MANY QUESTIONS, NOT ENOUGH ANSWERS

In New York, where they hate (if that’s strong enough) Bill Belichick, the New England Patriots’ GOAT of a coach is not only about to be sent on his way by owner Robert Kraft, he’s already penciled in as moving on to one of three desperate teams … da Bears, the Chargers or your Washington Commanders. They can’t be serious, can they? A FOUR-STAR quarterback from Georgia has committed to play football for Deion Sanders at the University of Colorado, starting in 2025. Antwann Hill, Jr, was quoted as saying the tipping point came during a visit when the fans began chanting his name. Anybody want to bet he changes his mind … like several times … before making a final decision? The usual suspects, among them Florida State, Auburn, Tennessee and Georgia, also wanted Hill, and you’ve got to believe the chase is far from over. The odds are said to be pretty good Sanders will be long gone from Boulder in two years (or fewer), bound for the NFL. WHO CALLS the plays for Penn State? The Nittany Lions run down the field for back to back gains of 20 and 15 yards to the Ohio State 26, first and 10. Then, the call is a pass, which leads to a sack, and another throw that is way wide of the mark … followed by a run on 3d and 13 that goes for six yards. Settle for a field goal for 3-3 with 5:15 left in the first quarter en route to losing 24-12 in a game of genuinely-mediocre quarterbacks. Whatever happened to the old: Keep doing what’s working until they stop it? Instead, it was: Now that we’ve established one thing, we’ll surprise them with with something else.” Brilliant … absolutely brilliant. “They got away from the run game,” was the best Fox game analyst Joel Klatt could say. Surely he could do better than that. Next possession: Penn State is on its 46, third and one. QB Drew Allar is 6-5, 243. QB sneak? “Tush Push?” Hardly. Makes too much sense. He throws behind an open receiver cutting over the middle. Incomplete. (Klatt says ball was deflected but replay indicates, while possibly questionable at best, it was just a wobbly, bad ball.) How in the world were the Nittany Lions unbeaten coming in, much less ranked seventh (to the Buckeyes’ No.3) making strange calls like the samples above? D-e-f-e-n-s-e … I guess. “It’s going to be a low-scoring game,” Klatt said. “This is what we anticipated.” Former University of Virginia All-American Anthony Poindexter is Penn State’s co-defensive coordinator in charge of the secondary where he excelled during his undergraduate career. OK, SO TEAMMATES like NHL Rangers’ defenseman D’Andre Miller. That’s fair. What isn’t fair is the constant adulation from the New York players and, more notably, press alike, over his on-ice performance. Surely they know better … don’t they? He’s big and has a long reach, which occasionally comes in handy to knock the puck off an opponent’s stick … and break up a blue-ribbon scoring opportunity. But … not nearly often enough to make up for obvious deficiencies … like being caught up ice and out of position or failing to make use of a commanding size (6-3, 215) advantage over most opponents. In a 2-1 win over visiting Arizona (Oct. 16), one of the Coyotes skated around Miller like he was stuck in sand … but goaltender Igor Shesterkin saved the ensuing shot, the game and Miller (from serious criticism). It was No. 31 to the rescue (Oct. 19) again on a breakaway set up by a Miller turnover at the Nashville blue line … but New York lost 4-1 in what everyone agreed was its worst performance to date. To think a Ranger beat writer last week said Miller “is physical, too.” Come on! He avoids hitting rival players seemingly because they might drop their gloves and hit him back. The most physical thing Miller did a season ago was spit in the face of LA’s Drew Doughty. To top it off, the writer quoted Miller as saying he’s developed a “killer instinct.” Say what? THE RANGERS opened a five-game road trip Saturday night at the Seattle Kracken and, in all fairness, Miller played well even if he was on the ice for the only goal (even strength) by the home team. New York won 4-1 and, for the fourth time in five games, Richmonder Zach Jones was a healthy scratch. Guess it was his fault the Rangers dropped a 5-3 decision Oct. 14 in Columbus where they had two goals disallowed for offsides. The Blue Jackets had one taken off the board after a Miller giveaway behind the NY goal. Boone Jenner completed his hat trick when a shot glanced off his shoulder and was re-directed by Shesterkin. Afterwards, Jones was criticized for not moving Jenner away from the net.