The Sports Curmudgeon

I and many others have invoked the Aesop’s Fable about the goose that laid the golden eggs when commenting on the expansion of playoff fields in college football and basketball.  [Aside: Unlike many others, I do not think the king was necessarily greedy in killing that goose; I think he demonstrated impatience more than greed.  But that is for another rant on another day…]  However, over the past several days, I seem to have mellowed in my sentiments on such expansions.  Perhaps the explanation for that mellowing comes from an illustrative answer to a simple question:

• Question: What is the difference between an optimist and a pessimist?
• Answer:  Put a pessimistic child in a room full of horse shit neck high and the child will just stand their and bemoan his fate.  Put an optimistic child in the same room and he will furiously dig around in the muck because he is sure there must be a pony somewhere in the mess.

            So, might there be “a pony” somewhere in the rush to expand college football and basketball playoffs?  Let me look at the CFP first.  In 2025, there were twelve teams in the playoff field and two of them were from “lesser conferences”.  Those “lesser conference” slots are sort of like legacy pledges at a college fraternity like Flounder in Animal House.  Everyone knows you really don’t want them in the group, but you have to accept that they are going to be there.

The other ten teams were strong ones; in fact, the team seeded 10^th in the field (Miami) made it to the championship game and acquitted themselves even while losing that final game.  There were no “pretenders” in the CFP field save for those “legacy pledges”.

So, what might have been the case if the CFP field had been expanded to 24 teams as has been suggested by various folks including the college coaches themselves?  Here are the final rankings of the CFP Selection Committee from last year listed from #11 through #24

• Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-2)
• BYU Cougars (11-2)
• Texas Longhorns (9-3)
• Vanderbilt Commodores (10-2)
• Utah Utes (10-2)
• USC Trojans (9-3)
• Arizona Wildcats (9-3)
• Michigan Wolverines (9-3)
• Virginia Cavaliers (10-3)
• Tulane Green Wave (11-2)
• Houston Cougars (9-3)
• Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-3)
• Iowa Hawkeyes (8-4)
• James Madison Dukes (12-1)

The two “legacies” are still in the field (Tulane and James Madison) but look at the records of the other teams that would have been part of the CFP.  The tournament has pretty much exhausted all the teams from the Power Conferences that won 9 or more games.  And what does that leave for the myriad bowl games to pick and choose from.  Some of the matches in minor bowl games are uninteresting even when those teams ranked from #11 through #24 might be available for an invitation, but what might be left for games such as:

• Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl
• Bush’s Boca Raton Bowl of Beans
• Salute to Veterans Bowl

The answer is that some minor bowl games – – the three above are not the only examples I could cite here – – might not be able to put together a match that would draw a crowd of more than 8-10 thousand fans or a TV audience twice the size of a 3:00 AM infomercial for the Flex-Seal Family of products.  And if that is the case, maybe some minor bowl games will cease to exist – – and that might be “a pony”.

In college basketball, they have already decided to expand the March Madness field from 68 to 76 teams.  That is already too many, but deal with it as a fact.  I believe that the toothpaste is out of the tube and won’t be going back in on expansion; so, one of these years, to avert criticism about elitism and chasing a few more TV dollars, March Madness will expand to 96 teams.  It would only require one more week of tournament play for that to happen; teams seeded #`1 through #32 would get a bye and the other 64 teams would engage in “play-in games”.  Those 32 play-in games could be done as one more extended weekend of Thursday-thru-Sunday scheduling with 8 games per day.

So, where would that leave the NIT and the College Basketball Crown (CBC) if the “best 96 teams” were otherwise engaged in March Madness?  [Aside: Without Googling, which team won the College Basketball Crown Tournament last year?]  Now imagine if all the teams invited to the CBC last year were unavailable and the organizers had to dig deeper.  Or maybe the NIT and the CBC would fade into memory like the passenger pigeon.  There’s another “pony” …

Finally, comedienne, Rita Rudner, closes out today’s rant

“I had the worst birthday party ever when I was a child because my parents hired a pony to give rides. And these ponies are never in good health. But this one dropped dead. It just wasn’t much fun after that. One kid would sit on him and the rest of us would drag him around.”

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

 

 

The NBA semi-finals are set and last night the Western Conference series opened.  It was a double overtime game that saw the Spurs take the lead over the defending champion Thunder.  Wemby dominated; there aren’t a lot of alternative descriptions that apply there.  Here are some of his stats from last night; remember, he is only 22 years old:

• 41 points, 24 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 3 assists

Notwithstanding that performance, it still took double OT to beat the Thunder.  This should be a great series, and it sort of demands that the Knicks and Cavs in the East provide some drama in their games lest they become an afterthought here.

Moving on …  In 2020, Tom Brady left the Pats and signed with the Bucs.  He spent 3 seasons in Tampa amassing 37 wins there including 5 wins in the NFL playoffs.  He retired after the 2022 season and did not make any dramatic returns to the field on Sundays – or any other day of the week for that matter.

Brady’s career intertwined with the NY Jets.  Remember, the injury to Drew Bledsoe that put Brady on the field for the first time was inflicted by a Jets’ linebacker.  Over the course of his career, Brady’s record as a starting QB against the Jets was 31-8 (including playoff games).

The Jets have played 6 full seasons since 2020 when Brady decamped for Tampa.  While Brady started and won 37 games, the Jets total wins for the 6 seasons stands at 28 games.  In a sense, Tom Brady continued to dominate the NY Jets even after he left the AFC East.

Switching gears …  Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens are two of the greatest pitchers in MLB history; I don’t anticipate any serious pushback there.  Their careers overlapped for 10 seasons in the 1980s and early 90s.  Both Ryan and Clemens were strikeout pitchers.

• Ryan played for 27 years in MLB and averaged 246 strikeouts per 162 games
• Clemens played for 24 years in MLB and averaged 224 strikeouts per 162 games
• Ryan had the most career strikeouts in MLB history at 5714
• Clemens ranks third in career strikeouts in MLB history at 4672

Interestingly, there is a great asymmetry in their career statistics:

• Ryan: He threw SEVEN no-hitters and won ZERO Cy Young Awards
• Clemens: He threw ZERO no-hitters and won SEVEN Cy Young Awards.

Next up …  I want to take a synoptic view of Ted Williams’ accomplishments over the period 1939 – 1953.

• 1939: Williams is 20 years old in his rookie season and hits .347 with an OPS of 1.045
• 1941: Williams hits .406 with an OPS of 1.287
• 1942: Williams hits .356 with an OPS of 1.147
• 1943 – 1945:  Williams is in the US Marine Corps as a pilot instructor
• 1946: Williams hits .342 with an OPS of 1.164 and wins the MVP Award
• 1947: Williams hits .342 with an OPS of 1.133 and wins the Triple Crown
• 1948 – 1951:  Williams’ WORST year saw him hit .317 with an OPS of 1.099
• 1952-1953: Williams is a combat pilot in the Korean War flying 39 combat missions

 Finally, I’ll leave you today with these words from Groucho Marx:

“Well, Art is Art, isn’t it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know.”

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

 

 

Taking a cue from President Gerald Ford’s Inaugural Address:

“Our long national nightmare is over.”

President Ford was referring to the Watergate scandal that had stained the presidency; today I am referring to the fact that we now know that Aaron Rodgers signed his deal with the  Steelers and we don’t have to tolerate any more speculation about his plans for the Fall and Winter of 2026.

Moving on …  About a week ago, I noted that the Washington Wizards had won the NBA Draft Lottery and had the first pick.  In a conversation with a friend late last week, he asked if I thought the Wizards could screw it all up as has been their wont for the last several decades.  My answer to him was that there were at least four and maybe six future quality players at the top of the Draft, so it would be difficult to screw it up badly.  And then, over the weekend, I recalled the drafting fiasco of the Sixers when they were in their infamous “Process” to tank a few seasons and accumulate a team of young star players that would dominate for a long time.  As is evident, that did not quite work out as planned.

So, over the weekend, I went back 30 years and looked at the players taken #1 overall in the NBA Draft and how they fared in the pros.

I have 5 categories for the 30 players taken in the Draft slot as defined by me here:

1. Hall of Fame: Players who are already in the HoF or who will be when they are sufficiently retired.  (6 players in this category)
2. Stars: Players who stand out in the NBA, but it is still way too soon to consider them for the HoF. (5 players in this category)
3. Good not Great: Players who are just that – – good but not great. (9 players in this category)
4. Meh!: Players who bounced around for a while spreading mediocrity wherever they went. (4 players in this category)
5. Bust: Players who never came close to living up to this Draft status. (6 players in this category)

Here are the results:

• 1996 – Allen Iverson – Hall of Fame
• 1997 – Tim Duncan – Hall of Fame
• 1998 – Michael Olowokandi – Meh!
• 1999 – Elton Brand – Good not great
• 2000 – Kenyon Martin – Good not great
• 2001 – Kwame Brown – Bust
• 2002 – Yao Ming – Hall of Fame
• 2003 – LeBron James – Hall of Fame when eligible
• 2004 – Dwight Howard – Hall of Fame
• 2005 – Andrew Bogut – Good not great
• 2006 – Andrea Bargnani – Meh!
• 2007 – Greg Oden – Bust (Injuries)
• 2008 – Derrick Rose – Good not great (Injuries)
• 2009 – Blake Griffin – Good not great
• 2010 – John Wall – Good not great
• 2011 – Kyrie Irving – Hall of Fame when eligible
• 2012 – Anthony Davis – Good not great
• 2013 – Anthony Bennett – Bust
• 2014 – Andrew Wiggins – Meh!
• 2015 – Karl-Anthony Towns – Good not great
• 2016 – Ben Simmons – Bust
• 2017 – Markelle Fultz – Bust
• 2018 – Deandre Ayton – Bust
• 2019 – Zion Williamson – Good not great (Injuries)
• 2020 – Anthony Edwards – Star
• 2021 – Cade Cunningham – Star
• 2022 – Paolo Banchero – Star
• 2023 – Wemby – Star
• 2024 – Zaccharie Risacher – Meh!
• 2025 – Cooper Flagg – Star

So, maybe I need to revise my thinking a bit.  Over the last 30 years, the folks orchestrating the NBA Draft took 9 players who were mediocre to a bust; that is almost one in three such selections.  So, maybe the Wizards can find a way to “screw this up” on Draft Day …

Finally, this from author and entrepreneur, Jason Fried:

“Hiring people is like making friends. Pick good ones, and they’ll enrich your life. Make bad choices, and they’ll bring you down.”

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

 

 

From the time of the NFL Draft at the end of April until OTAs in early June, there used to be a six-week “dark period” for the NFL; nothing was going on; the league was relegated to interior pages in the sports section.  Then, the NFL managed to take a trivial matter and turn it into a big deal news release; I am talking about the release of the schedule for next season.  Understand that the NFL schedule is formulaic; everyone who cared to know would have been able to know all the opponents for every team 24 hours after the conclusion of the Super Bowl in February.

You could have known all your favorite team’s opponents then; what you could not know until this week was the order in which they would play those opponents.  And yet, this has become an annual “event” as is everything related to the NFL.  There are 272 regular season games; the majority of them will take place on Sunday afternoons; for the purposes of making “schedule revelation” a big deal those games are for the most part ignored in favor of specially placed games either by time slot or by international location.

So, here are some overview comments about the NFL schedule for the 2026 regular season:

• Week 1 will be a big deal as it usually is.  The league will have an additional unique time game this year because it scheduled a Week 1 game in Australia.

Wed Nite: Pats/Seahawks (Super Bowl rematch)

Thurs Nite: Rams/Niners (Netflix from Australia)

Sun Nite: Cowboys/Giants

Mon Nite: Broncos/Chiefs

• Thanksgiving week has also expanded this year; there will be a game on “Thanksgiving Eve” so if you are stuck in traffic on that terrible travel day, there will be a game to listen to while you are crawling at 3 mph on the Interstate.

Wed Nite: Packers/Rams (Netflix)

Thurs Noon: Bears/Lions

Thurs Afternoon: Cowboys/Eagles

Thurs Nite: Bills/Chiefs

Fri Afternoon: Broncos/Steelers (Amazon Prime Video)

• Christmas falls on a Friday this year; that provides the NFL with another expanded weekend of games on TV – – and the NFL did not drop the ball.

Thurs Nite (Christmas Eve): Texans/Eagles (Amazon Prime Video)

Fri Early PM (Christmas Day): Packers/Bears (Netflix)

Fri Late PM (Christmas Day): Bills/Broncos (Netflix)

Fri Nite (Christmas Nite): Rams/Seahawks

Sat Nite: Jags/Cowboys

Mon Nite: Giants/Lions

            I have listed 15 of the 272 regular season games here as ones that will be in stand-alone time slots; the other 257 games will be more typically scheduled en masse.  And here are a couple of overview schedule observations:

• Both the Bills and the Bears will play on Thanksgiving Day and also on Christmas Day this year.  Happy Holidays, guys …
• There will be 9 international games this season.  Three will be in London and the other six will be in Australia, Brazil, France, Spain, Germany and Mexico.
• Sixteen of the thirty-two NFL teams will play at least one game overseas this season.
• The Steelers and Saints will play in Paris; that will be the first NFL regular season game in France.

Moving on …  Undaunted by my embarrassment in picking a trifecta for the Kentucky Derby, I will press on and offer up the following trifecta ticket for the Preakness tomorrow:

• Numbers 2, 7 and 12 – – with
• Numbers 1,2,7,8,9,12 – – with
• Numbers 1,2,7,8,9,12   That is a $1 Trifecta ticket costing $60.

Finally, I will leave you with this from George F. Will;

“Politics in a democracy is transactional: Politicians seek votes by promising to do things for voters, who seek promises in exchange for their votes.”

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

 

 

Jason Collins died earlier this week at the age of 47; the cause of death was reported as glioblastoma (brain cancer).  He played in the NBA for 13 seasons with the Nets (twice), Grizzlies, Wolves, Hawks, Celtics and Wizards.  He was not a “star”; teams were not built around him.  His fame and legacy in the NBA are that he was the first active player to openly declare that he was gay.  Notwithstanding anyone’s personal view on homosexuality, Jason Collins’ declaration in 2013 was a courageous act.

Rest in peace, Jason Collins.

The winner of the Kentucky Derby will skip the Preakness; there will be no Triple Crown winner in 2026.  The trend seems to be that Derby winners are not highly motivated to come back in two weeks to race again in the Preakness.  Since 2019, there have been 7 Derby winners and 5 of those 7 winners skipped the Preakness.  [Aside: To be fair, one of those Derby winners, Country House, never raced again anywhere after winning the Derby.]

I think the Triple Crown has lost its luster and is on life support and the basis for that lies in thoroughbred breeding practices:

• For the last 40-50 years, breeding has been basked on speed not stamina.  It used to be that breeders tried to mix those traits in offspring but now the aim is to breed speed with speed.  The result is that horses are not able to race as often as in the past and are not nearly as capable of distance racing.
• Also, simply winning the Derby – or any other Triple Crown race – by itself guarantees the owners at least a decade of elevated stud fees that can only be diminished by an injury or repeated bad performances.  So, the bird in hand …

In fact, there were 18 horses running in the Kentucky Derby this year and only three of them have been entered in the Preakness.  Those three are:

• Ocelli – – Post Position #2 – – Morning Line Odds 6 to 1
• Robusta – – Post Position # 4 – – Morning Line Odds 30-to 1
• Incredibolt – – Post Position # 12 – – Morning Line Odds 5 to 1

             Moving on …  The unpleasant thought of seeing “Replacement Refs” in NFL games this year need not reside in your head anymore.  The NFL and the NFLRA have agreed to a new CBA with a 7-year duration.  I have not seen a full breakdown of the terms anywhere but one of the things that the league was pushing for was greater participation by the officials in the offseason for the purposes of some experience/training during team minicamps and formal Training Camps.  The thinking there is that it would improve officiating in real games.

It would be difficult to take a position that “improved officiating in real games” is an unworthy goal; in fact, it is exactly the desire for top-shelf officiating that makes the idea of “Replacement Refs” less than palatable to most NFL fans.  So, even though I thoroughly endorse striving to meet that objective, I have to think that the league may be approaching the limits of marginal returns.  Consider:

• Even with super-slow replay analysis that goes frame by frame in video coverage from multiple angles, the vast majority of the calls on the field are upheld.  The point is that even without replay to confirm it, the calls by NFL officials are usually right.
• Such is clearly NOT the case with other major sports.  MLB has a challenge system for balls and strikes and a replay challenge system for other calls.  More than a few baseball calls are overturned on review.
• In the NBA – – and college basketball – – there are lots of reviews that are overturned and particularly in the final minutes of games where reviews seemingly take precedence over action on the court, the reviews are endless and often are either modified or overturned.

The Bottom Line is that the NFL officials – – while not nearly perfect – – are already more efficient and effective than their counterparts in the other major sports in the US.  Good for the NFL in trying to elevate even those already high levels of officiating, but it must be recognized that there is not a lot of room for improvement.

The new CBA will increase pay for the officials as is always the case with a new CBA.  One of the other negotiating points was the duration of the probationary period for new officials.  The current CBA had that set at three years; the league wanted to extend that to four years; according to reports it will stay at three years.

Finally, let me close today with this from Jason Collins:

“As all professional athletes know, Father Time is undefeated, and when I wake up in the morning, my back especially lets me know that it’s about time to bow out gracefully, let the young guys in and move to being a full-time fan of the sport.”

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

 

 

Well, tanking seems to have finally paid off for the Washington Wizards – – sort of.  After three years of mediocrity between the 2020/2021 regular season and the 2023/2024 regular season, the Wiz tore the team down to the studs for a total makeover.  So, in the last three regular seasons the Wizards have lost:

• 67 games in 2023/2024
• 64 games in 2024/2025 – – and – –
• 65 games in 2025/2026

The lottery ping pong balls have not fallen their way until this year and that is the reason I said that tanking paid off – – sort of.

Last year, there was a certified, bona fide, identified overall number 1 pick – – Cooper Flagg.  This year, the consensus is that this draft is deeper than previous years, but there is debate about who to take at the top of the draft.  There is more riding on this selection by the Wizards than normal; they have a whole new front office management team, and they present themselves as highly “analytics focused” with a “holistic view” of the team make-up and its contribution to the community of Washington DC.  Let me put the punctuation on that management posture:

• Don’t blow the #1 overall pick!

If you do not live in the DC area, I would be surprised if you have seen the Washington Wizards play more than 20 minutes of basketball over the past two years; they are more than just bad; they are unwatchable.  They did not tank the way some other teams did; I do not recall any games where the Wiz were leading or close in score after three quarters and then the team sat the starters for the entirety of the fourth quarter to assure defeat.  The Wizards achieved their bottom-feeding status the old-fashioned way; they earned it.  [Hat tip to an old ad-campaign for Smith Barney and John Houseman here.]

The best college player I saw last season was AJ Dybantsa (BYU) and as soon as I say that I must point out that college basketball and NBA basketball are not congruent games.  I think there should be two other players given serious consideration by the Wizards’ mavens over the coming weeks:

1. Darryn Peterson (Kansas): He showed flashes of brilliance, but he missed games with muscle cramps and a sore hamstring.  The NBA season is more than twice as long as the college season so there is one question mark.  Another is that he supposedly did his own load management last year and sat out games as a ‘healthy scratch”.  I have no idea if that last red flag is real or not, but the Wizards’ brass had better figure it out correctly.
2. Caleb Wilson (UNC): Here in the DC area, we get to see a lot of ACC basketball and what stood out for me about Caleb Wilson is that he plays at full speed all the time.  He is athletic and he is super-competitive.  He did not have the same stats as some other players who are mentioned as potential “top picks” but in the end, he may wind up being the best pro.

[Aside:  Recall that Michael Jordan was not an overall #1 draft pick and turned out a bit better than OK.]

While the Wizards’ braintrust are pondering whom to take at #1, there is another player who should go in the middle of the first round that I think is intriguing.  Koa Peat (Arizona) is a bruiser who will compete for every rebound and loose ball.  The reason he will be available in the middle of the first round is that he does not shoot well; he is OK with his jump shot but not a “deadeye”.  Nevertheless, I will offer two points in favor of Koa Peat going earlier than some folks think he will go:

1. Anthony Edwards was not a good shooter in college.  His field goal percentage was only 40.2% and he was 29.4% from the college three-point line.  That is sort of good and certainly not great.  Last season in the NBA, Edwards shot 48.9% from the field and 39.9% from three-pint range.  With work, shooting is a skill that can be improved significantly.
2. Charles Barkley was a bruiser and a ferocious rebounder in college but did not arrive in the NBA with an outside shot that worried any defender.  Charles Barkley learned to shoot and had a more than decent NBA career.

I am not saying that I think Koa Peat will turn out to be a hybrid of Anthony Edwards and Charles Barkley, but given Peat’s physical size and strength, he might just be worth a pick closer to the Top Five than is generally projected.

Finally, let me close here with this observation from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson:

“Success isn’t always about greatness. It’s about consistency. Consistent hard work leads to success. Greatness will come.”

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

 

 

Bobby Cox died over the weekend at the age of 84.  He managed in MLB for a total of 29 seasons – – five in Atlanta, four in Toronto and then twenty back in Atlanta.  He is in the Hall of Fame, and he ranks fourth in MLB history in terms of wins by a manager.  His overall record on the bench was 2504 – 2001 which is a win percentage of .556.  His teams made the post season seventeen times and the Braves won a World Series under him in 1995.

Bobby Cox was famous for his confrontations with umpires; a few of those “encounters” have become the stuff of legends.  He was ejected from games more than anyone else in baseball history and most appropriately he was tossed 162 times in his career – – the exact number of games in a season.  Many fans think of Earl Weaver as a super-hotheaded manager who was always involved in situations that got him ejected from games; Weaver was a piker compared to Bobby Cox; Weaver was only ejected 95 times in his career.

Rest in peace, Bobby Cox.

Moving on …  There are four NFL coaches who have LOST 4 times in Super Bowl games:

1. Bud Grant
2. Marv Levy
3. Dan Reeves
4. Don Shula

There are three NFL coaches who have LOST 3 times in Super Bowl games:

1. Bill Belichick
2. Tom Landry
3. Andy Reid

If you combine those two lists and if you assume that the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters eventually decide to honor Belichick and Reid – – as they certainly should – – the only coach left out of the Hall of Fame would be Dan Reeves.  Like Grant and Levy, Reeves had teams there 4 times and lost them all.  It took the Hall of Fame gatekeepers a while to recognize Grant’s and Levy’s worthiness; I wonder if they will ever look back and think the same about Dan Reeves.

Switching gears …  The FIFA World Cup will get underway here in North America exactly one month from today.  Globally, this is the biggest sporting event – even bigger than the Olympics – and there is almost no “buzz” around here as the kickoff time approaches.  I was not in Rio when the World Cup was there or in South Africa or in Qatar, but I have to think that there was more energy around the upcoming event in those places than seems to be the case here in the US.  There is a bar near Curmudgeon Central that is known as a “Soccer Bar”; its clientele is there to watch and to engage in soccer not other sports when there are conflicting schedules.  I happened to drive by that establishment over the weekend, and the only evidence of the impending World Cup was a small sign on the window near the neon sign that said, “OPEN”.  That small sign had the image of the World Cup Trophy and the dates of the Opening Ceremonies – – June 11 and June 12.

I don’t get it.  Soccer in the US continues to expand its fanbase.  It is not yet nearly the same size as the fanbase for American football or baseball or even basketball if you combine NCAA and NBA fans, but soccer is much more important in the sports landscape today than it was 10 years ago.  And still, there is no sense of energy around the World Cup.  I hope this spectacle does not fizzle out here in North America, but someone or something is going to need to provide a spark of interest sometime very soon to overcome what seems to be a whole lot of inertia.

Finally, a few comments about the “importance” of the World Cup:

“The first World Cup I remember was in the 1950 when I was 9 or 10 years old. My father was a soccer player, and there was a big party, and when Brazil lost to Uruguay, I saw my father crying.”    Pele

And …

“For me soccer provides so many emotions, a different feeling every day. I’ve had the good fortune to take part in major competitions like the Olympics, and winning the World Cup was also unforgettable. We lost in the Olympics and won in the World Cup, and I’ll never forget either feeling.”   Ronaldinho

And …

“I can still remember watching Italy win the 1982 World Cup. I was just an eight-year-old kid in Naples, my hometown, watching the games with a bunch of people in the houses of relatives and friends. I can recall that when Italy scored, we would shout and hug, even though we did not all know each other.”    Fabio Cannavero

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

 

 

            It seems as if the sports news floating about today all relates to cash grabs on the part of various organizations.  I understand that sporting entities exist for the purpose of generating revenue and that entities that generate revenue naturally seek to increase those revenues where possible.  But are there no limits?

The NFL in its continuing effort to plant its flag in new places every year scheduled a game in Australia for 2026; it will be played such that it airs in the US on the Wednesday after Labor Day and it will match the Niners and the Rams.  In the first place, that is a serious rivalry game for two fanbases and for either – or both – of them to try to go to that rivalry game will involve a round-trip flight where each leg is approximately 14 hours in duration.

Then, to make those fanbases even “happier”, the game will be televised on Netflix as part of a 4 or 5 game package of game for the streaming service this year.  Commissioner Goodell did not reveal the amount that Netflix will pay for that game package, but he did say that streaming services are more competitive than networks for these “off-schedule games”.  Depending on which report you read here is the Netflix lineup for 2026:

• Week 1 – – the Australia game
• Thanksgiving Eve – – strong rumors about this being added to the schedule in 2026
• Christmas Day – – it’s a Friday this year and there will be 2 games then
• Week 18 – – Saturday game (some reports say this is not going to happen)

Good for the NFL and good for Netflix; I hope Netflix makes money on the deal so that it can continue to make the NFL richer than ever.  But maybe the schedulers and the strategic big thinkers in the league might not want to put major rivalry games seven or eight thousand miles away from the loyal fans of the teams.  Is the money that important?

Down a level, the NCAA football coaches association – – or whatever it is called this week – – voted to recommend expanding the CFP to 24 teams.  That is a vote of enlightened self-interest; coaches that make the expanded playoffs will get pay boosts which ultimately benefits other coaches who participate in the annual game of coaching musical chairs in December/January.  However, there is a potential economic glitch in that recommendation

• To constrain the duration of the college football season and to keep the Army/Navy game as an “exclusive event” the coaches association recommends eliminating conference championship games.

That poses an interesting choice for schools and conferences.  Conference Championship games have shown that they produce revenue and for the major conferences that is revenue that they need not share with any other schools.  For the “Power 4” conferences, the broadcast rights can be lucrative because networks and sponsors can be pretty sure that the two teams in that conference championship game will be recognizable and popular.  With the expansion of the playoffs, there will be a bigger inventory of “important games” but:

• That revenue will need to be shared somehow – – and – –
• What assurance do networks and sponsors have before the fact that the teams in the games will draw audiences to the TV screens?

I think a 24-team football playoff is a terrible idea and I will be interested to see how benevolently the “Power 4” conferences take to the idea of canceling their championship games.

And since bad things seem to happen in threes, the NCAA geniuses have all but decided to expand March Madness to 76 teams.  Interestingly, several coaches at some of the basketball power schools have said they think this is a bad idea.  John Calipari, Mark Few, Dan Hurley and Tom Izzo have all expressed sentiments ranging from skepticism to outright hostility to this expansion.  Much of the criticism from these coaches centers on the fact that as more teams make the tournament, the regular season games are rendered less meaningful.  That is trend that has been afoot for about the last decade or so and it would be a good idea for the NCAA to think about the erosion of interest there.  Let me give you Dan Hurley’s take on this as an example of the criticism:

“What I think makes the tournament special is the qualification for it.  You don’t want the regular season to be rendered meaningless and to take away from November, December, January, February.  The qualification process makes the regular season intense and pressure packed.  It should be a privilege to play in the tournament, not a right, and obviously if it expands too much and you don’t have to have a real good season to make it, that would take away from the tournament. Does it get too big?”

Now, certainly those favoring expansion will point out that the four coaches mentioned here never have to worry about “making the tournament” so that their comments can be colored as elitist and exclusionary.  I happen to think they are dead solid perfect in their position.

Finally, I’ll close today with this from outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook:

“Companies that get confused, that think their goal is revenue or stock price or something. You have to focus on the things that lead to those.”

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

 

 

It is not difficult to take the position that football is a “team game” and that quarterbacks get far too much attention – – positive and negative – – from fans and commentators.  But the fact is that quarterback play is very important with regard to team success and/or team failure and that situation allows for simplistic focus of attention on matters involving team records.  So, today, I want to look at several NFL teams that have ”questions” regarding their “quarterback rooms” as they prepare for OTAs.

The Carolina Panthers are the defending champs of the NFC South; that is the good news.  The Panthers’ record in 2025 was 8-9-0; that is the reality.  Panthers’ QB, Bryce Young averaged 188 yards per game and threw a total of 23 TDs last year; so, what sort of challenge might he face in training camp this year?  My guess is that there will be no challenge at all because here are the other QBs on the roster today:

• Kenny Pickett
• Will Grier
• Haynes King

The Minnesota Vikings missed the playoffs last year and did not get stellar play from their QBs to be charitable.  This year, the Vikes have four QBs on their roster; three of them have shown flashes of competence amidst hours of dreary performance and the fourth is a complete unknown.  Here are the guys fighting to be the starting QB in Minnesota – – in alphabetical order because no other order makes sense to me:

• Max Brosmer
• JJ McCarthy
• Kyler Murray
• Carson Wentz

The Miami Dolphins parted ways with Tua Tagovailoa in this offseason and suffered a dead cap hit of almost $100M.  They signed Malik Willis in free agency to be their QB, and the jury is out on his suitability in such a role; but the athletic skills are there.  Nonetheless, behind Willis is a roster of question marks:

• Quinn Ewers – – drafted in 2025 and did not impress in 4 games last year
• Cam Miller – – drafted by the Raiders in 2025 and was on practice squad there
• Mark Gronowski – -undrafted free agent in 2026 out of Iowa

The NY Jets must be included in any compendium of “QB Questions” ever since the retirement of Joe Namath back in the Paleolithic Era.  The Jets will go with Geno Smith as their starter hoping that he can weave a storyline of redemption as he returns to the Jets after 7 years as a vagabond QB in the NFL.  Absent injury, it is difficult to see how Smith can lose the starting job because here is the rest of the Jets’ QB roster:

• Cade Klubnik – – 4^th round pick this year out of Clemson
• Brady Cook – – unimpressive in 4 games last year – – 2 TDs and 7 INTs
• Bailey Zappe – – 3 years in the NFL with stats that evince a “Meh!” response

I have to put the Pittsburgh Steelers in this compendium simply because they are – – willingly or unwillingly – – in the Aaron Rodgers Soap Opera (As the Football World Turns?).  If Rodgers plays in 2026, he will start in Pittsburgh; if not the Steelers have three guys who might inherit his job:

• Drew Allar – – drafted by the Steelers this year
• Will Howard – – drafted by the Steelers last year
• Mason Rudolph – – drafted by the Steelers in 2018

All the above “QB situations” focus on question marks for the teams but there is one team with a QB situation that is interesting from a different vantage point.  The Philadelphia Eagles in general are not in the “drama queen” category of NFL teams to the same extent as the Jets or the Raiders or the Browns, but in the “QB room” there is reason for head-scratching:

• Jalen Hurts – – In the last 4 years, he has taken the team to two Super Bowls, won one of them and was MVP in that winning Super Bowl game.  And yet, there are folks who think he is “the problem” with the team.
• Tanner McKee – – He rarely sees the field, but when he does, he plays well – – certainly better than many of the names cited above today.
• Andy Dalton – – The Eagles signed him this year.  Is he there to be a veteran mentor or is he there to be the backup if/when the Eagles trade Tanner McKee?
• Cole Payton – – The Eagles drafted him in 2026.  Why?

Lastly today, consider the QB situation for the Indy Colts:

• Daniel Jones – – He is the starter for sure so long as he is recovered from his Achilles injury suffered late last season.  The question is which version of Danile Jones will manifest itself in Indy – – the breakout version from 2025 up to the injury or the scuffling/erratic version evidenced with the Giants in previous seasons?
• Anthony Richardson – – The Colts chose not to exercise their fifth-year option meaning Richardson will be a free agent next year and the team gave him permission to seek a trade – – and none have materialized.  He is gifted athletically but cannot seem to mater “accuracy” in the passing game.  Over his career, his completion percentage is 50.6% and that is over 17 game appearances and 15 starts.  Quo vadis, Anthony Richardson?
• Riley Leonard – – He was a 6^th round pick by the Colts last year; he appeared in four games starting one and was what you would expect to see from a 6^th round pick in his first year in the NFL.
• Seth Henigan – – He was undrafted in 2025 but spent time on the Jags and the Colts’ practice squads last year.

There used to be a TV police drama titled The Naked City about life in NYC.  At the end, the tag line was, “There are eight million stories in the naked city; this has been one of them.”  There are not nearly eight million QB stories in the NFL, but these have been a few of them…

Finally, on a lighter note, here is something from George Carlin:

“Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.”

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