With it being the first No Football Friday of ‘24, full disclosure today’s tune woulda been Black Balloon by The Goo Goo Dolls…Then after doing a bit of research on that song…jeez, it’s pretty dark, so today’s revised tune is a new song I saw on Spotify called Behind by Myles Smith. It’s much more upbeat and it’s about letting go of parts of the past in hopes for an even better tomorrow.
This song’s reference to a high-speed chase and the cool cover album picture of the car on fire sorta reminds me of Fast Car by Tracy Chapman…
**Cough, cough, Stumlin’ Along this Sunday, Cough, Cough***
No digging up memories that bring me some pain today…Well some of them are traumatic in Jeets’ section below but that’s baseball Suszyn. If you’re newer here, I’m warning you that Week to Week Notes comes with some baggage. Last year I wrote a silly piece about some of them while giving myself the nickname of Mr. Red Flags…
The link is hyperlink attached under the pic above. Feel free to go back and read me roast myself, I laughed a bit at it, and could probably come up with a hundred more since.
Enough about me though, this tune is about a relationship where the couple seems to have had quite a few ups and downs. Myles Smith’s Behind is about trying to let go of the past in an attempt to make it to the other side.
Myles Smith grew up in Luton, UK. He’s been labeled as sorta an R&B/pop artist but this song seems to be heavily influenced by a bit of folk. He first started his career by covering songs from the likes of Marcus Mumford, Chris Martin, and Ed Sheeran. Nevertheless, whatever people want to label him an artist, he’s got a ton of talent and is currently on the rise in the music industry. Smith has sold-out venues in Manchester, London, Berlin, Amsterdam, LA, Toronto, and New York!
Great tune, on to the sports…
Ireland vs. France | Fri. Feb 2 at 3 PM ET
The Guinness Six Nations is an annual international men's rugby union championship between European powerhouses Ireland, England, France, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. The 6 Nations was spawned from the Home Nations Championship, which was the first international rugby tournament that began in 1882. This year’s Six Nations kicks off with Ireland (ranked #2 in the world) against France (ranked #4 in the world). The match will take place at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, France.
Ireland and France first started playing each other back in 1909. This will be the 103rd match between the two countries, as France has come out on top 59 times, Ireland has won 36, and they kissed each other’s sister 7 times. Since March ‘14, Ireland has won 7 of the last 11 meetings in the Six Nations Championships, including last year when Ireland was #1 in the world and France was #2. Ireland won last year’s meeting 32-19. Both of these teams lost in the Quarterfinals of the World Cup last fall, so they should be eager to get back in the win column.
For Ireland, they’ll have a new man wearing the captain’s armband as Johnny Sexton has passed it along to Peter O’Mahony. The man from County Cork will be making his 102th cap for the boys in green. O’Mahony primarily plays flanker and at 34 years of age was considering retiring along with Sexton. When asked about his new role, the O’Mahony humbly said, “Johnny is Johnny, you don’t really replace someone like him. But at the same time, the guys who have been in the squad, it’s an incredibly exciting group of people, a talented group. On the leadership side, we’ve always relied very heavily on a group of players, not just one person. That certainly won’t change. We’ve added to that group over time. Over the last few years, it’s got bigger and bigger. People have stepped up into proper leadership roles, there’s a good cluster of them now. They’re hugely important from a leadership standpoint.” (Irish Rugby) This is not the first time O’Mahony has captained a squad, he was captain of his club team in Munster for a decade so he is well able to do it.
One of the younger Irish players that Peter O’Mahony will provide a bit of leadership for is 22-year-old Joe McCarthy. The New York-born lock will be making his Six Nations debut after scoring his first try for Ireland in the World Cup this past fall. McCarthy will likely become more of a fixture in the starting lineups moving forward. As O’Mahony put it, "He's been in a bit now and you can see every camp he's been to you can see he's picking stuff up and he's learning, he's a young man eager to learn and perform and play well and impress and that's exactly what he's done. Destructive would be a word I'd use for him but he loves the game, is a great man to have around, is great craic, and has really added to the squad in more ways than just rugby.” (Irish Independent) Irish head coach, Andy Farrell, who signed a contract extension through the ‘27 World Cup, will likely target McCarthy as one of the young guys to mold.
Half-ass Opposition Research
Before the United States inspired the French Revolution, France’s flag was three royal crowns. Plus they didn’t even originate French Fries…
Thank you for the Statue of Liberty though…she’s a beaut!
#2 Derek Jeter #2
With today being 2/2 and the fact that I don’t have loads of NFL to report on, here is a piece on Derek Jeter. Last February I did a profile piece on my favorite players from when I was a kid: Bernie Williams (Baseball), Darelle Revis (Football), and Vince Carter (Basketball). This February, I’m going to try to do my 2nd favorite players growing up. I guess not having all that football to write about ain’t all that bad.
Derek Sanderson Jeter was born on June 26, 1974, in Pequannock, New Jersey, to Dorothy Connors Jeter and Sanderson Charles Jeter. Dorothy Connors’ side of the family is from Jersey City and they were a big Irish-Catholic family. According to IrishBaseball.org, Derek’s great-great-great-grandparents, John Connors and Ann Maloney, hailed from County Cork and County Clare. Derek’s mom, Dorothy, was one of 14 brothers and sisters so Derek had loads of cousins in the Jersey area. His dad’s side of the family is African-American. Sanderson Charles Jeter was born in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1948 to Lugenia Jeter, who unfortunately passed away when Derek was only a child in 1979. Derek’s dad was also a shortstop, he played at Fisk University.
Sanderson Charles and Dorothy met in 1972 while they were in the Army stationed in Frankfurt, Germany. Their first date happened to be a double date with their roommates. (Veterans Advantage) After the Army, Sanderson was a substance abuse counselor and Dorothy would go on to become an accountant. When Derek was 4 years old, his family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where his sister, Sharlee, was born. Some of Derek’s favorite memories as a kid happened at he was at his grandparents’ backyard in West Milford, Bergan County, New Jersey. "I spent a lot of time there. My happiest memories are of times outside with my cousins in West Milford playing wiffle ball in the yard." (NJ.com) Jeets credits his grandmother, Dot, for making him a Yankee fan. As I mentioned on Week 4, July ‘22, put Week to Week Notes on record to petition that she gets a plaque at Yankee Stadium. His favorite player growing up was Dave Winfield.
When Derek was a kid, his parents instilled in him at a young age lessons of hard work. They even made him sign contracts with them that he would have to follow. One of Derek Jeter’s dreams as a kid was to become the SS of the New York Yankees. In an excerpt from Derek Jeter’s The Contract, Sanderson Charles said:
“I see you’re still serious about what we discussed last night. That’s good. After you left our room, your mom and I jotted down some guidelines for you to follow. If you’re going to be the Yankees’ shortstop, you might as well get used to having a contract. Do you want to see what we wrote down?” Derek nodded his head, then gulped as his father turned off the game and went upstairs. What is this all about? he thought. When his father came back downstairs, Mrs. Jeter was with him, and he had in his hand a sheet of yellow legal paper, which he placed on the table in front of Derek. “No negotiating,” his father said with a smile.
Jeets took his contract very seriously and worked hard at baseball from a young age. He made the varsity team of Kalamazoo Central High School when he was a sophomore and batted .557. He then hit .508 as a junior and senior. USA Today named Derek Jeter the top high school baseball player of the year in 1992 and he had an offer to play for the Michigan Wolverines…until the New York Yankees drafted him with the 6th overall pick of the 1992 MLB Draft. Jeter fell a bit in the MLB Draft because there was concern that he would decide to play for Michigan. The Yankees scout at the time, Dick Groch, said, “He had signed to go to the University of Michigan, a girlfriend of his from his hometown was going to go to the University of Michigan, so they really were concerned about the fact that if we drafted him we may not be able to sign him.” Groch famously told GM Gene Stick Michael and George Steinbrenner, “No, he’s not going to the University of Michigan. The only place he’s going is Cooperstown." (Oklahoman)
Jeets’ professional career in baseball at 18 years old didn’t start out the way he probably imagined. In 1992 while playing Rookie and Single-A ball, he hit only .210 in 58 games played. When his bat woke up in 1993 in Greensboro, his fielding was still way behind as he made 56 errors. Jeter credits his boot camp fielding sessions with his minor league coach Brian Butterfield. Butterfield told Yankees Magazine, “When I began working with Derek, he was coming off a season in which he had made 56 errors. He wasn’t able to work on hitting because he had hurt his wrist, and that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. He had to work exclusively on defense for about a month and a half. He went out there ready to work and with a smile on his face…I’m proud to have worked with Derek. He has impacted my life a lot more than I could have ever impacted his because he’s quick to give other people credit for everything that’s happened in his career.”
On May 30, 1995, Derek Jeter made The Show and picked up his first career base hit of Mike Blowers. The Mariners’ first baseman at the time, Tino Martinez, was there to congratulate the kid. Jeter would only play 15 games for the Yankees in 1995, but when the Yankees made it to the postseason that year, Derek was in the dugout when Donnie Baseball put the Bronx into a frenzy. Mattingly’s “Hang On To The Roof” homer would be the last one of his career, but the then-captain at the time must’ve left his mark on the 21-year-old. Tino Martinez would replace Mattingly after he retired and Derek Jeter would make the Opening Day roster in 1996.
Jeets started off the 1996 season Opening Day with his first career home run. That day, Derek Jeter batted 9th in the lineup, but by the end of the season, he was the team’s leadoff hitter. As a rookie, Jeter won the AL Rookie of the Year, hitting a clean .314 with 10 homers, 78 RBIs, 104 runs scored, and 14 stolen bases. That said, the biggest moment of his rookie season happened in the ALDS…
…when he clearly homered off Armando Benítez. A 12-year-old legend named Jeffrey Maier made a phenomenal catch, I don’t see what the fuss is about. Jeter’s clutch 8th-inning home run was a huge momentum swing in the game as it would end up sending the game to extra innings where Bernie Williams would walk it off. The 1996 Yankees would go on to the World Series where they would face Jeets’ manager, Joe Torre’s old team, the Atlanta Braves. Down 0-2 in the series after losing the first two games in the Bronx, the 1996 Yankees would win 4 straight thanks in large part to the clutch bats of Jimmy Leyritz and Joe Girardi. The AL Rookie of the Year had a great postseason, as he hit .361 and won the World Series, bringing the Bronx their first World Series Championship since 1978.
After losing a tough ALDS in 1997, the New York Yankees and Derek Jeter would storm back in 1998. The 1998 Yankees are considered one of the best MLB teams of all time as they went an incredible 114-48 en route to a World Series title. Jeets’ in 1998 was named to his 1st All-Star Game and came in 3rd in the AL MVP voting as he hit .324 with 19 homers and scored an AL-best 127 runs. He followed up that immaculate performance with a career-best.349 batting average in 1999. What I remember about the 1999 Yankees was my grandpa taking me to my first Yankee game. We scalped some nice tickets off a guy who assumed he was my dad, perks of being the first grandkid, even though I swear my grandpa still looks the same today! The first time I laid eyes on the Yankee Stadium field, the grass was so green and cut to perfection. Bernie Williams also homered in that game, so that’s why #2 is my #2 favorite player of all time. Anyway, back to Jeter, and while we’re at it let’s rib some Mets fans…
After winning 2 World Series in a row in 1998 and 1999, the Yankees faced the New York Mets in 2000. The Subway Series was a MUST-WIN for the Yanks because even though they clearly are New York’s team, they couldn’t blow it. After winning the 1st 2 games of the 2000 World Series in close ones, the Yankees lost game 3 at Shea Stadium. Joe Torre, who let’s be honest at this point just knew every right button to push, decided to have Jeter lead off Game 4, where the SS crushed the 1st pitch of the game over the LF fence. The Yankees would win their 4th title in 5 years, cementing a Dynasty that seemed to have no end in sight as their star SS was only 26 years old and had just won both the All-Star Game & World Series MVP. While I’ll be honest, most of the Dynasty 90s Yanks’ teams for me are a bit foggy, all I remember is them just winning all the time.
The ‘01 Yankees won 95 games during the regular season but of course, the only real noteworthy thing to mention of that baseball regular season was 9/11. Not to gloss over the day or make it seem as though sports are in any way as important as real life, Jeter hit the nail on the head, “I think we gave people something to cheer for three hours a day, which was good. Especially in the playoffs, I thought a lot of people were watching us and pulling for us. I was playing a game. It didn't change anything, but it had people's minds off of it for a couple of hours per day.”
That ‘01 postseason was when Derek Jeter made his famous “Flip Play” to save the Yankees season in Game 3 of the ALDS. The Bronx Bombers at the moment were down 0-2 in the series after losing the first 2 games in the Bronx. Jeter’s flip would carry momentum the rest of the way as the Yanks would win 3 in a row in Oakland. The ‘01 Yanks then went on to play the ‘01 Seattle Mariners, a team that had won 116 regular season games. #2 had a rough ALCS and World Series at the plate, but he became Mr. November when…
…he stepped up to the plate and homered off Byung-Hyun Kim. That midnight was the first time in MLB history that a game had ever been played in November and this was due to the MLB season understandably being postponing the season due to 9/11. The Yankees would win all 3 games in the Bronx that World Series, 2 of which on back-to-back nights tied the game up in the bottom of the 9th while down to their final strike with 2 outs. Sadly, the Yanks would lose the World Series out in Arizona on a Game 7 bloop single that went just over the head of Derek Jeter.
On June 3, ‘03, the Yankees named Derek Jeter captain. While they would get back to the World Series in ‘03, most of the 90s Dynasty was gone. They would lose the World Series to a young Marlins team that featured the likes of Pudge Rodriguez, Josh Beckett, Juan Pierre, Dontrelle Willis, and Miguel Cabrera. Then came ‘04 when I wept worse than Shane last weekend after they lost Game 7 to the Boston Red Sox. I’m still traumatized to this day. My parents thought I was absolutely feckin’ nuts, but I think it probably makes more sense now that I get to do this now.
In ‘05, Derek Jeter made his famous catch where he dove into the stands. It was the 4th of July Weekend and I think I was pissed off I missed it because we were camping in Lake George. John Flaherty walked the game off in extras, I must’ve watched that on the Yankees’ Classic a million times. From ‘02 to ‘07, these Yankee teams were statistically great but just were flawed a bit in the postseason. Not that I want to gloss over this stretch, but I think the Captain would be okay with me doing so.
Derek Jeter would give the final speech in the House that Ruth Built in ‘08 before winning his 5th World Championship in ‘09. The ‘09 Yankees were stacked with one of the best infields of all time with Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano, ARod, and Jeter. On February 12th of ‘14, Derek Jeter announced on Facebook that the ‘14 season would be his last. I still remember being in the UAlbany library and seeing that post. Within minutes I made sure to go on StubHub and luckily I bought tickets to his last home game at Yankee Stadium before they went up tenfold just a few hours later. I wrote about it on Week 2, Aug. '22…
The Walk-Off
I was an attendee of his final home game. No big deal but I thought to hit up StubHub the hour of his retirement announcement - one of the smarter decisions of my college years. The atmosphere felt more like a funeral than it did a celebration. In between innings, they kept playing highlights of his career. When he hit the walk-off, the final signature inside-out-swing liner to right field, it was a high-five any strangers that are in your 15-foot proximity kind of moment. 50-year-old men were teary-eyed. Beers and chicken buckets were being spilled all over the bleachers and the masses were getting in their last “De-rek Je-Tah” chant. Fans stayed in their seats well after the game and nobody wanted to leave the stadium that night. Everybody knew it was the end of a magical era thanks to an icon. #Re2pect.
Growing up and idolizing my favorite players such as Bernie Willaims & Derek Jeter is why I love sports. From the smoothness with which they both played the game on the field to how they conducted themselves off it, I thank the lord every day for making me a Yankee…fan. Now #2 is a father to 3 girls and a boy. He married Hannah Davis, who I’m sure if we go back far enough in the Davis family tree, we’re related somehow…