The Best Time Of Year For Sports

It rained like crazy in NYC yesterday. So we stayed home and worked and watched TV and had dinner with our family.

And we watched football, basketball, and baseball. This is the best time of the year for sports. You get the Series in baseball, the start of basketball season when you can still hope, and the middle of the season in football when games still matter for everyone.

I will admit that I did not make it to the end of that World Series game. Had I know how it was going to end, I would have stayed up but I did not. Even so, the innings I saw were awesome. How good is baseball right now? I thought last year’s Series was not going to be beat for a long time and this year may be even better.

The Knicks got a win on the road over an absolutely terrible Cavs team. Our two big scores Zingo and Tim Jr both went for 30+. I’m not getting my hopes up but this Knicks team is a lot more fun to watch than the late Melo years which were awful.

And the Jets figured out how to lose a lead for the third week in a row. This one is the hardest for me. I want to hate the Jets but there is something about this team that I can’t give up on. And the NFL is a mess. It sure feels like a league that is losing its way.

And in the middle of all of that sports, we got in another Ken Burns Vietnam episode. We’ve now made it through seven. It’s great. If you haven’t watched it and care about America, the world, war, suffering, surviving, and history, it is absolutely worth watching.

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Comments (Archived):

  1. rich caccappolo

    I’m with you with the Jets. They’re infuriating. I don’t know why I bother. They start strong and then make avoidable mistakes…every week. For years. Different coaches, different players, same result. The franchise has a deep-seeded culture of losing.

    1. Salt Shaker

      Team surprisingly competitive, but yes, still infuriating. They will win far more games this year than anyone ever anticipated. Deep draft for QB’s. Will still be in position for quality pick. GM’s decision to release key players and most recent draft picks both surprisingly solid. Chin up. (Yeah I know, it’s hard.)

  2. lancetrebesch

    I second your comments on Ken Burns’ Vietnam. I cannot turn it off. It’s probably his best.

  3. Rob Underwood

    Totally agree. Great sports day. I made it through most of the baseball game before putting it on the radio as I fell asleep. Incredible series.On football, game of the week has to be barn burner Seattle – Houston game. And in part thanks to the single dumbest punt return the Patriots are back where they belong at the top of the AFC looking for a 1st round bye.On TV generally, in addition to Vietnam, don’t miss The Deuce on HBO. Incredible ensemble of actors, lead and supporting.

    1. JamesHRH

      Houston sports radio ripping OB for poor D on final drive and overly cautious play calling down the stretch……..Texans polarity has switched – they are unstoppable on O after being dominant on D for several years…….crazy.

  4. jason wright

    Warball, that great ‘sport’ of the Washington Consensus. Americans need to do more to recover the ‘by the people’ part of their constitution by spending less of their time glued to centralised mass media content on a wet Sunday. Most ICOs may be scams, but they foretell a change in the paradigm of power, and in whatever way possible it should be supported. try running a node (hard), buy a hard wallet (easy), but just be doing something to contribute to the construction of a fresh start for real democracy and civilised values.I seek no votes.———————p.s. does anyone have the Essential phone?

    1. creative group

      jason wright:We are second and third adopters. We don’t run out and purchase a device (phone) just because it is the new version. The essential phone based upon reviews is nothing special and is overpriced. The Google Pixel 2XL is considered above average with a burn in screen at bottom (Google saying they are able to fix) and Note 8.The consensus is that Apples X (XL) is co-best device with LG30. (Cough cough on anything Apple hardware) We will patiently await LG30 price drop. (CNET)If a device (phone) isn’t 6″ or more it doesn’t get our attention.

      1. jason wright

        …but but but i just bought the Pixel XL (original) new for half price! so what are you saying? 🙂

        1. jason wright

          I’m eyeing up the V30. Combine it with the Pixel software experience and guaranteed support and it’s game over. LG is so tantalisingly close to having the best phone out there.

    2. creative group

      jason wright:You will receive at least 10 up votes because you advocated for no votes. Strange how that psychology works.

      1. jason wright

        it embarrasses me that i have nearly 10,000 Disqus votes. i’m clearly not being radical enough.

  5. William Mougayar

    How about the $2.3B Knicks valuation after the 50% purchase by Alibaba’s Joe Tsai.Correction: Nets, not Knicks!

    1. Salt Shaker

      Nets, not the Knicks. 49% buy at $2.3B valuation.

      1. William Mougayar

        yup…meant Brooklyn’s Nets.

    2. fredwilson

      You mean Nets, right?It would be a dream if the Knicks were sold

      1. William Mougayar

        Nets, yes!was rushing this morning.

        1. jason wright

          understandable error. the players are tall, the ball is round. where’s the differentiation?

          1. Salt Shaker

            Winning tradition, broadcast rights fees (clubs control local rights), sponsorship rev, etc. Major market=beaucoup bucks. Smaller market teams, less so.

          2. William Mougayar

            ha…

      2. JamesHRH

        Does Dolan have kids? You can dream.

    3. jason wright

      why would he, or anyone, do that?

    4. JamesHRH

      About right. If Rockets are 2.2 and Clips are 2, Nets are 2.3.

  6. Tom Labus

    At least the Giants had a bye week!!After the Cleveland and Houston Yankee series, I thought I was done but this series has been great. Both teams top form and some great players.Ken Burn’s series is a major historical document. Just amazing. Where did they get some of this footage like in Hue?

    1. awaldstein

      Obviously need to see the series.Just downloaded it so I can view with Lianna’s Dad.

      1. pointsnfigures

        Watched it. I also followed my friend’s posts on Facebook about it who received the Medal of Honor in Vietnam. He thought it was a good documentary. I also saw some blogposts out there that didn’t think it was very good. I thought it was good in that it showed how a government would totally lie to it’s people (from 1962 on) for no real good reason. What was amazing to me is Nixon could have done nothing and made a totally unforced error causing him to lose his Presidency.

        1. awaldstein

          This obviously stylized the world and music that defined my era as I came of age at the very end of it.Not an abstraction to me.

          1. Tom Labus

            Some of the events are still overwhelming. This is a very powerful doc.

          2. awaldstein

            Remember kids leaving High School and not coming back.And since this was pre the Aid epidemic, really the first time many of us came to grips with mortality and government honestly.This was narrated to us through music up close and personal in clubs and concerts on the streets.

          3. Salt Shaker

            Honestly, watching the Burns series is sensory overload. Makes you both angry (at gov’t) and sad (for lives lost and ruined, on both sides). I had to take a break while watching. Needed a day or two off. Bad decisions and selfish, criminal motives.

          4. PhilipSugar

            There are two things that hammer this home for me. When you go to West Point (I judge senior engineering projects) there is a wall with senior pictures of the cadets that have died in combat. It breaks your heart when you realize that could be one of the talented bright eyed cadets you spent a couple of days with who might die in some foreign land.And ruined is right not just physically of which there are many. I had a Scoutmaster that would wake up every morning and literally wretch so bad it would bring tears to his eyes. I asked him why? He said he thought it was a combination of two things. He was drafted and his job was to shoot Vietnamese from a helicopter after they defoliated with agent orange.He said he would do that and it brought back memories, and he felt guilty because he was very good, but he would be over it for the day. He went to Penn afterwords and is a very, very successful commercial real estate developer.

          5. JLM

            .When I was a young officer and serving in Korea as the war in VN was winding down, I had a platoon sergeant who had the DSC (second to The Medal), a silver star, and a bronze star with V.I used to sit on battalion charge-of-quarters all night with him. COQ is like being a babysitter, but we were up on the DMZ, so it was important duty.Whenever I had the duty, he would volunteer to serve with me. [I think he thought of it as time to teach his lieutenant how the cow was intended to eat the cabbage.]He told me the story of his being awarded the DSC — this was less than 24 months earlier than that instant in time. It was pretty damn raw.In the middle of the story — snowing with huge flakes coming down from Manchuria, a blizzzard with high winds perched on the side of a small mountain — he got up, ran outside and sprinted around the base. Then, he came back in and finished the story.It was a classic example of PTSS (it used to be a “syndrome” in those days).Whenever he would get excited, he would start talking Spanish (he was Puerto Rican) and I would have to get him to back up and tell me in English.We will never really know the depth of emotion that that war left in our population on an individual basis.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

          6. JLM

            .The anthem to the war was Glen Campbell’s Galveston followed by The Who’s Won’t Get Fooled Again. Of course, we got fooled again and again.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

    2. JLM

      .The Burns doc is as much a documentary on the political environment of the times as the Vietnam War.The Vietnam War was not a single cohesive act with linkages which made it into a cohesive whole. It was disjointed and fitful, lurching toward an indistinct military objective with differing degrees of vigor over a long, long period of time.The war at the DMZ (USMC) and the war in the Delta and the war on the border were three different wars and continued to evolve with the passage of time.What does come across from some of the extraordinary combat scenes is the sheer magnitude of the fighting, something I have always thought America didn’t get. Some of those multi-day urban fights were bigger than some of the island attacks in the Pacific in WWII.The high point of the war as it related to size was 1968 as typified in the Tet Offensive. There were more than 1.5MM ARVN, American, and allied forces facing off with an equal number of VC/NVA. Throw in a huge amount of artillery, armor, and air power and it was an enormous undertaking.The truth is it was a huge victory for the ARVNs/Americans which we squandered thereafter. Had we pressed the NVA at that time, we would have walked them out of the country and gone as far north as we wanted.They made a huge losing bet, but it was very hard to see at the time.Americans always fail to consider how many ARVN troops were fighting for their country. This was different than many American wars where the Americans were the vast majority of the troop strength.When compared to recent conflicts, it was enormous and the casualty rolls tell that story exactly. The US lost more than 26,000 killed in 1968 and more than 550 in a single day. Compare that to recent conflicts.This was the first really photographed war. There were a lot of war photographers who got killed to make this so. Al Gore was a combat photographer — active duty Army.It is impossible to get a full sense of the documentary as no individual has that breadth of observation and the war went on for so long. It is my sense that the political commentary leans more than a little left.Wars are an obscene failure of mankind. It is hard to believe this really happened. I am astounded to measure the sheer magnitude of the conflict and the manner in which successive Presidents just kept feeding the fire.I remember being at VMI my first year and halting meals for a moment of silence for a grad who had been killed. It was a little surreal and then it became very real.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

      1. Tom Labus

        You walk that wall in DC and it’s tough to take it all in. We learned zip from all that pain. Now in afghan for 13 years no one can tell you why. No press or very little, no coherent political objective.This is one of your best comments!

        1. JLM

          .It is pretty damn hard to look at that wall and not be moved to tears.I have gotten so I can’t go in the daylight. It has to be at dusk.The enormous lost human potential of those names haunts our nation.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

  7. Salt Shaker

    Jose Altuve pound for pound, inch for inch, dollar for dollar, the most exciting player in baseball. A real throwback. No disrespect to Judge, but no way this guy isn’t season MVP.

    1. JamesHRH

      Jose Altuuuuuuuuuuuuuuvaaaaaaaaaaaaay is a PA announcer’s wet dream.Guy at Minute Maid does a great job on it.

    2. TeddyBeingTeddy

      He’s fun to watch, he’s an underdog due to his size, he’s clutch, love this guy and never heard of him before this series (I don’t watch baseball much)

  8. pointsnfigures

    Video game baseball meets major league baseball.

  9. Pointsandfigures

    I haven’t seen that but I wished they’d have used those balls when the Dodgers played the Cubs. Cubs didn’t hit (and their bullpen didn’t pitch)

  10. creative group

    CONTRIBUTORS:”Our two big scores Zingo and Tim Jr both went for 30+. I’m not getting my hopes up but this Knicks team is a lot more fun to watch than the late Melo years which were awful.” – FredWhen you can name players on the sports team you say you support then consider yourself a true fan.Fair weather fans be damned.Note to self:Our beloved Knicks are horrible. Period No thanks to Phil ” Didn’t have a clue” Jackson ruining the team. Melo should never had been extended that contract or even traded to the Knicks from Denver.Captain Obvious!

  11. TeddyBeingTeddy

    Amen. After the strike many years ago I thought baseball was dead. Now it’s bigger and better than ever. I am entertained!

  12. PhilipSugar

    I do love rainy Sunday’s watching football. The Cowboys won a good game against Washington in that rain.I think the NFL is a microcosm of the U.S. There are many stresses and strains but it still has the highest ratings.

    1. jason wright

      doesn’t the NFL have an anti-trust exemption? a bit like America’s plutocracy.

  13. DJL

    Houston has not been this lit-up in 20 years. It is really fun to watch thousands of people – of all sizes, races, religions, backgrounds – wearing the colors and rooting for a common goal. In a strange way (save for the NFL) sports may be the best true unifying force in society.Ken Burns is by far the greatest documentary producer in history. I got into him years ago with his Ansel Adams doc. The National Parks is my favorite.

  14. DJL

    My wife was surprised that at a recent event I knew all the words to the Canadian National Anthem. 16 years of growing up watching Hockey Night in Canada is all it takes. Love that game.

    1. JamesHRH

      Lots of Canadian Kids used to think the last line of the anthem was ‘ Let’s Go Leafs!!!! ’ ( when there was only one national game broadcast a week) from watching HNiC.Or ‘ Allez Les Habitants ‘.

      1. DJL

        I think Roger Doucet probably put that in at least once just to throw us off.

        1. JamesHRH

          +100,000 for the excellent reference.Even if you grew up a Bruins fan (like me) and hated the Habs, you had to admit that Rojay (a la Francais) was awesome. The NHL had a chokehold on awesome anthems in those days – Kate Smith for the Flyers and Wayne Messmer for the ‘Hawks.One off NBA anthems like Marvin Gaye were better, but for game in game out playoff anthem rocking, these 3 have no peers.Messmer’s injury was an insane circumstance, if you don’t know about it: http://articles.chicagotrib…Last game @ Chicago Stadium tribute to him – last 2 mins are insane: https://www.youtube.com/wat

          1. DJL

            Wow. I got a chill watching this.Didn’t see anyone taking a knee.

          2. PhilipSugar

            I watched Kate Smith but the best is this guy: Jim Cornelisonhttps://www.youtube.com/wat…Strangely Baltimore has some serious Opera singers too: Mike Rowe from Dangerous jobs and Deadliest CatchAnd their field goal kicker:https://www.youtube.com/wat

          3. DJL

            Each NFL player should be required to watch these in succession. And notice how each rendition is preceded by “Please STAND” for our National Anthem. Incredible.

          4. PhilipSugar

            I am ok if you want to respectfully kneel. I think as much as I don’t like Jerry Jones as a Texan (he is from Arkansas) He got it right, get every single person including back office lock arms, kneel, and then stand. That is what we fight for.

          5. JamesHRH

            That’s too, is awesome.Messmer / Doucet / Smith is the generation that set the standard. Its surprising that, really, only the Hawks have continued the tradition.Funny the NFL has never really had a signature anthem personality or moment. The NBA has Whitney and Marving, after all.I could watch this all day – https://www.youtube.com/wat

      2. Richard Carlow

        Another nice one and shows us Canucks did not only learn the words to our own anthem.https://www.youtube.com/wat

  15. Mitch Kline

    Hockey is the best.

  16. JLM

    .Actually the specs for MLB baseballs are quite wide.It is perfectly plausible that all these things are true as the World Series balls are “special” with gold lettering and are not a random walk.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…

  17. SteiNYSF

    This time of year is great! I’m partial to early April for the March madness > Masters > Baseball Opening Day > NBA stretch run time of year

  18. Drew Meyers

    Best world series i’ve ever seen, that’s for sure.

  19. jason wright

    military interventions to serve the interests of Goldman Morgan Citi et al, and facilitated by the Clinton axis. God only knows how many people who are alive today would by now have been slaughtered if Rodham Clinton had won in 2016.

  20. fredwilson

    I just set mine up and moved come crypto into it. The Chrome apps work well. The UI on the device is not great because of the small screen size. Reminds me of my MS DOS days 😉

  21. jason wright

    not yet. waiting for one or two more specific tokens to receive support. i’m surprised by some that are now supported. clearly money talks with the Ledger crew.Although it’s huge i am eyeing up the Blue.iconoclast to the end of time 🙂

  22. jason wright

    i try to stitch posts together, otherwise they become immediately fish’n’chip paper