It is safe to say that this season was not meant to be for Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis. He incurred a concussion forcing him to miss the Jets’ second game of the season, ironically in his hometown of Pittsburgh, where the Jets, as per tradition, lost to the Steelers. Two weeks ago, he tore his ACL in his left knee in a non-contact injury as his body went one way and his leg went the other.
Revis’s injury required surgery and he will be lost for the season. The odds are so will Gang Green. Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum certainly isn’t happy about the loss of one of the NFL’s elite players but he can at least take solace that he didn’t renegotiate Revis’s contract despite the pressure being placed on him by Darrelle’s agents.
Steve Sabol, along with his dad, Ed, helped make the National Football League our most followed sports institution with their creation, NFL Films, some fifty years ago. Their clever use of slow motion made arching spirals, leaping receptions, winding kickoff returns, and lengthy runs from scrimmage, combined with the brass sounds of the Sam Spence Orchestra and the stentorian announcing of Philadelphia news anchor John Facenda, made football seem more like ballet than the violent sport that it of course is.
Steve spent the last two years battling brain cancer before succumbing to it last month. I met him for the first time last April at the Sports Emmy Awards at the Frederick P. Rose Jazz Hall at the Time Warner Center. You couldn’t tell that he was a battling a terminal illness from his Hulk-like handshake. My right hand hurt for days afterwards.
It is hard to believe that Mets general manager Sandy Alderson would even consider replacing Ike Davis at first base with the poor man’s Dave Kingman, Lucas Duda. My guess is that story was clearly planted by Mets execs to gullible media types in the desperate hopes of increasing Duda’s trade value.
Granted, Davis did not have a great year but he missed most of 2011 with a foot injury and suffered from Valley Fever this past spring which may have affected his stamina. Ike is one of the Mets’ few leaders in the clubhouse. When manager Terry Collins hinted that his team may have quit following a 16-1 drubbing at the hands of the Phillies at Citi Field who completed a three-game sweep against the Amazin’s, it was Davis who promptly assured fans and the media on SNY’s post-game show that while he and his teammates were frustrated, no one quit or was going to do so.
Mets ownership should have learned from the old expression that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. Last year the Yankees asked the Mets permission for their Triple-A team to play a season in Newark while their Scranton stadium was undergoing repairs. The Mets, citing their territorial veto rights as well as incredible insecurity, vetoed that idea.
What the Mets conveniently forgot was that their agreement with the owners of the Buffalo Bisons, where their AAA team has been the last four seasons expired at the end of the 2012 season. Apparently the Rich family, who own the Bisons, were not happy with the caliber of players that the Mets were sending to Buffalo. The lack of playoff revenue the last four years did not make the Riches happy so it wasn’t surprising that they jumped at the chance to be the Toronto Blue Jays top minor league team in 2013. Toronto is only 100 miles from Buffalo.
Caught with their pants down, the Mets had no choice but to move their Triple-A team to Las Vegas, the city that the Jays are deserting. Vegas may be an exciting place to visit but it’s 2,500 miles from New York. Logistically, that makes it an issue if the Mets need to call someone up in a hurry next year. Newark must be looking very good to the Mets now. The Yankees will be back in Scranton next year playing in a completely refurbished stadium.
Knuckleball, the documentary about that baffling pitch and the handful of hurlers who have able to master it such as Phil Niekro, Tim Wakefield, Wilbur Wood, and of course, Mets starter and Cy Young candidate, RA Dickey, has opened in select theaters nationwide. The film debuted at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival.
I was saddened to learn that the excellent monthly glossy, Mets Inside Pitch, will no longer publish. Inside Pitch did a nice job of both cheering for the Amazin’s while still being able to intelligently criticize them. They provided excellent coverage of the Mets minor league teams as well as a “Where are they now?” section that gave readers updates about what our favorite players from yesteryear are doing now.
Among the sports luminaries who showed up for the 27th annual Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis dinner were Chris and Peter Ferraro, the twin brothers who grew up in the Suffolk County town of Sound Beach, and who both enjoyed lengthy playing careers in the NHL. The guys, who now run Ferraro Brothers Hockey in Jericho, told me that they believe that the Islanders seriously need new ownership to survive. They also felt that the NHL lockout would be settled sooner rather than later. “Bettman and Fehr are smart guys. They’ll figure a way to resolve this,” Peter said.
Unfortunately his optimism wasn’t shared by another NHL great who attended the Buoniconti Fund dinner, former Rangers captain and Hockey Hall of Fame inductee Brian Leetch. “The owners think that they can break the players and the union. They feel that they have more staying power and that they can recoup any losses incurred this year from the long-term savings that a new favorable collective bargain agreement will bring.”
Adding a glamorous touch to the Buoniconti event was MSG Network air personality as well as occasional contributor to NBC’s Today was Plainview native Jill Martin. While she is best known for her celebrity interviews, Jill has written extensively on fashion and has been hired by No Nonsense to promote their tights and leggings.
Nets center Brook Lopez was the only player to show up at the ribbon cutting ceremony at the Barclays Center last Friday. “I wanted to see what my workplace looked like,” said the always jovial Brook. He liked the aesthetics particularly the herring bone hardwood that was inspired by the parquet floors made famous by the Boston Celtics.
Levy’s Restaurants, which handles the press catering the US Open every year will be doing the same at the Barclays Center. That is a step up from both Aramark, Centerplate, and Delaware North.
Spa Week is the semi-annual event that allows you to get great deals on massages and facials will be running again from October 15 through 21. Log onto www.spaweek.com to discover which spas are participating and the services that they are providing.
22 year-old Woodside native and Five Towns College grad Andrew Harts has become a social media correspondent for MLB.com and is videoing behind-the-scenes experiences at big league games with his Samsung Galaxy SIII smartphone thanks to a joint initiative between Major League Baseball and the Korean electronics manufacturer.
Samsung, incidentally, makes great vacuums that give Dyson a run for the money. Their Multi Chamber bagless cannister gets out even micro particles of dust and other allergens that accumulate on carpets and underneath beds and couches.
Duracell has developed the Powermat which is a flat wireless charging device that gives more battery life to smartphones, tablets, Ipods, and the like. Powermat was exhibited at the recent Pepcom, the quarterly electronics trade show where manufacturers show off their latest gizmos.
Showstoppers, Pepcom’s chief rival, had a number of intriguing exhibitors at their annual fall show as well. Boxee is a device that allows you to watch anything on your television that you can find on the Internet without a subscription fee.
Livio, the company that created an Internet radio that resembled an old school AM/FM kitchen model, has gotten out of that business and is now creating mobile phone and Internet application in automobiles through its Livio Connect division.