Ready, Set, Football …

The Seattle Mariners have been in a tailspin since the All-Star Break; just in their last 10 games, the record is a measly 2-8; the Mariners find themselves 5.5 games behind the Astros in the AL West and would not be in the playoffs if the season ended now.  So, of course, the Mariners fired manager Scott Servais.  According to a Tweet from Adam Jude of the Seattle Times, Servais “learned of his firing this morning from a breaking news alert on social media, a couple hours before he was scheduled to meet with [Mariners’ GM] Jerry Dipoto.”  I have to be honest here; I didn’t realize that it was Servais who had been striking out with men in scoring position over the last 2-3 weeks.

Moving on …  The Washington Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles consummated an interdivisional trade yesterday.  The Commanders sent former first-round WR, Jahan Dotson, and a fifth-round pick to the Eagles in exchange for a third-round pick and two seventh-round picks.  This trade has the potential to be interesting on several levels

• Dotson was in contention to be the Commanders #2 WR; barring injury, there is no way he gets that role with the Eagles over Devonta Smith and AJ Brown.
• Trading away a recent first-round pick makes it clear that anyone from the previous regime in Washington is expendable.
• Dotson has not lived up to “first-round-pick status” in his first two years in the NFL, but he is still on his rookie contract.  A small point in his defense is that he has not had top-shelf QBs throwing the ball to him in Washington.  Jalen Hurts may not be the best QB in the NFL, but he is better than either Carson Wentz, Taylor Heinicke or Sam Howell.

My guess is that the Eagles got the better end of this deal unless Dotson is a total waste of skin in Philly.  The price for Dotson is basically a pick exchange – – a third for a fifth – – and two seventh round picks that are basically “Hail Mary selections.”  [Aside:  Yes, I know that Jamal Anderson, Brock Purdy and Shannon Sharpe were all seventh-round picks.]

File this in the category of “Hope springs eternal”.  One fanboy in this area suggested on a sports radio program soon after this trade was announced that the Commanders made the trade to create a roster spot for Brandon Aiyuk who will be acquired by the Commanders in the immediate future.

And speaking of Brandon Aiyuk, his contract status and trade status seem to be stagnant for the moment and with all the media attention focused there, many folks do not realize that the Niners have another player in a holdout situation over contract negotiations.  That player is Trent Williams and here is the thing:

• Aiyuk is a very good receiver but not nearly the best in the league.
• Williams is the best OT in the NFL.

Switching gears …  The college football season sort of begins this weekend with four games involving Division 1-A teams.  The most visible game will take place in Dublin, Ireland when Florida State and Georgia Tech will meet in a conference game before Labor Day.  The Seminoles are the reigning ACC Champs; Georgia Tech was 5-3 in conference games last season and went to a bowl game for the first time since 2018 which was Paul Johnson’s last year at Georgia Tech.

Florida State opened as a 12.5-point favorite in the game but this morning the line is at 10.5 points most places with two sportsbooks posting the game at 10 points.  There must be significant “Tech money” showing up at the betting window…

The other game this weekend where both teams are Division 1-A is SMU at Nevada.  SMU started off as a 20-point favorite in this match-up but the line this morning is all the way up to 26.5 points.

The other two games involving Division 1-A teams are:

1. Montana State at New Mexico.  New Mexico is the Division 1-A school, and the Lobos are at home.  Not to worry, Montana State is a solid 13.5-point favorite this morning and that line is significantly up from the opening line of 9 points.  Montana State may be the “little guy” in this contest, but it is dominating the betting windows anyway.
2. Delaware State at Hawaii.  The Delaware State team is flying almost 5000 miles to Honolulu, and they are 40-point underdogs to a Hawaii team looking to improve over a miserable 3-10 record in 2023.

If you happen to tune into one of these games this weekend, you will notice a new thing about college football.  There will be two-minute warnings in the second quarter and the fourth quarter as there are in NFL games.  College football has recognized the fact that some games are much longer than they need to be and has tried to implement rules to stay away from games that might take 4-hours to play.  Somehow, adding two-minute warnings does not fit with those recent “speed-up changes”.

Another change for this year will not be visible until December 19 and 20 when the expanded CFP will put on its first-round games.  Until this year, any college football games on or near those dates were bowl games and bowl games are usually neutral site encounters in off-campus facilities.  This year, the CFP first-round games will be held on college campuses and the sites will be determined by the seedings of the teams in the CFP structure.

Finally, a closing thought from Oprah Winfrey:

“You can have it all.  You just can’t have it all at once.”

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