’s an interesting wrinkle in there.
Etc.
Chicago:
- The Cubs start their series against the Astros tonight. Catch ‘em while they’re down. Push ‘em down further. Let them come up for air for a second and say, “Hey, remember when twelve percent of your current roster was a bunch of cheaters and then crybabies?” then push ‘em down even more. Bury ‘em. Let ’em up again, ask if they liked Dusty Baker, then show them pictures of Mark Prior and Kerry Wood and say “Well how do you feel about the people he killed?” Bury ‘em one more time. Walk away. Call the police and say someone’s trying to squat at Wrigley Field.
Joe Kelly:
- The Dodgers are in our nation’s capital this week, so Joe Kelly watch is a little earlier in the evening the next two days. Thursday’s is a late afternoon game. Kind of weird. Why not do a normal day game? Something’s up there. A conspiracy in Washington D.C.
