Will's Monday Sports Wrap

Good morning, reader(s) of Stroock's Books. As we write this our left heel hurts, and our right ankle is sore. Getting around has been fun so far. What the actual ef? Ah...there we go. Joints and ligaments have loosened up...or not. And we skipped the filet Mignot last weekend, Motherfucker!

The air is positively autumnal at 47 degrees. Highs are expected to top out at 73. 

Book sales remain a mystery, with a huge spike yesterday. 

Bla-Bla Israel: Israel Radar reports, 'US submits new proposal to Hamas: Hand over all 48 hostages and bodies on day 1 of deal; in parallel, Israel will free hundreds of terrorists and thousands of Palestinian detainees. Israel will halt operation to take over Gaza City; talks will start on ending the Gaza war.' Trump says Israel has already agreed. Do it. For Hamas no hostages, no leverage. And our own sense is that Israel doesn't really want to conquer Gaza City anyway. 

NFL Notes I: The Giants suck, but reader(s) already knew that. Reminder, QB Russell Wilson lost the starting job in Seattle, Denver and Pittsburgh. Speaking of...LOL Jets, losing a game on the final drive to Aaron Rodgers, whom they drove out of town last year. 

NFL Notes II: So we gave up on the Bills/Ravens Game when the Ravens went up 40-25 and missed the Bills' dramatic comeback. It's not that Ravens' QB Lamar Jackson is overrated. He's not. It's just that he can't win a big game.  NBC's Chris Collinsworth is a first-rate jock sniffer, everyone is awesome, he tells us. When can watch NBC's Maria Taylor all evening.  Taylor says she's working on a black QB documentary. Could be interesting but probably won't be.

Meet the Mets...Meet the Mets: When Davey Johnson took the Mets managerial gig in 1984, the Mets had been bad for years. Not comically, endearingly bad like in 1962 (Beat the Mets/cheat the Mets/step right up and defeat the Mets), just a 95 loss, no reason to watch the team bad. But the Mets were getting better. 1984 was Doc Gooden's rookie season. Daryle Strawberry arrived the previous year, so had Keith Hernandez. The Mets won 90 games in 1984.

In 1985 the Mets made a blockbuster trade for Expos catcher Gary Carter. The Mets were a young team led by seasoned veterans like Hernandez and Carter. That year the Mets won 98 games, but couldn't quite top the Cardinals. Going into 1986, not only were the Mets the most talented team in the league, they were the most talented team baseball had seen since Cincinatti's Big Red Machine of the 70s.The Mets also dominated the New York City daily's back page. And that just killed Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. 

The fans had every reason to be optimistic in 1986. The Mets were going to be big winners in '86, and everyone knew it.