A LOT OF BAD BETS ON NFL QBS, METS SEASON NEEDS NEW SCRIPT WITHOUT DIAZ & GO KNIGHTS . . .
Incidentally?
There is no more powerful — and more lucrative — mystique in all of sports, and maybe the history of sports, than the one about quarterback in the NFL being the most important position in all of sports.
It is why teams make big bets, and sometimes monumentally bad bets, on quarterbacks all the time.
The Jets did it with Darnold and Wilson.
The Giants are doing it with Daniel Jones, right this minute, giving him a contract that can be worth $1 6 0 million, so much of that off one playoff victory, even if it was an impressive one, against the defense of the Minnesota Vikings.
But the Cardinals did the same thing with Kyler Murray, who is never going to win a championship.
The Browns just did it with Deshaun Watson, who won the only title he’s ever going to win at Clemson. Everybody keeps looking for the next Brady.
Or the next Mahomes.
The problem is, there might be only two like that in the modern world of professional football.
How could you not be happy for Princeton the other day?
How could you not be happy for Furman?
And how could your heart not break a little for Kihei Clark of Virginia, who threw the ball to Furman at the end and cost his team its season?
Four years ago, it was Clark who ran down a ball at the end of an Elite Eight game against Purdue, and threw it to Mamadi Diakite, who made the shot that forced overtime in a game the Cavaliers ultimately won, on their way to winning the national championship.
They don’t win the title without Clark making a play, and a pass, like that.
The Virginia fans, including the ones in the media, who jumped Clark after the Furman loss ought to remember that this weekend.
Or maybe forever.
This was one of Buck Showalter’s first reactions, late Wednesday night, after Edwin Diaz tore up his knee celebrating Puerto Rico’s victory over the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic:
“The teleprompter just broke.”
He meant that the script the Mets thought they had for this season, the one that included Diaz, had just gone out the window.
But again:
Mets fans need to remember that Mariano Rivera tore up his knee shagging fly balls in the outfield, and was lost for the season in May.
Rafael Soriano became the Yankee closer that year. He saved 4 2 games.
The Yankees won 9 5 .
And won the AL East without Mo.
Are we absolutely certain that The Masters is a tradition unlike any other?
In keeping with today’s primary subject matter, aren’t the Jets a tradition unlike any other, too?
You are going to love a crime novel called “Fixit,” by my pal Joe Ide.
Whatever happened to Kyrie?
“Ted Lasso” is back, and better than ever.
Carlos Alcaraz runs around a tennis court the way Francisco Lindor runs around the bases.
My friend Stanton is cautioning Aaron Rodgers not to go with that “R-E-L-A-X” stuff if he does get to the Jets.
We kind of don’t do that around here.
We’re all Fairleigh Dickinson on Sunday.