The Way I See It
In this Way I See It, a look at Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers misery, Zion hurt again, Westbrook getting benched, and New York football being relevant again.
GOATs Get Got
I’m the first to admit that I’m a miserable curmudgeon. I’m not particularly fond of other people, I rarely find anything “cute”, and I’m not good at sparing anyone’s feelings. It’s in this context that I’ll tell you that I am absolutely reveling in the miserable seasons of Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady.
Rodgers’ is the victim of his own greed. Remember him stringing along the Packers after they “insulted” him by drafting Julian Love? The result of his being butt-hurt led to demanding (and receiving) a crazy contract, which led to his best weapon, WR Davante Adams, being traded away. The offense that Rodgers is struggling to make work today is the direct result of his being a prima donna.
As for Brady, same sort of situation applies. His off-season “will he or won’t he” routine with respect to his retirement was pure theater, probably performed in the service of having Bruce Arians removed as head coach. Apparently, being a geriatric QB in this league means you get to moonlight as the GM as well.
Rodgers and Brady are, without a doubt, among the best to ever play the game at their position. They also are, speaking frankly, huge assholes. Whether Rodgers is lying about his vaccination status or Brady is throwing a sideline tantrum, both of these guys just have that “dick” look. You all know what I’m talking about.
So yes, I’m enjoying their travails this season. A lot.
Westbrook Bricks
Three games into the NBA season, and Russell Westbrook was benched late in a game for poor shot selection and, predictably, putting up some bricks in key situations.
In the Lakers’ 106-104 loss to the Trail Blazers, coach Darvin Ham benched Westbrook in the fourth quarter after the guard, with his team up 102-101 and 27 seconds remaining, thought it’d be a good idea to go for a two-for-one. He pulled up and took a 15 footer– with 18 seconds left on the shot clock. He missed. After the game, Ham said: “Shot selection is something we have to work on.”
Westbrook will continue to be what he has been since at least the beginning of last season: a liability. LeBron James can continue to say the right things about his teammate in post-game conferences, but the reality is that Westbrook needs to go. The Lakers cannot take the next step with Westbrook on the team, and the sooner the brass can figure out how to get rid of him in a cap-friendly (or cap-neutral) manner, the better.
As much as I hate saying this, Skip Bayless was right last season about Westbrook.
New York, New York
In breaking news, it appears that the climate crisis has escalated to the point where temperatures were recorded dropping in Hell. Scientists were alerted to the situation after a Sunday of NFL action that saw both New York teams, the Jets (5-2) and Giants (6-1), sporting winning records and being in the thick of their respective division races. As a native New Yorker, this may be the season things get turned around for New York NFL football.
For the Jets, they have overcome shaky QB play from Zach Wilson by leaning on their running game and defense; for the Giants, they’ve ridden surprisingly solid QB play from Daniel Jones, a spectacular return to form by Saquon Barkley and outstanding coaching by Brian Daboll.
The Giants have been particularly impressive, given the state of their roster, which was a bargain basement before all the injuries they’ve sustained in-season. Barring a complete meltdown on the order of going winless the rest of the way, Daboll is a lock for Coach of the Year.
And for those of you saying “But the Bills have been producing good NFL football the past several seasons”, you have clearly fallen for the mainstream media fake news that Buffalo is part of New York. It isn’t; it’s actually a Canadian province.
Zion Williamson Zapped
Guess what? Pelicans F Zion Williamson is hurt again. This time it’s a posterior hip contusion, which is really a nice way of saying he fell as his ass really hard.
Since being drafted #1 overall in 2019, Williamson has managed to play in 88 out of a possible 249 games. For those of you who struggle with math, that means that Williamson has only participated in 35% of his team’s games. That’s hardly a good ROI for the Pels.
It’s not that Williamson isn’t talented; in fact, he’s supremely talented. But if I’m the Pels, I have to ask this very basic, yet critically important, question: if Williamson is this fragile at age 22, what does his future look like? Fortunately for the Pelicans’ brass, I have an answer for them: Williamson’s future looks bleak. As in, unload him as quickly as possible for anything of value.
Bottom line: players need to be dependable, perhaps almost as much as they need to be smart and athletic. Williamson, either through dumb luck or his own fault, is undependable. If he manages to come back relatively quickly from his injury, the Pelicans should look to move him around the All-Star break.
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