Red's RBI #5 (11/01-11/07)

BASEBALL

In offseason MLB news, the Mets had a huge day on Friday. The sell to Steve Cohen was finalized, Van Wagenen, Minaya, and others are splitting, and the front office in general is changing drastically. Don't expect a manager change from Rojas, though. 

Yankee's DJ  won a Silver Slugger and don't forget that the November 11th deadline looms!

BASKETBALL

Dinamo Sassari won their Champions League and LBA games this week, rebounding from last week's hiccup and taking the W's by at least 20. Statement victories are a must right now and they're certainly making them more often than not thus far. Sadly, on Saturday, they lost to Trento by 14, though. 2-1 on the week.

The NBA Players Association has approved the layout for the next season which will feature 72 games and will begin days before Christmas on the 22nd of December. Health protocols are still being confirmed and agreed upon.

FOOTBALL

The Jets lost again, getting us closer and closer to ending 0-16. Can we trademark "Imperfect Season"? Expecting anything close in a game against the Chiefs, a team that still refuses to consider changing their name, was never really in the cards but as a fan I was admittedly hoping for more than a 35-9 L spot. At this point, we really need to officially do an overhaul and just keep Sam and a few other faces while gutting the rest like we're a fucking expansion team and move forward. No more small ball choices and questionable hires. Step up and move forward instead of constantly sideways or, in the case of 2020, backwards. 

Ahead of their game with the Patriots, they cut CB Quincy.

Just to throw it out there, here are a the key moves I think the team needs to make.

1.Fire Gase ASAP

2.Keep Sam instead of chasing the "golden goose" from Clemson

3.Fix the line

4.Seek receivers

5.Hunt for a pass rusher

USC played their first game of the season and picked up the win in an amazing game. Fans of the sport should watch for sure. Fans of the Trojans, like myself, would have preferred a more comfortable victory, of course, but wow! College football magic.

Syracuse suffered another L this week, with Boston stepping past the Orange as the drama continues. Big changes are needed.

Ohio State took on Rutgers this week. You have to give credit to the New Jersey squad. They might have lost, but they did so with flair and the trick plays were fun. OSU still looked like a truly elite team either way so it made for good entertainment all around.

Texas A&M made their SEC opponents, the Gamecocks, look like cupcakes and outplayed them at every level. They might be the best team outside of the top 4 in the rankings right now.

MOTOR

NASCAR had their penultimate race of the season and the narrowing of the field was certainly a sight to see. Harvick's elimination was easily the biggest story of not just the race, but the season. Nine victories and twenty top-five appearances weren't enough thanks to a system so worthless that it almost makes the electoral college make sense. And I say that as someone who doesn't care about Harvick at all. The final four after the race featured Logano, Hamlin, Elliot, and Keselowski. 

RUGBY

Benetton Rugby had to see their Pro14 game postponed due to the Italians having a minor outbreak of COVID as the country continues to have issues stopping the virus.

SOCCER

The New York Red Bulls played local rivals, NYFC, falling to the club 5-2 thanks to a hat trick from Valentin and have their final game of the regular season set for the 8th against Toronto. With the playoffs ahead, you know they'll want to rebound especially since the Canadian squad is currently one of the highest teams on the table. Never hurts to walk into the post-season with such a win...

AS Roma took both their Serie A and Europa Group Stage games during the week, beating Fiorentina and CFR Cluj, respectfully putting up a collection of seven goals in the process and keeping a clean sheet against. If they can best Genoa and not get too comfortable in their next game, you'll likely see them move up nicely in the table.

Club America beat Tigres 3-1 in dramatic fashion. Late in the game, tied 1-1, a set of goals, started by Aguilera in the 86th, put the club ahead and an extra timer from Reyes (his second of the game) sealed things. On Saturday night, they took on Juarez in a game that ended, like the Tigres game, in a tie thanks to a even up goal in the....86th. The most hated team in Mexican soccer knocked out Juarez from the playoffs with that goal.

Manchester City's Champions League game against Olympiacos went well with the boys in blue pinning their opponents down easily. While the year hasn't been as kind to the club as fans like myself might wish to see, it's hard to feel disappointed by seeing 9 points in this stage of the tournament.

RB Leipzig beat PSG in a Champions League encounter that HAD to feel good. Last week, they lost 5-0 to Manchester United and then lost in a regular season game, too. PSG scored early, in the 5th, on sloppy movement from RB, but they tightened up after the fact and evened up at the closing stretch of the first. In the second half, they went ahead on a hand ball penalty shot and never looked back. The club remains tied at 6 points with ManU in the group.