Category: Daily Rants

The calendar says that it’s Friday and Friday around here means Football Friday, so let me get right to it.  Last week’s Six-Pack only had one item in it, so here is the status from last week and the results year to date (YTD):

• Spreads & Totals:        1-0-0                YTD:    1-2-0
• Money Line Parlays:   0-0                   YTD:    0-2            Loss = $200

My “Sleeper Team” for 2026 – – the Florida Gators – – had an easy time of it against Florida Atlantic; the Gators prevailed 66-21.  We shall see how that sort of performance carries over into SEC competition.

The Linfield University Wildcats opened their 2026 season with a 41-15 victory over Wisconsin-Oshkosh.  The Wildcats have this week off and will resume their pursuit of yet another winning season in football on Sept 19^th when they travel to Orange CA to take on the Panthers of Chapman University.  Chapman’s record this season is 0-1 having lost its opener to Hardin-Simmons 44-24.  Go Wildcats!

One of the things that makes writing these rants even more fun is that readers get in the spirit of frivolity here.  Last week, I said that I would be featuring players I ran across with unusual names; within about 3 hours of posting that I received two emails with contributions; so, this week I have two names to cite just for fun:

• Galamama Mulbah –  RB – Merrimack
• Hollywood Smothers – RB – Texas

 

College Football Commentary:

 

I did not have Greg Schiano (Rutgers) on a hot seat in my College Football Pre-Season analysis, but after losing at home to UMass by 2 TDs as a 29-point favorite …  The win for UMass broke a 16-game losing streak for the Minutemen; it was the longest losing streak in Division 1-A college football until last week.

LSU did not put on its roster last week two players who had tried to make NFL teams but were unsuccessful in that endeavor.  There are still court proceedings in medias res on the matter, and the SEC has “threatened” to expel LSU from the SEC.  Interestingly, we have not yet heard from lawyers representing the two players in this saga; so, I doubt that this is nearly over and done with.

As you watch college football games this season, you will see a proliferation of jersey patches on the front of uniforms just below the shoulder.  The jersey patch for UTEP is sort of interesting; UTEP’s nickname is the Miners:

• The jersey patch is for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
• Why not the United Mine Workers?

Down in Division II football there was a game with some unusual happenings.  Harding University beat Northwestern Oklahoma 76-0.  The game was called off with about 14 minutes to play in the fourth quarter; one of the players had a severe medical emergency and the coaches agreed to end the game at that point.  So, this game was really only three-quarters of a normal football game but check these stats from ”three-quarters of a football game”:

• Harding gained 747 yards on offense
• Harding averaged 12.8 yards per offensive play
• NW Oklahoma had ZERO first downs
• NW Oklahoma had minus-26 yards total offense.

I believe that is the outline of a good old-fashioned beat down …

 

Games Last Week:

            There was a plethora of huge spread games last week; so, I will look for “surprising results” here.

Tarleton St. 20  Bowling Green 13:  Tarleton St. was a 15-point underdog and is a Division 1- AA team pulling an upset over a Division 1- A team – – albeit one in the MAC.

Auburn 17  Baylor 16:  This was one of the few games last week not set up to be a glorified scrimmage by the favored squad.

Oregon 34  Boise St. 27:  Boise St. may have lost this game, but this should be a positive for them at the end of the season if they are indeed under consideration for the CFP: as the Group of 6 entry.  Oregon was ranked #2 in the country at kickoff.

The Citadel 43  UNC-Charlotte 41 (2 OT):  Another upset by a Division 1-AA school …

Tulsa 24  Oklahoma St. 10:  This was supposed to be the start of a “new era” for Oklahoma St., but it looks a lot like a continuation of the old era.  The Cowboys looked like winners on the stat sheet – – until you came across the 4 turnovers in the game.  That is two years in a row where Tulsa has beaten Oklahoma St. and the last time that kind of losing streak against Tulsa for the Cowboys was back in 1952.  Just for perspective, Dwight Eisenhower beat Adlai Stevenson for the first time in 1952.

Michigan 13  W. Michigan 12:  You have read about and probably seen the final seconds of that game; I have nothing new to add here about why the officials put 1 second on the clock to give the Wolverines one last shot at a “Hail Mary” play which worked and changed this from a W. Michigan win to a W. Michigan loss.  Both defenses were stout here.  Michigan gained only 276 yards of offense – – including 47 yards on the final play.  W. Michigan gained only 221 yards in the game.   Just a thought from this game:

• If “football” needs replay to “get it right”, then “football” also needs “transparency into replay” to be confident they “got it right”.

LSU 51  Clemson 10:  I said last week that Lane Kiffin would not take his foot off the gas once he got a lead.  The score was 31-3 at halftime and LSU put another 13 on the board in the third quarter.

UCLA 45  Cal 24:  This game was a 2-point spread at kickoff and the score was tied at 24 as the 4^th quarter started.  Then came the deluge …

Colorado 14  Georgia Tech 13:  The Buffaloes scored the winning TD with 37 seconds left in the game.

Washington 24  Washington St. 10:  The Apple Cup game played in September just feels wrong.

Ole Miss 41  Louisville 38:  The teams combined for 957 yards of offense in the game.  Ole Miss won on a 48-yard field goal as time expired.

SMU 27  Florida St. 24:  Perhaps this is not just a loss for FSU but maybe an omen?  The Seminoles are 1-1 this year with the victory coming over New Mexico St.  Here is the upcoming schedule:

• At Alabama – – Bama is ranked #12 in the nation this morning
• Vs. Central Arkansas – – A loss at home in this game would be apocalyptic
• Vs. UVa – – The Cavaliers are ranked #25 in the nation this morning
• At Louisville – – the Cardinals are ranked #24 in the nation this morning
• At Miami – – The Hurricanes are ranked #7 in the nation this morning

 

Games This Week:

 

(Fri Nite) Rutgers at BC – 3 (54):  Rutgers lost outright at home to UMass last week and BD is only a 3-point favorite at home.  That does not speak well for BC football in 2026.

Oregon – 23 at Oklahoma St (55):  Based on last week’s debacle for the Cowboys, this is a surprisingly low spread in my mind.

Oklahoma – 4.5 at Michigan (44):  After the way Michigan won last week, lots of fans who would be “neutral observers” for this game will be pulling for the Sooners this week.  I think this is going to be a defensive game so give me the UNDER; put it in the Six-Pack

Penn St. – 24 at Temple (50):  Technically this is a home game for Temple, but I suspect there will be more Penn St. fans in attendance in Philly.

Cal at Syracuse – 4 (57):  there has been a lot of line movement in this game.  The spread opened with Cal as a 1-point favorite and the Total Line was only 53.5.

Memphis at Boise St. – 8 (56.5):  Both teams have their eye on an invitation to the CFP in December.  I thought about naming this the college game of the week for a while.  Both teams have quality defenses, so I don’t know where that 57^th point is coming from.  Give me the UNDER in this game; put that in the Six-Pack.

Middle Tennessee St. at Marshall – 12.5 (57):  Another game with a big line movement.  This spread opened with Marshal as 17-point favorites.

Ohio St at Texas – 2 (50):  Ohio St. opened as 2-point favorites here.  Texas has lost to Ohio st. twice in the last two seasons; they will be motivated here.  Nevertheless, I like Ohio St plus the points in this game; put that in the Six-Pack.  Obviously, this is the College Game of the Week.

Howard at Indiana – 56.5 (65):  If you love underdogs, that is a huge helping of points …

Sacred Heart at UMass – 23.5 (53.5):  That is not a typo; UMass is favored by more than 3 TDs against a team not named Comatose State.

 

NFL Commentary:

 

In “breaking news” on Thursday this week that sounds like you have heard it before, Tua Tagovailoa suffered back pain and was listed as “Limited” by the Falcons.  Michael Penix Jr. is also unable to play so what is left for the Falcons if indeed Tua is indeed “Limited”?

• Cooper Rush would be the starter
• Backup QB would be Jack Strand.

You are forgiven if you don’t know Jack Strand from Jack and the Beanstalk.  He was an undrafted rookie free agent in 2026 out of Minnesota State-Moorhead, a Division II school.  His college stats are impressive; I’ll leave it at that.

Netflix carried last night’s Rams/Niners game from Australia.  [Aside: I have no explanation as to why the stadium decided to sing “Sweet Caroline” at one point in the game.]  The Netflix announcers for the game were Noah Eagle and Luke Kuechly, and I thought they did a great job.  Presumably, they will do the rest of the games that will be carried by Netflix throughout this season.  For reference, here are those remaining Netflix games:

• Nov. 25: Packers at Rams
• Dec. 25: Packers at Bears
• Dec. 25: Bills at Broncos
• Jan. 9: TBD – This is a Week 18 game; no TV schedule is available yet.

 

In the two games already played this week, the Seahawks’ defense led the team to a win over the Pats despite Sam Darnold limping to the locker room after only 1 series in the game.  The Pats seemed to have the game in hand until Drake Maye threw 3 INTs in the 4^th quarter.  The Pats also lost WR AJ Brown to an ankle injury in the first half of the game.

The Niners’ defense dominated the Rams last night in Melbourne, Australia and Brock Purdy threw 3 TDs in a surprisingly easy win for the Niners.  The Niners outgained the Rams by 89 yards including 174 yards rushing.  Christian McCaffrey looked more explosive in this game than he did most of last season; perhaps he found the Fountain of Youth?

Deebo Samuel caught 7 passes, ran the ball once and returned kickoffs for the Niners in the game.  Somehow, the Commanders could not find room for him on their roster…

 

Games this Week:

 

Browns at Jags – 9 (40):  Is this Deshaun Watson 2.0 or Deshaun Watson 5.0?  Does that matter?

Bucs at Bengals – 3.5 (50.5):  The Bengals spent money and draft picks on defenders in the last offseason; that is uncharacteristic for the franchise.  Let’s see how it pays off starting here …

Ravens – 3 at Colts (47.5):  I assume that Daniel Jones has recovered from his surgery sufficiently to play the way he did last season.  I also assume that Lamar Jackson is motivated to bounce back from his not-up-to-snuff season in 2025.  So, I see lots of points here and I’ll take the game to go OVER; put it in the Six-Pack

Falcons at Steelers – 4.5 (41.5):  The spread here opened at 2 points before news of a possible back injury to Tua Tagovailoa (see above).  Even if Tua can play, I think this is too much of a stretch for the Falcons to keep up.  Give me the Steelers to win and cover; put it in the Six-Pack.

If you are a trend player, here is a stat for you:

• The Falcons have NEVER won a game in Pittsburgh

Bills – 1 at Texans (45):  This is my runner-up for Game of the Week; both teams expect to win their division and the game pits an excellent defense against an excellent QB.  I don’t know if this game will be picked up by any of my local stations, but if it is, I will be tuning in.

Bears – 3 at Panthers (47):  This will be another interesting game to watch.  The Panthers have a good defense, and the Bears have a good offense.  Obversely, the Panthers have an anemic offense, and the Bears have a porous defense.  Flip a coin …

Jets at Titans – 1.5 (38.5):  Obviously, this is the Dog-Breath Game of the Week.  Unless it ends in a tie, one of these two teams will at the very least share the Division lead on Monday morning.  Seriously…

Saints at Lions – 7 (50):  This is an interesting game; the Saints finished strongly in 2025, and it appeared as if Tyler Shough and coach Kellen Moore had performed a Vulcan mind-meld.  (Hat Tip to Mr. Spock)

Cards at Chargers – 9.5 (47):  Jim Harbaugh’s teams tend to start fast and that is not good news for the Cards who appear to be outmanned here.

Dolphins at Raiders – 3 (40.5):  On paper, the Raiders are significantly improved for 2026.  Kirk Cousins is an upgrade at QB and Tyler Linderbaum should improve the OL all by himself.  Raider fans should keep an eye on Nakobe Dean; if he can avoid injuries that have bugged him so far in his career, he will upgrade that defense too.  I think the Raiders are the better team and will show it clearly here; I’ll take the Raiders to win and cover; put it in the Six-Pack.

Commanders at Eagles – 5 (44):  Both teams have lots of questions to answer in 2026 and this game might be the opening attempt to provide answers to a couple of those questions.

1. What will the Eagles’  passing game be like without AJ Brown?
2. The Commanders’ defense was pitifully slow in 2025; has that been rectified?

Packers at Vikes – 1 (46):  The opening spread had the Packers as 1-point favorites here.  The Packers will be without the services of RB Josh Jacobs and LB Micah Parsons for this game and the Packers’ OL is good but not great.  The Vikes will be blitzing and aggressive on defense all game long; I like the Vikes to win and cover here; put it in the Six-Pack.

(Sun Nite) Cowboys – 3 at Giants (48.5):  There are two important reasons to watch this game:

1. The Cowboys will be strong  on offense.  They have added a few people to the defense, but those folks will have to demonstrate that they have taken a terrible defense from last year to a level that would make Lake Woebegone proud – – just a little above normal.
2. The Giants will be a different team playing a different – – more disciplined – – style of football under John Harbaugh.  I think the Giants are a team on the rise – – but how much have they risen by now?

(Mon Nite) Broncos at Chiefs – 2.5 (43.5):  Patrick Mahomes will start at QB for the Chiefs after knee surgery and not playing in the Exhibition Season.  The Broncos’ defense is likely to harass him for most of the game, and it will be interesting to see how his mobility has been affected by his injury/surgery/rehab.  Given the two games already played this week, this game is probably the Game of the Week.

            So, let me summarize the Six-Pack for the week:

• Oklahoma/Michigan UNDER 44
• Ohio St. +2 against Texas
• Memphis/Boise St. UNDER 56.5
• Vikes – 1 over Packers
• Steelers – 4.5 over Falcons
• Ravens/Colts OVER 47.5

And just for fun, here are two Money Line Parlays:

• Broncos @ +130
• Chargers @ minus-480                      $100 wager to win $178

And …

• Raiders @ minus-165
• Steelers @ minus-225                        $100 wager to win $132

Finally, I hope to get this season off to a good start with this Six-Pack and two Money Line Parlays; so, here is a positive thought by businessman Gil Penchina:

“Momentum begets momentum, and the best way to start is to start.”

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

 

 

The NFL regular season began last night with a game between two teams that have high hopes for the 2026 season.  As is often the case, those high hopes from last night require a look at the other end of the spectrum – – the teams whose hopes must be tempered significantly for reasons of reality.  There are two simultaneous NFL “races” going on in the regular season:

1. The race to the Super Bowl and the Lombardi Trophy
2. The race to the Overall #1 Pick in the NFL Draft next year.

To maintain my “Curmudgeon Cred” let me examine that second race – – the one that does not get much attention until late December.  In my NFL Preseason Analysis, I identified the Arizona Cardinals as the team that will have the worst regular season record; I stand by that prediction but must acknowledge that there are other teams that could sink to the bottom.  Here is my list of six teams that have a realistic chance to be “on the clock” for their Draft pick as most fans are focused on the start of the playoffs.

Interestingly, the Cards are the only NFC team on my list; the other five teams are all in the AFC.  I will list them here alphabetically:

1. Browns:  The trade of Myles Garrett to the Rams back in the Spring leads me to believe the Browns’ braintrust knows this roster is deficient.  The defense is OK and because the defense is OK, I don’t really think the Browns will have the worst record in the league, but the offense has nothing but question marks.  And the biggest question marks are at the most important position – – Quarterback. The Browns only own 5 games in 2025 and have not significantly improved; so, they are on this list because the bottom just might fall out.
2. Cards:  The Cards have a few upper crust players in Budda Baker, Marvin Harrison, Jr., Jeremiyah Love and Trey McBride, but those guys are not nearly enough to carry the Cards against the rest of the NFC West which is stacked with talent and top-notch coaching.  I doubt the Cards will be less than a TD underdog in all 6 of their divisional games; outside the division, the Cards draw the Lions, Chargers, Broncos, Cowboys, Chiefs and Eagles.  Ouch!
3. Dolphins:  The Dolphins have almost $100M in dead cap money this year. The salary cap this year is $301M; so, the Dolphins are playing with only two-thirds of useable salary cap.  That means the team is overloaded with young/rookie players just to fit 63 folks into that collapsed cap space.  The Dolphins have a rookie head coach who did well at the college level; so, if you are looking for a bright spot there, he has had success coaching young football players.  The schedule makes the Dolphins play all the NFC North teams and all the AFC West teams.  I foresee lots of empty seats in Hard Rock Stadium this year.
4. Jets:  No exposition on NFL futility would be complete without a look at the NY Jets.  After winning only 3 games last season, the Jets added some recognizable names to the roster in the offseason – – but they are recognizable because they have all been around for a long time.  Demario Davis, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith have all had periods of quality play, but it is not clear that any of them are still capable of their peak performances of the past.  One factor that could assure the Jets staying out of the race for the worst record in 2026 is the schedule.  The Jets play the Dolphins (twice), Titans, Browns, Raiders and the Cards.  They have 6 games against teams on this list.
5. Raiders:  I doubt the Raiders belong here, but this franchise has a propensity to screw things up ever since they lost the Super Bowl to the Buccaneers in 2002.  The Raiders seem to have their “QB of the Future”, and they are doing something smart with him – – letting him watch and learn about NFL play before throwing him into harm’s way.  Kirk Cousins is an upgrade at QB to the extent that he should cause defenses to provide a bit more running room for Ashton Jeanty in 2026 as compared to 2025.  They say that football games are won in the trenches, and the Raiders’ OL and DL are hardly great, but the Raiders have the best “QB situation” of all the teams listed here by a wide margin.
6. Titans:  Do you believe in Cam Ward?  That is the essential question for the Titans now and in the near future.  The coaching change in Tennessee is a major upgrade; Robert Saleh’s “failure” with the Jets was no more his fault than it was “Fireman Ed’s” fault, and Brain Daboll has had success as an OC in the league as well.  On defense, Jeffrey Simmons is a bellwether on the inside DL, but there is not a lot else to feel excited about.

            So, there are my “Sloppy Six” teams for 2026 and interestingly two games on the Week 1 dance card involves head-to-head games among the “Sloppy Six”:

• Jets at Titans – 1 (38.5)
• Dolphins at Raiders – 3 (40.5)

At least two of the “Sloppy Six” will emerge as “undefeated” at the end of Week 1.  Let the games begin …

Finally, this from Bill Parcells:

“I’ll call somebody ‘dumb’ or ‘stupid’ if they make a dumb or stupid play. I don’t know any other word for it, and if they don’t like the word, that’s too bad.”

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

 

 

I must admit that I thought the Jerry Sandusky case was a done deal.  Based on reports from last week, that is not the situation.  Until now, I was unaware that there is an ongoing appeal of his conviction and his lawyers are trying to get his case removed from Pennsylvania State Courts and into Federal Court.  And just last week, I read that one of Sandusky’s accusers wants to recant his testimony saying he was coached and pressured by prosecutors prior to the original trial.

I don’t understand why the lawyers want this case in Federal Court as opposed to Pennsylvania State Court; but given that they seem to have been working toward that objective for several years, there must be some advantage there.

I am unhappy with the statement of one of the purported victims that he now wants to recant his testimony and that he was pressured into saying whatever he did say in the original trial about 15 years ago.  Lady Justice is portrayed as being blind to symbolize that only the weight of the evidence on the scales will decide guilt or innocence.  However, that also implies that Lady Justice cannot see how the evidence presented by either side has been obtained.

Do not misinterpret here.  I am not suggesting that Jerry Sandusky is as clean as the driven snow.  As I recall, he faced several dozen charges and was found guilty of just about all of them; I don’t know what the basis of his ongoing appeal might be.  What bothers me is a victim saying he was pressured to testify as he did; that is a bad situation no matter how you look at it; the victim lied in the trial and the prosecutor coached him in that lie.  As we learned in algebra class:

• (Not Good) X (Not Good) = (Not Good)²

Moving on …  After the final NFL Exhibition Games were in the books so to speak, the league and the players union agreed to implement a new “suspension rule” for players who are flagged for five specific penalties that are highly injurious.  Those penalties are for:

1. Horse collar tackle
2. Hip drop tackle
3. Blindside block
4. Hit on a defenseless player
5. Launching

Players who commit three such penalties in the course of a season will be suspended for a game meaning they will lose one-seventeenth of their contract value.  Moreover, the system of fines for single occurrences of these penalties remains in place; the league and the union have turned up the volume on the financial risk associated with such play.  All players begin the 2026 season with a clean slate but here is a real kicker:

• The accounting continues over from season to season.

One more NFL note today …  The Jax Jags play their home games in EverBank Stadium.  The stadium is  undergoing “significant renovation” which will necessitate removing some of the seating.  Maximum capacity for EverBank Stadium this year will be 43,500, which is the lowest in attendance in the NFL by a wide margin.  The smallest stadium in the league will be the Bills’ New Highmark Stadium that will open this season; it seats 60,108.

The “significant renovation” will not be completed this season and evidently the construction required to finish the job will render EverBank Stadium inoperable for the 2027 season.  Not to worry, the Jags will not be playing in London for the entire season; rather, the team will play home games in relatively nearby Orlando in Camping World Stadium which hosts several college bowl games every December.  The plan says that all will be ready at EverBank Stadium for the start of the 2028 NFL regular season.

Finally, this from Stephen Leacock:

“It is to be observed that ‘angling’ is the name given to fishing by people who can’t fish.”

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

 

 

Today I want to “catch up” with some comments about stories that have been accumulating on my clipboard.  I’ll start with the sale of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to Stan Kroenke for $4B; the deal is set to close in the “first quarter of 2027”.  Kroenke has a full suite of sports enterprises to include:

• LA Rams – NFL
• Arsenal – English Premier League
• Denver Nuggets – NBA
• Colorado Avalanche – NHL
• Colorado Rapids – MLS

In addition, Kroenke owns SoFi Stadium in LA where the next Super Bowl game will be played.

The Angels have been owned by Arte Moreno since 2003 and have not been overly successful in that span of time; the Angels have not been to the playoffs since 2014 and have not won a playoff game since 2009.  Moreover, the team missed the playoffs with Mike Trout on the roster plus Shohei Ohtani for a six-year period.  That record of futility does not apply to the other franchises in Kroenke’s portfolio.

• The Rams won the Super Bowl a few years ago
• Arsenal won the EPL last season
• Nuggets were NBA Champs 2 years ago
• Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022.

I am a little surprised at this franchise sale given the timing; MLB and the players’ union appear to be on a crash course for a new CBA because the current one expires on December 1, 2026.  In fact, I might be able to convince myself that this transaction signals a much more benign interpretation of the impending “labor strife”.  Here is the question I ask myself:

• If the impending labor battle could really cause the loss of a full season of baseball and even signal an apocalyptic collapse of the sport as some have opined, why would someone smart enough to have amassed a net worth of $27.6B buy in now?

I do not doubt that there will be rancor in the negotiations and that there is a real possibility of either a strike or a lockout or both over the winter.  The last time this happened back in 2021, there was a lockout that delayed the start of Spring Training and the MLB regular season – – but all 162 regular season games were contested.  Maybe he senses that both sides have so much to lose by killing off a full season that they will eventually come to their senses and find a settlement that both sides can live with.

Whenever a sport is in the midst of a CBA negotiation, I like to remind everyone here that when you boil the situation down to its essence, the owners and the players are partners in an enterprise that provides entertainment for fans such that the fans spend disposable income and spare time on the entertainment product.  Neither side can possibly generate the kind of total revenue that MLB generates without the other side’s involvement.

Moving on …  I read a report in the LA Times that focused on how the area needs to prepare to host the Olympics in 2028; it is less than two years in the future.  The item in the report that stood out to me is that the city will dedicate one lane of traffic on all the freeways exclusively to “Olympic travel”.  It has been many years since I have been to LA; I used to go there several times a year in my pre-Curmudgeon career.  Traffic on the freeways in LA was horrible then and most surveys of highway systems in US cities today say that LA traffic is still really bad.  So, how will removing one lane of traffic on all the freeways work?

And here is another question:

• How will they enforce this restriction?

Finally, today’s closing remark comes from Stan Kroenke:

“Economics is about creating win-win situations. But in sports, someone loses.

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

 

 

The arrival of September means that the MLB regular season is in the home stretch; this is an opportune time to check in and see how the races are shaping up; which teams have surprised and which have disappointed.  Back in March, I made some season predictions so let me peek and see how they look on September 1^st.

• Yankees to win AL East:  The Yanks are in second place trailing the Rays by 4.5 games this morning.  That is not an impossible hurdle for them to overcome but given that the Rays have more wins than any other AL team, the Rays may be hard to catch.
• Tigers to win the AL Central:  That is simply not happening.  The Tigers are 11 games under .500, and they gave up the ghost at the trading deadline by trading away their two best pitchers.
• Mariners to win the AL West:  As of today, the Mariners are in third place 6 games behind the division leading Astros with the Rangers in second place.  This gap may actually be easier to overcome because the Astros are only 2 games over .500 and the Rangers are 2 games  under .500.  A ten-game hot streak by the Mariners could put them in charge.  We shall see …
• Phillies to win the NL East:  They are 4 games behind the Braves this morning and that could be a tough climb, but they look comfortably in the playoff picture.  The Braves have survived the injury bug this year very effectively.
• Cubs to win the NL Central:  The Cubs trail the Brewers by 7 games, and the Brewers have the best record in all of MLB.  The Cubbies will have to settle for a playoff spot this year.
• Dodgers to win the NL West:  Duh!  The Dodgers have a 9-game pad over the Padres in the division.

I also mentioned in March some teams that might be dark horses this year.

• Red Sox:  They started horribly and then had an incredible hot streak.  But that was not enough to dig them out of the hole they fashioned for themselves.  They should make the AL playoffs though.
• Royals:  Fuhgeddaboudit!    The Royals are 14 games below .500
• Giants:  They are in even worse shape than the Royals; as of this morning they are 25.5 games behind the Dodgers and there are not enough games left on the schedule for them to catch the Dodgers.
• D-Backs:  They are not going to catch the Dodgers, but the D-Backs are 7 games over .500 as of this morning.

I suggested 5 season long win total wagers back in March:

• Orioles UNDER 86.5 wins:  Looks good for now; the O’s project to have 81 wins.
• Tigers OVER 85.wins:  Not happening; the Tigers would have to go 23-2 in their remaining games to make this work.
• Mets UNDER 90.5 wins:  This is a lock; the Mets cannot get to that win total even if they win every one of their remaining 24 games.
• Reds UNDER 81.5 wins:  The Reds are 8 games under .500 this morning with 24 games to play.  To go over the total, they would have to post a record in September of 17-7.  Could happen – – but not likely.
• D-Backs OVER 79.5 wins:  This looks solid; the team projection as of today is for 85 wins.
• Not bad … only one certified clunker in that set of predictions.

As the September games unfold, keep an eye on the Astros’ box scores to track the stats of Yordan Alvarez.  Here’s why:

• He leads the AL in batting average, HRs and RBIs.  The last player to win the Triple Crown in the AL was Miguel Cabrera in 2012 and before him it was Carl Yazstemski in 1966.
• AND … He has a longshot at having the highest batting average and the most home runs and the most RBIs in all of MLB.  Mickey Mantle did that in 1956; before that Ty Cobb did it in 1909.

Another thing to watch is the performance of the Chicago White Sox.  They had lost more than 100 games in each of the last 3 seasons including losing 121 games in 2024.  Right now, the White Sox lead the AL Central by 3 games over the Guardians.  They look awfully solid as a playoff team either as the division winner or as a wild card team.

Finally, I’ll close today with some thoughts from famous baseball people:

“Confidence is how you go about your business. Cocky is when you have to explain it to somebody.”   [Ken Griffey Jr.]

And …

“Pressure is a word that is misused in our vocabulary. When you start thinking of pressure, it’s because you’ve started to think of failure.”  [Tommy Lasorda]

And …

“The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three-run homers.”  [Earl Weaver]

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

 

 

The Cleveland Browns made it to the headlines again late last week and – as usual – the story was not totally positive.  The team announced that Deshaun Watson would be he starting QB in Week 1 after a “QB competition” in Training Camp that did not leave the fans in Cleveland ecstatic with the selection.  In addition to the fans going berserk over this choice, lots of commentators piled on as well.

I am not a Cleveland Browns fanboy; and I don’t pretend to have any inside information about how or why the team made it to their conclusion.  So, let me try to evaluate that situation with a minimal expenditure of reaction by my adrenal glands.  And to set the tone for this evaluation let me say:

• There is no clear cut “right answer” here.

Let me start with Deshaun Watson.  Among the fanbase, he is as close to a pariah as possible.  There was a mixed reaction to his acquisition in the first place; at the time, he was seen as having potential to be a franchise QB, but in addition to the baggage he carried from off-field ‘incidents” to the cost of 3 first round picks to get him in a trade plus that monster fully guaranteed contract given to him by the Browns, he never lived up to his on-field potential.

• From 2022-2024, he was available for 19 games as a starter.
• The Browns’ record in those games was 9-10-0.
• Then, he missed all of 2025 with an injury.

In an exhibition game this year, he had a poor showing and the fans booed him loudly; he said he didn’t care which inflamed a lot of those fans even more.  So, the choice of Watson as the starter in Cleveland strikes many as picking an injury-prone guy who did not light it up when he was healthy and whose baggage with the fanbase is approaching critical mass.  So, why pick him?

The Browns cannot just cut Watson without incurring a humongous dead money hit on their cap AND they would still have to pay him the balance of the contract that is due to him because it is fully guaranteed.  So, if the team must have him on the payroll, maybe it makes sense to find out if there is anything he might contribute to a team that is surely not going to the Super Bowl this season.  Some have opined that the owner dictated this selection of the starting QB so he could “get something for his money”.  Who knows?  Remember, in Watson’s first 4 years with the Texans he was selected for the Pro Bowl 3 times and made the All-Pro team once; is there any juice left in that lemon?

The fan favorite is Shedeur Sanders; backup QBs are often the most popular guy in town on teams that are not playoff teams.  The Browns got a decent look at Sanders last year when he started 7 games for the team; the results were a mixed bag:

• The team record in those 7 games was 3-4-0.  Not bad for a 5-win team.
• He threw 7 TDs and 10 INTs in 2025.  Not good.
• He was sacked on 9.7% of his pass attempts; that means he held the ball far too long.  Also, not good.

Perhaps the Browns saw enough last year to conclude that Shedeur Sanders is a career backup and what the Browns need to do is to find a franchise QB.  If they decided that Sanders is never going to achieve that status, then there is no reason to start him this year.  The counter to that argument is that Sanders is only 24 years old while Watson is 30 years old.  So, experimenting to find the “QB of the Future” for the team should favor testing out younger talent.

And there is another horse in this race; Dillon Gabriel is also on the roster, and the Browns drafted Gabriel ahead of Sanders in the same Draft class in 2024.  Gabriel started 6 games for the Browns last year with less-than-positive results:

• The team record in those games was 1-5-0.  Not good.
• He threw 7 TDs and 2 INTs.  Not great – but better than Sanders’ stats there
• He was sacked on 9.3% of his pass attempts; Not good.

[Aside: Since both Sanders and Gabriel were sacked on almost 10% of their drop backs, maybe it was a faulty OL that was to blame for those stats?]

Gabriel clouded the waters in the final exhibition game this season with these stats in that game:

• 12 of 15 for 186 yards with 3 TDs and 0 INTs (Passer rating = 157.9)

As I said above, there is no clear-cut answer to the puzzle here so let me now say how I think this will all play out.  The Browns open the season with two road games (at Jax and at Tampa); that means the team will not hear the ire of the local fanbase until September 27^th when the Panthers come to Cleveland.  If Watson and the Browns could win either of those road games, perhaps a portion of the Watson haters would hold some of their hatred in abeyance; so, look at those first two games as a no-cost option for the team.  The acid test will come for the Browns in Game 5 on the road against the Jets.  If the Browns are 0-4-0 entering that game and lose to a lowly Jets’ squad, you can be sure that Shedeur Sanders will be the starter in Game 6.

Assuming that Sanders and/or Gabriel perform similarly to how they performed last season – yes, I know QBs tend to progress in year 2 in the NFL – the Browns will go shopping for a franchise QB once again in the 2027 Draft. I think the Front Office there started to plan for that contingency when they traded Myles Garrett to the Rams in June.  That means the team has two first round picks and a total of eleven Draft picks in 2027.  That might be enough for the team to maneuver to a spot where they “get their guy” in what is touted to be a “loaded QB Draft”.

Here is  my prognosis:

• Watson starts 5 games
• Sanders starts 10 games
• Gabriel starts 2 games
• Browns record is 5-12-0
• Browns have a Top 5 pick in the 2027 Draft, and they pick a QB there.

That is an easy conclusion for me to project; I am not a Cleveland Browns fanboy who has suffered with the team ever since it re-entered the NFL in 1999.  Their suffering is real and it will not abate in 2026; the QB taken in Round 1 of 2027 will be a conquering hero for at least the first half-dozen games in 2027.  After that, we’ll see …

Finally, Browns’ fans have had more than their share of frustration, so here is a positive thought for them from Sumner Redstone:

“Success is not built on success. It’s built on failure. It’s built on frustration. Sometimes it’s built on catastrophe.”

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

 

 

For new arrivals on this meandering vehicle, let me put out the first Football Friday of the upcoming football season.  Please do not take “Friday” literally; there will be weeks when it happens on Thursday; there will be weeks when external events do not allow for one of these at all.  And please note that both Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on Fridays this season; so, who knows when/if there will be Football Fridays then.

Over the years, these offerings have come to have a loose format, and I’ll use today to explain what that format is.  Each week, I will offer up a “Six Pack” of suggested wagers.  Do not take “six” literally; some weeks there will be more and some weeks there will be fewer.  And each week, I will offer up some “Money Line Parlays” as long as I find a couple that catch my eye.  And in the week after offering up those suggestions, I will begin with a review of how they turned out and what the cumulative record for the season happens to be.

I will also report on what happened to my “Sleeper Team” in the previous week; for this season, I have picked the Florida Gators, and I hope that once again I predicted a team good enough to get to a bowl game.

Then comes a brief look at the season for the Division III Linfield Wildcats in McMinnville, OR.  I have no ties to the school at all, but their football program is on a roll; they have had a winning season every year since 1956 – save of course for 2020 when COVID eliminated Division III football.

After that comes “College Football Commentary” – just random stuff related to college football that I find interesting.  I have a few things on my plate even now as the season is about to get started so let put those comments in the typical format.

 

College Football Commentary:

 

Normally at this point in the season, the dominant narrative relates to projections as to conference champions and candidates for the CFP.  Coaches are all optimistic; it is generally upbeat.  This year, that usual narrative is distracted no little bit by things happening in courtrooms around the country.  Players are suing the NCAA for extra eligibility; players are being cut from NFL teams and seeking to go back and play college football.  As of today, the biggest winner in college football is “Billable Hours”.

Could anyone have imagined ten years ago that a player who signed with an NFL team and went to their training camp could turn around and play more college football when he did not make the NFL team?  Surely, no one in the NCAA who drank the Kool Aid and believed in the amateur scholar-athlete could have done so.  However, the seeds for the current situation in football were planted by the NCAA when they saw fit to allow European basketball players to come to US colleges after playing in pro leagues in their home countries.

The NCAA is an anachronism when it comes to the so-called “revenue sports”;  the NCAA and its guiding principles might have traction in Division II or Division III athletics in 2026, but that is about all.  What a mess…

There is an interesting irony here.  A little over 20 years ago, Maurice Clarett wanted to join the NFL draft and was prevented from doing so because he was not three years removed from his high school graduation; the court ruled that the NFL could do so because that criterion had been negotiated into the existing CBA between the NFL and the certified union of its players.  However, since Clarett had signed with an agent; he was not allowed to return to Ohio State – or any other school for that matter – by existing NCAA rules related to “amateur status”.  If I were the producer for a sports talk radio show, I would try to get Maurice Clarett as a guest to see what his perspective is on the evolution of college football from his time in the sport until today.

Meanwhile, some conferences and schools are issuing rules saying that players who signed with NFL teams may be allowed to play college football but not in those conferences or at those schools.  I am not aware of any legal challenges to such declarations by schools or conferences but somehow those “bans” seem different than a blanket NCAA dictum on the matter.

 

After “College Football Commentary” there will be a look back at some interesting games from last weekend.  Obviously, there are no such games to deal with today; so, I will move quickly to the next segment on a typical Football Friday;  I look at the schedule for this week and pick out interesting games and look at the betting lines for those games.  The menu for this week is thin, but let me take a look at a few games in the so-called “Week Zero” for college football:

 

College Football Games This Week:

 

UNC vs. TCU – 8 (47) [Game played in Dublin, Ireland]: The spread opened at 6.5 points and has been climbing to the point that three sportsbooks have it as high as 9 points this morning.  Also, the Total Line opened at 51 points and has been dropping steadily all week.  I think UNC might gel later in the season as it gets in step with the new Bobby Petrino offense there, but I don’t see that happening from the start of the season.  Give me TCU to win and cover; put it in the Six Pack.

New Mexico St. at Florida St. – 32 (54):  This game is of interest to one specific reader of these rants.  He attended both New Mexico St. and Florida St. in his college and grad school days.

Sacramento St. at E. Michigan – 9 (54):  Sacramento St. was 9-5 last year in the big sky Conference at the Division I-AA level; E. Michigan is in the MAC and went 4-8 in that bottom-dwelling conference.

Hawaii at Stanford – 4 (48.5):  Hawaii beat Stanford by 3 points last year, but before you label this as a revenge game for The Cardinal, recognize that there is a completely new coaching staff there this year and significant turnover in personnel.  Hawaii should be one of the better teams outside the Power 4 and Stanford is one of the weaker teams in the Power 4.  This could be an interesting game to watch.

Memphis at UNLV – 4 (56):  Memphis is a solid Group of Six football program, but it has a new coach and a heavy turnover of personnel for this season.   UNLV won 10 games last year and has aspirations for the CFP this year as the Group of Six selectee.  Just a hunch, but I like the Rebels to win and cover here; put that in the Six Pack.

NC St. at UVa – 4 (51.5):  This is a conference game right out of the box.  The Wolfpack QB is CJ Bailey; keep an eye on him as the season progresses; he looked awfully good to me last year.  This game was supposed to have been played in Brazil but the organizer/promoter for the game had to back out because it could not secure all the assets needed to put on the game nor could it generate sufficient interest to make a “break-even situation” possible.  So, instead of Rio de Janeiro, these guys get to play in Charlottesville, VA.  Bummer…

Jax St. at N. Dakota St – 7 (47):  Jax St has been in Division 1-A since 2023; this is the first season at that level for N. Dakota St.  Jax St was 9-5 last year including a bowl game; N, Dakota St. was 12-1 in Division 1-AA last year.  This could be the most interesting game of the weekend.

 

And with college football out of the way, the rest of Football Friday will focus on the NFL starting with overall commentary and then a look at the games from last week and finally a look at all the games on the card for the weekend.

Finally, I wrap up with a review of the Six Pack:

• TCU – 8 over UNC
• UNLV – 4 over Memphis

Here are two money line parlays:

• TCU @-340
• UNLV @ -185              $100 wager to win $99

And …

• TCU @-340
• NC State @ +165       $100 wager to win $243

 

That’s the overview for “Fridays” from now until Feb 12, 2027 – – just before the Super Bowl game in SoFi Stadium in LA.

I’ll close today with this from Bear Bryant:

“Winning isn’t everything, but it sure beats anything that comes in second.”

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

 

 

The news today brings to mind the movie, Weekend at Bernies.  In that flick, two young execs need to pretend that their boss who had been murdered by the mob was indeed alive for a weekend party at the boss’ place.  Some call it a “dark comedy”; I would call it a farce.  And having used the word farce, that brings me to the news of the day:

• The NFL is getting rid of any and all activities related to the Pro Bowl.

Can I get a Hallelujah?

The Pro Bowl game became a sham contest where no one hit anyone else and so the league tried to foist off the “Pro Bowl Games” on its fans ever since 2023.  Finally, and mercifully, the NFL has come to the realization that the time has come to put the whole thing to rest.

Requiescat in pace, Pro Bowl.

The league will still name 88 players who have earned Pro Bowl honors, and the league will invite those 88 players to LA for a “celebration” in February in place of a game of any sort.  Here is a statement from an NFL official:

“The Pro Bowl has always been about recognizing the players who distinguish themselves as the very best in the NFL.  A Pro Bowl selection will return to its original purpose, honoring the best of the best. We want that distinction to carry even greater meaning for the players, their families, their clubs and our fans.”

Moving on, but staying with the NFL …  The NFL has had some restrictions on Tom Brady’s access to coaches and players in preparation for broadcasting duties on FOX.  Even if there were no conflicts of interest, Brady’s partial ownership of the Raiders would create an appearance of a conflict of interest and in the Internet age that “appearance” would be all that the conspiracy advocates would need to go berserk.  And so far – – so good.

The league has a new challenge in 2026 regarding a broadcaster.  Troy Aikman will still call Monday Night games alongside Joe Buck and in his abundant spare time he will also serve as an “informal consultant and strategic sounding board” for the Miami Dolphins.  Basically, the NFL will take the restrictions applied to Tom Brady and apply them equally to Troy Aikman; if it has worked so far, why change anything?

Aikman’s first involvement with the Dolphins was as an advisor to the owners in the hiring of a new GM and a new head coach in the last offseason.  Once that was accomplished, he stayed on as an advisor to “top decision makers” for the team.  I cannot find any specific reference to this specific point, but I wonder if Aikman was in on the decision process to release Tua Tagovailoa and eat the $100M dead cap money hanging over the head of the franchise this year.

In general, here are the restrictions on Brady and Aikman:

• They may attend production meetings virtually, but they cannot have access to practice facilities or practices.
• They may conduct interviews with coaches or players of the GM in places other than team facilities.
• They may broadcast games involving the clubs that “employ” them or that they have partial ownership in.

Frankly, those restrictions make sense to me.  If they are not allowed inside team facilities, that negates any sort of sideways glances involving “espionage”.  And in the interviews with coaches/players, if those people share “inside information”, that is on the one doing the sharing not the one doing the listening.  A former colleague used to say:

• There are no indiscreet questions; there are only indiscreet answers.

I doubt that I will detect a significant drop off in performance from Troy Aikman in the 2026 season based on these restrictions for his access.  The NFL’s schedule for MNF games is set save for a Saturday doubleheader on January 9, 2027; those matchups will be announced later.  So far, Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are not slated to broadcast a game involving the Dolphins.

Finally, this from Troy Aikman:

“Just remember that nothing is as bad as it seems and nothing is as good as it sometimes appears.”

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

 

 

I have mentioned this in passing before; so, today I plan to step up on an imaginary soap box to convince you that there is a wrong to be corrected related to professional football.  I will avoid doing this in any way related to how I think either Stephen A. Smith or Pat McAfee might make this case; I will try to maintain the focus and decorum one might expect from Sergeant Joe Friday – – just the facts, ma’am.

Here is the simple statement:

• Marty Schottenheimer is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a coach, and he should have been enshrined by now.

The key number that supports my assertion is “200”.  Marty Schottenheimer’s teams won 200 regular season games between 1984 and 2006.  There are only eight coaches in the history of the NFL who have won 200 or more games and they are:

1. Don Shula                  347 wins                      Hall of Fame
2. Bill Belichick               333 wins                      Soon to be in Hall of Fame
3. George Halas             324 wins                      Hall of Fame
4. Andy Reid                   284 wins                      When he retires …
5. Tom Landry                 270 wins                      Hall of Fame
6. Curley Lambeau         229 wins                       Hall of Fame
7. Paul Brown                 213 wins                       Hall of Fame
8. Marty Schottenheimer 200 wins                      Not in the Hall of Fame

As they say in those infomercials that run at 3:00AM on obscure cable channels, “But wait; there’s more …”

There are 23 more coaches already inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame whose teams won fewer than 200 games.  They are:

1. Chuck Noll                  193 wins
2. Bill Parcells                 172 wins
3. Bud Grant                   158 wins
4. Joe Gibbs                   154 wins
5. Steve Owen                153 wins
6. Bill Cowher                  149 wins
7. Marv Levy                   143 wins
8. Tony Dungy               139 wins
9. Hank Stram               131 wins
10. Weeb Ewbank           130 wins
11. Sid Gillman                 122 wins
12. Dick Vermeil                120  wins
13. George Allen              116 wins
14. Don Coryell                 111 wins
15. John Madden              103 wins
16. Tom Flores                    97 wins
17. Vince Lombardi             96 wins
18. Bill Walsh                      92 wins
19. Jimmy Conzelman        87 wins
20. Ray Flaherty                  80 wins
21. Jimmy Johnson             80 wins
22. Greasy Neale                63 wins
23. Guy Chamberlin            58 wins

The knock on Marty Schottenheimer has been that his teams underperformed in the playoffs and I am not going to gloss over that or try to deny it.  His playoff record over his career is a less than gaudy 5-13.  However, in 22 seasons of NFL coaching, his teams made it to the playoffs in 13 seasons which seems pretty good to me.  Moreover, in at least two of those playoff losses, Marty Schottenheimer was tormented by situations that were so iconic that they have names of their own:

1. The Drive – – Thank you to John Elway in 1987
2. The Fumble – – No thanks to Earnest Byner in 1988

Underperformance in playoff games has not been held against other coaches already in the Hall of Fame.

• Marv Levy lost 4 Super bowl games in 4 consecutive seasons, and he is deservedly in the Hall of Fame
• Bud Grant had a team in the Super Bowl 4 times and lost every time, and he is deservedly in the Hall of Fame.

And let me make one last point to commend Marty Schottenheimer for the Hall of Fame.  In the ignominious years when Daniel Snyder owned the Washington franchise, he employed 10 head coaches for his teams.  All but one of those 10 coaches – – including Joe Gibbs 2.0 after Gibbs was inducted into the Hall of Fame – – left with records below .500.  That one exception was Marty Schottenheimer who coached Washington for 1 season.  After losing the first five games of that season, he rallied that club to finish at 8-8; he broke even under Daniel Snyder and no one else could.

Thank you for your attention to this matter; Marty Schottenheimer’s absence from the Pro Football Hall of Fame is a wrong that needs to be made right.

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

When I am out and about in my car, I usually listen to sports radio; the late summer is often a time when the standard hosts are “on hiatus” and they have “rookies” filling in for them.  Such was the case late last week when a stand-in host came up with an imaginative way to fill a couple of 10–15-minute segments.  Here was the question for callers to answer:

• If you had the superpower of time-travel, what great moment in the history of sports would you go back and witness in person?

That is a mindless and harmless set-up for a call-in show and the host was taking calls in rapid fire.  Don Larsen’s perfect game in the World Series; Bill Mazeroski’s walk-off home run in the World Series; NC State’s upset over “Phi Slamma Jamma” in March Madness were among the early suggestions from callers.  One caller suggested the 1940 NFL championship game where the Bears defeated the Redskins by a score of 73-0; that did not find favor with the host here in the DC area; he didn’t call that suggestion blasphemous, but you got the idea he would like to have done so.

After a few more, someone said he would want to go back and see Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game against the Knicks in the early 1960s.  And that mention triggered a memory of a game I actually saw in person that did not have  a singular attachment to sports history but was probably the best total basketball performance I ever saw in person.  It took me several days to track down the box score for that game because my memory had me looking in the wrong month and the wrong year.  But I eventually found it and want to share today what I was lucky enough to see.

The date was December 8, 1961; I was a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania and a friend’s father had two tickets to a game between the LA Lakers and the Philadelphia Warriors.  At the last minute, the friend’s father could not make the game, so my friend asked me if I wanted to go with him.  That is how I got there.

Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain put on a show that night; here are the data:

• Baylor had 63 points and 31 rebounds in the game.
• Chamberlain had 78 points and 43 rebounds in the game.
• The Lakers won the game in Triple OT and Wilt played all 63 minutes that night.

I was in the right place at the right time and got to see that spectacle.

However, one evolving story today is an example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time for the wrong reason.  Jed York is the CEO of the San Francisco 49ers; he was arrested over the weekend and  plead no contest to misdemeanor charges that stem from a prostitution sting in East Palestine, OH.  According to reports, York responded to an online ad for “carnal services” to cost $140; he was arrested, booked, charged and with his plea he got to spend a day or two in jail and paid a fine around $1000.

Cue the NFL’s Personal Conduct Policy here …  If a player or coach or referee behaved like this, you can be sure that the league would suspend and fine the individual and maybe even fire the offender if it were one of the officials.  It will be interesting to see how the league will apply the policy to an owner because suspending an owner doesn’t mean much and the chances that the league could levy a fine that was meaningful to Jed York are pretty slim.

Before anyone jumps to remind me that Robert Kraft did something very similar here and was not punished for his actions, there is a significant difference between the two incidents.

• Jed York plead no contest and was punished by the court for his actions.
• Robert Kraft was never tried; the charges were dropped when the prosectors stood down.

Jed York spent two days in jail; Robert Kraft did not.  As trivial as that “sentence” from the court may be, I suspect The Commish will need to consider it when he renders his decision.

The Niners obviously want this matter to be over and done with posthaste.  Here is the official statement by the team about this “situation” as per Adam Schefter:

“As this is a legal matter, which has been resolved, we will not be providing any further comment at this time.”

Translation:

• Can’t wait for the regular season to start so that people will be focused on the games and not this “legal matter”.

Finally, this statement from Benjamin Franklin seems a good way to close today’s rant:

“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”

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