Month: February 2017

Gary Cartwright passed away over the weekend at the age of 82.  He was one of the top-shelf sportswriters of the 20^th Century who perfected his craft in North Texas in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.  In my mind, he was in the quartet of great Texas sportswriters of the time that included Dan Jenkins, Bud Shrake and Blackie Sherrod.  Gary Cartwright started at the Fort Worth Press but eventually, worked for just about every paper in that area of the world.  He retired from Texas Monthly several years ago; and like his former colleague, Dan Jenkins, he is the author of several books in addition to his “journalistic” offerings.  My favorite of his books is The Hundred Yard War; you can pretty much guess the focus of that book.

RIP, Gary Cartwright.

Last week, a friend asked if I was going to write about the Daytona 500.  I said that I would if something unusual happened.  Nothing unusual happened:

• Lots of cars drove really fast and made lots of left turns.
• There were a couple of multi-car crashes.  Fortunately, everyone survived those crashes.
• The race was won on the final lap in a mad dash to the finish line.

The first two of those “happenings” may be commonplace on the Interstate near where you live and work; the third “happening” is the case for just about every NASCAR race.  So, nothing unusual happened there…

Until I read this report, I was not aware that there were any folks studying the status and the future of Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore.  For at least the last 20 years – and probably for the last 30 years – I have said unequivocally that Pimlico is an uninviting venue for any sort of sporting event let alone as the venue for a Triple Crown event.  At one point, I said it had the ambience of an upholstered toilet.

Well, it seems that some Baltimore pols and some other folks are now concerned that Pimlico’s less-than-elegant presence may jeopardize the track as the host of the Preakness Stakes.  Frankly, I wonder what took them so long to come to this epiphany status.  Let me say this as simply as I can:

• Absent political pressures to keep the track from falling down around itself because it was the “Home of the Preakness”, Pimlico should have been razed sometime around 1996 or 1998.
• There are beautiful racetracks where the venue itself is a reason to take in a day of racing.  Saratoga, DelMar, Keenland and Woodbine come to mind in this category.  Then there are racetracks that are – on their best days – dumps.  Yonkers, Suffolk Downs and Fresno come to mind in this category.
• Pimlico is below the category of “dumps”.  It is more than uninviting; it is repulsive.  The study cited in this linked report says it will take more than $200M to make Pimlico into something attractive.  That sounds about right to me because that is what it would probably cost to raze the track and everything attached to the track to the ground and to start over from scratch.

Yet again, José Canseco has provided me with material for a Daily Rant.  Recall for a moment that Canseco mused via social media about a month ago that he would be “willing’ to serve as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve so that he could implement his ideas/policies which would produce economic growth in the 15-25% range year over year over year.  Do not try to beat me over the head with that sort of projection; I did not say it; he did.

Canseco is back now announcing to the world – or at least that part of the inhabited world with access to Twitter – that humankind faces a real and imminent threat to humankind’s existence.  Nope; Canseco is not envisioning an asteroidal encounter of “dinosaur proportions”; Canseco’s apocalyptic view focuses on ROBOTS.

The Rise of the Machines seemingly is more to Canseco than the title of a cheesy movie.  Here are some of Canseco’s warnings – via Twitter of course – for the benefit of humankind:

“For 60 years, Robots have been systematically destroying us in clandestine economy based war started when eniac was turned on.”

And …

“Robots control every industry our food supply our transportation systems our health care and education systems EVERYTHING.”

And …

“Robots are stealing our jobs bringing economic ruin to us human by human starving us to death one by one.”

And …

“All that will be left are uber technical humans trained to service robots.”

[Aside:  I assume “uber technical humans” does not refer to engineers who take Uber to and from work.]

If you share the inevitable horror portrayed by José Canseco, have at it.  Personally, I have seen too many sure-fire doomsday actors/perpetrators come and go to get my gastric juices flowing on this one…

Finally, here is an observation by Bob Molinaro in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot that rings awfully true with me:

“Bottom line: Orioles backup catcher Caleb Joseph reported to spring training with a new contract worth $700,000. But this was after an arbitrator rejected his request for $1 million. Can’t imagine why Joseph didn’t get what he asked for. He set a record last season for most plate appearances – 141 – without an RBI and hit .174. Joseph does, however, lead the league in one category: gall.”

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

Spring Training games have begun; there is more to see in Florida and in Arizona than a bunch of guys working out.  The games do not mean much of anything, but they do represent a step toward the start of meaningful baseball and they do mean something about guys who are trying to secure a roster spot on a major league club.  In any event, since baseball is about to become a staple of the sports world, I want to start with a couple of baseball notes today.

Let me start with the new intentional walk rule for this year.  When the manager in the dugout signals the umpire, the batter to be intentionally walked will be motioned to move to first base.  This is being characterized as a way to increase pace of play.  So, let me do some math for you.

• ESPN said that in 2015 there were 932 intentional walks in 2430 games.  That is 1 intentional walk every 2.6 games.
• Let me estimate that an intentional walk takes 40 seconds – 10 seconds for each pitch that is “just a bit outside”.  [/Bob Uecker]
• That means the time saved will be 40 seconds every 2.6 games or an expected time savings of 15.4 seconds per game.

I believe the proper reaction to that increase in pace of play is “Whoop-di-damned-do!”

There was a story recently that the owner of the Miami Marlins, Jeffrey Loria, had a “handshake deal” to sell the club for $1.6B and the buyer was going to be Ivanka Trump’s brother-in-law, Joshua Kushner.  The transaction hit a snag because there are also rumors that Loria could be in line to be nominated as US Ambassador to France and that appointment juxtaposed with the potential buyer might not look so good.  Loria is not one of the most beloved sports owners in the country, but I must agree that this deal would smell like 3-day old fish if he were then nominated to an Ambassadorship.  However, when the story was still fresh, there were callers to sports radio who felt it necessary to opine that this was a sign of the apocalypse for the US because – of course – Jeffrey Loria was not qualified to be an Ambassador and his only qualification for the job was that he was a rich man and a political donor.

All of that may be true – or not; I know nothing about Loria’s knowledge skills and abilities outside the world of baseball.  However, I do know that his nomination and his confirmation would not be apocalyptic for the country because there have been myriad ambassadorships handed out by presidents in the past to rich friends/supporters of theirs.

As MLB teams begin to play their Spring Training games, I think there are 3 interesting questions that should draw fans’ attention as the real season begins and begins to develop:

1. How will the Red Sox replace David Ortiz?  I do not mean only how will they replace him in the lineup; I think they will need to replace him as a team leader and a positive clubhouse guy.
2. What will the Cubs do with Kyle Schwarber?  His best position is “batter” but the Cubs only play a few games with a DH.  As a catcher, his coming off a serious knee surgery makes him questionable and as an outfielder he was nothing better than average defensively before the injury.  So, do the Cubbies keep him or extract a ransom from an AL team where he can be a DH potentially as impactful as David Ortiz?
3. Two of the better NL teams need to focus on their right field position.  The Nationals’ Bryce Harper (a former NL MVP) had a bad season in 2016; the Pirates’ Andrew McCutcheon (a former NL MVP) also had a bad season in 2016.  McCutcheon is moving to right field this year and that is where Harper plays too.  So, which of these two players will better approximate their MVP status  in 2017?

There are times when a pithy comment from a sports columnist tells you all you really need to know about an occurrence in the sports world.  Here are some recent examples:

“Dolphins signed six ex-players including Dan Marino to ceremonial one-day contracts. Team denied it was a publicity stunt.”  [Greg Cote. Miami Herald]

And …

“Ex-Lions cornerback Stanley Wilson II was arrested in the buff on suspicion of burglary in Woodburn, Ore. — his third naked run-in with police in eight months.

“On the bright side, prosecutors say, picking him out of a lineup shouldn’t be a problem.”  [Dwight Perry, Seattle Times]

And …

“Idle thought: Comparing the defense-free NBA All-Star point-orgy to a pickup game is an insult to playground basketball players everywhere.”  [Bob Molinaro, Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot]

And …

“At the NBA All-Star Game, the West defeated the East 192-182. I mistook the headline for an article on declining American credit scores.  [Brad Dickson, Omaha World-Herald]

Finally, since most of today’s rant had to do with baseball matters, let me close with this overarching baseball observation from Brad Dickson in the Omaha World Herald:

“Alex Rodriguez said there is a “zero percent” chance he plays baseball again. Speaking of zero percent chances, the Minnesota Twins have reported to spring training.”

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

Just a glance at the topics I am going to cover today convinces me that I am not in my happy place today.  I recognize that late February is one of the “dry spells” in the sporting calendar and that space must be filled.  Nevertheless, there are some stories that need to be left to die.  Here is one of them:

• Charles Oakley vs. James Dolan

We know about the recent dust up at Madison Square Garden and Oakley’s banishment for life from the venue – which lasted about 100 hours.  That is enough of the story; unless one of the parties hires a hitman or goes postal on the other party, just shovel some dirt on this story and move on.  But no…

Yesterday, I read on espn.com that Charles Oakley planned to go and see the Knicks play the Cavaliers in Cleveland last night.  Do you mean to tell me that this story now can go national and every time Charles Oakley decides to take in an NBA game anywhere, that will become news?  I cannot wait to see the lead for the next layer of this story as it seeps into the underground water supply:

• “On his way to Madison Square Garden to see the Knicks play the Milwaukee Bucks, Charles Oakley stopped off at Katz Delicatessen and had a hot pastrami sandwich with a side of cole slaw…”

Memo to ESPN/Sports Illustrated/Others:  Put this story mercifully to rest.

Another story that has been over-covered is the head-shaking-inducing trade that sent Boogie Cousins to the Pelicans for Buddy Hield and a couple of Joe Flabeetzes.  Yes, it was a one-sided deal; yes, it puts the Kings in the same category of competence as the Cleveland Browns; yes, the pairing of Cousins and Anthony Davis in New Orleans might make the team good enough that the fans there start to meaningfully care about the Pelicans.  [Aside:  The fact that the Pelicans got blown out last night in the first game with Cousins and Davis together does not alter the fact that the Kings did something terminally stupid here.]

The problem here is the succumbing to temptation by newly minted commentators to book themselves on a flight of fancy and opine that this might be the worst trade in the history of the NBA.  Slow down, Sparky; just because something happened before 2003 does not mean that it happened in the Paleolithic Era.  Allow me to suggest two NBA trades that happened a while ago but involved players that even millennial fans have heard about:

1. In 1956, the Boston Celtics sent Ed McCauley and Cliff Hagan to the St. Louis Hawks in exchange for the #2 overall pick in the NBA Draft.  With that pick, the Celtics took Bill Russell.  McCauley and Hagan were both very good players; Russell is a “Mount Rushmore Player”.  [Aside:  The Celtics got Russell with the #2 pick in the draft; the first pick in 1956 was Sihugo Green by the Rochester Royals – – and that team today is the Sacramento Kings.]
2. In the middle of the 1964/65 NBA season, the SF Warriors sent Wilt Chamberlain to the Philly 76ers in exchange for Connie Dierking, Paul Neumann and Lee Shaffer plus some cash.  Dierking was a journeyman who lasted a year in SF and then was traded to – – you guessed it – the Cincinnati Royals who are now the Sacramento Kings.  Neumann played 2.5 years in SF and then retired presumably to the notice of his nuclear family.  Shaffer refused to go to SF in the first place and just retired from the NBA.  Like Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain is a “Mount Rushmore Player”.

In fact, I would suggest that trading Boogie Cousins is not even the worst trade in the history of the Kings’ franchise.  In its second incarnation, the Kings were the Cincinnati Royals and they had a guy named Oscar Robertson on the team.  He was more than just “pretty good” and the Royals traded him away to the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971 for Flynn Robinson and Charlie Paulk.  Google is  your friend here …

Boogie Cousins is a very good player but he is not Bill Russell nor is he Wilt Chamberlain nor is he Oscar Robertson.  Please do not get carried away with this…

The third aggravating story of the day involves MLB.  Per this espn.com report regarding a new feature coming to MLB parks this year, the apocalypse is nigh.  Here is the second paragraph of the story:

“Fans who appear on the scoreboard video screen or during a television broadcast will, for the first time, be able to get the video and share it socially.”

Using facial recognition algorithms, fans will be able to download an app and take a photo of themselves and the algorithm will match their face with one shown on the stadium video board and that will put the video on the fan’s phone allowing for sharing.  MLB has someone with the title Executive Vice-President for Business for MLB Advanced Media.  That is a tongue-tying acronym but the person holding that job was not tongue tied telling espn.com:

“We think going to a baseball game is one of the best experiences fans can have; so, sharing a memorable and enjoyable experience is very important to us.”

Sigh …

I wish I had a more pleasant offering for you today as we head into a weekend.  Perhaps this item from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times will be an uplifting way to close today:

“Paging Kent Dorfman

“A truck lost its trailer on an Indiana highway, spilling 38,000 pounds of marbles.

“Nevertheless, Faber College officials say, the homecoming parade will go off as scheduled.”

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

I thought that the Washington Examiner had gone extinct.  It used to be distributed free as a small tabloid newspaper and I used to pick up a copy at a Metro station when I was heading for a subway ride.  Then it disappeared and I figured that it was a casualty in the struggles of the newspaper industry.  So, I was surprised to get an e-mail from a reader containing a link to a recent article in the Washington Examiner.  What prompted the reader to send it to me is captured in this part of his e-mail:

“…you always say hosting the Olympics is a losing proposition and this guy agrees with you, except he is an economics professor and you’re not.”

Not only am I not an economics professor, I only took 2 courses in economics in my life and the most recent one was in 1971; I do not pretend to have any expertise in that field of study.  So, let me use the words of Professor Raymond Sauer (Clemson University) to explain why things like the Olympics – and even the Super Bowl – are not necessarily money-makers for the host city:

“Brazil invested more than $4 billion in stadiums, sports facilities, and infrastructure in order to host the 2016 Olympics. There is no sign of the hoped-for economic boost. Brazil’s economy remains in recession, and once-shiny new facilities are already degraded, lacking funds for basic maintenance and security. The famed Maracana Stadium sits idle with broken windows, damaged doors, stolen tv monitors and seats, its soccer pitch “invaded by worms” according to a CNN report.”

“The award of a Super Bowl to a host city is typically accompanied by estimates of economic impact provided by professional consultants. The numbers are invariably large, with the Houston Super Bowl Committee projecting $350 million in economic impact, and $31 million in state and local tax revenue.”

“While these numbers sound plausible, they leave something important out of the equation: the unseen impact of bringing the show to town. Mega-events displace other economic activity, business visitors, conventions, and other travel to the host city that would have taken place but go elsewhere during Super Bowl week. That’s why there’s not a single published academic study — and there have been numerous attempts — which finds a measurable uptick in local economic activity or tax revenue of any Super Bowl in the history of the NFL.”

If you would like to read all of Professor Sauer’s comments, you can find them here.

I think I will stay at the intersection of money and sports for a while longer today.  I ran across an article on CBSSports.com a week ago saying that the Ryder Cup matches scheduled to be in Italy in 2022 may have to be moved.  Here is the paragraph that caught my attention:

“The Italian Senate recently removed the guaranteed $103 million in funding Rome (and the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club) needed to host the biennial event. This means organizers in Italy will have to find the money elsewhere as it is a prerequisite to hosting the tournament.”

Of course, the organizers claim that the Ryder Cup will “have an economic impact nearing 9 figures” which sounds great until you look at the up-front funding cost of $103M and realize that it too is “9 figures”.  The other thing that made me wonder here was that the Golf and Country Club where the matches will be played needs money.  How did the Ryder Cup mavens decide to play the event at a place that isn’t already good enough to host the event?

Here is a link to the story in case you are interested.

One last sports/money comment for the day…  The Breeders’ Cup races for 2017 will be held in early Nov ember at DelMar Racetrack just north of San Diego.  Bing Crosby and Oliver Hardy were partners in the group that originally built this track and the fact that its street address is on “Jimmy Durante Boulevard” might suggest that the facility has seen its fair share of celebrities.  Hosting this “mega-event” will not be an economic disaster for San Diego simply because the track is already there and would be in use for a Fall meeting in any event.  The marginal costs here are low.

However, that does not mean there are no “money aspects” to this event.  The Breeders’ Cup races now span 2 days and the total purse money offered for the 10 races is $28M.  The folks who own the horses that will run in those races are not exactly living paycheck to paycheck and can afford to come and see their animals compete here.  They can pay “enhanced admission prices” but can the ordinary racing fans.  Here are some of the admission prices that are posted for these events:

• A two-day admission to the Turf Club – including food – will cost $1,725 per seat and you must buy a minimum of a table for four.  In round numbers, that comes to $7K.
• Grandstand box seats along the stretch – not including food – will cost $1000 per seat and you have your choice of buying a 4-seat box or a 6-seat box.  By the way, you will have to buy the whole box.
• Standing room admission will be $50 and you can get to the infield for $85 per day.

Tickets for the events go on sale in 2 weeks so you have some time to figure out how to get the proper amount of funds into your checking account so you can be there for the big races.  Don’t miss out…

Finally, Greg Cote of the Miami Herald channeled Carnac the Magnificent with this comment:

“Answer: KFC gives away tubes of ‘Extra Crispy Sunscreen’ that smells like fried chicken.

“Question: What do you mean real life sometimes reads like something from The Onion?”

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

If you pay any attention at all to this year’s NFL off-season news, the reports fall into two categories.  The first category is a “listicle” – a list of some sort with a unifying theme such as The Ten Worst Salary Cap Situations in 2017 or The Five Most Desirable Free Agent WRs.  I don’t know about you, but I get tired of those things quickly.  The other category focuses on the consensus regarding desirable free agents this year and analyzes them to death.  Let me list the players with constant focus:

1. LeVeon Bell:  Will the Steelers retain him with a franchise tag?
2. Kirk Cousins:  Will the Skins retain him with a franchise tag?
3. Jimmy Garoppolo:  Will the Pats trade him?  If so, where?
4. Tony Romo:  Where will he play QB next year?

Let me try to provide brief answers to three of those four “vexing” questions:

1. LeVeon Bell:  The Steelers will retain him one way or the other.
2. Kirk Cousins:  The Skins will franchise him.
3. Tony Romo:  The Cowboys can afford to keep him as a backup but if they release him, Tony Romo will play for either the Texans or the Broncos.

Jimmy Garoppolo is a more complicated situation.  The Pats do need a solid backup QB given the fact that Tom Brady is battling Father Time in addition to opposing defenses.  Garoppolo looked awfully good in his 6 quarters of action last year leading some to believe he is the heir apparent to Brady and therefore will not be traded.  However, coming to that conclusion assumes the ability to read the mind of Bill Belichick because if Belichick is convinced that Jacoby Brissett can be his “QB of the Future”, then this is the time to cash in on Garoppolo’s soaring trade value.  I will not even pretend to be able to read Bill Belichick’s mind…

Let me offer some words of caution to QB-hungry teams out there who covet Jimmy Garoppolo.  If you are indeed able to come up with a package of players/draft picks to pry him loose from the Pats, remember Belichick’s track record when it comes to trading backup QBs.

• Matt Cassell
• Brian Hoyer
• Ryan Mallet

I am not saying that Jimmy Garoppolo is destined to be a journeyman QB at best, but there is some history there.

Enough about The Big Four of free agents.  I think there is a free agency situation that is well under the radar but it is important.  Terrelle Pryor is 27 years old; he tried to make it in the NFL as a QB put of Ohio State but after three years below mediocrity with the Raiders, he signed on with the Browns seeking to reinvent himself as a WR.  In his first year, they targeted him 8 times and he caught 1 pass for 42 yards.  Last year, he caught 77 passes for 1007 yards and 4 TDs.

Before anyone looks at those numbers and shrugs them off, consider that he was the lead receiver for a Browns’ team that did not have a competent QB to throw him the ball partly because the OL could not keep a QB healthy very long.  I do not want to make Terrelle Pryor out to be the poor man’s version of Julio Jones, but he is important to the Browns and he could be an important addition to a team that actually has a chance to be in the playoffs in 2017.  I am going to pay attention to news about Pryor’s negotiations this off-season.  I believe that he would cost the Browns $15.1M to play under the franchise tag.

Another NFL story that is under the radar relates to the continued interactions between law enforcement officials and Raiders’ OLB, Aldon Smith.  He has been in the league since 2011 and was the NFC defensive player of the year with the Niners in 2012.  However, he has not been anywhere near a model citizen and is currently serving a 1-year suspension from the league.  I do not represent that this is the full extent of his relationship with the gendarmes in various jurisdictions but consider:

• Arrested more than once for DUI
• Arrested for getting into a confrontation with a TSA employee who thought Smith was carrying a bomb.
• Arrested for possession an assault weapon without proper registration.
• Arrested for a hit-and-run incident

He has been suspended by the NFL multiple times; if my count is correct he has missed all of part of 4 seasons – and he has only been in the league for 6 years.  I mention this because Aldon Smith had applied for reinstatement to the NFL when his most recent suspension ended late last year; that matter remains under review.  And now …

• Aldon Smith is under investigation regarding a domestic violence situation.  Remember, the NFL has a precedent of handing out suspension(s) for such matters even without charges being filed against the alleged perpetrator.

Aldon Smith has recorded 47.5 sacks in 59 NFL games; in 2012, he recorded 19.5 sacks in 16 regular season games.  He would have been a perfect Oakland Raider in the days of Al Davis and before the days of Roger Goodell and the NFL’s menu of suspensions for anti-social behaviors.  Smith’s problem is that he wants to play today and not back then.

Finally, here is a comment from Brad Dickson of the Omaha World-Herald regarding another arrest situation related to sports:

“A Baylor assistant strength coach was arrested in a prostitution sting. OK, I’ve heard of better ways of rehabilitating a program’s image.  The good news is that after working with him, a prostitute achieved personal bests in the vertical leap and shuttle run.”

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

The NBA All-Star Game happened over the weekend and it was a pretend game of basketball just as it always is.  The only “defense” in the game is the one that keeps “de cows in de pasture”.  Nonetheless, stuff went down during the game that constitutes relevant NBA news.  The Sacramento Kings and the New Orleans Pelicans made a trade:

1. Pelicans get Boogie Cousins and Omri Casspi
2. Kings get Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, a first round pick this year and a second round pick this year.

If – and I do mean IF – Boogie Cousins and Anthony Davis can figure out how to play the “Twin Towers Game” to a similar degree of competence as did David Robinson and Tim Duncan, the Pelicans will be significant contenders in the NBA Western Conference for a long time.  Davis is 23 years old; Cousins is 26 years old; both are immensely talented.

Anyone who follows the NBA even peripherally knows that Cousins is a volatile person who often allows his feelings/temper to take him out of games.  They should also realize that Cousins has never had to share the spotlight as “star of the team” with anyone else in Sacramento.  Can this work in New Orleans?  Only time will tell if the Pelicans went panning for gold and came up with a 7-foot solid gold nugget or if they came up with an attractive looking hunk of quartz.

The interesting part of this trade is that the Kings have been saying for months now that they would not ever consider trading Boogie Cousins because he was the future of the team.  And then, they not only traded him, but they traded him as the All-Star Game was in progress.  Cousins only played 2 minutes in the game to be sure he did not get injured even in that mockery of a basketball game.

As of now, neither the Kings nor the Pelicans would be in the playoffs in the West if the season were over.  The Pelicans are 1 game behind the Kings and the Kings are only 1.5 games behind the #8 team in the West (Denver); both teams have 25 games to play.  Alvin Gentry is the Pelicans’ coach; if he can get Davis and Cousins to blend even a little bit, the Pelicans should be able to make up a couple of games on the 8^th place Denver Nuggets and make the playoffs.

The Kings’ outlook looks far less rosy to me.  They just traded their only really marketable player and got back some complimentary pieces but no one of star talent.  I suspect the Kings will be settling back to their accustomed place on the lower rungs of the NBA for this year and for a few years to come.  Then again, we are talking here about a team in Sacramento; what better place for an NBA team to render itself irrelevant than in that outpost.

A sad story broke about a week ago.  Jeffrey Sandusky – an adopted son of former Penn State football coach, Jerry Sandusky – was arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with a variety of sex crimes involving minor females.  Jerry Sandusky has been in prison for the last 5 years or so after a conviction for child molestation; Jeffrey Sandusky – 41 years old – is out on $200K bond as he awaits the next step in the legal proceedings against him.  The report linked above will delineate the half-dozen or so charges facing Jeffrey Sandusky.

I said this was a sad story; here is what I mean.  The report says that Jerry Sandusky’s wife – Dottie – who stood by her husband through all of his hearings and trials is now in the midst of standing by her adopted son as he goes through his processing.  Until and unless even a shred of evidence turns up to indicate that Dottie Sandusky has done something that remotely merits this level of grief in her life, I think she is a pathetic figure and this is a sad story.

Do not misinterpret here.  I am a hardass when it comes to crimes against children; anyone who did such things does not want me on the jury that would hand down sentencing for such behaviors.  But I can feel sorry for Dottie Sandusky this morning and the emotional burdens she has had to endure in the last 5 years of her life.

In another “crime story” from Western Pennsylvania, Jets’ CB, Darrelle Revis was arrested in the aftermath of a fight in the Pittsburgh area that left a couple of people hospitalized.  There are 5 charges pending against Revis including 2 charges of aggravated assault terroristic threats, robbery and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.  The way the events unfolded here is more complicated that I would prefer to spell out here; so, if you are interested, here is the AP report that ran in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

I am not an attorney so I would not try to evaluate the merits of the case against Revis nor would I be able to speculate about how this might affect his contract with the NY Jets.  Fortunately, I ran across an article at SI.com written by Michael McCann who is an attorney and a professor of law at the University of New Hampshire Law School.  Obviously, he is qualified to assess the legal ramifications here and I suggest that you read his article in its entirety.

Just a couple of highlights from Professor McCann’s piece:

1. Two men who accosted Revis were knocked out and remained unconscious for about 10 minutes and one suffered a “serious facial injury”.
2. The charge involving “terroristic threats” is serious but is not synonymous with a “terrorist threat”.
3. These ongoing charges give the Jets a reason to release Revis notwithstanding the fact that he has not been convicted of anything.  The Jets could also seek to nullify the contract and avoid paying him the balance of the $39M that is guaranteed in this contract.

Finally, Brad Rock of the Deseret News has this item recently about another potential “lawsuit” involving a former athlete:

“UNC-Chapel Hill student body presidential candidate Joe Nail dressed up as Duke’s Grayson Allen, pretending to trip fellow students they passed.

“Bill Laimbeer is allegedly suing both Allen and Nail for unauthorized use of his signature moves.”

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

Earlier this week, I said that I hoped that President Trump would break with recent tradition and avoid picking March Madness brackets.  I figured that the best way to accomplish that end would be for ESPN to “forget to ask him” to do so.  I was wrong.  Evidently, ESPN has asked but President Trump has turned down the offer.  I guess I should just file this under:

“All’s Well That Ends Well”

Earlier this week, I was having lunch with a former colleague who has been reading these rants even before they hit the Internet.  His sports irritant of the moment was the fallout “discussion” after the Super Bowl considering if Tom Brady is or is not the G.O.A.T. – greatest of all time – as a QB or even as an NFL player.  I agreed that those discussions had run their course and people had taken sides and any further discussion was superfluous.  He then said that he found it ironic that the acronym for greatest of all time – GOAT – had a double meaning since the player responsible for losing a game or a championship is often referred to as “the goat”.  He pointed out that “GOAT” and “the goat” are almost antonyms.  Then he told me what I should do; this is a paraphrase:

• Find a phone booth and put on your super-hero curmudgeon costume and figure out which “goat” was the “GOAT of goats” – the greatest goat of all time.

I was afraid the list would be too long to put in a rant, but as I pondered this “challenge” it seemed to boil down to only a few people/happenstances.  I will put them here in alphabetical order to let you decide which of these is the most egregious.  Or perhaps you can add to the list …

1. Bill Buckner:  Even if you were born after the misplayed ground ball in the World Series that cost the Red Sox the 1986 World Series, you have to know about that event.  I suspect that a lot of fans in Boston will not need to read any further into this list.
2. Scott Norwood:  His missed field goal as time expired cost the Buffalo Bills a win in the Super Bowl.  Mitigating his claim to this ignominious title is the fact that the kick was from 47 yards; it was not a chip shot.
3. John Starks:  In the 1994 NBA Finals, Starks had a disastrously bad game in Game 7 of the series.  He was 2 for 18 for the game and 0 for 10 in the fourth quarter of the game.  The Knicks lost to the Rockets by 6 points that night.
4. Willie Shoemaker:  In the 1957 Kentucky Derby, Shoemaker was riding Gallant Man comfortably to a victory when he misjudged the finish line and stood up in the stirrups with about a sixteenth of a mile to go.  Gallant Man finished second in that race to Iron Liege by a nose.

There is a category of “goats” that would have multiple entries here so I would prefer to lump them into one.  There are pitchers who gave up home runs that ended the World Series to the disadvantage of their team.

1. Ralph Branca:  He gave up the “Shot Heard Round the World” to Bobby Thomson in 1951 putting the NY Giants into the World Series at the expense of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
2. Ralph Terry:  He served up the pitch that Bill Mazeroski hit out of the park in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 to give the Pirates the World Series at the expense of the Yankees.
3. Mitch Williams:  He gave up a walk-off home run to Joe Carter in Game 6 of the 1993 World Series giving the Blue Jays the World Series over the Phillies.

There is one other entry for this list but the identity of the potential “GOAT of goats” remains a mystery.  I shall identify him here as:

1. Joe Flabeetz:  He is the guy who called the pass play for the Seattle Seahawks at the 1-yardline with about 30 seconds to play – and with several timeouts in his pocket and Marshawn Lynch in the game – and saw it intercepted by Malcom Butler giving the Patriots the title instead of the Seahawks.  From a coaching standpoint, that is the worst brain-cramp ever.

There you have my “Egregious Eight” as the candidates for “GOAT of goats”.  If any of the FIFA World Cup final games has ever been decided by an “own goal”, then the person responsible for that should be on this list.  However, I do not know if that ever happened.  I do recall the US Men’s Team winning a World Cup game when a Colombian opponent scored an “own goal”.  However, that game was nowhere near the finals of the tournament so I did not bother to go and find the details of that happening.  The reason this event sticks in my mind is that the Colombian player who scored the “own goal” was murdered in Colombia as some sort of retribution for the “own goal” that led to Colombia’s elimination from the World Cup Tournament.

The actions of the folks on my list of the “Egregious Eight” fortunately have not incited any fan to attempt violence against any of the individuals.  I like sports and I take the games seriously – – but not that seriously.

Finally, here are comments from two columnists on the same topic:

“Defensive-end prospect Donovan Winter was unable to sign his letter of intent with Michigan State on Wednesday, the Orlando Sentinel reported, because he’d been jailed on burglary charges.

“Probably not the kind of ‘recruiting steal’ that Spartans coaches had in mind.” [Dwight Perry, Seattle Times]

And…

“A Michigan State defensive end prospect missed signing day because he was in jail on burglary charges. Any statements about him leading the team in takeaways the next four years are inappropriate.” [Brad Dickson, Omaha World-Herald]

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

Pardon me while I tell you a story of my youth as a way to introduce today’s first item.  As a kid, what I wanted to do in life was to be a baseball play-by-play announcer.  By the time I became a teenager, my career aspirations expanded to the point that I would be happy doing play-by-play for football and/or basketball too.  When I went to college, I immediately joined the school radio station to work on the sports staff; I had a mentor there who taught me what he knew about broadcasting and we were paired as a team.  I got my debut in the middle of basketball season in my freshman year doing “color analysis” while my mentor did play-by-play.

My father was one of the nicest and most positive people on the planet.  He could hear the broadcast because even though this was a college radio station, we also had an FM station that could be heard well beyond campus limits.  My father made it a point to tune in to hear me.  After the game, I asked him what he thought; here is what he told me:

“Just be sure to keep your grades up.”

That is not what I wanted to hear; and so, I went back to the station to pull the reel-to-reel tape the station kept from the broadcast.  I sat down with headphones and listened and came to this conclusion:

• I was beyond awful.  It was painful for me to listen to myself.

With that as background, I suspect that you will understand that I have no expertise or talent in this area.  Nevertheless, I must say that the ESPN telecast of the Cavs/Pacers game last night with Dick Vitale and Bill Walton on the mic was equally beyond awful and painful to hear.  There was a play-by-play guy there too but he was about as useful as a pedal-powered wheel chair.

Obviously, I do not know who in the ESPN hierarchy emanated the brain-fart that led to this telecast pairing.  Whoever was responsible should be made to sit and watch/listen to that televised game on a circular tape for about 12 consecutive hours.  Longer than that, it would fall into the category of cruel and unusual punishment.

Taking a step down the ladder from an NBA game, there was an announcement earlier this week that the NBA D-League will get a new name because they sold the naming rights for the whole league.  Starting next year, the D-League will become the G-League – or in its full form the NBA Gatorade League.  There will be a new league logo and it will be prominently displayed on uniforms and on the game balls; and obviously, there will be Gatorade products available to and used by the players before, during and after the games.

As part of the background information that accompanied the announcement of the Gatorade/NBA deal, it turns out that 40% of NBA players on rosters now spent some time in the D-League.  Had you asked me to guess that percentage prior to the release of that stat, I probably would have guessed 15-20%.  Interesting…

Here is what a Gatorade spokesperson had to say about this new partnership:

“We have more than 50 years of experience working with athletes and using those insights to help improve athletic performance through innovative sports fuel and equipment.  This expansion of our NBA partnership is a great opportunity to not only work with the elite athletes of the NBA G-League, but also continue to lead the evolution of basketball performance.”

I am certainly unsure about anyone or anything being able to “lead the evolution” of anything but let me say this.  If indeed Gatorade can improve performance and lead evolution, maybe they can become an ESPN partner and lead the evolution of basketball announcing away from wherever Dick Vitale and Bill Walton seemingly took it last night.

Presumably, this next NBA “story” has been put out of its misery.  With the intercession of Commissioner Adam Silver and Michael Jordan, it appears that James Dolan and Charles Oakley have re-established a relationship that is sufficient to remove Oakley’s lifetime ban from Madison Square Garden.  I suspect that it would still not be a good idea to sit these two folks next to each other at a dinner party, but they are now in a status where they can co-exist in the same building at the same time.  The words of Chairman Mao Zedong seem appropriate here:

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”

Or as Bernie Lincicome once said:

“The journey of a thousand miles begins by going through a metal detector at the airport.”

The presence of Michael Jordan in this reconciliation endeavor makes me shake my head.  Jordan has no historical ties to the Knicks and he is the owner of a rival franchise.  From that perspective, he is no different from any other owner in the league – from Mark Cuban to Steve Ballmer to Dan Gilbert.  Michael Jordan also appeared in this soap opera in an earlier scene.  There were reports that Knicks’ GM Phil Jackson tried to call Jordan at the time that Oakley had been “escorted out” of Madison Square Garden and was arrested by the gendarmes.  Unless the good folks at NSA have recorded the telephone call that had Jordan participate in the meeting with Silver/Dolan/Oakley and then they release the recorded call, I am never going to be sure how or why Michael Jordan got roped into this hot mess.  But that will not stop me from offering a conjecture:

• Oakley and Jordan were in the NBA contemporaneously and competed against each other.  Both men were – and probably still are – fierce competitors.  It would be logical to me that they developed a healthy respect for one another as competitors and as men.
• If that is the case – or even close to the case – then perhaps Michael Jordan’s contribution here was to help Oakley channel his competitive emotions.
• That’s the best conclusion I can draw…

Finally, here is a comment from Brad Dickson in the Omaha World-Herald:

“Indiana Pacer Myles Turner admitted he committed to Texas over Kansas based on a dream he had. Remember that the next time you think the job of college recruiter is easy.”

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

There was a story on the front page of today’s Washington Post that involves a seamy side of the sports world.  It deals with the sexual abuse of young female athletes by coaches/trainers as they aim toward participation in the Olympics.  That is a horrible circumstance by any measure but it is made even worse by the fact that when such allegations are brought to the attention of the USOC, the USOC takes a slide.  This article is excellent reporting and journalism; it relies on fact as provided by documents used in court proceedings; it interviews people involved in the matter(s); it provides history and context.  In fairness, I must tell you that it is a lengthy piece; nonetheless, I commend it to your reading.

Let me give you just a couple of teasers about the article:

1. A USOC official claims that the USOC has no athletes under its umbrella and that the athletes are covered by/belong to the various governing sport bodies.  When asked what TEAM USA meant if it was not about USOC’s Olympic Team, he said that TEAM USA was merely “branding”.
2. Annual revenue for the USOC is $230M.  Sounds like a lot of money for folks who sit around and worry about “branding” …

Also in today’s Washington Post – this time buried in the middle of Sports Digest – is an item about the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.  Recall that the Chargers will play their games this year in a small stadium built as a soccer venue with seating in the range of 30,000 but with expansion potential for 35,000.  The Chargers announced that tickets for their games at this stadium – the StubHub Center – will be more than just “pricey”.  Some data from the report:

• Top shelf season tix for the LA Chargers will cost $150 per game more than top shelf season tix for the LA Rams.
• Season tix (a 10-game commitment to include 2 exhibition games) for midfield seats behind the Chargers’ bench will cost $375 per game.

If these numbers make you wonder how this pricing strategy is supposed to endear the Chargers to new fans in the LA area, here is what the report has to say:

“The Chargers are counting on the limited supply of seats at StubHub – along with what’s expected to be a better team than the Rams – to move their product at higher prices.”

So much for the marketing strategy of developing a customer base by offering low introductory prices…

As MLB teams and players head to Florida or Arizona to begin Spring Training, you can anticipate the onslaught of formulaic reporting and giddy optimism emanating from those locales.  However, despite that annual happenstance, there has already been a Spring Training report that immediately made me think of Monty Python.  And now for something completely different…

“Kansas City Royals left-hander Brian Flynn is expected to be sidelined for eight weeks after falling through a barn roof at his Oklahoma residence.

“The Royals said Tuesday that Flynn broke a rib and had three minor vertebrae fractures.”

I do not wish Brian Flynn any ill and I hope he has a full recovery from his fall, but I do have to note that this is one of the reports out of Spring Training that does not fit the mold for such stories.

Often, there is a media focus on the efforts and the deals and the shenanigans involved in building a new stadium or arena somewhere in the country.  However, there seems to be little if any focus on what that city/county/state ought to do or needs to do with the old/outdated stadium or arena that is being replaced.  Today, we can take a glimpse into that world thanks to a report in the Kansas City Business Journal.

Kemper Arena is the old/outdated venue and it sits on 10-acres of real estate in KC.  According to this report, a committee of the KC City Council is ready to deal with the final piece of a deal that will transfer the arena to an LLC for the price of $1.  The new owners will then “transform it into Mosaic Arena, a two-level youth and amateur sports facility.”  Why such largesse?  Well, this transfer or sale or whatever you want to call it will relieve the city of the need to spend $1.2M per year to maintain and operate Kemper Arena.  Check out the link to this report if you are interested in other financial details.

Back in the late 70s, I went to Kemper Arena to see a KC Kings game.  [The team has since moved to Sacramento.]  I recall Kemper Arena as a very modern venue for that time and that the seating was compact so that you did not feel as if you were in an airplane hangar.  Obviously, its time has come and gone.  Sic transit gloria mundi…

Finally, consider this commentary from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times:

“Yes, pucks and fists often mix — but in octogenarian shuffleboard?

“Herbert Hayden, 81, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor battery charge for punching a fellow competitor at the Pinellas Park (Fla.) Senior Center and whacking him with a shuffleboard cue.

“Hayden was ordered to pay about $1,000 in fines, fees and restitution. And just for good measure, the judge tacked on five minutes for fighting, two minutes for roughing and another two for high-sticking.”

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