Good Grief, Mets…and Up the Mighty Reds (not the baseball ones)!
Well, it’s official. The Mets are toast. With yesterday’s loss to the Brewers, the Mets are now 5 1/2 back of the Phillies. And are clinging on the final NL Wildcard spot by a game and a half over the Reds. The Mets have now lost 7 in a row and the boys here at the Throwing Bagels Podcast are calling it. Stick a fork in them!
Enough of the baseball talk. Let’s move on to something more optimistic. Liverpool Football Club. Every year in England and other domestic leagues around the world, usually before the first week of the season (but not always….I’m looking at you Spain and Greece), the winner of the domestic league faces the winner of the domestic cup in what is usually called the Super Cup. In England, it’s called the Community Shield. And this year, it was Crystal Palace vs Liverpool at Wembley this past Sunday.
Coming off their second league title in five years, Liverpool have done some business in the off season. Out are Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Jarell Quansah, Trent Alexander-Arnold to name a few and in are the likes of Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Jeremy Frimpong, and Milos Kerkez. Liverpool are also reportedly interest in Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak. It would be a coup if they did land a world class striker like Isak. Center back is a more needed addition for depth at this point. But with the amount of games Liverpool are expected to play, any and all depth at any position is welcome!
Point is, Liverpool supporters like myself are extremely optimistic. Even more so after seeing the Reds take on Crystal Palace in the aforementioned Community Shield. The new signings noted above all got the start in the match and it didn’t take long for the Reds to score. Florian Wirtz slipped a ball into the path of Hugo Ekitike and the ball finds the bottom corner for the 1-0 lead after 4 minutes. Palace equalized in the 17th minute when Big Virg conceded a penalty which was converted by Jean-Phillipe Mateta.
Liverpool retook the lead in the 20th minute when Frimpong lobbed the ball over keeper Dean Henderson from a sharp angle (let’s be honest, it was intended to be a cross and not a shot but we will say it was a shot and call it a day). The significance of the goal wasn’t lost on Liverpool supporters. The goal coming in the 20th minute, and number 20 being Diogo Jota’s number created a great moment. Palace equalized with about 13 minutes left in the match through Liverpool’s nemesis, Ismiala Sarr. He always seems to score against Liverpool. The match ended 2-2 at full time. There is no extra time in the Community Shield so we go straight to one of the worst penalty kick shoot out’s I’ve seen in some time. Salah torched his kick over the bar, Palace keeper Dean Henderson saved two. Palace wins the Community Shield on pens, 3-2.
In the eyes of Liverpool supporters, this was a glorified friendly…..preseason friendly if you will. Doesn’t mean anything in the context of the season. In fact, only once in the last 15 years has the Community Shield winner gone on to win the Premier League.
So, to recap, the Mets are done. The Giants (who I didn’t even mention because who the hell cares about preseason football?) are going to be awful this season. And the mighty Reds of Liverpool are going to win the league again! UP THE REDS! #YNWA #Forevever 20