March 31, 2023

Month: January 2022

Mandel’s Musings: As Tom Brady Decides to Retire From the NFL, Is it Even Debatable Who the Greatest Quarterback of All Time Is?

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By Scott Mandel

In the sports business, fans and media alike often get into debates about which team or player is the greatest of all time or, certainly, of a particular era. It’s a viable debate, unlike a discussion of the greatest scientist or politician of all time. Too many variables in those areas!!

But, in sports, other than it being difficult to compare eras, mostly because of advancements in training conditions, the human body, coaching techniques, etc., it’s easy to compare players and teams, intra-era.

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has a shoe room for his 180 pairs
Is Mahomes the heir apparent to Brady as the NFL’s best QB?

That’s why the statement, “Tom Brady is the greatest quarterback of his era, and possibly, of all time” is as real and accurate as “Michael Jordan was the greatest basketball player of his generation, or other generations.”

Or, “Thurman Munson was better than Johnny Bench.” Or, “the New York football Giants suck.”

All of these statements have more than a degree of truth. The fun part of these debates begins when you compare the greatest players or teams from other eras:

Who was better? The ’27 Yankees or the 1976 Big Red Machine? That would take us through a steak dinner and dessert, at least.

Don’t get me started on the greatest presidents. I can just imagine someone in a bar, after way too many imbibed alcoholic beverages saying, “Trump would have wiped out the Cold War before it even started. That Truman dude didn’t have a clue!! Get me another beer!!”

Mandel’s Musings: Mets Throwing Concert at Citi Field in June; Becky G? Black Pumas? This Old Guy Has Never Heard of ‘Em

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By Scott Mandel

Some Snark on Facebook called me “gramps” yesterday. She may be right.

The Mets just sent out an email to the media announcing the names of the bands who will be participating in a three day concert at Citi Field in June. The list includes: J. Cole, Halsey, and Kid Cudi, joined across the weekend by performers including Flume, Playboi Carti, Roddy Ricch, Glass Animals, Migos, Jack Harlow, Kaytranada, Joji, Louis The Child, Clairo, Jazmine Sullivan, Still Woozy, 100 Gecs, Japanese Breakfast, Becky G, Black Pumas and many more.

Representing all humans above the age of 19, who the hell are these people? Which band will turn into the next John, Paul, George, and Ringo? Which ones will show up on the Ed Sullivan show this coming Sunday?

Perry Como Greatest Hits Full Album - The Very Best Of Perry Como Songs - YouTube
Perry Como, one of the best and hippest crooners in history

Gramps? Gramps!!

Sistah, let me tell ya, you have no idea how groovy I really am!! Now, be a sweet little thing and get me a sody pop out of the icebox, please. While you’re doing that, be a good girl and put a Perry Como vinyl record on the victrola?

Former Giants Busts, DeAndre Baker and Eli Apple, May Hold the Key to Bengals or Chiefs Super Bowl Chances

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by Scott Mandel

Next week, two former NY Giants cornerbacks, both drafted in the first round by Big Blue, will be playing in the American Football Conference championship game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals, with the winner going on to play in the Super Bowl, that game with all that great halftime entertainment and great football food, like pigs in a blanket.

For DeAndre Baker of Kansas City, the Giants 1st round pick in 2019 from the great University of Georgia program and Eli Apple of Cincinnati, whom the Giants chose with the 10th overall pick in 2016 as the first cornerback in that draft class out of Ohio State University, it’s been a long hard road to get to this pinnacle of their sport.

From gun and robbery charges and serious injuries for Baker to mental health accusations thrown in Apple’s direction, both young men were considered busts as NFL players.

Now, Eli Apple and DeAndre Baker will each be facing two of the greatest young quarterbacks in the history of the sport. How they perform can very well be the difference between their teams going home or going to the Super Bowl to play for the championship of the sport and the most-watched sporting event in the country.

Apple and Baker, as cornerbacks, will be charged with the sole responsibility of preventing Patrick Mahomes and Joe Burrow from doing what these two outstanding QBs do better than almost any other quarterback has ever done, particularly at such young ages (under 25), in the history of professional football. They complete passes, throw multiple touchdowns and, embarrass opposing cornerbacks at an alarming rate. Over and over again.

We will be paying close attention to these two young star quarterbacks this entire week but it is DeAndre Baker and Eli Apple, the former college All-Americans who turned into NFL busts who will be given a chance at redemption this Sunday, in the biggest game of their lives. Baker and Apple will try to recover their soiled and sordid reputations, back to the time they entered the league as college stars.

Urban Meyer on Eli Apple's NFL issues: 'He was fantastic for us' - cleveland.com
Eli Apple in his Ohio State days in 2016

Both players may well hold the result of this game in their hands, either by allowing a touchdown to be scored against them as they lose track of the opposing teams’ great receivers or, by picking off a pass and taking it to the house, sending their team to the Super Bowl, with the crowd going crazy in the stadium and more than 100 million viewers watching on television.

We know both of these kids are dreaming big dreams of being heroes, which is exactly what they used to be on campus. The alternative is, of course, nightmarish, something both Mahomes and Burrow are used to inflicting on opposing cornerbacks. They can light up the sky with passes and points.

Former Georgia cornerback Deandre Baker facing armed robbery, aggravated assault charges | Georgia Sports | redandblack.com
DeAndre Baker – University of Georgia, 2018

DeAndre Baker and Eli Apple are playing for much more than a Super Bowl berth. They are playing to turn their lives around.

Lance Stephenson, Indiana Pacers Star Eight Years Ago, Returns to Indiana with Stunning Performance vs. Brooklyn Nets

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By Scott Mandel

Indiana head coach, Rick Carlisle’s comments after last night’s game, a 129-121 Brooklyn Nets win over the Indiana Pacers, reflected who the dominant player of the game turned out to be. It wasn’t Kyrie Irving, that’s for sure.

“When Lance Stephenson is in the game, his best position is point guard. He makes things happen, he has great vision and has the ability to get hot. The run that he went on when he first went in was amazing.”

The run Carlisle is referring to was Stephenson setting an NBA record for most points ever scored by a substitute off the bench in the first quarter of a game. Stephenson came off the bench to a standing ovation from Pacers fans at the 5 minute mark of the first quarter. When the quarter ended seven minutes later, he had rung up 20 points. More precisely, he scored 20 consecutive points for his team in seven minutes.

Stephenson, who returned to Indiana for a third time in his career last night after being drafted in the second round by the Pacers way back in 2010 as a 19-year old, is now a 31-year old grizzled veteran, playing on a 10-day Covid hardship contract after no NBA team was willing to give him an opportunity to play in the league since the 2018 season, when he played for the Los Angeles Lakers. Stephenson had to take his talents to China to play followed by his return to the United States in 2021 to play minor league basketball in the NBA G-League.

Carlisle, in his first year as Pacers coach, was effusive in his praise for Stephenson:

“There were some great moments tonight, and where we are right now, we need more of it. We know that he’s gonna bring energy and attitude and a level of physicality to the game that’s necessary.”

Sounds like a competitive and tough-minded Brooklyn kid to me. It also sounds like a coach who is developing confidence in Stephenson’s skill-set, something the 6’6″ 225 pound guard has always desired during his NBA days. His on-the-court demeanor has always been a little “dfferent,” going back to his blowing into LeBron James’ ear during the heat of a playoff battle, followed by his on-court gyrations and air guitar playing after he scored baskets. But, at his core, he’s always just been a kid who needed an authority figure/coach to allow his unique talents – power, court vision and the ability to score/pass/rebound to flourish.

In Rick Carlisle, desperate to structure a losing Pacers season into one fans will turn out to watch, Stephenson appears to have a coach who’s going to run his offense through him.

Stephenson should have been one of the highest paid players in the league instead of playing for the league minimum on a 10-day tryout. At age 31, Lance Stephenson is going to try to reclaim his talent and actualize it.

It’s a story worth watching.

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