NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- It’s crunch time in the Bronx while New York’s football teams are just starting to get crunched.
DOWN TO THE HOMESTRETCH
It’s all going the Yankees way right when they need it to. A sweep of Boston, Giancarlo Stanton is on fire and New York has a two-game cushion for a ticket in the playoffs.
They’re one game up on Boston for home-field advantage in the AL Wild Card game and two up on Toronto, who are just outside the playoff picture.
But things don’t end in ideal fashion for the Yanks — they face those very same, hungry Blue Jays, and then finish with the AL East champion Rays. Meanwhile, Boston gets two last place teams in Baltimore and Washington.
And don’t take an eye off Seattle or Oakland, who are still within striking distance. It’ll be a fun finish in the American League playoff race — even more fun if Tampa Bay doesn’t try to play spoiler against New York this coming weekend.
WHO WANTS A WIN?
The Giants are 0-3. The Jets are 0-3. It’s not looking good.
Zach Wilson leads the league with seven interceptions. That’s over three times more than the amount of touchdowns he has.
Daniel Jones hasn’t been that bad, but the team as a whole has just not been something fun to watch whatsoever.
There was hope both teams could somewhat turn it around this year … and it's already gone. So when are these teams even going to win a game?
The Giants’ outlook is bad. They might’ve gone 0-3 in one of their easiest stretches of the year. Now they get:
2-1 Saints
1-1 Cowboys
3-0 Rams
3-0 Panthers
1-2 Chiefs (but they’re still the Chiefs … they’re good)
3-0 Raiders
2-1 Bucs
After that they get the Eagles and Dolphins, followed by the 2-1 Chargers.
For the Jets … it’s not quite as bad, but who knows who they can beat, if anyone? It’s the Titans, Atlanta (in London), New England (already lost to them), Cincy, Indy and Buffalo.
KYRIE & COVID
The Nets have NBA championship dreams. Kyrie Irving is a massive part of them. But getting him on the court is no guarantee.
On Nets Media Day, Irving wasn’t there due to New York City's COVID-19 protocols. Irving, who is reported to still be unvaccinated, must get a least one dose of the vaccine before the start of the season if he wants to play at home games in Brooklyn.
There is currently no league vaccine mandate, meaning Irving can still play in other cities that have no mandates. The head of the NBA players union has said that about 90% of the players have been vaccinated.
Kevin Durant, another part of the massive amount of talent on the Nets, said he doesn’t expect there to be any issues with Irving playing. But Irving only has a few weeks until the season starts on Oct. 19 to get that shot.
BACK ON ICE
Meanwhile, hockey is already back, and another New York team is thinking championship.
The Islanders just missed a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals last season and have consistently played well under Barry Trotz’s leadership. Now with the NHL back on a normal, full schedule, they’ll have another tough issue to sled — a massive amount of road games to start the season.
The Isles get to finally open their brand-new Belmont Park arena this year, but not before 13 consecutive road games. Their first game at UBS Arena is all the way on Nov. 20.
But for now, it was a great start for the Isles — they opened the preseason with a blowout of their rival Rangers, 4-0.