Author: Jack

Until I read a blurb in the Washington Post over the weekend, I was not aware that LeBron James hosted a TV show on HBO.  I do not subscribe to HBO and without this mention in the Post, my ignorance would have likely extended forever.  The show is evidently named The Shop and it features a barber shop setting where LeBron and his invited guests sit around and talk about “stuff”.  If I were already subscribed to HBO, I might tune into an episode or two just to see who the invited guests are and what the discussion topics are about.  Having said that, I will not be adding HBO to my cable TV package based on my newly acquired awareness of this programming.

Here is the part of the report in the Post that caught my attention.  They report that LeBron James had this to say in a recent episode of his show:

“In the NFL they got a bunch of old white men owning teams and they got that slave mentality.  This is my team.  You do what the f- – – I tell y’all to do, or we get rid of y’all.”

LeBron then went on to praise NBA commish, Adam Silver, for allowing NBA players to have “a real feeling” and to express those real feelings even when Silver does not agree with them.  OK, I get it; LeBron James thinks Adam Silver is a good guy and a lot better person that Roger Goodell.  Moving on…

LeBron James is an adult; moreover, he is an intelligent and articulate adult – – the syntax of the above statement notwithstanding.  In addition, I recognize and appreciate the use of hyperbole regarding many situations.  However, in this case, I believe that LeBron James went too far – – way too far.  Let me explain.

I have a problem with LeBron’s position and it has nothing to do with stereotyping in his description of NFL owners as “old white men”.  Most NFL team owners are exactly that but not all of them.  My problem is his attributing their thoughts to a “slave mentality”.  LeBron does not – because he cannot – read minds.  He has no idea what NFL owners think or if they possess a “slave mentality”.

Slavery was – and remains – an abominable aspect of the human social order.  Attributing aspects of slavery – even the mindset of slave owners which can only be imagined or inferred – is an extrapolation that is improper.  If I were to make some sweeping and damning statement about the mentality of Black NBA basketball players based on my mind-reading skills, I would and should be vilified as a racist.

The NFL is far short of beneficent in the way it deals with its players.  I am perfectly willing to heap scorn upon them for dumb things that the league does.  However please consider:

• There is a union representing the players.  Slaves did not then and do not now have unions.
• There is a CBA under which the owners and players do their business.  I have never heard of anything resembling a CBA in a situation where slavery is part of the social order.
• The CBA makes the NFL owners and players partners in a multi-billion dollar enterprise.  Actual slaves are not partners with their owners.
• The CBA provides players with something called “free agency”.  Free agency allows players to “take their talents” elsewhere; when slaves in the southern US sates ran away, they were hunted down and returned to their owners. Free agency is the antithesis of slavery.
• The NFL has made about 10,000 players millionaires in the past 20-25 years.  Few if any slaves in any slave society ever achieve a tenth of that wealth.

While ranting about something related to the NBA – tangentially to be sure – let me comment on an NBA game that was on my TV last week.  The Washington Wizards played the Houston Rockets; both teams had started the season significantly underachieving expectations for them; recently, both teams had shown improvement and the Rockets had made it back to the .500 level for the season.  NBA games in December are usually snooze-fests, but this one looked like it had the potential to be interesting.  Man, was I wrong…?

• The Wizards gave up 70 points in the first half by standing around on defense as if the game was a rec league contest for men 50 years and older.
• They seemingly equalized that lack of effort on defense by having everyone without the ball on offense standing around like the statuary in the Roman Pantheon.
• Meanwhile, the Rockets made the game painfully boring by effecting an offensive game plan that had them attempt 55 shots from 3-point range.  At least in the 3-point shooting contest during All-Star Week, there is a short time limit on that activity – which by itself is boring – but the Rockets did that for all 48 minutes here.

The final score of this hot mess was Rockets 136 and Wizards 118 – – if you care.

Finally, here is the Headline – and the sub-headline – for an article on CBSSports.com from last Saturday:

“Ranking Foles’ most likely landing spots”

“Nick Foles could stay in Philly or the Super Bowl

LII MVP could opt to move on this offseason”

Well, that covers all the possibilities – including his possible decision to retire from the NFL to herd yaks in the highlands of Nepal next year.  Sheesh…

[Aside:  No rant tomorrow.  I will have something posted on Wednesday 26 December.  Merry Christmas/Seasons Greetings to one and all.  Be safe and stay well.]

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

 

 

The late George Jones sang:

“It’s finally Friday
I’m free again
I got my motor running for a wild weekend
It’s finally Friday
I’m out of control
Forget the workin’ blues
And let the good times roll”

Here in Curmudgeon Central, I am always free; my weekends are no longer wild; I try to remain in control because I have no working’ blues to worry about.  Here in Curmudgeon Central, it’s Football Friday.

NCAA Football Commentary:

Nothing of any gravity happened on the field last week.  So, let me use this space to present two items I found in Bob Molinaro’s column in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot and comment on them.

“Liberty’s choices: Liberty University, which vigorously promotes its Christian foundation, just hired football coach and Jesus-name-dropper Hugh Freeze, who was forced out at Ole Miss for a “pattern of personal misconduct” which included using a school phone to call escort services. He’ll now work under A.D. Ian McCaw, who held the same position at Baylor during its sexual assault scandal.”

I suggest that Coach Freeze and AD McCaw might want to take a moment as they begin their work at Liberty to recall Luke 12:2:

“There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made known.”

Professor Molinaro’s second observation comments on the human condition:

“Not so fast: It’s no surprise that influential people in college football are ready to speed up discussions about expanding the playoffs from four to eight teams. The human species is programmed to believe that more is better, especially when huge sums of money are involved. We’ll see how soon expansion takes place and, then much later, if it improves the sport. Because sometimes, more is just more.”

Indeed, the idea that “more is better” permeates many human enterprises starting with how big a serving of pie a la mode one would like after dinner.  In many cases, more is actually better; when you get a promotion at work and it comes with a 10% raise, your life is probably going to be better than it would be getting the promotion without the raise.  But Molinaro is right in this circumstance.

When I look at the landscape of college football for this year, I have seen every one of the teams ranked in the Top Ten at the end of the season play plenty of football – – except for UCF which I have only seen play about one-quarter of one game.  I cannot make a pronouncement on UCF’s potential to win an expanded CFP because I don’t have a basis for judging if they belong in the Top Ten nationally.  And, by the way, neither do the UCF acolytes in the Orlando area.

However, with regard to the other teams in the rankings, I really do not believe that teams ranked from #7 through #15 would have a chance to run a tournament gauntlet and become national champions.  Here are the teams in that ranking – omitting UCF:

• Michigan (10-2)
• Washington (9-3)
• Florida (9-3)
• LSU (9-3)
• Penn State (9-3)
• Washington State (10-2)
• Kentucky (9-3)
• Texas (9-3)

The problem with expanding the CFP is where to stop.  If a committee has to draw a line somewhere among that grouping of teams, there will be as much controversy then as there is now drawing the line between Number 4 and Number 5.  Yes, there will be more college football games that are interesting but expanding the CFP will not eliminate the controversy and the claims of exclusion by a team just below the cut line.

For proof of that, consider March Madness which invites 68 teams to the party…

NFL Commentary

Notwithstanding what is about to follow here, I am not going to use Bob Molinaro to write this entire rant for me.  However, he did have a very cogent insight in a recent column that fits well here:

“Not the fix: Remember when everybody was calling for the NFL to hire full-time game officials? Well, the league has 24 this season. Why, then, does the officiating appear to be 24 times worse?”

I don’t know that the officiating appears to be 24 times worse this year than before, but it certainly is no better than it has been.  The reason for that is pretty clear to me.  These comments come from someone who never officiated football but who did officiate basketball for 37 years.

• In the off-season, the only things an official can “improve upon” are knowledge of the rules and officiating mechanics.  Those improvements come from studying the rule book and from watching instructional videos and game tapes.
• Calling an actual game requires a thorough understanding of the rules.  Calling an actual game also demands that the official be in the right place at the right time to have a real chance to see the play he needs to call.  That second demand only comes from calling a real game – and here is a news flash – there are no real NFL games between the Super Bowl in February and the start of the Exhibition Season in August.
• I am not denigrating rule studying and film study for officials; to the contrary, those are essential elements of developing competent officials.  What I am saying is that they are necessary but not sufficient to develop competent officials.

When NFL teams fade into the bottom levels of the league, the most common way for them to try to elevate their status is a housecleaning.  This involves firing the coach and the coaching staff and maybe the GM too; it involves releasing a bunch of players and getting new ones from the draft and from free agency and – in some cases – from the scrap heap to start the reconstruction process.  The Niners, the Raiders and the Bills have begun such a process.  It is certainly not completed and there is no certainty that any of the three “reincarnated teams” will be dominant in the NFL at any point in the future.  But they are on that path…

I think there are several other teams in the NFL that ought to consider that mode of operation:

• Bengals:  Marvin Lewis had the Bengals in or around the playoffs from 2011 through 2015 after taking over the team in 2003 when the franchise was little more than a punchline.  However, in the past 3 seasons the Bengals have receded to the mid-bottom of the league.  Yes, there have been injuries; but the problem with the team is lack of discipline on the field and to many players who used to flash talent on the field but are now just aging has-beens.  Is Marvin Lewis the guy to breathe life into the franchise once again?  He did it once but that was a long time ago…
• Broncos:  This one is pretty basic.  The Broncos need a competent QB and so far, John Elway has been singularly unsuccessful in finding a competent young one.  Case Keenum is not that competent young one.  Neither are these young QBs taken in the John Elway Era.  (Chad Kelly, Paxton Lynch, Trevor Siemien, Zac Dysart, Brock Osweiler, Tim Tebow and Tom Brandstater)
• Cardinals:  Maybe the Cards tried to kickstart the motor last year when Carson Palmer and Bruce Arians left town and Steve Wilks was hired and Josh Rosen was drafted.  The problem is that the Cardinals show little life and a minimal level of competence on offense.  The team is last in yards gained per game on offense and scores about 14 points per game.  If the braintrust in Arizona thought they rebooted the franchise last year, they need to take a very long look at what has been accomplished this year and ask if they are willing to continue down that road.
• Jags:  They say that defense wins championships – – but not by itself.  There must be a semblance of scoring potential if a great defense is going to prevail.  The Jags came close to the Super Bowl last year with an excellent defense and no real offense.  This year, the offense was even worse, and the defense simply could not hold up.  Do the Jags have the right coaching staff and front office?  The pedigrees say that they do but the assembled roster on the field says there is a problem somewhere.  [Aside:  If I got the NFL’s “dead money” rule figured out correctly, Blake Bortles will cost the Jags $16.5M against the cap next year when they cut him at the end of this year.  After Bortles’ performance in 2017, who agreed to that deal in the last off-season?]  The Jags need a QB even worse than the Broncos do, and the Jags need a lot less “nonsense” from young players who seem to need recognition as “social media provocateurs” than recognition as on-field champions.

Some might argue that the Bucs, Lions and Jets belong on this list too.  I agree that they have lots of room for improvement, but each has some reason not to be on a par with the teams above.

• The Bucs have a decent offense, but their defense has let the team down more than a few times this year.  I think the defense can be improved and that will make the team competitive if not excellent.  If, however, the Jameis Winston Era in Tampa is demmed to be over by the Bucs’ front office, then I would agree that the Bucs belong on the list above.
• The Lions have a new coach and they have a franchise QB who is better than any QB available to any of the teams on the list above.  Matthew Stafford is indeed overpaid, but a competent front office and coaching staff can build around him.  The Lions are a historically futile franchise, but I would let the current “change of direction” run its course for a while longer.  The thing that would give me pause is that coaches from the Bill Belichick tree have tended to underperform when they go elsewhere – and Matt Patricia is from that tree…
• The Jets have a good young QB who needs developing.  They also need a significant upgrade in the cadre of folks who are going to catch the balls that he throws at them.  That is on the GM – – and remember, he is the guy who thought Christian Hackenberg was a second-round pick just a couple of years ago.  The NY tabloids want Todd Bowles run out of town on a rail.  I think that is uncalled for; the team has been out of serious contention for about a month and he still has the team playing hard – even when they lose.  To me, that is the sign of a good coach not an incompetent one.

Last week, the Cowboys could have clinched the NFC East with a win over the Colts.  That did not happen in large part because the Cowboys were shut out in that game.  I still think the Cowboys will make the playoffs, but they will have to play at least one road game there and the team is only 2-5 on the road…  The Colts’ defense is emerging as a top-shelf unit; they shut down Amari Cooper and Ezekiel Elliott in last week’s game.

In another game with playoff implications last week, the Vikes laid an ass-kicking on the Dolphins 41-17.  Speaking of teams that are not road warriors, the Dolphins are now 1-10 in their last 11 road games.

The Ravens ran the ball down the Bucs’ collective throats for 242 yards in a convincing win.

The Bears beat the Packers by a TD last week clinching the NFC North title and eliminating the Packers from the playoffs.  The defense prevailed sacking Aaron Rodgers 5 times in the game.

The Seahawks’ playoff drive hit a speed bump in SF last week; the Niners won 26-23 in OT.  I said it could be a sandwich game for the Seahawks and it certainly appeared as if their heads were not in this game; Seattle committed 14 penalties for 149 yards.

The Steelers beat the Pats to snap a 3-game losing streak and maintain their half-game lead in the AFC North race.  The Steelers unveiled rookie RB, Jaylen Samuels (5th round pick from NC State), who gained 142 yards on the ground in the game.

The Eagles kept their mathematical hopes for a playoff berth alive beating the Rams by a TD last week.  [Aside:  I got this game all wrong; I said the Rams were going “to truck the Eagles”.  Not so…]  Nick Foles and Alshon Jeffrey hooked up for 160 yards in this game.

The Falcons indeed trucked the Cards 40-14.  The Falcons’ defense got 7 sacks in this game.  Since the Falcons D-line is not manned by a bunch of future HoF inductees, this reflects on the quality of the Cards’ OL very badly.  See above…

The Bills beat the Lions 13-12.  The Lions missed a PAT and a field goal from inside the 40 yardline and lost the game by a point.  That is the essence of “Lion-hood”; that is why I said above that the Lions are a “futile franchise”; they do this sort of thing way too frequently.

The Raiders lost to Bengals by 2 TDs.  Here is how the Raiders began the game on their first 5 possessions – – 3 punts and 2 lost fumbles.  That is not exactly showing up ready to play.

The Skins beat Jags in a game that was as pleasant to watch as a root canal.  Josh Johnson was the superior QB on the field as opposed to Cody Kessler.  That is like Sneezy announcing that he is the tallest of the Seven Dwarfs.

Two weeks ago, the Giants scored 40 points against the Skins.  The Giants scored ZERO points last week against the Titans.  Titans’ RB, Derrick Henry, carried 33 times for 170 yards in the game.  In the last two games Henry has gained 408 yards rushing.

The Browns beat the Broncos by a point last week.  It must have been an epiphany for the oddsmakers in Las Vegas because they installed the Browns as a 7-point favorite over the Bengals this week.  The win was fueled by 100 yards rushing by Nick Chubb.  Raise your hand if you ever heard of Freddie Kitchens more than a month ago.  Since he took over as the OC in Cleveland – – when the much more recognizable and heralded Todd Haley was shown the door – – the Browns have won 4 games and Baker Mayfield has looked the way an overall #1 pick is supposed to look.

NFL Games This Week:

If the Chargers win out and KC loses one of its last two games, the Chargers will have home field advantage throughout the AFC Playoffs.  The chargers home field is the Stub Hub Center – a soccer field that normally seats 27,000 people but could be expanded to 32,000.  The Chargers have not been successful in selling out that venue for the last two years; many of their games have been in front of “home crowds” where half the fans were wearing the opponents’ colors.  If the AFC Championship Game is played there, it will make for some interesting crowd shots – – or if the NFL would prefer the lack of crowd shots.

The Raiders/Broncos game on Monday night could be last game in Oakland for the team given the lawsuit the City of Oakland filed and the terms of the Raiders’ lease for the Oakland Coliseum.  Look for ESPN to milk that angle from start to finish because the game is not going to have any import on the outcome of the season.  And as they milk that angle, please recognize that it is not nearly the whole story.

• The city is losing its franchise.
• Those fans in the Black Hole are losing their team – – for the second time.
• The last home game is against a division rival meaning that the peace and joy of the season are unlikely to be widespread in the stands.
• It is Christmas Eve and any of the folks in the stands who have kids ought to be home with those kids on that night.

(Sat. Afternoon) Washington at Tennessee – 10 (37):  The Skins’ run defense has deteriorated as the season went on and Titans’ RB, Derrick Henry, has become more effective as a runner as the season went on.  If those trends continue, Henry should dominate this game.  If for some reason you find I necessary to watch this game, keep your eye on Titans’ defensive lineman, Jurrell Casey; he is the best defensive lineman no one knows anything about.

(Sat. Evening) Baltimore at Chargers – 4 (43):  The Chargers are 10-1 in their last 11 games; the Ravens are in that last AFC wildcard slot for now, but a loss would not do their chances any good.  I almost made this the Game of the Week but since the Chargers are in the playoffs no matter what, I backed off that choice.  The Ravens win by running the ball and the Chargers’ run defense is not the team’s long suit.  I think this game will be low scoring; and in those games, I prefer to take the points.  Ergo, I’ll take the Ravens plus the points – – even on the road.

Tampa at Dallas – 7 (48):  The Bucs’ offense has sputtered in the past couple of weeks; that is not good news for a team whose defense is pretty bad.  The real weakness for the Bucs is run defense and with Ezekiel Elliott in the Cowboys’ backfield, that should be a fatal flaw.

Buffalo at New England – 13.5 (44.5):  The Pats have lost 2 in a row and are still not guaranteed to be the AFC East champs.  That should change at the end of this game – – but 13.5 points is a whole lot to give.  The Pats are 6-0 at home this year; I do not think the Bills can win outright, but I am not ready to lay down any coin of the realm on this game with that spread.

Atlanta – 3.5 at Carolina (43.5):  At the start of the week, the Panthers were a 3-point favorite here.  Then came the announcement that Cam Newton was being shut down for the year with his shoulder injury – which was pretty obvious to anyone who watched the Panthers play over the past month or so.  The Panthers’ starting QB will be Taylor Heinicke whose college career was spent at Old Dominion.  The Falcons have given me no reason to trust them as road favorites this year and the Panthers are nothing but a huge question mark in this game.  Watch if you must, but no wagering, please…

Jax at Miami – 3.5 (38.5):  What is there about the Dolphins’ offense to like?  What is there about the Jags’ offense to like?  What is there that would make me tune into this game?  It was a contender for the Dog-Breath Game of the Week but lost out in the final analysis.

Giants at Indy – 9.5 (47):  Which incarnation of the Giants’ team is on the charter flight to Indy?  Is it the one that scored 40 against the Skins or the one that was shut out by the Titans?  By the same token, the Colts’ defense has been asserting itself recently and they shut out the Cowboys last week.  My guess is that the Colts will commit the defense to stopping Saquon Barkley and if they can keep him in check, the Giants pose little threat.  The Colts have won 7 of their last 8 games and need this game to stay in the middle of the AFC chase for the second wild card slot.

Houston at Philly – 1.5 (46):  The spread began the week with the Texans as 1.5-point favorites but that did not last long. I think this is The Game of the Week because the game is vital to both teams.  The Eagles will be eliminated from the playoff chase with a loss; the Texans’ hold on a playoff bye will be dealt a severe blow.  If the Eagles are to win here, their front four will need to dominate a sub-par Texans’ offensive line and keep Deshaun Watson in check.  The game ought to be fun to watch…

Minnesota – 6 at Detroit (42):  The Vikes were impressive last week dominating the Dolphins and the Lions are – – well, they are the Lions.  However, I am not sure I trust the Vikes enough to make them a 6-point road favorite against a division opponent.  After all, the Vikes are only 2-4-1 straight up this year on the road.  Last week, the Vikes pass defense was excellent holding Ryan Tannehill to 108 yards passing (11 for 24 overall).

Green Bay – 3 at Jets (47):  The Jets are 2-5 at home this year; that is hardly impressive.  However, the Packers are 0-7 on the road this year; that is even worse.  [Aside, the Packers are only 1-5-1 against the spread on the road so that is not a whole lot better.]  Neither team has anything to play for, but I like the Jets’ defense as the better defense here and the Jets are at home and getting points.  I’ll take the Jets plus those points please.

Cincy at Cleveland – 10 (47.5):  As noted above, the spread opened the week at 7 points, but money has been coming in on Cleveland all week long.  I’ll be surprised to see the line go higher – – but then again, I am already surprised to see the Browns as a double-digit favorite over anyone.  The Browns’ offense has been improved recently; the Bengals’ offense is crippled by the losses of Andy Dalton and AJ Green.  The Browns’ defense has been steadily improving this season; the Bengals defense has been regressing.  I said above that the Bengals may need to start a rebuilding program.  If the in-state rivals – the Browns – were to blow the Bengals out here, that might be the impetus to get the Bengals to decide to do it.  Purely a hunch, but I think the defenses will keep the offenses in check; I like the game to stay UNDER.

Rams – 14.5 at Arizona (44):  You can find the Rams favored by as many as 16 points at one Internet sportsbook this morning.  Not only is that a huge spread; that is a huge spread against a home team.  The Cards are indeed miserable, and the Rams need a game to get themselves right again.  This is that game; if the Rams stumble here, they are going to have plenty of doubts come playoff time.  I said I thought the Rams would truck the Eagles last week and I was dead wrong.  Clearly, I am going to demonstrate that I do not learn from experience.  I think the Rams will truck the Cardinals this week.  But I would not bet on it…

Chicago – 4 at SF (43):  The Bears are the NFC North champs; they are in the playoffs.  Will they be fully engaged in this game against a team that is 4-10 and going nowhere this year?  The Niners beat the Seahawks last week when – maybe – the Seahawks did not take the game as seriously as possible (see above).  This game might be more interesting than the team records would indicate.

Pittsburgh at New Orleans – 6 (53):  I thought about this as a possible Game of the Week because the Steelers need the game to stay atop the AFC North and the Saints are gunning for playoff home field advantage.  But I backed off that.

(Sun. Nite) KC – 2.5 at Seattle (54.5):  The Seahawks are much better at home than on the road and this is a big game for both teams.

• Since 2012 the Seahawks are 42-12-0 straight up at home
• Since 2012, the Seahawks are 33-20-1 against the spread at home.

This game was a serious contender for Game of the Week.  The Seahawks are unlikely to win a shootout game with the Chiefs, so I expect them to run the ball as much as possible to limit the number od Chiefs’ possessions.  If they can do that and if they avoid turnovers, the Seahawks can win this game straight up; if they get into a scoring-fest, they will probably lose out – even at home.  I like the Seahawks as a home underdog here because of their defense and their ability to run the football; I’ll take those points.

(Mon. Nite) Denver – 3 at Oakland (43):  Neither team has anything to play for; I doubt that the players, coaches and officials would all prefer to be home with their families on Christmas Eve instead of being here.  Sentiment about the Oakland Coliseum aside, this is The Dog-Breath Game of the Week.

Finally, Brad Rock had this observation in the Deseret News recently:

“Chargers’ quarterback Philip Rivers and wife Tiffany are expecting their ninth child.

“They say they’re thrilled with the news, but many have to make cuts before finalizing their 53-child roster.”

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

 

 

It has been a while since I spent a lot of time commenting on horseracing.  At one point in US history, horseracing, boxing and baseball dominated the sports landscape.  Over the past 3 or 4 decades, boxing and horseracing have gone into eclipse; baseball remains popular, but folks wonder if short-attention spanned millennials will keep the fan base as large as it is.

Two things contributed significantly to the popularity of horseracing in the US in the 20^th century:

1. The racetrack was the only place outside of Las Vegas or Reno where one could legally make a wager.
2. There were a manageable number of significant races sprinkled around the calendar and all the best horses showed up to try to win them.  Today, there are so many stakes races at so many tracks on just about every weekend of the year that the best horses can effectively dodge one another most of the time.

The legalization of sports betting as a result of the Supreme Court decision declaring PASPA unconstitutional may give horseracing a boost in popularity.  Racetracks have an infrastructure in place to handle wagering and to handle large amounts of cash; they do not have to build a new “casino” to accomplish that status.  That is why in many of the States where sports betting is beginning to spread, racetracks are early venues for bettors to get their action down on games.  This may be a short-term fix for racetracks because it appears that one of the directions for sports wagering is to do it all on mobile phones with a variety of apps.

In any event, the immediate uptick in racetrack fortunes has generated some “investment interest” for the short term.  After a 4-year period of darkness, Colonial Downs in New Kent County, VA will reopen for live racing in 2019.  There will be 15 days of live racing in August and September; the folks who will run this enterprise, Colonial Downs Group, has committed to invest $300M in the facility and the staging of the races.  The expectation is that Colonial Downs will create 800 new jobs for that part of the Commonwealth.

I hope these folks succeed – but I have a significant doubt.  It is the same doubt that was in my mind the day the State regulators decided to put the one-and-only racetrack in the State in New Kent County.  It is not the best venue for a racetrack.  New Kent County is between Richmond and Williamsburg; it is not a population center; it is not a part of Virginia where the folks living there have lots of disposable income to spend on racing.  Data:

• The population of Richmond – about 30 miles from the track – is 220,000.  If you draw the circle wide enough, the Richmond Metro Area has a population of just over 1 million.
• In Northern Virginia there are lots more people (1.1 million in Fairfax County alone) and these are some of the counties with the highest average income per year in the entire US.  From my home in Falls Church, VA to Colonial Downs is a drive of about 125 miles on a VERY heavily traveled portion of Interstate 95; it’s about a 2 hour drive each way for me to attend racing there.
• Another major metro area in Virginia is the Tidewater Region made up of Hampton Roads, Newport News, Virginia Beach and Norfolk.  The Metro Region there has about 1.7 million residents.  Colonial Downs is 65-75 miles away from this population center on a crowded portion of Interstate 64; I would guess that it is a 90-minute drive each way to get to the track.

There were lots of folks in the State Legislature who opposed allowing pari-mutuel betting in Virginia; when they lost that battle, they seemed to turn their attention to locating the track in as disadvantageous a place as possible.  They did not quite succeed in that endeavor; after all the Great Dismal Swamp in southeastern VA would clearly have been a worse venue, but they did pick a place where the track would struggle to survive – as it has since it opened for the first time in 1997.

The other piece of investment news related to horseracing is also in this eastern part of the US close to where I live.  Several years ago, there was a study done that said it would take $300M to renovate and upgrade Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, site of the Preakness every May.  I said back then that I could not imagine anyone investing that kind of money in a facility that sits in the neighborhood that I have to drive through to get to the track; several Baltimore residents challenged that assertion and said that the area was ripe for gentrification.

Well, the track and the facility were never upgraded much beyond a new coat of paint here and there.  I described Pimlico as an upholstered toilet in the past; from all reports that label is still appropriate.  And now there is a new study…

It seems as if the price tag for upgrading Pimlico to the point where the Preakness can continue to be contested there has gone up; now the estimated cost is $424M.  [Aside:  Odds on the project coming in at cost or below cost are 99-1 at a minimum.]  The folks who own Pimlico also own Laurel Race Course about 30 miles away.  Those folks have been spending money to upgrade Laurel for about 10 years now and they are not particularly interested in also spending big bucks to upgrade another nearby facility that is threadbare to say the least.  The owners say that if there is public money available to do the Pimlico “spiffing up” that would be just fine with them.  The mayor of Baltimore has already announced that “state money” – probably via the Maryland Racing Authority would have to be part of this project.

And so, the dance continues…  The track owners are happy to keep investing in Laurel Race Course which was a much nicer facility than Pimlico was when they made the decision to work on Laurel and keep Pimlico as its stepchild.  [Aside:  Racetracks sit on large tracts of land and Pimlico is inside the Baltimore city limits.  If indeed that neighborhood is “ready for gentrification” that land tract may be a whole lot more valuable without stables and a grandstand on it.  Just saying…]

I do not think that either of these happenings/infusions of capital indicate the resurgence of horseracing in the US.  Nor do I think that these racetrack facilities are going to be centers of sports wagering in the long term.  But for now, there is an uptick of interest in track facilities – – so long as they are more inviting than the Black Hole of Calcutta.

Finally, Scott Ostler of the SF Chronicle posed an interesting question there several weeks ago:

“Hey, Jim Morrison of The Doors. What’s a ‘mire’? If there’s no time to wallow in the mire, can we just wade in it?”

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

 

 

Yesterday’s rant had not been up on the website for more than an hour when my phone rang.  A former colleague who has retired to a more southerly climate where football is king greeted me and immediately told me that I should not worry about the spending habits of MLB GMs.  After all, he reasoned, MLB management has been too stupid to bargain themselves a salary cap into their CBAs meaning that spending stupid amounts of money is commonplace in the sport.  To his mind, baseball payrolls are often used as ways for old and rich male owners of MLB teams to signal to other rich male owners of MLB teams how large their male genitalia are.

Then he told me to go and check out the highest paid QBs in the NFL this year to see how they are doing.  I asked him to give me a hint and he gave me the following names; I have filled in some details surrounding those names:

• Derrick Carr:  He is in the second year of a 6-year deal that could be worth as much as $125M; his cap number for 2018 is $25M.  The Raiders stink; it is only minimally Carr’s fault that they stink but he has done little to “elevate” the mediocre players around him even to the level of mediocrity.
• Kirk Cousins:  He is in the first year of a 3-year deal that is guaranteed to be worth $84M; his cap number for 2018 is $24M.  The Vikes have not been dominant this year, but they are currently in as the NFC second wildcard team.  If they win out, they are guaranteed to be in the playoffs.
• Jimmy Garoppolo:  He is in the first year of a 6-year deal that could be worth as much as $137.5M; his cap number for 2018 is $37M.  The Niners’ miserable season cannot be blamed on Garoppolo who has been on IR since early in the season.
• Aaron Rodgers:  He is in the first year of a 4-year extension that might run for 6 years by mutual option; for the 4-year deal the contract value is $75M fully guaranteed; his 2018 cap number is $21M.  The Packers are not making the playoffs and have been less than fearsome this year at 5-8-1.
• Matt Ryan:  He is in the first year of a 5-year deal that could be worth as much as $150M with $94.5M of that guaranteed.  The Falcons have been a huge disappointment this year despite Ryan’s efforts; the Falcons have been injured and have not had their “first string guys” available at the same time very often this year.
• Matthew Stafford:  He is in the second year of a 5-year deal that could be worth as much as $135M; his cap number for 2018 is $26.5M.  The Lions have been no factor this year just as they were not a factor last year.

My former colleague says that the NFL GMs are too stupid to realize that a salary cap prevents them from spending stupid amounts of money but that it does not absolve them of the stupidity of assigning so much value to the QB that it is not possible to afford to build a solid roster around that QB.  Other than the Vikes and Cousins on that list above, no other team is at .500 for the year – – and the Vikes are merely a half-game over .500.

The NFL salary cap for 2018 is $177.2M; just for fun, I will round that off to $180M to make the math here simpler.

• If your QB has a 2018 cap number of $30M, you are committing 16% of your allowable salary to the QB.  That means the other 52 guys – plus replacements you have to bring in as the season unfolds – can only consume 84%.  Look at that disparity on a per player basis.

Roster building is more of an art than it is a science.  But there is a math component to all of this and the math seems to say that roster building is much more of a salary balancing act than a “throw the money at a single QB” act.  With advanced analytics folks moving into positions of authority in NFL teams, how long might it be before one of them comes up with an algorithm to optimize salary distribution for teams?

Moving on …  What’s in a name? Well, there is an NFL coach who might give us an insight into that question.

• Matt Kafka is the QB coach for the KC Chiefs and he has accrued a lot of credit for the development of Patrick Mahomes there.  My former colleague told me – after chastising me about my off-the-mark views of MLB spending and NFL mismanagement of the salary cap – that he thinks the Jets need to clean out their coaching staff and to get Matt Kafka away from the Chiefs to work with Sam Darnold.  [Aside:  I am not nearly as sour on Todd Bowles as others seem to be; my former colleague thinks he should have been fired at the end of last year.  Whatever …]
• Franz Kafka – sort of a namesake for Matt Kafka – was a writer whose characters always seemed to be dealing with alienation, isolation and fantastical surroundings.  If Matt Kafka went to the Jets and the Jets’ organization were to continue on the path it has been on for about the last 40 years, you would have someone named Kafka in a Kafkaesque circumstance.  Observing Matt Kafka in those circumstances might be like looking at a sociological/psychological Petri dish.

My former college did not find that even mildly amusing.  After all, he is a Jets’ fan…

Finally, Brad Dickson – formerly with the Omaha World-Herald – had this Grinch-like message for children in this Holiday Season:

“Kids, think about it. The Postal Service can’t get a letter delivered across town – how the hell is it gonna get your letter to Santa to the North Pole?”

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

 

 

The MLB Winter Meetings came and went; given the high profile of some free agents this winter, most folks assess that “nothing much happened” during the week in Las Vegas.  I tend to agree with that kind of analysis and I want to offer a possible basis for the outcome of “nothing much happening” there.

I kept flipping over to MLB Network all during the meetings to see if there was any “breaking news” or “really hot insider info” to be had.  There was not, and I began to feel badly for the MLB Network folks on camera on the set.  They soldiered on giving us reasons why this free agent would be a good fit with that team or possibly some other team.  Advanced analytics stats were thrown around like confetti after a Super Bowl game.  It became painful to have to watch all those folks sit there and find new ways to say:

• “Ain’t nuthin happenin’ here…”

At one point they had as a guest some random guy in the personnel department for some team and they were fantasizing about what might happen if all of a sudden, the dam burst and a gaggle of free agents signed on with new teams over a short period of time.  It was such wishful thinking that I started to think that the MLB Network hosts deserved to win an Emmy for this coverage.  The basis for the award could be:

• Not grabbing a half dozen MLB GMs by the throat demanding that they all do something – anything – even if it’s wrong in order to break the monotony.

And it was in that formulation for my imaginary Emmy that I recognized why it was that nothing was happening.  Maybe, too many GMs remembered some of the things that had gotten done with free agents in the past that turned out to be so wrong.  Maybe caution was the order of the day.  Probably the biggest signing event was Patrick Corbin signing with the Nats.

• The deal is reported to be 6 years and $140M.
• Corbin is 29 years old; at the end of this deal he will be 35.
• In the late years of the deal, he may indeed still be a stud – – or not…

That is an example – albeit not a terrible example – of the inherent risk involved in signing a player to a really long-term deal.  In far too many cases, the out-years for that deal become albatrosses around the necks of the teams.  I have done zero research into expensive free agent deals in baseball history that have blown up in the face of the teams that did the signing, but I have recalled some long-term deals given to active players who are hauling down big bucks currently and into the near future without performing anywhere near what one would expect.  I will list them here in descending order of the value of the contract:

• Albert Pujols – 10 years and $240M.  The contract was signed in 2-12 and runs through 2021.  Pujols was perhaps THE dominant player in the game in 2010-2012 but he is now a shell of player.  He hit .245 with an OPS of .700 last year.  The Angels will pay him $28M in 2019, $29M in 2020 and then $30M in 2021.
• Prince Fielder – 9 years $214M.  The contract was signed in 2012 and ran though 2020.  Fielder was productive in the first several years but had to retire after cervical fusion surgery in 2016.  Reports said that he was still owed $96M on that guaranteed contract.
• Jayson Heyward – 8 years $184M.  This contract was signed in 2016 and runs through 2023.  Last year was Heyward’s best with the Cubs hitting .270 with an OPS of .731.  There are still 5 years to go here with about $115M still to be paid out.
• Chris Davis – 7 years $161M:  This contract was signed in 2016 and runs through 2022.  There is still $92M left to pay out on this contract and in 2018 Davis hit .168 with an OPS of .539.
• Homer Bailey – 6 years and $105M.  This is a particular favorite of mine because it is a cautionary tale for signing pitchers long term.  The deal was signed in 2014 and will likely expire after next year (there is a mutual option in the contract for 2020).  From 2015 through 2018, Bailey has started a total of 46 games.  If my calculation is correct, his ERA over that 4-year span was 6.22; his record last season was 1-14.

I’m sure that data mining would produce other examples of long-term deals that have come to bite teams and GMs in the butt as badly as the ones above, but I think you get my point here.  Maybe the Winter Meetings were dull and boring for good reasons…

When March Madness rolls around and the Selection Committee has to include one team at the expense of another team – causing weeping and gnashing of teeth in the land – one of the factors considered is “strength of schedule”.  That is hard to quantify but let me present to you two “out of conference” schedules for two small Catholic schools to demonstrate what I mean by the eyeball test for such a criterion.

First is the “out-of-conference schedule” to date for Georgetown:

1. Maryland-Eastern Shore
2. Central Connecticut State
3. Illinois
4. Loyola-Marymount
5. South Florida
6. Campbell
7. Richmond
8. Liberty
9. Syracuse
10. SMU

Now consider the “out-of-conference schedule” to date for Gonzaga:

1. Idaho St.
2. Texas Southern
3. Texas A&M
4. Illinois
5. Arizona
6. Duke
7. North Dakota St.
8. Creighton
9. Washington
10. Tennessee
11. UNC

If you cannot see the difference in the quality of the opponents for those two schedules, then you ought not be allowed to complain about any decision made by the Selection Committee in March.

Finally, Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times found an interesting tidbit for comment out of the MLB Winter Meetings:

“The Mariners’ Jerry Dipoto, despite coming down seriously ill during the Baseball Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, nonetheless pulled off a three-team swap from his hospital bed.

“It’s believed to be the first deal in MLB history that’s contingent on a GM passing his physical.”

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

 

 

There are famous intersections in the US such as Hollywood and Vine, Haight and Ashbury, Addison and Clark, 42^nd St. and Broadway – – and of course This Way and That Way.  Increasingly frequently, we are seeing another intersection these days, the intersection of sports and politics.  As much as I might want for sports and politics to exist on different and parallel existential planes such that they would not intersect, they do.  So, let me try to comment on a few of those sorts of hotspots this morning.

I will begin with the most outrageous example.  As President Trump is casting about looking for someone who is willing to be his Chief of Staff on a permanent basis, someone stepped up and volunteered for the job.  Jose Canseco – who previously offered up his services to the President as Chairman of the Federal Reserve – said in a Tweet that he would be happy to take the job on.  Moreover, in that Tweet, he said that he already has a “secret reorg plan” in mind.  Normally, at this point I would pose the rhetorical question:

• What could possibly go wrong?

I shall refrain from asking that today because I fear there is a metric ton of stuff that could go wrong with that tandem leading the “management” of the White House.

In Phoenix, the Suns’ owner, Robert Sarver, threatened to move the franchise to Las Vegas or Seattle if the citizenry there does not approve in a referendum several hundreds of millions of dollars for upgrading the arena where the Suns play their home games.  There is a touch of irony here in that Seattle lost its NBA team in large part because the citizenry there did not cough up taxpayer dollars to build a new/modern arena about 10 years ago.

In Oakland, the city fathers have filed a lawsuit against the Raiders and the NFL as a whole asserting that the process used by the team and the league to approve the changing venue of the franchise violates the anti-trust laws.  Part of a statement from the attorney representing the City of Oakland included this sentence:

“Before a team is ripped from the fabric of a community, there needs to be a valid reason other than simply money.”

With all due respect to the barrister speaking here, he seems to miss a fundamental point.  Where the NFL is involved, there is no reason other than money that has any weight in any decision.

Notwithstanding that statement from the attorney representing the city, the lawsuit does not seek to bar the team from leaving.  Instead, the suit seeks damages and one basis for the suit is the assertion that the relocation fee paid by the Raiders to the other teams/owners in the league is a de facto bribe designed to get the other owners to approve the relocation.  The suit alleges that the Raiders and the other 31 owners have formed an illegal cartel.  This is not the first time the Raiders have been involved in a lawsuit related to relocation.  When Al Davis took the team from Oakland to LA in the early eighties, it was the Raiders who alleged that the NFL’s rules for approving a franchise move were too severe and restricted competition.  The Raiders prevailed in that action; here they appear to be on the other side of the argument.

And in Chapel Hill, NC, many athletes at UNC have signed an open letter opposing the school’s plans to house a statue known as Silent Sam because Silent Sam is a monument to soldiers of the Confederacy and the statue was placed there by the United Daughters of the Confederacy more than 100 years ago.  Protesters have toppled the statue from its base and the university wants to construct a building to house the bronze casting elsewhere on the campus.  Athletes from a wide range of sports at the school have joined in the protest against that plan.

Players on the UNC men’s basketball team are part of the group to sign the open letter.  That is important because men’s basketball is the most important sport at the school and because coach Roy Williams has backed the move by the players to take a position on the matter.  Here is how Coach Williams explained the situation:

“I talked to our guys about it and told them if they feel strongly about it, go right ahead.  I think it’s their individual rights and I think they should [express themselves] if they feel strongly about it.”

Many college coaches are characterized as “control freaks”.  As often as not, that label is perfectly appropriate.  Roy Williams in this case seems to be treating his players as adults who can and should form their own opinions on this matter and then should do whatever their conscience tells them to do.  That is hardly the essential behavior of a “control freak”.

So much for the intersection of sports and politics this morning…  There is an adage in the newspaper business that the reporter and/or the newspaper is not the story; the reporter and the paper are the story tellers.  That is a noble ideal; I would say that it is not universally adhered to in current day journalism.  I mention that because the Associated Press has named Chicago Bears’ coach Matt Nagy as the NFL Coach of the Year late last week.  I find that interesting on two levels:

1. The existence of the award, the announcement of the award and the maintenance of the history of the award seems to make the Associated Press a central part of the story.  Ostensibly, the story is about Coach Nagy, but the Associated Press is squarely in the spotlight too.
2. This award was announced with 3 games left to play in the NFL regular season.  One does not declare the horse leading a race at the quarter pole as the winner nor is the MLB Rookie of the Year announced in the middle of August.  Why the hurry?  This seems to me to be akin to Time Magazine naming Hillary Clinton as the Person of the Year for 2016 sometime in September.  [Ooops…  Did I just intersect sports and politics again today?]

Let me be clear.  I have no trouble with the selection of Matt Nagy for that honor.  If I were part of the voting process, I would have voted for Nagy in first place, Anthony Lynn (Chargers) in second place and Frank Reich (Colts) in third place.  I would also have attached a note to my ballot asking why the vote had to be in before the end of the season.

Finally, since I mentioned Secretary Clinton above, here is a comment from Brad Rock in the Deseret News that includes her:

“Davidson’s football team put up huge numbers, rushing for 789 yards against San Diego – and still lost.

“Hillary Clinton is thinking, ‘Tell me about it’.”

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

 

 

Since there was a great Thursday Night Football game on the telly last night, that must mean today is Friday.  And if it’s Friday, it’s Football Friday.  [Apologies to NBC and Meet the Press.]

And by the way, if you did not see last night’s game between the Chiefs and the Chargers, check your cable listings to find out when a replay is on and record it.  Other than a few questionable calls by the officials – calls that went both ways I may add – this was a most enjoyable game from a fan’s perspective.  With the Chargers pulling the game out 29-28 with 4 seconds left to play, both teams are now 11-3 in the AFC West, but the Chiefs currently hold the tiebreaker based on a better division record.  Both teams are guaranteed a slot in the playoffs; one as the AFC West champion and the other as the first wild card team as the #5 seed in the AFC bracket.  Here are the schedules going forward:

Chiefs:

• At Seahawks
• Vs Raiders

Chargers:

• Vs Ravens
• At Broncos

NCAA Football Comments:

I refrain from commenting upon or paying close attention to most of the meaningless bowl games that will commence tomorrow with 5 such meaningless games.  They are meaningless to general college football fans; they do have significance to a few categories of individuals:

1. The bowl games are meaningful to students and alums of the participating schools if those students/alums are rabid followers of the teams’ fortunes.  If some of those folks want to use the team’s participation as the basis for a winter weekend vacation somewhere, then the game is meaningful.
2. The bowl games are meaningful to the players and their families.  Anyone who commits the time and energy to be a college football player likes playing football.  For some this will be the last game of their football career; for others it is one more audition to be selected to play at the pro level – and there are now more pro leagues than ever – and for some, it is just one more game to get the adrenaline flowing.
3. The bowl games are most meaningful to the coaches.  When a team is invited to a bowl game, that team can continue its practice schedule.  For teams that are playing tomorrow, there was no conference championship game; Arizona St. – for example – has not played since Nov. 24.  However, they have been allowed to practice since then and that gives the coaching staff an extra 3 weeks of practice time.

The college bowl game system is set up to increase the disparity between successful teams and unsuccessful teams.  The teams that were more successful in 2018 get to go to bowl games and get an extra 3-5 weeks of practice while the less successful ones simply “go to class” and hit the weight room as part of an off-season program.  If that sounds a tad perverse to you, remember that this system is set up and sanctioned by the NCAA…

Before I conclude my remarks on college football for the week, let me share two comments from Bob Molinaro in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot last week:

“Sarcasm ahead: ‘I feel I will not coach again,’ Urban Meyer said.  And, as we’ve learned, his word is gold.”

And …

“Tougher challenge: When judging the prospects of new Maryland coach Mike Locksley turning around the program, I wouldn’t pay too much attention to his success as Alabama offensive coordinator. Coordinators from the strongest programs look good for a reason — they’re working with the very best athletes. It’s a luxury Locksley won’t have with the Terps.”

NFL Comments:

The Packers beat the Falcons last week 34-20.  The Falcons scored on their first possession and then the offense went AWOL.  After that first score, here are the results of the Falcons’ next 6 possessions:’

1. Missed FG
2. Punt
3. Threw a Pick-Six
4. Punt
5. Punt
6. Punt

By the time their next possession rolled around, it was garbage time…

If you are reading this, you must have a sufficient interest in football to have already seen the so-called “Miami Miracle” ending to the Pats/Dolphins game last week.  There has been so much focus on that one play – and who was to blame on the Pats’ side of the ball for its success – that the following has received insufficient attention:

• Tom Brady threw for 358 yards with 3 TDs and 0 INTs – – AND – – the Pats blocked 2 punts – – AND – – the Pats lost the game on that final “Miami Miracle” play.
• A screenwriter for a Disney film on the football version of the Bad News Bears would not have come up with something that outrageous.

The Lions beat the Cards 17-3 last week notwithstanding the fact that the Lions’ total offense in the game was 218 yards.  Let me just say that ineptitude was on display throughout this game and leave it at that.  [Aside:  I did label this game as the Dog-Breath Game of the Week last Friday.]

Also, last week, I said that the Steelers as 9.5-point favorites tended to play down to the level of their opponents.  Well, the Steelers did just that; they not only failed to cover that spread; they lost the game straight up by 3 points and they missed two very makeable field goals from inside 40 yards in the process.  And of course, with any Steelers’ game there had to be some drama…

• Ben Roethlisberger took a hit and hurt his ribs.  He went for X-rays then returned to the sidelines but did not enter the game until the end when the Steelers needed to come from behind.
• Original explanation from Mike Tomlin was that he (Tomlin) did not want to change the flow of the game and so he kept Big Ben on the sidelines.
• Then it morphed into the fact that the X-Rays were taken on antiquated equipment and took a while to be read out.
• After that, Roethlisberger took a pain-killing shot for the injury and that shot took time to take effect.
• And in the end, the dog ate my homework…

The Steelers lead the AFC North by a half game; they have lost 3 games in a row; they face the Patriots this week and the Saints next week.  They need to change the vector heading for their season immediately because it is not pointed squarely in the direction of Dysfunction Junction.

The Niners beat the Broncos 24-20 last week dealing the Broncos’ playoff aspirations a near-fatal blow.  Remember the scene in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the knight has his arm cut off and claims it is merely a flesh wound?  Well, the Broncos may look at last week’s loss as merely a “stumbling block” but in fact it made their ability to sneak into that second wildcard slot VERY tenuous.  With this loss, the Broncos are in 10^th place in the AFC combined standings and only the top 6 make the playoffs.  This was a bad loss.

The Niners’ got an outstanding performance from George Kittle in that game; he caught 7 passes for 210 yards and 1 TD.  In case that name is not front and center in your football memory, Kittle is a tight end from Iowa drafted in the 5^th round in the 2017 NFL Draft.

The Colts stayed alive in the AFC playoff race beating the Texans 24-20 last week and snapping the Texans’ 9-game winning streak.  This game was close all the way even though the Colts put up these stats for the game:

• Colts sacked Deshaun Watson 5 times in the game
• Andrew Luck threw for 399 yards and 2 TDs
• T.Y. Hilton had 199 receiving yards

The Bears beat the Rams 15-6.  They did that by stifling – even dominating – the Rams’ offense.  The Rams could not run the ball and the Rams’ screen pass attack was marginal at best.  The Rams’ defense kept the team in the game for most of the way with 3 INTs of Mitchell Trubisky, but the offense never did get into the end zone.

NFL Games This Week:

There is a full slate of 16 games this weekend; the home team is favored in 14 of those 16 games.  The Chiefs were a home favorite last night and lost straight up.  Is that an omen for what is to come…?

(Sat Afternoon NFL Network) Houston – 7 at Jets (41.5):  The Texans lost at home last week; the Jets won on the road.  Those situations are reversed this week.  This game is important to the Texans with regard to the playoffs and the seeding in the playoffs; they can still get a BYE Week there.  The Jets are not mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, but the fact is that they are not going to make it there.  In last week’s win over the Bills, the Jets were outgained on the field; they won the game by creating turnovers.  If they are going to win here, they should probably plan to repeat that formula.  Considering that the Jets are not going to the playoffs, last week’s effort was commendable for a game so late in the season; too bad the coaching staff will get no credit in the NY tabloids for having the team motivated for that performance.  I think the Texans will win the game here, but I am leery about laying that many points with the Texans simply because they have not been a high scoring team all season long.  Only 4 of their 9 wins have been by more than a TD.

(Sat Evening NFL Network) Cleveland at Denver – 2.5 (45.5):  The Browns looked aroused and attentive last week in beating the Panthers – – or was that merely by comparison to the cratering Panthers?  The Broncos looked lethargic losing last week to the Niners.  Were those simply one-week situations or are the Browns on an upswing while the Broncos are fading?  We should see here…  I know it is mid-December but take a deep breath and consider this:

• The Browns are still mathematically alive for the AFC playoffs.

Imagine if the Browns win out and finish the year 8-7-1.  If other dominoes fall right, they could make the playoffs as the second wildcard team.  The last time the Browns did that was in 2002; Butch Davis was the coach then; the Browns have had 8 head coaches since Davis was canned.  Neither of these teams is particularly reliable but here are some trends in case you are interested:

• Broncos are 10-0 straight up in their last 10 games against the Browns
• Broncos are 8-1-1 against the spread in their last 10 games against the Browns
• Broncos are 3-7-1 against the spread in their last 11 home games
• Browns are 5-12-1 against the spread in their last 18 road games
• Browns are 4-11 against the spread in their last 15 games against teams with a losing record.

Miami at Minnesota – 7.5 (44.5):  OK, was the “Miami Miracle” last week the lighting of a fuse that will cause the Dolphins to go soaring into the playoffs?  The oddsmakers don’t think so because they like the Vikes here by more than a TD even though the Vikes only scored 7 points total last week against the Seahawks.  This game has playoff implications for both teams; neither team is “in with a win” but both teams are significantly disadvantaged by a loss.  Here is a truly oddball trend I ran across this week:

• Vikes are 4-1-1 straight up this year when the game kicks off at 1:00 PM ET.

This is an early game on Sunday…  Here are a couple other trends to consider – – or not:

• Dolphins are 2-9 against the spread in their last 11 road games.
• Dolphins are 7-3 against the spread in their last 10 games in December

The Dolphins are on the road here and it is December…

Oakland at Cincy – 3 (46):  There were several contenders involved – and I shall point them out later – but this is The Dog-Breath Game of the Week.  Did the Raiders show some vital signs last week in beating the Steelers or was that just a continuation of a Steelers’ decline for the season?  I think it was a combination of the Steelers decline plus the Steelers looking ahead to two big games down the road more than a Raiders’ emergence.  Did the Bengals show spunk staying close to the Chargers last week or was that just the Chargers looking past the Bengals to last night’s showdown with the Chiefs?  I think it was the “look-ahead factor” there.  This game could go down in a variety of ways:

• It could be a high scoring affair because neither defense is any good.
• It could wind up with a final score of 13-9 if indeed last week was a mirage for both teams.

You must have something better to do than to watch this hot mess…

Tampa at Baltimore – 7 (46):  Lamar Jackson will start at QB even though Joe Flacco has been cleared to return to the field.  The Ravens are 3-1 with Jackson as the starter and they are in the midst of a close race for the playoffs either as AFC North champs or as the second wildcard team in the AFC.  The Bucs’ defense has improved as the season unfolded but that improvement has not manifested itself on the road.  In 6 road games this year, the Bucs’ defense has surrendered 34 points or more in every one of them; the Bucs give up an average of 39.8 points per game on the road.  If that stat scares you, here is one that is even more ominous:

• The Bucs have gained 500 yards or more in 5 games this year.
• The Bucs record in those 5 games is 1-4.

I like this game to go OVER.  The Bucs can score – even on the Ravens excellent defense – and I think the Ravens will have a good offensive game here.  There are trends that favor the OVER here – but they are not the reason I like playing the Total Line here:

• Ravens have gone OVER in 8 of their last 11 games in December
• Bucs have gone OVER in 8 of their last 10 games as an underdog
• OVER is 18-7-1 for the last 26 Bucs’ road games

Your mileage may vary…

Dallas at Indy – 3 (47):  The longest winning streak in the NFL belongs to the Dallas Cowboys.  They can clinch the NFC East title with a 6^th straight win here.  Meanwhile the Colts are 7^th in the AFC – leading the Dolphins and Titans on tiebreakers – meaning that they need a win here even more than do the Cowboys.  The importance of the game made it a contender for Game of the Week.  I think the game comes down to two defensive questions:

1. Can the Cowboys’ defense keep Andrew Luck from running wild?
2. Can the Colts’ defense keep Ezekiel Elliott from running wild?

I think this game will be in doubt through the final possession.  In that case, I always prefer to take the underdog and the points, so I’ll take the Cowboys here even on the road against a desperate team.

Detroit at Buffalo – 2 (40):  The spread opened the week as a “pick ‘em” game and it has inched up to this level as the week progressed.  This game got serious consideration for the Dog-Breath Game of the Week.  Neither team is particularly relevant or interesting this year; both can make family-oriented plans for January 2019; they will not have any league-mandated commitments.  The Lions have been practicing outdoors in the Detroit weather for several weeks now; have they – for some deeply guarded reason – been pointing to this game?  If so, why?  Bills rookie QB, Josh Allen, is averaging 55 yards per game rushing in his 9 games this year.  For perspective, Bills RB, LeSean McCoy is averaging 40 yards per game in 12 games this year.

Green Bay at Chicago – 5.5 (45):  This is the oldest rivalry in the NFL; it goes back to the days when professional football was more of a curiosity than a staple in the sports world in the US.  The Packers’ offense looked more focused and engaged last week under interim coach Joe Philbin.  However, it must be noted that last week’s opposing defense was the Falcons’ defense and this week the Packers face the Bears.  I’ll be generous here and merely say that the Bears’ defense is better than the Falcons’ defense.  I believe the Bears clinch the NFC North title with a win here; the Packers playoff hopes are alive – – on life support – – in an ICU – – having received the last rites.  The Packers have won 15 of the last 17 games between these two teams and the Packers have covered the spread in 16 of their last 20 encounters with the Bears.  I think both of those trends will be reversed here.  I like the Bears to win and cover at home where they are 6-1 against the spread this year.

Tennessee at Giants – 2 (43.5):  The Titans need this game the same way the Colts and the Titans need their games to stay within hailing distance of that second wildcard slot in the AFC.  Meanwhile, the Giants have looked good over the last month begging the question:

• Where was this sort of performance in September or October?

The Titans have not been good on the road this year with a 2-5 record.  Not to worry, though; the Giants at home are merely 2-4.  In their 7 road games this year, the Titans only average 16.5 points per game.  On a neutral field, I would like the Titans but given it is a road game and the Giants are playing much better than they did early on …

Washington at Jax – 7.5 (36.5):  This was the runner-up – losing by a nose – for the Dog-Breath Game of the Week.  If you live anywhere other than the Jax area or the DC area, count your selves fortunate this week.  If you do, you will not have to watch this abomination on your cable system because no local station outside those viewing areas is going to choose to put this game on their channel.  If you think it is difficult to find Bigfoot, think about how hard it might be to find a football fan in “Peoria” who does the following on Sunday:

• He lets his fingers do the walking to call every sports bar within a 50-mile radius to see if any of them would be willing to put this game on one of their big screens because he cannot bear the thought of missing a QB throwdown between Cody Kessler and Josh Johnson.

Here is a hint:

• You are more likely to find DB Cooper than you are to find that football fan. 

The Jags do not score points; they average 16.3 points per game this year.  How can they be more than a TD favorite over anyone?  The Skins’ offense has been leaking oil from the start of the season and they are now on their 4^th starting QB for the season.  The Jags defense won a game by pitching a shutout against Andrew Luck and the Colts; if they show up and play like that, the Jags could hold the Skins to single digits even accounting for some Jags’ offensive blunders.  Here is the key to the game:

• The Skins have had trouble stopping the run in the last 5 or 6 games.  Can Leonard Fournette keep his head in the game and not somewhere out in the Xygork Nebula and pound the ball at the Skins defense 25 or 30 times?  If so, the Jags will win this game.

The Total Line here is extremely low for an NFL game in 2018.  Nevertheless, there are plenty of scenarios I can imagine where the final score is 9-6 or something close to that.  Ignore this game – – if you are fortunate enough to be able to do that.

Arizona at Atlanta – 10 (44):  This game too received serious consideration at the Dog-Breath Game of the Week.  Both teams stink; let’s get that out of the way.  One difference is that most folks expected the Cards to stink this year, but more than a few folks thought that the Falcons were going to be the NFC representative in the Super Bowl in February 2019.  That ain’t happening.  The Falcons’ defense has been awful this year; there is no way to sugar-coat that.  However, the Cards are the lowest scoring team in the NFL averaging a meager 13.7 points per game.  If the Falcons’ defense gets punked this week, the team hierarchy should arrange for an organized ass kicking for that side of the ball.  With that out of the way, I have to say that I do not understand how the Falcons that everyone has seen in 2018 can possibly be a double-digit favorite over another professional football team.  Let me do some math here:

• Assume the Falcons hold the Cards to their season average of 14 points.
• That means to cover this spread, the Falcons need to score 25 points.
• The Falcons have only reached that level 5 times in 13 outings this year.
• The last time the Falcons score 25 or more points was on November 4^th against the Skins.

Seattle – 3.5 at SF (44):  The spread here opened the week at 6 points and has eroded steadily as the week went on.  I think that is because folks recognize that this is a sandwich game for the Seahawks.  They won a tough game over the Vikes last week; they have the lowly Niners here; they just might be looking ahead to next week’s game at home against the Chiefs.  The Niners beat the Broncos last week; the Seahawks are higher on the food chain than the Broncos.  The danger for the Seahawks here – who have not yet guaranteed themselves a playoff berth – is that the Niners are not playing like roadkill as most 3-10 teams do in December.  Here are two trends that point in a similar direction:

• Seahawks are 8-3-2 against the spread this year – 2^nd best in the NFL
• Seahawks are 11-2-1 against the spread versus the Niners in their last 14 games.

I like Pete Carroll to rally the troops here and for the Seahawks to win and cover even on the road in this sandwich game.

New England – 3 at Pittsburgh (52): The Pats are one of only two road favorites this week.  This is also the only game on the card this week matching two division leaders.  For those reasons, this is The Game of the Week.  Both teams lost last week, and the Steelers have lost 3 in a row.  That loss last week to the Raiders must be the nadir of the season in Pittsburgh, right?  Earlier this year, the Steelers had a 6-game winning streak but the way they have played in these 3 losses makes that win streak seem as if it happened in the Stone Age.  The Pats have won 5 in a row over the Steelers.  The Pats are fighting for seeding in the AFC playoffs; they have not yet wrapped up the AFC East title, but that is foregone conclusion.  The Steelers could find themselves out of the playoffs if they do not win here – – because next week they play the Saints in New Orleans and that will not be a gimmee.  If you are inclined to take the Pats in this game, here are some trends that will reinforce your belief:

• Pats are 9-2 against the spread in their last 11 games in December.
• Pats are 11-4 against the spread in their last 15 games on grass.
• Steelers are 1-7 against the spread in their last 8 games in December
• Steelers are 3-8 against the spread in their last 11 games at home.

I’ll pass on this game and just watch it to enjoy it.

(Sun Nite) Philly at Rams – 11 (52):  Let me jump to the bottom line here.

• If Nick Foles comes off the bench and leads the Eagles to a win here that would mathematically keep the Eagles’ playoff hopes alive and then goes on to get them into the playoffs, I am going to suspect that there is some sort of “tripartite Dr. Faustus arrangement” among Nick Foles, Doug Pederson and Lucifer.

If you think the Eagles are going to win this one, you can find them on the Money Line at +500 or greater at various sportsbooks.  I think the Rams are going to truck the Eagles here…

(Mon Nite) New Orleans – 6.5 at Carolina (51):  The Saints are the other road favorite on the card this week and it should be noted at the outset that the Saints have the best record against the spread in the NFL this year at 10-3.  A month ago, this looked to be a major showdown game that could possibly determine the NFC South champion.  The problem is that the Panthers have not won a game since November 4^th and will need help to make the playoffs now that the division title is impossible.  I have no inside knowledge here, but it sure looks to me as if Cam Newton is playing hurt.  On the other side, Drew Brees is playing at his normal level of efficiency and effectiveness.  An interesting thing to watch in this game will be the ability – or inability – of the Panthers to run the football.  The Panthers average a very respectable 5.4 yards per rush attempt.  At the same time, the Saints defense allows a mere 3.6 yards per rush attempt.

Finally, here is a comment from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times relevant to an earlier college football game:

“ ‘Unsportsmanlike conduct … on all players … from both teams,’ announced the referee following a brawl in the Mississippi State-Ole Miss game that resulted in four players getting ejected.

“And if that didn’t stem the mayhem, officials admitted later, then it would have been … double-secret probation!”

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

 

 

The baseball season for the Baltimore Orioles officially ended on September 30, 2018; to say the season was a disaster would be an understatement.  Soon after that dreary ending, the team fired – or liberated depending on your point of view – manager Buck Showalter.  Clearly, a total rebuild would be necessary.

Fast forward to the present; skip over the approximately 10 weeks that have intervened.  The MLB General Managers held a convention/meeting; now the MLB Winter Meetings are moving along at a gallop.  The Baltimore Orioles still do not have a manager.  There was a report last weekend that the team had narrowed down their search to six people.  Two of the six have previous managerial experience and that is usually an important ingredient in this sort of a search.  However, in this case, the managerial experience must be relevant experience.

The fact is that the Orioles are going to stink like a bloated rhino carcass in the hot sun on the veldt for at least a couple of years.  Maybe those 115 losses in 2018 represented the nadir of this losing cycle; maybe not…  This is not a team that needs a master in-game tactician to eke out an extra win or three in order to stay in the playoff hunt; this is a team that needs a manager who will not get himself into a blue funk in the middle of the team’s second 6-game losing streak in a month.

And that is why the two rumored guys on the “short-list” with previous managerial experience are particularly relevant:

• Manny Acta spent 3 years at the helm for the Washington Nationals when the Nats were doormats and then 3 more years managing the Cleveland Indians when the Indians were awful.  He has been around teams that had no pretense of relevance; he would not be fazed by losing once again.  Over a total of five and a half seasons, his record is 372-518 (winning percentage of 41.7%).
• Mike Redmond spent two and a half seasons guiding the Miami Marlins.  His teams went 155-207 (winning percentage of 42.8%).  Let’s just agree that as a manager he never got used to arriving at the ballpark thinking about how his team was going to use that game on that day to get into the playoffs.

On one hand, it does not matter who the Orioles pick as their manager because the team is going to fail and after a couple of years the new manager is likely going to be kicked to the curb for specious reasons.  On the other hand, it has to be disadvantageous to go into the Winter Meetings without a manager.  When the Orioles’ brass meets with agents and or free agent players in the hotel lobby, how can there possibly be any meaningful discussions when the agent/player have no idea who will be running the clubhouse next year?

Finding a new manager should not take 10 weeks.  If that is a harbinger of the time-line for the rebuild of the Orioles’ team on the field, it is going to be a bleak time in Baltimore…

You may recall that the Oakland A’s announced their plans to build a new stadium on a waterfront location in the Bay Area a couple of weeks ago.  Before the folks in that part of the world get themselves worked into a frenzy of anticipation, there are lots of things that have to happen between artist renderings of the new facility and fans showing up at the gates with tickets for a game on that particular day.  Things do not always proceed smoothly – or even proceed at all.

Consider the situation about 2500 miles east of the Bay Area in a different Bay Area; the Tampa Bay Rays have been pursuing a new “baseball-only stadium” in “downtown Tampa” for more than a few years.  There were plans and proposals and an artist’s rendering of the stadium in a part of town known as Ybor City.  Talks with local politicians and business leaders and the citizenry were afoot; it appeared as if the Rays would find a way to play somewhere in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area other than in Tropicana Field.  Until earlier this week…

The Sporting News reported that the Rays’ stadium proposals have hit the skids.  According to the report, the Rays are committed to stay in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area but that all activities related to their new stadium proposal are abandoned – – for now.  The Rays’ lease for Tropicana field runs through the 2027 MLB season so there is plenty of time for all parties to re-engage in the Stadium Kabuki Dance-Theater in another 3 or 4 years.  That timeframe would allow the team to cite its economic woes and for the local politicians to stand firm against giveaways to billionaire owners and for the business community to do whatever seems to be expedient at the moment.

While that new stadium debate is in hiatus for the moment consider these data:

• In 2017, the Rays finished last in MLB in fans per game in the ballpark.  They drew only 15,477 per game on average.  The next lowest attendance was 18,219 per game (Oakland) which is 18% more than the Rays enjoyed.
• In 2018, the Rays finished next-to-last in MLB in fans per game.  [The tanking Miami Marlins sank to the bottom in 2018 losing almost 50% of their attendance relative to 2017.]  Despite “climbing out of the basement” in terms of average attendance, the Rays average attendance still went down.  For the 2018 season they only drew 14,259 per game; that is a drop of 8% year-over-year when the basis for the drop was the lowest average attendance for the 2017 season.

Please note that the Rays’ drop in attendance in 2018 was not because the team was awful; the Rays won 90 games last year.  Having been to the Oakland Coliseum years ago to see a baseball game, I know firsthand that the stadium is a negative factor for the A’s regarding their perennially low attendance.  I have only driven past Tropicana Field – on my way to see the Yankees play in Spring Training – so I can only say that from the outside, Tropicana Field looks a whole lot better than does the Oakland facility.

Finally, here is a note pertinent to baseball in Florida from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times:

“The Florida Marlins announced the signing of touted Cuban outfielder Victor Victor Mesa.

“Team officials can’t decide whether to start him out playing in Walla Walla or Pago Pago.”

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

 

 

There are two columns in this morning’s Washington Post that deserve comment.  The first one is by Sally Jenkins and it is inspired by an investigative report into the actions of the US Olympic Committee regarding the physical abuse of women gymnasts by Dr. Larry Nasser and the mental abuse of those young women by trainers and senior officers of the USOC.  Based on the investigative report – – 233 pages long no less – – there was everything from foot-dragging to active coverup actions by multiple folks as these abuses were ongoing.  Dr. Nasser is a monstrous child molester who will spend most if not all of the rest of his life in prison.  However, he is not the only one who needs to answer for actions taken and actions not taken over the last couple of decades.

Here is a link to Sally Jenkins’ column.  Even though you will have feelings of revulsion when you finish reading it, I suggest it is worth that discomfort.

The second column is by Kevin Blackistone and it deals with the QB situation here in Washington where the Skins have brought in two retreads to play QB in the aftermath of two QBs ending their seasons with broken legs.  There has been plenty of talk in these parts about the possibility that the Skins would bring in Colin Kaepernick to be the interim QB in lieu of folks like Mark Sanchez and/or Josh Johnson.  One caller to a local sports radio program went so far as to suggest that hiring Kaepernick for the job would be a way for the team to get out from under all the bad publicity that it got when it signed Reuben Foster off the waiver wire.  Blackistone argues that Kaepernick “simply can’t” play for the Skins.

Here is a link to Kevin Blackistone’s column.  I doubt that it will change anyone’s mind on the entirety of the “Kaepernick-protest issue”, but it does make a strong case as to why the Skins will not hire him and why it is in his better interest not to be hired by that franchise.

I am about to step over the line here into a bit of mind reading.  That demands the following disclaimer:

• I have no psychic capability whatsoever.
• I cannot read minds.
• What follows is a logical – to me – conclusion drawn from external events and not an actual transcript of the thoughts of other people.

With that disclaimer front and center – and fresh in everyone’s mind – let me say:

• I don’t think Colin Kaepernick would take a “franchise-QB style contract” with the Skins even if one were offered to him.

For the last several football seasons, Colin Kaepernick has been the central figure in a protest that started out in opposition to police violence against black men in the US.  When Kaepernick first took a knee during the National Anthem, I said that I completely supported the goals of his protest but that I wished he had chosen a different forum to make that protest.  My objection then was not based on any sort of uber-patriotism; my objection was simply that many folks would focus on the “anthem-part” of the protest and not the “police violence” part.  Unfortunately, I was more right than wrong with that sentiment.

Notwithstanding my reservation about the form of his protest, I supported his goals then and I continue to support his goals as I am writing these words.  At the same time, over the past couple of years while Colin Kaepernick has been unemployed, it seems to me that he himself has morphed from an athlete using his recognizability to highlight a societal problem to a social justice warrior who used to be an NFL QB.  Ignoring entirely any actions or inactions by NFL teams or the NFL as an entity over the past two years, I have the sense that Colin Kaepernick now exists in a space where his primary objective is to improve the social condition of the country.

It seems to me that for the last year or so, Colin Kaepernick has done a lot more to establish a brand for himself as an opponent of oppression rather than to shore up his brand as an NFL QB.  That is certainly his right and his privilege; I have no qualms with that at all.  And because I believe that his current focus is to enhance his brand as an opponent of oppression, I do not believe that he could possibly put his name on a contract alongside the signatory for the Washington Redskins.  An opponent of oppression cannot maintain credibility if that same opponent of oppression is a “Redskin”; an opponent of oppression will see his/her brand destroyed by the hypocrisy of such a situation.

When the Skins signed Josh Johnson to be their 4^th QB of the season, people asked Head Coach Jay Gruden if the team had contacted Kaepernick.  Gruden sidestepped the question saying that there were discussions about that, but that they decided to go with Johnson because he had been with Jay Gruden in Tampa about a decade ago and was familiar with the terminology of the offense.  Jay Gruden actually said that with a straight face.

If indeed anyone initiated such an internal “discussion” of such a personnel move, here is my stylized version of how it went down:

• Coach Gruden:  We’re desperate here; we’re still in the mix for the playoffs.  Should we put in a call to Kaepernick to find out if he is in football shape and bring him in for a workout?  He’s a better QB than anything else out there…
• Team President Bruce Allen:  Are you [bleeping] kidding?  I have military flyovers scheduled at the start of every home game for the rest of the year.  That is an important part of the team’s community identity.  Can’t do that…
• Owner Danny Boy Snyder:  Not here … not now … not ever.
• Coach Gruden:  I’ll put in a call to Josh Johnson right now…

Kevin Blackistone is absolutely right; Kaepernick should not be the QB for the Skins.  Moreover, those folks who are following his lead as an opponent of oppression should urge him never to have any sort of contractual ties to that franchise for the sake of his social causes.  I think everyone is safe here.  The Skins do not want Kaepernick and Kaepernick – and his supporters – want nothing to do with the Skins.  It is amazing how one can find common ground when you go and look for it.

Finally, here is a comment by Brad Rock of the Deseret News regarding another NFL QB:

“A 69-year-old Dutchman is suing to get his age legally changed, saying he has the body of a 45-year-old and identifies as such.

“He believes the switch would improve both dating and job prospects.

“Elsewhere, Tom Brady is planning to declare himself eligible for the 2019 NFL draft.”

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

 

 

Most of the readers of these rants do not live in the Washington DC area; and so, they cannot fully appreciate the football repugnance that is in the air here this morning.  Every year, the fans in the area – egged on by representatives of the Skins and by local sports media cheerleaders – convince themselves that this is the year the team will “return to glory” and be a prominent player in the NFL playoffs.  Usually by this point in the season, reality is just beginning to settle in; this year is different.  Yesterday, there was a consummate capitulation on the gridiron at FedEx Field; the Skins lost to the Giants by a score of 40-16, but the score was 40-0 at one point and the Giants played prevent defense for the last 20 minutes of the game.

Some of the local cheerleaders are pointing to the need for the team to dip down to find their 4^th QB of the season in the second half of that game as the basis for the meltdown.  That is unadulterated piffle; the need to play a backup QB has exactly nothing to do with the fact that the Skins’ defense gave up 40 points and 227 yards on the ground.  The insertion of a backup QB does not explain committing 15 penalties in the game for 135 yards.  The problem yesterday is that the team – the whole team – just took a pass on playing the game.

[Aside:  The Giants were not at full strength yesterday either; Odell Beckham, Jr. did not even make the trip from NY to Washington with the team.  That offensive output came without one of the top two offensive players on the Giants’ roster.]

With the score 40-0, Mark Sanchez was relieved of duty for the day and Josh Johnson entered the game.  The last time Johnson played in an NFL game was in 2011; he was signed to backup Sanchez – who was backing up Colt McCoy who was backing up Alex Smith – when the Skins found him playing in a pickup basketball game in California.  Against a prevent defense, Johnson got two TDs and a pair of 2-point conversions to make the score much more respectable than it was.  Part of the mantra around here now is that he should have started the game yesterday and – with him starting next week – things will be better.

Let me say this clearly:

• If “things are not better” next week, the NFL should relegate the Washington franchise to the newly forming AAF and create an expansion franchise to take its place.
• If “things are not better” next week, Washington will replace Cleveland and/or Cincinnati as the laughingstock of the league.

There is a fundamental problem with the Skins as a team – and it is not the coaching staff although the coaching staff has not ameliorated the fundamental problem to any great extent.  The problem is that the team just does not appear to be bothered by losing – or even losing as badly as they did yesterday.  That is not a “coaching problem” at the core; that is a “roster construction problem” at the core.

I mentioned that Josh Johnson is being touted this morning as the latest savior for the franchise.  I also mentioned in passing that he has been out of the NFL for 7 years now indicating to me that none of the other 31 teams view him as a savior nor have they done so for quite a while.  Here is Josh Johnson’s football itinerary since graduating from college:

1. Tampa – 5^th round pick
2. SF
3. Sacramento Mountain Lions in the UFL
4. Cleveland
5. Cincy
6. SF – again
7. Cincy – again
8. NY Jets
9. Indy
10. Buffalo
11. Baltimore
12. NY Giants
13. Houston
14. Oakland
15. San Diego fleet in the AAF
16. Washington

If that does not qualify Josh Johnson as The United Van Lines Man of the Decade, I do not know what it might take to win that award…

Enough about the Skins and their new QB “prodigy” …  There is a TV ad that runs in just about every NFL game for USAA.  It features Joe Lombardi – grandson of Vince – who is simultaneously the QB coach for the New Orleans Saints and a “USAA member for life”.  It is not a candidate for one of the “Bad Ads in 2019”, but it made me think about something having nothing whatsoever to do with USAA.

As the QB coach for the Saints, Joe Lombardi’s résumé is polished by his association with a very successful QB named Drew Brees.  No problem there; that sort of thing happens quite often.  However, we know that the Green Bay Packers will be looking for a coach in this off-season and that dealing positively with the resident star QB in Packer-land will be a primary skill for the new coach.

• Memo to Joe Lombardi:  If the Packers’ front office calls you, think three times before saying, “Yes.”  Your genetic association with your grandfather will set expectations for you in Green Bay that will be nigh onto impossible to achieve – think 14-2 every year and Super Bowl appearances at least 3 out of every 5 years.

Finally, here is a note from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Beer:  A beverage about which some rather laughable people believe it is possible to be a ‘connoisseur,’ despite the fact that the main difference between most beers is which on tastes the least like liquid ass.”

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