According to CBSSports.com this morning, the WNBA and the WNBPA have come to their senses and reached an agreement on a new CBA. Plans call for the season to start on time in early May. Notwithstanding the grandstanding by the players at the WNBA All-Star Game where they wore T-shirts that said, “Pay Us What You Owe Us”, the outline of the new CBA is far short of what exists in the NBPA/NBA deal; the revenue sharing in the WNBA deal is around 20% not 50%. From my perspective, that is close to what the WNBA players are owed at this point; after all, the WNBA has never shown a profit for a season in its lifetime.
Scott Ostler has been a top-shelf sports columnist for what seems like forever. He was part of the legendary staff assembled by The National and has been a bedrock contributor to the sports section of the SF Chronicle since the demise of The National. He is also the author of an interesting book, How To Cheat In Sports. Earlier this week, he announced his retirement; he will be missed.
Bonne chance, Scott Ostler. Thanks for all your good work.
With March Madness having begun last night with two of the four play-in games in the books, here is a stat from the American Gaming Association that surprised me. According to the AGA, between $3.1B and $3.3B will be wagered in the US on March Madness. Even allowing for the fact that March Madness involves 67 games, that number seems awfully high to me considering that the Super Bowl that was played only 5 weeks ago had a total handle of $1.75B according to the AGA. March Madness will produce almost twice as much betting as the Super Bowl? Color me surprised …
There were reports earlier this week that NBC will not have Tony Dungy back next season as a commentator on Football Night In America; he has been in that role for the last 17 seasons. Based on the way Dungy announced his departure, it sounds as if this was NBC’s choice and not his:
“I have been informed by NBC that I won’t be back with FNIA this fall, and it has given me time to reflect and also to look ahead. It’s disappointing news, but I want to thank my NBC family for making the last 17 years so special. I’ll have lasting memories of my time there, especially with Rodney Harrison, who has become a tremendous friend.”
Football Night In America needs change; I don’t know if removing/replacing Tony Dungy is a critical element in said change, but there needs to be a new look to the program. As currently constituted, the “cast” is far too large. My count has 10 people on-screen for the program and what happens is that each person gets to say a half-dozen sentences before the camera flips to someone else.
There was a time when the studio shows for NFL games involved discussions about football generally and about the game on the air specifically. The discussions were serious; there were few if any attempts at comedy; there were no “hot takes”. Such is not the case now; as the shows expanded from talking about football to jocularity, “hot takes”, softball interviews and fantasy football angles, the shows got longer and longer. Football Night In America is not nearly the only NFL studio show in need of change, but it is the one that has made a minor change that could portend something more fundamental on the horizon.
Earlier this week, the Dolphins traded WR, Jaylen Waddle, to the Denver Broncos for “draft capital”. Here are personnel moves by the Dolphins since the end of the NFL regular season in January:
- Release QB Tua Tagovailoa.
- Trade WR Jaylen Waddle
- Express no interest in resigning WR Tyreek Hill
- Sign free agent QB Malik Willis
I don’t know how to connect those dots. Did Willis know that the team would be trading Waddle when Willis signed on? If so, that means he should be happy with the Dolphins’ depth chart at WR which stretches credibility because according to ESPN this is the current “WR Room”:
- AJ Henning
- Jaylen Tolbert
- Malik Washington
- Tahj Washington
- Theo Wease, Jr.
Finally, a closing thought from PJ O’Rourke:
“If government were a product, selling it would be illegal.”
But don’t get me wrong, I love sports………