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JJ: “The Long And Winding Darnold Road To Glory”

BQE Admin on February 12, 2026

New York, New York

By John Jastremski


 Super Bowl 60 has come and gone. Now that the dust has settled. Can you believe Sam Darnold is now a Super Bowl champion??

What a wild turn of events. 

Darnold’s career was well documented and under the spotlight from his time with the New York Jets.

Darnold was the 3rd overall pick in the 2018 draft. The hope was that he’d be the answer to Jets fans’ prayers at the most important position on the field.

Darnold’s Jets tenure was doomed to fail. The team was poorly built, poorly coached and Darnold could not rise above that adversity as a young quarterback.

He missed time with Mono, he famously saw ghosts on Monday Night Football against the Patriots, and never delivered on that draft day hope.

Now, the story of Sam Darnold doesn’t exactly go from leaving the Jets to the top of the mountain. Darnold struggled in his next stop with the Panthers and had to sit for a year in San Francisco to rehabilitate.

Last season, it appeared Darnold had finally found a home with the Vikings. He won double digit games and played brilliantly until the final 2 games of the season.

Those 2 games pushed Vikings brass into allowing Sam Darnold to leave for the Seahawks. And boy did the Seahawks hit the jackpot.

The Seahawks had the team. They needed their caretaker. Darnold delivered.

Consider this. The two teams that caused Darnold the most anguish, he sent both home.

The Rams embarrassed Darnold in his Vikings finale in 2024. Darnold beat them in the crucial Thursday night OT classic & in the NFC Championship game.

On Super Sunday, it was the Patriots. The team Darnold famously saw ghosts against.

Darnold was efficient, turnover free and a winner in his first Super Bowl.

What a ride for the Sam Darnold redemption tour.

Now, you have a trivia question for your friends for years to come:

Who was the first QB in the 2018 draft class to win a Super Bowl? 

Not Josh Allen, Not Lamar Jackson, Slingin’ Sam Darnold!

You can listen to my podcast New York, New York on The Ringer Podcast Network every Sunday/Thursday on Spotify/Apple Podcasts. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sportsnite at 11 PM on SNY.

JJ: “NFL Hall Of Fame Misses Mark”

BQE Admin on February 5, 2026

By John Jastremski

Hall Of Fame discussion has really become a massive hobby of mine over the past decade. I guess as I have gotten older, you gain more perspective and develop even more appreciation for the stuff you have watched over the years.

This weekend, the Pro Football Hall Of Fame will unveil its class of 2026. 

That class will NOT include legendary Patriots coach Bill Belichick and 2 time Super Bowl winning quarterback Eli Manning. Talk about amateur hour. 

Let’s start with Belichick.

It’s almost impossible to get anyone in this country to agree on anything in 2026.

I can’t think of a moment of more unity in the sports world expressing the disgust of almost everyone across the board that Bill Belichick is not a first ballot Hall Of Famer.

Explain this to me; Bill Belichick has a resume with 6 Super Bowl victories & 9 appearances as a head coach. If he’s not a first ballot Hall Of Famer, who is exactly?

The narrative of spy gate or deflated footballs interfering with 20 plus years of excellence on the field is simply nonsense. 

According to most reports, former Colts GM Bill Polian was the ring leader in preventing Belichick from getting in on the first ballot. 

Talk about sour grapes and absolute stupidity. That’s what this decision reeks of.

The Eli Manning case is not as clear cut as Belichick’s. That said, Eli has waited his turn.

And in this week of Super Bowl nostalgia, I remind all of you… Eli Manning beat Tom Brady and Bill Belichick twice on sport’s biggest stage.

Eli Manning delivered one of the best throws in the history of the Super Bowl to Mario Manningham. He too deserves his place in Canton.

Two omissions, one way more obvious than the other. They point to a Hall Of Fame committee that has drastically missed the mark.

JJ: “A Giant Change in the Coaching Equation…”

BQE Admin on January 15, 2026

By John Jastremski
The coaching carousel in the NFL can sometimes take a life of its own.
Quite frankly, I feel I have been living in this world of candidates for the better part of the last few weeks.
Since the Giants parted ways with Brian Daboll back in November, this has been your life as a Giants fan.
If you follow the team, it seems every prospective candidate has been dissected.
I’m sure you’ve heard the names Jeff Hafley, Jesse Minter & Mike McCarthy a little too much for your liking.
Guess what, last Tuesday finally brought a shifting wind to whatever the Giants organization might have been thinking.
After 18 seasons, the Ravens and Head Coach John Harbaugh parted ways.
Holy moly! As Elanie Costanza famously once said, “this changes everything!”
Harbaugh is exactly the program builder the Giants desperately need.
He is a Super Bowl winning coach. He’s reinvented himself throughout his 17 years in Baltimore and has been a fixture in the month of January in the postseason.
Sure, he will not come cheap. Yes, you’ll have to spend a pretty penny on his coaching staff.
Guess what, who cares!
Giants ownership has to embarrassed with the product that has been on the field for the past decade.
They cannot find themselves in a position rolling the dice on a first time head coach.
For this job at this time, Harbaugh is the perfect fit for the franchise.
He will come in high demand and will have his pick of the vacancies.
Giants fans can only hope that he’s in a New York State of Mind.
You can listen to my podcast New York, New York every Sunday & Thursday on The Ringer Podcast Network on Spotify/Apple Podcasts. You can watch me nightly at 11 PM on Honda Sportsnite on SNY. 

JJ: “Progress With A Twist In Jet Land”

BQE Admin on December 4, 2025

By John Jastremski

The first eight weeks of the NFL season were the definition of a horror show for Jets first year head coach Aaron Glenn. 

Glenn started the season 0-7, he found himself picking fights with members of the media that cover the team and had a team that looked beyond lost across all three elements of the game. 

There was a time back in mid to late October where you wondered A : Where are the wins for this team coming from? B: Could it get bad enough in Jets land for Aaron Glenn to be a one and done head coach? 

For what it’s worth, I never necessarily bought into the narrative that Glenn, despite whatever the record may have been in 2025 was on the chopping block, but the optics for the first two months were rough across the board. 

Since the calendar has flipped to the month of November, I must admit that the vibe around the Jets the past month is way better. 

The team has been far more spirited and competitive. They won 3 of their last 5 games and as a whole have looked far more cohesive and buttoned up. 

The penalties are down, the special teams has soared and the quarterback change from Justin Fields to Tyrod Taylor has provided much needed credibility to the offense. 

In addition to the improvement on the field, off the field the Jets organization made moves that signal serious organizational competence. 

The Jets flipped Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts for 2 first round picks. In addition, they traded Quinnen Williams to the Cowboys for a 1st and a 2nd round pick.

The Jets said goodbye to two very talented players, but they also put themselves in a position to make the most important move the franchise can make. 

The Jets are making progress, but it’s irrelevant if they do not get it right long term at the quarterback position. 

It may be in this coming draft or the following draft, but the status of the current Jets regime rests entirely on nailing the most important position in football. 

The Jets will be in a division for the next decade with Josh Allen in Buffalo and now the emerging Drake Maye in New England. 

If you have any hopes of competing with the big boys, better get your guy at quarterback. 

So yes, the Jets are trending finally in a positive direction. Want to know if the progress is real and tangible? Get the right quarterback. 

You can listen to my podcast New York, New York every Sunday & Thursday on The Ringer Podcast Network on Spotify/Apple Podcasts. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sports Nite at 11 PM on SNY.

Soccer Schedule Shift Coming to MLS in 2027

BQE Admin on November 20, 2025

Major League Soccer will join other top leagues playing from Summer to Spring

Noah Zimmerman

noah@queensledger.com

Last Thursday, Major League Soccer’s Board of Governors voted to align the season schedule with that of most top professional leagues worldwide. In 2027, following an abbreviated transition season, MLS will hold matches between late Summer and Spring, with a sizable winter break.

“The calendar shift is one of the most important decisions in our history,” claimed Don Garber, the Commissioner of Major League Soccer. “Aligning our schedule with the world’s top leagues will strengthen our clubs’ global competitiveness, create better opportunities in the transfer market, and ensure our Audi MLS Cup Playoffs take center stage without interruption. It marks the start of a new era for our league and for soccer in North America.”

The move was expected after two years of deliberation, and it’s not one that had unanimous support by teams and fans. Even with the winter break there are concerns regarding harsh weather in cold markets and the loss of some summer matchdays. There’s also the possibility that MLS finds it more difficult to compete with other major sports leagues for attention, both domestically and abroad.

Still, this is a move that primes the league for a new era of continued growth. By lining up with other leagues, MLS can take full advantage of player purchases and sales in the Summer transfer window. It also lets the league avoid conflicts with mid-Summer tournaments like the Gold Cup, though the schedule shift won’t come in time for the 2026 World Cup hosted in the US, Mexico, and Canada.

Between February and May of 2027 the league will hold a shortened 14-game season with playoffs and a MLS Cup Final. Then in mid-July the league will kick off its first season with the new format, playing until the Winter break in mid-December. Matches will resume in early February of 2028, with the regular season terminating in April and the 2027-28 playoffs in May.

What’s the benefit to the league?

First and foremost, Major League Soccer will see a drastic change in their ability to maximise both the summer and winter transfer windows. In most seasons MLS clubs have faced difficulty not only signing top talent but integrating them into their lineups. Additionally, it’s often been difficult for clubs to sell their promising young talents to bigger clubs without derailing their season. 

With the summer transfer window (usually running from June/July until early September) directly in the middle of the MLS season, it’s difficult for new signings to find their feet and mesh with their new clubs.

Now new Summer signings can participate in preseason training and Winter signees won’t need to wait months for matches to begin after leaving their clubs in the middle of an active season.

Playing from the Summer through the Spring is not out of the question and it’s something done by plenty of local soccer leagues. In the New York Metro area the American Premier Soccer League (APSL) and Cosmopolitan Soccer League (CSL) have both played along similar schedules for years, with a Fall season running from September to December and the Spring season taking place between March and June.

Despite the frigid winters, play is still possible with only a handful of postponements due to inclement weather and snow-covered fields. Some leagues even hold cup tournaments in late January and February, two months that will be avoided during the MLS season’s Winter break.

Are there any major drawbacks?

Of course the Winter weather will always be a concern, as matches are already played on snow-covered fields and sometimes in subzero temperatures. Just earlier this year, Sporting Kansas City hosted Inter Miami CF in a CONCACAF Champions Cup match in late February with temperatures under 4 degrees.

Fans of teams like Toronto, Montreal, New York/NYC, New England, and Colorado will be bracing for the effects of the schedule shift. Many of those clubs face sparse attendance in the colder parts of the current season structure and rely on Summer games to make up for the lost revenue. Now without many of those warmer weather games (especially for clubs who miss the postseason) it may lead to even worse attendance issues.

This also brings into question if the new schedule will provide an unfair advantage to teams in big southern markets such as Los Angeles, Miami, and Atlanta. It’s unclear if the league will schedule more home games for those clubs during the colder months to help avoid cancellations and sparse attendance, but if they do it could lead to some clubs going months without a single home game.

Another possible negative impact is in regards to media share and attention. With MLS competing with the NBA, NFL, NHL, and other major soccer leagues, it may limit the league’s ability to draw and keep eyes on their product. Many clubs play in markets with popular basketball, hockey, and football teams, meaning that fan focus may not fall on the soccer pitch during a majority of the season. 

For many of those fans, it’s easier to mix soccer in with a baseball season featuring well over 100 games rather than miss more pivotal matchups in other sports. How they’ll react once the schedule is updated remains to be seen, but it doesn’t bode well given MLS.

What does this mean for New York City FC?

With the schedule change coming the same year as the grand opening of Etihad Park in Queens, questions are already flying regarding what that means for the new stadium. Will there be extra efforts to provide heating? Will there be new efforts to weather-proof the facility? Will the stadium be available for the 2027 transition season or will it wait to open doors until the 2027-28 campaign later in the year?

So far the club has remained tight-lipped about the impacts to their new stadium. Still, the front office has voiced clear support of the schedule shift, noting its benefits especially in major soccer markets.

“Soccer is already seeing incredible levels of growth in North America, and aligning the League’s schedule to follow the international calendar provides us with the best opportunity to continue building off this momentum,” said New York City FC CEO Brad Sims following the league’s announcement. “Especially with the much-anticipated FIFA World Cup 26 coming next summer, followed shortly by the opening of our future home in Etihad Park, this decision could not come at a better time.”

New York City FC alluded that an official update on their new stadium’s availability for 2027 will come in the future, but it’s not likely they’d pass up an opportunity to finish completing the stadium for a full season rather than rush the finishing touches in time for an abbreviated one.

Apple TV deal drops paywall

Another piece of MLS news this past week was that Apple TV will no longer charge for the MLS season pass, dropping a paywall that limited the league’s reach during a valuable period of growth. Fans will still need an Apple TV subscription to enjoy matches, but without the extra $80 ($100 for those not subscribed to Apple TV) per year, the league will be far more accessible across the country and beyond.

This is a move that should do well to combat the competition with more popular sports throughout the MLS season, but the requirement still does limit the league’s reach beyond Apple TV subscribers. Apple has done relatively well to broadcast all Major League Soccer contests, but it’s difficult to ignore a lack of MLS presence outside of their platform. 

Hopefully with the calendar adjustment and lack of additional paywall Major League Soccer can pick up some new momentum, especially with the World Cup kicking off in 2026.

Giants Say Goodbye To Daboll, Schoen Survives. Why?

BQE Admin on November 13, 2025

New York, New York

By John Jastremski

The way the last few weeks in Giants land have been trending, you had to imagine it was a question of when not if Brian Daboll was going to be relieved of his duties as Giants Head Coach. 

Now, that was quite the change from where we were back in Week 4 or Week 5 where the love affair between Daboll and his prized new quarterback Jaxson Dart appeared to be a job saver. 

What changed for Daboll because after all. Jaxson Dart looked the part and appears to be the Giants long term solution at quarterback flourishing under this head coach. 

Well, let’s start with the obvious on the field. 

It’s tough to survive a make or break season as a coach yucking up 3 double digit leads in the 4th quarter. 

Brian Daboll’s team pulled off three epic choke jobs. The Dallas game in Week 2, the all timer against the Broncos in mid October and this past Sunday against the Chicago Bears. 

The win probability for the Giants in every one of those games was no lower than 95 percent in the 4th quarter. 

The three losses combined with the overall record of Brian Daboll as an NFL head coach, made the case incredibly easy for ownership. 

After all, Daboll’s record of 20-41-1 isn’t exactly going to earn you a whole lot of good will around the fan base. 

When you consider the fact that both the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots moved on from coaches with rookie quarterbacks and both have flourished so far this season in year 2, a coaching change wouldn’t exactly keep me up at night if I’m a Giants fan thinking about Jaxson Dart. 

However, what would give me serious pause and concern for the future of the franchise is this simple fact. 

Why did General Manager Joe Schoen survive? Schoen’s record as Giants GM is exactly the same as Brian Daboll’s. 

Yes, Brian Daboll was responsible for multiple 4th quarter collapses this season, but Joe Schoen’s roster has been incredibly flawed for 4 years. 

Schoen has whiffed on a significant amount of draft picks in his time as Giants General Manager. 

Sure, Maliq Nabers was a home run last year with the 6th pick, but what about Jalin Hyatt a few years ago? 

Hyatt, Evan Neal and Deonte Banks are just three examples of horrific drafting over the past 4 seasons. 

Yes, Schoen also drafted Jaxson Dart, but if you follow the Giants and know the back story behind the pick. Dart was the hand picked selection of Brian Daboll and if you go back and watch the inside the Giants draft room video, that narrative will play out for your eyes to see. 

I can’t argue the fact that the Giants are much better positioned as a franchise compared to where they were 4 years ago with Dave Gettleman. That’s also a pretty low bar. 

The roster still needs significant work and do you honestly trust Joe Schoen to not only get the roster right over the next 3 seasons, but to go and pick the right head coach. 

The Giants were positioned for the full tilt reset across the organization, but John Mara, like he has done for the past fifteen years, decided on a different path. 

Joe Schoen survives as General Manager. We’ll see if that’s another Giant regret or a Giant positive over the next few years. 

 

You can listen to my podcast New York, New York on The Ringer Podcast Network on Spotify/Apple Podcasts every Sunday & Thursday. You can watch me nightly on Honda Sports Nite at 11 PM on SNY.

New York City FC Extinguish the Fire, Move to 6th in East

BQE Admin on May 27, 2025

New York City FC are starting to put it together. They now hold the 4th best defensive record in MLS as they climb the Eastern Conference standings. (Photo: Noah Zimmerman, @n.z.media)

By Noah Zimmerman

Noah@queensledger.com

Three goals and two red cards gave New York City FC a comfortable win at Yankee Stadium over Memorial Day Weekend. After conceding an opening goal to the visiting Chicago Fire, NYC found the net three times in the second half for a second straight win.

Chicago’s goal came in the 19th minute, a strike by Philip Zinckernagel with an assist by Jonathan Dean. New York left too much open space around the top of the box, allowing for a long-distance shot to settle in the bottom left corner. At the half-hour mark Chicago nearly doubled the lead, but the play was ruled offside.

The defensive task was made easier by a reckless move by Chicago’s Brian Gutierrez. The central midfielder seemed to jump into the body of NYC midfielder Aiden O’Neill, catching him in the face with his elbow. Gutierrez was given a straight red card and Chicago was sent down to 10 men.

NYC capitalized in the second half with a goal by Monsef Bakrar and a wonderful strike by Hannes Wolf. After a controversial second red for the Fire, Alonso Martinez sealed a 3-1 win from the penalty spot. 

The Boys in Blue entered the week 6th in the East. After their midweek match vs Houston they head to Nashville on Saturday before hosting Atlanta on June 12th.

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