Sports this 'n' that

Baseball's winter meetings are underway in Las Vegas, and one of the bigger headlines today is a rumor that the Mets, Yankees, & Miami would be partners in a 3-way deal that would send Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard across town to the Bronx, and somehow, the Mets would get catcher J. T. Realmuto from the SS Titanic, aka the Marlins.

BOLLOCKS & BALDERDASH!!!!

Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen, Syndergaard's former agent, is still thinking like an agent. If it was possible for a GM to have that kind of mentality, Scott Boras would be in the front office of his hometown Padres. It was one thing for Van Wagenen to bring another ex-client, Robinson Cano, back to New York, this time with the Mets, in a trade last week, but the dude is playing with fire by even entertaining the notion of trading Syndergaard, which would be filed among some of the stupidest trades in Mets history, and Van Wagenen would be no different than, say, M. Donald Grant, who was SO cheap, he made Ebenezer Scrooge look like a philanthropist before Christmas Eve!

This trade will not happen as constituted now, as it would represent a half dozen steps backward for the Mets, regardless of what Van Wagenen thinks.
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There's more about this over at my new blog, Tri-City SportsBeat, but the 518 lost a local sports legend over the weekend with the passing of Siena College Hall of Famer Bill Kirsch at 86. Bet the farm the current Saints will honor the legend by dedicating the rest of the season to him.
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Oakland Raiders owner Bruce Davis is acting like a whipped puppy.

On Monday, former player-turned-GM Reggie McKenzie, was let go so that the prodigal son, Jon Gruden, can take full control of football operations. Folks in the Bay Area are worried that star QB Derek Carr might be the next to go after the season, what with the Raiders having badly underachieved, despite upsetting Pittsburgh on Sunday. I don't think Davis' late father, Al, would've allowed this to happen, nor allow the mid-season trade of Amari Cooper to Dallas, which has jet-propelled the Cowboys to the top of the NFC East. The way things have gone this season, Gruden should've stuck to selling Corona Extra.......
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They're still buzzing and partying in Miami after the Dolphins' upset of New England on Sunday. ESPN bloviator Stephen A. Smith put the blame on Patriots coach Bill Belichick on Monday, but the simple truth is, after looking at the replay, putting your star tight end and detergent salesman, Rob Gronkowski, on defense was a bad idea. Looked like Gronk tripped over what he thought were a couple of Tide pods in a vain effort to catch Miami hero Kenyon Drake.

The result leaves New England two games in arrears of Kansas City for the #1 seed in the AFC. Conversely, Miami is two games behind New England with three to play, and the Patriots visit a very hostile Pittsburgh on Sunday, as the Steelers will be looking for revenge after getting screwed last year in Foxborough. Another Patriot loss, coupled with a KC win, locks the Pats out of the top seed.
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It's funny how, after early successes this season, Minnesota could be on the outside looking in when the playoffs start next month. Minnesota was outplayed by Seattle in a 21-7 defeat on Monday. Chicago has long since lapped the Vikings for the NFC North lead, and beat West leader Los Angeles on Sunday. As noted, Dallas has taken over the East, and Washington, due to QB injuries, was eliminated after getting blown out of the yard vs. the Giants in front of their home fans. Defending champion Philadelphia could wind up on the outside looking in, too, and would be the first defending champion since the Giants five years ago to miss the playoffs.
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Speaking of the man known around here as Screamin' A. Cosell, he & Will Cain, sitting in for an ailing Max Kellerman (laryngitis) on First Take today, took issue with some Twidiots who decided to be social justice warriors after Kyler Murray won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night, digging up as old as seven year old tweets, since deleted, in which a then-teenaged and immature Murray made some homophobic slurs. Murray has apologized.

Here's Smith & Cain:



There is no getting around this epidemic of Twidiots raining on other people's parades. Haters gotta hate, but take your hate someplace else.