The Mets Should Stop Being Weenies and Just Keep Carlos Beltran

Posted on January 15, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

You’ve heard the story by now. The Astros used a camera in center field of Minute Maid Park to steal signs during the 2017 season. MLB responded by suspending AJ Hinch and Jeff Luhnow for one year each. Then the Astros fired both of them. Alex Cora is probably going to get an even harsher punishment, but the Red Sox didn’t wait to hear about it before they parted ways with him.

No players on the 2017 Astros have been punished by MLB, but now Carlos Beltran is said to be on thin ice with the Mets. Some people like ESPN’s Mark Teixeira think that the Mets should immediately fire Beltran before he has managed a game with the team because of his association with the scandal.

If the Mets thought that Beltran was the right guy to lead their team before the Astros news came out, they should think the same now. Just like everyone else around the league, Beltran now knows the consequences of using technology to assist with sign stealing. He’s going to be held to the same standard as everyone else. Every team is going to be under high scrutiny for cheating in 2020, even if they didn’t play for the Astros in 2017.

So the Mets should stand by their guy. The problem is that they only reason Beltran was hired is publicity. I wrote back in November about the Mets grabbing Beltran because he’s a big name who is respected by fans, players, and the media. Now that some of that respect has eroded, ownership might not have any use of him anymore. He’s not cool anymore, so the Mets can take another crack at the manager hire while getting patted on the back by Teixeira and other weenies for doing the “right thing”.

Continue reading →

Posted in Major League Baseball, New York Mets | Leave a comment

I Don’t Have Any Confidence in Penn State Tonight

Posted on January 15, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

Penn State plays at Minnesota tonight at 9:00 p.m. on Big Ten Network. I’m going to watch, but I’m not too excited about it. That’s what happens when your team plays well enough in November and December to earn its first top 25 ranking since 1996 and then loses two straight games to mid-tier Big Ten teams.

Yes, the entire conference is a middle tier right now, but the Rutgers and Wisconsin games were still YUGE opportunities for the Nittany Lions to rack up quality wins. Since they lost both games, their KenPom ranking has fallen to 37th and they are projected to finish 19-12 (9-11 Big Ten), which is right in bubble hell.

Winning tonight would be a great way for Penn State to get back on track for the Tournament, but Minnesota has been lethal at home. The surprisingly competitive Golden Gophers have already taken down Ohio State, Northwestern, and Michigan in The Barn this season.

Just like that Penn State team that won the NIT two seasons ago, Minnesota is led by a trio of sophomores. Daniel Oturu has taken a big step forward after an encouraging freshman season, but the real surprise is Marcus Carr, who has become one of the Big Ten’s best point guards after transferring from Pitt. Considering that Micah Potter just tore up the Penn State defense, I’m thinking the Lions will have their hands full with Oturu. Perhaps Pat Chambers should mix in some zone, as three-point shooting isn’t a strength for the Gophers.

Considering how Penn State has played in its last two road games (at Ohio State and at Rutgers) it’s a little surprising that they are only getting 2.5 point from bookmakers.

Posted in Big Ten Basketball, Penn State Basketball | Leave a comment

Penn State Loses an Ugly Game to Wisconsin, but is Anyone Surprised?

Posted on January 11, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

That sums it up. Your No. 20 team in the whole damn country just lost a very ugly game to mediocre Wisconsin at home. We might have to wait another two-and-one-half decades for Penn State to be ranked again.

Figuring this team out is like plugging holes in a sinking ship. A new problem just pops up in every game. Today we got some nice strong drives to the hoop by Lamar Stevens (19 points, 13 rebounds) and Izaiah Brockington (15 points off the bench), but Mike Watkins was a complete non-factor and scored zero points in 15 minutes. Plus, Curtis Jones — whose shooting was huge in that win over Iowa — and Myles Dread combined to shoot 0-for-13 from the field. John Harrar played 20 minutes and somehow ended up with no shot attempts and three rebounds.

At this point, we expect Dread and Harrar to be duds, but Jones forgetting how to shoot is a major issue. Somehow, it was Jamri Wheeler who led the team in three-point shooting with a pair of bombs in the first half. I don’t think that’s something we can count on going forward, but it’s a good sign. Either way, freshman Seth Lundy has shown potential and needs to be rotated in. I don’t know how Pat Chambers can justify playing him just two minutes when Dread is struggling so badly and the team is shooting 33 percent.

Continue reading →

Posted in Big Ten Basketball, Penn State Basketball | Leave a comment

Catching Up with Penn State’s Latest Setback and Giants Hiring Joe Judge

Posted on January 11, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

Yeah, Penn State lost to Rutgers on Tuesday and I haven’t blogged since then. It’s not because I’m afraid! I’m not afraid to blog about anything unrelated to politics, race, and serious real-life business! I’ve just been busy exploring the Wild Area in Pokemon Shield, okay? So many Pokemon to catch and so little time. It’s been exhausting but fun.

The loss was a setback, for sure. We came in thinking that the Lions could win a defensive battle with the new depth of scoring options that they’ve discovered this year. However, Rutgers is a great defensive team, and Penn State wasn’t able to get all of its scorers involved. Lamar Stevens struggled to do anything in the first half, but Mike Watkins made some big plays to give the Lions a lead at the half. After the break, Myreon Jones found his jumper, but Watkins slowed down and no one could get to the basket. That’s been my issue with Stevens this year. He’s settling for a lot of low-efficiency jumpers and not attacking the basket as much. With the way the Jones boys have been shooting, there should be more room in the lane to operate.

Anyway, the big difference in the second half for Rutgers was that Ron Harper Jr. finally got going and Jacob Young came off the bench and made some great plays cutting into the paint. Rutgers outscored Penn State in the second half, 44-28.

Continue reading →

Posted in National Football League, New York Giants | Leave a comment

The NFL’s Wild Card Weekend was Wacky and Wild

Posted on January 5, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

We already talked about the big upset in New England and how Tom Brady’s future will be the conversation that dominates the NFL offseason. Before that, the Bills blew a 16-0 third quarter lead to the Texans and eventually lost in overtime when two Buffalo defenders bounced off of Deshaun Watson like pinballs, allowing him to set up the game-winning field goal. Watson is an incredible athlete with loads of potential, but I’m not ready to call him one of the elite quarterbacks in the league just yet.

Watson did a great job to lead the comeback effort in Houston, but he was also sacked seven times and should have been sacked an eighth time. After all, that play was more representative of poor Buffalo tackling than Watson’s skill, even if he did display plenty of that during the game. Maybe Watson can change my mind about him by beating Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs next week. Would love to see him put a little touch on the ball and make some plays in the first half.

Continue reading →

Posted in Big Ten Basketball, National Football League | Leave a comment

The Patriots Dynasty is Finally Over Until They Find Another Quarterback

Posted on January 4, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

Yikes. The Patriots just lost and blew the money line parlay I had with them and Tulane. You should have seen me cheering on the Green Wave as it came all the way back from 13 points down to crush Southern Miss. I was sure that Tom Brady and the boys would up their game for the playoffs and get one last win at home.

Nope. I was wrong. Brady looked washed up and only found success when he was dinking and dunking his way slowly down the field. He went 20-for-37 for 209 yards. The Patriots’ defense did all it could to keep the team in the game, holding Tennessee to 71 passing yards. Ryan Tannehill did come through with a huge completion to Anthony Firkser that converted a critical 3rd and 8, but for the most part the Miami castoff was just a complement to Derrick Henry in the run game.

Speaking of Henry, he was fantastic for most of the game. Old-school road graters like him are supposed to be a thing of the past in today’s game where the tailback has to be part of the passing game, but Henry is clearly one of the most valuable backs in the world not named Christian McCaffrey.

Continue reading →

Posted in Big Ten Basketball, National Football League, Penn State Basketball | 1 Comment

Remind Me That Penn State is Playing Iowa at The Palestra on Saturday

Posted on January 3, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

The NFL Playoffs start tomorrow and I’m going to be at work, so I’m probably going to forget that Penn State has a huge Big Ten game against Iowa on Big Ten Network at 2:00 p.m. That would be unfortunate, because 2020 is a make-or-break year for Pat Chambers at the Nittany Lions. With everything going right for the team, it might as well disband if it doesn’t make the NCAA Tournament this season. They have two star players in the frontcourt with Lamar Stevens and Mike Watkins, as well as a few guards who can hit three-point shots and even some bench scoring.

Plus, Penn State got off to a strong start in the non-conference season by scoring quality wins over Georgetown, Syracuse, and Alabama. There’s a couple more if Yale contends for the Ivy League title and if Wake Forest doesn’t get totally destroyed by the ACC slate. This is a big deal for a PSU program that has had previous Tournament bids torn to shreds because of a lousy non-conference resume.

There should be a big crowd at The Palestra in Philly, so I’m calling for a win over Iowa, although Luke Garza has the potential to cause major problems with his ability to both rebound and score from outside. Watkins will have his hands full.

Continue reading →

Posted in Big Ten Basketball, National Football League | Leave a comment

Big Ten Basketball is Back Tonight

Posted on January 2, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

2020 has not been kind to me so far. I had to work on New Year’s Day and almost got stuck on the air at NBA Radio when the David Stern news broke. Today I’m trying to enjoy the Birmingham Bowl, but a lightning delay and Boston College being objectively terrible are making that difficult. Plus, my wife is working late and I don’t know when to start the fish. First-world problems, I know. But I live in a first-world country where most football teams outside of Chestnut Hill have an offense.

Don’t worry too much about me, though. I nailed my Rose Bowl pick thanks to a wonderful pass interference call and I’ve got the return of Big Ten basketball to look forward to tonight. In the first game, Minnesota takes on Purdue in West Lafayette. The Gophers were supposed to be near the bottom of the league this year, and they started out November with three losses in their first four games. However, lately they have looked like they belong in the NCAA Tournament with wins over Ohio State and Oklahoma State this month.

Continue reading →

Posted in Big Ten Basketball | Leave a comment

That Offensive Pass Interference Call in the Rose Bowl Makes a Lot of Sense

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Aaron Yorke

There was an offensive pass interference call in the Rose Bowl today that all but ended Wisconsin’s chances to win the game. With three minutes left, the Badgers were trailing 28-27 on their own 28-yard line and attempting to drive to take the lead. On third down, Jack Coan completed a pass to tight end Jake Ferguson for what appeared to be a first down. However, the referees called offensive pass interference on wide receiver Danny Davis III, which caused a 3rd and 20 and after that a punt.

At first, it looks like a ticky-tack call that was too ambiguous to make this late in the Grandaddy of Them All. Gene Steratore says as much in his tweet. However, if you watch the play, you’ll see that Oregon cornerback Deommodore Lenoir (No. 6) has his eyes on the ball and is in position to make a play when Davis — who is not looking at the ball — shoves him away from the play.

Continue reading →

Posted in Big Ten Football | Leave a comment

The Game of the Century and also LSU vs. Alabama

Posted on November 8, 2019 by Aaron Yorke

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m overselling Penn State vs. Minnesota just a little bit. Or am I? The game might be more important to both sides than the one that kicks off in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in the middle of Saturday afternoon. With Ohio State looming for Penn State, the Nittany Lions likely need to win in Minneapolis in order to keep their Playoff hopes alive. The same is true for Minnesota, a team that needs to go undefeated to make the Playoff due to its super soft schedule.

In the SEC game, LSU might be able to lose the game and still sneak into the Playoff. The same might also be true for Alabama because of how the Playoff Selection Committee has treated the program in the past. However, if you just look at this year’s Alabama team, its strength of schedule doesn’t match up to squads of the past. Its toughest non-conference foe is Duke and its toughest East Division opponent has been South Carolina. LSU in the same spots has played Texas and Florida. At the end of the year, a one-loss LSU would look better than one-loss Alabama.

The big question is, which program will have one loss at the end of the season? As much as I love Joe Burrow, Ed Orgeron, and those beautiful purple and gold uniforms, it’s probably going to LSU. Tua Tagovailoa’s injury complicates matters, but the Tide has the edge at home and should be able to put up points on LSU’s defense. We’ve already seen the Tigers give up big passing totals to Sam Ehlinger of Texas and Florida’s Kyle Trask. If Tua is healthy enough to avoid LSU’s pass rush, he should be able to find some openings in the secondary. What makes Bama’s offense such a powerhouse is that the passing game doesn’t get funneled through one receiver. DeVonta Smith, Jerry Jeudy, and Henry Ruggs III all have over 500 receiving yards already.

Continue reading →

Posted in College Football, Penn State | Leave a comment