Correcting the Record …

Whenever a Congressthing stands up to speak on a subject, he always asks unanimous consent to “revise and amend” his remarks.  I will not ask for unanimous consent here – – because I know there will be objections just for the fun of objecting – – but since this is my rant, I will simply declare that I am going to revise and amend remarks from recent rants.  As is often the case, my revisions arise from information that arrived in my inbox from the “reader in Houston” – – the maven of sports stats.

In an email earlier this week, he added to the information that Doug found about the team with the worst run differential in MLB history.  Doug’s citation of the Boston Red Sox in 1932 is correct for the so-called “modern era” of baseball, but the “reader in Houston” pointed out that the thoroughly rancid Cleveland Spiders were worse in 1899.  That year, the Spiders’ record was 20-134 and posted a run differential of minus-723 runs.  The Spiders lost by an average of 4.7 runs per game.

Just for fun, the ‘reader in Houston” included another Spiders’ stat that is interesting.  In 1899, the Spiders team batting average was .253 and the “reader in Houston” pointed out:

• “That is higher than 17 MLB teams are currently hitting.”

And then, two days later, I received a second email from the same source pointing out that the Minnesota Twins had lost 18 consecutive playoff games not the 17 that I mentioned yesterday.  I had the right data; I made a math mistake.  Mea culpa and thanks again to the “reader in Houston” for the clarifications.

I mentioned yesterday that there would be celebrations in the DC area commemorating the removal of Danny Boy Snyder from the local sporting scene.  One such celebration “sponsored by” one of the local radio stations was cleverly dubbed:

•  “Burgundy and Sold”.

In the lead story of the day on the front page of the Washington Post there is a report about the findings in an investigation of Snyder and the franchise carried out by Mary Jo White.  Here is the lead paragraph from that report:

“Outgoing Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder will pay the NFL $60 million as part of the closing of the sale of his franchise after a league investigation conducted by attorney Marry Jo White concluded that the team withheld revenue it should have shared with other franchises and that Snyder sexually harassed a former team employee.”

I will now demonstrate my to-the-core-curmudgeonness with the following assertion – – for which I have exactly NO evidence.

• I believe that the owners were more inclined to rid themselves of Snyder because he withheld revenues that he should have passed along to them rather than the fact that he sexually harassed a former team employee.

Moving on …  Earlier this week, Yahoo! Sports reported that San Diego State University (SDSU) would stay in the Mountain West Conference after announcing its intention to leave that conference about 6 weeks ago.  That previous announcement started two things:

1. It fired up legal wrangling between the school and the conference about how and when the departure might occur.
2. It fired up speculation that SDAU would join the PAC-12 as a way for the PAC-12 to reestablish a presence in Southern California with the imminent defection of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten.

According to the most recent statements from the school and the conference, SDSU withdrew is letter informing the conference of its intention to resign from the conference and the conference informed the school that it could still be welcomed as a member of that conference.  I believe that is the legal equivalent of “lets kiss and make up” …

SDSU never said where it intended to go once it had seceded from the Mountain West; all that business with the PAC-12 was speculation that made sense at the time.  And because it made sense at the time, I think it makes sense to keep that thought in mind.  There is a huge disparity in college sports when it comes to the media rights fees that the various conferences can demand from broadcasters/streamers.  That disparity is the basis of the decision by USC and UCLA to abandon the PAC-12 for the Big Ten.  And when you consider how small by comparison the TV deals are for Mountain West schools as compared to the so-called Power 5 conferences, it makes sense for the upper tier schools in the minor conferences to aspire to Power 5 status.

Since 2010, SDSU football has been to bowl games in eleven consecutive years – – remember there were no minor bowl games in 2020.  Over the period from 2010 through 2022, SDSU football has posted an overall conference record of 67-26.  I think it is reasonable to label the Aztecs as an “upper tier” school in terms of Mountain West football.  And last April, SDSU made it to the Final Game in the NCAA basketball tournament losing there to UConn.  So, it will not shock me to learn that SDSU examines its options and compares long-term existence in the Mountain West versus “other venues”.

Finally, lest anyone thing that I take too much pride in my “to-the-core-curmudgeonness”, let me close today with a few notes from the Gold Standard Curmudgeon, H. L. Mencken:

“Conscience:  The inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking.”

And …

“Immorality:  The morality of those who are having a better time.”

And …

“Lover:  An apprentice second husband; victim no. 2 in the larval stage.”

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