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            I – like many other people – have a healthy disregard for the stereotypical politician.  You know, the kind of person who fits the description of a politician offered by Charles De Gaulle:

“In order to become the master, the politician poses as the servant.”

            Well, today I have to tip my hat to a former politician who left that profession to take up one that attracts even more scorn that your typical politician – – President of the NCAA.  Charlie Baker was formerly the two-term Governor of Massachusetts who now succeeds Mark Emmert as the leader of the NCAA.  All politicians know how to face a problem and kick the can down the road; some recognize that tactic will not work forever and find means of compromise to allow for some creativity to emerge that might resolve the problem via a change process.  As of this morning, I am willing to put Charlie Baker into that latter category.

            NCAA President Baker has sent a letter to the 350+ Division 1 schools in the country proposing that the NCAA create a new and separate class of schools to compete in a different tier of collegiate athletics.  For now, let me call this the “Baker Model Of Competition” or “BMOC” in a new context.

            In the “BMOC”, schools would be required to offer at least 50% of their athletes a payment of $30K annually via a trust fund yet to be established.  In addition, all the Division I schools – – those in the “BMOC” and the others – – would offer unlimited educational benefits to athletes and schools would be allowed to enter into NIL contracts with their athletes.  The “BMOC” does not represent a “tweak” to collegiate athletics; the “BMOC” takes the concept of the amateur college student who just happens to play a sport and crushes it.

            President Baker recognizes and deals with a fact that previous NCAA officials have tried to obfuscate.  Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain …  Here is that fact:

• There exists now a degree of disparity in the resources available to athletic departments and booster organizations at the top levels of collegiate athletics that affects competition. 
• Moreover, there is no indication that this disparity might “resolve itself” to level the playing field.

            Later today, President Baker is scheduled to speak at an Intercollegiate Athletics Forum in Las Vegas organized by the Sports Business Journal.  Surely, there will be a lot more information and commentary out there after he makes his remarks.  I suggest that we need to follow this story closely; it will have twists and turns along the way, but this appears to be a transformative idea for college athletics in the future.

            Switching gears, I want to reset my thinking from optimism to realism.  I will transition my mind from the aspirational “BMOC” to a narrative that has been around for a few years that seems a bit threadbare to me now.  I am referring to the narrative that Eric Bienemy is living proof that Black men are denied head coaching opportunities purely and simply because of their skin color.  Before anyone gets their undies in a bunch, I did NOT say that Black men have it as easy as White men have it when it comes to getting an opportunity to coach an NFL team.  I said, I am growing tired of the narrative that Eric Bienemy is the prototypical victim of “the system”.

            I say that because as a resident of a Northern Virginia suburb of Washington DC I am inundated with coverage of the Washington Commanders, and I get to see every game they play.  Eric Bienemy rode into town last Spring to take over the offense and to demonstrate that with proper tutelage, the Commanders’ offense could transform itself from a ham-and-eggs unit to a filet-mignon unit.  After all, it was under Bienemy’s brilliance that the KC Chiefs were constantly atop the AFC West and serious Super Bowl contenders every year.  The Commanders in 2024 would lay bare the truths of discrimination in head coaching searches in the NFL.

            Except …  Let me compare for a moment the bottom line for an offensive football team – – Points Scored:

• In 2022 – under the guidance of someone the narrative has labeled as an unsalvageable dolt, Scott Turner – -, the Washington Commanders scored 18.9 points per game.
• In 2023 – – under the guidance of someone the narrative has labeled as an indisputable offensive genius, Eric Bienemy – -, the Washington Commanders have scored 20.0 points per game.

            Let me compare the Commanders’ offensive player assets from 2022 to 2023:

• WRs:  Basically, the same cast of characters; good not great
• TEs:  Same guys; mediocrity
• OL:  Sub-standard in 2022 and similarly sub-standard in 2023 with a few new sub-standard guys
• RBs:  Same guys; average performers.

            If you just look at those positions, you might say that increasing point production by 1.1 points per game is all that is to be expected.  But then you must look at the QB position.

• Scott Turner had Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke as his QB choices.
• Eric Bienemy has Sam Howell as his QB.

            Now here is a stone-cold fact:

• Sam Howell is a significant upgrade at QB as compared to Carson Wentz and/or Taylor Heinicke.

            So, Eric Bienemy, with a better QB for the entire season and basically the same guys on the rest of the offensive unit, has produced all of 1.1 more points per game than did Scott Turner.  Wow!  Maybe – – just maybe – – it is easier to average 29.7 points per game (as the Chiefs did with Bienemy in 2022) if you have Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce etc. at one’s disposal.

            Should Eric Bienemy get interviews for head coaching vacancies this year?  Probably he should based on his previous success with the Chiefs’ offense.  But if he does not get a head coaching job again this year, the old narrative doesn’t work anymore.

            Finally, I began today by praising a former politician.  So, let me close with a perspective on politicians from my favorite curmudgeon, H. L. Mencken:

“A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.”

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

We are getting into late November; so, naturally, this is the time to talk about baseball.  Let me start with the vote by MLB owners to approve the move of the Oakland A’s to Las Vegas and to accept all the inconveniences associated with that move.  Lots have been made about the finances in this matter; the A’s want – – and actually need – – a new stadium; the Oakland Coliseum under whatever name is on the façade these days is beyond repair.  The owners want significant public funding for that stadium either in terms of direct payments for the construction costs or in terms of tax abatements and other financial considerations over a period of time.  The city of Oakland could not meet those conditions.

Back in the mid-90s, Oakland and Alameda County ponied up to bring the Raiders back to Oakland from Los Angeles.  The investment in that case was not a new stadium from the ground up; it only involved adding about 20,000 seats to the existing Coliseum, but it was sufficient in magnitude to cause the government entities there some fiscal agita for a while.  Perhaps that experience made those government officials “gun shy”; maybe you could say that having been fleeced once, they were smart enough not to fall for the same con twice.  Whatever…  The fact is that Oakland and Alameda County have chosen to live within their means even if that meant losing pro sports franchises.

• The Raiders left Oakland for Las Vegas in 2020.  The Raiders got a sweetheart deal and a new stadium there; some estimates were that the folks in Nevada paid $750M to “acquire” the Raiders.
• The Golden State Warriors used to play in Oakland; they moved across the Bay to San Francisco in 2019.  Once again, financial considerations played the major role in the Warriors’ decision to leave Oakland.
• Now, the A’s are leaving town to take up residence in Las Vegas and according to reports, the good folks in Nevada will be contributing about $250M to aid in the “moving costs”.

Oakland cannot afford that kind of money; it is a city that has more than a handful of issues that need its financial attention and building a playpen for a billionaire sports franchise owner is not high on its list of priorities.  So, on one hand, feel sorry for sports fans in Oakland who have “lost their teams”.  At the same time, appreciate the way the folks in government there have refused to give into financial demands from sports owners and leagues.

Now comes the period of uncertainty for the A’s and for MLB:

• The A’s have a lease to play in Oakland through 2025.  Attendance at A’s games has been embarrassingly low for years now; it will only get worse in the next two seasons.
• The new stadium in Las Vegas will not be ready until the start of the 2028 season – – if everything adheres to schedule between now and then.
• So, where will the A’s play their games in the interim?

There are lots of unappealing options here.  MLB and the owners of the A’s need to pick the least unappealing one from the lot:

1. Extend the existing lease for the Oakland Coliseum for 3 more years.  Do not count on getting any beneficence from the city fathers in Oakland during those negotiations nor should the A’s expect tons of fans in the stands.
2. Have the A’s and the San Francisco Giants share the Giant’s stadium.  This poses scheduling headaches, and it would inconvenience the Giants who may not want this to happen.
3. Play in the existing minor league stadium in Las Vegas.  More scheduling headaches and how does that minor league team accommodate the change.  Moreover, do other clubs want to play in minor league facilities?
4. Split seasons having two venues share the A’s home schedule?
5. Something else…?

The approval of the move by the MLB owners – – the vote was unanimous by the way – – marks the first baseball franchise move since the Montreal Expos became the Washington Nats in 2005.  Leagues and teams do not like to move franchises and only do so when brand new facilities become available at little to no cost to the owners or the leagues.  While that did not happen in Oakland, it seems as if that is going to happen in Milwaukee.

The Brewers want renovations/upgrades to their home field (American Family Field).  Various plans and pipe dreams had been floated but it seems that the most reasonable plans would cost about $500M for upgrades plus infrastructure improvements plus maintenance of the facility.  Like Oakland, the city of Milwaukee cannot afford that price tag.  However, in the Brewers’ case, the State of Wisconsin had become involved, and the legislature has approved spending some State revenues on this project.

There was always the threat of the Brewers packing up and leaving Milwaukee, but the threats were never nearly as serious as the ones in Oakland became.  Nevertheless, when the State funding approval was announced, the Governor of Wisconsin made it a point to note how important the Brewers’ presence in Milwaukee is to the economy of the region and the state.  I have no idea if his statements are real or if they are affected by rose-colored glasses; what I am sure of is that the owners of the Milwaukee Brewers are happy recipients of this largesse and that the executives in MLB HQs are happy to see this matter settled quickly and quietly.

One last baseball note today …  Clayton Kershaw will undergo surgery on his left shoulder and in Kershaw’s announcement of that surgery he said specifically that he hopes to be back on the mound “at some point next summer”.  Kershaw will be 36 years old next March; he has been with the Dodgers for the last 16 seasons; he has thrown over 2700 innings in his career.  That is a lot of wear and tear on an arm/shoulder even if there had never been any sort of injury involved.  However, Kershaw has spent time on the Injured List in each of the last 4 seasons, so the announcement of surgery to the shoulder ought to make teams and fans a bit anxious about his possible return to the game at a reasonable level of competence.

Clayton Kershaw is a three-time Cy Young Award winner and an MVP winner as well.  He will be in the Hall of Fame one of these days.  Nonetheless, this announcement of shoulder surgery makes me consider the possibility that his career may be over.

 Bonne chance, Clayton Kershaw.

Finally, since today was only about baseball, let me close with an observation from Yogi Berra:

“If the people don’t want to come out to the park, nobody’s gonna stop ‘em.”

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

 

 

I usually save a bunch of football comments for Football Friday; but I have several on my mind this morning so let ‘er rip.

First, I want to comment on the unfolding sign-stealing scandal in college football involving Michigan and some of its opponents.  The investigation must continue because a critical element is the involvement of various coaches in the chain of command there.  What was done – – and there has been sufficient evidence reported for me to believe that “sign spying” happened – – is a violation of NCAA rules.  It is not illegal; it is a rule violation.  Even if I think the rule is “wrong”, it is a rule and it has been violated.  So, it is not incumbent on the NCAA super-sleuths to figure out who did the violating and who initiated the violating and who knew about the violating without putting an end to it.

Those activities are aimed at sanctioning individuals.  There is – – in my mind at least – – already sufficient information to levy a sanction against “Michigan Football” as an institution.  If the NCAA honestly believes that this rule is important to the fabric of college football, it needs to come down hard on “Michigan Football “right now such that “Michigan Football” is not a beneficiary of breaking that rule the NCAA considers important.  Here is my suggestion:

• As of this moment, “Michigan Football” is under a two-year post-season ban.  No CFP invitations and no bowl game invitations.
• AND … the NCAA proclaims that any other school or football program that engages in anything like this will face a five-year ban in the future.

The next issue is also related to college football.  Last week, the first of the 2023 CFP
rankings were released by the Selection Committee.  Here are the Top Seven:

1. Ohio St.
2. Georgia
3. Michigan
4. Florida St.
5. Washington
6. Oregon
7. Texas

I have been saying for several weeks in my Football Friday commentaries that Florida St. deserves consideration for a CFP bid.  No one should seriously consider me a “Seminole-hater”.  However, if you look at the Florida St. schedule to date, they have played one significant opponent (LSU) and two (better than average opponents (Duke and Clemson).  The problem with the Seminole’s schedule is that their conference opponents in the ACC just aren’t all that good in 2023.

Notwithstanding my suggestion above that Michigan be banned from any and all post-season action this year – – and next – – the Wolverines have played no one of consequence to date.  Looking at their schedule, is it possible that the best team Michigan has played – and beaten – in 2023 is UNLV?

So, my questions now are simple:

1. Why does the Selection Committee place such a low value on “strength of schedule”? 
2. Wouldn’t college football as a whole and the CFP more specifically, benefit from having top schools schedule other top schools instead of cupcakes? 

Conference schedules cannot be regulated; this year the ACC is a week-sister conference in the Power-5: and this year, Michigan’s rotating Big-10 schedule has presented them with no serious opponents to date.  However, the CFP selectors have it in their power to make teams schedule much stronger out of conference teams by rewarding the schools that do so.  It seems to me there is a basic psychological principle at work here:

• You get the behavior that you reward; you change the behavior that you sanction.

The last football item for today involves a high school program in Texas.  Tomorrow is election day, and the Prosper Independent School district has a bond referendum on the ballot for voter approval or rejection.

• Prosper Independent School district wants to issue bonds (borrow money) for four projects.
• The total amount of the bond issue is $102,425,000.
• Of that amount, $94M would go toward the construction of a new stadium for the Prosper Independent School District high school football team.

I do not support public money being used to build stadiums for billionaire football owners.  Neither would I support spending $94M of public money to build a high school football stadium.

Finally, I’ll close today with these words of wisdom from former Notre Dame football coach, Lou Holtz:

“Motivation is simple. You eliminate those who are not motivated.”

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

 

 

I don’t know about you, but back in March I did not have the Rangers/D-Backs as the participants in the 2023 World Series.  Congratulations to both teams.

• The Rangers outlasted the Astros in the ALCS in a series that put the lie to Dorothy’s mantra in the Wizard of Oz.  Home teams did not fare well at all in that series; the visitor won all 7 games.
• The D-Backs just kept grinding and somewhere between Game 5 and Game 6, the Phillies’ bats went AWOL.

Should be an interesting World Series starting Friday night in Texas …

Last week, reports said that Roger Goodell has signed a contract extension that will make him the NFL Commissioner through the end of the 2027 NFL season; he has been in that position since 2006.  Roger Goodell is not a “fan favorite”; there have been lots of times and lots of issues when a large measure of the public’s reaction to something or other has resulted in Goodell being the figurative punching bag.  It is almost as if he is the guy they put in the stocks in colonial times for screwing up something or other.  Reports say that in his current deal, he has made $63.7M annually – – and that number infuriates the people who “hate” Roger Goodell.

Make no mistake; I have disagreed with some of his decisions and his edicts over the years; I am not a “Goodell acolyte”.  Having said that, he deserves the contract extension and whatever salary is included in the deal – – presumably north of $63.7M per year.

Roger Goodell is employed by the 32 owners of the NFL teams; his job description does not really include “keeping fans happy all the time” as a key element of the job.  As I see it, he has 3 major roles to play:

1. He is supposed to grow the business of the NFL
2. He is supposed to be the ultimate arbiter in discipline cases involving players, teams and/or owners.
3. He is to “take the heat” when fans get their dander up over something or other.  He is the buffer between owners and angry fans.

Let me look at those three things separately:

• The NFL “business outlook” is rosy.  The latest round of media rights deals will bring in just under $110B after all of them run their course.  NFL games dominate TV ratings in the US and the game is growing overseas; London games sold out in less than a day when tix were made available last Spring.  The last two times a franchise changed hands, the price tags were $4.6B and then $6B.
• He has been the league’s head disciplinarian for almost 20 years now and has had to “preside” over some dicey issues.  Lots of people “took sides” in matters involving Bountygate, Tom Brady, Spygate, Ray Rice, Colin Kaepernick, Ezekiel Elliott, Myles Garrett and Deshaun Watson; those are the ones that come off the top of my head; there have to have been hundreds of other discipline cases in his time on the job that generated far less agita than the one’s mentioned here.
• He has been the one pilloried by some fan faction or activist group in lots of those matters acting as a human shield between angry people and the 32 owners who are the ones keeping him in their employ.

The bottom line here is that Roger Goodell is not expected to behave in ways that make fans happy; the NFL product is what makes fans happy.  So long as he grows the business and shields the owners from scorn, he is a success.  Remember, the owners are the ones paying him something north of $63.7M per year – – not the fans.

Another report from last week should provide some tangential benefit to the NFL in terms of “growing the fanbase”.  The IOC decided that flag football – – along with some other sports – – will be part of the 2028 Summer Games to be staged in LA.  Yes, I am aware that flag football is not NFL football, but the premise of the two games and the “strategies” of the two games are closely aligned.  Making this an Olympic sport can only bring flag football and NFL football greater exposure in various parts of the world where it is largely ignored today.

Are there areas of the world that meet these two criteria:

1. There is a high standard of living there such that many folks have “disposable income” – – AND – –
2. Folks there would “take to” American football if they were ever exposed to the product.

Putting the game in the Olympics could be a good way to find such areas of the world so that the NFL might slowly cultivate the interest there and begin to exploit it.  I think this is a decision that might provide a huge business benefit to the NFL – – as if it needed one.

There are some reports that say current NFL players want to be on the US Flag Football Team in 2028.  Of course, that is their right, but I do not think that is the best thing that could happen for the NFL from a business standpoint.  Yes, the NFL could field a “dream team” in 2028 and crush the other competitors.  Maybe that is not the best way to “introduce” the game to lots of folks around the world?  Whatever …

Finally, let me close today with an observation by former Notre Dame coach, Lou Holtz:

“If what you did yesterday seems big, you haven’t done anything today.”

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

 

 

Today, let me catch up with the MLB Playoffs.  In the National League, the D-Backs swept the Dodgers which led lots of commentators to conclude that the expanded MLB Playoffs have “devalued the regular season”.  Their reasoning went along these lines:

• The Dodgers won 100 games in the regular season and the D-Backs squeezed into the final expanded playoff slot with a modest 84-78 record.
• Then in a spasm of lethargy, the Dodgers were eliminated from the playoffs and summarily shunted to the sidelines.
• Somehow, these commentators seem to think that the Dodgers’ elimination somehow deprives baseball fans of something that is critical to the fans’ enjoyment of the Playoffs.

First, regarding any sort of “deprivation”, I think that is nonsense.  Yes, every Dodgers’ fan feels “deprived” of a chance to continue to have their heroes compete for a World Series Championship.  Such is not the case for D-Backs’ fans or for fans of baseball in general.

Winning 100 or more games in the regular season is a laudatory accomplishment and the Dodgers have now done that three years in a row.  Winning 100 or more games will guarantee a team a slot in the Playoffs – – but nothing more.  The Dodgers have not won a World Series in any of those last three years with their 100+ regular season wins – – and that’s OK.

In the other NL bracket, the Phillies eliminated the Braves for the second year in a row.  And like the Dodgers, the Braves had a significantly better regular season than the Phillies.  The Braves won 104 games and finished 14 games ahead of the Phillies in the NL East standings.  Sure, I would have enjoyed watching the Dodgers and the Braves duke it out for the NL’s pennant and World Series entry.  But that was simply not to be in 2023 …

If I have counted correctly:

• Since 2011, there have been 23 teams to win 100+ games in the MLB regular season.
• Seven of those teams have made it to the World Series.
• Five have won the World Series
• Sixteen of those teams have been eliminated from the playoffs on the way to the league pennant.
• What happened to the Braves and the Dodgers – – and the Orioles in the AL – – this year is not unheard of.

Last night in Game 1 of the D-Backs/Phillies series, the Phillies hit three home runs in the first two innings and went on to win the game 5-3.  Two of those homeruns came in the bottom of the first inning and neither one was a fluke; you knew those balls were going over the fence as soon as they left the bat.

In the AL playoffs, the “upstart” Rangers bounced the 101-win Orioles from the playoffs in a sweep and the Astros eliminated the Twins in a business-like manner.  The Astros and Rangers finished the regular season with identical records of 90-72.  However, the Rangers have now won the first two games of the series with both games having been in Houston.  If you believe in “home field advantage”, the Rangers are clearly in the catbird seat as of this morning.

Orioles’ fans, Braves’ fans and Dodgers’ fans can lament the hand that was dealt to their favorites – – as they should.  Nevertheless, I and others who are fans of baseball as a sport can adapt, turn the page, sit back, and watch/enjoy the Rangers, Astros, D-Backs and Phillies carry on.

Switching gears …  The White Sox and the Red Sox had disappointing years in 2023 and both teams fired their GMs during the season.  When teams disappoint on the field, it is often the case that the GM and/or the field manager gets the axe; such is life in MLB.  However, this year there is a “surprise opening” in one of the GM suites.

• The Miami Marlins finished third in the NL East and made the NL playoffs.  The Marlins finished ahead of the free-spending Mets and the still-rebuilding Nats.
• Yesterday, it was announced that the Marlins and their GM. Kim Ng, have come to a parting of the ways.  There was a “mutual option clause” in Ms. Ng’s contract that the Marlins exercised, but she declined the extension on her end of the deal.

Kim Ng is the highest-ranking female executive in MLB’s history; her team just made the playoffs with a young roster and she – reportedly – walked away from the job.  Seems strange at first but there are some reports out there saying that her reason was that she was going to be “downgraded” in Miami.  According to those reports, the team wants to hire a team president to whom the GM would report starting in 2024.

Obviously, I have no insight into the negotiations in Miami; but it seems to me that the Marlins’ ownership appears to be mighty meddlesome at this point:

• They will lose in the PR world parting company with the highest-ranking female baseball exec ever.
• They will lose an exec who put together a playoff team in 2023.
• They stand to gain an organization with an additional level of “management”.

So, this is progress … ???

Finally, since today has dealt with success and failure, let me close with this observation by author, Joseph Heller:

“Success and failure are both difficult to endure.  Along with success come drugs, divorce, fornication, bullying, travel, depression, neurosis and suicide.  With failure comes failure.”

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

 

 

The Washington Nationals’ World Series hero, Stephen Strasburg has announced his retirement; injuries and not Father Time have brought him to this fork in the road.  His last start was in June 2022.  Strasburg underwent Tommy John surgery back in 2010 and worked his way back from that setback but in 2021 he suffered from Thoracic Outlet Syndrome and underwent surgery to try to alleviate that condition.  It did not work, and Strasburg announced his retirement last week.

Also last week we learned that Shohei Otani tore his UCL and will not be able to pitch for the rest of the season.  Evidently, he can still swing a bat, so he will remain with the team, but Otani will be a free agent once this season is over and his need for surgery – – with the corresponding uncertainty of return to form that goes with every surgery – – will make his days on the “open market” very interesting.  One commentator said with authority that Otani’s injury cost him at least $100M and maybe $150M in the total value of his next contract.  We shall see …

In other MLB news, raise your hand if you saw this happening:

• The calendar is about to flip to September setting up the stretch run for the MLB season.
• The two NY teams spent the most money on player payroll by far for 2023.
• As of this morning both the Yankees and the Mets are in last place in their divisions.

In the case of the Yankees, their possession of the basement slot in the AL East is rock solid; the Yankees are about 7 games behind the Red Sox in the standings.  The Mets are only two games behind the Nats in the NL East and could still escape that dungeon abode.

On a much more positive note, the race to watch over the balance of the season is in the AL West.  You can throw a hat over the records of the Mariners, the Rangers and the Astros.  Just so you know that there is some spice left to the pennant and playoff chases this year:

• The Mariners’ last ten games on the regular season schedule are against the Astros and the Rangers.  The Mariners are on the road to the Rangers for 3 games; they are home to the Astros for 3 games and they are home to the Rangers for 4 games.
• The Astros are at the Rangers for 3 games starting on Labor Day and then have 3 games at the Mariners home field.
• The Rangers have 7 games against the Mariners and 3 against the Astros coming up.  In addition, the Rangers have a series with the Blue Jays who are lurking out there hoping to secure a wild card slot in the playoffs.

Switching gears – – and sports …  You must have read about the uproar in Spain caused by the President of the Spanish Soccer Federation kissing one of the star Spanish women’s soccer players on the mouth “unannounced” and “uninvited”.  FIFA says they will provisionally suspend him for 90 days.  The Spanish women want him removed from his job.  He remains unrepentant saying that he did nothing “inappropriate”.  At the risk of appearing to side with any party to this kerfuffle, let me say:

• Should he have done this?  NO!
• Is this the worst “assault” on the player he might have perpetrated?  No.
• Should he have apologized immediately?  Of course, he should have.
• Is it too late for an apology?  You bet.
• Should he lose his job?  That is a decision for the members of the Spanish Soccer Federation to make.

There is one other question here that does not have such a short answer.  The Spanish Women’s National Team has threatened not to play again if this guy is not removed from his position of authority.  Is that a good idea?

It seems to me that these women would be cutting off their noses to spite their faces if they do this.  They are the reigning Women’s World Cup Champions; the Olympics will kick off in less than a year.  It seems to me that the opportunity to add an Olympic Gold Medal to the team’s accomplishments argues for them to regroup and play on.

Hey!  That’s just me …

Finally, I shall close today with these words from Laurence J. Peter:

“In time, every post tends to be occupied by an employee who is incompetent to carry out its duties. … Work is accomplished by those employees who have not yet reached their level of incompetence.”

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

 

 

And a Happy Bastille Day to one and all …

In yesterday’s rant, I mentioned that the two once-meaningful newspapers in Chicago had been scooped and hung out to dry by the Daily Northwestern in coverage of the hazing scandal at Northwestern.  Today, I want to return to the hazing scandal itself and not the journalistic achievements of those who covered – or did not cover – it.

As a backdrop here, you have to realize that Pat Fitzgerald was a revered figure as the head coach at Northwestern.  He had been a star player there; he took the coaching job 17 years ago and would have been happy to spend the rest of his days in that job; he was a Northwestern Wildcat to his core – – and fans loved that.  Northwestern University itself was in a happy place with him too because – truth be told – Northwestern is a backwater football program in the Big-10.  But with Fitzgerald in the job, the school never had to think about doing some hard work – – and spending some BIG dollars – – to hire a new coach because Fitzgerald was going to stay there “forever”.

So, when the university president got an investigative report that corroborated the existence of hazing in the football program, he tried to do something without really doing anything.  He issued Fitzgerald a two-week suspension without pay and that suspension would have ended before training camp commenced.  That does not even rise to the level of a slap on the wrist.  So, when the reporting in the Daily Northwestern hit the streets, the president became somewhat complicit in the whole mess.

There is still controversy as to everything that happened in the locker room related to hazing incidents.  The full extent of the hazing is not so important here; the fact that any hazing involving involuntary simulated sexual acts took place is sufficient to conclude that they should not have happened at all.  And so, the university fired Pat Fitzgerald not for condoning the hazing nor for participating in the hazing but for not being fully aware of the hazing activities when he should have been.

Up to that point, I can see how the situation has moved from Point A to Point B.  It is a little odd that the punishment level rose from a love-tap to a death sentence, but I can rationalize that the original under-reaction forced a final over-reaction.  But now comes the buried lead in the story:

• The Northwestern defensive coordinator, David Braun, will be the interim head coach at Northwestern for the 2023 season.  Braun was hired into that job in January 2023, so he was not involved with the team at the time of the hazing activities.
• At the same time, Northwestern will retain all its assistant coaches for the 2023 season.

Excuse me.

• If Fitzgerald is being fired for not being as aware of hazing activities as is sufficient in 20/20 hindsight, then how can any of the assistant coaches be allowed to continue in their jobs?
• If they were “sufficiently aware”, then their failure to put a stop to it is damning.
• If they were “not sufficiently aware”, then they fell short of the standard set by the firing of Pat Fitzgerald.

Lest anyone misinterpret here, I have no problem with the university decision here. I do think that the university is applying a double standard here and needs to be called out for that fact.

Moving on …  Two days ago, ESPN.com had an investigative report done by Don Van Natta, Jr. and Seth Wickersham.  Investigative reports always rely on unidentified sources and usually take the reader through leaps of logic of varying length.  Having said that, both Van Natta and Wickersham have plenty of credibility in the field of investigative journalism; so, one must approach this piece with an open mind.  Here is the headline from ESPN.com:

“’He was free and clear’: How the leak of Jon Gruden’s email led to the fall of Commanders owner Dan Snyder”

This is a lengthy report; it probably took me 25 minutes to read it because the timelines involved are complicated.  Here is a link to the report; I suggest you refill your coffee cup – – or any adult beverage you may have in hand as you read this – – and dive in.

For those of you who choose to ignore the opportunity to peek behind the curtain that obscures NFL executive actions and NFL owners’ behaviors, let me summarize what comes out of the report:

• Roger Goodell is a weasel.
• Mark Davis is a wimp or a simp – – or maybe both.
• Jon Gruden is not nearly a loveable naïf.
• Dan Snyder is a loathsome creature.

Even if only half of this investigative report is correct – – and I am confident that much more than that is correct – – the contents here are sufficient to make me root heavily for Gruden and his lawyers in the lawsuit against the NFL.  Currently, that case is before the Nevada Supreme Court.  Gruden filed his suit in state court in Nevada; the NFL tried to get it thrown out and remanded to arbitration where the NFL never really loses AND where all discovery and testimony is shielded from public view.  The NFL lost at the first level of Nevada courts and then again at the appeals level; the NFL is the plaintiff before the Nevada State Supreme Court, and I really want the NFL to lose there so we can experience the following:

• Release of those 600,000 emails that were culled to result in the “Gruden leak”.
• Testimony and cross-examination under oath of all the players here – – Goodell, Snyder, Gruden, Davis and potentially other owners

Finally, harkening back to the apparent double standard in existence at Northwestern University today, let me close with this famous observation by Ralph Waldo Emerson:

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.  With consistency, a great soul has simply nothing to do. … Speak what you think today in hard words and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict everything you said today.”

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

 

 

My long-suffering wife and I leave later today for a trip to Italy where the main focus will be to take part in “cooking lessons” which will inevitably lead to “eating events”.  I have looked at the events on the itinerary and hope to return having gained only 10 pounds.

We fly home on June 27 and will arrive late in the day.  I expect June 28 will involve dealing with jet lag and with catching up with happenings in the world of sports.  My best guess is that I will be back on the air on June 29.

See you then.  Stay safe and stay well …

They will run the Preakness Stakes on Saturday as the second leg of the Triple Crown.  Only eight horses will go to the post in this race including Mage who won the Kentucky Derby a week and a half ago.  Mage has morning line odds posted at 5-2; normally, the Derby winner is bet down in the Preakness to odds of less than 2-1; early betting has Mage at 8-5 as of this morning.  However, there is a twist this year.

National Treasure is going to run in the Preakness and National Treasure would have been one of the horses getting a lot of betting action in the Derby had he been allowed to run.  He was disqualified because he is trained by Bob Baffert and Baffert is still serving a long suspension imposed by Churchill Downs for a series of “irregularities” involving Baffert horses.  But Baffert is not barred from Pimlico; and so, National Treasure will run in this race.  National Treasure has current odds of 4-1.

Moving on …  A while back, I mentioned the incident where Bob Huggins – – head basketball coach at West Virginia – – uttered a homophobic slur over a live radio broadcast and suffered some financial consequences from that impropriety.  Gregg Drinnan writes the blog, Taking Note, and this is what he had to say about that:

“Bob Huggins, the men’s basketball coach at the U of West Virginia, had an annual salary of US$4.2 million that made him the state’s highest-paid employee. But then he had a radio rant that included homophobic slurs; so. the school knocked $1 million off his salary. Now he’s No. 2 on the state payroll. Who’s No. 1? That would be Neal Brown, the school’s football coach. What? You thought it would be a doctor?

Speaking of college basketball coaches – – obliquely to be sure – – it appears that Mike Kyzyzewski has a new job, but it is not a coaching position.  Kyzyzewski will serve as a “special adviser to the NBA” according to an announcement by the league.  Here is some ow what the NBA says will be Kyzyzewski’s roles and responsibilities:

“… provide counsel to the league office, NBA team executives and other leaders across the league on a host of issues related to the game.”

Meaning exactly no disrespect to Mike Kyzyzewski, but that sounds to me like a Grade A sinecure.  For his part, Kyzyzewski said that this new job would “deepen my connection with the NBA” and would also “enable me to stay engaged with basketball at the highest level.”  Given those clarifications, I still have no idea what he will be doing nor what the league expects him to do.

            Bonne chance, Coach K…

Someone sent along to me this oddball stat.  It was not all that difficult to check and it seemed odd enough hat I went to the trouble to verify it.  Sadly, I did not make a note of where it came from so I cannot properly identify my source here:

• Reggie White had more sacks than games played in his time with the Philadelphia Eagles.

A quick online visit to Pro Football Reference and a search there for Reggie White reveals in one place the following information:

• Reggie White played for the Eagles from 1985 to 1992 (8 seasons).
• White appeared in 121 games for the Eagles.
• White recorded 124 sacks for the Eagles in those 121 games.
• White was named to the Pro Bowl in seven of those eight seasons.
• White was named an All-Pro in 6 of those 8 seasons.

That was not a bad 8-year run that he had with the Eagles…

Finally, since today has been mainly about coaches and a great player, let me close with two observations from a great coach – – Vince Lombardi:

“Perfection is not attainable; but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”

And …

“Winning is not a sometime thing; it is an all the time thing.  You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time.  Winning is a habit.  Unfortunately, so is losing.”

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

 

 

I will be traveling outside the US and without my computer starting this evening, April 19th.  My wife and I will return late on May 1st.  Allowing time for some research and to accommodate jet-lag, I suspect the next rant will be on May 3rd.

Stay safe and stay well everyone…