by Eddie Mayrose
Sports Heroes are Everywhere; If You Know Where To Look
There were seven minutes left in the CUNY Women’s Basketball semifinal when the 
College of Staten Island suddenly found itself in a battle. What had looked to be an easy win was now in jeopardy as visiting York had whittled a twenty two point deficit down to ten and taken hold of the momentum of the game. Then CSI senior guard Mallory Ameneiros, with five of her ten teammates on the bench in street clothes, decided that this was not to be her last college game. It was a decision she’d made twice before, but this time, it was made on the court; not in a doctor’s office. Continue reading »
By Eddie Mayrose
New York Jets Suddenly Not “Same Old”
This time it was different. The Jets loss to the Colts in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game just didn’t feel as bad as the 
litany of playoff debacles that have dotted the team’s history. There was no fumble on the opening kickoff or a roughing the passer call with a win virtually sealed. There was neither mud nor A.J. Duhe. The Head Coach was not so frightened as to forget that a quarterback sack stops the clock or paranoid enough to claim that he received a crank phone call from Al Davis. Even the blown lead was different; surrendered not to turnovers, as was the case at Mile High Stadium in ‘98, but to a good, old fashioned, butt-kicking at the hands of one of the greatest to ever play his position. What felt so different was that, this time, the other guys were just better. Continue reading »
by Eddie Mayrose
Football Gods Still Smiling On New York Jets
Shonn Greene had just crossed the goal line at the end of a bruising fifty-one yard run that had given the Jets a stunning 
17-7 lead over San Diego with seven minutes left in their Divisional Round playoff game on Sunday. As Greene was being mobbed by his teammates and my sons and I were jumping all over the living room, the phone rang. It was my dad, a well-meaning yet naive Giant fan, calling to congratulate us on a big win. I picked up the phone, horrified, and said, “Are you crazy? You can’t call me now. Do you have any idea how much disaster the Jets can pack into seven minutes?” And, sure enough, Rex Ryan immediately suffered his only brain cramp of the day; electing to squib the kickoff and hand the ball to the Chargers on the New York side of the field. There wasn’t a fan over thirty that didn’t believe we were about to be treated to another Jet horror show.
It was then, however, that Gang Green entered the Bizarro World, one where the opponent Continue reading »
