Author: Jack

The Buffalo Bills will inaugurate their new stadium in the 2026 NFL season; reports say it will be a spectacular facility.  However, there is something interesting about the new playpen for the team that goes beyond “sight lines” and “fan experience” and “the game experience”.  According to the Bills’ COO, Pete Guelli, the team will not include OJ Simpson in the new stadium.

There will be no team “Wall of Fame” in the new stadium; rather, the history of the team and the great players from the past will be commemorated in an area labeled as “the Family Circle”.  According to Mr. Guelli:

“We have made an organizational decision that he is not a fit to display inside our new stadium and Family Circle.”

It will be interesting to see what – if any – the fan reaction to that decision will be.

Moving on and staying with the idea of “new stadiums” …  It appears that Manchester United of the English Premier League is going to be able to build a new stadium to replace the venerable Old Trafford and the new stadium will seat approximately 100,000 fans.  Old Trafford is already the largest stadium in the EPL seating approximately 75,000 fans; the next largest would be the recently constructed Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London that seats 63,000.  I point this out because many top-shelf English – and European – soccer teams do not play home games in huge stadiums because most of them are in densely packed European cities and there is not a footprint that would allow for such facilities.

Recently, the team announced that it had acquired a 25-acre site just to the northwest of Old Trafford and that acquisition plus the land on which Old Trafford sits will accommodate the larger facility.  Man U’s minority owner, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has promised that the new facility will be the “Wembley of the North”.  Surely, there are approvals and procedures that need to be followed in getting final approval for “New Trafford” along with timelines and other realities; but it surely seems as if Manchester United is on a course to get a newer and bigger facility in the foreseeable future.

According to reports, a large hurdle to be crossed is financing.  The architectural estimate for the project is about £2B ($2.65B) and Man U as a club already carries debt to the tune of £728M ($962M).  I am hardly an expert in banking or financing, but that does seem like an awful lot of debt for a sports team to be carrying already let alone joining in on a venture that would triple the debt.

Switching gears …  In the Group phase of the FIFA World Cup, Tunisia lost its first game to Sweden by a score of 5-1.  That result caused such consternation that Tunisia fired its coach in the middle of the tournament.  That impulsive decision seems not to have had much of a positive effect because Tunisia lost its second game to Japan 4-0 and then its third game to the Netherlands 3-1.

Two more tidbits from Group play in the World Cup this year:

1. Egypt won its first World Cup game ever when it beat New Zealand 3-1.
2. Curacao lost its first game to Germany 7-1.  Howiver it earned a point in its next game tying Ecuador 0-0.  In that tie-game, the goalkeeper for Curacao made 15 saves.  That is a lot of “shots on goal” for a top shelf soccer game.

In the Knockout Round of 32, Canada advanced to the next round for the first time in Canadian soccer history beating South Africa 1-0 with the goal coming in stoppage time.  Canada looked like the better team for most of the match but could not get that final push until about the 93^rd minute.

One more thing …  It should not surprise anyone that I have begun looking ahead to my annual college football preview rant(s) and have started scanning reports and schedules.  There are a few interesting stretches of games for some top teams to look forward to:

•             Alabama: Vs. Georgia – – at Tennessee – – Vs Texas A&M – – at LSU
•             Texas:  At Tennessee – – At Oklahoma – – Vs. Florida
•             Ohio State:  At Indiana – – At USC – – Vs. Oregon
•             Michigan State:  At UCLA – – At Michigan – – Vs. Washington – – Vs. Oregon

Should be interesting …

Finally, with all the talk above about Man U perhaps getting a new stadium, I’ll close with this from its former manager Sir Alex Ferguson:

“I think you have a duty and a responsibility to entertain. We have to always remember that there’s a public to be entertained.”

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

 

 

I hope no one came here today seeking insight – – let alone clarity – – on the latest vector heading in the Brendan Sorsby Saga.  Yesterday, the NFL announced that it would not accept Sorsby’s application for Supplemental Draft eligibility and with no other applicants in the hopper, there would be no Supplemental Draft in 2026.  The league presented its “reasoning” in the matter and all of it sounds good, but it seems to me that it does two things that are not positive things for the league:

1. It merely kicks the can down the road on the question of whether Sorsby’s “gambling addiction” and/or gambling activities in the past and/or his recovery from his “addiction” will eventually lead to him being given a chance to make an NFL team.  Whether Sorsby gets drafted now or next April when he will be “Regular Draft Eligible”, those questions loom and the league needs to make a decision.
2. It opens the NFL up to a legal situation that would not exist if the Supplemental Draft application had been accepted.  Sorsby was represented by Jeffrey Kessler in his suit against the NCAA; Kessler has long been an antagonist for the NFL and if you are not familiar with his background, he was the lead attorney in the lawsuit against the NFL in the 1990s that established player free agency – – something everyone takes for granted these days.

Jeffrey Kessler is not a shrinking violet; yesterday he declared that the league’s action was illegal since the process for holding such a Supplemental Draft and the conditions by which it would happen were collectively bargained with the NFLPA and therefore, the NFL could not summarily cancel the Supplemental Draft without the players’ affirmation.  I don’t pretend to understand the legal theory there but let me try to translate that into English.  I think Kessler is saying:

• “See you in court, gentlemen…”

And why the NFL would conclude that a lawsuit on this matter at this time is somehow beneficial to the league is not in my cognitive space this morning.  In the letter from the league to Sorsby – – and Kessler too of course – – the NFL leans on the fact that Sorsby’s application was not filed until 3 days before the deadline thereby giving the NFL insufficient time to go over all the issues in the matter to make a judgment.  That is probably exactly correct but that is what deadlines are all about.  If you have to have something done by a specific date and you get it done 3 days before that date, it should not be a basis for denying an application for too little time.  The deadline should provide for sufficient “pondering time” or the deadline should be changed.

Adding to the foggy nature of the situation this morning is a line on the report in this morning’s Washington Post on the matter.  A “person with knowledge of the NFLPA’s thinking” said that the union “has not made a determination on if, how or whether there are legal grounds” to challenge the NFL’s decision there.  I understand that the union would not want to make a pronouncement on this without time to “get it right”, but there is a fundamental element here that I do not understand:

• The union represents the body of players in the NFL, and it negotiates with the NFL to assure players’ rights and responsibilities as employees of the league.
• Brendan Sorsby is not a player in the NFL.
• So, I do not understand how or why the NFLPA can or would take up an action on his behalf.  If I had applied for the Supplemental Draft, the NFL would have turned down my application too; would the NFLPA consider legal action on my behalf?  I doubt it …

And speaking of the Supplemental Draft and by extension NCAA eligibility, the NCAA also announced yesterday new eligibility rules.  Division 1 athletes will have five years of eligibility to complete five seasons of competition at the collegiate level.  The idea is to severely limit college careers that can span 6 or even 7 years of eligibility as was the case for Tyler Shough now with the New Orleans Saints.  Assuming that this new rule stands up to legal challenges that are sure to come, it should put an end to such things as “redshirt years” and “medical waivers”.  As proposed, the exceptions allowed for extending college eligibility would be limited to:

1. Religious missions
2. Military service
3. Maternity leave  [Aside:  What about “paternity leave”?]

There does not seem to be any new regulation of the Transfer Portal in this new eligibility  system that has acquired the name “Five-in-Five”.  Perhaps that is coming later?  Or will transfers just happen as they do now except with a time limit of five years?  Still TBD …

Finally, since there is not a lot of certainty contained in the verbiage above, let me close with a pertinent observation by Groucho Marx:

“Well, Art is Art, isn’t it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know.”

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

 

 

Lots of “breaking news” from yesterday; where to start?  The Milwaukee Bucks have traded Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis to the Miami Heat; in return the Bucks will get:

• Four players
• Three first round picks (2026 2031 and 2033)
• A first round pick swap in 2030
• A second round pick in 2033

Historically, when an NBA team trades away a superstar player, they do not get equal value in return.  This haul looks like a lot – especially given that Giannis is 31 years old and only hit the floor in 36 games last season – but unless one of those first round picks wins the newly constructed NBA Lottery, this looks like a major tear-down and rebuild for the Bucks.

Clearly Giannis was the foundation of the Bucks’ franchise for the last 13 seasons which saw him win the MVP award twice and until last year’s injury-impacted season, he had made the first team All-NBA team seven straight times.  However, that sterling string of accomplishments may have elevated some rhetoric about this trade just a bit.  In announcing the trade and the details, writers for The Athletic said in the opening paragraph:

“The Milwaukee Bucks have agreed to trade Giannis Antetokounmpo, the most accomplished player in franchise history, to the Miami Heat just before the team’s self-imposed deadline of the 2026 NBA Draft, league sources confirmed to The Athletic.:

“The most accomplished player in franchise history”?  Really?  In 1975, these same Milwaukee Bucks traded someone named Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers for 4  young players.  I will humbly submit here that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is more accomplished as an NBA player than is Giannis Antetokounmpo notwithstanding Giannis’ lofty achievements.

Moving on …  Lionel Messi is en fuego in this World Cup tournament.  In Argentina’s first game, he scored all three of the team’s goals; in Argentina’s second game he scored both of the team’s goals.  The team has scored 5 goals in two games and Messi has them all.  He now holds the record for most goals scored in World Cup competition with 18 goals and is three goals clear of the second place player.  Not bad for a guy pushing 39  years old…

Next up …  The College World Series came down to a winner-take-all game in Ohama last night.  UNC was favored to win the title, but Oklahoma clearly had different ideas there.  The final score was:

• Oklahoma 13   UNC 2

Congratulations to the Sooners on this win; it is their first College World Series title since 1994.  UNC looked to have an advantage in the game.  When Caden Glauber pitched in a game, the Tar Heels were 29-0 this season; Glauber pitched last night but the outcome was not as previously encountered.

Switching gears …  Linda Cohn announced that she will be retiring in July of this year leaving ESPN and the SportsCenter anchor desk where she has made more than 5500 appearances over the last 34 years.  I liked Linda Cohn simply because she did what SportsCenter was designed to do – – deliver the sports news of the day.  She did not try to turn the program into a comedy act or engage in schtick; she gave us the news.  Thank  you for that…

Bonne chance, Linda Cohn.

Last item for the day …  The Dallas Mavericks have a new head coach; it will be Dusty May who just led the Michigan Wolverines to the NCAA Championship in April.  May’s coaching credentials are solid; in addition to the recent NCAA Championship, he also led Florida Atlantic to the Final Four three years ago.  Coaching in the NBA is different; in college the head coach pretty much controls players’ minutes; that control is much more tenuous in the pro ranks.  May will need to make an adjustment there.

I believe that his departure from Michigan is a not-so-subtle indicator that collegiate coaching has become far less enjoyable in the era of NIL and Portal Transfers.  College coaches need to recruit and re-recruit all their players every year – – and still find time to get new ones who can play at a high level.  There does not appear to be any “time off” at the college level whereas there are times on the NBA calendar when nothing is supposed to be happening.

Dusty May is another name on an expanding list of top-shelf college basketball coaches that have “moved on” in the last several years:

1. Tony Bennett
2. Jim Boeheim’
3. Mike Krzyzewski
4. Bruce Pearl
5. Roy Williams
6. Jay Wright

I think there is more than coincidence at work there …

Finally, this observation by Hunter S. Thompson:

“I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence, or insanity to anyone, but they’ve always worked for me.”

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

 

 

The negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA have only just begun; right now, almost everything that is exchanged between the two sides is as firm as a cloud; it is not quite Kabuki theater, but it’s close.  Last week, the owners made a “sweeping proposal” that would provide a “massive overhaul” of the MLB Draft.  Here are the highlights:

• No high school players would be eligible for the domestic amateur draft.  Like in the NBA and the NFL, there would be age restrictions for draft eligibility.  MLB proposes that to be draft-eligible, players must be at least 20 years old.
• MLB Draft would be reduced from 20 rounds to 12 rounds.  This seems to be a trend in major sports; the NBA Draft used to be 10 rounds; the NFL Draft used to be as high as 30 rounds; in MLB there was a time when the draft went 50 rounds.
• MLB proposes an international amateur draft.  To be eligible players must be 17 years old.  There would be a set amount of bonus money for the draft ($200M) and players not chosen in that draft would be free agents who could sign anywhere to fixed/structured contracts.

            Note first that nothing in these proposals has even a smidgen of relevance to anyone involved in this current set of negotiations.  No players in the deepest minor leagues – let alone players in MLB – would be affected by anything in this new construct.  Nonetheless, since we are in the “Kabuki theater phase” of the talks, the players have taken the required pose and have  categorically rejected the idea and labeled it as demonic.  Here is the players’ response:

“Today, MLB made another set of proposals that are flat out bad for baseball, ones that would cripple the next generation of players and damage the future of our game. They would, among other things:

“Eliminate over a billion dollars in player compensation from the international and domestic system over the next five years, with a $400 million reduction from 2026 to 2027 alone.

“Destroy fundamental player rights and remove talent from our sport by barring high school and junior college players (anyone under age 20) from the domestic draft.

“Abolish an entire year of international signings by delaying the first draft until at least September of 2027 (and as late as March of 2028), denying young international players the ability to start their professional careers.

“Players remain committed to bargaining in good faith and leaving baseball better than they found it — the league’s proposals fall woefully short.”

I am not into Kabuki theater; so, let me ignore the posing and the drama contained in the above.  The real winner if the owners proposal were to be accepted would be college baseball.  The best high school players would have to spend at least one  year and probably two in college baseball honing skills there before being draft eligible.  But don’t get too excited because there are still more than 5 months until the current CBA expires and nothing meaningful is likely to happen before Halloween.

And speaking of college baseball, the College World Series will be decided tonight.  Oklahoma and UNC have each won one game in Omaha over the weekend.  So, tonight’s game is for all the cheese.  Game time is 7:00 PM ET and  you can find it on ESPN.  The oddsmakers have UNC as the favorites in the game at odds of minus-158.

Sticking with baseball, there was an odd game last week between the Angels and the A’s:

• First, the A’s took a 4-0 lead.
• Then the Angels scored 11 unanswered runs to lead 11-4.
• The A’s rallied to tie the game in the ninth inning with a home-run when they were down to their last hitter.
• The A’s won 12-11 in the tenth inning scoring on a bases-loaded walk.

In that up-and-down contest, the Angels hit 5 home runs, had an inning where they scored 7 runs and had a 7 run lead at one point in the game.  And they lost …

Finally, some advice from Warren Buffet:

“Rule No.1: Never lose money. Rule No.2: Never forget Rule No.1.”

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

 

 

There are still some loose ends in the Brendan Sorsby Matter.  The NFL has not held a Supplemental Draft since 2023, and the last player taken in a Supplemental Draft was back in 2019.  That year, the Cards took Jalen Thompson, DB, with a fifth-round pick that they forfeited in the 2020 “regular Draft”.  Brendan Sorsby arrives at Supplemental Draft status on a different trajectory than previous participants to be sure and that leaves some unanswered questions.

• If Sorsby is such a talent, will a team try to grab him in Round 1 and thereby forfeit their first round pick next season?  Well, there are folks out there who think he would be the top-rated QB coming out of college next year if he were to play college football in 2026.  However, the last QB taken in the first round of a Supplemental Draft was Dave Brown by the Giants back in the early 1990s; that did not work out well for the Giants.  However, two other QBs taken in the first round of earlier Supplemental Drafts worked out very well – – Steve Young and Bernie Kosar.
• Might the NFL banish Sorsby entirely rendering all this moot?  I am not an attorney, but my guess is that the league would be challenged in court if they tried to do that and the potential loss in such a situation is too great to risk.  The NFL survived the “Paul Hornung” and “Alex Karas” suspensions; it survived Joe Namath’s bar that was a “crime hangout” and it survived Art Schlichter.  Brendan Sorsby is not exactly terra incognita for the league.
• Might the NFL issue a suspension of some type for Sorsby?  Sure, the NFL has precedent for that kind of behavior.  In fact, Terrelle Pryor seems to be a reasonable precedent there.  The NCAA suspended Pryor for 5 games; he “fled” to the Supplemental Draft; Roger Goodell suspended him for 5 NFL games saying that the Supplemental Draft was not intended to be a haven for players who got on the wrong side of the NCAA.  As of today, Sorsby would be suspended for 2 games as per the decision of a judge in a lawsuit Sorsby filed against the NCAA; so, a 2-game suspension from the NFL would have precedence here.

This storyline has had so many twists and turns over the past 6 months or so that it would not surprise me if the next headline would be that Brendan Sorsby had been abducted by aliens from the Xygork Nebula and there would be no Supplemental NFL Draft this year because Sorsby was the only player who had declared for such an event.  I am tempted to say, “What are the odds on that?”  But that would be a cheap way to close out my comments this morning.

Moving on …  Now that the NBA season is over and the Knicks have had their parade in NYC, I want to make a general comment for the league mavens to consider:

• Change the dress code for coaches in games!

I certainly do not mean to imply that coaches should have to be attired in tailored suits costing thousands of dollars each; they are there to coach a team not to be a fashion-plate.  However, when the coaches show up in athleisure wear and pullovers with team logos, they look more like animated sandwich-boards for NBA merchandise.

• Memo to Adam Silver:  You can do better than this.

Next up …  Check out the MLB standings this morning; the Chicago White Sox lead the AL Central Division by a percentage point.  Over the last three seasons, the cumulative record for the White Sox was 162-324; that is a winning percentage of .333.  That is quite a turnaround even if the 2026 season is less than half over.

Switching gears …  The other night I was grazing among the sports channels and happened across a telecast of a Pirates/A’s game from Sacramento.  Because that field and the story of how MLB came to be in that stadium is interesting, I stopped and watched a couple of innings.  I came away with a couple of thoughts:

• The A’s are playing .500 baseball this year.  Their lineup has some interesting young players who do not cost much and who should continue to develop skills.  There is a young core there; it may not turn out to be legendary; but it is a solid foundation.
• The park is a millstone for the team.  I cannot believe that any top-shelf MLB free agent would sign up to play there even if the owners decided to open up the wallet and spend what was necessary.  So, that young core of players is pretty much on their own for the next several years.
• In 2028, the new Las Vegas stadium is set to open; unless the architect was a complete loser, the facility should be attractive to free agents who might sign on there and help the team excel.
• However … the seating capacity of the new stadium will be 33,000 and with 81 home dates, that means the maximum home attendance would be 2.67M paying customers.  Is that enough for ownership to “open the wallet”?

Finally, with Father’s Day looming, I’ll close here with this observation from Tim Russert:

“The older I get, the smarter my father seems to get.”

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

 

 

I have highlighted here some of the surprising results from a few first round World Cup games, but some other commentators have drawn conclusions from those results that I think are overblown.

• Yes it was a humongous “upset” when Cape Verde and Spain played to a full-time draw.
• No, that result does not justify expansion of the tournament to 48 teams nor does it provide a justification for further expansion.

Let me provide an analogy here.  March Madness expanded to 64 teams in 1985; there have been 41 tournaments since then where teams seeded #16 and #15 had the opportunity to have won first round games.  There are 8 such games in each tournament so the universe of possible upsets of that sort is 328 games.

• Teams seeded #16 have won twice = 1.22% winning effort
• Teams seeded #15 have won eleven times = 6.71% winning effort
• Combined winning percentage for teams seeded #15 and #16 = 3.96%

Those improbable results happen simply because improbable results happen every day if you consider enough different sets of events.  But that does not justify looking for ways to have even more such oddities.  Just enjoy the fact that some of the “upstart teams” in Round 1 of the World Cup this year provided some juice to the tournament but don’t call for further expansion of the field and do not believe that these upstart teams are going to make it to the Finals because that would be more than just an oddity.

Moving on …  Medical science and surgical procedures continue to advance.  On May 6^th, Tarik Skubal underwent surgery on his pitching elbow to remove “loose bodies”.  Twenty years ago, that could well have been season-ending surgery but not in 2026:

• On June 7^th – – 32 days after his surgery – – Skubal started a minor league game for the West Michigan Whitecaps.
• Skubal was on a pitch count and was lifted after 3.1 hitless innings and 54 pitches.  Of those 54 pitches, 44 were strikes.
• On June 13^th – – 38 days after his surgery – – Skubal was pitching for the Detroit Tigers and registered a fastball in the game at 99.9 mph.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache and the procedure employs a contraption known as the “NanoNeedle Scope”.  The question here about this surgery and this contraption is simple:

• Was this outcome wildly serendipitous or is this a harbinger of surgical triumph for MLB pitchers?
• The sample size is far too small to be conclusive – – but these results sure do look enticing.

The first Tommy John surgery was done in the 1970s and it was a breakthrough that extended pitching careers significantly.  Tommy John himself pitched in MLB for 13 seasons after his surgery.  Could the “NanoNeedle Scope” do something similar?  If so, how should this procedure be named:

• Skubal Surgery?
• Neal’s NanoNeedle?

One more thing …  Tiago Splitter has left the head coaching position with the Portland TrailBlazers and signed on to be the head coach of the Chicago Bulls.

• Would it be proper to say that Tiago “Splittered” from Portland to go to Chicago?

Finally, today’s closing thought comes from comedienne, Rita Rudner:

“I was going to have cosmetic surgery until I noticed that the doctor’s office was full of portraits by Picasso.”

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

 

 

Sometimes, when I make a sports history reference here or perhaps something about sports wagering, I anticipate hearing from the “reader in Houston” with an amplification/clarification.  I had no such anticipation yesterday when I mentioned that James Harden had been arrested in Houston on a misdemeanor weapons charge.  Nonetheless, here is “the rest of that story”:

“FYI: Anyone who can legally possess a firearm under state and federal law can carry a handgun in most public places without needing a permit.

“If you openly carry a handgun, it must be carried in a holster. [Allegedly, Harden’s gun was on his car seat.]

“You can legally carry a loaded handgun in your car, provided it is out of plain view and you are not prohibited from possessing a firearm.

“However, state and federal laws strictly prohibit firearms in certain locations, even with an LTC (license to carry), such as schools and college campuses, secure areas of airports, voting places on election days, courthouses and government offices, bars, racetracks, correctional facilities, and places hosting high school, collegiate, or professional sporting events.”

It appears that Brendan Sorsby has resolved his college football eligibility issue this morning.  According to an AP report, Sorsby will declare for the NFL Supplemental Draft next week making his legal challenge of the NCAA’s ruling of ineligibility moot.  Take that as good news – – and hope it continues to obtain.  The Chairman of the Texas Tech board of Regents characterized the decision in a way that makes me wonder how this all holds together:

“This decision was made with Brendan and his family and is purely an output of practical analysis of the situation.  Brendan and Texas Tech stand on very solid and legitimate legal ground but he faces a June 22 deadline to be eligible to enter the NFL’s supplemental draft and there is no practical way to resolve all the various pending legal disputes and ensure his eligibility prior to this date.  This is the only viable and fair path for Brendan and his future as well as for his teammates and our university.”

Really?

• If you are on such “firm and legitimate legal ground”, why is the NFL supplemental draft important?
• Why would Sorsby not persist, win his cases, play for Texas Tech and enter the NFL “normal draft” next April?
• He could have declared for the normal draft this year but chose not to do so and to try to play for Texas Tech and now there is pressure for him to do something he did not consider doing before?
• How is this the “best and fair path” for Brendan’s teammates?

As I said, be happy this matter might be put to rest and hope that it all holds together…

Moving on …   There was a note at CBSSports.com the other day saying that Donovan McNabb Jr. had committed to playing for UNLV.  I assumed – – incorrectly – – that McNabb Jr. was a QB like his dad; so, I went to the article to see his high school passing stats just out of curiosity.  Immediately, I noticed something that seemed out of place.  McNabb Sr. was a man of thick musculature who played at 230-240 lbs; McNabb Sr. was a bruiser.  McNabb Jr. is 5’ 10” and weighs 160 lbs; McNabb, Jr. is a wide receiver and will graduate from Brophy College Prep in Phoenix AZ in 2027.

Switching gears …  The first round games in the FIFA World Cup continue to provide surprising results.  Spain was ranked as the #2 national team in the world entering the tournament; more than a few folks picked them to win it all.  No one  picked Cape Verde to win it all; in fact, many folks had Cape Verde listed as a team that only made it to the World Cup because the field was expanded from 32 to 48 teams.  Well, here is the result from the match between those two teams in the first round of the tournament:

• Spain 0   Cape Verde 0

Finally, this from Walt Disney:

“You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”

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

 

 

Last weekend produced two champions.  For the first time in 53 years, the New York Knickerbockers are the NBA champions capping a playoff run marked by one stunning comeback after another.  Some folks have labeled this Knicks team as a “team of destiny”; I prefer to think of this team as a hard-working, tough-minded group of players who play sound fundamental basketball.

Jalen Brunson was named the NBA Finals MVP as he should have been; the Knicks would not have won this series without him.  My favorite player to watch on the Knicks, however, is Josh Hart.  I would give him an award as the MVUP – – the Most Valuable Unspectacular Player – – on the court.  Maybe a better label would be the Lake Woebegone Player of the Series – – he does a bit of everything, and it is all above average.  Hats off to both Brunson and Hart and the rest of the Knicks’ squad.

The NBA should get a significant benefit from these playoffs:

• The Spurs and the Thunder are two young teams, and their Western Conference Finals series sparked a rivalry.
• The Spurs and the Knicks should be an interesting rivalry at least for next season.
• The Knicks and the Celtics just became a more interesting rivalry along the I-95 corridor.
• The NBA needs rivalries to goose interest in regular season games.

And in addition, the Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup finals over the weekend.  This is the first championship for the Hurricanes since 2006, and they did this with defense.  In the final game, the Hurricanes shut out the Las Vegas Golden Knights, but it was more than just a shutout.  I saw the final two periods of the game, and I only saw the Hurricanes’ goalie make one “difficult” save; the Knights were on their back foot for the whole time I was tuned in.

One tidbit from the Hurricanes victory:

• The 2006 Stanely Cup Champion team’s captain was Rod Brind’Amour.
• The 2026 Stanley Cup Champion team’s coach is Rod Brind’Amour.

The first round of Group Stage games in the FIFA World Cup has produced some surprises:

• Japan tied The Netherlands 2-2.  The Netherlands have been touted as dark horses to win it all; Japan – – not so much.
• Australia beat Turkey 2-0.  Turkey was the favorite in that game.
• Qatar tied Switzerland 1-1.  The Swiss were solid favorites in the game.
• Scotland beat Haiti 1-0.  The “Tartan Army” marches on.
• Germany beat Curacao 7-1.  The outcome is no surprise, but it is always a surprise when a team scores 7 goals in a World Cup game.

In the second game of the World Cup Tournament, South Korea beat the Czech Republic 2-1.  The story there was all the empty seats in the stands which prompted a lot of commentary about ticket prices and FIFA’s price-gouging and – – well you get the idea.  I only saw a small part of that game; and indeed, there were way more seats than there were fans.  However, I think there is another dynamic at work there to produce empty seats.

• The game was in Guadalajara, Mexico.
• That is a long way to go for fans of both South Korea and the Czech Republic.
• I know of no rivalry situation between the two sides.
• And then on top of all that, tickets are really expensive…

Moving on …  They say you should learn something new every day.  Well, over the weekend, there was a report that James Harden was arrested in Texas and charged with a weapons violation.  It seems he was driving in his car, and the gun was on the seat and not in a holster; that constitutes a violation in Houston.  There was no violence or shooting or anything like that involved in the situation; it was just the locale of the handgun.  So, what did I learn from that?

• I did not realize there was an illegal way to carry a handgun in Texas.
• Now, I know.

Finally, I’ll close here with words from Mark Twain:

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

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

 

 

A reader asked yesterday why I have not commented on the “Brendan Sorsby Miasma” ever since he checked himself into a rehab facility to treat a gambling addiction.  The reason is simple; I don’t think I have a decent understanding of the nuances of that mess.  However, since he asked, I will offer these remarks today.

Brendan Sorsby placed thousands of sports bets in his young life; they were legal bets but some of them included bets on his team in games where he was on the active roster – – but did not play.  Unsurprisingly, the NCAA banned him and declared him ineligible for life; Sorsby went to court and a judge ruled in his favor that he could play college football again at Texas Tech starting in the Fall.  Based on the current court ruling, Sorsby will serve a two-game suspension at the beginning of the season and then be eligible to play.  Two comments here:

1. It is NOT true that the judge who issued the injunction is a Texas Tech grad.  Judge Curry took over the case from another judge who recused himself from the case because the other judge was a Texas Tech alum.
2. The two games Sorsby will miss are against Abilene Christian (home) and Oregon State (away).

Before anyone asks, I cannot explain how Judge Curry arrived at his conclusion that Brendan Sorsby had done something that merited punishment but that his punishment (two-game suspension) had greater legal standing than the NCAA’s punishment (ineligibility).  Nevertheless, that is the state of play as of this morning.  The NCAA has filed an appeal of that injunction with the Court of Appeals for the 7^th District in Amarillo, TX.  Perhaps, this is where the Internet rumor about Judge Curry being a Texas Tech alum arises.

• There are four judges on the Court of Appeals for the 7^th District.
• All four judges are graduates of the Texas Tech Law School.

[Aside:  Question for the lawyers reading here … What happens if all four of these judges recuse themselves?]

A lot of people have drawn dire conclusions from where things stand now.  Some have said that this is a death knell for college sports because if the NCAA – or any so-called governing body – – cannot enforce a rule so basic that “you cant bet on your own team in a game where you are on the roster”, then there are no rules that can possibly be enforced.  Moreover, there will be skepticism about every call and every incomplete pass thrown by Brendan Sorsby from now  until the end of time.

I sort of agree with the first part there; the no-betting on your own team or games seems to be a bedrock principle that this ruling destabilizes.   I think the painting of Brendan Sorsby as a perennial ne’er-do-well is a tad overblown.  As to Brendan Sorsby being the instrument of death for college football, I have two words for people who take that position:

• Art Schlichter

College football survived Art Schlichter and it will survive Brendan Sorsby.  It was wounded in the “Schlichter Affair” and it will take a hit in the “Sorsby Miasma”, but college football is not doomed even if the NCAA loses this case in the courts as the NCAA is wont to do.

What is most surprising to me is that Texas Tech as an institution seems to have no problem with a situation which confers a degree of “outlaw status” on the university.  In fact, the school issued a statement that painted Texas Tech in a light where it is acting as an instrument to save Brendan Sorsby from his addiction; I find that logic contorted but the school seems to be comfortable with it.  Georgia and Nebraska have said they will not schedule any games in any sort with Texas Tech; there seems to be no end date to those declarations and the whole thing just gets smellier and smellier by the day.

I have another question for any lawyers reading here:

• The injunction comes from a Texas court not a Federal court.
• Does that injunction exist outside the State of Texas? 
• If Texas Tech were to travel to Colorado for a game scheduled on October 3^rd, could the Colorado authorities declare Sorsby ineligible for that game and make it stick?

One last bit of confusion here.  According to one report I read, this matter needs to be finalized by June 22^nd and the reason for that is that June 22^nd is the latest date available to Brendan Sorsby to declare for the NFL Supplementary Draft.  Why that is any sort of hard-and-fast deadline in this matter remains a mystery to me.

That’s all I got.  If any of this was enlightening to you, I am more than mildly surprised.

Finally, I think Edward R. Murrow had a perfect closing thought for today:

“Anyone who isn’t confused really doesn’t understand the situation.”

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

 

 

Earlier this week, I mentioned here the prices being sought for Game 3 of the Knicks/Spurs series in Madison Square Garden.  That got me an email from the “reader in Houston” who happened to grow up in NYC.  And  yes, he has been a sports fan even longer than I have if you can believe that.  Here is his email:

“I had tickets for the 1970 NBA Finals between the Knicks and Lakers where Willis limped onto the court to “lead” the Knicks in Game 7.

“My seat was in Section 221 and cost me $40 (a strip of four tix at $10 per game).

“I looked up a comparable seat for tonight’s game and saw a ticket in the same section going for $7,608 ($6,340 plus $1,268 fee).

“Back in the day, if I tried to scalp my ticket outside the Garden for say $30-$50, I risked arrest/fine.

“The funny thing is that I never can find out what the face value of today’s pro sports tix are. That’s why the only sporting events I go to now are high school football or basketball games because I can pay cash at the door.”

According to Microsoft CoPilot, something that cost $10 in 1970, would be something that cost approximately $86-96 today depending on which inflation methodology is employed. If you compare that sort of inflationary rise in the price of a Knicks’ playoff ticket with the asking process for seats in the Garden this week, you will see that there is a cost increase far beyond anything explained by “cost of living” changes.

Moving on …  The FIFA World Cup kicks off – so to speak – today in Mexico City.   Starting at 3:00 PM ET, Mexico/South Africa will begin the festivities in Estadio Azteca which seats 83,264 folks.  You can be sure there will not be any empty seats for that game.  Meanwhile the US Men’s National Team (USMNT) starts its quest for the knockout round of the tournament tomorrow evening at 9:00 PM ET in SoFi stadium in Los Angeles against Paraguay.

As of this morning, the USMNT is more highly regarded than the side from Paraguay.  Compare these odds:

• USMNT to win the whole tournament = +5,000
• Paraguay to win the whole tournament = +25,000
• USMNT to win the Group = +135
• Paraguay to win the Group = +400

Let the games begin …

There was an epic collapse in the baseball world last night courtesy of the Washington Nationals.  Here is the deal:

• Nats led the Giants 9-1 going into the bottom of the 8^th inning.
• The Giants scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 8^th so the score entering the 9^th inning was 9-6 in favor of the Nats.
• Nats  added a run in the top of the 9^th.
• The Giants scored a run and then loaded the bases in the bottom of the 9^{th .}
• Then Bryce Eldridge hit a walk-off grand slam to win the game for the Giants 11-10.

Eldridge is the youngest player in MLB history to hit a walk-off grand slam; until last night that honor belonged to Roberto Clemente.  Moreover, according to CBSSports.com this morning:

“… teams up by eight or more runs going into the eighth inning had won 2,698 consecutive games until this one. The last to suffer such a loss was the Rays, who on May 25, 2009, lost by the same score, 11-10, to Cleveland.”

Finally, here is a thought from Cicero:

“There is nothing so absurd that some philosopher has not already said it.”

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