By Eddie Castro
TIn this week’s Thanksgiving edition of Ed’s Sports, I’ve decided to be the voice of many New York sports fans when I say,WHAT IS GOING ON??!! The year 2013 has not been kind to the major sports in New York. For only the second time in the last 15 years, the Yankees did not make the playoffs this October and the Mets missed the postseason for the seventh straight season. Now the Yankees may just be in the midst of losing their best player in Robinson Cano to free agency and we all know what’s been happening with the ongoing saga with Alex Rodriguez. As far as the Mets go, who knows? The team will have some $ to spend with a few expiring contracts coming off the books. The question is what will they do with it? A few years back, the team signed pitcher Johan Santana to a 7-year/ $135 million dollar contract. Due to a rotator cuff injury, Santana hasn’t picked up a baseball in about 2 years.
Let’s get on to some sports that are current at the moment. In the NBA, the Brooklyn Nets and the New York Knicks have to be the most disappointing teams through the first month of the regular season. The Nets have been decimated with injuries to Deron Williams (ankle), Brook Lopez (ankle), Andrei Kirilenko (back) and Jason Terry (knee), but a record of 3-10 is unacceptable. It really looks like head coach Jason Kidd does not know what he is doing out there. He’s looking like a rookie. One problem with the team this year is their abysmal performances in the third quarter. Last Sunday, the Nets were again outscored by the Pistons in the third 34-15. The team is 0-10 this season when losing the third quarter, and in those 10 third quarter losses, they have been outscored by 96 points. Brooklyn has lost 5 straight games and 8 of their last 9.
The Knicks are in an early-season tailspin themselves. They, too have lost 5 in a row and 6 of their last 7. What’s mind-boggling about this losing streak is that the team has lost 6 straight games at home. Just like the Nets, the injury curse has hit them too with the loss of their defensive playmaker Tyson Chandler. Still, there is no excuse for either team to be this awful. I really don’t know how Kidd and Woodson can help their respective teams get it together. This is New York and with this wonderful city comes a proud and prestigious history of New York sports. It is an honor to wear uniforms symbolizing New York that Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson, Bernard King and Willis Reed once wore. If those names alone don’t give any current New York player motivation to perform on a consistent basis, maybe they should not be playing in our borough, let alone New York period. It has been a sorry time in the world of New York sports so far and I think I may just tune into soccer, or see what the local high school teams are doing.
Sports Notes: (Football) You can add the Jets and Giants to the list of disappointing teams in New York. The Jets lost to the Baltimore Ravens in a game that saw Geno Smith bring his turnovers to 18 this season as the Jets fall to 5-6. The team has a very big game coming up at home against the Miami Dolphins. Just when you thought Eli Manning and the Giants were going to have a Cinderella-like story going into Thanksgiving, they looked like a turkey and got “stuffed” by the Cowboys in a game they had to have. The team must win their remaining games in the schedule in order to even be in the playoff conversation.
On behalf of myself and everyone here at Our Time Press, I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Comments on the column? E-mail me a castroeddie714@Gmail.com.