Vic Seixas died last week at the age of 100. In the 1950s and 60s, Seixas was one of the top tennis players in the world; he is a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame; he won all four of the Grand Slam events in his career and was a multi-time doubles champion as well. He played in the tennis era that preceded tiebreakers; sets went on until one player led by 2 games. In that environment, Seixas – – at the age of 42 – – won a three-set match with this score:
- 32-34, 6-4, 10-8.
Rest in peace, Vic Seixas.
The other bit of tennis news today is that Carlos Alcaraz won Wimbledon for the second year in a row. Alcaraz beat Novak Djokovic in straight sets to claim the title. Alcaraz is 21 years old and has already won three of the four tennis Grand Slam events; only the Australian Open remains before he can claim a career grand slam.
Moving on … The Olympic Flame arrived in Paris yesterday – – on Bastille Day of course – – and the Olympic Games will begin in less than two weeks. There is an “Olympic memory” that always comes to my mind as the Summer Games get underway. If you ask most folks what they recall about the Games in 1968 (Mexico City), the most common answer is the “Black Power salute” from the medal stand by US sprinters, Tommie Smith and John Carlos. There was another outcome from those Games that I recall just as vividly.
Bob Beamon won the long jump in those 1968 Summer Games and set an Olympic and a World record in doing so. What makes that memorable is that Beamon broke the existing World record by a whopping 22 inches. That jump is still the Olympic record; it is no longer the World record, but it is the second longest jump in that event ever.
Switching gears … As baseball takes a breather to put on its All-Star Game, the local nine in this area has a record of 44-53 which is pretty much in line with pre-season expectations for the club. I recall in the off-season there was some buzz around the Nats’ signing of Joey Gallo; the narrative then was that he would provide veteran leadership to the young Nats’ team and that he would be a power-hitter in the middle of the lineup.
Gallo is indeed a baseball veteran; this is his 10th year in MLB, and he must indeed be a valuable clubhouse asset because his on-field stats do not suggest that he is much of an asset there. Consider:
- Gallo’s batting average this year in 46 games in .164.
- The last time Gallo posted a batting average over .200 was in 2019,
- This year, Gallo has struck out 71 times in 140 at-bats. Yes, he has struck out more than half the time.
- As for “power in the middle of the lineup”, he has 5 homeruns and 11 RBIs in 46 games.
Next up … It is patently obvious that NFL teams take a gamble when they draft a QB early in the first round; at least half those choices never live up to expectations. In this year’s Draft, six of the top twelve picks were QBs and those rookies are just about to report to their first NFL Training Camp. I think two of the intangible factors that lead to the “success” or the “failure” of young QBs are:
- Coaching environment
- Offensive system
A quarterback who was successful in college under a defensive-minded coach and system has a lot more to learn about becoming an NFL QB than a player who spent three years in a “pro-style offense”. Now, when I look at the six QBs taken high in this year’s Draft, one of them seems to have a leg-up based on those two factors. Look at the coaching environment surrounding JJ McCarthy:
- He spent his college career learning from Jim Harbaugh who was an NFL QB.
- His current head coach with the Vikes is Kevin O’Connell who bounced around the NFL as a backup QB for about 5 years.
- His offensive coordinator is Wes Phillips who was a QB in his playing days.
- His current QB coach is Josh McCown who has been involved with the NFL since McCown was drafted in 2002.
Regarding the Vikes’ offensive system, it would seem to be QB-friendly. Last year, the Vikes lost starting QB, Kirk Cousins in Week 8 and had to start Josh Dobbs and Nick Mullens for the second half of the season. The Vikes did not make the playoffs, but they were still mathematically alive for a playoff slot in Week 18 of the season.
There will be a lot of focus on this crop of QBs taken in the first round of the 2024 Draft; I think the play and the development of JJ McCarthy will be the one I will find most interesting.
Finally, let me close with this observation by Quentin Crisp:
“An autobiography is an obituary in serial form with the last installment missing.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………