The Daily Bee (October 12, 2020): An Erling Haaland Hat Trick!

Good morning, Fear the Wall.

You know what’s funny? The current state of New York sports. This past week has seen the New York Yankees be eliminated from the MLB playoffs and the Jets and Giants fall to 0-5. I grew up in the general NYC area and was raised on a heavy diet of New York sports radio. With the exception of the Mets, I don’t really care about any of the major NYC teams, so for me there’s nothing funnier than listening to Joey from Yonkers call in at 7:30 AM to scream until he’s red in the face about how awful Adam Gase is.

The disparity between the expectations laid by the New York area’s media, from radio to tabloids like the New York Post and Daily News, and the actual performances of the teams involved is staggering. It’s been more than eight years since any New York team won a championship (The Giants beating New England in Super Bowl XLVI), and five years since any team reached a championship series (unbelievably, the Mets in the 2015 World Series).

The reasons I bring this up are that a) it’s funny, and b) it gives perspective to Borussia Dortmund fans who lose their shit whenever BVB finishes second in the league. If you’re a Mets-Jets-Knicks-Rangers fan, it means you haven’t seen one of your teams win a championship since 1994, and that’s across four sports. Personally, I’m very passionate about the New Jersey Devils and the Mets, and I passively follow the Jets, so I haven’t seen one of my teams win a championship since the Devils won the Stanley Cup in 2003, when I was only five. Outside of an odd playoff run here or there, it’s basically been nonstop futility ever since. I hope that gives some perspective to why I have a hard time criticizing BVB when we win 4-0.

Anyway, that’s enough of a tangent, let’s get to the news:

Erling Haaland Strikes Thrice!

This kid is unreal. Erling Haaland had quickly established himself as one of the best strikers in the world with his terrific play for BVB, and he pulled off another magical performance against Serbia in the EURO Qualifiers. Just look at this incredible first-time half volley:

England Beat Belgium

BVB’s Axel Witsel and Thomas Meunier started for Belgium, and despite getting off to a strong start against England, ultimately fell to the three lions 2-1. Jadon Sancho had a brief cameo for England but wasn’t heavily involved in the game. The match-winning goal came from a very fortunate bounce off a shot from Mason Mount.

The Daily Buzz

What did you think of the NBA finals game last night?