Sports Recap for Friday, October 25th

NFL

So, I got so involved with and excited by the Pearl Jam concerts, that I did not even acknowledge that the Giants finally ended their winless streak this past Monday.

Granted, they beat the also struggling Minnesota Vikings, who have looked terrible this season, and are themselves only 1-5.

But a win is a win.

The Giants had come close to winning before. They almost did it in Dallas on opening weekend. They almost did it in Chicago against the Bears in mid-October. But on Monday Night, they finally, actually did it at home against Minnesota, earning their first win of the season, and finally moving out of the ranks of the winless teams. The Steelers had earned their first victory the week before. Now, this week, it was the Giants turn.

Which leaves me with another of those winless teams to talk about: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Like the Giants and other struggling teams, the Bucs came into this season with high expectations. They had retooled, their defense was new and many expected big things from them. They played a tough game at the Jets on opening day, but barely lost in the final seconds of that tough loss.

Since then, however, their season really has spiraled out of control. Tampa hosted the suddenly surging Carolina Panthers, and pretty much got stomped on, predictably. Tampa's defense allowed 31 points, and the Buccaneers simply could not keep up with the Panthers, who's own tough defense only allowed 13 points.

The Panthers have now won three games in a row, following a terrible start. They completely dismantled and manhandled the Giants in their first victory of the season, but they followed that up with a disappointing loss at Arizona.

But since then? They have won, and won big, earning convincing victories over the Vikings, Rams, and now, the Buccaneers. In a division that seemed to have only one really solid team playing this season, Carolina suddenly find themselves a game and a half out of first, and with a winning record to go with the high expectations of them, and particularly that defense, when the season opened.

Predictions:

Well, I did not get these out in time enough to get the Thursday game in, although the Panthers would have been a no-brainer.

So, let's see what else we've got on top this week in the NFL:

In London, I just don't see Jacksonville beating the 49ers.

I like New Orleans defeating Buffalo at home, to raise their record to 6-1, and make it an even two game lead over second place Carolina. The Patriots should solidify their lead in the seemingly open AFC East, by defeating the Dolphins at home. That, and what I will predict will be  a convincing Jets loss later in the day at Cincy, would give New England more cushion in their division lead. I like the Kansas City Chiefs to remain unbeaten, after the Cleveland Browns come to town. Also, Detroit should make a solid home stand in beating Dallas in Detroit, although that game will be tough, and I could really see it going the other way just as easily. The Steelers will stay hot and win on the road in Oakland, while Denver will get back on track and stop Washington. For Sunday Night Football, I pick the Packers to win straight up over the Vikings. On Monday Night Football, the Seahawks may struggle a bit on the road, but should be tough enough to hold off the Rams.

Upsets? I like the Giants upending the Eagles in Philly, although unfortunately, Vick will be back, and the Giants traditionally struggle against him. Still, I predict they will get it right for this game, and enter the break on a two game winning streak. Also, I think the Cardinals should manage to beat Atlanta. Not sure if that qualifies as an upset or not, but I'm just saying.

Tennis

Now, here was an article that was suggesting that Nadal-Djokovic was already the top rivalry in the men's game, perhaps even in history.

I would definitely concur that it is tops in the game right now. No question about it, really. Number one and number two, with each man having switched these positions at certain points. Both men have enjoyed some considerable success against the other. Both men have enjoyed tremendous success in the game in general. And finally, and most importantly, both men are, right now, far ahead of everyone else but one another in the game at the moment.

Yes, Andy Murray has come on of late. But until he shows that level of consistency, tournament after tournament, and particularly on the Grand Slam stage, and also until he reaches the number one ranking where he still has only won the two Grand Slams, then he simply does not belong on the same list as the other two. He may get there, and I'm not suggesting otherwise. But he still has a ways to go in order to do that.

As for history...well, there is the matter of Federer vs. Nadal, which was formerly considered the greatest rivalry in the sport's history. But here's the thing: Federer enjoyed almost unprecedented success and dominance in the sport from early 2004 through 2007, even into early 2008. Nobody could rival him, much less top him- save for Nadal on the clay courts. But then, only on the clay courts. And this allowed Federer to build up a very impressive resume in the meantime, that ranks with the greatest periods of dominance by anybody in the sport, ever.

But then, Nadal really came on, and he did so largely by surpassing Federer. He started beating him more often than not. No longer just on clay courts, but on grass courts, and on hard courts. Injuries took him away from dominating the game, and it was indeed during this period that Federer managed to win his one and only clay court Grand Slam in the French Open, after Nadal was injured.

When Nadal came back healthy, it was, once again, all Nadal. It could be argued that Federer was past his prime, if not even well past it. But one way or the other, Federer's dominance gave way to Nadal's dominance.

And here is what makes the Djokovic-Nadal rivalry perhaps, indeed, more interesting and intense than the Federer-Nadal rivalry: Djokovic began to dominate Nadal, after Nadal's initial dominance. It looked simply like Djoko had replaced Nadal, much the way Nadal had replaced Federer.

But with the dominant 2013 season that Nadal enjoyed, he in turn dominated Djokovic, and reclaimed tennis dominance once more.

Now, if Djokovic can reclaim the number one ranking again, and in particular, if he could do what Federer never could - namely, winning the French Open straight up against Nadal, then this is likely indeed the greatest rivalry the game has ever seen, because it would be a back and forth rivalry. A real rivalry between greats that enjoyed success against one another.

It might not (yet) have that single greatest match of all time, the way the 2008 Wimbledon Final between Nadal and Federer is seen as, but this has the makings of a truly memorable rivalry for the ages. But for that lofty perch, it would fall on Djokovic's shoulders to reclaim the number one ranking from Nadal, and particularly, to finally do what he came close to doing last June - beating Nadal at Rolland Garros.

Here's the article that got me started on the subject:


"Novak Djokovic Building Strong Case as Rafael Nadal’s Greatest Rival".   Yahoo Contributor Network  By Andrew Prochnow, October 24, 2013:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/novak-djokovic-building-strong-case-rafael-nadal-greatest-161000981--ten.html