Mickey Togs

The Mets have ripped off 11 wins in 15 games after a trade deadline sell-off. They have won four of their last five series and have injected a bit of life into what had been a miserable season.

It will take an enormous run to even be in contention in mid-September. The Mets still trail the Padres by 10 games for the third and final NL wild-card spot, and six other teams are ahead of them. 

To reach 83 wins, the number of victories the final wild-card team secured a year ago, the Mets would need to go 25-9. That’s a .735 winning percentage, an extraordinarily tall order.

The Mets have the seventh-most difficult remaining strength of schedule, their opponents owning a combined .520 winning percentage. 

It includes 12 games against division leaders (White Sox and Rays on the road, Brewers and Astros at home).

Aaron Rodgers, who re-signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason and said that his 22nd NFL season will be his last, reiterated his desire to retire at training camp. “This it it,” he said. 

The thought of retirement has hovered around Rodgers for quite some time now, including this offseason, when the Steelers, and the rest of the NFL, for that matter, waited patiently to see if this was indeed the end of his career.

In his first season with the Steelers in 2025, Rodgers went 10-6, throwing for 3,322 yards with a 65.7% completion rate and 24 touchdowns with seven interceptions.

The Steelers have bolstered its offense this season, adding veteran wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. in a trade with the Indianapolis Colts. 

Four-time Super Bowl champion tight end Rob Gronkowski is among several notable names that will become eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the first time in 2027.

The first-ballot class for next year’s Hall of Fame will include Gronkowski, running back Adrian Peterson and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Outside linebacker Terrell Suggs, offensive tackle Willie Anderson and guard Marshal Yanda will automatically be included on the finalists ballot next year as they were already finalists for the 2026 class.

Gronkowski’s longtime former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft will also be in consideration for the Hall of Fame after being snubbed from the 2026 class. 

Peterson ranks fifth all-time in career rushing yards with 14,918, which included bouncing back from a torn ACL to break the 2,000-yard rushing plateau and win the Associated Press Most Valuable Player award in 2012. 

Roethlisberger, a two-time Super Bowl champion, spent his entire 18-year NFL career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, holding every franchise passing record as well as a 13-10 playoff record, one win shy of Pro Football Hall of Famer and four-time Super Bowl champion Terry Bradshaw‘s 14-5 postseason record.

The New York Yankees made a flurry of moves following their loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night, one of which was optioning outfielder Jasson Dominguez to Triple-A.

The Yankees made the decision to clear room for newly-acquired outfielder Heliot Ramos, who will be joining the ballclub on Tuesday after coming over at the MLB trade deadline.

While the biggest story of Monday evening was New York also promoting top shortstop prospect George Lombard Jr., the demotion of Dominguez should not go unnoticed.

The former top prospect has fallen on hard times with the Yankees, as he has slashed just .230/.270/.380 over 212 big-league plate appearances this season. We all know about his defensive struggles, but recently, he has even made some base-running errors.

New York chose Spencer Jones over Dominguez this time, largely because Jones can play center field. Dominguez is strictly a corner outfielder, and with the arrival of Ramos, his role has been essentially removed.

NEW YORK — You are invited to Hoops Cabaret New York, called the world’s sexiest sports bar, to watch UFC 330 featuring two title bouts and a full card of action. Broadcast live from Philadelphia on Saturday night, August 15. Hoops will show all the action on its numerous HDTVs and Giant Mega-Tron Video Wall.  

Welterweight champ Islam Makhachev looks to continue chasing greatness against Ian Machado Garry, and the Strawweight title fight between Mackenzie Dern and Gillian Robertson should result in an all-out grappling battle.

Hoops Cabaret combines the fun of a sports bar with the excitement of a strip club. The beautiful Hoops girls perform on stage and also up close and personal. 

The fan-favorite Hoops Cabaret is the ideal place to watch this great night of UFC matches. Hoops features a VIP Man Cave, private VIP suites, balcony seating, its new Trophy Room, and the sexy and captivating Hoops girls performing all night.

Hoops girl Carla said, “come enjoy the UFC matches and also enjoy the hot Hoops girls. Let’s pop some bottles, make it rain, and have fun.” 

Hoops Cabaret for the ultimate fan experience. 

HOOPS Cabaret and Sports Bar

48 West 33rd Street, New York City

Court-side, Balcony, + VIP seating

Super VIP “Man Cave”

New Hoops Trophy Room 

Next door to Rick’s Cabaret NYC

The National Baseball Hall of Fame welcomed Jeff Kent, Andruw Jones and Carlos Beltrán on Sunday in Cooperstown, New York.

The Clark Sports Center was home to more than 60 Hall of Famers. They came to watch the newest members of the Hall hold their plaques and deliver emotional speeches.

Beltrán, who turned down an opportunity to manage the New York Mets this summer, but would love to have the job if offered again, spoke for 30 minutes about what his induction means to him.

He grew up in Puerto Rico, and believed one day that he’d become a professional baseball player, but never, ever, did he imagine that he’d be a Hall of Famer.

Beltrán and Jones are just the third and fourth center fielders elected by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in nearly half a century. Since Duke Snider went in with the Class of 1980, only Kirby Puckett (2001) and Ken Griffey Jr. (2016) were counted as center fielders elected by the BBWAA until this year.

Kent, who was elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee at the Winter Meetings last December, is the first second baseman to join the Hall since another Astro: Craig Biggio in 2015.

Fast food chains and casual restaurants have to constantly innovate to stay competitive these days. And by innovate, we mean, add new menu items. No longer can a popular restaurant like McDonald’s just sell burgers.

Domino’s is adding a first-of-its-kind menu item that’s not pizza. The pizza chain is launching creamy mac and cheese, and the two varieties sound pretty tasty. 

Classic macaroni and cheese is made with elbow macaroni noodles and usually some variation on Cheddar cheese. Domino’s two new mac and cheese offerings both use five kinds of cheese, and Cheddar is definitely in there, but the pizza chain ups the cheesiness significantly and switches up the pasta.

• 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese: Penne pasta combined with a blend of Cheddar, American, Parmesan-Asiago, mozzarella blend, and Alfredo sauce—all oven-baked to creamy, bubbly perfection. 
• Spicy Buffalo 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese: Hot Buffalo sauce is drizzled on the new 5-Cheese Mac & Cheese

The New York Jets and Breece Hall agreed on a three-year, $45.75 million contract with $29 million guaranteed.

Hall becomes the third-highest-paid running back by annual money, behind the Eagles’ Saquon Barkley ($20.6 million) and the 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey ($19 million). 

The deal does not include any guaranteed money in the third year of the contract, so it is essentially a two-year, $29 million deal.

Hall was drafted in the second round by the Jets in 2022. He has consistently been one of the team’s top offensive weapons during his first four years.

Hall topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the first time last season. He gained 1,065 yards on 243 carries and scored four rushing touchdowns. 

The New York Mets just spent three months finding out what happens when you go with veteran pitches who have failed the year before during their epic collapse, and it hasn’t been a pretty lesson to watch.

The Mets bent over backwards to give chance after chance to the lines of Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, David Peterson and Clay Holmes, and what they’ve seen is one failure after another.

It’s time for something different. Holmes is the only one of those hurlers who’s still in the picture in any viable way, and Senga will likely follow Peterson out the door very soon.

The Mets have an opportunity to do something very different. Nolan McLean has had some struggles with command and inconsistency, but he’s shown enough when he’s on to indicate that he could at least be a good pitcher at the top of a successful rotation.

Chrisitan Scott has shown that he, too, can be part of the same effort. He may end up being a third or fourth starter, but Scott has had enough success for the Mets to continue to give him run.

In a heartwarming ode to its roots, Häagen-Dazs unveils two new flavors, inviting ice cream enthusiasts to savor the essence of tradition and innovation. The release marks the ice cream brand’s first original flavors since 2024, signaling a return to its pioneering spirit.

Titled “New York Strawberry Cheesecake” and “Vanilla Caramel Pecan,” these creations embody the legacy of Häagen-Dazs founders, Rose and Reuben Mattus, who embarked on a journey from Poland to New York City. 

The former flavor, New York Strawberry Cheesecake, pays homage to the city’s famed dessert, blending velvety cheesecake ice cream with a swirl of strawberry sauce and delicate graham cracker crust pieces. Meanwhile, Vanilla Caramel Pecan reimagines a beloved classic, pairing creamy vanilla ice cream with decadent caramel sauce and caramelized toasted pecans.

The new flavors join the brand’s recent innovations, including Chocolate Cookie Crumble and Dulce de Leche bars, as well as a miniature version of its popular Vanilla Milk Chocolate bars.