Month: June 2025

Last week, I mentioned that the owner of the Tampa Bay Rays had entered into “exclusive negotiations” with someone who wanted to buy the franchise.  The potential buyer who is exclusively negotiating is a real estate developer in Jax.  Over the weekend, the NY Times reported that a second bidder for the franchise has appeared on the horizon.  The “new guy” is a hedge fund guy who reportedly has assembled a team of partners who can make a cash offer for the Rays’ franchise in MLB.  “Hedge Fund guy” is from Memphis and there has been chatter around the idea of Memphis becoming an MLB outpost for a couple of years now.  One speculation was that the White Sox might move there if they cannot get public funding for a new stadium in South Chicago.

“Hedge Fund Guy” claims to have made his cash offer to the Rays’ current owner; the Rays’ owner and the “Exclusive Negotiator” refused comment on the matter as did MLB itself.  Obviously, the NY Times sought their comments for the article, but all of them seem to have chosen to exist under the “Cone of Silence”.

“Hedge Fund Guy” asserts that the plan is to keep the Rays in South Florida by seeking “a productive partnership” with a local government possibly in Tampa or in St. Petersburg with Orlando also being in play:

“This is not a relocation play to another state.  You won’t see the Rays relocating out of Central Florida, whether it was our group or another group.

“The league, that’s what they’re looking for. Someone who can not only buy the club, but solves the stadium problem.”

For the moment, let me take “Hedge Fund Guy” at his word.  I believe that he would indeed like to keep the franchise where it has been and where it has established a small footing and a small fanbase.  However, “Hedge Fund Guy” also says that it will take something in the neighborhood of $3B to buy the team and resolve the “stadium situation”; somehow, that new stadium will have to attract more than 10,000 fans per game to make that $3B price tag merely seem “expensive”.

If this were a book report from high school days, I would say that all this happened in the first three or four chapters and there are at least a dozen more chapters to go.

Switching gears but staying with baseball …  Chip Caray is Harry Caray’s grandson; Chip is the play-by-play guy for the St. Louis Cardinals, and he had a career-threatening event last week.  During the broadcast of a game against the Reds, Caray had to do a “live read” of a promo for “Disability Pride Night” which was an upcoming event for the Cards.  Before I get into what Caray said, let me reveal that I did a little radio work when I was in undergraduate school and as I was being tutored in how to do what I was hoping to do well on the air, it was emphasized that “live reads” were like a tightrope act.  If you make it from one end to the other, people will go “Wow!” and then forget what you did.  If you tumble in the middle of your run, the audience will remember it forever.  Caray tumbled:

“Disability Pride Night is Thursday, July 10. With a themed ticket, fans take home a Cardinals cap featuring the disability pride fa* … flag, and Cardinals in braille.”

Caray and his partner in the booth were so stunned by the slip of the tongue that 31 seconds of “dead air” followed before Caray’s partner began speaking again.  In recent times, that sort of error was the predecessor of a terminated career or at the very least an interrupted career over the airwaves.  Not so here.  The Cards and their TV network said that Chip Caray will continue in his play-by-play role and that he will not be punished; the thinking is that this was an honest and unfortunate mistake made during a live read that that Caray had no intention of harming or insulting anyone at all.

Good for the Cards and good for the network!  The “cancel culture” was never a favorite of mine and perhaps this signals that it may not be nearly as potent today as it was in the recent past.  Chip Caray has been in and around sports broadcasting for more than 3 decades without any slips like this one.  He earned a “Get Out Of Jail Free” card with all of his previous work; I am glad he got to use it here.

Finally, I’ll close today with this from another Cards’ broadcaster, Joe Garagiola:

“I went through baseball as a player to be named later.”

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

 

 

Congratulations to the Oklahoma City Thunder as the 2025 NBA Champions.  Last night’s Game-7 victory was decisive; the Thunder are worthy champions having proved their abilities on the court.  Both the Thunder and the Pacers are  young teams; given the way these playoffs unfolded, it would not be shocking to see these two teams developing a rivalry over the next several seasons and that would be a good thing for the NBA which needs to have some focus on younger talent since the league emphasizes the marketing of its star players.

And speaking of focusing attention on star players, Kevin Durant was traded from the Suns to the Rockets over the weekend.  In exchange for Durant, the suns receive:

• Jalen Green
• Dillon Brooks
• This year’s #10 pick in the NBA Draft
• Five second round picks.

That exchange tells me that the Rockets intend to go for a championship next year because Durant – – age 36 during the next NBA regular season – – will be an unrestricted free agent after the next NBA season.  The Rockets could sign him up for a two-year extension whose value is specified by the CBA and that two years would cost them just north of $122M.

If that sounds as if I think the Rockets made a bad deal, that is not really the case.  Jalen Green is a good player; he led the Rockets in scoring last season; he is only 23 years old; he could develop into a franchise foundation piece somewhere sometime.  However, if that does not pan out, the only other possible “franchise player” the Suns might get is the guy they take at #10 in this year’s draft.  Brooks is a decent player, but that’s it; the five second round picks are pure gambles; it is as if the Suns got five free keno cards at a Vegas casino.  Maybe one will hit it big – – but probably not.

Another thing I do not understand about the deal from the Suns’ perspective is how they plan to fit Green – – a scoring guard – – in with the two scoring guards they already have in Devin Booker and Bradley Beal.  You cannot score without the ball and there is only one ball in play at any given moment of the game; so, this seems like a problem to me.

• The Suns said they are not planning on “flipping” Green elsewhere.
• Beal has a no trade clause and has vetoed trades in the past
• Booker is the best of the three guards and the Suns should not trade him.
• And therefore …

From Kevin Durant’s singular perspective, he just got a raise without changing even a semicolon in his contract.  Arizona has a flat state tax of 2.5%; Texas has no state income tax.  In fact, a state income tax is specifically forbidden in the Texas State Constitution.

Durant will make $52.282,608 next season.  By moving to a place without a state income tax he will “save” $1,332,065.20.  That should cover moving expenses …

Moving on …  Last week, I commented on an article that listed the 5 best freshman basketball players at Duke.  I thought three more should be on the list and ended my comment by saying, “Now, who have I left off the discussion board…?”  In almost no time flat, I got an e-mail from “the reader in Houston”; here are the pertinent parts:

“Jayson Tatum was a one-and-done. He may not have had the stats of some of the other freshmen, as he did miss a number of games early in the season with tendonitis, against some stiffs like Marist, Grand Canyon, Bill and Mary, and App State, which would probably have boosted his stats. He did average an impressive 33 mpg, which tells you how much Coach K relied on him as a frosh. People often overlook MPG as a stat, instead keying in on ppg, rpg, apg, etc. “

The “reader in Houston” is correct; Tatum belongs on the list.  I tend to think of Tatum as a pro player far more than as a college player and completely overlooked him.

“And another of my Duke favorites was one-and-done, Luol Deng, who was no stiff either as a frosh.”

And there is another player whose performance as a pro and whose successful ventures in his post-basketball career have taken my focus off his play at the college level.

Finally, I’ll close today with a question posed by Satchel Paige:

“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you was?”

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

 

 

Yesterday, I mentioned two sports franchises that will be changing hands soon.  In addition, the owner of the “Oakland” A’s is looking for some liquidity to finalize the funding for his new stadium in Las Vegas and to achieve some liquidity, John Fisher is reported to be putting his MLS franchise – – the San José Earthquake – – on the market.

MLS franchises do not sell often but a potential evaluation might come from expansion fees paid by recent owners.  Charlotte FC got its franchise for an expansion fee of $325M in 2019 and San Diego paid $500M to join MLS in 2023.  If Fisher can get something near that price for his franchise, that could go a long way to reaching his desired level of liquidity.  Fans in Oakland would certainly have preferred that Fisher sell the A’s to someone who would have kept the team in Oakland, but it appears as if that ship left port a while back.

The A’s clearly need to move to a new city and a new stadium.  They are playing this year – – and for a while it would seem – – in a minor league stadium in Sacramento.  For the 2025 season, the A’s have the lowest average home attendance at only 9774 fans per game.  Even charging major league prices for seats and concessions, that attendance level does not fund a major league franchise well in 2025.

The Tampa Bay Rays – – one of the teams from yesterday that could change hands soon – – are also playing in a “minor league facility” this season because a hurricane destroyed their home field in St. Petersburg.  The Rays attendance this year is only slightly better than the A’s attendance; the Rays are drawing 9828 fans per game.

Moving on …  It must be because of the upcoming NBA Draft where Cooper Flagg is expected to go first overall that someone penned an article at CBSSports.com ranking the “top Duke freshmen of all time”.  Here is the list:

1. Cooper Flagg
2. Zion Williamson
3. Jahlil Okafor
4. Marvin Bagley III
5. RJ Barrett

Nothing I am about to say here intends to demean any of the players listed above; they all deserve mention in this context.  I do think there are three names missing from the list arguing for expansion of the list; they are – in alphabetical order:

• Paolo Banchero
• Grant Hill
• Christian Laettner

Now, who have I left off the discussion board …?

Switching gears …  Last week, there was an article in the Washington Post under this headline:

‘Kill yourself’: Toxic mix of betting, social media fuels athlete abuse

It appears that there is a growing trend of people who lose bets on sporting events to lash out at athletes who – – the bettors perceive – – caused them to lose their money.  “Kill yourself” seems to be a common directive from frustrated “fans” but even that abuse of common courtesy pales in comparison to players having their lives and the lives of their families threatened.

The transition of sports betting from an underworld activity to mainstream status has expanded the number of people who bet on sports and with that expansion has come the added threats to athletes and their families when the athletes “fail to deliver expected results” to bettors who would politely be labeled as “sore losers”.  The estimate cited in the Washington Post article is that Americans bet $147.91B on sports in the last year.  That means there are a lot of losers out there with social media accounts and access to athletes’ social media pages for venting and threatening.

It is not difficult for a fan to look at this situation where he/she is living in a modest one-bedroom apartment and a pro athlete is making “eight figures per year guaranteed” and thinking the athlete owes it to the fan to perform at the top of the game every day or night.  Such is not reality; those fans/bettors delude themselves into believing every day is a good day for someone making that much money plying his/her trade.  That deluded state leads to exaggerated reactions to a failed bet and these sorts of threats to athletes.

Before anyone says it could be worse, I know.  Monica Seles was indeed attacked in the middle of a tennis match by a crazed fan of one of her rivals.  My point is not that the situation cannot get worse; my point is that the situation is “heating up” and there is a wide range of frustrated bettors out there who might creep over into the “active lunatic” category.  We don’t want that.

Finally, this from comedian, Bill Maher:

“Things aren’t right. If a burglar breaks into your home and you shoot him, he can sue you. For what, restraint of trade?”

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

 

 

Congratulations to the Florida Panthers as the repeat Stanley Cup Champions eliminating the Edmonton Oilers in 6 games.  According to reports I read, there are three historical items associated with the Panthers’ victory:

1. This is only the fourth time in Stanley Cup history that a team has defeated the same opponent for the Cup in two consecutive years.
2. Since the NHL adopted a salary cap in 2005, this is the third time a team has won back-to-back championships.
3. The last time a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup was in 1993 (the Montreal Canadiens).  The loss by the Oilers in the final series extends that streak to 31 consecutive years.

Moving on …  It appears that two US sports franchises are in the process of changing ownership.  According to Sportico.com. the Tampa Bay Rays are “in advanced talks to sell the team” to a bidding group led by a real estate developer from Jax.  Sportico says the selling price will be around $1.7B and that the Rays’ principal owner, Stuart Sternberg has entered into “exclusive negotiations” with the potential buyers.

On one hand, this news is not all that surprising; the Rays have never drawn well in their home stadium and all sorts of negotiations and studies for ways to get them a new playpen in a better location have come to naught.  There was a plan to put the new stadium downtown in St. Petersburg that seemed to have gotten closer to reality than any previous sites, but that one seems now to have run aground.  So, current ownership understandably might be happy to sell the team and let someone else find a place for them to play after a hurricane rendered Tropicana Field unusable and potentially unfixable.

On the other hand, with the lack of a definite home for the team in plain sight, the selling price for the franchise must be in the “bargain basement”.  So, the fact that Sterenberg is looking to sell the team implies that he has had it with the pols in coastal Florida and their unwillingness to make a deal with him.

The reported target sales price of $1.7B is in line with what the new ownership of the Orioles paid for that franchise last year.  David Rubenstein led a group that purchased the O’s for $1.725B 15 months ago.

The other franchise that seems to be changing hands is the LA Lakers.  According to news yesterday, the Buss family – – owners of the Lakers since 1983 – – will sell its controlling majority interest in the team at a price which values the entire franchise at $10B.  The buyer is Mark Walter who is probably best known as the principal owner of the LA Dodgers.  In addition to that position, Walter is also:

• Principal owner of the LA Sparks (WNBA)
• Owner of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL)
• Primary owner of the Andretti Global F1 Racing Team
• He owns 12% of the company that controls Chelsea (EPL and RC Strasbourg in Ligue 1.

Walter made his money in the financial world but obviously he has more than a passing interest in sports given the wide range of “sports properties” he has chosen to invest in.  If the reported price tag for the controlling interest in the Lakers is accurate, that would make the purchase a record for sports franchises in the US dwarfing the $6B price that the Washington Commanders sold for less than 2 years ago and the $6B price tag that was on the Boston Celtics last year.  All the other NBA owners should give thanks to Mark Walter today; he just raised the valuation for every other NBA franchise out there and also raised the asking price for two expansion franchises that will be forthcoming from the NBA sooner than later.

Switching gears …  A few days ago, I was unable to find TV data for the UFL Championship Game last weekend.  Well, the news is out, and it is not good for the UFL.

• The Championship Game had an average audience of 983,000 viewers.
• That represents a 40% drop in viewership from last year’s Championship Game.
• This comes on the heels of an average 21% drop in viewership for regular season UFL games.

The league officials are clearly taking a “glass half full” view of this saying that these audience numbers are excellent as compared to other programming available to networks.  Here is what UFL President, Russ Brandon said according to USA Today:

“People would give their eyeteeth for the amount of eyeballs that are watching our games on TV.”

Here is a companion statement from one of the main owners of the UFL, Dany Garcia:

“Our first-year merge was murky for us to understand; what does the market actually think of us, and who are we?  This is the year that we got the clarity, and now we know who we are, and now we push forward.”

The good news for the UFL is that it has TV deals in place with FOX and with ABC/ESPN.  Will that be sufficient good news?

Finally, this from Will Rogers:

“There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.”

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

 

 

With the FIFA World Cup kicking off in about a year, there is instability regarding the US Men’s National Team  (USMNT).  The coach and the star player are sniping at each other; the coach – – seemingly to exert dominance – – did not take the best players overseas for some friendlies; the team had lost 4 games in a row.  Just as there was no joy in Mudville when Casey struck out, all was not peaches and cream as the USMNT began play in the Gold Cup tournament.

Not to worry; the opening opponent was Trinidad and Tobago, and they were simply overmatched.  The US prevailed 5-0 which is the soccer equivalent of a laugher.  Next up for the USMNT will be Saudi Arabia and then Haiti.  If the USMNT is to make a respectable showing in the World Cup next year, this is the time to put aside internal squabbles and put the pieces of a competitive team in order.

The USMNT is guaranteed a slot in the World Cup because the US, Canada and Mexico are the joint hosts for the tournament and most of the games will be played here in the US.  The competition there will be a bit stiffer than Trinidad and Tobago.  In addition, if the team intends to generate some sort of interest-generating momentum in the months leading up to the tournament, they need to change the narrative around the team and change it quickly.  Beating Trinidad and Tobago is one minuscule step in that direction.

Moving on …  In one sense, it was shocking to hear that the Red Sox were trading Rafael Devers; in another, it was inevitable.  Devers was the Sox third baseman, and he was All-Star quality.  In the offseason, the Sox signed Alex Bregman as a free agent, and he too is a third baseman.  The Sox planned to have Devers play another infield position, but he balked; so, they made him their DH – – but evidently even that was not working out.  So, the Red Sox sent Evers to the Giants for two young pitchers and two minor league prospects.

Two years ago, Devers and the Red Sox agreed to a 10-year contract extension worth $313M; almost $250M of that deal is still outstanding and it is now the responsibility of the Giants to foot that bill.  Devers is only 28 years old, so he has plenty of good years ahead of him from a physical perspective, but his intransigence and general behavior ever since the Bregman signing indicate at least some risk for the Giants in the deal.  The reason I bring that up is that the Giants have an entrenched players at third base – – Matt Chapman.

In another story related to a good MLB player, Wander Franco is on trial in the Dominican Republic for sexual abuse of a minor, sexual and commercial exploitation of a minor and human trafficking.  The minor in question was supposedly 14 at the time of these alleged activities.  As if that were not bad enough, he has also now been charged with illegal possession of a handgun.  What is strange about this additional charge is in the timing.

Franco was arrested last November after an “altercation in a parking lot”.  As part of that event, a gun was found in Franco’s vehicle.  That gun was registered bot Franco’s uncle.  Now, more than 6 months after that “altercation in a parking lot” where the gun was found, charges have been brought forward.  In my simplistic mind, it would appear that the authorities have had more than sufficient time to have made the decision to charge him, and this timing is strange.

Switching gears …  The UFL Championship Game happened yesterday, and the DC Defenders beat the Michigan Panthers 58-34.  That was the first time a UFL team scored more than 50 points in a game, and it was enabled in the second quarter when the Defenders outscored the Panthers 31-6.  Defenders’ QB, Jordan Ta’amu – – out of Ole Miss – – put on a show with this stat line:

• 21 of 28 for 390 yards and 4 TDs.
• [Aside:  Those 390 yards passing set a UFL record for passing yards in a game.]

I have not been able to find any reports on the TV numbers for the UFL Championship Game, but I will keep looking…

Finally, an important insight from Jackie Gleason:

“The second day of a diet is always easier than the first. By the second day you’re off it.”

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

 

 

As a tip of the hat to the calendar today, let me begin with this:

“Friday the 13^th is still better than Monday “the whatever”.

About a month ago, Antonio Brown was involved in an incident that ended up with him drawing a gun and firing it.  At the time, the story was that Brown had attended a celebrity boxing event in Miami and that he was “jumped by multiple individuals who tried to steal my jewelry”.  Brown was detained by the police but released that night with no arrest or charges or anything like that.  In a statement by Brown the day after the incident, he said:

“I will be talking to my legal council (sic) and attorneys on pressing charges on the individuals that jumped me. I will keep you all posted step-by-step on the process. Thank you for the support and love.”

As of this morning, the narrative here has changed significantly.  According to a report in the Washington Post, the police are now seeking Brown with a warrant for his arrest and the warrant includes a charge of “attempted murder”.  The Post report says that police have video footage of Brown punching a man “sparking a melee” and after that it appears that Brown took a gun from a security officer at the scene and ran toward the man he had punched firing the gun as he approached the man.

Obviously, this is a situation of “innocent until proven guilty”.  Equally obviously this is a situation where the narrative from a month ago and the allegations in the arrest warrant are incompatible.  I suspect there is a lot more to come on this matter.

Moving on …  Ten days ago, the New York Knicks fired head coach Tom Thibodeau even though the Knicks made it to the Eastern Conference Finals.  At the time, there were rumors and speculations that the Knicks had their eye on a short list of replacements for Thibodeau.  I take the intervening ten days since the firing with the lack of any announcement of the Knicks signing a replacement to mean that the Knicks had no plan in place as to what to do after Thibodeau was let go.

The Knicks’ job is an attractive one.  They have good players – – albeit not good defenders – – and they occupy an attractive market with a passionate fanbase.  I believe that if the team had a plan in mind, they would have already signed a new head coach; the only issues to be negotiated with the targeted replacement would be annual salary and length of the contract.

Now, if – – I said IF – – my reading of the situation is accurate and Thibodeau’s firing was a knee-jerk reaction and not part of some sort of strategy, that points to the downside of the Knicks’ head coaching job:

• The Owner.

I have to believe that The Owner was consulted prior to the firing.  Were I in that position, I would have asked the people who wanted to fire the coach to tell me who and what they had in mind for the position in the future.  If those folks presented me with a reasonable candidate or two, I would approve and tell them to “get on with it”.  That has not happened and that tells me one of two things:

1. The ”basketball people” had no master plan going forward.
2. The Owner is the guy whose knee jerked and now the “basketball people” are scrambling.

Switching gears …  Once again, I want to take a peek at the MLB standings this morning specifically to gaze one more time at the pathetic Colorado Rockies.

• The record today is 13-55 (win percentage = .191)
• In 68 games, they have been outscored by 201 runs.
• Their projected record is now 31-131.

Now, brace yourself because one of the sad sacks from that team is going to be a National League All-Star on July 15^th, 2025.

• Memo to Rob Manfred:  The idea that every team needs to have at least one player on the All-Star roster needs examination.  Once examined, it needs to be expunged.

Finally, I’ll close with this:

“If you need to get out of doing something today, just say, “I don’t think so, it’s Friday the 13^th.’”

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

 

 

Earlier this week, I said that I did not understand how the settlement of the lawsuit against the NCAA squared with Title IX and that I needed to hear from a legal commentator on that point.  Well, maybe the news this morning will clarify that issue.  Here is the headline over an article in today’s Washington Post:

“Female athletes appeal NCAA settlement”

So, instead of hearing from a “legal commentator”, it appears that I will hear from an appellate court on that question.  The women who have appealed the settlement decision are ones who have competed in women’s soccer, volleyball and track.  According to the report here, they have standing in the case allowing them to appeal the settlement because they filed objections to parts of the settlement when it was proposed and prior to the decision of the judge in the matter.

It seems that the crux of the settlement appeal is this:

• The payout from the NCAA and the major conferences is set at $2.2B.  The appellants argue here that Title IX demands that $1.1B of that amount go to participants in women’s sports.

As the settlement terms were reported, the money for athletes who competed in collegiate sports before and the terms of the agreement going forward favor participants in the “revenue sports” which are predominantly male athletic endeavors.  The appeal will be heard by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco but no schedule for any events related to that appeal were in the report.  It ain’t over, folks …

Switching gears …  The field is set for the College World Series, and several things make the field itself interesting:

• Coastal Carolina is not a baseball program that leaps to mind as a perennial powerhouse in college baseball.  Nonetheless, Coastal Carolina arrives in Omaha for the start of the College World Series on a 23-game winning streak.   The Chanticleers are no strangers to this event; they won it all in 2016.
• Murray State is this year’s Cinderella team.  To give you an idea of the stature of the baseball program there, the team coach, Dan Skirka, also mows the grass at the Racers’ home stadium as part of his job description.
• None of the eight teams from last year’s College World Series tournament are back in the field this year.  The last time that happened was in 1957.
• Arkansas is the betting favorite to win it all at +200; LSU is the second choice at +230.
• Murray State is the longest shot on the board at +3500.

Moving on, but sticking with college sports …  Deion Sanders has been absent from the public spotlight for more than 6 weeks and then he missed a speaking engagement last week with no explanation given.  Sanders has had some serious health issues in the past that led to speculation that he was not well; he suffers from blood clots in his legs, and he also had to have at least one toe amputated about 5  years ago.  Since Deion Sanders is not one to avoid public events, that “medical history” was the basis of the concern.

Earlier this week, Sanders was a guest on a podcast run by Asante Samuel.  Sanders used that appearance to thank the people who had wished him well based on the “health concerns” and to say that everything is OK and:

“I’m excited to get back to Colorado to be at home with my staff, team & all associated to our program. When we arrive back to Boulder you will be updated on everything.”

One last note related to college sports today …  It is not exactly shocking to learn that a college football player or some other athlete has been arrested and charged with some sort of misdemeanor or felony.  However, a report from a couple days ago said that Angela Suggs – – the Vice President and Director of Athletics at Florida A&M – – was arrested and charged with various counts of fraud and theft.  The charges do not involve actions in her current position with the school; the charges stem from activities in her previous job as the CEO of the Florida Sports Foundation.  According to the charges, Suggs used a business credit card to pay for personal expenses and then falsified travel accountings; the alleged fraud totaled $24K.

Florida A&M took the only rational position available to them at this point; here is what the interim President of the school had to say:

“While the matter is unrelated to her duties as an employee at FAMU, we are monitoring the situation and will respond in the future as appropriate.”

Finally, this from Marcus Aurelius:

“The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.”

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

 

 

Every year about this time, NFL teams hold their “mandatory minicamps” and every year there are a few quality players who do not show up because they are in the midst of a contract squabble.  This year I count three such holdout situations:

1. Trey Hendrickson – – Bengals:  The pass-rushing defensive end has one more year on his contract worth $15.8M.  Given his performance (17.5 sacks last season), he is underpaid as compared to other defensive ends and he wants a contract extension.  The Bengals have given the nod to Hendrickson’s agent to go and set up a trade with a team willing to extend the player, but so far, that has not borne fruit.  The fact that he has an existing contract with a year to go complicates things.
2. Terry McLaurin – – Commanders:  He too has a year to go on a 3-year deal he signed in 2022; he would earn around $16.5M for this year.  He wants an extension and the team has said they want to retain his services “for a long time”.  The Commanders signed Deebo Samuel in the offseason to team with McLaurin, but McLaurin is still the #1 WR in DC.  I expect this one to be resolved amicably and quickly.
3. TJ Watt – – Steelers:  Once again, there is a contract in place for 2025 and the price tag here is $21M.  Reports say that Watt wants a “substantial offer” from the team; it seems to me that $21M for a season of NFL football is pretty substantial all by itself.  According to Spotrac.com, the cap mavens there say that Watt’s salary plus cap deferments means that Watt accounts for almost 11% of the total salary cap allotted to NFL teams in 2025.  This one might become acrimonious.

Micah Parsons – – Cowboys’ DE/OLB – – will also play in the final year of his rookie contract.  The talks about an extension seem to exist in a “kick the can down the road” mode ever since Parsons let it be known that he wanted an extension and thought he had earned a lucrative one.  The big difference here is that Parsons has been participating in OTAs and has reported to minicamp.  At some point Parsons and the team will reach an agreement; the Cowboys’ braintrust cannot be dumb enough to let him play out this year’s deal and then become a free agent.  Parsons has been in the NFL for four seasons and has been an All-Pro twice.

In other NFL news involving a quality player, the Packers announced that they have released CB, Jaire Alexander.  I shook my head when I first read about this move but the Packers’ GM, Mark Murphy, put it in perspective.  He said that Alexander was an “elite talent” and that is clear; and then he added:

“The reality is, for the last four years, it’s about half of the games [Jaire] has been able to play, so we’ve kind of been used to it.”

Alexander has been in the NFL for 7 seasons and has only played in every game once (2019).  Over the last two seasons he has played in 14 out of 34 regular season games; I had not noticed that level of “absenteeism”, but it does provide some context surrounding Murphy’s statement above.

It will be interesting to see which teams seek to acquire him as a free agent and how much they are willing to commit to him.  When he was healthy enough to play in 15 or more games (2020 and 2022), he was a Pro Bowl selection and was named to the second All-Pro team.

Alexander’s search for a new team might be complicated by events in Miami.  The Dolphins have made it clear that they are seeking to trade Jalen Ramsey and Ramsey has made it clear that he wants out of Miami.  So, there are now two “elite talent” cornerbacks there for the taking if you are a “cornerback shopper”.  With the release of Alexander, the supply of good and available cornerbacks just increased; if demand for cornerbacks remains the same, that could depress the offers that the two players receive.  Keep an eye on these players and who goes after them.

Moving on …  The semi-finals of the UFL Playoffs happened last week; the Finals this weekend will pair the DC Defenders and the Michigan Panthers.  The TV numbers were not good.

• The “early game” started at 3:00  PM ET and drew an average audience of 1.1M viewers (peak audience was reported as 1.6M).   It was telecast on ABC, ESPN+ and Disney+
• The “late game” started at 6:00 PM ET and drew an average audience of only 873K viewers (peak audience was reported as 1.05M).  It was telecast on FOX.

The UFL has media deals with ABC and FOX in place.  However, those are not audience numbers that the networks are going to like for very long.  I mentioned about a week ago that regular season audiences for UFL games were down significantly in 2025 as compared to 2024.  This is not a good vector heading.

Finally, something from P. J. O’Rourke:

“There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences.”

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

 

 

Benjamin Franklin supposedly said:

“There are two things you can count on: death and taxes.”

I have no intention of upstaging one of our Founding Fathers, but those are but two of the certainties of life.  Others might include:

• Next year, there will be a new “fad diet”
• Politicians prevaricate
• Every posting on the Internet is subject to “debate”.

In the world of sports, it seems that there are two ongoing examples of what appears to be “certainty”.  The first one comes from Buffalo where the Bills announced that Joey Bosa is injured – – already and again.  Bosa was working out with the Bills prior to mandatory mini-camp and pulled a calf muscle in those workouts.  He is scheduled to miss minicamp entirely, but the prognosis is that he will be ready for Training Camp in mid-July.

Bosa was a significant signing by the Bills in the off-season despite his injury history with the Chargers.  He has been in the NFL for 9 seasons but has missed at least 1 game in 7 of those seasons.  Over the last 3 seasons, Bosa has appeared in only 28 of 51 regular season games.  Standing in opposition to that injury history, he was the Defensive Rookie of the Year and has been selected to the Pro Bowl 5 times.  When healthy, he is valuable.

Basically, the Bills decided to go with Bosa as a replacement for Von Miller and that move makes sense so long as Bosa is on the field.  An injury this early in the cycle is not an encouraging sign – – but it is not exactly something out of left field if you will pardon the mixed metaphor.

A second sports example of what seems to be “sports certainty” is another injury report out of Indy.  Colts’ QB, Anthony Richardson has an injury to the “AC joint” in his throwing shoulder and is out “indefinitely”.  Richardson has been in the NFL for only two seasons; he has appeared in 15 out of a possible 34 games over that time span.  Making this news potentially dire is the fact that the reason he missed 13 games in 2023 was an injury to that same AC joint and that required surgery in the offseason.

Colts’ coach, Shane Steichen said that Richardson will miss mini-camp and that he will not begin throwing until Training Camp and then “we’ll ease him into throwing and then we’ll go from there.”  During the off-season, the Colts signed former Giants’ QB, Daniel Jones as a free agent and declared that there would be an open competition for the starting job between Jones and Richardson.  In addition, the Colts took QB Riley Leonard (out of Notre Dame) in the late rounds of this year’s NFL Draft.  Once again, not good news for the Colts or their fans – – but not exactly surprising.

Moving along …  When the Steelers finally signed Aaron Rodgers, it set up a story line that is almost like a screenplay plot element.  The Steelers (and Aaron Rodgers unless he is injured) will open the regular season on the road in NY to play the Jets (and Justin Fields who was in Pittsburgh last year).  Please do not be surprised when you hear about that coincidence 3 bazillion times between now and Week 1.

And since I am in the mode of looking ahead at football scheduling, let me point out the “Football Orgy” that awaits fans over the Christmas/New Years season.  Buckle your seat belts:

• Thurs Dec 18:  Rams at Seahawks
• Sat. Dec 20:  Packers at Bears and Eagles at Commanders
• Sun Dec 21:  Normal 12-game slate of NFL games
• Mon Dec 22:  Niners at Colts
• Thurs Dec 25:  Cowboys at Commanders and Lions at Vikes and Broncos at Chiefs
• Sat Dec 27:  5-games from the normal 12-game slate of NFL games
• Sun Dec 28:  Remaining 7-games from the normal 12-game slate of NFL games
• Mon Dec 29:  Rams at Falcons

Intermixed with those NFL games from December 18 through December 29 will be 17 minor college bowl games along with the 4 first round games of the CFP.  If I counted correctly, that means there will be 53 football games available somehow for fans to watch or wager on in 11 days.  And if that is not enough, the second round of the CFP games will take place on December 31 and January 1.  You can exhale now …

Finally, this from former Steelers’ coach, Chuck Noll:

“A life of frustration is inevitable for any coach whose main enjoyment is winning.”

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

 

 

Today’s rant is going to be different.  I want to lead off discussing something that is only tangential to sports; I only came across the topic because it was written about by a sportswriter and it has to do with sports only because tennis was the subject of the interaction described.

Please take about 7 or 8 minutes and follow this link to read Sally Jenkins’ column yesterday in the Washington Post.  I think this is an important exposition.

It is not surprising to me to learn that Artificial Intelligence has not yet perfected the ability to be cross-examined as Jenkins did in her interaction with ChatGPT; it is, however,  surprising to me that the AI agent has learned to lie as a way to cover up being uninformed.  Frankly, I find that status to be a bit chilling.

Before someone asks, I have never submitted one of these rants to AI for “polishing” and I would not know how to set one of them up for analysis/review as Jenkins did.  So, I have no experience that is parallel to hers.  What I use AI for routinely is as a tool for quick searches – faster than a Google search.  [Aside:  I prefer to use Microsoft Copilot because it is a shortcut on my computer toolbar but that is beside the point.]  In the times I have  used AI for such tasks, I have never had occasion to doubt the results or to be suspicious of the included footnotes I received as part of the answer to my question(s).

For example, I might want to know the naming sponsors over time for the Oakland Coliseum because it has had a slew of them.  According to Copilot, the stadium is simply the Oakland Alameda County Stadium since 2023; the history of naming sponsors for the facility includes 5 different sponsoring entities dating back to 1966 with periods of no sponsorship intermingled.  That history sort of jogs my memory to the point that I believe it to be factual.

The lesson I take from Jenkins’ column and her experience with AI is that one must be ever-so-slightly wary of glib answers and perhaps it would be worthwhile ever so often to ask it a question to which you are certain you know the exact answer.  As they used to say in the arms control treaty negotiations, you need to:

“Trust … but verify.”

And now let me do a 180-degree course reversal and discuss a topic much earlier than I should.  It is the story du jour related to college sports; the NCAA will now start paying its players as the result of a settlement agreement attached to a lawsuit that was approved by the presiding judge in the matter.  This settlement will alter – not eliminate – the NIL dominated situation that exists in the collegiate revenue sports today and I believe that the potential avenues for the final course are so varied that no one knows what the equilibrium state is going to be.

Nonetheless it is widely reported and discussed, so I feel the need to offer up some comments.  Let me begin with some things I simply do not understand about the settlement:

• Some NCAA Conferences have said they will “opt in” to the settlement and others will “opt out.”    Why someone or something that was not involved in the lawsuit would opt in and agree to pay out $20M or so annually to its athletes is not clear to me this morning.  Also, if a conference “opts out” – – as the Ivy League has said it would do – – does that mean that the Ivy League would no longer be part of the NCAA?
• The money schools must pay to players is capped at about $20M per year and most of that money – – one report I read said 94% of that money – – will go to athletes in the “revenue sports”.  As of today, the collegiate revenue sports are:
  • • College football
    • Men’s college basketball/Women’s college basketball
    • Men’s college baseball/Women’s college softball
• It is not clear to me how that portion of the money can be allocated in a way that complies with Title IX nor is it clear to me what restrictions might exist for schools as they decide how to allocate that “other 6%” of the funding.
• By the way, if schools offer academic scholarships to athletes, are the values of those scholarships part of the $20M payments or are they add-ons?

Most commentators have praised the settlement terms and have labeled this as a great leap forward for college athletics.  Just as Sally Jenkins’ column yesterday made it clear to me that a pinch of skepticism never hurts when something seems too good to be true, let me apply that lesson here.  Recall how most commentators said the allowance of NIL payments would be a boon to college athletics.  And didn’t that evolve into a monstrosity?

I am not going to be a cheerleader for this brave new world of college athletics just yet nor am I going to be the old codger who can only pine for a return to the calm and quiet days of the 1950s.  [Aside:  Nevertheless, I do plead guilty to being an “old codger”.]

Nothing I have read says to me that the settlement agreement would address what I consider to be the most negative thing about college athletics today – – the dreaded Transfer Portal.  Here is my solution to that problem – – if the presiding judge would agree that it be part of the approved agreement:

• Make the agreements between the athletes and the schools into binding contracts.  If a school signs a player to a deal, that deal should have a starting date and a termination date.  If a deal is for 3 years, then there is no portal for the athlete until that time passes – – and there is no way for the school to rescind the payments to the athlete.

Finally, let me end today’s rant with this from Aristotle no less:

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”

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