The Sports Curmudgeon

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone.  Normally, I would caution folks about spending too much time imbibing at the local pub while adorned in whatever green clothing one might have; but in many parts of the country today, bars and restaurants are closed as we are learning the fundamentals of “social distancing”.  To demonstrate that I am in tune with the times, let me offer a suggestion for your “isolationist St. Patrick’s Day festivities”.

• Wear that same hideous green outfit you would have worn to the pub.
• Dig around and find that bottle of crème de menthe in the back of your liquor cabinet and pour that nasty green stuff on some vanilla ice cream.
• Read some Green Lantern comic books.
• Binge watch the old Bonanza TV shows starring Lorne Greene.

No need to thank me.  I’m just trying to do my part…

There is NFL news today even though this is not nearly the NFL season.  In the absence of real games, NFL Free Agency becomes an even bigger deal than it normally is.  And in the ramp up to the start of the free agent feeding frenzy, there have been two head scratching moves and trades:

1. Two seasons ago, the Jags were in the AFC Championship Game and led the Patriots in the 4^th quarter by 10 points.  Yes, they lost that game, but it was their young and aggressive defense that got them there because – remember – Blake Bortles was the one running the offense.  Since that game, the Jags have been dismantling that young, aggressive and competent defense.  Last year they parted company with Jalen Ramesy, Malik Jackson, AJ Bouye and Dante Fowler.  This year, they traded Calais Campbell to the Ravens for a 5^th round pick – – that is NOT a typo – – and they put the franchise tag on Yannick Ngakoue who has made it clear he wants out of Jax.
2. The Houston Texans seemingly look at the Jags’ strange moves and call the bets.   Last year, the Texans traded away Jadeveon Clowney – who admittedly did not want to stay with the team – for the football equivalent of a ham sandwich.  They followed that move with a trade to acquire Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills but gave up two first round picks and a second rounder in the deal.  [Aside:  The 2020 season will be the final year of Tunsil’s contract…] Now it gets even stranger; the Texans traded DeAndre Hopkins to the Cards for David Johnson.

If you can make sense out of the long-range strategic moves made by the jags and Texans over the past couple of years, you can probably also identify the man who put the “ram” in the ram-a-lam-a-ding-dong.  Don’t look at me for an explanation…

There have been a few other surprising moves – but not nearly at the same jaw-dropping level:

• The Cowboys will pay Dak Prescott $31.5M next year to play on the franchise tag.  I recognize that QBs in general are “overpaid” but this one was a bit shocking until I also realized …
• The Titans signed Ryan Tannehill to a 4-year deal that averages out to $29.5M per year.  [Aside:  All of a sudden, Nick Foles at $22M per year looks like a bargain?]
• The Bills acquired Stefon Diggs from the Vikes for a package of draft picks including a first rounder this year.
• Tom Brady will not be with the Patriots next year.  He said his football career will be “continuing elsewhere” – – but that destination is still TBD.

Quick Quiz:  If Brady’s departure from New England signals the end of the Pats’ domination of the AFC East, which team in that division is best poised to take over?

I was fishing around for more information regarding the new NFL CBA and ran across something I had missed in my first scan of the reports.  The CBA was approved in a very close vote; there were 1019 votes to approve and 959 votes to turn it down.  Even though that vote is very close, the decision to ratify the agreement seemed obvious until I ran across this tidbit:

• Approximately 500 players who were eligible to vote did not vote.

I recognize that people do not vote in elections all the time; more than 40% of the voting age population in the US did not vote in the 2016 Presidential election.  However, the ratification vote here would have a direct impact on a player’s working life and career; so, I am surprised that such a large percentage took a pass on voting.

Bob Molinaro had this item in a recent column in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot:

“Money matters: For what it’s worth, nearly 60 percent of NFL players make the league minimum. It’s their chosen profession, sure. But the owners strike a hard bargain.”

If I have read the new CBA correctly on the issue of rookie minimum salaries, those folks on the bottom rungs of the pay scale will get a raise that translates to a significant percentage even if it does not translate into generational-altering wealth.  The rookie minimum last year was $495K and this year it will be $675K.  That is a 36% pay increase and that is nothing to sneeze at – – especially in these times of the coronavirus.

Finally, Dwight Perry had these observations in the Seattle Times a while back:

“With the specter of opposing pitchers plunking Astros hitters at a record rate over the team’s sign-stealing scandal, just have to ask:

“• Will Houston’s promotional giveaways include Astros Replica Jersey Night, sponsored by Target?

“• By season’s end, will Houston — not Boston — be laying claim to the title of “Bean Town”?

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

I have a simple question this morning:

• What is wrong with you people?

I leave you folks in charge of the sports world for 3 weeks as I go on a road trip with my long-suffering wife and I come back to the sporting equivalent of T.S. Eliot’s poem The Wasteland.  If there are no re-starts in US sports over the next month, the best I can look forward to is the beginning of the Mongolian National Premier League – that’s soccer don’t you know – in April.  [Just so you know, Ulaanbaatar City is the defending champion there.]

Let me dispose of four minor items from the past several weeks before getting to the only major sports news of the day:

1. I read that Alex Rodriguez “chastised” the Astros’ players for not showing sufficient remorse over the sign-stealing scandal.  That goes well beyond the pot calling the kettle black; that is akin to Dr. Mengele accusing a physician of malpractice.
2. Tony Romo got a new contract with CBS paying him $180M over 10 years.  He is really good as a color analyst, but I doubt that many folks tune in because of him on the microphone; I think they tune in to see the “big game” that CBS has assigned him to do and then are happy to hear his commentary.
3. While on the road, I succeeded in missing every second of the televised coverage of the NFL Combine.  Moreover, I do not feel like a lesser person for having done so…
4. The NBA proved the old adage that it is an ill wind that blows no good.  Before deferring all regular season games, the NBA changed the coverage of its games to get rid of in-game interviews with coaches/players/fans.  That had to improve the telecasts and it had to make “appropriate social distancing” more easily attainable.

The big sports story of the day is the ratification of a new CBA by the NFL players.  The proposed agreement had previously been approved by the owners, so it is now a fait accompli.  There are loads of things to unpack in there, but I think a critical inclusion is this:

• The agreement is in effect through the end of the 2030 season AND neither side has an “opt-out clause” prior to that time.  There will surely be squabbles and critiques along the way, but fans can look forward to ten years of as much peace as is possible in a labor-management situation.

In terms of the changes to the NFL under this new CBA, there is only one change that I don’t really like.

• As of the upcoming season, the playoffs will expand from 12 teams to 14 teams.  That means there will be 6 games on “wildcard weekend” instead of the current 4 games on that weekend.
• That my not sound like a big deal, but the addition of that seventh team will almost always put a mediocre team in a playoff game and that is not appealing to me at all.

Other than that, there is plenty to like in the new CBA and there are things in there that are OK but not earth-shattering:

• The addition of a 17^th regular season game is OK.  It gives fans another weekly fix for their favorite sports league on TV and more wagering opportunities.  Many players opposed this for health/injury reasons, but it seems that the added money that will accrue to players via the increased salary cap levels prevailed.  One estimate I read said that players will receive an added $675M in salary in 2020 based on added cap room under the new deal.
• The elimination of at least one Exhibition Game – and maybe two? – in exchange for that added regular season game is a huge plus for fans.
• Reductions in practice time in training camp and limitations on practices in full pads could result in sloppier play – – but if coaches are really worth the salaries they are pulling down, they should be able to account for that.

I will dislocate my shoulder by patting myself on the back for a moment here.  The new CBA adopts – partially – a position I have advocated for the past 5 years.  Roger Goodell is the commissioner but not the disciplinarian under the league’s personal conduct policy.  As I suggested all the way back to the “Ray Rice Incident”, the initial findings of fact and issuance of discipline will be done by a third party appointed by both the league and the NFLPA.  Goodell’s disciplinary authority falls into two categories:

1. If someone appeals the disciplinary decision of the “neutral arbiter” that appeal goes to the Commissioner.
2. If the issue at hand involves a threat to “the integrity of the games”, that is the responsibility of the Commissioner.

Sounds like a step forward to me…

There is one potential fly in the ointment here.  Russell Okung has filed an unfair labor practices charge with the National Labor Relations Board against the NFLPA.  Okung was until recently part of the NFLPA Executive Committee, so this is a very strange situation to me, and it sounds as if it could inject some uncertainty into all of this.

Finally, Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times had these two comments about sports and the coronavirus recently:

“Because of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy, five Serie A soccer matches — including the big Juventus-Inter Milan showdown — were slated to be played without any fans in attendance.

“‘Playing in an empty stadium? So what’s the big deal about that?’ asked the Miami Marlins.”

And …

“The phobia over spreading germs has reached such epic proportions, we hear, that college boosters have replaced $100 handshakes with gift cards.”

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

John Beilein and the Cleveland Cavaliers “decided to go in different directions” this week.  The Cavs were 14-40 at the time of the rupture and there are plenty of reports out there saying that the locker room was in turmoil and players felt that they were being treated and coached as if they were in college and not in the NBA.  Not being in that locker room, I have no idea if that is the case – – and if it were the case, whether they ought to be coached as if they were in college.  The fact is that the Cavs aren’t any good and changing the coach is not going to turn this bunch of players into world beaters.

The fact of the matter is that the Cavs have stunk for a long time – – save for a few years when LeBron James was on the team.  James arrived in 2003 and the Cavs improved from 17-65 the year before he arrived, to a team that finished a game over .500 two years later.  However, from that point on, the Cavs have stunk when James is elsewhere; their combined record in those years up to the departure of John Beilein is 130-318 or a winning percentage of .290.  Let the record show that the Cavs have a history of ineptitude above and beyond the tenure of Coach Beilein.

Bob Molinaro had this observation in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot”

“Numbers game: Cleveland is a place where coaches go to be fired. With John Beilein out after 54 games, the NBA Cavaliers have had seven head coaches over the last 10 years. Ditto for the Browns.”

In light of Professor Molinaro’s observation, it seems to me that there are several possible explanations for such a circumstance:

• Something in the Cleveland water supply causes coaches to fail.
• An ancient civilization hexed the land there for eternity.
• Ownership for the two franchises is well short of competency.
• You make the call…

Maybe there is something to the possibility of a strange ingredient in the Cleveland water supply that causes off-center behavior beyond its coaches.  Browns’ OT, Greg Robinson is about to become a free agent; the Browns let it be known that they would not re-sign him for next year.  In my naivete, I would have expected Robinson to hit the weight room and go on a conditioning binge to set himself up for the best free agent deal he could muster.  Consider these entries on his résumé:

• He is only 27 years old
• He was a 1^st round pick (by the Rams) in 2014.
• In 6 seasons he appeared in 83 of the possible 96 games.
• In 2019, his salary was $5.5M – – rather cap friendly.

Given that environment, I am sure that Robinson’s agent was thrilled to learn that Robinson and another man were arrested in Sierra Blanca, TX and officers found 157 lbs. of marijuana in their rental car.  A drug-sniffing dog pointed out the cargo and Robinson has been charged with a bunch of stuff including possession with the intent to distribute.  I guess you could say that his agent saw his bargaining leverage go up in smoke.

Here is the aspect of this case I want to watch for.  I wonder if the lawyer defending Robinson in this matter will try to spin the circumstances here by saying Robinson had no intention of distributing the marijuana; instead, he intended to throw a “really big party” to celebrate the signing of his new free agent contract later this Spring.  It would be interesting to see if the lawyer could actually say that without giggling.

Speaking of potential NFL free agents, I am intrigued by a report that says Robert Quinn might be a free agent and not retained by the Cowboys.  Something does not compute here.

• Quinn will only be 30 years old next season; last year he led the Cowboys in sacks with 11.5 sacks in 14 games.
• He has had double-digit sacks 4 times in his 9-year career and one All-Pro season where he scored 19 sacks.
• Quinn has been traded twice in the last two seasons.  Once he fetched a 4^th round pick (for the Rams) and then he fetched a 6^th round pick for the Dolphins.

That seems like an awful lot of movement for what is statistically a proficient edge rusher in a time where NFL teams place a high value on edge rushers.  His salary in 2019 was only $6M.  I need to find a medium somewhere to connect me with Paul Harvey out there in the great beyond so that I can know “The Rest Of The Story”.

The NFL has proposed a 17-game schedule and an expansion of the playoffs as part of a new 10-year CBA; and in exchange for those concessions by the players, the cut of revenues going to the players in terms of  salary cap and salary floor would increase by 1.0 to 1.5 percent.  Estimates say this would put a total of an extra $5B on the players’ side of the table over the 10 years of the proposal.

Let me assume the numbers are real; I have no way to evaluate those sorts of projections.  The players have been solidly against the 17-game season idea; I don’t know if they would be as adamantly opposed to expanding the playoffs from 12 to 14 teams as they have been to extend the regular season.  The proposal here maintains Thursday Night Football games – something else the players say they do not like even a little bit.  Now, however, those negatives come wrapped with a $5B bow ($500M per year for 10 years) around them.  The next move(s) will be interesting to see…

Finally, let me close with another observation from Bob Molinaro in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot about another basketball team having more than its share of difficulties this year:

“Deep slide: At 3-12 in ACC play, Carolina will have to up its game to avoid finishing in sole possession of last place for the first time in school history. So, the talent level at Chapel Hill isn’t what it usually is — maybe only three future NBA players instead of the usual six or seven. But that’s where coaching comes in, doesn’t it?”

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

Some numbers are in regarding XFL 2.0 in its second weekend of existence.

• League-wide attendance was up slightly due in large measure to almost 30,000 folks showing up in Seattle to see the Seattle Dragons in their home opener despite the typical February rains in Seattle.
• Average TV ratings over the four games dipped slightly but it was not a precipitous drop.

You can make of those numbers what you will.  I think the most important number from Week 2 comes from an Internet based sportsbook, Pointsbet.com.  According to the folks there, the betting handle for Week 2 games was up as compared to Week 1 games.  That is a big deal for two reasons:

1. Much of football’s popularity in the US is driven by wagering.  A bigger handle in Week 2 is a good sign that people liked what they saw in Week 1 sufficiently to maintain interest in the games and to “have a little action riding on them”.
2. Many bettors go out of their way to watch those games with “a little action riding on them”.  More wagering on more games should goose TV ratings and if TV ratings get to the point where TV becomes a reliable and significant revenue stream…

I saw almost all the Dallas/LA game on Sunday afternoon.  I could not find a reported attendance for that game, but it sure looked sparse to me – – like maybe fewer than 10,000 folks?  There is an interesting sports dynamic at work here.  The Rams are not coming close to filling the LA Coliseum; the Chargers have not been able to fill a soccer stadium that seats 30,000 folks and the team often plays to crowds where the visiting fans equal the number of Charger fans; now the LA Wildcats seem not to be drawing flies in that same soccer stadium.

A couple of years ago, NFL teams were climbing over one another to move to LA.  The Rams’ ownership is in the final stages of constructing a new stadium that is rumored to cost somewhere around $4B.  However, as of now, the fanbase in LA has been lukewarm to the presence of pro football in town.

While MLB is in the throes of getting out from under a “cheating scandal”, there ought to be a bit of angst involved regarding the upcoming NCAA Basketball Tournament.  It gives me no joy to mention it because I believe that March Madness is THE single best sporting event of the year.  Nevertheless, there is just a bit of stink that is attached to what will be happening in mid-March.

Recall that FBI probe into the seamy underbelly of college recruiting.  That information and some convictions at trial have cast a bad light on some programs and coaches in the college game.  The problem is that the NCAA has not been able to take whatever information has been made available to the point that it can determine if and how it will enforce its own damned rules about recruiting student-athletes.  Here are some teams who have been associated with some “irregularities” in the recruiting business based on FBI investigations:

• Arizona  18-7
• Auburn  22-4
• Kansas  23-3
• LSU  18-8
• Memphis  18-8
• Oklahoma  16-10
• NC State  17-9
• South Carolina  16-10

I am NOT accusing all those schools of “cheating” when it comes to recruiting.  At the same time, I would not be gobsmacked to learn that all of them had dirty laundry in that area.  What I am saying is that there is a cloud hanging over all those teams and 4 of them are pretty close to shoo-ins for tournament berths while the other 4 teams could play their way in with strong showings over the next couple of weeks.  That is what I mean by there being a “bit of stink” surrounding the tournament as a whole.

Once again, put the blame and the onus where it belongs here – – on the super-sleuths in the NCAA who are only even-money odds to be able to find their ass with either hand.  Even with FBI information in hand, they have been unable to get themselves into a position where they are willing to enforce their own rules.  No one has asked them to do anything in the criminal prosecution realm; they have not found a way to do anything associated solely with their own hyper-restrictive rule book.

The NCAA makes the Keystone Kops look like a model of efficiency and effectiveness.  [I suspect that many folks here might be unfamiliar with these guardians of the public welfare from the silent film days so here is a link to a 3-minute You Tube compilation of some of their antics.]  With that level of competency in the “policing function”, what might be the chances that the NCAA keepers of wisdom might evolve a new set of recruiting rules that will eliminate the stink?  I think that’s about as likely as allowing an astronaut to telecommute from home.

Finally, the time spent here on the NCAA and its ineptitude led me to The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm for its definition of “Degree” – – that which all student-athletes put first in their priorities within their collegiate experience(s):

“Degree:  A certificate of academic achievement awarded at the college level.  Comes in very hand when asking people if they want fries with that.”

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

The Kingston Trio told us the sad tale of Charlie on the MTA; he was “the man who never returned”.  Now, we seem to have a sports story that is just the opposite; every time I turn around, there it is again.  I am tempted to nickname the story “Whoot” because “there … it … is.”

Of course, I mean the sign-stealing saga in MLB.  I am beginning to believe that this opera is going to be with us for an entire MLB season before someone somewhere finds that magical silver bullet that will lay it to rest.  When the story first broke, it seemed like one where there were good guys in white hats and bad guys wearing Astros’ baseball caps.  Would that it were so simple…

Now that teams have assembled in Florida and Arizona for Spring Training, we face an interesting good news/bad news situation:

• Good News:  People covering teams in Spring Training have something else to write about other than who showed up in great shape and who is working hard to make the team and who is hoping that a new team will provide him with a new start to his career.  Those cookie-cutter fluff pieces have been noticeably absent so far.
• Bad News:  Everyone is asking every player in Spring Training what they think of what the Astros did.  Seriously, does anyone expect an opposing player to think it was a good deed?  What we have is a novel format for what has become a “Spring Training staple”.  It is already boring…

Recall back in the days when steroids were abundant in MLB locker rooms and the reporters covering the teams never asked about them or even alluded to their possible existence.  Many of those same reporters – and their successors in many circumstances – are pussy-footing around tough questions for opposing players who voice strong and unequivocal positions on this matter.  Let’s review the bidding:

• Reports say that the Astros’ behaviors were an open secret around MLB and that more than a couple of opponents took note of trashcan banging and “coded whistling”.  That dates back at least to the 2017 season – and maybe further back just in the Astros’ case.
• Question:  So, how come you said nothing about the matter for 3 years if indeed what was done was so horrific?
• We’ve heard players say the Astros players “need a beating” and some have called for banishments; yet, for 3 years there was acknowledgement/acceptance of what was going on.  The Washington Nationals – a team in the other league – were so concerned about sign stealing in the 2019 World Series that they devised a complicated encoding system of their own to combat what they perceived as a “clear and present danger”.
• Question:  Given that level of anger and the recognition the cheating might be ongoing, how come everyone kept this quiet?  Where were these “bold voices” for the last 3 years?  Why should they be given such credence and prominence now when their silence aided in perpetuating the scheme?

There are lots of people calling for greater punishments from the Commish in this matter.  As I have said here before, you can ding the Commish for trading immunity for information in the MLB investigation if you like.  That does not change the fact that he gave such a guarantee; and now that it is a given, he must not renege on it.  So, what might he do for “added punishments”?  Here are three things that come to mind:

1. Suspend Astros’ owner Jim Crane for at least 1 year.  Even if he was as pure as the driven snow when it comes to the cheating mechanics in use, he should be suspended for handling the orchestrated Astros’ Mea Culpa! event with all the grace and aplomb of a sack of wet goat shit.
2. Double the share of the gate that goes to visiting teams in Houston for the next 2 years.  This hits the Astros in the pocketbook over and above the $5M fine it already received which is the largest direct fine that can be levied by the Commissioner under MLB’s Bylaws.
3. All members of the Astros 2017 roster will not receive any of the playoff shares awarded to winning teams for the next 5 years.  Playoff shares go to the teams and the teams then decide how to divide them up.  Players who got playoff and World Series shares in 2017 did so under “clouded circumstances” and they should therefore not be eligible for any such shares for a time in the future.  If the Red Sox investigation shows similar irregularities in the 2018 playoffs and World Series, the same should apply to the Red Sox roster from 2018.

It will be interesting times in the offices of the MLBPA if the Commish decides to add some sort of punishment to players on the Astros or Red Sox.  The union must fight to protect its members on those two teams to assure that all is done in accordance with the CBA; if the union does not do that, there really isn’t much purpose for a union.  At the same time, there are other members of that same union who are calling for those added punishments – including suggestions that the Astros “need a beating”.  How might the execs in the MLBPA choose to represent those other members calling for retribution against their union brothers?

Finally, it was no great surprise to find this item in Dwight Parry’s Sideline Chatter column in the Seattle Times:

“When it comes to baseball lexicon, the Astros’ trash-can antics certainly give ‘bang-bang play’ a whole new meaning.”

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

The NBA season began on 22 October 2019; that was 120 days ago.  Now, the NBA season gets serious; teams have played about 54 of their 82 regular season games (close to two-thirds of them) merely to set up the “drama” generated by the final stage of the season to determine which half of the league will make the playoffs.  And people are wondering why the NBA’s TV ratings are sagging…

Here is a fact that creates a “facepalm situation”; it comes from minor league baseball where the Nashville Sounds will begin their 23^rd season in the Pacific Coast League along with rivals in Memphis, Iowa, Oklahoma City, Wichita, Omaha, San Antonio – – you get the idea.  Do they even teach geography and/or map reading in school anymore?  Some of those places have not been anywhere near the Pacific coast since the breakup of Gondwanaland.

Deion Sanders told Dan Patrick in an interview that he thinks the Pro Football Hall of Fame has diluted itself with inductees that do not belong there.  Without using the phrase specifically, he alluded to the idea that the Hall of Fame may be morphing into the “Hall of Very Good Players”.  Here is part of what he said to Dan Patrick:

“What is a Hall of Famer now?  Is it a guy who played for a long time?  It’s so skewed now.  Once upon a time, a Hall of Famer was a player who changed the darn game, who made you want to reach in your pocket and pay admission to see a guy play.  That’s not a Hall of Famer anymore.  Every Tom, Dick and Harry, they’re a Hall of Famer. They let everybody in this thing.  It’s not exclusive anymore, and I don’t like it.”

I have to agree with Deion there – although I must say that the Pro Football Hall of Fame is not nearly as diluted as is the Basketball Hall of Fame but that is another story.  Perhaps part of the problem lies in the fact that the Pro Football Hall of Fame demands the induction of between 4 and 8 people each year.  [This year’s centennial class is a one-time exception.]  If voters were to apply the “Deion Sanders Standard”, there could easily be years where finding four players would be impossible.

I realize I am about to use a word that is loaded with negative connotation, but the Pro Football Hall of Fame exists under a quota system for selecting its new members.  That Selection Committee – as qualified and as well-intentioned as it may be – must come up with a minimum of 4 inductees every year and every time they are forced to “stretch” to find someone who did not “make you want to reach in your pocket and pay admission to see him play”, they lower the bar a little bit.  Then, by comparison, more players of lesser stature seem qualified…

About a month ago, Bob Molinaro had this item in his weekly column in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot about voting for Halls of Fame:

“Quick hit: I don’t know why voters for the baseball and pro football halls of fame find this so difficult to understand, but any former athlete who falls under the category of a ‘borderline’ candidate simply doesn’t belong. No self-respecting hall of fame should enshrine borderline.”

I do not understand why there is the arbitrary 5-year waiting period before a Selection Committee – no matter the sport – can consider a candidate.  Maybe that waiting period is part of the issue here?  Let me explain.  Peyton Manning retired at the end of the 2015 season; his first year of eligibility will be in the next cycle of voting.  At that time, someone will ask:

• Isn’t he a shoo-in for induction this year?

My answer would be:

• Of course, he is – – and he should have been a shoo-in for induction for the last several years too.

I assert that Peyton Manning meets the “Deion Sanders Standard” and that some – not all – of the Hall of Fame inductees between the time of Manning’s retirement and now do not meet that standard.  So, why did he have to wait?

And please, do not get me started on the dilution of statistical standards for middle infielders in MLB…

In terms of “roster moves”, two bottom-feeding teams made the news regarding players with name recognition.  The Skins parted company with CB Josh Norman.  The former first team All-Pro signed on with the Skins 4 years ago as a free agent; he got a 5-year deal worth $75M and never played anywhere near an All-Pro standard in Washington.  Some have suggested that his skills did not match the type of defense the Skins were playing during his time there; if correct, that says an awful lot about the processes by which the team built their rosters in the past.  It would not take a Hall of Fame caliber GM and coach to figure out that paying $75M to a player who does not fit into your defense makes little to no sense.  Whatever…  Josh Norman is now 32 years old and will be looking to sign on elsewhere.  His résumé will intrigue some team somewhere – – former All-Pro who may have been misused …

Meanwhile, according to reports, the Bengals are willing to work with Andy Dalton and his agent to engineer a trade for the veteran QB.  Dalton was taken by the Bengals in the second round of the 2011 Draft and he will be 33 years old in the middle of next season.  He has been selected to the Pro Bowl 3 times and his record as a starter in Cincy is 70-61-2.  Dalton’s contract has him taking up just under $18M for 2020 on the salary cap whereupon he will be a free agent.  Those are not ideal financial conditions to peddle in trade negotiations, but Dalton looks more viable to me as a potential starting QB than several of the free agents out there.  That might be an interesting situation to follow.

Finally, an item from Dwight Parry in the Seattle Times:

“Siba the Standard Poodle bested Bourbon the Whippet to take Best in Show honors at the 144^th Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

“So much for our sheepdog schnauzer parlay.”

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

          With two weeks of XFL 2.0 games in the books, I have seven brief observations to make about the league:

1. I like the pace of the games with the 25-second play clock; the games are good for television.
2. I do not like the fact that the XFL has doubled the number of sideline reporters doing the games; sideline reporters are as useful as a trombone player in a duck blind.
3. A big plus for XFL 2.0 is the absence of any cheerleaders.  They add about as much to a telecast as do the sideline reporters.
4. Putting a mic on the QB is interesting; letting viewers hear some of the offensive and defensive play calls is also interesting – – but overdone.
5. Only two teams (DC and Houston) have competent QBs.  Next time you think your favorite NFL team is overpaying its backup QB, remember that these XFL QBs are the next best available.
6. Tackling is very poor in the XFL; my guess is that more than a handful of these guys got released by NFL teams because they cannot tackle effectively.
7. There is a broadcasting difference between “dead air” (very bad) and “announcers’ silence to let the scene speak for itself” (usually very good).  The announcers on XFL games need to shut up every once in a very long while.

The Astros’ sign-stealing business simply will not go away.  The latest plot twist involves players and commentators opining that the lack of punishments for Astros’ players who participated in the cheating is insufficient sanction.  Commissioner Rob Manfred is made out to be the bad guy there.

It is not typical for me to praise sports commissioners (or the NCAA for that matter) when it comes to policing their sport; but in this case, Rob Manfred was between a rock and a hard place.

• Faced with allegations of cheating he could not ignore, he had to determine what happened and who was involved before he could hand out punishments.
• Lacking subpoena power to compel testimony under oath, he could offer immunity in exchange for amnesty or he could try to break down the baseball code of omerta.  That leads to the current situation which is …
• Having chosen the immunity option, which is what has given all the current critics most of the information they have on which they base their criticisms, he absolutely cannot pull a bait-and-switch and renege on his immunity pledge.

By the way, as obvious as it is that the Astros were cheating in their video enterprise(s), I cannot find any rule in the MLB Rule Book that specifically says what they were doing was against the rules in 2017.  That does not exonerate the Astros; that does point to a loophole in the rules.

It should come as no surprise that do-gooders found an opportunity here to engage in virtue signaling related to the Astros’ stiuation.  There is a report that two Little League teams in California will not use the Astros team name or team logo starting this season.  Two reactions:

1. I am not the least bit surprised that this noble gesture took place in California.
2. That level of opprobrium heaped on the Astros’ team will surely cause them to see the improprieties of their ways and to repent.

On a much more positive MLB note, lots of players get invitations to Spring Training as “non-roster invitees”.  Most of these folks do not make a major league roster and then must decide if they want to be a minor league player of if it is time to move on to another phase of their life.  However, last year the Mets invited Pete Alonso  to Spring Training as a “non-roster invitee” and all he did was to hit 53 HR and win the Rookie of the Year award.  So, I took a glance at some of the “non-roster invitees” for this year.  It is a mixed bag…

• Braves – – Felix Hernandez  – – Yes, THAT Felix Hernandez.  Are there any innings left in that arm?
• Brewers – – Shelby Miller  – – He has had injury plagued seasons for the last 3 years and his record over the last 5 years is an underwhelming 12-38.
• Cubs – – Brandon Morrow – – He did not pitch last year; he will be 36 years old in July.  He was effective in relief from 2016-2018.
• Mets – – Tim Tebow – – He won’t make the regular season roster, but he is worth a ton of publicity as long as he is with the Mets’ organization.
• Phillies – – Mickey Moniak – – He was the overall #1 pick in the MLB draft in 2016 and is currently only 21 years old.
• Rangers – – Sam Huff – – No, not THAT Sam Huff; that Sam Huff is 85 years old these days…
• Rockies – – Ubaldo Jimenez – – He is 36 years old; he last pitched in 2017; the last season where he pitched to an ERA less than 4.00 was in 2013.

Finally, Antonio Brown is about the business of apologizing to anyone and everyone about his “off-center” behavior(s) over the past couple of years as a means of getting another shot at playing in the NFL.  Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel linked Brown’s “apologia” to the other burning story of the day:

“I’m not saying Antonio Brown is going overboard with apologies, but I think he just said, ‘I’m sorry,’ for the Houston Astros stealing signs.”

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

Today is Valentine’s Day.  Somehow in the present US, the tradition of Valentine’s Day as an occasion to honor romantic love got linked to the decapitation of a priest who is also the patron saint of epilepsy almost 1800 years ago.  Happy Valentine’s Day anyway…

Yesterday saw the public humiliation of the Houston Astros as they publicly apologized for the sign-stealing fiasco.  The unmitigated cynic would say that they were sorry only for getting caught; of course they are sorry it all came to light – but maybe some of the folks there might realize what they did went beyond the normal and accepted forms of sign-stealing that exist in baseball.  I’m willing to accept that as a possibility despite having listened to some of the blandest apologies imaginable and a question-and-answer interchange that was even less illuminating than a typical Congressional hearing.

• Let me say that yesterday’s questioning by the media was uninspired.  Perry Mason’s place as an icon of incisive interrogation is in no danger this morning.
• Let me say that the answers provided by the Astros owner were as unresponsive as Jimmy Hoffa would be should someone find him this afternoon.

The poohbahs in MLB want ever so much to put a lid on this mess – – but that is not going to happen anytime soon.

• There is still the Commissioner’s “investigation” of Red Sox involvement here.
• There are rumors out there that when Carlos Beltran arrived in Houston, he told the Astros’ folks that they were behind the curve in terms of sign stealing (Beltran had been with 6 teams in addition to the Astros).
• We know that the Cardinals have been involved in electronic cheating since one of their guys hacked into the Astros’ database of personnel several years ago.  (Ironically, the victim of that hack was Jeff Luhnow who is a central figure of this current mess.)
• One player has alleged that the White Sox were doing similar things as far back as the 1980s.
• Drip … drip … drip.

Here is real question for Commissioner Manfred as of today:

• If you discover that a team – or a group of players/coaches within a team – are engaged in another “unacceptable” sign-stealing scheme three months from now, will they be banned from baseball for life?

If the Commish will not answer that question with an unqualified “Yes!”, then this problem will not go away.  Even if he does answer in that fashion, it may resurface in the future, but a waffling answer here almost guarantees it will come back to bite MLB in the fanny somewhere down the road.

But hey, yesterday’s Meae Maximae Culpae could have been worse.  Here’s one way:

• As each member of the press corps got up to identify their affiliation and ask their nominally penetrating question, there could have been someone in the back banging on a trashcan in a coded way to “indicate the upcoming question”.

Come to think of it, if the Astros’ brass had done that, it might have been the most memorable part of yesterday’s “event” …

Another bit of fallout from the sign-stealing scandal is that a former MLB pitcher is suing the Astros in Federal Court alleging that their sign stealing cost him his MLB career.  Mike Bolsinger filed his suit in Los Angeles, and he is demanding a jury trial there.  [Aside:  Be sure to eliminate all Dodgers’ fans from the jury in the voir dire process.]  He is asking for the Astros to donate the $31M the team in aggregate earned from winning the World Series to “charities that focus on the betterment of children’s lives in Los Angeles and that assist elderly retired pro ballplayers who face financial turmoil.”

Having exactly no legal expertise at all, I have no idea if this suit will survive the almost certain “motion to dismiss” that will come from the Astros’ representatives; but if I were a young attorney in LA, I would not be anxious to take on this case on a contingent fee basis.

In NFL news related to actions involving the Commissioner’s Office, Myles Garrett has been reinstated by Roger Goodell.  Garrett was indefinitely suspended about halfway through last season after the infamous “helmet-swinging fracas” between him and Mason Rudolph.  His $50K fine for his part in that incident was upheld proximal to the time of his reinstatement.  Garrett has maintained from the start that Rudolph called him a stupid N-word and that is what triggered his aggression.  Rudolph just as vehemently denies doing any such thing.  So, that settles all that business…

By all accounts, that violent outburst is out-of-character for Garrett; nonetheless, it happened and there is no ambiguity about the degree of purposeful violence involved in the incident.  Garrett and the Browns will play Rudolph and the Steelers twice next year.  [Aside:  Steelers’ fans hope that Ben Roethlisberger will be the QB for those two games and not Rudolph.]  I would definitely circle the first of those games on the calendar once the NFL releases the official schedule for the 2020 season.

Finally, a note about the upcoming weekend from Bob Molinaro in the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot:

“Idle thought: With the NBA’s All-Star weekend upon us, I’m old enough to remember when the slam-dunk contest was a curiosity worth a look.”

And, I’m older than Bob Molinaro.

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