What to Watch for in 2021: New York Sports

 

2020 was a bad year for New York sports. Yankees and Islanders had some success, but beyond that, there isn’t much to brag about. But 2021 should be a lot better for all of the teams as there is a lot to look forward to and be excited about.

(NOTE – I am not a hockey guy, so forgive me for omitting the

Mets – What to do with all the new money

The days of cheap ownership are over for the Mets. As the team enters the new year, they have a lot to be excited for.

Out – cheap Wilpon family. In – Steve Cohen, a New York-born, lifelong Mets fans with a net-worth of $14 billion. That’s billion, with a b.

Last year, the Mets signed guys like Michael Wacha and Rick Porcello because they were cheap. This year, the Mets will be in contention for Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer, and a few other All Star calibers players, because they can out-pay everyone else.

However, as the next team on this list knows first hand – paying the top players, doesn’t always equal championships.

Yankees – Back to the World Series?

Fun fact about NY sports – the METS are the last NY/NJ team to play for a championship (2015). Yankees last won the World Series in 2009, which is also their last appearance. They have won a playoff series in 4 straight seasons, but have not advanced past the ALCS.

The roster is loaded with talent at every position. Astros and Indians will suffer some losses this winter. Rays’ roster will likely remain stagnant, as well as the Twins (if not lose a couple of pieces). The American League is prime for the Yankees to takeover, IF they can put it all together come October.

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Knicks – What day is the 2021 Draft Lottery? 

Entering the 2020-21 season, I believe the Knicks are in much better shape than they have recently. There is front office and coaching stability and a strong nucleus of young players (RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Obi Toppin) plus a healthy mix of veterans who should not disrupt player development, which was a problem at times last season.

Here’s the thing though – while the direction is clear and fans are excited for the future, this Knicks team still won’t be good in 2021. Fans hate hearing this, but the Knicks are one year away. This time it might be for real, though. How about one more high lottery pick with the aforementioned nucleus and roughly $50 million in cap space next summer.

Nets – Durant and Kyrie return to the playoffs

• 6/11/2018 – the last time Dirant played an NBA game, where he tore his Achillies as a member of the Warriors, during the NBA Finals against Raptors.
• 5/8/2019 – Kyrie Irving’s last playoff game, as a member of the Celtics.

The Nets made the playoffs in 2020, but both Durant and Kyrie missed the bubble playoffs as they recovered from respective injuries. Irving played just 20 games in his debut season for the Nets.

Both men are expected to be healthy in 2021, which makes the Nets a legit championship contender. A lineup Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Spencer Dinwiddie was good enough to propel the Nets into the playoffs last year. Now, take that lineup, plus an impressive amount of depth, and add 2 of the best players in the NBA, and the expectation goes from being competitive to raising a trophy. 

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Jets – Trevor Lawrence’s debut

Before the season, I don’t think many people pegged the Jets as being in the Lawrence sweepstakes. Maybe the Jets would be bad enough for a high draft pick, but your expectations 7-8 months ago would be that the pick would be used on offensive line or a playmaker on offense.

Now, as the Jets approach a historic 0-16 season, it’s obvious Sam Darnold isn’t the answer at quarterback. Maybe his career is still salvageable somewhere else, but he won’t be a Jet in 2021. Right?? I mean, even the Jets can’t mess this one up. Jets cannot pass on the best QB prospect in 10 years. 

Lawrence immediately raises expectations for the Jets and his presence will benefit the team’s pending coaching search this winter as he makes the job more attractive. It also makes Jets more attractive to potential running backs and wide recievers, something the Jets currently lack, but will need in order for Lawrence to be successful.

Jets have a surplus of draft picks and cap space in 2021, so there is a path to building a quick winner.

Giants –  PLAYOFFS?!

*Cue Jim Mora Sr press conference clip*

At 5-7, the New York Giants are in first place in the NFC East and are on pace to host a playoff game in January 2021. Quite the remarkable turnaround, for a team who was once 1-7 and considered a contender for a top 3 draft pick.

Making the playoffs would be incredible for a young, but talented Giants team. No doubt, the franchise would benefit more from the young guys getting playoff game experience, as opposed to adding another high draft pick.

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Rangers – Debut of Alexis Lafrenière

Among the many weird things to happen in 2020, Rangers pulled off a great one – qualified for the playoffs and were eligible for the NHL Draft Lottery, which they won. Due to the circumstances around the NHL pause in March, when they resume play over the summer they went straight into an expanded playoffs. Because they added teams, the teams that lost in the first round (like the Rangers) were also eligible for the lottery.

Alexis Lafrenière is considered the best prospect in a long time (maybe Sidney Crosby) so if there was ever a draft lottery to win, it was this one.

With the Rangers moving on from longtime legendary goalie, Henrik Lundqvist, there is a void in the “face of the franchise” department for Lafreniere to fill as he faces expectations the size of the city.

Islanders – Opening of USB Arena

After a few years of bouncing around between Long Island and Brooklyn, the Islanders will FINALLY have a permanent home. In time for the 2021-2022 NHL season, Islanders will begin play at USB in Elmont, New York, located next to the Belmont Racetrack.

Playing at Barclays Center in Brooklyn has been a disaster. The arena was built specifically for basketball, so the site lines are off and there are sections of no seats or bad seats. This new $1 billion arena is built specifically for hockey and specifically to showcase the history and future of the Islanders.

Devils – Emergence of #1 picks

The Devils last won a playoff series in 2012 when they reached the Stanley Cup (lost to Kings). It’s been a rough rebuild, but the future is bright with 2017 #1 pick Nico Hischier and 2019 #1 Jack Hughes

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Liberty – Return of Sabrina Ionescu plus #1 pick

Liberty recently won the 2021 WNBA Draft Lottery for the second straight year.

In 2020, Liberty drafted National Player of the Year, Sabrina Ionescu. The former Oregon legend only played 3 games due to an injured ankle. But in 2021, a healthy Ionescu, along with the 2021 #1 pick, Kia Nurse, Asia Durr and others give the Liberty a very bright future to look forward to in 2021 and beyond.

9 Biggest Sports Losers of 2020

 

Despite the struggles and challenges, 2020 has seen it’s share of success stories in sports. It has also seen some stories of disappointment and failure. That’s what this article is – a look at 9 of the biggest losers in sports throughout this year.

Editor’s note – we all lost in 2020. It’s been a really difficult year for almost everyone. But I kept this list specifically focused on sports – no politics, no COVID, and no tragic events (ie – Kobe).

9. Fans of non-conference college football

COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of most non-conference college football games in 2020. Conferences felt it was more convenient to play teams that will all follow the same testing protocols and guidelines.

As a result, the following games were cancelled in 2020:

• Oregon vs Ohio State
• Notre Dame vs Wisconsin
• USC vs Alabama
• Washington vs Michigan
• Auburn vs North Carolina
• Penn State vs Virginia Tech
• Miami vs Michigan State
• Tennessee vs Oklahoma
• North Dakota St vs Oregon

Conference-only games dominated the 2020 season, which is unfortunate because all of these games (and many more) were cancelled.

8. Minnesota

Twins won the AL Central division, making the playoffs for a second straight year and third time in four years. Unfortunately, they were swept 2-0, increasing their historic playoff losing streak to 18 games. Twins haven’t won a playoff game since 2004.

Older Minnesota sports fans also watched teams who previously relocated win championships.

• Dallas Stars, who played as the North Stars from 1967-1993 in Minneapolis, won the 2020 Stanley Cup, their second since moving to Dallas.
• Lakers, who won 5 of the franchise’s 17 championships in Minnesota, won another in LA.

Normally, this type of issue wouldn’t be a problem, except the current NHL team (Wild) has never appeared in the Stanley Cup and the current NBA team (Timberwolves) has one playoff appearance since 2004, which is the year they won the franchise’s only playoff series.

More reasons why Minneapolis is the saddest sports city.

7. Boston

Boston has won 54 championships over the last 20 years (that’s a ROUGH estimate, but it feels that way, no?). 2020 was a loss for Boston, which probably makes the rest of the world happy.

The city lost two legends – Red Sox traded away 2018 MVP Mookie Betts and didn’t seem to receive a major haul in return. Betts then helped the Dodgers win the 2020 World Series, while the Red Sox finished among the worst teams in MLB.

Tom Brady, who helped the Patriots win 6 Super Bowls, departed as a free agent and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team with very little history of success He has been replaced by Cam Newton, who has had a pretty rocky season with zero offensive weapons around him.

Celtics made the Eastern Conference Finals for the third time in four years, but again failed to advance to the Finals (0-3 during that run).

Bruins finished with the most wins in the NHL regular season (44) and most points (100) but lost in 5 games to the eventual champion Lightning in the second round of the playoffs.

6. Cincinnati sports

Good news for the Bengals? They drafted Joe Burrow #1 overall and he was awesome! Bad news? He tore his ACL during a week 11 loss to Washington.

Good news for the Reds? They made the playoffs for the first time since 2013. Bad news? They didn’t score a single run in 22 innings (outscored 6-0).

The city of Cincinnati has not won a playoff game/series since 1995, when the Reds won the NLDS (Bengals haven’t won a game since 1990).

Good news for Cincinnati Bearcats football? They are on pace to win the AAC Championship for the first time and finish the regular season with an undefeated record. Bad news? Despite having a historic season, they have no chance to not only win, but to even compete for a championship.

Good news for Bearcats basketball? They finished first place in the AAC during the regular season. Bad news? There was no NCAA Tournament so there was no 10th consecutive March Madness for the school.

5. Los Angeles

The Lakers and Dodgers won their respective championships, and that puts LA on the winner’s list. But with so many teams, they also qualify for the loser’s list.

• Clippers – still never made the conference finals. You can see in the tweet below, they held a huge lead entering the fourth quarter in Game 5 of their second round series against the Nuggets. Somehow, from point on, things unraveled. And I mean UNRAVELED! Clippers blew leads in each of the final three games and blew a 3-1 series lead, as the Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference Finals, despite the presence of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

• Angels – 2020 was supposed to be the easiest path to the playoffs ever. Half the league qualified for the postseason in an expanded format. Angels hired former World Series champion Joe Maddon as their new manager. And still, despite the presence of the best player in the sport, Mike Trout putting up MVP-type numbers, Angels again failed to make the playoffs. Which means throughout Trout’s 9 year career, Angels have yet to win a playoff game.

• Kings – finished second in the lottery. That normally means two things – 1) you stunk during the season, which is true for the Kings. and 2) you are guaranteed one of the top players in the draft. While the second point is true, Alexis Lafrenière was considered the consensus top player, one of the best the NHL Draft has seen in many, many years.
  Note – while the Kings missed out on Lafrenière, they may have still hit a homerun with Quinton Byfield.

• Rams/Chargers – the two NFL teams opened up beautiful $5 billion stadium, but have done so without fans all season.

4. Las Vegas

Congrats Vegas! You finally have an NFL team!!

Sorry Vegas residents, you can’t actually see the Raiders play in person.

It’s been an awkward transition from Oakland to Vegas for the Raiders since local fans haven’t been able to fully embrace them. Vegas has spent the 2020 season playing in a beautiful, but empty stadium, outside of an empty Strip in Las Vegas.

3. University of Oregon

Without an NCAA Tournament in March, the school lost out on two potential Final Four runs.

On the women’s side, Sabrina Ionescu was the best player in the country and the Ducks had a great shot at a second straight Final Four, to compete for the school’s first ever women’s title.

Payton Pritchard and the men’s Ducks, finished first in the PAC-12 during the regular season and in a wide-open bracket, had as good a chance as any team to make a run.

The football team was scheduled to host Ohio State, in a major non-conference game. This would have been an awesome game for fans to attend, creating an incredible atmosphere at Autzen Stadium and a magical experience for students. But instead, the pandemic canceled that. Oregon recently lost to Oregon State, after winning 11 of the last 12 against their state rivals. That loss ended the Ducks’ faint playoff hopes.

2. State of Texas football

Things have gone….not well for the entire state of Texas in the sport of football.

Let’s start with the NFL.

• Texans – In March, Texans traded Deandre Hopkins to the Cardinals for a washed up running back and a second (NOT FIRST) round draft pick. They fired GM/head coach/OC Bill O’Brien early in the season and are on track for a top 5 draft pick in 2021…except they don’t own their pick. The Dolphins possess both the Texans’ first AND second round picks in 2021, courtesy of a trade for LT Laremy Tunsil (made in 2019).
• Cowboys – 2020 has been a total disaster. Early in the year, the defense was historically awful and injuries have been an issue. Free agent-to-be Dak Prescott suffered a major foot injury during week 6 and the Cowboys are just 3-8.

In college,

• Texas is not back. They are 6-3 and will not play for the Big 12 championship. They last won the conference title in 2009.
• Baylor has been a disaster in 2020. One year after playing in the Big 12 Championship Game, Bears are 2-6, and 0-6 against teams not from Kansas.
• Houston has had 8 games postponed/rescheduled due to COVID. It’s been a weird and rough season for the Cougars.
• Texas Tech finished the season 4-6, and haven’t finished over .500 since going 7-6 in 2015

It’s worth noting, Texas A&M is having a great season, but likely won’t qualify for the playoffs.

1. College hoops fans

The cancellation of the NCAA Tournament is one of the worst sports stories of 2020. College hoops fans were deprived of their true love. Even non-fans, who follow for the gambling aspect.

Cancelling the tournament was the right decision, but that doesn’t make it any less sad or disappointing. Especially for seniors, or for men and women planning to depart school after the season – just a rough ending to their careers.

Biggest Sports Winners of 2020

 

2020 has been a very challenging year for everyone. As the year comes to a close, not everyone is in a celebratory mood. But when it comes to sports, despite the obstacles and challenges that all leagues and fans faced, there are still plenty of winners out there.

Sports Fans

Let’s be honest, despite the challenges and stress, sports found a way to win in 2020.

Those challenges included:

• NBA and NHL on hold from March to June
• MLB experienced a delayed start and significantly shortened season (with no fans the whole way)
• NFL had no pre-season and has experienced several rescheduled games. Teams have had to navigate through the absence of key players (or even entire position groups)
• College football and college basketball have dealt with tons of postponements and outright cancellations

But in spite of this, the show has gone on! Everyone that went on hold came back. NBA, NHL, MLB, and WNBA all completed their seasons and crowned champions.

In fact, those 4 leagues plus NFL and MLS gave us games on September 10th – the first time ever all 6 of those leagues played at the same time.

The NFL has really been a winner. While every other league saw cancellations and delays, the NFL has experienced neither (to date). Peak pandemic happened during the NFL’s off-season and they were able to push forward with free agency and the draft without any interruption.

There have been several games that have been pushed back from it’s originally scheduled game, but to-date NO games have been outright cancelled. Sure, a large handful of players have missed games due to COVID, the lack of fans is still weird, and the shuffling schedule is annoying, but the NFL has found a way to avoid major conflict during this season.

Sports today are very different than they were a year ago, but they are moving forward. Fans may be home, instead of in the stands, but as long as the games are on, whatever games they might be, we all win.

New York Mets

The pandemic cost Major League Baseball millions and millions of dollars. With no fans in the stands, every team took a major revenue hit in order to complete this season.

As the dust settles and baseball moves forward, one team is in a great position to proceed – the Mets.

Mets were sold to billionaire Steve Cohen, who spent an MLB-record $2.46 billion to acquire the team that he and his family grew up loving. Cohen, from Long Island, has been a minority owner for years and has already breathed new life and excitement into a franchise that has been known for being cheap and outdated.

It’s not just that Steve Cohen is worth a lot of money. It’s that his worth, compared to the rest of MLB owners is scary. Mets need a lot of help and not just on the field.

This money can be allocated for a number of departments, such as

• Analytics, where they significantly lack compared to others
• Front office where they could out-pay competitors for talent
• Medical, given how the Mets always seem to have a ridiculous amount of injuries.
• Players – yeah, good luck outbidding them in free agency.

The overall product of the Mets is about to improve. Will it lead to a championship?

Los Angeles

Los Angeles – the city of champions!

Lakers made the NBA Playoffs for the first time since 2013 and won their first series since 2012. Ultimately, they won 4 series, which included the last one. Lakers won the franchise’s 17th championship and first since 2010. Lebron James won his 4th championship (first in LA) and captured his 4th Finals MVP

Dodgers won their first World Series since 1988. After losing back-to-back World Series in 2017 and 2018, Dodgers finally got off the schneid and defeated the Rays.

Despite this success, LA also appears on the loser’s list.

Sarah Fuller

Sarah Fuller deserves all the congrats in the world. On Saturday November 28th, Fuller was the kicker for Vanderbilt’s men’s football team. To start the second half, Fuller kicked off, making her the first female to ever play in a P5 college football game.

Unfortunately, Vandy stinks and Fuller never had a real opportunity to kick a field goal or an extra point. But that changed on Saturday 12/12, in a game against Tennessee.

Fuller nailed 2 extra points, going 2-2 in the game, becoming the first female in Power-5 conference history to score a point in a game.

Patrick Mahomes

Let’s recap the year Mahomes had

• February – led Chiefs to Super Bowl win, first for KC since 1969 and was named MVP of the game
• March – signed a new contract worth up to as much as $503 million over 10 years
• September – announced his engagement to long-time girlfriend and later in the month, announced she was pregnant with their first kid

Super Bowl, $500 million, pending baby, and engagement – I’d say Mahomes won 2020.

Michael Jordan

How can Michael Jordan ever be classified as anything but a winner, with his 6 championships (and 0 Finals losses).

With the sports world on hold in May and June, ESPN’s Last Dance documentary series became the focal point of sports talk and social media. The show reminded viewers that Jordan truly is the greatest of all-time and debating this is a waste of time.

The show also turned Jordan into America’s #1 meme. For so long, “Crying Jordan” had been one of the top memes, but now his newest meme is laughing at an iPad.

But that’s not all that MJ achieved in 2020.

Moving forward, all NBA teams will have the Jordan Jumpman logo on one of their alt jerseys, which is an extremely disrespectful, but savage move. While all fans respect Jordan, many also hate him. Are Utah Jazz fans or New York Knicks fans really rushing to the store to buy jerseys with a Jordan logo? What about the Pistons? How about that Lebron Jordan jersey? Awkward!

Lastly, Charlotte Hornets, owned by Jordan, signed this year’s top free agent Gordon Hayward. Forget the contract (4 years, $120 million) – the idea of simply luring the best player available to a team like the Hornets is a huge win for the franchise. Another win – despite finishing with just the 8th worst record in the league, Hornets jumped up to #3 in the draft lottery and arguably walked away with the draft’s most talented player in LaMelo Ball.

Tampa Bay

City of Tampa has had a highly successful 2020 sports year.

First, the Bucs, who have the NFL’s third longest playoff drought at 12 years, signed QB Tom Brady. That’s quite the upgrade over Jameis Winston, who led the NFL with 30 interceptions in 2019.

Lightning won the Stanley Cup for the second time in franchise history (2007). This came one year after a major failure, where they won the most games in NHL history in 2018-19, but were swept out of the first round of the playoffs.

In baseball, the Rays made the World Series for the second time in franchise history, but came up short losing to the Dodgers in 6 games.

The city also acquired an NBA team! Even if just temporarily. The Raptors will play in Tampa for the 2020-21 season, as Toronto borders remained closed.

Alex Smith

693 days and 17 surgeries after suffering a gruesome leg injury, Smith officially returned to the NFL on October 11th, in relief for Washington against the Rams.

One month later, on November 15th in Detroit, Smith found himself in the starting lineup for Washington. Football Team lost that game, but they are 2-1 since Smith was inserted in the starting lineup and are now in a battle for first place.

Smith is a lock to win Comeback Player of the Year in 2020, unless of course the league decides to give it to Ryan Tannehill again for overcoming nothing.

Houston Astros

Remember when the Astros cheated and everyone hated them? It feels like years ago that this story broke, but it actually happened in 2020. Not the cheating, but the revelation and backlash of it all.

Astros win 2020 by not getting punished by the league or booed by fans. Outside of heavy social media backlash, the Astros avoided it all. Sure, their GM and Manager got fired for their roles in this, but at the end of the day, who cares, those guys can and were replaced. What can’t, and apparently, won’t be replaced is the fact that they won the 2017 World Series.

Playing 2020 in empty ballparks across America was a major victory for the Astros as they avoided the boos from angry crowds.

In addition to playing in empty ballparks and avoiding angry fans, Astros finished 29-31 and still managed to make the playoffs. Not only did they make it, but they pushed the eventual champion Rays to the brink of elimination, forcing a Game 7 after trailing 3-1 in the ALCS.