A Salmagundi Of Sports

Today shapes up to be a potpourri of topics across a variety of sports.  Actually, it is a situation that allows me to use a word that I will never forget from studying vocabulary lists to prep for the SATs back in my high school days – – right before the time of the cave paintings.  That word is “salmagundi”, and it is a mixture of random ingredients.  Yup, that is what today looks to be …

It was only about a month ago that the Baltimore Ravens pulled off what appeared at the time to be a “player heist”.  They acquired Diontae Johnson from the Panthers plus a 6^th round pick from the Panthers in exchange for a 5^th round pick from the Ravens.  Given where the teams stood – – and stand – – in the standings, that is almost a pick swap, and the Ravens got a starting WR as the payment for a pick swap.  I said at the time that this had to be a great deal for the Ravens unless the trade indicated that Johnson was such a pain in the ass in the locker room that the Panthers would be glad to have gotten anything in return for him.

Well, maybe the Panthers were onto something …  The Ravens have suspended Johnson as of yesterday for conduct detrimental to the team and at least part of that detrimental conduct involved Johnson’s refusal to go into the game against the Eagles last weekend.  In that game, Ravens’ wideout, Rashod Bateman, suffered an injury and Johnson allegedly refused to take his place on the offense.  Before his days in Carolina, Johnson spent five years with the Steelers where he was described variously as “mercurial” and “temperamental.“ Johnson’s contract is up at the end of the 2024 regular season; this suspension based on the team’s assertion that he refused to enter a game is not something that will make GMs around the league fight to see who can sign him first.

Moving on …  Mack Brown is out as the head football coach at UNC; at age 73, he will probably have a tough time getting another Division 1-A college job should he even want one.  This is his second stint as the coach in Chapel Hill.  From 1988 through 1997, Brown coached the Tar Heels and led the team to 5 bowl games.  He returned to Chapel Hill in 2019 and has had the Tar Heels bowl eligible in every season of his regime.

A lot of folks say that the college football game has passed Brown by.  I am not smart enough to say such a thing with conviction but here is something I am willing to say:

• UNC knows what it takes in order to be a powerhouse basketball team on the national level.  So, why is UNC not similarly a top-shelf football school that is dominating in a middling football conference?

Switching gears …  Do you realize that the NBA regular season is about 25% in the books?  Have you gotten into following the NBA on something more than a weekly basis yet?  From my perspective, just about everything that has happened since the start of the regular season on 22 October as “Glorified Spring Training” where the games count in the standings, but the fan interest is absent.

OK, maybe you can accuse me of my deficient NBA interest to the fact that my “local team” – – the Washington Wizards – – is sporting a record of 2-17 and are being outscored by an average of just under 16 points per game.  Actually, the Wizards are interesting to watch if you are willing to watch a team that you know from the outset is always outmanned and will only win by accident.

The Wizards have two young players from France on the roster who make plenty of mistakes and who also show flashes of potential competency.  Watching those two guys – – and paying only passing attention to everyone else – – can be entertaining.

1. Bilal Coulibaly is in his second year in the NBA; he is 20 years old.  He plays perimeter defense very well and some nights he exhibits an offensive game while on other nights he is encouraged to shoot by his defending opponent.  His progress from last year is noticeable; he should become a good-not-great NBA player with a long career ahead of him.
2. Alex Sarr was the #2 overall pick in the Draft this year.  He is 19 years old and is 7 feet tall.  His offensive game is more than rough around the edges; his defensive game is often well better than “merely good”.

Let me be clear.  The Wizards are a bad basketball team, and they are going to have a miserable record in this regular season.  However, those two young players could become valuable component pieces to a pretty good team if a proper blend of offensive talent were blended with their skills.  The entertainment value for these two “prodigies” is going to wear thin without some added help; that is the burden borne by the Wizards’ front office today.

Next up …  Manchester City has been a powerhouse in the EPL over the last 7 seasons finishing first 6 times and second the other time.  Yes, there are charges that the team has run roughshod over the financial rules there which function sort of like a salary cap and which I am not remotely qualified to interpret here.  Nevertheless, fans of Man City have had a heady run since the 2017/1018 season.  Not quite so in this season.

Man City has played 14 games this season and its record is 8 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses.  That gives them 26 points and puts them 5^th in the Table, a full 9 points behind Liverpool, which leads the league having won 11 of its 14 matches.  With the EPL season less than half over, it is far too early to write off the defending champs – – but maybe this is a “consolidation year” for the team and not another dominant one?

Staying with the subject of English soccer, the husband of a dear friend of mine lives and dies with the fortunes of the Sunderland Association Football Club.  Sunderland is in the English Championship – – one step down from the Premier League – – and as of this morning Sunderland is in 4^th place in the Table for the Championship.  Sunderland is 2 points behind third-place Leeds United and 3 points ahead of Middlesbrough and Watford who are chasing them.  The Championship schedule involves 46 games and only 18 have been played – – so it is too early to think that Sunderland might just have a shot at promotion back to the Premier League.  But for my friend’s husband, hope springs eternal…

Finally, since today was like a sports stew in terms of elements, let me close with the observation by the essayist Edward Abbey:

“Society is like a stew. If you don’t stir it up every once in a while, then a layer of scum floats to the top.”

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