No holiday in our country is quite like Thanksgiving. Yet, thanks to the NFL, sports will always remain a focal point of the day.
Ah, Thanksgiving, Turkey day. Whatever you call the day, there is nothing quite like it.The food, the football, family, the sales … and, did I mention the food? You will never be able to accomplish more while sitting on your butt than during this day.
While being thankful for the blessings that have been bestowed upon you, sports fans always have a little more to be thankful for every year.
Here’s what each professional New York City sports team needs to be thankful for this time around:
New York Yankees: The best trade deadline ever
If you watched the first half of the Yankees season you would have been utterly disappointed. Therefore, as usual baseball business goes, the Yanks allowed the kids to play.
The Yankees traded bullpen monsters Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller for a boatload of prospects, as well as DH Carlos Beltran for more of the same.
That seems like a nice successful deadline, right?
Think again. The Yankees called up their young top prospects which included Aaron Judge and rookie sensation Gary Sanchez, who showed signs of him becoming the next great catcher.
Sanchez and the Baby Bombers powered the Yankees towards the postseason but fell short in September. No matter though, as the Sanchez hype is legit.
New York Mets: Phenomenal starting pitching
We all know the New York Mets have an absurd rotation, which is even more of a reason for them to be thankful.
Even with veteran rock Bartolo Colon bolting to the division rival Braves, the Metsies still have major power arms.
The likes of Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz, Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo, and Zach Wheeler make up the young crop. There is so much here that the Mets can actually make up a five-man rotation with two of these guys in the bullpen.
Of the bunch, the cream of the crop has to be Syndergaard. Pitching through a minor bone spur in his elbow, he rose to an elite level, culminating with a dominant seven-inning performance in the team’s wild-card loss.
Whatever happens with Yoenis Cespedes, fans know their pitching will give them a chance to compete in 2017.
New York Giants: A nasty defense
Since the beginning of Odell Beckham Jr.’s career, offense has not been the issue for the New York Giants. Rather, it has been the lack of a defense that has led to three straight losing seasons.
The Giants realized this and went out and spent over $200 million on Olivier Vernon, Damion Harrison, and Janoris Jenkins to restore the defense that helped them win two Super Bowls in 2007 and 2011.
Well, it worked. The defense sits just outside the top 10 in the league and with the dynamic offense the Giants possess, this can make the 7-3 team title contenders.
New York Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis
The Knicks have received an unbelievable present in Kristaps Porzingis. When Carmelo Anthony is still in “awe” of what he does, you know he’s been a success.
Porzingis was electric his rookie year posting 14.0 PPG and 7.3 RPG. This year he’s currently at 21.3 PPG, 7.3 RBG, a 50 percent clip from the field, and 39 percent from three point land.
Aside from the numbers, he has also racked up compliments from other stars. Tuesday’s game vs. the Trail Blazers was won basically on the shoulders of Porzingis’ 31 points and nine rebounds.
This kid is truly something special.
New York Rangers: Ridiculous depth
The 2016-17 New York Rangers were supposed to finish around third or fourth in the Metropolitan division. Nobody, absolutely nobody saw this coming.
The Rangers made some low risk, high reward moves in signing Michael Grabner, Brandon Pirri, and Nathan Gerbe. Also, possibly the move of the offseason in signing 23-year-old phenom Jimmy Vesey.
The Rangers haven’t missed a beat since downing the Islanders on opening night 5-3. But the thing that has been most impressive with this team is not their speed or scoring ability (which has been remarkable), but rather the team’s depth.
You would think injuries to Chris Kreider, Pavel Buchnevich, and Mika Zibanejad would derail the team, but no. If you didn’t know any better you would think it’s been the same team all season.
Monday night’s game against the Penguins was a perfect example. Down 2-0 after one, they explode for five goals in the last two periods. With scoring up and down all four lines, the Easter Conference should be shaking at what the Rangers can do.
New York Jets: Change at QB is inevitable
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Bryce Petty … Ryan Fitzpatrick?
New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles might as well throw out 2016 second round pick Christian Hackenberg, who couldn’t complete 60 percent of his passes during his junior year at Penn State.
The Jets have four quarterbacks who have combined to win New York just three games this season. Maybe the Fitzpatrick holdout was a terrible idea for both parties.
Fitzpatrick isn’t nearly the pro bowl signal caller he was a year ago. That $12 million that Jets owner Woody Johnson spent on Fitzpatrick was definitely worth the price of admission to MetLife Stadium. That is, if you love near geniuses throwing a ton of interceptions and costing your favorite football team games.
There is not a lot to be excited about with the Jets this holiday season other than “Just End The Season,” the most obvious acronym for the Jets. Whether Bowles gets a third year in New York or not, one thing is certain with the Jets in 2017: they will have a new starting quarterback.
New York might be bad enough to be picking in the top 10 of the 2017 NFL Draft. The Jets should conceivably land one of the three franchise quarterbacks probably in the draft: Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky, or Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer. New York should be thankful to know that the FitzMagic era in the Big Apple is over, even though he’s starting on Sunday.
New York Islanders: John Tavares‘ loyalty
For the last seven seasons, John Tavares has shown nothing but love and commitment towards Long Island and the Islanders fan base.
Tavares showed his loyalty early in his career, signing a six-year contract extension before the 2012-13 season, worth $33 million.
With the move to Brooklyn being anything but ideal, Tavares has seemed to have shown his commitment to the team. But with his free agency pending after the 2017-18 season, fans are worried about Tavares running north of the border to Toronto.
But even during the World Cup of Hockey this past September, when being asked if playing in Toronto brought back any memories or was something he would experiment with in the future. He replied, “Look when people ask where I’m from I say I grew up in Toronto but I’m from Long Island.”
This quote can only make Islanders fans easier with the possibility of Tavares leaving. But with the Islanders at the bottom of the east, they better hope he really meant it.
Brooklyn Nets: Jeremy Lin
With Lin on the court, the Nets offensive rating is a 109.3 and their defensive rating is 107.4, for a respectable plus 1.8. But without their floor leader, their ratings change to 103.6 and 109.0 for a terrible minus-5.7.
In short, Lin’s presence is worth 7.2 points every 100 possessions. That’s a game-changer, and his absence since Nov. 2 has been just that for the Nets.
New Jersey Devils: Taylor Hall
Taylor Hall, a name that was uttered only a few times on the east coast, has now become a regularity since June. Christmas came early for the Devils after a one-for-one swap with the Oilers that sent defenseman Adam Larsson for the young stud.
Hall became the team’s first legitimate scorer since Zach Parise was captain and Iyla Kovalchuk was sniping goals. Hall has posted five goals, seven assists, and 12 points in 14 games.
He led the Devils to an 8-3-3 record before suffering a knee injury that’ll keep him out for the next three to four weeks.
Thanks to Hall the Devils have very good shot at the playoffs for the first time since 2012.