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Collier and WNBA Commish | No Go

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NEW YORK – (Wire Service Report)- The relationship between WNBA star forward Napheesa Collier and league commissioner Cathy Engelbert apparently hit another setback, with the player canceling a meeting scheduled for next week, ESPN reported on Saturday.

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Collier criticized Engelbert and the league in a news conference on Tuesday, saying they have “the worst leadership in the world” and accusing her of making disparaging comments about star players and not taking officiating seriously.

Engelbert made an initial statement later Tuesday, then spoke at length at a Friday news conference about Collier’s comments and accepted some responsibility for players’ disapproval of her performance. However, labeling Collier’s version of a private conversation they had in February as full of inaccuracies has “pretty much pushed the relationship beyond repair,” one source told ESPN.

Engelbert had not been notified that the meeting was canceled as of early Saturday evening, a league spokesperson told ESPN.

Collier is a Women’s National Basketball Players Association vice president, along with a star on the Minnesota Lynx, and her voice carried extra heft amid the backdrop of a collective bargaining agreement that’s set to expire Oct. 31.

Engelbert stated on Tuesday that she was “disheartened by how Napheesa characterized our conversations and league leadership.” However, on Friday, during her annual news conference before Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, she made an effort to speak highly of the players and sought to make amends.

Collier said she asked Engelbert how she would address the issue of young superstars like Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers earning very little on their rookie contracts while generating huge revenue for the league.

“Her response was, ‘Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court because without the platform the WNBA gives her, she wouldn’t make anything,’” Collier said.

“And in that same conversation,” she continued, Engelbert “told me players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that (she) got them.”

Asked on Friday if she actually mentioned the media rights part of that statement, Engelbert avoided directly addressing it.

“There’s a lot of inaccuracy out there through social media and all this reporting,” Engelbert said. “And so I think what’s most helpful is to focus on, I have been in touch with Napheesa, we’ve exchanged texts, we’re talking next week. So, I think, obviously, a lot of reporting, a lot of inaccuracy about what I said or what I didn’t say. And I will tell you, I highly respect the players.”

Dateline | Abu Dhabi

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By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

ABU DHABI – Greetings from Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The city is hosting a pair of NBA Preeason games between the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers. Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the UAE, and the largest and most populated of the seven emirates. It is quite an amazing place.

Is it hot? Yes, like Las Vegas during the prime heat of the NBA Summer League (July) or USA Basketball training (August), but it doesn’t have the “strip.” It does have the Grand Mosque, one of the most spectacular sights ever seen. Photos do not do it justice.

Here’s an attempt to help set the scene:

Grand Mosque exterior (file photo)

Grand Mosque, Abu Dhabi (photo by T. Peter Lyons)

While the Knicks vs. 76ers game was certainly the marquee event of the trip, as with most NBA international preseason games, there is a whole other ancillary program working all around the games. Here in Abu Dhabi, there’s:

  • The NBA Experience – It used to be called “Jam Session”
  • NBA House – The highlight of the NBA Experience
  • NBA Store – Great, 5th Avenue-like NBA Store in nicest Mall ever
  • NBA Basketball School – Tournament

The NBA Basketball School tournament is HUGE. It’s run at three venues, all world class level training facilities with multiple courts, one of which is on site at New York University (NYU)’s Abu Dhabi campus. There are competitors at the U-15 and U-17 levels for both boys/young men and girls/young women. There are teams from all over the world: Australia, Dubai, India, Poland, Italy, Lebanon and a “combo” Europe team. There’s also start-up NBA Basketball Schools here – without team – all learning from the experience for future beginnings, and that includes a great program that just began last week in Tiblisi, Georgia (former USSR). Tbilisi is near and dear to this writer’s heart as it was one of three cities (Moscow, Tbilisi and Vilnius (Lithuania) the Atlanta Hawks toured in 1988, but that is a column for another day (the stories are endless).

The reason your roving reporter/columnist is here this week is to assist/advise NBA Basketball School – Türkiye, via a very longterm relationship born on the basketball court at the 2002 FIBA Worlds in Indianapolis (Türkiye played quite well, the USA did not). That tournament was sponsored by Turkish Airlines and that airline later became the title sponsor for EuroLeague Basketball.

My friend and contact is Devrim KIVANÇ who coaches basketball for many, many years and then started his own “MVP” camps for youth. It is quite a successul program, based mostly in Istanbul – a city that is even more amazing that Abu Dhabi, and that’s a pretty serious statement.

Coach Devrim also ran some great camps in conjunction with the Philadelphia 76ers going back a decade but it came to an end because of COVID-19 and trouble getting USA visas for students/campers. Coach Devrim and I have been working with the NBA to plan for an NBA Basketball School to begin in Istanbul very soon. More to come on that.

Team Boxscores: (surf around on “other games, too) —> HERE

This column is being written anout 60 … countdown to 45 minutes before a scheduled Team Türkiye meeting (5:00pm Saturday) in advance of a 5:30pm team bus to compete in the championship/Finals of the event.

To that end, the U-17 team (4-0) – the players are playing together for the very first time. They’ve run a fluid offense, played hard with a tough defense and have the results to prove it. The good news was winning games – the bad new, the event schedule called for the U-17 Finals to be held at 7:00pm tonight, the same time of Game 2 of the Knicks vs 76ers gme at Etihad Arena – a great facility in which the NBA has played multiple years and USA Basketball played leading up to the 2024 Paris Olympics. It’s great, and thankfully VERY well air conditioned.

Time zone differences, time constraints pre-game and post game will not allow for While We’re Young (Ideas) to report the results of the tournament, but this is the important part:

Every team of the NBA Basketball School program has already won. In fact, they’ve all won – Gold, Silver and Bronze in the most important aspects of such an experience. I’ll rattle off just a few of an endless list, and I’ll do it via stream of consciousness.

Here we go:

  1. The experience of playing ball, working within a team structure and learning the key life lessons that basketball can bring to the youth of the world has been accomplished in ways I couldn’t even dream of in 1980 when I started at the NBA in New York. I couldn’t even dream of it post-1992 when the Dream Team captured the world’s imagination and allowed athletes from all over the world to experience the very best the NBA had to offer. Post 1992, the NBA hit a springboard for global growth, and I was asked to switch from NBA Media Relations to International Communications, beginning in February of 1993.
  2. The players from each country were given ample time to interact with each other and learn even more about different nations and cultures. That was the best take-away from this event.
  3. The NBA has created an unbelievable program and its “back of the house” is so well planned, produced and offered to potential new schools (and the existing ones, of course) and it includes handbooks and software programs to allow for cohesive sign-ups, communications and sharing of information primarily for the individual camp, but also to share with the league and the other schools. In the biz world, they call it “Best Practices.”
  4. The teams/players getting to see the NBA game was probably a “once in a lifetime” experience for the players. Although preseason games can be a bit rough around the edges on the front end of October (they’re quite better when we used to take Texas teams to Mexico City on – say – October 30/31), the spectacle of an NBA game, music/game operations, dance teams, mascots and all the ancillary programming is quite amazing for the kids – and the adults.
  5. (Side note) – It wasn’t until I sat down in the arena with a “premo” center court seat that I realized it was the first NBA international preseason game I ever attended when I could sit in the stands and have fun (rather than be working and worried about every second and every activity – including my No. 1 concern back then – NO INJURIES, please). PS: The cold Amstel Light wasn;t bad, either.
  6. The competition was very good, pretty high level and well coached. The traveling parties from all the different countries operated like pro-level event companies. The players were polite and respected each other and their chaperones.
  7. A good handful- especially from Australia – travlled with parents of the players who all shared the unbelievable experience. We had a small handful of parents for Türkiye, but actually are doing a conference call with the parents as a surprise “pre-game motivational talk” for the guys at the meeting – now only 20 minutes away.
  8. I could list another 100 things, but will stop now because of the fact, it’s time to freshen up, get the game face on, grab my pass (I always hung my credentials on my hotel room door knob or door lock during my days with USA Basketball at the Olympics so I’d never forget the pass), and I’ve been doing it here – a HUGE throwback in my mind’s eyes to the Olympics and 120+ international preseason games I worked between 1985 and 2008.
  9. It’s GAME TIME!

HERE NOW … No MORE NOTES!

We’ll be back next week wit your regularly scheduled programming.

Go Türkiye. 🇹🇷

This event has been one of those “pinch me!” Is this actually happening – moments of my life and I hope I’ve shared just a small glimpse of that experience with you.

 

Yankees Outduel Red Sox

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BRONX – Rookie starting pitcher Cam Schlittler struck out 12 in eight innings during a stellar postseason debut as the New York Yankees eliminated the Boston Red Sox with a 4-0 victory in Game 3 of the American League wild-card series on Thursday night.

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The Yankees, who won the final two games of the best-of-three set, advance to the AL Division Series to face the Blue Jays. Game 1 of the best-of-five series is scheduled for Saturday in Toronto.

New York capitalized on shaky Boston defense in a four-run fourth inning. That was more than enough for Schlittler (1-0), who allowed five hits and no walks while throwing consistently in the upper 90s. The 24-year-old right-hander fired 75 of his career-high 107 pitches for strikes.

“I was locked in,” said Schlittler, a Massachusetts native. “I knew exactly what I needed to do and go out there, especially against my hometown team. As I told Andy (Pettitte) yesterday, I wasn’t going to let them beat me. I was just overconfident in that fact. Making sure I wasn’t getting too carried away with it.”

Schlittler joined Roger Clemens (15 in 2000), Gerrit Cole (13 in 2020) and Orlando Hernandez (12 in 2000) as the fourth player in Yankees history with at least 12 strikeouts in a postseason game. He is the only rookie in that group.

Red Sox, Yanks Turn to Rookie SPs

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BRONX – New York’s Jazz Chisholm Jr. was not in the lineup Tuesday because the New York Yankees were facing Boston Red Sox ace left-hander Garrett Crochet.

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While Chisholm appeared to not be thrilled with manager Aaron Boone’s decision, he and the rest of the Yankees were elated with the second baseman’s impact on Wednesday.

Chisholm and the Yankees will attempt to eliminate the Red Sox on Thursday when the longtime rivals play a winner-advance, loser-go-home Game 3 of their American League wild-card series.

New York rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler, a Boston-area native, will start against his hometown team. Rookie left-hander Connelly Early will start for the Red Sox, and Chisholm definitely will be in the lineup.

The winner will advance to the best-of-five AL Division Series, with Game 1 against the host Toronto Blue Jays scheduled for Saturday.

“I feel like every game is a must-win,” Chisholm said. “… We always put everything out there on the line, especially the playoffs. … There’s no space. You don’t want to give any team an edge.”

Chisholm’s imprints were all over the late innings as the Yankees avoided elimination with a 4-3 victory Wednesday night.

In the seventh inning, Chisholm knocked down a ground ball by pinch hitter Masataka Yoshida to hold him to an infield single, prevent a run from scoring. The game stayed tied when Fernando Cruz escaped a bases-loaded jam.

In the eighth, Chisholm walked with two outs after seeing seven pitches from Garrett Whitlock. He scored from first on a headfirst slide when Austin Wells singled down the right field line.

“He loves to play,” Boone said of Chisholm. “He feels a responsibility to us, his teammates. And, you know, he and I have always been good. Despite what you may think happened (Tuesday), like, yeah, he’s a gamer, and, you know, he likes the stage.”

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The Red Sox never led on Wednesday, though they tied the game twice thanks to Trevor Story, who hit well against the Yankees during the regular season. Story belted a two-run single in the third inning, and he added a solo homer in the sixth after the Yankees went ahead on a single by Aaron Judge.

Boston also was aggressive with its pitching staff, pulling Brayan Bello in the third inning after he allowed a two-run homer to Ben Rice in the first. The right-hander was out after 28 pitches.

“I thought it was a great ballgame,” Whitlock said. “I thought both sides played really well. I think you saw that with (in Games 1 and 2). And so hopefully we can put together a good game (Thursday) and go from there.”

After Crochet pitched 7 2/3 innings and Aroldis Chapman got the final four outs on Tuesday, Boston deployed six relievers (Justin Wilson, Justin Slaten, Steven Matz, Zack Kelly, Whitlock and Payton Tolle) on Wednesday.

“We were doing everything possible to get to the top of the ninth with a tie game,” Cora said after Whitlock threw a season-high 47 pitches.

Schlittler, who played at Northeastern University, which is a half-mile from Fenway Park, earned the start after a stellar two-plus months in the rotation. He finished 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA in 14 starts after making his debut July 9.

“He gave us a shot in the arm when he became another stabilizing force in our rotation,” Boone said Tuesday afternoon. “He will handle it well regardless of result or whatever, like I don’t think it will be too big for him, and he will be ready to roll.”

The 24-year-old struck out nine and pitched seven scoreless innings of two-hit ball against the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday in his latest start.

Schlittler did not face the Red Sox in the regular season but said he faced Boston in an exhibition game when he was at Northeastern.

“Obviously I am a lot different player than I was then,” Schlittler said. “So didn’t really expect to be in this situation back then, but now I am definitely happy I am.”

Early was Boston’s fifth-round pick in the 2023 draft, and he went 1-2 with 2.33 ERA in four starts to open his major league career this year. He is filling in on Thursday for Lucas Giolito, who likely will miss the postseason due to elbow pain.

Early has yet to face the Yankees. He last pitched on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers, when he allowed two runs on four hits in five innings, throwing 86 pitches.

“It comes down to this game, and I’m excited to get out there,” Early said. “I’ve stuck to all my preparation and feel pretty good, so I’m ready to go out there and do it.”

–Field Level Media

Yankees Take Game 2

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BRONX – (Wire Service Report) – New York’s Austin Wells hit a tie-breaking single with two outs in the eighth inning and the hometown Yankees avoided elimination with a 4-3 victory over the Boston Red Sox in Game 2 of their American League wild-card series on Wednesday night.

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Game 3 of the best-of-three set will be played Thursday in New York and the winner will advance to face the top-seeded Toronto Blue Jays in the AL Division Series on Saturday.

Trevor Story drove in three runs off New York starter Carlos Rodon. He hit a two-run single in the third and blasted a game-tying homer to open the sixth.

Guardians 6, Tigers 1

CLEVELAND – (Wire Service Report) – The Guardians’ Brayan Rocchio belted a go-ahead solo homer and Bo Naylor had a three-run shot as part of a five-run eighth inning, giving Cleveland a victory over Detroit in Game 2 of their American League wild-card series.

Rocchio’s 379-foot shot to right field occurred after Troy Melton (0-1) retired C.J. Kayfus to start the eighth, giving Cleveland a 2-1 advantage. Steven Kwan followed with a double and was driven in by Daniel Schneeman.

The Central Division champion Guardians forced a winner-take-all Game 3 at home Thursday, when they will attempt to become the first team to advance after losing Game 1 since the current wild-card format became permanent in 2022. The Tigers left 15 on base and went 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

Padres 3, Cubs 0

CHICAGO – (Wire Service Report) – San Diego’s Manny Machado belted a two-run homer in the fifth inning, helping visiting San Diego square their National League wild-card series against Chicago at one win apiece.

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Fernando Tatis Jr. scored on a sacrifice fly from Jackson Merrill in the first inning. Luis Arraez contributed two of the seven hits for the Padres. Adrian Morejon (1-0) relieved starter Dylan Cease in the fourth inning and did not allow a hit over 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Opener Andrew Kittredge (0-1) gave up the first inning run and Shota Imanaga pitched the next four innings, allowing Machado’s blast. San Diego pitching allowed only four hits; Seiya Suzuki accounted for the lone extra-base hit, a two-out double in the fourth.

–Field Level Media

High Priced Pitchers Square Off

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BRONX – (Wire Service Report) – Max Fried and Garrett Crochet lived up to expectations in sparkling debut seasons as No. 1 starters for the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

Now it gets real.

Crochet (Red Sox) and Fried (Yankees) delivered after being acquired in the offseason to become staff aces at the center of baseball’s most historic rivalry, and the left-handers find themselves front and center as Game 1 starters in the American League wild-card series starting Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

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The AL East archrivals fight it out in the wild-card round for the first time and best-of-three series winner advances to the division series.

Celtics Open Camp; No Tatum in ’25-26

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report) – Celtics star Jayson Tatum said he’s not feeling any pressure to push his recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon.

“No pressure from (Celtics president of basketball operations) Brad (Stevens), (coach) Joe (Mazzulla), the team or the organization,” Tatum said Monday at the Celtics’ media day. “The most important thing is that I’m 100 percent.”

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Tatum suffered the injury in May in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Boston lost the series to the New York Knicks.

While Tatum downplayed any urgency he or the team may feel to get him back on the court, he did discuss his difficult recovery process.

“I think the toughest part was at the beginning and kind of being in disbelief. For me, I had to accept it,” he said. “I started to see a turning point, but then you’re on crutches, and you’re on a scooter, you’re in a boot. And then you can drop one crutch and then you can drop both crutches … That made me feel a little bit more normal.”

Tatum is expected to miss most, if not all, of the upcoming season. The Celtics were overhauled in the offseason amid lower expectations without their superstar. Veteran starters Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis were traded without much in the way of established NBA talent added.

“We have a lot of guys that are unproven,” Stevens said. “They’re younger and maybe not quite as experienced and maybe not quite as full of NBA wisdom.”

The Celtics are just 15 months removed from winning the 2023-24 championship. They’ll rely heavily on the leadership of players from that title team like Payton Pritchard, Derrick White and perennial All-Star Jaylen Brown.

“We have a chance for other guys to step up,” Brown said. “Empowering other guys, trusting your teammates more and trying to accelerate guys’ learning curve and play some good basketball. I think that’s what people want to see.”

–Field Level Media

NFL: Monday Night Football

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Cincinnati Bengals (2-1) vs. Denver Broncos (1-2)

Monday, 7:15 p.m. ET

FanDuel odds: Broncos -7.5, Total 43.5

Series Rewind: It’s their fourth meeting on “Monday Night Football,” with the Bengals winning in 2004 and 2014 and the Broncos victorious in Week 16 of their Super Bowl season in 2015.

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It’s a rematch of last season’s Week 17 thriller, when Broncos QB Bo Nix tied it with a 25-yard TD to Marvin Mims Jr. with eight seconds left in regulation, only to fall 30-24 on Joe Burrow’s short TD pass to Tee Higgins with 1:07 left in overtime. This time, Burrow-less Cincinnati limps into Denver still smarting from the most lopsided loss in franchise history: 48-10 last weekend at Minnesota. Despite their winning record, the Bengals have been outscored 91-58 and have more turnovers (eight) than touchdowns (seven). They’ll need a whopper from Ja’Marr Chase, who has 43 catches for 585 yards and five TDs in four appearances on “MNF.” Nix is 6-0 with a 102.6 rating in his last six home starts for the Broncos. J.K. Dobbins has rushed 33 times for 294 yards (8.9 average) and four TDs against the Bengals while going 4-0 in his career.

New York Jets (0-3) at Miami Dolphins (0-3)

Monday, 7:15 p.m. ET

FanDuel odds: Dolphins -2.5, Total 44.5

Series Rewind: Miami is 4-1 in the past five games against the Jets, who claimed a 32-20 win in the 2024 regular-season finale.

The loser will be looking at an 0-4 start and the knowledge it is OK to start focusing on 2026 draft preparations. Miami badly needs to win this contest or coach Mike McDaniel will see the heat pick up. The Dolphins have allowed more than 30 points in each of their three games, and the offensive precision has dipped. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa has thrown five touchdown passes but has been picked off four times. Tyreek Hill is averaging 13.2 yards per catch but has just 198 receiving yards. Linebacker Bradley Chubb always goes all-out and has three of the team’s six sacks. The Jets might be going with Tyrod Taylor for the second straight week after fellow quarterback Justin Fields sustained a concussion in Week 2. Taylor helped New York overcome a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit last week before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers walked it off with a 29-27 victory. Receiver Garrett Wilson (229 on 21 catches) is the only Jet with more than 80 yards or in double digits in receptions. Putting LB Quincy Williams (shoulder) on injured reserve is a blow for the Jets’ defense.

Patriots Take Care of Carolina Biz

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FOXBORO – (Wire Service Report) – Marcus Jones sparked New England with a pair of huge punt returns, including one for a touchdown, and Patriots’ quarterback Drake Maye accounted for three touchdowns as New England beat the visiting Carolina Panthers, 42-13, on a busy sports Sunday afternoon in Massachusetts.

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Jones set a franchise record with 167 punt return yards on three attempts. Maye threw two touchdowns and added a rushing score against his hometown team.

New England (2-2) didn’t record its second victory last year until Oct. 27.

Maye was 14 for 17 for 203 yards. Hunter Henry and Mack Hollins caught his scoring passes. Stefon Diggs gained 101 receiving yards on six catches.

Trailing 42-6 less than a minute into the fourth quarter, the Panthers (1-3) were in danger of suffering the most lopsided loss in team history (43 points vs. the Raiders in 2000).

After driving for points on the game’s opening possession, Carolina didn’t score again until backup Andy Dalton’s 2-yard fourth-down pass to Mitchell Evans on the first play following the two-minute warning. Quarterback Bryce Young was 18 for 30 for 150 yards and a touchdown.

Jones returned a punt 87 yards for New England’s first points with 5:34 left in the first quarter. The Patriots also scored on their next three possessions, expanding their lead to 28-6 at halftime.

Maye, on the first snap of the second quarter, and TreVeyon Henderson both scored on 5-yard runs, while Antonio Gibson got into the end zone from 1 yard out.

That last TD drive of the first half covered only 14 yards after Jones’s 61-yard punt return.

To begin the game, the Panthers moved 76 yards, scoring on Young’s 7-yard pass to Tommy Tremble.

The Panthers have trailed by at least 17 points at halftime in all three of their losses.

Carolina’s Ryan Fitzgerald, whose extra-point kick bounced off the upright, missed on a 55-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter.

Maye threw 31 yards to Henry to open the second-half scoring.

The Panthers lost receiver David Moore to an injury on the first play from scrimmage.

–Field Level Media

TL’s Sunday Sports Column | Sept 29

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Bethpage State Park (file photo)

By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk

OLD BETHPAGE – The datelines read “FARMINGDALE” but the Bethpage State Park I grew up alongside was in Old Bethpage, New York – one of Long Island’s smaller towns. Old Bethpage was so old …

How old was it?

It was so old that Old Bethpage had a Village Restoration Museum and its records show that the USA Ryder Cup team of 1636 lost to England, 18 1/2 to 9 1/2. We kid, we kid – it was actually England, 11-1 as it wasn’t until 1961 when the number of points available doubled from 12 to 24.

Back in Revolutionary War times, the biggest battle of ‘em all was “The Battle of Long Island” which was fought August 27, 1776, just a little bit more than a month after the USA declared its independence day of July 4, 1776.

Yes, you have to go pretty far back to find a US victory.

Now, why all the gloom and doom. This column is being written after Europe shredded Team USA on Day 1, 5 1/2 to 2 1/2, and then concluded the Saturday morning matches much to the same tune. At publication time, the USA trailed Europe, 8 1/2 to 3 1/2 with the afternoon matches teeing off just as Notre Dame was playing Arkansas (ND 56-13 winners) and a few hours before Cal took on the local Boston College team (Cal won, 28-24).

*Upon further review in the 8 o’clock hour, the European lead over the USA was of record proportions, a la the largest lead going into Sunday singles under the current format that dates to 1979.

ABC sports television commentator Al Michaels once exclaimed, “Do you believe in MIRACLES?” Well, yes we do, but the trouncing Europe has given the USA over the first sets of matches in the 2025 Ryder Cup makes it very difficult to think our man and team captain, Keegan Bradley, can orchestrate a comeback.

It’s not unprecedented, as the 1999 “Battle of Brookline” at The Country Country Club in Massachusetts proved. The USA trailed Europe, 10-6, heading into the Sunday final round of singles. The United States battled back and won the first six matches of the day, then went on to win 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 when American Justin Leonard holed a 45-footer which was followed by Spain’s José María Olazábal miss from 22 feet which halved the hole and gave the USA it’s remarkable win. However, there’s a considerable difference between 10-6 and 11 1/2 to 4 1/2.

If there’s a miracle to be had, think of the day the New England Patriots trailed the Atlanta Falcons by the score of 28-3 in Super Bowl LI (SB-51 in 2017), only to come back and win, 34-28, in overtime, and cement the legacy of QB Tom Brady as the Greatest NFL QB of All-Time.

Although the NBA’s Michael Jordan is roaming the fairways at Bethpage Black, Tom Brady will not, so the USA might need Brady, Bill Belichick and even James White to comeback on Rory McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood and Jon Rahm.

Some of you will be reading this late Saturday night and others early on Sunday morning. The Ryder Cup singles matches begin at 12:01pm (ET), so we’ll all see if there’s a new “Miracle Mile” to be constructed on Long Island and that is highly unlikely given the 11 1/2 to 4 1/2 whooping the Europeans handed the Amerks over the Friday-Saturday span.

Column contributor, the Marvelous T, looked out his backyard window with Bethpage State Park in sight, and came up with this:

“The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the American Twelve today

The score stood 11.5 to almost nothing with but one more day to play

And when Henley slumped at the First, then Cantlay did the same

A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons at Bethpage

Then from eighty thousand throats and more there rose a raucous yell;

It rumbled through the Island breeze, it rattled in Farmingdale;

It knocked upon Garden City, and recoiled upon Cliffs of Sea,

For Scottie, mighty Scottie, was advancing to Bethpage’s tee

“Fore” cried the maddened thousands, and Echo answered Rough;

But one scornful look from Scottie and the audience was Fluff,

They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,

And they knew that Mighty Scottie couldn’t let a match go down again.

Oh, somewhere in this favored island, the sun is shining bright;

The Band is playing somewhere, and in Montauk hearts are light,

And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;

But there’s no joy in thee Island Trees, as Mighty Rory just holed out.”

– Apologies to Ernest Thayer

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: All of the scuttlebutt about Bethpage Black and Bethpage State Park, in general, brings back a lot of memories, mostly from the 1960s and ‘70s when we were growing up on Long Island.

The State Park was a bicycle ride away, even with a set of golf clubs draped over your shoulders. Bethpage Black was – pretty much – forbidden territory. It was just too difficult and would cost an amateur golfer about 36 lost golf balls, at the least. But the great thing about Bethpage was the fact the public golf courses numbered – FIVE! Yes, five golf courses, all color coded, almost like the seats at Madison Square Garden. Without looking it up, I’ll review:

  • Yellow – The Yellow Course was the easiest of the five and one we played often.
  • Green – I enjoyed playing the “Green” the most as it was medium-easy but played to a lefty’s slice. The greens and aprons were well kept and a short chip-in with a 7-iron was my specialty.
  • Blue – The “Blue” was a bit longer and more difficult as it include a ton of trees and some hills. The course could east up lost balls, many under pine cones and needles.
  • Red – The “Red” was long and pretty tough. Hit a chipmunk and you won! There were chipmunks and squirrels everywhere you looked.
  • “The Black” – It was only with neighbor, we’ll call him, Ernie, when we were allowed to accompany the scratch golfer and friend of the starter for a late afternoon round, often just nine holes. It was Ernie who taught us, “The Ernie Explosive,” a technique to easily remove a golf ball from one of the zillions of sand traps (bunkers) protecting every green in Bethpage like a Doberman would protect his family.

The “Ernie Explosive” combined with the “best golf tip I’ve ever heard,” made escaping from sand traps as easy as baking a cake in an “Easy Bake Oven.” Ernie’s advice was to choke up a bit on your sand wedge, with a very firm grip. Then to take some sand and follow through completely. Pretty simple.

Part two – the best tip ever (from Golf Magazine) – was to use Ernie’s exact philosophy but to picture taking a slice out of the sand – the width and shape of a $1 bill – slicing it out directly under the ball in the sand. That vision along with “Ernie’s Explosive” made for the perfect mental and physical combination to hit highly successful and very accurate wedge shots from the sand – worry free – not matter how big or deep the trap might be.

Good old Ernie.

TIDBITS & NUGGETS: An hour or so after watching Cal defeat BC in person at a highly entertaining, yet disappointing game for hometown BC fans, the television was turned on to the Alabama at Georgia SEC game. … The reaction? … It’s two different sports. The same goes for Ohio State, Penn State and “The “U” of Miami, Florida, amongst a handful of others. … The size of the players alone put the SEC, the BIG TEN and the upper echelon of the ACC in another category.

THE GREATEST RUSHING OF THE FIELD: “Without regard to human life!”

Says NBA broadcaster Kevin Harlan, quoting his Dad, “If you wake up every morning and your feet hit the ground and you’re excited about your day, that’s what – I found out what it was!”

September 28: Today marks 25 years since the Quarterfinals of the men’s basketball tournament at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The USA defeated Russia 85-70 in that round. Lithuania knocked off the former Yugoslavian Republic, 76-63, to set up the epic Semifinal match of September 29th. Click for the complete bracket: HERE

Reminder: Your NFL Sunday kicks-off early (9:30am ET) as Minnesota will face Pittsburgh at Croke Field in Dublin, Ireland.

THIS JEST IN: The WNBA suspended Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve for Game 4 of the semifinal series against the Phoenix Mercury. Reeve was ejected during the final minute of Minny’s 84-76 loss to the Mercury in Game 3 on Friday night and she then unloaded on the game officials in a post game press conference.

“Her conduct and comments included aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing a game official on the court, failure to leave the court in a timely manner upon her ejection with 21.8 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, inappropriate comments made to fans when exiting the court and remarks made in a post-game press conference,” said the WNBA’s statement.