You Make The Call …

I was talking with a friend this morning about a report on CBSSports.com and we disagreed on the backstory there.  I want to present the story here and our differing interpretations to see how others react.  Here is a link to the report in question.  I will summarize it here if you choose not to read it in full:

• Mark Andrews (TE, Ravens) suffers from juvenile diabetes and has a charity that supports kids who suffer from that malady.
• Mark Andrews dropped the pass that would have been the two-point conversion to send the Bills/Ravens game into OT last weekend.
• Bills’ fans have donated nearly $40K to Andrews’ charity via a GoFundMe page.

Here are the differing interpretations:

• My Friend:  Andrews doesn’t need the money for his charity; this is just a ploy to make it seem as if they [Bills’ fans] are doing something noble when what they are really doing is rubbing Andrews’ nose in that dropped pass.
• My Take:  Granted that Andrews does not need the money – – but if Bills’ fans want to “rub his nose in it”, they have social media to do that; I think this is a classy move by the “Bills’ Mafia”.

So, any other interpretations out there …?

Switching gears …  The NFL has announced the home teams for two more international games next year.  Remember that we already know that the Browns, Jets and Jags will play in London next season:

• The Colts will be the home team for a game in Berlin in 2025.  That will be the first game ever in Berlin; previous NFL regular season games in Germany have been in Munich and in Frankfurt.
• The Dolphins will be the home team for a game in Madrid in 2025.  This will be the first NFL international game in Spain.

As with the London Games announcements about a week ago, the dates and the opponents for the games are still to be revealed.

International games have been around for almost 20 years now and every NFL team has had that experience.  There are five teams that are undefeated in international games:

1. Vikes  4-0-0
2. Niners  3-0-0
3. Chiefs  3-0-0
4. Eagles  2-0-0
5. Panthers  2-0-0

There are eight teams that are winless in international games:

1. Titans  0-2-0
2. Packers  0-2-0
3. Bills  0-2-0
4. Cards  0-2-0
5. Steelers  0-1-0
6. Browns  0-1-0
7. Bengals  0-1-1
8. Commanders  0-0-1

Moving on …  The names of the players who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer are now known.

• Ichiro Suzuki:  He is in on the first ballot and was one-vote shy of being a unanimous selectee.  I would really like to know what shortcomings that single voter saw in Ichiro’s career because I cannot find one.
• CC Sabathia:  This was his first time he was eligible for induction, and he easily passed the 75% bar for voting receiving 86.6% of the votes cast.
• Billy Wagner:  This was his tenth time on the ballot and the last time he would be there unless he was elevated by the Veterans’ Committee – – or whatever they are calling to these days.  Wagner got 82.5% of the votes cast.

These three players will join Dick Allen and Dave Parker who were selected by that Veterans’ Committee about a month ago.  I have absolutely no problem with any of these five inductees; all are deserving.

Finally, let me close with these words from Baseball Hall of Famer, Yogi Berra:

“So, I’m ugly.  So what?  I never saw anyone hit with his face.”

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