The Sports Curmudgeon

Cal State Northridge plays basketball in the Big West Conference along with schools such as Hawaii, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara.  Cal State announced in the last several days that it has suspended its head basketball coach, Mark Gottfried and the other members of his coaching staff with pay pending an investigation into NCAA rules violations.  Here is some of what the Athletic Director said in announcing this action:

“Upon learning of potential rules violations within our men’s basketball program, I directed an immediate review and have placed our men’s basketball coaching staff on paid administrative leave while we complete this internal review.  Our focus will be on the welfare of our student-athletes and ensuring their academic, athletic and personal success. CSUN does not comment on specific employee issues and cannot elaborate further about the nature of the potential violations while the review is underway. However, CSUN is committed to ensuring full compliance with all university and NCAA regulations while maintaining the highest standards of integrity and institutional responsibility.”

This action and announcement caught my intention for two reasons:

1. It is not just one coach who is on suspension, it is the entire coaching staff.
2. Mark Gottfried is involved.

In most circumstances when a school learns of potential NCAA rules violations, the school suspends or fires a coach or maybe two coaches and speaks about righting the wrongs and moving forward.  This announcement is different; since the entire staff is suspended, does that mean that the entire staff was part of an organized cabal to violate NCAA rules?  Or might it mean that the school is confident there were violations but has not yet gathered enough information to know who is responsible?  That is the first unusual aspect of this announcement.

In addition, the Athletic Director here said specifically that the focus will be “on the welfare of our student-athletes”.  Let me channel Keith Jackson here and say, “Whoa, Nellie!”  Is that just a rhetorical flourish or is this some sort of NCAA rules violation that goes beyond players receiving “improper benefits”?

• [Aside: The business here about “not commenting on specific employee issues” is a convenient dodge.  When/if the school hires or fires a coach or gives him a raise, that is a specific employee issue; and they announce it loudly.]

Let me be clear; I know nothing more specific about this matter except that it seems quite different from other similar situations where schools find themselves on the wrong side of the NCAA rule book.  And, this situation involved Mark Gottfried who has a previous presence in another matter that involved NCAA rules violations and a school announcing that it could not comment on an investigation because of privacy policies.  Let me turn back the clock…

About 5 years ago, the FBI ran a sting operation and discovered that shoe companies were funneling under-the-table money to high school basketball recruits to choose to play at schools that wore that shoe company’s brand.  The DoJ got convictions in this matter for several of the people involved on the theory that the schools were being defrauded somehow.  Mark Gottfried was the head coach at NC State then and the NCAA cited him for failing to maintain oversight in his program when one of his assistants was somehow involved in getting some “Adidas money” from the company to a recruit who spent a year on the NC State basketball team.

Mark Gottfried has been a successful college basketball coach at Murray State, Alabama and NC State prior to his current gig at Cal State Northridge.  When he arrived there, his overall record was 401-240; that will not make anyone forget the coaching achievements of John Wooden, but it is more than a respectable record.  His teams had been in either the NIT or the NCAA tournament 15 times in 20 seasons.  In the last three seasons at Cal State Northridge, things have not been nearly so successful.  His record is 37-51 and the Matadors have only been in post-season play in the CBI Tournament which is clearly a step down from the NCAA Tournament and/or the NIT.

Clearly, there is more to come on this matter – – even if only to announce that the investigation showed only the most minor of  “rule violations” and that everyone on the coaching staff has been cleared of any wrongdoing.  But there is enough about the matter that is “off-center” to warrant paying attention…

Switching gears …  Yesterday, I urged folks to look at Mike Trout’s stats for the first month of the 2021 season.  They are eye-popping, indeed.  Those comments got me an email from a former colleague and long-term reader who is a Dodgers’ fan and not an Angels’ fan.  He said that while Trout was having an amazing season the Angels were – once again – under .500 in the standings and that Trout was saddled again to be on a bad baseball team.  He said:

• Mike Trout is the AL version of Ernie Banks.

I assert that Mike Trout is the best player in the game today and for the past 5 years or so.  Ernie Banks never achieved that status simply because he was a contemporary of Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams and Sandy Koufax to name a few.  Having said that, I am perfectly willing to entertain a motion from the floor to say that Ernie Banks was the best shortstop ever to play MLB.  [I know that may take the breath away from fans around 40 years old who have come to believe that Derek Jeter had no peers at that position, but such is the case…]  Let me list some of Banks’ achievements:

• He was in the major leagues for 19 seasons – – all of them with the Cubs.
• He was an All-Star 14 times.
• He was a first-ballot Hall of Fame inductee.
• He was the MVP in consecutive seasons (1958-59) an achievement matched by less than a dozen players in baseball history.
• He was durable – he led the league in games played in 6 seasons.
• He led the league in intentional walks twice.

And with all those achievements, Ernie Banks never played in a post-season game in 19 years with the Cubs.  The analogy by my former colleague is an apt one…

Finally, since today’s rant involved the potential breaking of rules and major league baseball, this item from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times seems to be a perfect closing:

“Major League Baseball has hired former WWE ‘sizzle planner’ Brian Stedman as its executive vice president of strategy and development.

“Pitchers immediately demanded to know: Are pine tar and Vaseline considered foreign objects?”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

Back in February when the Rockies traded Nolan Arenado to the Cardinals for a bag of beans, I thought that the Cards’ GM who pulled ithe deal off must have had a mask on his face and a gun in his hand. It was close to being a criminal act.  The Cards walked off with one of the – if not the – best third basemen in the game in exchange for pitcher Austin Gomber (ERA of 5.90 in 29 innings this year) and a couple minor league prospects.  Then, to show how serious the Rockies were about giving away Arenado, they tossed in $50M so that the Cards would not be “saddled” with Arenado’s salary.

The Rockies seem to have come to the realization that they have been fleeced because they canned their GM who negotiated that deal.  That action may come too late, and the Rockies may be in for some down times in the NL West.

• Back in 2019, the Rockies lost second baseman, DJ LeMahieu to free agency.  Ignoring the truncated 2020 season, all he has done in two seasons with the Yankees since signing on there is to make the All-Star team, win two silver sluggers and finish in the Top 5 in MVP voting twice.
• The Rockies gave away third baseman Nolan Arenado – – see above.
• The Rockies have an outstanding young shortstop – Trevor Story – who is about to become a free agent and who has shown no interest or intention to sign on with the Rockies.

The Rockies had three “All-Star Quality” infielders in their system and could not figure out a way to build around them to be a contender and/or a way to keep those parts together as a functioning unit.  When LeMahieu left after the 2018 season, the Rockies were a 90-win team; in the same division with the Dodgers, that was not enough; but it was a foundation to build on.  As of this morning, the Rockies project to be sub-70 in wins this year.  Is that organizational malfeasance or non-feasance?  You make the call…

I was not the least bit surprised to read about the firing in Colorado but another baseball firing earlier this week did surprise me.  The Mets as a team – and Francisco Lindor specifically – have been struggling at the plate.  Demonstrating all the patience and equanimity that NYC teams and fans are noted for, the Mets fired their batting coach, Chili Davis, and replaced him with Hugh Quattlebaum.  [Aside:  When I first read the report, my brain “transliterated” that name to Hugo Quackenbush – Groucho Marx’ character in “A Day at the Races”.]

I do not want to make Chili Davis out to be an all-time great player in MLB history, but he did play in the major leagues in 19 seasons, made the All-Star team 3 times, had a career batting average of .274 and a career OPS of .811.  I consider that sufficient “street cred”…

Hugh Quattlebaum spent 5 years in the minor leagues and in those 5 years he played exactly 3 games above A-level baseball.  His minor league career produced a batting average of .241 and an OPS of .676 at that level.

Looking at the last two paragraphs in juxtaposition, the line from George Bernard Shaw’s play Man and Superman comes to mind:

“Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.”

And speaking of hitting, let me point you the 2021 stats for Mike Trout.  He has been the best player in MLB for a while now and his start to the 2021 season indicates that he may be having his best year ever.  I know; the season has hardly begun to unfold.  Nevertheless, please consider these numbers:

• Trout has been to the plate 105 times; he has reached base via base hit or walk 53 times.  His OBP is .514.
• His batting average is .407.
• His slugging average is .779 and his OPS is a stratospheric 1.293.

Mike Trout is not going to end the season with those numbers intact; but those numbers represent an amazing way for a player to perform in the first 25 games of an MLB season.

Switching gears …  I have been trying here to stay abreast of the challenges facing the folks in Tokyo who are organizing the Olympic Games there.  Moreover, I have over the years been universally critical of the IOC and its less-than-fully-honest ways of doing business.  However, today I am more than willing to take a back seat to Sally Jenkins whose column today in the Washington Post runs under this headline:

“Japan should cut its losses and tell the IOC to take its Olympic pillage somewhere else”

Just in case you might think that the headline writer went overboard with that verbiage, here is Ms. Jenkins’ lead paragraph:

“Somewhere along the line Baron Von Ripper-off and the other gold-plated pretenders at the International Olympic Committee decided to treat Japan as their footstool. But Japan didn’t surrender its sovereignty when it agreed to host the Olympics. If the Tokyo Summer Games have become a threat to the national interest, Japan’s leaders should tell the IOC to go find another duchy to plunder. A cancellation would be hard — but it would also be a cure.”

Please take about 3 minutes to follow the link above and read this column.  Not only is it brilliantly written, but it is also illuminating.

Finally, since I referred to George Bernard Shaw above, let me close with one of his observations about governments:

“Alcohol is a very necessary article.  It enables Parliament to do things at eleven at night that no sane person would do at eleven in the morning.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

About 20% of the MLB regular season is in the rear-view mirror and there are more than a few oddities when you look at the standings.

• The NL East is led by the Nats with a record of 12-12.  The Nats have a run differential of minus-14.
• In fact, in that NL East division, only one team out of the five – – the Marlins – – has a positive run differential and the Marlins are in last place in the division.
• In the NL Central, the Brewers are tied for first place with the Cardinals at 17-12.  However, the Brewers’ run differential is minus-2 while the Cards’ is +20.
• In the NL West, the Giants lead the Dodgers by a half-game.  The Giants’ run differential is +25 but the Dodgers’ run differential is +45.  [Aside: The Dodgers have the highest run differential in MLB now by a wide margin.]
• In the AL Central, the Royals lead the White Sox by a game.  Nevertheless, the Royals’ run differential is minus-5 while the White Sox’ run differential is +28.
• In the AL West, only the Astros have a positive run differential at +32; the Astros are only in second place in the division; the A’s lead the division with a run differential of minus-5.
• The worst run differential as of this morning belongs to the Tigers in the AL Central.  It stands at minus-62 after only 29 games.  The Tigers have lost by an average of just over 2 runs per game so far in 2021.  Yowza!

The season still has a long way to go, and some of these trends might be interesting to track.  Here in Curmudgeon Central, we focus on the negative trends more than most folks do.  So, considering the Tigers’ record of losing games by a little over two runs per game consider this yardstick:

• The last MLB team to lose by an average of just over 2 runs per game were the Detroit Tigers in 2003.  [Clearly, Detroit fans are not looking for an encore here.]  The 2003 Tigers’ season record was 43-119.
• The worst record in MLB since the days of the Cleveland Spiders was 40-120 by the 1962 NY Mets – an expansion team.

As I said, it is still early in the season – – but there is potential for high ignominy here…

If the numbers above seem a tad confusing, let me say that there is another baseball story that might cause you some bemusement if not bewilderment.  Last week, Roberto Alomar was fired as a consultant to MLB and placed on baseball’s ineligible list by Commissioner Rob Manfred.  That means Alomar is banned from baseball for life; he cannot work for any entity associated with MLB unless Manfred or a future Commish removes him from the list.

This action came as a result of an investigation by a legal firm hired by MLB to look into allegations made by an employee of MLB about sexual misconduct on the part of Alomar in 2014.  MLB said they would not be releasing the report to protect the identity of the person who came forward, but the findings of the investigative report must have been pretty damning given the action taken by MLB and the lack of an outcry from Alomar and/or a threat from him about legal action on his behalf.  Just to be clear, I do not even know what allegation(s) may have involved here let alone any details of the investigation; I am engaging in deductive reasoning and nothing more…

Moreover, the story has another wrinkle…  Roberto Alomar served on the Board of Directors for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY and he was elected to be in that Hall of Fame based on his career in MLB; he was inducted in 2011.  Alomar sent a resignation letter to the Board of Directors as this saga unfolded but – interestingly – the Chairperson of the Board, Jane Forbes Clark, announced that Alomar’s bust and plaque would remain in the Hall of Fame because:

“… his enshrinement reflects his eligibility and the perspective of the BBWAA voters at that time.”

Well, isn’t that special?  Alomar can be banned from baseball for life but can be in the Hall of Fame because his misdeed(s) took place after he was inducted and/or because any such disqualifying behaviors were not known at the time the BBWA did their voting.  However, if a player did something in a time period where his misbehavior was known to the voters, that player should not be in the Hall of Fame notwithstanding accomplishments on the field.  It is that sort of moral tightrope walking that creates the following situation for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum:

• The player with the most base hits in MLB is not enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
• The player with the most home runs in MLB is not enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
• Roberto Alomar joins a cast of other ne’er-do-wells who got into the Hall of Fame before some of their infamous acts came to light so it is OK for them to remain.

Just imagine if the so-called “cancel culture” ever comes to Cooperstown, NY…

Finally, having dealt with the “morality” of Roberto Alomar remaining in the Hall of Fame, let me once again let H. L. Mencken close out this rant:

“Morality is the theory that every human act must be either right or wrong, and that 99 percent of them are wrong.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

These days, there is an app for just about everything.  And if there is no app available, there is probably a database on the web somewhere containing finely sliced-and-diced information about anything.  A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in passing the number of players on baseball’s Injured List – – formerly the Disabled List but that has become a politically incorrect term in 2021 – – and what it costs baseball teams in terms of salary to maintain those players on the roster.  That got a response from “the reader in Houston” who provided me with a link that gives you every player on the IL, how long he has been there and how much he has made on his contract while there.  Of course, there is such a database out there – – and doubly of course, the reader in Houston knows exactly where it is.

MLB began its season on 1 April; so, on 1 May I went to the database and found the following:

• 191 players have been listed – or are still listed – on the IL.
• 129 of those players are pitchers.
• The total number of “player-days” accumulated on the IL is 4247.
• The total salary collected by those 191 players is – rounded off – $80.5M.
• The player who earned the most while on the IL is Justin Verlander who earned $5.85M.

The season will run for 6 months; I will try to remember to check that database on the first of every month just for the halibut…

A lead story in today’s sports section of the Washington Post indicates that the IOC is moving ahead confidently to stage the Olympic Games in Tokyo starting in about 10 weeks.  Over the weekend, they announced updated plans for staging the games using typically bold and optimistic language regarding the “promise to ensure the safety of the athletes taking part but also of the Japanese public during a global pandemic.”  If that is not sufficiently uplifting, here is another part of the IOC announcement:

“The Japanese people have demonstrated their perseverance throughout history and it’s only because of this ability of the Japanese people to overcome adversity that these Olympic Games under these very difficult circumstances are possible.”

I hope the IOC is right and that the Games go off as scheduled with no “COVID Consequences”.  At the same time, I recognize that the coronavirus has shown its own ability to “persevere” and to continue to spread even under circumstances where medical science and political leaders have tried to squash it.  I am in a position where I will just wait and see how all this unfolds.

However, there was a story from a week or so ago related to the IOC that was not nearly as positive or as uplifting as this one.  Olympic officials announced that “Rule 50” which condemns any form of “demonstration or political, religious, or racial propaganda” in Olympic venues will be enforced.  Athletes who decide to do something as outrageous as “take a knee” or possibly to “raise a fist” will be punished.  Such demonstrations are to be banned inside the stadium, at ceremonies and at the podium during the Games.

The IOC asserted that it came to the conclusion to enforce “Rule 50” after a survey of more than 3500 Olympic athletes past and present where “more than 70%” of the athletes surveyed favored enforcement of “Rule 50”.  Obviously, that is like waving a red flag in front of a bull; athletes – – and associations of athletes – – condemned that announcement and proclaimed their support for protesting athletes assuring them “legal assistance” if they suffered any punishment by the IOC.

Let me take a contrarian stance here…  The fact that the IOC intends to enforce ‘Rule 50” and intends to “punish” demonstrating athletes or other sorts of national officials involved in the Games is vital to the protestors.  If the IOC were to say that “Rule 50” is hereby null and void and that the Olympic officials welcomed and encouraged knee-taking or fist-raising or audience-mooning as protests against any and all things that might be an affront to any athlete anywhere, there would be no protest.  After all, how can you protest someone or something that agrees with you.

The IOC announcement that “Rule 50” will be enforced is more than merely “necessary and sufficient” for protests by athletes in Tokyo; the real or imagined strict enforcement of “Rule 50” is a sine qua non for there to be a protest.  Absent “Rule 50”, any gesture by the athletes is merely a demonstration and not a protest.  Therefore, the most important thing for athletes who might be contemplating a protest at the Games this year to do is to complain loudly about the unfairness of ‘Rule 50” without being sufficiently convincing to make the IOC change its stance.

John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised a fist with a black glove as a protest at the 1968 Olympic Games; it is remembered today because it was an affrontery to the rules and to the authorities that made and enforced those rules.  I suggest that the world would not recall that moment in Olympic history nearly as vividly had all the Olympic officials joined in the “protest” and raised fists and patted John Carlos and Tommie Smith on the back for their action(s).  Protests require opposition to have meaning; “Rule 50” and its threatened enforcement is that sort of opposition.

Finally, let me close today with an observation by a curmudgeon who would certainly be in the Hall of Fame of curmudgeons should there ever be such an institution – – H. L. Mencken:

“Democracy is grounded on so childish a complex of fallacies that they must be protected by a rigid system of taboos, else even half-wits would argue it to pieces.  Its first concern must thus be to penalize the free play of ideas.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

So … would anyone here be surprised to learn that I spent last evening watching ESPN’s coverage of the first round of the NFL Draft?  I should certainly hope that is not the case.

I recognize the importance of making the programming “compelling” and “commanding”; ESPN does not want thousands of viewers tuning away after the first couple of picks.  Nonetheless, some of the deathless prose offered up by the ESPN Draft experts simply fell flat.

Let me point out ever so gently here that at least 20% – and maybe 40% – of the first-round picks will never live up to that billing for the entirety of their professional football career.  I say that with confidence because that is what has happened in many of the previous years of the NFL Draft.  And in fact, there was a free agent signing about 10 days ago that points out the fact that drafting football players is not a science.  It is two parts art and one part luck.

• In the 2014 NFL Draft, Jadeveon Clowney was the overall #1 pick.  Everyone raved about him and how he was a dominant defensive end/edge rusher; his highlights from college days at South Carolina were nothing short of amazing; none of the draft experts thought that was a “reach”.
• Clowney spent 5 seasons with the Texans followed by one year with the Seahawks and another year with the Titans.  He signed about 10 days ago with the Browns on a one-year deal.
• In his seven seasons in the NFL, Jadeveon Clowney has a total of 32 sacks.  That is not remotely close to what the “draftniks” projected for him on Draft Night in 2014.

Here is the essence of the problem of projecting a player from college into the NFL.  If you think the word “projecting” is too high-fallutin’ let me say it is not much more than a guess on the part of the “scout”.  The issue here is that college football is a totally different game than NFL football for one simple reason:

• In college, a potential high draftee is playing against an opposing unit that may have one or two NFL caliber players on the field in most if not all games.
• In the NFL, that same draftee will take the field against an opposing unit with 11 – and sometimes more – NFL caliber players.

Not only does it make a difference – – it makes a BIG difference…

Moving on …  If anyone actually believed that there was even a shred of ambiguity as to whom the Jaguars would take with the first overall pick, that person probably thinks the way to save time is to deposit an alarm clock in your bank account.  Notwithstanding the fact that the top draft pick had no mystery surrounding it, the folks who make their living turning the days leading up to the draft into a vaudeville show felt the need about a week or so ago to create doubt about Trevor Lawrence’s ”worthiness” of such an exalted status.  Bob Molinaro of the Hampton Roads Virginia- Pilot summarized that nonsense in this comment:

“What a warped world — sports division — we live in when Trevor Lawrence finds himself defending comments that he doesn’t carry a huge chip — real or manufactured — on his shoulder. After dismissing one of the fundamental tropes of sports hagiography, the presumptive future Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback was run through the mill by football analysts needing more grist, no matter how nonsensical. Worse yet, Lawrence said that his self-worth is not entirely tied up with football. Oh my. He’s a riddle wrapped in an enigma. Or what some might call a well-adjusted person.”

Another “lead-up to the draft narrative” concerned the intentions of the Denver Broncos with their first-round pick.

• Would they take a QB?
• Would they trade up to get a QB?
• Would they trade down if the QB they may have wanted was off the board?

Just before draft day, the Broncos seemed to settle that speculation by trading a 6^th round pick this year to the Panthers for Teddy Bridgewater who has one more year left on his current contract.  The Panthers will also pay part of Bridgewater’s salary this year as part of the deal.  If you are wondering how or why the Panthers would give up such a large amount for a 6^th round pick, the answer is that in the world of NFL salary cap financials, the Panthers gain about $8M in cap space to spend on some other part of their team.  Remember, the Panthers acquired Sam Darnold from the Jets for 3 draft picks about 3 weeks ago.  The fact that they let Bridgewater go means that the Panthers’ braintrust is convinced that Sam Darnold can be “the guy” in Carolina.

The fact of this trade says something else from the Broncos’ side of the transaction.  What it says to me – loudly and clearly – is that Drew Lock is going to have to up his game to the point where he beats out Bridgewater for the starting job in Denver.  Lock played well in 2019; he started 5 games then and the Broncos were 4-1 with him as the starter.  However, last year he started 13 games and the Broncos’ record was 4-9.  Here is the most telling stat to me:

• In 2019, Lock completed 64.1% of his passes; and in 2020, he completed only 57.3% of his passes.

That is a significant decline, and the sample size is adequate – – 443 pass attempts in the 2020 season.

With the Draft over and with the owners’ meeting over where they would decide on any rule changes for 2021, the next big event for the NFL as it seeks 12-month news prominence will be in mid-May when it announces the full schedule for 2021.  Until then – and after that until minicamps and training camps begin – the league will have to settle for news about how the owners and players are disagreeing on this or that issue and how everyone on both sides is pissed off to the Nth degree.  Hi … Ho!

Finally, let me close today with one more observation by Bob Molinaro from a couple of weeks ago:

“Future watch: If Mike Tomlin coaches through his new three-year extension, the Steelers will have had only three head coaches in 56 years. The Browns have had four since 2018.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

Kim Mulkey is a force majeure in women’s college basketball.  She will be inducted into the basketball Hall of Fame in a couple of months; she has won national championships as a player and as an assistant coach and three times as a head coach; she was also part of an Olympic Gold Medal team as a player.  Her record as the head coach at Baylor over the last two decades is 632-104 with 3 National Championships and 17 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances – – not counting 2020 when there was no NCAA  Tournament.  Her Baylor teams have finished first – or tied for first – in the Big 12 Conference standings for the last 11 consecutive seasons.  Kim Mulkey is still looking up at Pat Summit’s achievements in women’s college basketball and at Geno Auriemma’s accomplishments there, but there is no way to deny that she is among the elite coaches in that sport.

It is precisely because one cannot deny her prominence that it is unusual to report that she is leaving Baylor to take the head coaching job at LSU.  One might create a story where this is a homecoming of sorts because Ms. Mulkey was born and raised in Tickfaw, LA.  [Aside:  Tickfaw is about 50 miles east of Baton Rouge and across the breadth of Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans.  I present that datum because I had no idea where Tickfaw was; according to Google Maps the nearest town would be Natalbany, LA, which for many of us is three miles from the end of the Earth.]  That “homecoming narrative” is enticing and comfortable; it may also be overly simplistic.

Let me make two things clear before I launch into a possible analysis of this situation:

1. I do not read minds.  I have no idea what the internal motivations of Ms. Mulkey may have been in making this decision.
2. I do not know Kim Mulkey from a toaster oven.  We have never met; everything I say here is speculation based on “analysis” from afar.

Kim Mulkey took the head coaching job at Baylor in 2000 and her Lady Bears won her first national championship there in 2005.  Around that time, Baylor’s athletic department and structure was not exemplary, and her teams were the major source of athletic pride on the campus.  In 2007, Baylor hired Art Briles as the head football coach and the Baylor football fortunes improved dramatically.  Briles took a football team that was a perennial also-ran in the Big 12 and won the conference title twice in his eight years at the helm.  Then came the outrageous scandal involving Briles and the Baylor football program in 2016.

When Baylor dealt with Art Briles as it did, Kim Mulkey took exception to those decisions and that began a situation where she and the folks running the university would not see eye-to-eye on several future issues.  But with the football program in disarray and with the men’s basketball team still rebuilding from the disastrous days of Dave Bliss, Kim Mulkey was a force majeure on campus in Waco, TX just as she is in women’s college basketball.  Her Lady Bears already had 2 national championships by that time and consistently made deep runs in the NCAA Tournament; she had major influence in the school even though her sport was a women’s sport in a conference where football – clearly a men’s sport – is king.

With all that as a backdrop, Kim Mulkey decided to leave Baylor and her established program there to take the job at LSU where – to be honest – the women’s basketball program has not been particularly successful or important in the past several years.

• LSU’s last conference championship was in 2008.
• Since 2014, LSU has not advanced beyond the first round in the NCAA Tournament and has not been in that tournament at all in four of those six seasons.

So, is the “homecoming narrative” reflective of reality or is it a wonderful feelgood story applied to a highly regarded coach in a less-than-clear situation?  I will buy the “homecoming narrative” to some degree but not as an exclusive explanation.  Kim Mulkey – in addition to her obvious capabilities as a basketball coach – is not a shrinking violet.  She is a person who has definite views on things and has no compunctions about letting the world in on those views.  For years, she was the loudest voice in the choir that was Baylor athletics; the university was set to build a new arena for basketball, and she opposed the administration’s plans because she said the arena was too far from the main campus.

Just this year, she “suggested” that the NCAA hold its women’s Final Four without any imposition of COVID-19 testing:

“They need to dump the COVID testing. Wouldn’t it be a shame to keep COVID testing and then you got kids that test positive or something and they don’t get to play in the Final Four?  So you just need to forget the COVID tests and get the four teams playing in each Final Four and go battle it out.”

Of course, the NCAA ignored that “suggestion” recognizing that it should not be in a position to loosen health and safety protocols at the 11^th hour with the potential for some athletes to contract COVID-19 in those final weekend games.  I mention this only to demonstrate that Kim Mulkey is not afraid to take controversial stances on issues.

However, I do think there are three other ripples in the pond here that may have had influence on her decision to move from Waco ,TX to Baton Rouge, LA:

• Baylor football made a dramatic comeback under Matt Ruhle going 11-3 (with a loss in the Sugar Bowl) in 2019.  At Baylor, football will always be a bigger deal than women’s basketball.
• Depending on the report you read, Mulkey will get a nice raise based on the move from $1.5 – 1.8M per year at Baylor to $2.7M per year at LSU.
• Baylor men’s basketball just won the NCAA Tournament championship.  Yes, Mulkey’s Lady Bears won 3 NCAA titles – as recently as 2019 – but this year’s title for Scott Drew and the men portends a recession in the pecking order for Mulkey and the Lady Bears on campus.

Only Kim Mulkey will ever know the full story of why she has chosen to make this move; I certainly do not claim to have insight here.  However, the convenient “homecoming narrative” has a few potential tears in the fabric and they are sufficiently obvious to me that I look at the decision and simply say:

• I hope all of this works out for Kim Mulkey and for LSU and for Baylor University.

Finally, apropos of nothing, here is an item from Dwight Parry  of the Seattle Times from a few weeks ago:

“A stray dog who stole a player’s cleat and ran onto the field, interrupting a soccer match in Bolivia, has been adopted by Tigre player Raúl Castro — the one who caught the dog and carried him off the field.

“In a related story, they’re still waiting for someone to step forward and claim the Super Bowl streaker.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

Yesterday, I mentioned that a pet peeve of mine involved NFL WRs and DBs throwing imaginary flags on half the pass plays as they were begging for a pass interference call.  As I was in the process of posting that rant, it set in motion some thinking about my pet peeves in sports in general.  So, today I want to list the ones that came to mind.

• [If people can abide the concept of “Christmas in July”, then simply consider this as “Festivus in April”.]

I am tired of turning on an NBA game and watching it turn into a three-point shooting contest.  Just last night, the box score for the Nets/Raptors game showed a total of 88 three-point shot attempts.  For those of  you who are keeping score at home, that is a three-point shot every 32.7 seconds for 48 minutes.  I do not find that entertaining enough to hold my interest for a full regular season NBA game which is only marginally important to begin with because there are too many of them.  The only logical cure I can see for this – ignoring the option of getting rid of the three-point shot all together – is to cap the number of three-point shots for each team in each game.  Once the quota is met, any other shots made from “downtown” would be worth only 2 points.  Don’t hold your breath for that…

Sticking with basketball – at all levels – for a moment, intentional fouling at the end of just about every game is annoying on several levels.  Very obviously, it contributes in a major way to the fact that the final two minutes of a basketball game might take 20 minutes of real time to unfold.  However, there is another problem here.

• A foul in basketball is a violation of the rules.
• The team that is trailing in the game is intentionally violating the rules of the game to gain an advantage.
• Somehow, that behavior has become acceptable…

I am tired of tuning in to ESPN and/or FS-1 only to find faux-debate programming.  At least 90% of the “disagreements” vocalized on screen are trivial at best because the “issues” at hand are insignificant.  And to make things worse, when there is not some current “issue” worthy of time on the air – – but that time on the air has to be filled with theatrical acrimony – – the shows turn to hackneyed topics that have been “debated to death” such as:

• Michael Jordan or LeBron James as the GOAT?
• Belichick or Brady as “the reason” for the Pats’ dominance?  [No consideration given to “both” as an answer.]
• Greatest baseball player NOT in the Hall of Fame.

You get the idea here…

How many of the faux-debate shows do you think “argued” about whether Madison Bumgarner’s 7-inning no-hit game should count – – since the game was only scheduled for 7 innings and he allowed no hits?  Well, every one of the ones that I tuned in to the next day covered that critical issue.

Speaking of annoying TV programming, can someone explain to me why all the TV programs that are lead-ins to NFL games consist of a bunch of people sitting around a table yukking it up and generating phony laughter on the set?  Wow!  Someone just made a cute remark about Jimmy Johnson’s hair; no one ever did that before; let’s all guffaw for 10 seconds…

I am tired of seeing football coaches – NFL or collegiate –  racing down the sidelines to call for a timeout often leaving the player/coaching area on the sidelines to accomplish that without any consequence for leaving said area.  Here is my solution:

• A timeout can only be called by a player on the field.
• If a coach or player leaves the designated team area on the sidelines, it is an automatic illegal procedure penalty.

Speaking of timeouts, there are clearly too many timeouts per team in basketball games given that there are automatic “TV-timeouts” built into the event.  In addition to reducing the number of team timeouts, I would like to revert to the rule that timeout can only be called by the player in control of the basketball.  There is only one person who can possibly be in control of the basketball at any instant without the call on the floor being a “jump ball”.

While I am at it, bring back the jump ball.  The possession arrow was a nice experiment but there is no reason to posit from the outset that each team deserves 50% of the possessions there.  If that were the case, the visiting team would start every game with possession of the basketball and the game would unfold from there.

I did not like the designated hitter rule when it was adopted by the AL back in the 1970s; I still do not like the designated hitter rule; after more than 40 years of living with the designated hitter rule, I think I can safely say I am never going to like the designated hitter rule.

I am also on record as having had enough of “instant replay” and its expansion into areas of the game that make it more intrusive to the flow of the game while not fulfilling the “promise of instant replay” that lured everyone into the goat rodeo that it has become:

• Instant replay will “get it right”.
• Well, evidence is that it does NOT always “get it right” and anyone who calls what replay is now anything related to “instant” needs to consult a dictionary.

Finally, I mentioned Madison Bumgarner’s 7-inning no-hitter above.  For the record, MLB will not recognize it as a no-hit game which is OK with me.  The existence of MLB 7-inning games however gave rise to this comment from Bob Molinaro in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot:

“Everybody up: Now that MLB seven-inning doubleheader games are here to stay, it’s time to get accustomed to the fifth-inning stretch.

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

Yesterday was all about college football; today I will begin with news regarding other levels of football.  I learned from reading Gregg Drinnan’ s, Taking Note blog, which you can find here, the CFL plans to have a 2021 season albeit one that is postponed from its normal schedule.

Normally, a CFL season would begin in mid June and run through to a Grey Cup game at the end of November.  The coronavirus pandemic shut down the CFL entirely in 2020 putting the entire league in jeopardy economically; but with a recent announcement, it would seem that the CFL has made it through the worst of times.  For 2021, the CFL hopes to begin on August 5^th – – or 8 weeks later than a normal season kickoff.  Training camps will be opening around the time when a normal regular season would be starting, and the idea is for players to report and then go immediately into a 7–10-day quarantine before team activities begin in earnest.

To compensate for the late start, the regular season will be compressed from 18 games to 14 games and the Grey Cup game will be held in mid-December this year.  There remains one potential fly in the ointment:

• The CFL still needs approval from public health officials in a variety of local jurisdictions as well as getting approval from provincial and national government and health officials to put on games where there can be enough fans in the stands to make the league economically viable.

A CFL season for 2021 is not guaranteed – – but at least there is a plan for how one might come to pass.  Compared to the situation about a year ago, that would have to be categorized as good news…

Last week, I mentioned some NFL rule changes that would be in effect for 2021 – – and presumably beyond.  In addition to the rule changes I noted then, there will be a point of emphasis this year to try to limit “taunting” in NFL games.  I think that is a good idea and one that could easily have been  put forth 5 years ago if not more.  I have another “pet-peeve” about modern NFL games that I would like to see as a “point of emphasis” and I wonder what readers here think of the idea:

• I have had it up to my eyebrows with WRs and DBs throwing imaginary pass interference flags on about 50% of pass attempts downfield.
• I think each team – not player, but team – should get one of those pantomimes per game.  After that, the act of throwing an imaginary flag is an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
• Put that into effect and coaches will see to it that the “imaginary flag toss” will come out of the game in about 2 weeks.

Enough about football for now; it is April; there needs to be something going on in baseball that deserves attention.  About a week ago, MLB umpire, Joe West, won a defamation lawsuit against former major league player Paul LoDuca and West was awarded $500K by the judge.  Here is the salient point in this matter:

• LoDuca said on a podcast that he was involved in a game catching relief pitcher Billy Wagner and that West’s calls of balls and strikes in that game was “influenced by bribes” from Wagner to West when Wagner allowed West to drive one or more of Wagner’s antique cars.  According to podcast, the game ended with a Wagner strikeout of a Phillies batter called out by West.

As I understand libel and slander and defamation, the truth of the statement is an airtight defense.  Lacking the ability to prove the veracity of the statement, another defense when the plaintiff is a “public figure” is that the alleged defamer uttered the statement that cannot be proven to be true with malice.  That is a high hurdle, and it is probably why many politicians, celebrities and other “public figures” choose not to sue for slander/libel/defamation.

In this case, the extensive nature of MLB stats was an asset for Joe West.  He denied being “bribed” by Billy Wagner (of course) and showed that he was not the home plate umpire in the game against the Phillies where LoDuca claimed all of this happened.  There was only one Mets game where West was the home plate umpire, LoDuca was the catcher.  In that game the Phillies were not the opponent and the game ended on a home run and not a strikeout by Wagner on a “fortuitous call” by West.

In this particular case, the evidence provided by baseball stats pretty much established that LoDuca’s statement was defamatory.  The judge also determined that there was malicious intent in those remarks – – although I am not in a position to describe how he arrived at that conclusion.  The judge did say that the statement made by LoDuca on the podcast – if it were true – would have accused West of accepting a bribe which is a crime.

West’s attorneys convinced the judge that West’s name needed to be cleared because with an allegation of bribery hanging over his head, he would likely not be considered for or elected to the Hall of Fame.  [Aside:  The fact that his lawyers asserted this says to me that the sin of hubris is not a crime that might keep one out of the Hall of Fame…]  The attorneys also convinced the judge that there were economic ramifications for West here also.  If he were to be in the Hall of Fame, he could charge far more for speaking and appearance fees in his retirement – – which coincidentally is planned for the end of the 2021 MLB season.

The bottom line is that LoDuca owes West ”$500K plus interest” – – I am not sure if the interest is from the time the fine was levied or from the date of filing of the lawsuit or from the date of the alleged bribery incident about 15 years ago.  If West’s attorneys are correct that West as a Hall of Famer could charge $20K for a speaking engagement, that means West just got paid for about 25 speaking engagements he did not have to attend.

Finally, here is an item from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times from a couple of weeks ago:

“Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com, after Ravens coach John Harbaugh paid the entire $2,000-plus restaurant bill during a Baltimore charity event: ‘Harbaugh covered the spread.’”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

My sports attention over the weekend was clearly focused on college football including the Division 1-AA playoffs where there is a family rooting interest in Delaware as one of the participants.  By the way, Delaware won its first-round game over Sacred Heart and will face Jacksonville State next weekend.  What caught my attention was an announcement by the college football mavens regarding rules changes and the college football playoff.  Three rule changes and a “point of emphasis” will be in effect in 2021; there is good bad and ugly in that mix.

• Good:  When there is suspicion that players have been faking injuries to slow down “up-tempo offenses”, officials can use replay after the fact to make a determination.  This process may not mete out punishment proximal to the “faking”, but it is a way to try to cut down on bogus injuries – – and that practice seems to have spread widely in recent seasons.
• Bad:  The team area on the sidelines has been expanded to run from 20-yardline to 20-yardline.  It has always been between the 25-yardlines until last year when – to promote social distancing on the bench, believe it or not – the team area extended between the 15-yardlines.  So now we settle for a compromise?  Look, the players and coaches make the officials’ jobs harder; if they want to make a change there, compress everyone into the space between the 40-yardlines to assist the officials.
• Ugly:  The overtime rules will change.  Some will say that is a blessing – – until you hear what they are going to do.  Starting this Fall, teams must go for two-point conversions starting in the second overtime period; that mandate did not take effect until the third overtime period in the past.  And here is the horrible part – – after the second overtime period and if the score is still tied, the game will change into a two-point conversion shoot out.  College football will emulate soccer and change the game itself to break a tie.  Supposedly, a major motivation for this change was a 7-overtim game between Texas A&M and LSU; I do not care if it were a 10-OT game; at least they played real football to determine the winner.

The “point of emphasis” is a good one but it should not be necessary if officials would have asserted themselves properly in the past.  For this year – and presumably going forward – game officials will “crack down” on taunting penalties and on coaches who enter the field or leave the team sideline area to argue with calls made on the field.  Both of those things are good things, and they should have been common practice at all times in the past.  The fact that they need a “point of emphasis” for 2021 is not praiseworthy for college football officials.

My other major issue from the weekend related to college football was sort of disappointing.  With the NFL Draft on tap for later this week, I gathered my notes from last year’s college football watching for my annual pre-Draft prospect commentary.  I had a sense that I had watched a lot less college football last year than normal given the schedule uncertainties and the smaller number of games on TV; but until I reviewed my notes, I did not realize that I had a serious deficiency on my hands.

I always watch a lot more of the major schools in Power 5 conferences than other schools but my notes this year make it seem as if I watched that football exclusively.  And there are fewer players noted – – and they are the “usual suspects”.  Everyone has read about the 5 QBs who could go in Round 1 this year; I never saw Trey Lance – – but I have notes on the other four.  I have plenty of players from Alabama and Clemson in my notes and there is other representation from the SEC and the ACC and the Big 10 – but there are only 14 players that have not been written up to death already.

So, I decided to dispense with the normal pre-Draft format and break this into small parts here:

• QBs other than the “Big Five” slated to go in Round 1:  I thought Kellen Mond (Texas A&M) improved a lot from junior year to senior year and liked his “size and physique”.  I liked the passing accuracy of Kyle Trask (Florida) but thought he “might not have the arm-strength to make it in the NFL”.
• RB other than Najeh Harris or Travis Etienne:  I think Michael Carter (UNC) will be a good pick for the middle rounds because he “can be part of a running or a passing game”.  He is short but he is big; he “looks like a pro” to me.
• TE other than Kyle Pitts:  I noted that Pat Freiermuth (Penn State) is “big, strong and great hands”.  I said he would be a good pick on the third day even though he is “not fast”.
• WRs you have not read lots about:  I thought Dyami Brown (UNC) has “sprinter speed” and “is a deep threat on every snap”.  He also has “ good hands when the ball gets to him in the open”.  I also noted that Terrance Marshall Jr. (LSU) was “overshadowed by Ja’Maar Chase but Marshall is big and has great hands”.  I noted that he could become a “possession/Red Zone receiver”.
• OL:  I noted Wyatt Davis (Ohio State) was a “really good pass blocker”.  I noted that Aaron Banks (Notre Dame) was a “powerful run blocker and a good-enough pass blocker”.  Both were mid-round picks in my estimation.
• DL:  Davyon Nixon (Iowa) is “powerful as a run stopper” and “gets middle pressure on many pass plays”.  I had him listed as a late round pick.  Azeez Ojulari (Georgia) is “super quick pass rusher” but “not yet big enough for NFL except on obvious passing downs”.  I had him as a late round pick also.
• Linebackers:  I wrote that Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah (Notre Dame) had “plenty of speed to cover in the passing game” and was “ a sure tackler in the run game”.  However, I also noted he is “too small to play LB in the NFL – screen graphic says he weighs 220 lbs”.  So, maybe a late-round pick?
• DBs not named Patrick Surtain II:  Caleb Farley (Va Tech) is “tall with a long wingspan and good cover skills”.  However, I also noted that he is “not the best tackler on the field”.  Asante Samuel, Jr. (Florida State) is “genetically designed to be a cornerback” and “very physical in pass defense and in tackling”.  I thought both players here were second to fourth round picks.
• Punter:  Oscar Bradburn (Va Tech) “gets good distance plus good hang time”.  My note says, “have his agent on speed-dial to get him as an undrafted free agent”.

So, that takes care of college football business from last weekend and sets you up for a few names to look for in the later rounds of the NFL Draft at the end of this week.  I shall close today with an item from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times related to college football:

“Ohio State safety Marcus Hooker was arrested on DUI charges after he passed out behind the wheel while waiting in a McDonald’s drive-thru line.

“Defense lawyers can’t decide whether to enter a plea of guilty, not guilty or ‘I deserve a break today.’”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………

 

 

No one should be surprised to learn that the NFL owners rejected any and all of the “major” rule changes proposed by teams and adopted a handful of rule changes that tinker around the margins of the games.  For example, the onside kick will not be replaced by a single “4^th and 15 play”.  Here are some of the changes for 2021 – – and presumably beyond:

• In onside kick situations, the receiving team can only have 9 players within 10 yards of the boundary line at which a kickoff becomes a free ball.  In the past, teams had chosen to line up 10 – – or even 11 men – – in such situations.  [Special Teams’ coaches will have to go back to their drawing boards…]
• It is now official; there will be no overtime periods in Exhibition Games.  The only people who might care about that rule change are folks who wager on NFL Exhibition Games.  [Let me catch my breath here…]
• They adopted a new rule that will allow running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, linebackers and defensive backs to wear uniforms with single digits.  [Indeed, there was a rule against such a thing until now…]
• They formally instituted the 17-game regular season schedule that we have known for weeks was going to be the case starting in 2021.  [$$$…]
• There will be “expanded communications” between replay officials and other game officials with the on-field crew when there is “objective information” that needs to be brought to the attention of the on-field crew.  [I smell more game interruptions on the horizon here…]
• Double passes had already been disallowed but starting in 2021, the defense will not need to decide to take the penalty or take the loss of down.  Starting in 2021, it will be an automatic loss of down.  [Since this sort of play happens about once every two seasons, I doubt this will have cosmic implications…]

Now, let me posit a bargaining point for the owners and the players that will bring a plus to both sides and deliver a minus to both sides:

• The players agree to expand the regular season schedule to 18 games and the owners agree to cut the Exhibition Game schedule to 2 Exhibition Games per season.

One plus for the players is that the total number of fames is reduced from 21 today to 20 under my proposal.  Another plus for the players is more league-wide revenue which translates into an increased salary cap and salary floor.  One minus for the players is that there is indeed an extra regular season game on the schedule and players have not been warm to that idea for a while now.

One plus for the owners is more revenue as they get to “sell more inventory” to their “broadcast partners”.  Another plus is by reducing the number of Exhibition Games they also reduce the potential for a long-term injury to a player that could result in paying that player a contract guarantee without deriving any benefit from that player’s participation.  Exhibition Game injuries can cost owners sizeable sums.  One minus for the owners is that they will forego revenue derived from the 2 Exhibition Games that are taken from the schedule.

At the moment, the owners and players are in a spitting contest over virtual OTAs versus in-person OTAs all of which are defined in the CBA as “voluntary activities”.  That level of pettiness does not portend any likelihood for meaningful and serious negotiations along the lines outlined here.  But one can hope…

Over the past week or so, the breathless pre-Draft news dealt with where Justin Fields fit into various team plans.  Some reports had him slipping way down in the first round of the draft; other reports had him being a long shot for the overall #2 pick by the Jets but a potential pick at #3 by the Niners.  Yesterday, a report surfaced that may shed some light on the disparity of reporting:

• Justin Fields informed NFL teams that he is managing epilepsy.

According to reports, other members of Fields’ family have suffered from epileptic seizures in their youth, but many have outgrown them as they matured.  Justin Fields is managing the seizures with known medications and he asserts that he has never had a seizure on a football field.  He also asserted that the seizure incidents have been decreasing in frequency in recent years.

How all this will affect Field’s draft status will soon be revealed.  Instead of worrying about what team will get to draft him and which team will choose to pass on drafting him, I prefer to take this moment and wish Justin Fields good health and full management/overcoming of his epilepsy.  I have no medical knowledge here but epilepsy is a “neurological condition” and football is a game where concussions happen.  Is there a relationship there?

Moving along …  Sammy Watkins signed on with the Ravens as a free agent in this offseason.  As part of his introduction to the fans in Baltimore, he said:

“It’s time for the world to see the real Sammy Watkins.”

Excuse me; Sammy Watkins has already been in the NFL for 7 seasons and has participated in 86 games; he has been on playoff teams with the Rams (once) and with the Chiefs (three times).  He has played with Patrick Mahomes for three years and been to two Super Bowl games in the past two seasons.  And now, I am supposed to believe that the real Sammy Watkins has yet to emerge?

Finally, since today’s rant has touched on a variety of NFL-related issues, let me close with this item from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times:

“Marshawn Lynch and Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared together on a vaccination info video?

“Eat your hearts out, Felix and Oscar.”

But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………