Category: Daily Rants

I have been waiting since 1959 to use this word; it was on one of my vocabulary lists that I was given  as I was about to take the PSAT exams as a junior in high school.  My English teacher that year – – Miss Reed – – explained that any literate individual would be able to converse naturally using any of the words on her list.

The word for today is “antepenultimate”.

“Penultimate” means “next-to-last”; “antepenultimate” means the thing on a list that is just before the next-to last entry or “next-to-next-to-last”.

And so – – with deference to Miss Reed wherever she may be in the cosmos now in 2026 – – today is the antepenultimate version of Football Friday for this football season.  Can I get a “Hallelujah!” for that?  It only took my 67 years to find the need to use that word…

Normally, I just begin with a review of last week’s “Betting Bundle”; but as I went looking, I realized that this had been an up-and-down year with the “Betting Bundle”.  Notwithstanding the losing record to date, I thought I had been on a winning surge recently.  Here are the results as of this morning counting last week’s entries:

Spreads and Totals:              3-2-0

Season to Date:                     40-43-2

And …

Money Line Parlays:             0-1                   Loss= $100

Season to Date:                     17-25               Profit = $457

            When I went back to look at how things stood in the past, I found th entry from 21 November 2025, I realized that my sense of a winning surge was correct.  Here is how things stood as of 11/21/25:

Spreads and Totals:              17-34-2

Money Line Parlays:             10-16               Loss = $31

            The “Season to Date” results are not something to crow about, but I think I have salvaged a modicum of respect for the last 9 weeks of “Betting Bundling”.

 

College Football Commentary:

 

In the aftermath of Indiana’s climb to the top of the college football world in 2025, some folks were motivated to claim this Hoosier team as the best college football team ever.  There is no way on this planet – – or any other planet around any other star in the known universe – – that I would choose to engage in that debate.  However, I will offer up this data for your consideration; it would suggest that the 2025 Indiana schedule was a stiff one.

• There was a 12-team playoff roster this year.  Nominally, that list of teams would be considered “tough competition” over the course of the season.
• Indiana played 5 games – – out of its 16 games overall – – against teams that were invited to the 12-team CFP in 2025.  Those games were:
  • • Oregon (twice)
    • Ohio State
    • Alabama
    • Miami
• Indiana won all five of those games with a cumulative score of 165-76.

No matter how you come down on the theoretical argument of “best college football team/season ever”, you have to recognize that Indiana’s 16-0 record was not accumulated against a bunch of patsies.  In fact, one of the “out-of-conference patsies” that Indiana had scheduled last season was Kennesaw St. – – the team that was the C-USA champion in 2025.

A former colleague sent me a note after Indiana had won the CFP Championship Game:

“Cigneti (sic) set himself up for ridicule with his initial press conference and then he jammed his words up everybody’s [terminal end of the alimentary canal].  What would it take to beat that performance?”

Well, maybe if Joe Flabeetz who had never coached above the high school level, took over the football program at Rutgers and in his second year he went undefeated and won the CFP Championship, it would be comparable.  Other than something like that …

I read that Fernando Mendoza’s younger brother, Alberto, is going to transfer from Indiana to Georgia Tech next year; Alberto Medoza was a freshman QB on the Indiana roster in 2025/26.  Let me say this unequivocally:

• Alberto Medoza is a sharp young man.

If he were to stay in Bloomington, IN for the rest of his college career, he could never equal – – let alone surpass – – his older brother’s legacy there.  Alberto was part of a national championship team; that can never be taken away from him; now the best thing for him is to go and find somewhere else to play QB for a college football team.

 

NFL Commentary:

 

Jordan Addison – – WR for the Vikes – – was arrested last week on charges of trespassing.  Addison was allegedly in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Tampa and had been asked several times to leave the premises by hotel security personnel.  Addison did not comply and the gendarmes were summoned to the scene.  Supposedly, Addison was not cooperative with police as he was escorted from the facility, and the result was an arrest for trespassing after he was repeatedly told to leave the premises.  That’s all that was in the report; no weapons involved; no fisticuffs; this sounded like a situation that started with a misunderstanding and inflated itself into something out of nothing, possibly with the help of a few adult beverages.  But a little bell rang in the far recesses of my brain that sent me to Google.

Jordan Addison is a good WR; he could play for just about any team in the NFL.  Jordan Addison is also not a very good “citizen”; he has more “rule-breaking issues” at the age of 23 than one might wish for:

• He was cited and arrested for driving 140 mph on a Minnesota highway.  He plead guilty to a misdemeanor speeding charge and reckless driving charges were dropped.
• He was suspended by the NFL for 3 games for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
• When the Vikes played their “London Game” last year, he was held out of the first half of that game as a “coach’s decision”.  No further explanation ever came forward.

I said that Jordan Addison was a good WR who could play for anyone – – but he is not irreplaceable.  I think he really needs someone to sit him down and force feed him about 10 years of maturity in the next 6 months lest he develop a reputation of “not worth the trouble”.

Jeff Hafley’s hiring by the Dolphins continues a long tradition in Miami.  In the offseason between the 1999 and the 2000 NFL seasons, the team hired Dave Wanstedt as its head coach.  He lasted until the middle of the 2004 season.

• Since that hiring decision in 2000, the Miami Dolphins have had 10 head coaches (counting interims) and NONE OF THEM had ever been a head coach at the professional level before.
• Welcome to Miami, Jeff Hafley.

Here are some comments/observations from last week’s Divisional Round Games:

Pats 28  Texans 16:  The Texans’ defense did its job; it held the Pats to 248 yards of Total Offense for the day.  The Texans’ exit from the playoffs rests squarely on the shoulders of the Texans’ offense AND on the résumé of the play-caller last weekend.  The Texans could not run the football; not counting two frenetic scrambles by CJ Stroud, the Texans ran 20 times for 37 yards.  The problem was that the Texans adapted to that lack of a running game by going to another mode of attack that was equally inept; they kept dropping Stroud back looking for “chunk plays” that were not happening.  The last eleven offensive plays called for the Texans were drop back passes by CJ Stroud; there were no mysteries for the Pats’ defenders to worry about.  If you add in the sacks and the “frenetic scrambles” by CJ Stroud, the play caller for the Texans had him dropping back to pass more than 50 times in the game.

Rams 20  Bears 17 (OT):  Tell the truth; when the Bears tied the game and sent it to OT with that TD pass that had less chance of completion than a random “Hail Mary”,  you figured that the Bears were going to pull another win out of their collective [rhymes with ‘glass bowls”].  I admit that I could not see how the Rams might survive that deflating incident.  But they did.  The Rams were outgained 417 yards to 340 yards for the day; the Bears were 9 for 19 on third-down tries and 3 for 6 on fourth-down tries.  The Rams won because they also registered 3 INTs in the game that kept the game tight from start to finish; it was a one-score game all the way to the end.

Broncos 33  Bills 30 (OT):  The Bills dominated the stat sheet; they outgained the Broncos by 100 yards; they had an eleven-minute advantage in time of possession; they converted 10 of 15 third-down tries.  And they lost the game.  Five turnovers will do that to you.  Given the Bills’ dominance here and the absence of players like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow from the playoffs this year, the Bills and their fans must wonder what it might take to have the Bills play in the Super Bowl – – let alone win it.  Somehow, I doubt that firing their head coach – – as they did earlier this week – – is the move that will put the team over the top.

Seahawks 41  Niners 6:  If you are a Niners’ fan, you might console yourself by thinking that the major injuries to top-shelf players on both sides of the ball finally caught up with the team and even the unmitigated genius of Kyle Shanahan’s playcalling could not withstand the onslaught of the barbaric Seahawks.  If that makes the fanbase feel better, so be it.  However, there are some realities that need to be confronted:

• On Jan 3, 2026, the Seahawks beat the Niners 13-3.
• On Jan 17, 2026, the Seahawks beat the Niners 41-6.
• In eight quarters of football over a two-week stretch, the Niners scored zero TDs and only 9 points.
• That is 1.2 points per quarter of football and that won’t feed the bulldog.
• To make matters worse, the Niners never made it to the Red Zone let alone the End Zone last week.

The Niners end their season with a 12-5-0 regular season record despite multiple devastating injuries; that accomplishment alone is noteworthy.  At the same time, one has to wonder if that sort of thing is “sustainable” when you look at the roster:

• Brock Purdy is about to become “expensive” from a salary cap standpoint making personnel decisions a tad more difficult.
• Christian McCaffrey is 30 years old and has been used a whole lot in his career.
• Brandon Ayuk is not likely to be back with the team next year and Jauan Jennings is not exactly a “happy camper” with the team, so the WR position is not outstanding.
• George Kittle is 32 years old and will need to rehab from a torn Achillies tendon in this offseason.
• Trent Williams is still a stud at left tackle – – and Trent Willams is 38 years old …
• The Niners’ defense was rocked with injuries and held together with spit and bailing wire by defensive coordinator, Robert Saleh – – who is now on his way to Tennessee to take over that franchise.

The Bottom Line here is that the Niners were eliminated from the playoffs last weekend and the franchise has a lot of work to do in this offseason if it hopes to get back to the playoffs next year.

 

Games This Week:

 

Pats – 5 at Broncos (43.5):  I doubt that the Pats would be the betting favorite in this game if Bo Nix has not broken his ankle on a meaningless kneel-down play last week.  Sean Payton says he has complete faith in his backup QB, Jarrett Stidham – – but what else would you expect him to say.  So far in this NFL season, Stidham has taken one snap; ironically, it was a kneel-down play.  Stidham is no stars-in-the-eyes rookie; he has been in the NFL since 2019.  He has always been a backup in his meanderings around the league starting only four games in seven seasons, but he has been around big games in the past.  I think the Broncos will try to take the air out of the ball – figuratively of course – and feature their running game as much as possible to keep the game close and give the Broncos’ defense a chance to make a big play.  While Drake Maye has played excellently all year, he has been known to “put the ball on the ground” (8 times this year) and to “throw it to the wrong color jerseys” (also 8 times this year).  I look for the game to be a defensive game with limited possessions.  That being the case, I will take the Broncos plus the points; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

Rams at Seahawks – 2.5 (46.5):  These teams met twice in the regular season and split those two games; this one is “winner-take-all”.  In mid-November, the Rams won in LA by a score of 21-19; in mid-December, the Seahawks won in Seattle in OT by a score of 38-37.   There is not a lot to glean from that data.  Everyone seems to focus on the Seahawks’ defense which is understandable because that defensive unit is as good as any in the league.  However, the Seahawks offense is not a slacker; the Seahawks scored 482 points in the regular season and only the Rams and the Paats scored more.  The big unknown here is Sam Darnold.  If he plays as he did most of the time in the last two regular seasons, Seahawks’ fans will be thrilled and Vikes’ fans will be muttering “unprintables” for the next several weeks.  If he plays as he did in last year’s game against the Rams and throws multiple INTs, this game will turn ugly.  I am sorely tempted to take the UNDER here but will resist that temptation.  I think Sam Darnold controls the ball and moves his team just enough to win by a field goal which is also just enough to win and cover; give me the Seahawks and lay the points; put it in the ‘Betting Bundle.”

And of course, there must be one last Money Line Parlay for the season:

• Broncos @ +210
• Seahawks @ minus-140                   $100 wager to win $431

Finally, here is a perspective on the importance of these two games this weekend from Marv Levy:

“This game is not a ‘must win’; World War II was a ‘must win’

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

 

 

The number of NFL head coaching vacancies is dwindling.  I think a couple of the latest fillings are interesting because they are not what I would have predicted two weeks ago.  Let me explain:

The Titans hired Robert Saleh.  I am squarely in the camp that says Saleh has the credentials to be a good head coach; I think he was in an impossible situation with the Jets and was always impressed that his outmanned team played hard for him.  Having said that, I am surprised at this marriage for two reasons:

1. Generally, coaches get two shots at a head coaching position before they acquire the label of “great coordinator but not head coaching material”.  Saleh has had that one shot with the Jets; I would have expected him to aim for one of the more stocked rosters available this year.  Also, he saw what can happen to a team and a coach under “less than ideal ownership” in NY; and yet, he took a job with the Titans.  Oh well; at least he avoided the organizational dumpster fire that persists with the Raiders…
2. I thought the Titans would look for a “offensive guy” which is not Saleh’s pedigree.

The Dolphins hired Jeff Hafley.  The timing of the Dolphins’ firing of Mike McDaniel almost immediately after the Ravens ditched John Harbaugh led to more than a few reports that the Dolphins wanted Harbaugh and that made some sense.  The narrative there was that the locker room in Miami was undisciplined/disorganized and that Harbaugh would bring needed stability and order to the fore.  Then John Harbaugh signed with the Giants without taking a serious interview with the Dolphins who did a major pivot to Hafley who has never been a head coach at the pro level.  As defensive coordinator for the Packers, his teams have played well and the decline in performance late last season was in part due to the season-ending injury to Micah Parsons.  This may or may not be a great personnel move by the Dolphins; time will tell.  But the dramatic shift in the reported direction of the franchise from “old-line stability guy” to “first time head coach” and from “offensive genius” to “defensive guy” makes this one to watch.

The remaining opening that intrigues me the most is the Buffalo Bills.  When the Bills failed to make it to the Super Bowl despite being in the playoffs for the last seven seasons, the Bills fired the coach and promoted the GM.  My reading of the situation there is that the Bills’ roster was deficient and that deficiency should have had negative implications for the GM as well as the coach.

The Bills have a QB who is likely to be in the Hall of Fame one of these days; they also have a running back who has been in the league for 4 years and been to the Pro Bowl in 3 of those years.  What has been lacking in Buffalo for about 5 years now is a top-shelf defense and above-average talent at the WR position.  The organizational transformation announced by the Bills would lay the lion’s share of the blame on the now-absent coach.  So, what might that mean for the next incumbent?

Switching gears …  The Baseball Hall of Fame will induct three new members this summer.  Previously, the folks evaluating players who did not make it to the Hall in the normal time frame decided that Jeff Kent belonged there.  Earlier this week the baseball writers elected Carlos Beltran and Andru Jones to the Hall of Fame.  And my reaction to that trio can be summed up in a single syllable:

• Meh!

I don’t dislike any of the three players who will be honored this summer; I just don’t think of them in the same way I think of many other Hall of Fame members.  Moreover, the list of players who did not get elected this year – – the up-and-comers for the next few years if you will – – are unimpressive.

Only one of the players on the ballot for the first time received 5% of the votes meaning all the other “first timers” will not be on the ballot next season.  The one player who crossed the 5% line was Cole Hamels who received just under 25% of the votes.

The player who got closest to the needed 75% of the votes for induction was Chase Utley; he got about 60% of the votes.

Here is a link to the entire voting for this year all the way down to several first-year aspirants who got no votes at all from the 425 ballots that were cast in the election.  Look over that list if you will.  I could be talked into three of the fourteen players who got enough votes this year to be carried over into next year’s voting, but the pickings are slim.

Finally, here’s a thought from Ricky Gervais:

“There’s no difference between fame and infamy now. There’s a new school of professional famous people that don’t do anything. They don’t create anything.”

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

 

 

Knowing how I like to have fun with people’s names, one might conclude that the football gods have thrown me a bone this season.  Look at the coaching matchups for this year’s Conference Championship Games:

• Sean Payton versus Mike Vrabel
• Sean McVey versus Mike Macdonald

            Coincidence?  Or a portent of things to come …?

Moving on …  The crowning of Indiana as the College Football National Champion has not generated any controversy, which I think is a good thing.  The Hoosiers played 16 opponents and beat them all on the field and not in some sort of computer simulation or in some mental construct that relies on obscure statistical manipulations.  And yet, there are folks who want to change the system that worked so well for this season.

For contractual reasons, the CFP poohbahs need to inform ESPN by Friday of this week exactly how many teams will be in the CFP next December/January.  I have no idea how or why that deadline came to be; however, I have read reports in several different places alluding to the existence of that deadline.  There is a sentiment to expand the number of teams from 12 participants as has been the case for the past two seasons for a very simple reason:

• More games to put on TV = More revenue generated = Duh!

Also, according to multiple reports, there is a sticking point.  Having a 12-team tournament is awkward; it demands BYE Weeks and all sorts of real and imagined advantages in the system.  From a simplistic view, the number of teams invited to participate should always be a power of two – – 2 teams or 4 teams or 8 teams or 16 teams … you get the idea.

Looking at those numbers that produce symmetrical brackets, you can eliminate from consideration any possibility less than 12 teams.  There is nothing that will convince the college football folks that fewer games are better than more games.  Ergo, expansion is the answer, and it would seem painfully obvious that a 16-team tournament field satisfies the dual objective of “more games” and “no BYE Weeks”.

• So, why hasn’t ESPN been notified already about the expanded field?

According to reports, the sticking point is a different formula for the selection of teams in the expanded field.  The Big Ten supposedly wants a formula where it and the SEC get a fixed number of participants “off the top” and then the Selection Committee can fill out the field.  The SEC wants the Committee to pick the 16 best teams and ignore any quota system.  Personally, I prefer the SEC position in that argument; but if I were a potential beneficiary of the added TV revenue from four extra games, I would not choose to die on that hill.

The latest report – based on unnamed sources who were not authorized to speak on the matter – is that the Big 10 is willing to go along with expansion to 16 teams without their preferred quota system in exchange for a commitment to expand the CFP further to 24 teams by the end of the 2028 season.  Let me channel President Ronald Reagan here:

• “There you go again…”

A college football tournament with 24 teams will require BYE Weeks and it will also add games that are not likely to be nearly as entertaining as ones involving the very best teams.  Expansion to 24 teams – – with the certainty that someone will notice that 32 teams bring back “bracket symmetry” – – is akin to pissing in the soup.  It will increase the quantity of the soup, but it will not improve the quality of the soup.

Hopefully, the Friday deadline with ESPN will come and go with no change for next year giving the conference mavens and the CFP poohbahs another year to come to their senses and decide on how college football will determine its national champion going forward.  My preference would be an 8-team field which is never going to happen.  I am resigned to the fact that there will soon be a 16-team field.  I really object to any expansion beyond that number.

Switching gears …  With Indiana posting a 16-0 record last season, there were references to only one other college football season with the same record.  It happened in 1894 at Yale.  However, upon further review …

• Indeed, Yale played 16 games that season and won them all.  In fact, 13 of the 16 victories were shutouts.
• However, 5 of Yale’s wins that season were not over other college teams.  Five games were against an “Athletic Club” or an “Athletic Association”.
• I am guessing that these Clubs/Associations were “inferior competition” since none of the five opponents scored a single point in any of the games and the cumulative score for the five game was 147-0.

Now you know …

Finally, this from Teddy Roosevelt:

“When you play, play hard; when you work, don’t play at all.”

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

 

 

Congratulations to the Indiana Hoosiers as the CFP Champions for the 2025/2026 college football season.  At his introductory press event, Coach Cignetti said he came to Indiana with the intention of winning championships; last night, he fulfilled that intent.  If there were still any doubt about Fernando Mendoza’s worthiness as the Heisman Trophy winner, I suspect that last night’s performance would have erased any such doubts.

Moving on …  Yesterday, I wrote about the 10 NFL head coaching openings; there is always turnover in those jobs, but this year seems to be a hyperactive marketplace.  That could be a chance event; low probability events happen all the time; or perhaps there is a reason for so many firings/hirings this year.

Recency is a powerful element of one’s memory; sometimes we say that one had an experience or an event “fresh in mind” when offering a basis for a decision or an action.  Perhaps the NFL owners as a collective mind looked at last year’s “hiring season” and saw some dramatically improved results:

• Liam Coen – Jags:  He took over a team that had gone 4-13-0 in 2024 and posted a 13-4-0 record in 2025.  The last time the Jags had a season with double-digit wins was back in 2017 and the team had suffered through a miserable 2020 season with a 1-15-0 record.
• Ben Johnson – Bears:  He took over a team that had gone 5-12-0 in 2024 and posted an 11-6-0 record in 2025.  The last time the Bears had a winning record at the end of a regular season was in 2018 when they made the playoffs as the NFC North champions.  Everyone will remember how that season ended for the Bears in the playoffs when I use the words, “Double Doink”.
• Mike Vrabel – Pats:  He took over a team that had gone 4-13-0 in 2024 and posted a 13-4-0 record in 2025.  The Pats were living off the legacy of the “Brady/Belichick Era” in recent years when the facts say that the team had been a sub-.500 performer in each of the last three seasons.

            If the collective mind of “NFL Ownership” is focused on those dramatic turnarounds and concludes that such success is the new normal, I suggest that would be an erroneous conclusion.  There are three other common elements involved in those three turnarounds:

1. All three teams have young talented QBs.  Granted that Caleb Williams and Drake Maye went through some painful learning experiences in 2024, but both along with Trevor Lawrence possess natural QB talents.
2. All three teams have a balanced offense that does not place an inordinate burden on that young talented QB.  They can run the ball more than just once in a while particularly if they need to “bleed the clock” a bit.
3. All three teams have solid defenses; they need not score 35 points every week to post a winning record.

If you look at the list of job openings this year, notice that the first two hires were by teams with a young/promising QB in place – – Jaxson Dart and Michael Penix, Jr. (assuming he can stay healthy).  Coaches looking for work see that element as critical to their success, and they jump at the chance to work there.  Of the eight job openings extant, there are two with obvious QB talent – – the Bills and the Ravens.  Maybe Cam Ward in Tennessee will pan out; maybe the Raiders will have a talent at the position after they draft Fernando Mendoza; or maybe not.  Coaches taking jobs at any of the current openings other than the Bills or the Ravens are gambling their reputations as NFL head coaches on QB positions that are up in the air.

Moreover, look at the teams with job openings this morning.  How many of them would you say have a balanced offense or a dominant defense?  I would say few to none of them.  So, if my assessment of the value of the talent in place at six of the teams with a job opening this morning is correct and if indeed the owners are expecting results like those posted by Coen/Johnson/Vrabel in 2026, I fear there will be dashed hopes.  And when NFL owners’ hopes are dashed, there are new job openings.

Finally, maybe these words from Sigmund Freud apply here:

“Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces.”

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

 

 

The news this morning is that the Buffalo Bills have fired head coach, Sean McDermott, demonstrating as clear as glass that the operative environment in the NFL these days is,

• “What have you done for me lately?”

Sean McDermott came to the Bills in 2017; when he arrived, the Bills had not been to a playoff game since 1999.  McDermott has been the head coach of the Bills for 9 seasons, and the Bills have been in the playoffs in 8 of those 9 seasons.  Quite the improvement …

In the regular seasons since 2017, the Bills’ record has been 98-50; in round numbers, the team under Sean McDermott has won two out of three regular season games.  Quite the improvement again …  In the 9 seasons prior to McDermott’s arrival, the Bills cumulative regular season record under 6 different head coaches was 59-85.  Not enough improvement there …

There appears to be a virus spreading among NFL owners causing some awfully successful head coaches to be fired in this offseason.  And another “successful head coach” chose to step down from his position according to him.  That means there will be 10 new head coaches in 2026; almost one-third of the coaches in place back in August will have been replaced when Training Camp opens in July.

Eight of those ten job openings remain unfilled this morning; only the Giants and Falcons have hired replacements so far.  The Giants reportedly will pay John Harbaugh $20M per year for 5 years to make the Giants relevant again; the Falcons reportedly will pay Kevin Stefanski $14.5M per year for 5 years to coach the Falcons.  Eight jobs are still open – – and given the rate at which coaches are falling this year, there could be more.

Moving on …  There were reports late last week about gamblers and athletes conspiring to fix college basketball games.  Reports called the investigation “wide-ranging” which would seem to be appropriate since part of the allegation is that the conspiracy began by manipulating a game or games in the Chinese Basketball Association.  [Aside: I make no representation here as an authority on gambling, but I have never encountered betting lines on the Chinese Basketball Association anywhere.]

The alleged fixers followed what would seem to be a well paved path, according to the AP:

“The scheme generally revolved around gamblers who placed bets and recruited players with the promise of a big payment in exchange for purposefully underperforming during a game.  Those fixers would then bet against the players’ teams in those games, defrauding sportsbooks and other bettors, authorities said.”

According to charges filed in Philadelphia, the criminal enterprise began by fixing two games in the Chinese Basketball Association in 2023 and then expanded its market by manipulating men’s college basketball games as early as January 2025.  Since then, 29 games have been “fixed” involving 39 players and gamblers.

What I find amazing is that the investigators say the players were paid between $10K and $30K per game to “arrange the outcome”.  For that to be “sustainable” – to use a current business buzz word – the gamblers must have been betting much larger sums so that they could make those payoffs and still show a net profit for their “efforts”.

Again, from the AP:

“Prosecutors named more than 40 schools involved in games that were targeted by the scheme. Those included Tulane University and DePaul University.

“Rigged games included major conferences and some playoffs, including the first round of the Horizon League championship and the second round of the Southland Conference championship, prosecutors said.”

Indulge me with some math here …  If I am a fixer and I have targeted a game in the Horizon League – – let’s make this up and imagine it was a game between Robert Morris and Cleveland State – – and I have recruited two players on the Cleveland State team to make sure Cleveland State does not cover whatever the spread might be.  For their trouble, the two players will receive a total of $50K from me – – $25K per player per game.

Most spread bets on college basketball games carry odds of minus-110 meaning I would need to bet $55,000 on Cleveland State just to cover the cost of manipulating the outcome.  Obviously, I would not stop there; if I am in the game-fixing business, I am not out to enrich players; I am out to enrich me.  So over and above the $55K I would wager on the game to play off the players, I would bet at least that same amount so that I can show a tidy profit.

So, now I am wagering more than $100K – – and maybe a lot more than $100K – – on a Robert Morris/Cleveland State game.  And somehow, that sort of action was allowed to happen in as many as 29 different games without an alert being sounded?  Wow!

Here is a link to the AP report on this matter; it is worth a glance.

Finally, Benjamin Franklin may have summed up the Sean McDermott firing with these words:

“Most people return small favors, acknowledge medium ones and repay greater ones – with ingratitude.”

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

 

 

I can count the number of Football Fridays left in this season on one hand – – with some fingers to spare.  So, let me get right to the subject at hand by reviewing last week’s “Betting Bundle”:

• Spreads and Totals:              2-1-0
• Season to Date:                     37-41-2

And …

• Money Line Parlays:             0-1                   Loss = $100
• Season to Date:                     17-24               Profit = $557

 

College Football Commentary:

 

When you were a kid, you probably played the game of musical chairs at least once; and as an adult, you probably recognize that the game has a relationship with the Law of Supply and Demand in Economics.  The only reason that a seat on a chair is valuable is because there are not enough seats to go around; demand exceeds supply; there are more fannies than chairs.  Well, I ran across a datum last week that tells me there should be some college football players who will feel like outcasts from the game of musical chairs soon.  Here is the datum:

• There are 180 QBs in the college football portal.

There are also, only 136 Division 1-A college football teams as of January 2026 and there is only one starting QB per team.  Recognizing the mathematical outcome here is not nearly equivalent to proving The Poincaré Conjecture [Google is your friend.]; there are going to be some unhappy would-be QBs.

Moreover, after observing that mathematical imbalance, Dante Moore announced that he will not declare for the NFL Draft but will return to Oregon for next year.  Given that he led the Ducks to the CFP semifinals this year, I would imagine that he will get the start for Oregon in 2026 meaning there are only 135 potential starting jobs up for grabs.[Foreshadowing Alert:  I will have more to say about Moore’s decision later on.]

I commented on Miami’s victory over Georgia last week; here is a thumbnail on the Indiana win over Oregon last week:

Indiana 56  Oregon 22:  That score is an accurate reflection of the game on the field.  Indiana outplayed Oregon on offense, defense and special teams.  Oregon lost 3 turnovers (one was a Pick Six) and had a punt blocked.  I think – – I am not sure – – that I saw a bit of a smile hit Curt Cignetti’s face before the final whistle went off.  Could that be right?

 

The CFP Championship Game: 

 

(Mon Nite 7:30 PM ET) Miami vs. Indiana – 8 (47):  The spread opened at 6.5 points; it rose as high as 9 points in mid-week and now sits at this level in most places.  There are a couple of sportsbooks where the spread is 8.5 points this morning.  The Total Line for the game opened at 45.5 points.  That number jumped very quickly to 48.5 points and then backed off to this level by mid-week, and it has been relatively stable since then.  The money has flowed to the Indiana side and to more scoring than originally posted by the oddsmakers.  This is essentially a home game for Miami, but I fully expect there to be a large contingent of Indiana fans in the house loudly supporting their Hoosiers.  Fernando Mendoza gives Indiana a surgically accurate passing attack; Reuben Bain, Jr. gives Miami an effective pass rush.  I think the game will come down to Indiana’s ability to protect Mendoza and enable that passing attack to do its job.  I like Indiana to win the game but I do not like having to lay more than a TD’s worth of points; so, I’ll pass on the spread and take the game to go OVER; put that in the ‘Betting Bundle”.

 

NFL Commentary:

 

With the Niners advancing to the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs, I would like to post an off-the-wall comment here:

• One might make a case for Mac Jones as the NFL MVP

The Niners made the playoffs with a record of 12-5-0.  They did that with Brock Purdy missing 8 starts due to injuries; Mac Jones had a record of 5-3-0 in those 8 games and the Niners would not have made the playoffs had they gone 3-5-0 instead.  I am using here the concept of “value” to his team and not the concept of “best player on the field for the season” with my assertion.

And, for the record, I do not expect anyone to agree with me on this matter…

I want to take a moment here to say a few more things about Mike Tomlin, his tenure with the Steelers and his decision to “step down” as the coach of the Steelers.  I read that his tenure in Pittsburgh was the seventh longest tenure in NFL history.  The most recent coaching tenure that was longer than Tomlin’s time with the Steelers was Bill Belichick with the Pats; other than that, all the folks on the “longest-tenure list” got their jobs more than 50 years ago.  Here is the list:

1. Tom Landry – Cowboys – 29 years
2. Curley Lambeau – Packers – 29 years
3. Don Shula – Dolphins – 26 years
4. Bill Belichick – Pats – 24 years
5. Chuck Noll – Steelers – 23 years
6. Steve Owen – Giants – 23 years
7. Mike Tomlin – Steelers – 19 years

The presence of both Chuck Noll and Mike Tomlin on that list above reminds me that the Steelers have had 3 head coaches since 1969.  It has been 56 years since then and in that time frame, here are some historical facts:

• There have been 21 head coaches of the Cleveland Browns since 1969
• There have been 13 leap years since 1969.
• There have been 11 presidencies in the US since 1969.
• There have been 8 chairs of the Federal Reserve since 1969.
• There have been 7 Secretaries General of the United Nations since 1969.
• There have been 6 Popes since 1969.
• There have been 5 horses that won the Triple Crown since 1969.

And …

• There have been 3 head coaches of the Pittsburgh Steelers since 1969.

I wonder about the desirability of the Steelers’ job as of now.  If Aaron Rodgers chooses to retire or to go elsewhere, the Steelers need a QB unless they believe that Mason Rudolph is a late-bloomer who can lead the team to the playoffs.  Over and above that, the team needs to upgrade the OL, and it needs help with its receiving corps.  The defense has some aging vets but is in less need of upgrade than other areas of the team.

The Steelers’ QB situation is under appreciated because the Steelers have not had a losing record in next to forever.  However, since the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger after the 2021 season, the Steelers have had a less-than-impressive array of starting QBs:

• Justin Fields
• Kenny Pickett
• Aaron Rodgers – – the 41-year-old version not the HoF version
• Mason Rudolph
• Mitch Trubisky
• Russell Wilson

And in addition to the possibility of needing to reboot much of the team, there is an intangible debit.  Some in the fanbase may perceive that “they” got Tomlin fired; he did not step down; he was asked to step down.  Remember those signs and those chants of “Fire Tomlin” about a month ago…  Well, just how happy might those self-empowered fans be to a season where the Steelers’ record is 5-12-0 instead of 10-7-0 and no playoff participation.

I said above that I would comment here on Dante Moore’s decision to go back to Oregon instead of entering the NFL Draft.  Here is the situation:

• The Raiders need a QB and have the first pick.  The consensus pick is Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza.  I will be surprised if the Raiders take anyone else.
• As of today, the second pick in the April Draft belongs to the NY Jets.  That team needs a QB even more than the Raiders need a QB; that team has been the elephants’ graveyard for QBs for the last 50 years or so.

So, the question now comes down to this:

• Did Dante Moore make his decision based on a desire to avoid following in the footsteps of Zach Wilson, Mark Sanchez and Sam Darnold as first round picks by the NY Jets?

Here are some comments about last week’s wildcard games.  There were 6 games over last weekend; there were five-and-a-half exciting games until the Texans ran away from the Steelers in the second half of the last game of the weekend.

Rams 34  Panthers 31:  The Rams were 10-point favorites here and eked out a win such that backers of the Panthers did not need to sweat it out in the final moments of the game.  The Rams had a tidy advantage in terms of Total Offense, but 9 untimely penalties gave the Panthers ways to stay within hailing distance on the scoreboard.

Bears 31  Packers 27:  The Packers led 21-6 at the start of the 4^th quarter and managed to lose the game.  Jordan Love threw for 323 yards and 4 TDs, and the Packers managed to lose the game.  The Bears had 4 possessions in the 4^th quarter of the game and scored 3 TDs, made a two-point conversion and kicked a field goal with those four possessions.

Niners 23  Eagles 19:  The Eagles’ defense did its job limiting Christian McCaffrey to 48 yards rushing in the game on 15 carries.  On offense, the Eagles dropped passes at critical points and gave the Niners too many offensive opportunities.

Pats 16  Chargers 3:  There is no way that Jim Harbaugh foresaw his offense producing a meager 207 yards in this game; it was a dominant performance by the Pats’ defense.  Not only was the Chargers’ offensive output low, but the Pats’ defense also held the Chargers to 1 of 10 on third-down conversions.

Bills 27  Jags 24:  The Jags held James Cook to 45 yards on 15 carries but that was not enough.  Josh Allen ran for 2 TDs and threw for another; the Bills’ defense showed up and recorded 2 INTs allowing the Bills to score the winning TD with about a minute left in the game.

Texans 30  Steelers 6:  At halftime the Texans led by only 7-6; then came the deluge orchestrated by the defense.  Here are the Steelers’ possessions in the second half of the game:

• 8 plays             23 yards          PUNT
• 4 plays             6 yards            PUNT
• 4 plays             35 yards          STRIP SACK – – Texans TD
• 6 plays             19 yards          PUNT
• 4 plays             5 yards            INT
• 6 plays             21 yards          GAME OVER

 

Games This Week:

 

(Sat. 8:00 PM ET) Niners at Seahawks – 7.5 (45):  Everyone points to the Niners’ list of injuries to top-shelf players, but the team has dealt with those shortcomings for months now; I have to believe that the team had made its adjustments.  I think the game will turn on the performance of Sam Darnold.  As he did last year, Darnold had a great regular season making only a few debilitating mistakes.  Looking back as last year however, this is the time when his game unraveled against the Lions in the playoffs.  So, what does this iteration of the playoffs have in store for Messr. Darnold?  I love the way the Seahawks play defense, but I am drawn to that generous helping of points with the Niners; give me the Niners and the points; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

(Sat. 4:30 PM ET) Bills at Broncos – 1.5 (46):  This game opened as a “Pick ‘Em game”; it moved quickly to this level early in the week and has stayed there all week long.  There are two fundamental questions here; the two answers should decide the game:

1. Will the Bills’ defense – – particularly the run defense – – play as well as it did last week?
2. Will Bo Nix have an efficient game or an inefficient game this week?

As is the case with every game involving the Buffalo Bills, there is the potential for Josh Allen to take over the contest and make things happen the way he wants them to happen.  The Broncos’ defense is a good unit and is well aware of that potential.  I’ll take the Bills plus the points here and cross my fingers in hopes of a significant defensive effort by the Bills; put it in the “Betting Bundle”.

(Sun. 3:00 PM ET) Texans at Pats – 3 (40.5):  I think this game will turn on the two defenses.

• Can the Texans’ defense overwhelm the Pats’ OL and minimize the Pats’ passing game?
• Can the Pats’ defense force fumbles and INTs out of the Texans’ offense?

The Texans lost two fumbles and threw an INT last week — and still won; however, that is not generally a recipe for success.  I like the Pats to win and cover here; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

(Sun. 6:30 PM ET) Rams – 4 at Bears (48): My pick here is purely from the gut; I think the Bears’ comebacks in the final minutes of a half-dozen games this year indicates that they are serious contenders for the Super Bowl.  I know that when it does “come undone” for the Bears, they are likely to lose a game by 3 scores – – but not this week.  I like the Bears plus the points at home; put that in the “Betting Bundle”.

So, let me review this week’s “Betting Bundle”:

• Indiana/Miami OVER 47
• Niners +7.5
• Bills +1.5
• Pats – 3
• Bears +4

And just for giggles, here is a Money Line Parlay:

• Bears @ +170
• Bills @ +105               $100 wager to win $454

Finally, this observation from Frank Leahy:

“Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.”

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

 

 

The 2025 NFL season remains “open for business” to 8 of the 32 teams today; the other 24 teams are probably using their time strategizing for free agency and then the Draft and ultimately the 2026 season.  To my mind, the NY Giants’ situation stands out from the rest of the league.

• Many of the “idle” teams this morning are looking for “their QB”.  The Giants seem to be in fine shape there with Jaxson Dart.
• Reports this morning say that the Giants and John Harbaugh’s agent are finalizing an agreement for Harbaugh to coach the Giants.  Check that box.
• And then, on the negative side, there is this headline from msn.com:
• “Russell Wilson leaves Giants cruel parting gift with NFL investigation expected over comments”

Say what?  Russell Wilson’s contract with the Giants was a 1-year deal; so the “parting gift” is not something related to a cap hit when the team released him and even if there were some unusual clauses in that contract, how might that involve an NFL investigation?

Here’s the deal.  On his way out the door, Wilson said that he injured his hamstring prior to the Giants’ Week 2 game against the Cowboys and that injury went unreported.  If true, that is an NFL no-no.  Also, if true, other QBs around the league might be looking to injure their hamstrings before games because Russell Wilson threw for 450 yards and 3 TDs against the Cowboys in Week 2.  The Giants lost that game 40-37, but it would be difficult to pin the blame on Wilson for that outcome.

Here is what Wilson said to reporters:

“You know, I played that [Week 2] game, you know, I tore my hamstring on Friday in practice — the last play of practice.  And I had a grade two [tear]. I couldn’t tell anybody. I had to go and play on it just because I knew the circumstance, I had to play on it, no matter what. I actually ended up going to the Dallas Mavericks’ facility, training.”

The NFL has long been diligent in reporting the injury status of players; that practice has taken on even more importance with the explosion of legal sports wagering and things like “player prop bets” proliferating.  That statement cannot have fallen on deaf ears in the NFL Front Office; the Giants need that sort of scrutiny like I need a third nostril.

And lest you think that this is merely one last grasp at publicity by Wilson, it is not.  In the same session where he dropped that little item above, he also declared that he is a free agent and fully expects to be ready to play QB for an NFL team next season.  Here is how he characterized his off-season plans:

“You know, and just be ready to rock and roll, and be as healthy as possible and be ready to play ball.”

As they say at the World Series of Poker, “Shuffle up, and deal …”

Moving on …  Do you realize that the NBA regular season is almost half over?  Teams already have played between 38 and 41 games; the regular season is 82 games in length.  I have paid only the most marginal attention so far this season; I have watched only two or three games in their entirety since the season tipped off in October 2025 and have not paid full attention to some of the game snippets I have experienced so far this season.  For those of you who have also paid little attention, let me bring you up to speed here:

• The Detroit Pistons have the best record in the Eastern Conference at 28-10.  No, they have not cloned Isiah Thomas and Bill Lambeer.
• The Boston Celtics record is 24-15 which is surprising since most folks thought that Jaxon Tatum’s injury and other roster shuffling would make this a down year in Boston.
• The Oklahoma City Thunder started the season with a 24-1 record; they have “cooled off” since then but still have the best record in the league at 34-7.
• At the other end of the teeter-totter, the Philadelphia 76ers record for futility is all but assured; the Indiana Pacers record today is 9-32.  The Sixers’ record in 1973 was 9-73, meaning the Pacers would have to lose out from here just to equal that degree of ineptitude.

Finally, here is an interesting point of view from George Burns:

“Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city.”

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

 

 

Scott Adams died yesterday; the cause of death was metastatic prostate cancer.  Scott Adams was the creator of the comic strip Dilbert which I considered a “must-read” from the mid-1990s on.  His social and political views were outside the mainstream; he described himself as a libertarian minus the crazy stuff; nonetheless, some of his views were seen by many as “crazy”.  He suffered from the “cancel culture” when he made some racially insensitive remarks on his podcast.  Notwithstanding his personal sociopolitical views, Scott Adams brought me thousands of smiles and chuckles with Dilbert and Wally and the pointy-haired boss.  His satire of “office life” was sharp and pointed; he will be missed by many folks including me.

Rest in peace, Scott Adams.

Mike Tomlin decided yesterday to abandon his role as the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers after 19 seasons on the job.  Every football fan in America knows that Tomlin’s Steelers never recorded a losing record in any of those 19 seasons and that feat alone should pave the way for Mike Tomlin’ entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  The search process for a new coach will be an unfamiliar one for the Steelers’ organization and for Steelers’ fans; here is the history:

• In 1969, the Steelers hired Chuck Noll to replace Bill Austin.
• In 1992, the Steelers hired Bill Cowher to replace Chuck Noll.
• In 2006, the Steelers hired Mike Tomlin to replace Bill Cowher.

In the last 57 years, this will be the Steelers’ fourth “coach-hiring event”; that record is unique in NFL ranks.

Even though Tomlin’s teams never had a losing season, a part of the fanbase became disenchanted with him and his style of football – – defense first and a conservative offense.  At a game in the regular season this year, chants of “Fire Tomlin!” broke out in one of the Steelers’ home games.  I have to think those chants played at least a small part in Mike Tomlin’s decision yesterday.

Some have opined that Tomlin now joins John Harbaugh as a “prize catch” in this year’s NFL coach-swap season.  [Aside: How great would it be for Harbaugh to get the Steelers’ job and for Tomlin to get the Ravens’ job and the two of them to carry on their rivalry?]  My gut tells me that Tomlin is not going to take another coaching gig quickly; the level of stability that he had lived and worked under in his time with the Steelers is not likely to be imitated let alone duplicated anywhere else; so, I suspect he will do a lot of thinking about whether he wants to work in a different environment or not.

Others have suggested that Tomlin will go into broadcasting – – and at least a few commentators have speculated that he already has the outline of a deal with FOX for next season.  Yahoo!Sports says that he earned about $100M over his time with the Steelers; if that figure is even close to correct, I doubt that Mike Tomlin “needs a job”.  Personally, I think he would be very good on TV if that is what he chooses to do next in his life.

Staying with today’s theme of “departures”, the Eagles fired their offensive coordinator, Kevin Patullo yesterday.  To say that the Eagles’ offense underperformed in 2025 would be high praise for that portion of the Eagles’ team.  After I watched the Eagles lose to the Niners over the weekend, I sent a text to two good friends who are Eagles’ fans; I did not know at the time I sent the text that they were in attendance for that game freezing their butts off in those weather conditions.  Here is the text I sent to them:

“If Patullo has a job with the Eagles on Tuesday morning, that means he has photos of the owner having sex with a barnyard animal.”

I have not seen a report as to the exact time that this separation took place, but I will assert that my prediction came true because there are no photos of the Eagles’ owner having sex with a barnyard animal – – or even a household pet.

At the end of a text exchange with my friends, one of them declared that:

“… I’m swearing off going to Eagles games when the wind-chill is below 70°.”

To paraphrase the bearded guy in the Dos Equis ads:

• Stay warm, my friends …

Finally, since today has been about separations, let me close with George Carlin’s view on one specific separation:

“I’m completely in favor of the separation of Church and State. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.”

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

 

 

Stonehill College is in Easton Massachusetts and its men’s basketball team – the Stonehill Skyhawks – are in the Division 1 Northeast Conference.  Another member of that conference is the Chicago St. Cougars, and the two teams played each other in a game with a bizarre finish.  Let me set the stage:

• Chicago St. led by two points,
• Time left on the clock was 1 second.
• Chicago St. had possession of the ball out of bounds.

You guessed it, Chicago St. lost that game.  How could that happen you may ask.

The Cougars’ player with the ball out of bounds called a time out – – but Chicago St. had no timeouts left.  By rule, the timeout is granted and a technical foul is assessed thereby giving Stonehill two shots from the foul line.  Naturally, Stonehill sank the two free throws to force overtime and then Stonehill won the game in overtime 85-82.

That loss left the Chicago St. Cougars with a record of 2-15 for the season; it is not as if defeat is unknown in that locker room.  However, that loss must be a standout for the team; that timeout call is even worse than the infamous one executed by Chris Webber in the NCAA Tournament against UNC.  Yes, the stakes were higher in that March Madness game; Chicago St. is clearly not going to “be a factor” in the NCAA Tournament this season; however, Webber’s mistake was made in the course of game action not in a situation where the ball was in the hands of a player standing out of bounds needing only to throw the ball to anyone on the court to start the clock down from 1 second.

[Aside:  That victory for Stonehill ran their season record to 4-12; I am guessing they too will not “be a factor” in this year’s March Madness event.]

Moving on …  The Atlanta Falcons hired former Falcons’ QB, Matt Ryan, as their President of Football late last week.  Ryan turned in his “football analyst on TV” mantle and assumed the role of “NFL Front Office Executive”.  The Falcons can only hope that Ryan will be as good as an exec as he was as a studio analyst on TV; the CBS pregame show has a hole to fill.

In that new role, Ryan will answer directly to the principal owner of the Falcons, Arthur Blank.  In a statement by the Falcons, Blank said that Ryan will have the final say on “all football decisions”.  That would seem to take any ambiguity off the table about roles and responsibilities within the organization.

Ryan’s first job objective is to find and hire a new GM and a new head coach both of whom will report to him.  And it would appear that Ryan is letting no grass grow under his feet.  According to a report in this morning’s Washington Post, the Falcons announced on Monday that they had already interviewed both John Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel for the head coach position.

Let me make it clear that I do not wish for Matt Ryan to fail in his new role; it seems to me that he is a class act.  However, the Falcons did something akin to this in the past.

• In 1968, the Falcons hired former NFL QB, Norm Van Brocklin, as their head coach.
• In 1970, the Falcons made him the GM in addition to the head coach.
• “Stormin’ Norman” was with the Falcons through the first half of the 1974 season.
• The Falcons record under Van Brocklin was a meager 37-49-3.

Switching gears – – sort of …  John Harbaugh is clearly the trophy fish in the coaching pond at the moment, and his coaching style is different from just about everyone else out there on various teams’ radars.  John Harbaugh is a former Special Teams coach and defensive backs coach; he was never an offensive coordinator nor a defensive coordinator; he does not call plays on either side of the ball and – – according to reports – – he delegates game planning and scheming to his staff.  That style does not map well onto many other coaching aspirants.

What does John Harbaugh do to earn his keep as a head coach?  From my perspective, he assures that there is always an adult in the room.  Moreover, that adult will remain emotionally in control through good and bad game situations providing a measure of stability that is not universally present on NFL sidelines week after week.

Personally, I think the Giants would benefit the most from having Harbaugh’s maturity and stability on their sideline; those elements were clearly absent during the “Brian Daboll Days”.  As of this morning, I have not heard or read anything that would suggest that the Giants have spoken with Harbaugh about the job.

Finally, here are words for Matt Ryan and John Harbaugh as of this morning from General George S. Patton:

“Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.”

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

 

 

The CBA between the WNBA and the WNBPA has expired.  Notwithstanding two time extensions from Halloween until last weekend, the two sides chose not to come to an agreement, and the league now exists in a zombie state.  There are no rules or restrictions on things that players or teams might choose to do; and at the same time, there is reason for teams and players to do nothing spectacular since no one knows what the new rules/restrictions will be once a new CBA comes into existence – – which must happen sometime down the road.

There is no player strike and there is no league- imposed lockout at least for the moment.  The sticking points seem to be commonplace for management/union stalemates – – salaries and benefits.  Both sides issued statements once the CBA ceased to exist over the weekend and both statements were just about what anyone would have expected under the circumstances

From the union:

“Make no mistake, pay equity is not optional and progress is long overdue. We urge the league and its teams to meet this moment. The players already have and will continue to do so.”

From the league:

“As the league experiences a pivotal time of unprecedented popularity and growth, we recognize the importance of building upon that momentum.  Our priority is a deal that significantly increases player salaries, enhances the overall player experience, and supports the long-term growth of the league for current and future generations of players and fans.”

Unless one is willing to project the evaporation of the WNBA and its disappearance from the sporting cosmos, there will need to be a compromise here one of these days.  Here is my “suggestion” for the sports media in the US:

• Report NOTHING about the players and the league until and unless they announce that negotiations are over and a new CBA has come to be.

Recall in George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, there were “Unpersons” – – those that had been “removed” from society by the Party and whose very existence had been expunged from all memories.  I believe the best thing that could happen to the labor negotiations here is for BOTH SIDES to experience what it is like to be an “Unperson”.  If there is nothing that either side can do to achieve even a morsel of attention from the media, both sides may become a bit more motivated to get to where they both need to get.

• The league might begin to wonder if indeed the sporting public and the sports media might be able to continue to exist without a thing called the WNBA.  Public indifference might lead to public absence from arenas and from in front of TV sets.
• The players might begin to recognize that if the league fails or exists in diminished stature, their playing future(s) will also go into decline.  Yes, the players would still have overseas leagues to join, and they would still have their 3-on-3 league, “Unrivaled”, as opportunities.  However, they exist now and if they were sufficient for players’ opportunities, there would be no imperative for worrying about any WNBA issues at all.

Let the coverage moratorium begin today and see how long it is until either or both sides here try to do something to “get back in the news”.  My guess is that would happen in 3-5 days …

Moving on …  The Winter Olympics in Milan will start on February 6^th; late last week, The Athletic had a report that there seems to be a major glitch in the preparation for the ice hockey events there.  The plans called for the construction of a new venue for Olympic hockey; with less than a month to go before pucks could drop, “… the main ice hockey venue remains very much a work in progress.”

The report says that the arena feels like a construction site even though a test game was played there last week.  There is an ice surface and there are seats in the arena; that is the good news.  However here are a few other observations from the report:

“Construction dust floated over the playing surface”

And …

“There were still multiple large holes in the exterior of the building “

And …

“The permanent dressing room area is also still under construction”

And …

“The practice rink structure is currently dotted with forklifts, building materials and other tools … Getting that completed is vital since there won’t be anywhere else for teams to skate during the Olympics, when the main rink will be jammed with as many as three games per day.”

And …

“The building currently features unpainted drywall and unfinished concrete floors throughout. There will be no fancy concourses or luxury boxes here. On Friday night, fans [for the test game played there] could purchase food and beer from food trucks parked outside.”

This sounds like the essence of a goat rodeo.  Like the inevitability of a new CBA for the WNBA and its players, there will be accommodations made to permit the Olympic hockey competition to happen.  Just sit back and focus on other matters and wait to see just what those accommodations turn out to be.

Finally, here is an interesting perspective on “inevitability” from author, Haruki Murakami:

“Pain is inevitable.  Suffering is optional.”

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