RIP Tarvaris Jackson

Tarvaris Jackson died yesterday at the age of 36 as a result of a car accident.  Jackson was in the NFL for 9 seasons mostly as a backup QB.  In his last stop with the Seahawks, he was the backup for Russell Wilson, and he was part of the Seahawks Super Bowl winning team in 2014.

Rest in peace, Tarvaris Jackson.

Yesterday, I thought I might have gone over the edge talking about the MLB record for balks – both in a career and in a game.  With every sport short of camel racing and perhaps axe throwing on hiatus, material for these rants is hard to come by; so, I included that information on balks.  At about 2:30 PM here in Northern Virginia, I checked my email and saw that I had a missive from “The Reader in Houston”.  I was positive that I had made an error in my “balk stats” yesterday and he was going to correct it.  Actually, what his email did was to add to the story of the game where Bob Shaw balked three times in one inning and 5 times in one game.  Here is the text of that email:

“Actually, Charlie Hough (Texas) was called for nine balks in a major league exhibition game in the late 1980s, including seven in one inning. That happened mainly because the umps were going to enforce pitchers to come to a full-set position for the upcoming season.

“Billy Williams of the Cubs has the record for most balks caused in a game by a runner. In the Bob Shaw game you mentioned, four of the five balks came when Sweet Swinging Billy was on base, In the top of the first he singled and was balked to second and in the third when Shaw balked three times, Billy led off with a walk and was balked around the bases for a run, which was considered an earned run because it was due to the pitcher’s ‘negligence’. “

And now you know…

Just as I need to dig a bit for material here, the NBA and their “broadcast partner”, ESPN have had to dig deep for ways to keep pro basketball relevant in the days of COVID-19.  When wildcatters drill for oil, sometimes they “discover” as dry hole; similarly, ESPN and the NBA found a dry hole when they decided to televise a H-O-R-S-E tournament.  Maybe – – and it is even a stretch to say “maybe” here – – this might have been marginally interesting had the television production quality been up to ESPN’s normal standards.  It was not.

I watched about 2 minutes and decided that I had a better way to spend my time – – and I went and rearranged my sock drawer.  H-O-R-S-E is a game for kids to play among themselves; watching pro athletes play that sort of silly game is compelling for the first two shots or maybe three.  Add in the television quality that was no better than a video taken on my smartphone and that programing was an embarrassment to both the NBA and ESPN.

I really would have liked to be a fly on the wall when folks behind that programming got together to decide this was the way to attract eyeballs to ESPN and attention to the NBA.  Remember that the league tried to incorporate H-O-R-S-E into the annual All-Star nonsense about 10 years ago and then mercifully took that abomination off life support after a couple of years.  So, in that meeting where they all decided to resurrect this silliness, I wonder who was the one to suggest that this time around, things would be much better because the production qualities would be much poorer.  They had evidence this was a dumb idea and they went forward anyway.  My conclusion:

• It may have been a dumb idea and they knew it was a dumb idea, but no one had a less dumb idea – – so they went with it.

Here is a bit of free advice:

• Memo to NBA and ESPN Execs:  H-O-R-S-E is a kids’ game; it is fun for kids.  H-O-R-S-E is not a game to be televised; it is not sufficiently interesting; it is not a spectator sport.  Over and out…

And speaking of dumb ideas…  The NFL instituted a rule last year that allowed teams to challenge pass interference calls – – of the lack of a pass interference call on a play.  Everyone knows why that rule was put in effect; everyone also knows that the implementation of the rule last year did nothing to improve the game and did lots to generate even more controversy.  There seems to be a silver lining to this cloud.  Last year, the “pass interference challenge rule” was approved for only the 2019 season and would need to be re-approved to keep it on the books.

Given that players, coaches, fans and broadcasters are all unhappy with the implementation of the rule – even if some think it is well intentioned – it appears as if the NFL Competition Committee will not recommend keeping it on the books.  That is not the definitive act to erase it, but it does mean that the only way to keep it around any longer would be for the owners themselves to vote to reconsider it when the owners meet next month.  Assuming that does not happen, the pass interference challenge rule will go the way of all flesh whenever the NFL returns to action.

I am not alone in thinking the demise of that NFL rule is a good thing; here is what Bob Molinaro had to say about it in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot:

“High five: It’s all but decided. After a one-season experiment ― more like a mockery of the rule ― the NFL will not extend the replay review for pass interference. Hooray.”

My only quibble with Professor Molinaro here is that we should not be “high-fiving” in the days of COVID-19…

Finally, Dwight Perry had this in the Seattle Times recently:

“Anthony Fauci, the immunologist and national point man against the COVID-19 pandemic, was once the point guard and team captain for the Regis High School basketball team in Manhattan, Class of 1958.

“Quickie retro scouting report: liked to spread the court, run isolation plays; most effective from distance; played lockdown defense.”

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