Rye Wins Cliff Clinton Classic Basketball Tournament

After beating Pleasantville 63-31 on Friday night and then Blind Brook 56-45 on Saturday afternoon, Rye has once again won their opening tournament.

Sleepy Hollow managed to beat Pleasantville in the consolation game on Saturday by 10 points. Senior F Dan Williams (who’s averaging 25 points per game through Sleepy Hollow’s first five games this year) was named to the all tournament team.

Junior Guards Quinn Kelly and Matthew Tepedino (Rye) were also named to the all tournament team as well as Chris Bucci from Blind Brook. Kelly made three after three in both games, leading Rye in scoring. Tepedino scored around 12 in each game. But even when they were missing, Rye managed to hold it together. At the start of the game vs Blind Brook, Senior Guard Thomas Flaherty scored 11 of the team’s first 12 points to keep the game tied despite Kelly and Tepedino being shut out to start the game.

Led by Senior F Oziah Deloatch, Tappan Zee made the Section Finals last year before getting beat by a Julian McGarvey full court shot (photo via lohud.com)

Next week, Rye plays two of the three best teams in Class A — Tappan Zee and Horace Greeley. Tappan Zee beat Greeley last week 49-46 on three last second free throws from Senior Guard Aidan Cunney. Rye’s been good for a couple of years now, and these two games will be the first tests of the long season. Rye’s playing the hardest schedule in Class A this year, so it’s pretty unlikely that they can get that number one seed for the second year in a row, but once the playoffs come, watch out.

Giants Destroy the Redskins in Washington

The second Alex Smith went down, the Redskins season had little hope. Their NFC East leading record wasn’t nearly a big enough head start to make a playoff spot. The rotation of Colt McCoy, Mark Sanchez, and Josh Johnson is not getting the job done — especially after McCoy’s season ending injury last week. Sanchez did not have another butt fumble, but he was part of the one of the worst blowouts in recent memory. The 40-16 final score doesn’t look too bad, but trust me, it was really bad.

The return of Mark Sanchez couldn’t have gone worse. (photo via Sporting News)

Even without Odell Beckham Jr, the Giants managed to score 33 points in the first half while holding the Redskins to 0. Sterling Shepard caught a touchdown, Benny Fowler caught a touchdown, even Russell Shepard caught a touchdown. Saquon Barkley ran for 170 yards on 14 carries including a 78 yard touchdown. Curtis Riley had a pick six, and in no time the Giants were up 40-0 midway through the third quarter.

Then the Redskins swapped out Sanchez for Josh Johnson, and it was actually pretty promising. Johnson threw for 195 yards and a touchdown to go along with 45 yards and a rushing touchdown in only about one and a half quarters. He did throw an interception, but that was off a tipped pass — not his fault. So maybe Josh Johnson is the answer to the Redskins problems, but now that they’re 6-7, they’re behind both the 6-6 Eagles and the 7-5 Cowboys.

Sure, Josh Johnson looked great, but good luck catching them.

Rye Basketball Kicks Off the Season This Friday

Rye will start the season with the annual Cliff Clinton Tournament this Friday at 7:00 PM. Last year, Rye beat Pleasantville 72-27 in the opening round and then beat Blind Brook 58-44 in the championship game. Rye once again will face Pleasantville in the opening round. Then, if they beat Pleasantville, they will play the winner of Sleepy Hollow vs Blind Brook on Saturday at 3:00 PM.

Sleepy Hollow lost a close game to Blind Brook last year, but they are the favorites this year. Senior Dan Williams on Sleepy Hollow is averaging 27 points per game through two games this season, and with the graduation of Blind Brook’s star guard Jake DiGiansanti, Sleepy Hollow will be the favorite to win.

Assistant Coach Andrew Spinelli (pictured middle) will no longer be on the bench with Rye after a career change (photo via Patch)

Barring injury or sickness, Rye will start the game against Pleasantville with G Troy Egan, G Matthew Tepedino, G Quinn Kelly, F Thomas Flaherty, and F Sam Poole. Sam Poole will be starting until Ryan Lopp comes back from a broken jaw that he suffered in the Section semifinal football game against Clarkstown South. Rye killed Pleasantville last year, but they should have a tougher challenge this Friday.

Come to The Cube to support the basketball team this Friday!

RYE BASKETBALL SCHEDULE AND ROSTER

Here’s the link to the 2018-19 Rye Basketball team picture, schedule, and roster. First game is December 7 at home vs Pleasantville.

Rye BB Poster 18_19

NFL MVP Race Through 8 Weeks

Through 8 weeks, there’s typically only a few legitimate MVP candidates. This year, however, I can think of at least six players that could easily win the award. When I think of who I would vote for MVP, I think of the best teams — this year the Rams, the Chiefs, the Patriots, the Panthers, and the Saints. So my MVP candidates will come from these five teams… plus an exception. Sure, the Packers are 3-3-1, they’re third in their division, but Aaron Rodgers has as good of a chance to win the MVP this year as anyone.

Patrick Mahomes is on pace to throw 52 (!) touchdowns this year. (photo via ESPN.com)

After I find the good teams, I like to think of how a team would be without that player. After all, it’s the MOST VALUABLE player award. Without Aaron Rodgers, the Packers are a three-win team at best. Without Drew Brees, the Saints are a four or five win team. Without Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs and their terrible defense are a four or five win team. Without Cam Newton, the Panthers would struggle to win 7. Contrary to popular belief, without Brady, Belichick and the Patriots would collapse. But then there’s Todd Gurley. Gurley’s having a year for the ages. Halfway through the season Gurley has 1151 scrimmage yards and 15 touchdowns. He’s incredible, but he’s not the MVP. The defense, the offensive line, and the steps that Jared Goff has made this year could keep the Rams as a 12 win team even without Gurley.

As it stands, I could see any of the 5 quarterbacks I mentioned winning the MVP. My money would be on Mahomes or Brees. As it stands, the Chiefs are 7-1 with what is probably the worst defense in the NFL. Mahomes’ numbers are unbelievable, and even if he regresses significantly he will still probably be able to win MVP. HOWEVER, I’d put my money on Drew Brees. After losing to Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Saints have won six straight games. Some of these wins have been against the league’s top defenses like the Ravens, Redskins, and Vikings. The Saints defense is better than the Chiefs’, but they’ve taken a big step back from last year. Brees has thrown 14 touchdowns and only one interception. If the Saints beat the Rams tomorrow, which I think they will, and Brees can keep his efficiency where it is, which I think he will, then Brees will win his first MVP award.

With that being said, Rodgers has played just about as well as Mahomes and Brees have this year with a worse supporting cast AND on an injured knee. Rodgers has a big game tomorrow night against the Patriots. If the Packers win can win seven of their next eight (they only have two tough games left all year), then Rodgers will be firmly in the MVP discussion, but probably right behind either Mahomes or Brees.

Rye Romps Harrison 41-14

Rye – 44, Harrison – 42. Rye beat rival Harrison for the ninth time in the past ten years last weekend and now have an all time series record of 44-42-3.

Rye’s only loss this season came to the top-seeded Clarkstown South Vikings, who Rye could potentially (and probably will) face in the playoffs (photo via Tania Saviyan/ The Journal News)

Before the game, OL Jack Iuliano won the Chris Mello scholarship. He will play football in college, he’s deciding between Princeton and Penn.

Rye, the heavy favorites, started out quick, jumping to a 21-0 lead. On the second play from scrimmage, junior Quinn Kelly caught a thirty yard touchdown. Kelly then intercepted a pass from Harrison quarterback Frank Nannarielo. Rye marched back down the field and junior quarterback Declan Lavelle completed a 33 yard touchdown pass to senior Chad Antico. After that, the game was pretty much over. Antico caught another touchdown pass in the corner of the endzone. Brendan Lavelle ran for two touchdowns and suddenly, Rye was up 41-14.

Declan Lavelle played his best game of the season, he completed 17 of 25 passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns. He also added 92 yards on the ground. Coincidentally, Rye will face Harrison again this weekend at home in the playoffs.

Yankees Go Down in 4

Boone should’ve pulled Severino in the third. Severino’s great, and he was excellent in the wild card game, but a manager has to stay on his toes. Severino was clearly struggling in the first two innings, and especially with the bullpen that the Yankees have, he should’ve been pulled on the spot. Boone admitted yesterday that he was “greedy” because he didn’t pull Severino. Whichever team won game three was going to win the series, and this decision led to one of the biggest blowouts the Yankees have suffered.

Boone may have forgotten that the Yankees have a historically good bullpen (photo via MLB.com)

They lost 16-1! Brock Holt hit for a cycle… Brock Holt! That’s ridiculous. Game 4 was a repeat of game 1, the Yankees got down early, came back, and fell just short. Boone messed up again by leaving CC in for the third, letting up 3 crucial runs. Just like that, the preseason projected World Series winners were out of the playoffs.

As the Yankees enter the offseason, the biggest question will be: should they fire Aaron Boone? The answer is no.

Savvy media skills and personal connections to players can’t be taught, and Aaron Boone is one of the few managers to excel in both areas. Being more aggressive with the hook in elimination games is easier to fix. Boone will end up being a great manager if he can learn from his mistakes and grow alongside the Yankees young core of Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres, and Luis Severino.

 

Yankees Red Sox Game 1

The Red Sox and Yankees meet in the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Game 1 ended a lot like 2004, with the Red Sox on top.

The Red Sox started off hot, JD Martinez hit an early home run against JA Happ. On the other end of the ball, Sale was unbelievable to start the game before he had to come out 16 outs in. By that time, however, the Red Sox were up 5-0 and Happ had been out for three innings.

The two teams play again tomorrow night in Fenway, (photo via NBC Sports)

The Yankees relievers are unbelievable. Chad Green, David Robertson, Zach Britton, and Lance Lynn combined for five scoreless innings. The Red Sox bullpen looked shaky at best, allowing the Yankees to come back to within one run in the top of the ninth. The Yankees managed two runs in the sixth to cut the lead to three. Then, with the bases loaded and no outs, the Yankees managed one run. This inning was their big opportunity to take the lead, but a Stanton strikeout ruined the potentially huge inning. Finally, Judge hit a solo home run to cut the lead to one in the top of the ninth. But Craig Kimbrel then struck out three straight to end the game.

With Happ’s struggles and Sale’s success, it’s encouraging that the game was as close as it was. If the Yankees can take Game 2, which I bet they will given Price’s postseason struggles, the Yankees still have a real chance at winning this series.

Giants Beat Texans

The Giants offense didn’t look terrible on Sunday.

Eli Manning went 25 of 29 for 297 yards and two touchdowns, which might be his best game since 2016. Odell had over 100 yards. Saquon Barkley looked unstoppable as he ran for 82 and a touchdown. But right tackle is still a problem. Shurmur benched Ereck Flowers for Chad Wheeler, who was a slight improvement but still got lit up by JJ Watt and his three sacks.

JJ Watt took advantage of the inexperience of RT Chad Wheeler to end his sack drought (photo via Daily Express)

The defense was good in the first half, but allowed 16 second half points, which of course involved a last second garbage time touchdown to Lamar Miller. Landon Collins and Janoris Jenkins managed to keep Deandre Hopkins’ impact to a minimum. Will Fuller V had a pretty good day, but the Giants D line managed to stop Miller and Hopkins, so it didn’t really matter.

The Giants will take on the Saints as home underdogs next week, if the defense can hold it together, the Giants may be a legitimate threat in the NFC East.

Aaron Rodgers Leads 20-pt Comeback Against the Bears

Aaron Rodgers is the best quarterback in the NFL. He wasn’t great to start the game against the Bears and their newly elite defense, but Rodgers played one of the greatest second halves of football that I’ve ever seen — on one leg.

The game started with a quick punt from the Packers, and then Matt Nagy and the Bears revamped offense looked unstoppable as they had a 10 play, six minute scoring drive capped off by a Mitch Trubisky rushing touchdown. The Packers punted again, the Bears scored again, then the Packers punted again. The next time the Packers got the ball, they had another quick three and out, but Aaron Rodgers was carted off with a knee injury. Packers fans saw their season flash before their eyes as Deshone Kizer came onto the field. Kizer went onto fumble — forced and recovered by new Bears acquisition Khalil Mack. Then Kizer threw a pick six — once again, by Khalil Mack. Suddenly, it was 17-0 at the half.

Randall Cobb took a short pass to the endzone to end the game (photo via Acme)

Then Rodgers came out of the locker room, and no one was sure if he was going to play. The Bears had another long drive, ending in a Cody Parkey field goal to make it 20-0 with under 25 minutes to go. Rodgers came on, and he couldn’t move, but he marched the team down the field to a field goal. The Packers defense came through by forcing a quick punt, and then Rodgers led a touchdown drive ending in a perfect 39 yard touchdown pass to Geronimo Allison. The Packers defense came through again, this time with a huge third and one stop. Rodgers marched down the field again, and Davante Adams scored his first touchdown of the season to make the score 20-17. Matt Nagy and the Bears wouldn’t go down without a fight, and they managed to have a long, 7 minute drive that ended in a field goal, leaving Aaron Rodgers with 2 and a half minutes to score a touchdown. Two incompletions left Rodgers and the Packers in a hole at 3rd and 10 on their own 25, but then Randall Cobb caught a 10 yard pass and took it to the endzone, winning the game for the Packers.

Brady admitted after the game that Rodgers is “so much more talented than [him]” and that if he had the same offensive scheme as Brady, he’d “throw for 7,000 yards every year.” Brady is widely considered the greatest of all time, but at the moment, Rodgers is the best quarterback in the NFL — even if he has one leg.