A friend of mine got me in for a taping of SNL this week. I sat right behind Frank Luntz and his beautiful companion. That's our world, folks. Hug your families tonight, would you?
Mets: The Mets played no games this week. It was glorious. Rumor has it they'll enter into negotiations with David Wright and R.A. Dickey at some point next week, with those talks expected to break down acrimoniously a few days later.
Yankees: Remember when the Yankees' biggest problem was that they hit TOO MANY home runs? Well, weren't those just the days? Despite eking out an ALDS win over a light-hitting Baltimore team, it didn't come about because of the Yankees' bats. New York's offense is experiencing some historic futility in this postseason, with the brunt of the angst coming down on the head of Alex Rodriguez as it always does. This week saw the great A-Rod pinch hit for, then benched in a decisive Game 5, before finally being pantsed in the team's clubhouse by a giggling Ichiro. But seriously, is this just all A-Rod's fault? Even when it's not, why does it so often feel like it is?

Tuesday, Oct. 16
8:07 PM MLB NY Yankees at Detroit

Wednesday, Oct. 17
8:07 PM MLB NY Yankees at Detroit

Thursday, Oct. 18
4:07 PM MLB NY Yankees at Detroit

Friday, Oct. 19
8:00 PM NCAAF Connecticut at Syracuse

Saturday, October 20
8:07 PM MLB NY Yankees vs. Detroit
12:00 PM NCAAF Rutgers at Temple

Sunday, October 21
8:07 PM MLB NY Yankees vs. Detroit
1:00 PM NFL NY Giants vs. Washington
4:25 PM NFL NY Jets at New England

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Despite the fact the Yankees' pitching has been otherworldly good, they still find themselves down 2-0 in the ALCS with Detroit thanks to Sunday's 3-0 loss. Hiroki Kuroda struck out 11 over seven brilliant innings while pitching on three days rest for the first time in his life, but New York's bats remained dormant in front of a Yankee Stadium crowd that seemed stunned into silence by the realization that perhaps it was silly to complain about all those home runs earlier in the season. Oh and did we mention that Derek Jeter broke his ankle and is lost for the postseason? No? Well, that happened also (Hiding smile). This ALCS doesn't just seem like a losing playoff series, it feels like some kind of punishment. At some point, one has to figure a lineup with names like Cano, Teixeira, Granderson, Rodriguez and Swisher will start to heat up, but that point really needs to hurry up and get here already.
Jets: Watching the Jets on Sunday dominate the Colts, I wondered if we might finally accept that the Jets are not nearly as interesting as we want them to be. This is not Team Titanic, a soap opera or a flaming car wreck for us to gawk at. This is simply an OK team. No better, no worse. We've spent so much time bloviating about their quarterbacks without anyone simply accepting that they're both kind of meh. Nonetheless, in a 35-9 win over a Colts team possibly suffering from a hangover from their emotional win a week earlier against Green Bay, the Jets' defense was stout and the team's long dormant running game finally got going. For all the talk of Sanchez, Shonn Greene has been as disappointing as any Jet over the last two seasons, so it had to be especially encouraging to see him carve up the Colts for 161 yards and three touchdowns. The Jets find themselves at 3-3 and in a first-place tie in the AFC East ahead of next weekend's showdown with the Patriots. A victory there and maybe this season becomes something truly fun, but even if it doesn't, I'm sure everyone will find a way to keep insisting that it is.
Giants: In a highly anticipated rematch of their NFC Championship game from a season ago, the Giants walked into San Francisco and beat the 49ers at their own game. Using a strong effort from their defensive line and a big game from running back Ahmad Bradshaw, the Giants pounded the 49ers en route to a 26-3 win that should give New York the title of top dog in the NFC at least for a week -- the undefeated Atlanta Falcons notwithstanding. It wasn't the finest game for Eli Manning, but he was mistake free and generally well protected by an offensive line that appears to be rounding into form. A dangerous game with the Washington Redskins looms ahead with the Giants still looking for their first win against an NFC East opponent. New York may still be kicking themselves for failing to grab a winnable game earlier in Philadelphia -- or am I the only one still doing that? -- but can ill afford another NFC East loss to Bob Griffin and company.
Knicks: The Knicks got their preseason under way with a pair of semi-impressive wins over the Wizards and Celtics, but have been without Amar'e Stoudemire in the early going as he deals with a sore knee. At some point, it would be nice to see this whole unit get some time together, but for now it will still have to wait.
Big East Football: Rutgers and Syracuse matched horns this week, with the No. 20 ranked Scarlet Knights holding off a game effort from the Orange for a 23-15 win. Syracuse's Ryan Nassib threw for 356 yards but it was not enough to claim the victory. In Connecticut, the Huskies were stunned by Temple in a discouraging 17-14 loss to the Owls. These teams will switch dance partners next week as Syracuse readies to take on UConn, while Rutgers travels to take on Temple.