Category: Daily Rants

Back in January – when “global pandemic” was a phrase only used in movie scripts about some sort of future dystopia – there were reports that MLB wanted to reduce the number of minor league teams affiliated with major league clubs rather drastically.  Reports at the time said that MLB wanted to trim the 162 existing minor league affiliates down to 120.  The motivation for MLB here is cost savings; the result for minor league teams that might lose affiliation is almost assuredly going out of business.  To the surprise of no one, the minor league clubs opposed this plan and they had some powerful allies in the fight – – the local members of the House of Representatives in areas that might lose a team and other State level legislators.

Since that plan was revealed, the sports world had changed dramatically.  If anything, the loss of revenues that MLB teams will incur in 2020 due to missed games has only intensified the interest the teams must have in cutting costs.  Meanwhile, the balance has shifted away from the teams in the lower minor leagues.  MLB teams derive plenty of revenue from media rights deals; the parallel revenues coming to minor league teams from media rights are a pittance.  MLB teams can sell sponsorships and naming rights for tidy sums to major corporations; minor league teams sell billboard-like advertising on the outfield wall to local hardware stores.

The way minor league teams survive is through ticket sales and parking/concession revenues.  So far in 2020 there has not been any of that and it could well be that the start of any baseball season – major leagues or minor leagues – will happen without fans in the stands.  That would be financial disaster for many minor league teams.  Coupled with that adverse set of circumstances is the fact that legislators at the State and Federal levels now have much bigger issues confronting them than the fate of a minor league baseball team in Wherever USA.

Time is also working against the minor league teams.  Most minor leagues play 140 games or so in a season; that means each team gets to host 70 games and that translates into 70 days out of the year when most of the income flows into the accounts.  Normally, minor league teams would have started play in the first week of April – so they have already lost 5 weeks of “revenue time”.  Seventy games translate into 10 weeks of “revenue time”; each team would have played half of the time at home and half on the road by now, so each team has lost 2.5 weeks if “revenue time”.  It is not a huge stretch of the imagination to see that some minor league teams are going to have to fold – – and that will help the MLB teams achieve their goal of cost cutting all by itself.

There are later reports that negotiators for the Minor League clubs are now willing to consider minor league contraction in exchange for a new deal that will provide some sort of “financial certainty” in the future.  There has been no public acknowledgement from MLB or the minor league clubs of such a step in the negotiations, but there are multiple reports to that effect.

I just want to point out here that one important long-range objective for MLB is to attract new fans to the game; baseball fans skew old and old people die off at a greater rate than do young people.  It is not clear to me how removing baseball from as many as 42 small markets in the US advances the goal of “attracting new fans to the game”.  This story is not over – – but in terms of the tug-of-war that was in effect back in January 2020, the momentum is completely one-sided at this time.

Shifting gears …  There is a video out there on the Internet showing Mike Tyson working out with a boxing trainer very seriously.  According to reports, Tyson is “training” for a 4-round bout that will be staged to raise money for charity.  Yesterday, there were reports that an Australian promoter had offered Tyson $1M to stage that bout somewhere in Australia.  We shall see…

Boxing has a longstanding tradition of hyping its events.  I have often said that the lead up to a big fight is not much different than the staging of a pro ‘rassling event; boxing is sort of like pro ‘rassling except the punches are real.  With that in mind, please decide how many grains of salt you might want to take this with:

• His trainer in that viral video says, “… I did not expect to see what I saw.  I saw a guy with the same speed, same power as guys 21,22 years old.”

Mike Tyson is 53 years old; his last actual fight was in 2005.  If he gets himself into shape to stage an exhibition fight – – many of which barely raise a sweat on the combatants – – or even a series of such exhibition fights for charity, then good for him.  What I hope not to see is any hint that this exhibition bout – – no matter where it happens or when – – is some sort of steppingstone for Mike Tyson to try to get back into real professional boxing.

Finally, here is an entry from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Europe:  A place where many local non-English-speaking residents will probably understand what it is you are trying to ask them if you ask it a second time only much louder.”

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

 

 

About 2500 years ago, the Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu reminded everyone that:

The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.

About a week ago, the NBA took a first – and halting – step toward reopening by issuing a set of guidelines by which teams might assemble – sort of – for workouts and training.  The caveats that came along with those guidelines were many:

• Only in jurisdictions where stay-at-home orders had been relaxed.
• No more than 4 players at a time.
• No coaches or assistant coaches.
• No scrimmages.
• Players and staff must always be masked and maintain 12-foot separation.

Now comes word that the NBA will allow teams that can meet all those guidelines to open practice facilities on May 8^th.  The Atlanta Hawks play in a state where stay-at-home orders have been relaxed so they are eligible to begin the reopening process.  A few new guidelines have been added to the mix:

• Players may not use practice/training facilities other than the team facilities.
• Players must take a resting EKG and a troponin test before starting training activity.

The NBA has been shut down for 58 days as of this morning.  If teams eligible to take these first baby steps do so later this week, there will have been a 60-day interruption to this NBA season, but a real problem exists for the league:

• There are plenty of teams that do not have practice facilities in areas where stay-at-home restrictions have been lifted.  That means there could be some sort of competitive advantage bestowed on certain teams purely based on geography and that is not something that the league – or any league for that matter – would want to be the case.

Stay tuned…

The NBA 2019/2020 season is a mess, and nothing is going to make it other than a mess.  Perhaps the league should look to make some chicken salad out of this chicken spit and take the time to make a major revision in its scheduling.  If I could wave my magic wand, here is how I would get the NBA into a new cycle:

• Be sure that whatever culmination there is to this season and its playoffs, that culmination is over and done by 20 September.
• Open training camp for the 2020/2021 season on 20 November
• Opening Day games will be on Christmas Day – 5 weeks after training camp opens.
• The regular season is a perfectly balanced 58 games – every team plays every other team twice.
• Those 58 games can be fit into a schedule that ends on 1 June.  That is 157 days in which to play 58 games so “load management” should not be a problem.
• Playoffs can extend through 15 August (about 75 days) so plenty of action can be accommodated.
• Then the players would have an off-season of 15 August to 20 November (at least 3 months) before they begin again.

So let it be written; so let it be done…

The death of Don Shula earlier this week spawned several expressions of “The Mount Rushmore of NFL Coaches”.  If you go by wins alone, the Fantastic Four would be:

• Shula
• Halas
• Belichick
• Landry

That would neat and tidy; surely all those gentlemen have reason to be on the short list for consideration here.  However, it does leave some questions unanswered:

1. Why doesn’t Paul Brown’s 7 NFL Championships merit recognition here?
2. Same with Vince Lombardi’s 5 NFL titles in a 7-year span?
3. Joe Gibbs has more playoff wins that Halas, Brown or Lombardi; should he be there too?  [Aside:  Gibbs also had more opportunity to coach playoff games in the 1980s than Halas, Brown or Lombardi had when the NFL playoffs were “one-and-done”.]

For the record – as if anyone really cares – here would be my Mount Rushmore in alphabetical order:

• Bill Belichick
• Paul Brown
• Tom Landry
• Vince Lombardi

If someone wanted to replace Tom Landry with Don Shula, I would not offer huge resistance.  On the other three, I would be adamantly opposed.

Finally, here is a historical perspective on a previous NBA “issue” from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times:

“The Pistons weren’t bad sports for not shaking hands with the Bulls after Chicago ended Detroit’s two-year title run in 1991.

“No, the Bad Boys were simply ahead of their time when it came to social distancing.”

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

 

 

Don Shula died yesterday; he was 90 years old.  Shula is the winningest coach in NFL football; his record in 33 years of coaching was 328-156-6 (winning percentage .677).  Don Shula also played CB in the NFL for 7 seasons before embarking on his coaching career with the Baltimore Colts.  In his 33 years on NFL sidelines, his teams finished below .500 only twice; that is an amazing statistic all by itself.  Another interesting angle to his coaching career is this:

• It began in Baltimore where he replaced Weeb Ewbank who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• It ended in Miami where he was replaced by Jimmy Johnson who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

To put Coach Shula’s record in perspective with regard to current NFL coaches, Bill Belichick has the most wins of the active coaches with 273; Belichick is third on the list of all-time NFL coaches in terms of total wins.  Next among active coaches is Andy Reid with 207 wins; Reid stands seventh on the NFL All-Time wins list.  The next active coach in terms of wins is Pete Carroll with 133 wins standing 23^rd on the All-Time wins list.

Rest in peace, Don Shula.

On the assumption that there will be an NFL season in the Fall, there will be a change in the CBS announcing booth necessitated by the fact that the network did not renew or extend its contract with Dan Fouts as a game analyst.  Fouts will be replaced with Charles Davis who was poached from the FOX stable and Davis will pair with Ian Eagle as the play-by-play guy.  Davis distinguished himself in broadcasting partnerships with Thom Brenneman and Kevin Burkhardt in the past; he is very good behind a microphone; pairing with Ian Eagle gives CBS a potent #2 announcing team behind Jim Nantz and Tony Romo.

While I am generally on the subject of NFL telecasts – and on sports telecast more broadly – there has been speculation that some or all of the sports in the US that we have come to love may return without fans in the stands.  That seems to be the case with NASCAR as it reopens and with the PGA as it plans to reopen.  Maybe that will have to be the case for MLB and the NBA, NHL and even the NFL.  If that is the case, let me suggest there is a silver lining there:

• If there is no “crowd”, the producers and directors “back in the truck” will not be able to show us any “crowd shots”.
• Perhaps, a month or so of such telecasts will wean them away from their obvious addiction to such diversions.  I for one would appreciate sitting down to a three-hour telecast focused exclusively on the players and the game situations.

Also on the assumption that there will be an NFL season in the Fall, the league made two announcements regarding its schedule:

1. The full schedule will be released on Thursday 7 May.
2. All the games will be played in the US; all the international games have been relocated.

Previously, the NFL had planned to play 5 overseas games in 2020; four would have been in London and one in Mexico City.  Those four “London Games” were to be divided between 2 venues there; two in Wembley Stadium where previous London Games had taken place and two in the new stadium built to be the home of the Tottenham Hotspurs in the English Premier League.  The Jags were supposed to be the “home team” for two of those four games; they will now take place in Jax.

I think this is a very smart move on the part of the NFL.  If there is – as some epidemiology folks predict – a “second wave of COVID-19” in the Fall/Winter, there could well be international travel restrictions in place that could ruin the NFL schedule in toto.  There may be travel restrictions in the US but the potential for disaster is reduced.  Imagine the situation where two NFL teams are in London to play on Sunday and on Saturday Night the UK closes its airports to flights going in and out of the country and holds onto that restriction for a couple of weeks.  The fact that I typed that sentence probably gave Roger Goodell a twinge in his shoulder…

Finally, let me close today with three NFL Draft observations:

“But of course: As sung again this year by a chorus of media and team officials, ‘The NFL draft was so strong from top to bottom.’ Cut and paste.”  [Bob Molinaro, Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot]

And…

“Quick hit: If every team gets the players it wanted, why are some franchises on their 12th consecutive rebuilding year?”  [Bob Molinaro again]

And …

“With stay-at-home orders in effect during the NFL draft, wasn’t every lineman technically an interior lineman?”  [Dwight Perry, Seattle Times]

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

 

 

About a year ago, the US Women’s National team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against US Soccer asserting that its players had been underpaid as compared to the male players on the US Men’s National Team.  Last week a US District Court judge in California threw the lawsuit out in a summary judgment.  There are elements of that lawsuit that will continue through the courts – those parts dealing with inequities in terms of travel arrangements, training equipment and facilities, and medical staff.

While the cynic in me recognizes that the applicable slogan here of “Equal pay for equal work!” is not something that US society is ready to fully embrace, I am absolutely in favor of achieving that goal.  Like just about everyone who read and heard about the filing of this lawsuit, I was “rooting for” the women’s team to win – – but expected an out of court settlement so that neither side would take the risk of losing big.  Judge R. Gary Klausner has – at least for the moment – removed the “lose big aspect” of the case from the side of US Soccer.  [I say “at least for the moment – because I will be shocked if the women’s team does not appeal the ruling to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.]

Remember, I am not an attorney; what follows here is my understanding of the status quo as reported in the general press.  As I understand it, a significant element of the basis for this summary judgment ruling is that there are fundamental differences in the pay structure between the men and women AND the pay structure for the women was collectively bargained for because the women did not want the pay model used for the men.  So, it seems that Judge Klausner’s decision says in legalese something equivalent to, “You made the bed; now sleep in it.”

[Aside:  Readers here know that I am a big fan of Sally Jenkins and agree with her perspectives on issues about 99% of the time.  This is not one of those times; she believes that the ruling comes down in favor of male entitlement and I do not believe that is the case.  Nonetheless, HERE IS A LINK to her column in the Washington Post on this subject.]

This ruling adds a layer to an area of legal confusion for me.  I am not going to say that I think the ruling is wrong – that would be an outrageous position for me to take – but there is a hierarchical status here that I do not understand.  Let me take a step back in order to explain:

• It seems to me that a Collective Bargaining Agreement between a business entity (say the NFL or MLB) and its employees (say the players’ union or the umpires/referees) transcends the boundaries set on Federal anti-trust legislation.
• I guess I can begin to see how that could be the case since at least part of the impetus for anti-trust legislation came from the labor movement that sought to earn the power of collective bargaining to favor the employees of those companies to be regulated by anti-trust measures.
• Maybe that sort of hierarchical structure leads to the legal equivalent of “You made the bed; now sleep in it.” Maybe …?

This case seems to me to be different in a fundamental way.  In the case of anti-trust legislation residing below a negotiated CBA on the legal pecking order, it is the establishment of the laws governing CBAs that takes the higher rung on the ladder.  The basis for this lawsuit is gender discrimination and it seems to me that the Equal Pay Act and the Civil Rights Act are the ones contending with CBAs for loftier legal status.

I guess it is OK to allow players – for example – to accept a Draft by the NFL in exchange for some other concession by the league.  However, I do not see how the members of the Women’s National Team could have been construed to bargain away their gender in attaining the CBA that now exists.

I assume this case will continue to the point of an appeal and I continue to root for the women to win this case.  I think Judge Klausner’s ruling diminishes the likelihood of a negotiated settlement out of court for this matter – but we can continue to hope.

Finally, this note from Dwight Perry in the Seattle Times:

“The Tokyo Olympics have been rescheduled for 2021 but will still be known as the 2020 Games, organizers say.

“’We couldn’t agree more,’ said 12 of the Big Ten’s 14 athletic directors.”

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

 

 

The Cincinnati Bengals have released Andy Dalton; that news is not shocking, but it is news that might reverberate through the NFL.  There are teams where the starting QB position is “thin at best”; there are teams that have no experience in the backup QB slot; Andy Dalton should be an interesting commodity for more than a few teams.  Unless I have forgotten someone along the way, I believe the list of experienced/recognizable QBs with extensive starting experience in the NFL comes down to this:

1. Andy Dalton
2. Cam Newton

Make no mistake, Cam Newton has a far more impressive résumé; Newton has been to the Super Bowl; he has been to the Pro Bowl several times and was named first team All Pro in 2015.  Andy Dalton cannot match those accomplishments.  Nevertheless, I think Andy Dalton could be the more desirable commodity in May 2020.

The reason is the “injury factor”.  Cam Newton played hurt in 2018; that was pretty obvious to anyone who watched him play; he returned in 2019 after shoulder surgery and started two games before suffering a Lisfranc injury to his foot.  He had surgery to correct that foot injury in December 2019 and is in the process of rehab as we speak.  Andy Dalton has never been a first team All Pro nor has he ever won a playoff game – let alone gone to a Super Bowl – but Andy Dalton’s surgical history is less frightening; he missed 5 games in 2018 due to surgery to repair a torn ligament in his thumb.

Both men are looking for work and both are likely to find work in the NFL – should there be a 2020 season.  But I think the question of where Andy Dalton winds up is more interesting.  First, consider teams where Dalton would have at least a 50/50 chance to be the starting QB:

• Bears:  As of this morning, their depth chart includes Nick Foles and Mitchell Trubisky; Dalton can compete with either of those guys.
• Chargers:  The current depth chart is Tyrod Taylor, Justin Herbert and Easton Stick.  Obviously, Herbert is the heir apparent to Philip Rivers but for 2020…?
• Jags:  Gardner Minshew had a decent rookie year in 2019 and he is 8 years younger than Dalton.  Nonetheless, Dalton’s game history says that he could wind up as the starter in Jax.
• Pats:  I will not pretend to be able to read Bill Belichick’s mind, so I have no idea if he is sold on Jarrett Stidham as his QB for 2020 – – or not.

The list of teams that might want Dalton to be their backup QB is significantly longer.  Teams with a young QB or ones with an established starter who also have playoff aspirations in the short term need to consider Andy Dalton vis á vis their current depth chart:

• Bills:  The backups on the roster today are Matt Barkley, Davis Webb and Jake Fromm.
• Broncos:  Drew Lock earned the starting slot last year and he sits ahead of Jeff Driskell, Brett Rypien and Riley Neal.
• Cowboys:  They have 3 backups today; Cooper Rush, Clayton Thorson and Ben DiNucci.
• Jets:  Behind Sam Darnold sit David Fales, James Morgan and Mike White.
• Rams:  It could be a big step down from Jared Goff to John Wolford, Bryce Perkins or Josh Love.
• Seahawks:  Russell Wilson is capable and always available but if they must go to the bench, the cupboard is bare.  Wilson is the only QB on the Seahawks roster this morning.
• Steelers:  If Big Ben needs relief, would they want Dalton or Mason Rudolph, Duck Hodges, Paxton Lynch and JT Barrett in the bullpen?
• Titans:  Ryan Tannehill is their guy and behind him are Logan Woodside and Cole McDonald.
• Vikes:  Kirk Cousins has been very durable; but if he goes down, they will turn to Sean Mannion, Nate Stanley or Jake Browning.

I just listed 40% of the NFL teams who could have an interest in someone with Andy Dalton’s history/pedigree.  Obviously, I have no inside information regarding negotiations between teams and his agent but here are the teams that I think should be on the phone and testing the waters already:

• Jags
• Seahawks
• Pats

Why do I not have the Steelers on the list of teams that should be in touch already?  That is because I have a gut feeling that Cam Newton is going to wind up in Pittsburgh.  That is either a gut feeling or a bad case of heartburn…

Finally, here is an entry in The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Eighteen-Wheeler:  A tractor trailer truck that is the subject of many a song and the cause of many a hemorrhoid.”

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

 

 

I try to keep politics out of these rants; that will not be possible today because politics lies at the heart of the topic.  Earlier this week, reports say that the LA Lakers applied for and received a $4.6M loan from the Small Business Administration (SBA) as part of the Federal legislation to help small businesses survive during the economic shutdown caused by COVID-19.  To their credit, the Lakers have returned that money to the SBA.  With the money returned to the government so it might be distributed to small businesses that really need those funds, one can consider this a Shakespearean comedy and just say All’s Well That Ends Well.  Except that is not the case…

Forbes said prior to the onset of the pandemic that the Lakers’ franchise was worth $4.6B.  Surely their profit for their current fiscal year will be damaged by the pandemic and the franchise value may drop the next tine Forbes applies its methodology.  Nevertheless, it would take an extreme contortion of logic to think that the Lakers were in the category of “small businesses” to receive pandemic assistance at this time.

The granting that loan was a monumental screw-up; I believe the current jargon would call it an “epic fail”.  So, riddle me this:

1. Who thought it was a good idea for the Lakers to apply for said loan?
2. Who thought it was a good idea to grant the LA Lakers a “small business loan”?

Let me take the first question first.  Either someone in the Lakers’ organization figured out that they would qualify for the loan under the guidelines or someone outside that organization told them the same thing.  If it was an “internal source”, that reveals something about the person that is not flattering; but at least, the return of the money shows that there is a sense of honor and fair play in the organization at some higher level of decision making.  If it was an “external source” – – like maybe a lobbyist hired by the Lakers to represent their interests in Washington? – – that plumbs new depths of shadiness for a person.  Given all of the wrangling and the reporting of that wrangling that led to the passage of this legislation, no person smart enough to know that Mount Rushmore is not a rock group could mistakenly think that any of this money belonged in the Lakers’ account.

It is unlikely that we will ever know the answer to Question 1 above.  That is too bad, but it is not nearly as bad as the fallout from addressing Question 2.

The fact is that the Lakers qualified for this loan under the CARES Act; so, when they applied for it, they got it.  They did not violate the law; they did not even stretch the law; they went to a bank that was handing out these SBA loans and presented their application and they received the funds.  As they approached the bank, they may have been wearing a mask as is the guidance in these days of COVID-19, but I am sure they did not also level a firearm on any bank officer as part of the “loan process”.

There is no reporting that the bank granted that loan in error.  If that is indeed the case, then the bank has minimal culpability here; they granted a loan to a legally practicing business that met the guidelines for that loan.  Maybe the folks involved in the processing and approval of that specific loan might have done a double take at the recipient and sent that application much higher in the bank’s organization for approval, but that is about all I would fault them for.

We are getting closer to the source(s) of the problem here.  Clearly, the criteria set by the SBA by which businesses would qualify for these loans turned out to be “less than perfect”.  [Note: I am trying to be politically correct and sort of generous with some of my remarks today.]   In addition to finding out that the Lakers got a big chunk of the loan money provided, we also know now that a lot of money went to large restaurant chains as opposed to local “Mom and Pop” restaurants.  Like the situation with the Lakers, those entities qualified under the criteria set by the SBA; those chain restaurants did not violate the law; the problem lies in the criteria.

But that is not the end of the line in the hunt for culpability in this mess.  Let us look at the source of all that money, the $2.2 Trillion contained in the CARES Act.  That came from the same place that all government money comes from – – the Congress of the United States.  So, what do we know about that?

• The CARES Act itself is 880 pages long.  Here is a link to the text of that Act in case anyone has 3 days’ worth of time they do not know what to do with.
• Contained in all of that verbiage and motivated by all the dealing and compromising required to reach some sort of consensus here, there are not sufficiently clear statements to the SBA to hand this money out to small businesses that are actually small businesses.

Why is all that a big deal?  The Congress of the United States will soon turn around and tell everyone that they are going to provide oversight as to how this money is spent and administered.  Really?  There has not been a single suggestion that the “Lakers’ loan” or any of the other loans to large chain restaurants violated the CARES Act.  So, when the Congress “oversees” how and why this miscarriage of logic happened, is it likely to point any fingers at itself for nonfeasance – – the failure to put language in those 880 pages spelling out where the money was supposed to go?

I had a former colleague who had a yardstick that he used in measuring the value and the likely success of complex development projects.  Here is that yardstick:

• If you cannot tell me in 3 simple declarative sentences what you want to achieve, you will never get where you think you want to go.

The majority of the 535 Congressthings had their fingers in this mess.  When they stand up and point those fingers at others to assign blame and when they stand up and solemnly promise to get to the bottom of this “mischief”, please hold up a large mirror for them so that they can see the problem.

Finally, in keeping with today’s political theme, let me present a definition from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Election:  An ongoing part of the democratic process in which politicians and the post office team up to make sure American citizens have enough leaflets.”

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

 

 

In the fifth round of the NFL Draft last weekend, the Panthers took Kenny Robinson, a safety from West Virginia.  Robinson is noteworthy because he played football in the XFL this season until the league had to declare bankruptcy as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.  [Aside:  It is unkind and unproveable to assert that the XFL would have gone bankrupt anyway and that COVID-19 merely hastened the process.]  Most of the other XFL players were not eligible for the NFL Draft because their NCAA eligibility had expired in previous years coincident with the expiration of the NCAA eligibility.  Robinson was still eligible because he was an underclassman who left WVU as a result of allegations related to academic fraud.  In a sense, those allegations provided him with a benefit. Interesting…

With the demise of the XFL – save for the legal proceedings involved with the bankruptcy filing and the lawsuits that are certain to come to life as a result of that filing – I want to look at several of the things the XFL introduced to professional football and to sort out the ones I think the NFL should adopt.

The best innovation from the brief history of the XFL was the transparency and the speed of its booth reviews; the NFL should find a way to mimic what the XFL did there and adopt it immediately.  The transparency is easy to achieve; it takes a camera in the replay booth along with an audio feed to the airwaves.  With those minimal intrusions, XFL viewers could hear the communication between the booth and the referee on the field and it could see the camera shots that the replay official was using to make his determination.  I have been on a sufficient number of journeys around the sun to know that this will not eliminate conspiracy theories among fans – – but it should reduce the number.

In the XFL there were no PATs.  After a touchdown, the scoring team had 3 options:

1. It could run a play from scrimmage at the 2 yardline; if it reached the end zone, that was worth 1 point.
2. It could run a play from scrimmage at the 5 yardline; if it reached the end zone, that was worth 2 points.
3. It could run a play from scrimmage at the 10 yardline; if it reached the end zone, that was worth 3 points.

I like this rule because it replaces a less-than-exciting place-kicking play with another play from scrimmage – which is what a fan tunes in to see.  Moreover, the ability to select from the menu of where to place the ball introduces another layer of strategy to the game and I do not see how that would be a negative factor.

The XFL kickoff rule is a plus for player safety because it reduces the number of full speed collisions on those plays.  Here is a link to a report that has text and graphic representations of the kickoff rule in case you did not watch any XFL games on TV.  This rule should indeed increase player safety; at the same time, it is a significant departure from a fundamental part of the game.  I would lean to the side of player safety here since there is precedent in football history for changes to the kickoff rule in pursuit of that goal.  Recall that the flying wedge used to be part of kickoff return strategy; so, changes to the kickoff rules should not be considered sacrosanct.

In the XFL, double forward passes were allowed if the first of the two forward passes on a play was completed behind the line of scrimmage.  I only saw one team try this one time and I was not so horrified by it that I ran screaming from the TV set and hid under my bed.  The only objection I have to this rule is that it gives another advantage to the offensive unit and I do not think that the field needs to be tilted in that direction any more than it is now.

Another XFL rule innovation is not innovative at all.  The XFL adopted the college football rule requiring only 1 foot to be inbounds for a completed pass.  Again, this provides the offense with another advantage.  Personally, I think that there have been enough rule changes with that intent and result.

Regarding production of the game itself for TV, the XFL added another sideline reporter to the mix – one on each side of the field – and they instituted ingame interviews with players and coaches.  Such a bad idea…  Sideline reporters and the insights they bring to the game are even less exciting that PATs.  If you stick a microphone in the face of a QB who just threw an INT and ask him what he saw on the play – – obviously not the defender – – you should quickly realize that none of the answers increase understanding on the part of the viewer or the reporter.  And Heaven forbid you should ask a player who just lost a fumble how he feels at the moment…

Another production innovation was to allow viewers to listen in on the electronic communications between coaches and players.  Those were interesting for about the first half-dozen times they added that audio feed to the broadcast.  After that, it was much ado about nothing because it was all jargon/gibberish.

So, the breakdown of seven XFL innovations creates three layers for the NFL to consider:

• Replay transparency:  Adopt it.
• Eliminate PATs:  Adopt it.
• XFL kickoff rule:  Adopt it.
• Double forward passes:  Save this until NFL defenses catch up to NFL offenses and the league mavens think they need to inject more offense into the games.
• One foot inbounds for completed passes:  See Double forward passes above.
• Additional ingame sideline reporting:  Drive a wooden stake into the heart of this idea.
• Access to coach/player electronic communication:  Sounds like it would be interesting – – but it isn’t; don’t do this.

Finally, Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times had this to say about another competition that was canceled due to the COVID-19 outbreak:

“As if all the other shutdowns weren’t enough, now they’re telling us there won’t be a Scripps National Spelling Bee this year.

“There are no words …”

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

 

 

The NBA has a tentative plan for its reopening – – sort of.  I say “sort of” not to mock or deride their announcement of a plan but to recognize what the league itself knows:

• Events created by the COVID-19 pandemic can demand changes in plans and behaviors.  The NBA told the teams at the end of its description of a phased opening that it “may push this timing back if developments warrant.”

The reopening plan calls for practice facilities to open in a measured way starting on May 8^th.  The idea of a “measured way” can be recognized by some of the limits on what can happen in the practice facilities as of May 8^th:

• The practice facilities are intended to provide venues for “limited individual workouts”.  Head coaches and assistant coaches are not to be present for these “limited individual workouts”.
• No more than four players may be present in the practice facility at a given time.
• There are to be no scrimmages.
• Players must wear a mask when not working out.
• Any team employee – such as part of the training staff – present in the facility must wear masks and gloves and must remain 12 feet away from any players or one another.

Obviously, the NBA is taking the lead among major US sports to move toward reopening and it is doing it cautiously.  Over and above the league’s caution, there is one other important caveat involved here that can override this announced date to begin reopening:

• Practice facilities will only be opened in places where the activities permitted in those facilities would comply with state and local regulations such as stay-at-home orders.  [Translation:  The NBA has no interest in being a scofflaw and getting into an adversarial posture with mayors and governors.]

May 8^th is ten days from today.  For every team to be able to open its own practice facility and not go looking for one in a different venue, a lot of states and local jurisdictions are going to have to lift existing stay-at-home orders.  There are 30 NBA teams; if I have counted correctly, they “reside” in 21 states, the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada.  Just to highlight the complexity of that issue, as of this morning:

1. The Oklahoma City Thunder would be able to follow the NBA rules on May 8^th as there are plans for Oklahoma to reopen before then.
2. The LA Clippers and Lakers play in a city where the mayor has said he cannot envision the return of sports to the city before Thanksgiving.

Without attempting to choose sides in the debate between epidemiology and economics, I think we can all agree that the positions currently taken by the officials in Oklahoma and Georgia differ significantly from those taken by the officials in California and New York.  Moreover, it is not likely that the NBA will be the go-between to resolve calmly and rationally those significant differences.

One of the phrases that has become commonplace in English over the past couple of years is to label statements and ideas as “aspirational”.  I am completely fed-up with that label because what it really means is that the statement or the idea getting the label has now been shown to be “ignorant” or “impossible” – – but we would not want to say such a nasty thing about a person or an idea and we call it “aspirational”.   Bullspit!

I think this is the exception that proves the rule.  I think the NBA’s reopening plan is indeed “aspirational”.  The NBA knows that this timeline may not happen; they probably know that this timeline is unlikely to happen; at the same time they are “hopeful” – which is a synonym for “aspirational” while “ignorant” and “impossible” are not – that they can begin to get back to normal starting on May 8, 2020.

Another sport – not nearly as visible as the NBA – has announced its plans to resume competition.  USA Swimming – the national governing body for swimming here – said that it will resume regional events in August leading up to national events in November 2020.  Those events from August through November are part of a process that will lead to the competition that selects the US Olympic Swimming Team for next summer’s Games in Tokyo.

Once again, the announcement of these plans is tentative and depends on any restrictions that may exist at the state and local levels.  A statement issued by the CEO of USA Swimming makes it clear that things might have to change:

“I think everything is taken with a grain of salt and maybe even more than one grain of salt. “We’re trying to bring normalcy back when it’s not normal, and we know that. But we have to have a Plan A, a Plan B and even a Plan C.”

Finally, why are “reopening plans” worthy of comment?  Let me leave you today with an item from Dwight Perry’s column, Sideline Chatter in the Seattle Times:

“Think those Nebraskans are football-crazy? This year’s Cornhuskers’ spring game drew a crowd of 20,000.

“That’s 20,000 — as in people remotely tuning in to watch a simulated eSports version after the real game was canceled.”

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

 

 

I don’t know who came up with the idea to assign grades to the NFL Draft the day after it was over.  Presumably, he/she did not realize what a scourge would be released upon the sporting public when everyone glommed onto that format and made that “analysis” seemingly mandatory for the day after the Draft.  In addition to the format having become its own cliché, there are two other fundamental problems with such things:

1. Perhaps as many as half of the first-round picks will be severe disappointments let alone players taken later.  The problem here is that we will not recognize that for about two seasons.  Assigning grades now presumes the ability to see into the future to make such determinations – – but if one could do that, there would never be any draft busts.
2. With all due respect to the myriad authors of these pieces, how many of them can honestly say they have watched the 100 or so players taken in rounds 5 through 7 play football?  If you have not done that, what might be the basis for grading a team’s Draft at this point?

I think these two limitations are reflected in the Draft Grade Column that appeared in the Washington Post yesterday.  Here is the grade distribution for the 32 teams:

• Three teams got an A or an A-minus.
• One team got a D.
• Twenty-eight teams got grades from C-minus to B +

Really?

I shall not be awarding grades here, but I do want to comment on the Draft and the coverage of the Draft.  Remembering the reality that plenty of players taken in this year’s Draft will be mediocre at best as an NFL player, I thought it was interesting to hear the ESPN and NFLN draft analysts lavish praise on virtually every pick.  It was somewhere in the sixth round on Saturday when I returned to the TV having poured myself a glass of wine and heard one of the analysts off-screen describe one of the picks by saying that the Colts had gotten themselves “a real player here”.  That must be good news in Indy because it would have been embarrassing for the Colts to have drafted a figment of their imaginations.  Sigh…

I liked the format of this Draft a lot; in fact, I like it better than the format where they hold the draft in the presence of several hundred thousand mouthbreathers.  Moreover, the home shots of players and families reacting to Draft news was infinitely better than having a reporter assigned to stick a microphone in front of a player and ask, “So, how does it feel to be a (fill in the blank)?”  Occasionally, they might mix in something like, “So, growing up in Asshat AK, did you ever think you would be drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft?”  I much prefer to see the player/family reactions and to skip the stupid interview questions.

When Alan Greenspan was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he once warned investors not to succumb to “irrational exuberance”.  That malady finds its way into NFL Drafts too.  Lamar Jackson compared the Ravens’ first round pick – – Patrick Queen – – to Ray Lewis.  Jackson dubbed Queen as “Ray Lewis, Jr.”

Really?

I have some observations regarding the Draft to present here.  Please do not expect depth of insight or anything remotely like that:

• Browns:  They signed an undrafted free agent, AJ Green who is a DB.  If he makes the team, it is possible that AJ Green (Browns) might wind up covering AJ Green (Bengals) twice a year.
• Chiefs:  They probably wanted to have a rhyming theme to this year’s draft because two of their draftees have first names of L’Jarius and Thakarius.
• Eagles:  They must have been trying to corner the market on players named Jalen.  They took two of them in the first two rounds and they have Jalen Mills already on the roster.
• Eagles:  They drafted a linebacker from Temple named Shaun Bradley.  They have to hope this works out better than the last time a Philly team took a player named Shawn Bradley…
• Eagles:  They drafted Prince Tega Wanogho in Round 6 and signed Prince Smith as an undrafted free agent.  Remember, this is the team that also had King Hill as a backup QB for about 6 years in the 1960s.
• Eagles:  They need WRs.  They drafted 3 of them and traded for a fourth.
• Giants:  They need offensive linemen.  They drafted 3 of them last weekend.
• Rams:  The Eagles drafted two players named Jalen; the Rams drafted two players named Terrell.
• Panthers:  They gave up 29.4 points per game last year; only the Dolphins allowed more points scored for the season.  In this year’s Draft, the Panthers had 7 picks and took 6 defensive players.
• Vikings:  Somehow, they amassed 15 picks in this Draft.

Finally, Greg Cote of the Miami Herald had this observation about a form of Draft coverage that I missed:

“Showtime has ex-NFL QB Mark Sanchez in a new digital series talking with top quarterbacks in this draft. Wait a second. Isn’t that like putting top thespians in an acting roundtable hosted by Adam Sandler?”

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

 

 

Watching the NFL Draft take place last night in some sort of virtual reality was interesting enough; most importantly, it took place in the present tense as opposed to being a replay of some previous event of the same ilk.  You can find a jillion reports this morning analyzing which team “got it right” and which team “got it wrong” last night completely ignoring the fact that it makes little sense to try to evaluate a draft for about the first two years after it happens.  However, enough time seems to have passed to revisit a recent draft and point out what appears to be a severe mistake.

In the 2017 Draft, the Jags had the 4^th pick.  The Jags have had a Top 5 so often that one might assume there is an arcane clause in the NFL Bylaws assuring the Jags of such a status.  Actually, the clause is not that arcane; teams get Top 5 picks regularly when they stink year after year after…  The Jags were bad in 2016; hence their “elite status” in the 2017 Draft.

The Jags took Leonard Fournette with that pick.  He has been in Jax for 3 seasons; in that time, he has averaged 4.0 yards per carry and 73.1 yards per game.  Also, in that time, Fournette has shown some meathead tendencies to the point where there are myriad reports that the Jags are trying to trade him but there are no takers.  At best, the Jags got a big physical specimen of a running back with the #4 pick who turns out to post nothing more than decent stats and has behavioral issues that have gotten him suspended.

If that were all there were to the situation, you would have to say the Jags wasted such a high pick.  But as the guy on the infomercial always says:

• “But wait … there’s more!”

Here are just some of the players the Jags ignored when they had that 4^th pick in the 2017 Draft:

• Jamal Adams taken at #6
• Christian McCaffrey taken at #8 [Also a running back I might point out…]
• Patrick Mahomes taken at #10
• Marshon Lattimore taken at #11
• Deshaun Watson taken at #12
• Marlon Humphrey taken at #16
• TreDavious White taken at #27
• TJ Watt taken at #30

That is just a sampling of what the Jags did not want to take with that #4 pick; that list does not extend into anything beyond the first round of the 2017 Draft but it should be noted that all of those passed-over players have already been to a Pro Bowl.  [For what it’s worth, these RBs taken much later in the 2017 Draft have also been to Pro Bowls – Dalvin Cook, Alvin Kamara, Kareem Hunt, James Connor and Tarik Cohen.]

Another perspective from previous NFL Drafts demonstrates how short NFL careers are for many players.  Consider the players taken in the overall #1 position from 2010 through 2015:

• 2010 – Sam Bradford – not on any NFL roster this morning
• 2011 – Cam Newton – now a free agent looking for a place to land
• 2012 – Andrew Luck – retired
• 2013 – Eric Fisher – still with the KC Chiefs, the team that drafted him
• 2014 – Jadeveon Clowney – now a free agent looking for a place to land
• 2015 – Jameis Winston – now a free agent looking for a place to land

The oldest player on that list is 32 years old.  Sic transit gloria mundi …

Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are going to fill a bit of the void in the sports world by staging another exhibition match as a made-for-TV spectacle.  For this encore performance, the two golfers have added an interesting twist; they will each have an “amateur partner” making it a two-on-two competition.  The “amateurs” will be Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

Turner Sports will produce and broadcast this event.  It will take place sometime in May at an as-yet-to-be-determined venue because the producers have made it clear that this will only happen in a place where the event will comply with all health strictures and with all governmental regulations.  All proceeds from the event have been pledged to COVID-19 relief efforts.

I have made it clear on many occasions here that watching golf on TV is not one of my favorite things.  I will watch the final round of a major tournament – sort of – but that’s about it.  I will probably watch this event for the same reason that I was enthusiastic about watching last night’s NFL Draft – – it is a live event and not something pulled from the video archive at Turner Sports.

Meanwhile the PGA is looking at a restart for its tournaments sometime in mid-June.  That announcement prompted Greg Cote of the Miami Herald to make this comment:

“The PGA Tour is planning a mid-June return with no fans, assuring the look and ambiance of it will have all the excitement of a Tuesday practice round. Meantime, GolfTV reported exclusively that the gum Tiger Woods chews on a golf course is orange-flavored Trident. Run to the store and start hoarding!”

Emphasis was in the original …

Finally, since I mentioned “short careers” for NFL players above, let me close today with a pertinent entry from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Elderly:  Of advanced years.  Or, as it is known in the entertainment industry, twenty-seven.”

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