Brandon McManus …

Two flight attendants for a charter airline have filed a civil complaint against the Jax Jaguars and their former kicker, Brandon McManus, alleging “disgraceful sexual misconduct” on the part of McManus.  The alleged activities took place on the Jags’ charter flight to London last season.  The three causes of action in the civil complaint are:

1. Assault and Sexual Assault by McManus
2. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress by McManus
3. Negligence and Gross Negligence by the Jacksonville Jaguars

Here is a link where you can read the entire complaint and the plaintiffs’ request for a jury trial.  When I ran across the reporting on this matter yesterday, it seemed to me that there was a distinguishing element in this matter that is usually not present in most sexual assault complaints.  In other “higher profile” complaints of this sort – – the Deshaun Watson matter and/or the Trevor Bauer situation for example – – the alleged behavior that is identified as sexual assault took place with only two people present – – the plaintiff and the defendant.  Reading the statements of the two flight attendants, these alleged actions took place on an airplane populated with about a hundred other players, coaches, front office personnel and the like.

After reading what is labeled as the “Factual Background” in the complaint, it seemed to me that any such behavior would have to have been seen or heard by others on the airplane.  Last evening, we had dinner guests one of whom is a retired litigator; I took that opportunity to ask her if any depositions that might be taken in this case would necessarily be under oath.  According to her, depositions pursuant to an action before a court would have to be under oath.  And there is what I perceive to be a big difference in this situation.

As usual, I prefer to wait and see what other evidence emerges before making definitive pronouncements related to things like this.  Nevertheless, I am curious to see how this case evolves as compared to some other similar allegations against athletes where law enforcement was involved meaning there was a cloak of invisibility surrounding the activities of the authorities as they gathered evidence and sought corroborating testimony.  This is a civil action and not a criminal complaint; for me – – as a voyeur on legal matters – – it will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

Oh, by the way, Brandon McManus was not re-signed by the Jags when his contract expired after last season; McManus did sign with the Washington Commanders in March of this year.

Moving on …  Yesterday, I mentioned that Angel Hernandez had retired from MLB.  Several headlines around the Internet yesterday sought readers’ attention by referring to Hernandez as “MLB’s most notorious umpire” or something closely related to that phraseology.

• Memo to Headline Writers:  Does the name, Joe West, ring any bells?

Next up …  FIFA recently announced the venue for the 2027 Women’s World Cup tournament.  The event will take place in Brazil, and it will be the first time the women’s tournament will take place in South America.  The competing bid for that tournament was a three-way bid by Belgium, Germany and The Netherlands.

As the FIFA convocation that selected Brazil as the hosts for 2027 came to an end, FIFA president Gianni Infantino “suggested” that the 2031 Women’s World Cup Tournament “could be expanded” to include 48 teams and not merely the 32 teams now invited to participate.  That would bring the Women’s Tournament in line with the Men’s Tournament which will see the same expansion starting in 2026.  Said President Infantino:

“More participants, more unity, more people happy. Well, let’s see, let’s see.”

If I might make an attempt to present the meta-message conveyed there”

“More games, more media rights revenues, more FIFA officials happy.  Let’s get it done.”

One more today …  Broncos’ head coach, Sean Payton was asked about the team’s QB situation and how things were going during OTAs.  His response was unusual in the sense that it did not reflect standard “coach-speak”:

“It’s kind of the orphan group; they’re all orphaned dogs. They’ve come from somewhere, but they’re doing good. It’s a good room.”

Orphans?  Dogs?

As of this morning, the Broncos’ roster has 3 QBs:

1. Bo Nix
2. Jarrett Stidham
3. Zach Wilson

I am not sufficiently delusional to suggest that any of the three is a likely All-Pro candidate for 2024 and beyond but attaching labels like “orphan” and/or “dog” to Bo Nix as the team’s first round draft pick last month is more than strange.  Jets’ fans might think Zach Wilson is a dog, but it is not clear to me that he was the only problem with the team’s offensive difficulties over the last couple of years.  Jarrett Stidham has been in the NFL since 2019 which does not seem to portray him as much of an “orphan”.  Very strange …

Finally, some words of wisdom today from Mark Twain:

“Get your facts first, then you can distort them as you please.”

And …

“In the first place, God made idiots.  That was for practice, Then he made school boards.”

And …

“Clothes make the man.  Naked people have little or no influence on society.”

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