The Boston Celtics advanced to the NBA Finals by sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. The team gets some time off as they await the winner of the Western Conference Finals between the Mavs and the Wolves. But the pressure this year would seem to be squarely on the shoulders of the Celtics.
- In the 7 seasons since 2016-17, the Celtics have made it to the Eastern Conference Finals 6 times.
- In those 6 Conference Finals,, the Celtics have advanced to the NBA Finals only once.
- In that singular NBA Finals appearance, the Celtics lost to the Warriors.
In this year’s regular season, the Celtics won 64 games; no other team in either conference won more than 57 games; the Wolves and Mavs won 56 and 50 games respectively. Just a hunch here, but I think the basketball world will not be kind to this Celtics’ team should it fall short of a championship again.
Switching gears … For at least a couple of decades, there was a hue and cry about in the land to rid the country of the scourge of the offensive team name for the Washington NFL franchise. The previous team owner – – less than a beloved figure locally – – finally yielded to pressure and allowed for a renaming and a rebranding. It was an awkward process that produced an “interim name”, the Washington Football Team, which lent itself to calling the team WTF.
The entire process was awkward at best and bumbling most of the time but after years of polling fans and checking for trademarks and doing whatever else the team had to do to accomplish their name-change goal, they announced the birth of the Washington Commanders. That event happened two years ago to the surprise of many of the team’s fans. At the time, I wrote that it was nice of the team to name themselves after President Biden’s dog, Commander. The name was not well received but I figured it would slip into the parlance/jargon of the region and all would be quiet on the naming front.
Not so. The Washington Post this morning posted the results of a poll conducted jointly by the Post and the Schar School of Policy and Government:
- 54% of “local sports fans” either dislike or hate the name Commanders
- 58% of “local Commanders’ fans” do not like the name.
Just as you sometimes hear a distant rumbling that announces the imminent arrival of a thunderstorm, it seems as if there is a small drumbeat out there to rename/rebrand the team once again under new ownership. [Aside: Do not discount the possibility that some fans would hate any name given to the team under Danny Boy Snyder’s “leadership”.] There is even a group out there seeking to return the name to the one that caused the decades of agita leading to the current name.
Obviously, I will not crusade for a name change because the name of a football team is hugely insignificant. However, I do like to help out where I can and so I offer here a potential name change for the team:
- The Washington Hogs
Yes, I know that Chicago – – not Washington – – is the “hog-butcher for the world” [Hat Tip to Carl Sandburg]. Nevertheless, let me explain why this name is fitting:
- In the 1980s – – the glory days of the Washington franchise – – their offensive line was known as “The Hogs”. That unit even “inspired” a set of gravitationally enhanced fans to don dresses and pig snouts in the stands calling themselves the “Hogettes”. Who knew pigs had groupies…?
But wait, there’s more …
- The current owners of the franchise – – enjoying a far more benign image among local fans than the previous owner – – are known as the Harris Operating Group. Check the acronym there and “Hogs” has current links to the team situation.
No need to thank me …
Moving on … Mike Tyson is 57 years old; he has not fought since 2005. He is scheduled to fight Jake Paul in July of this year in an exhibition. I cannot come up with a reason for this event to take place other than as a cash grab. Whatever. They will not be grabbing any of my cash.
The folks who sanction boxing events in Texas have given their blessing to this confrontation which presented itself as a contest with rules that differ from boxing as it is generally presented. The fight is scheduled for 8 rounds, each round being 2 minutes in duration. The fight will happen on July 20th at “Jerry World”. That facility can seat 80,000 folks for football and certainly more than that for a boxing match. Can there be 80,000 people who will want to see such a thing live and in person?
Finally, let me close today with these words from Carl Sandburg pertinent to today:
“A politician should have three hats. One for throwing into the ring, one for talking through, and one for pulling rabbits out of if elected.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………
…and Mike just had some sort of medical event on a plane…..
IIRC the NY Golden Gloves novices fought 2 minute rounds, Opens fought the more usual 3.