The Sports Curmudgeon

Last week, the NFL suspended 4 more players for violations of NFL rules related to sports gambling.  The NFL has a fine line to walk here; gambling and the NFL have a long history together.  In fact, I believe that an argument can be made that the reason that the NFL is the biggest sport in the US is related to the many ways that have been concocted for fans to bet on NFL activities.  In modern times, that underpinning of fans’ interest in betting on games and stats is augmented by lots of money that flows to the NFL through “partnerships” with companies that take bets on games and exploit the Internet to do so.  It is not in the interest of the NFL to endanger that foundation of fan interest or that revenue stream.

The history of NFL players gambling on things they should not have been gambling on goes all the way back to the 1960s with the Paul Hornung and Alex Karras situations.  There was even a time when the NFL pressured Joe Namath to divest himself of an interest in a nightclub in NYC that was frequented by folks involved in organized crime.  Today the problem is expanded because every “smartphone” can be connected to an app that permits wagering on just about anything with the stroke of a thumb.

Some players have said they were confused by some of the rules that they need to abide by notwithstanding attempts to “educate” the players.  The NFL’s gambling rules as they relate to players are codified in the existing CBA.  As I understand it, there are 6 gambling prohibitions:

1. Do not bet on anything related to the NFL.  That seems like a no-brainer to me.
2. Do not gamble at the team facility or while the team is on a road trip.  That seems a tad excessive to me.  Is there really any harm if a player is engaged in an online poker game between weightlifting sets?
3. Do not share “inside information”.  Another no-brainer – – except “inside information” might be subject to interpretation that could be foggy.
4. Do not have someone place bets for you.  Translation:  Do not break these rules AND at the same time try to hide your activity.
5. Do not visit sportsbooks during the NFL season.  Does this mean players should not visit them physically or electronically or both?  It seems to me that visiting a sportsbook is not the problem; what the player might do while in the sportsbook could be a problem.
6. Do not play fantasy football.  This is another no-brainer since fantasy football is related to the NFL and it is possible that a player’s decisions regarding his fantasy teams could reveal “inside information”.

Even though I think some of these restrictions are excessive and/or “foggy”, I do not think that if I were an NFL player that I would have great difficulty in living within the boundaries of those 6 restrictions.  So, in the event that a suspended player tries to explain away what got him suspended, I am not predisposed to accept the assertion that he did not know what he was doing was a no-no.

I read a report about a month ago that estimated that more than 46 million people in the US had placed at least one wager on an NFL game last year.  My gut tells me that number is too low given the simple fact that more than 100 million people tuned in to watch the Chiefs/Eagles game in the Super Bowl.  In any case, the magnitude of the “active bettors” for NFL activities is indeed large; and in any population of that size, there will always be individuals looking to “get an edge” on others involved in the same or similar activities.  For that reason, I understand why the NFL would seek to make its gambling rules as restrictive as possible; players can provide “an edge” to those seeking such either knowingly or unknowingly.  And the NFL is not shy about saying so; here is part of a statement made by the NFL’s VP for Communications:

“Everybody should know that when somebody has been found to have been engaged in sports betting that there are real ramifications with real discipline, real discipline …  The integrity of the game has to be held at such a high standard that there is no tolerance for those sorts of behaviors.”

He is correct; he and other league officials are protecting an enterprise that generates around $20B in revenue annually.  They should indeed drop the hammer on anyone – – player, coach, owner, commissioner – – who jeopardizes that enterprise.

And that leads me to wonder about something that has not happened in the last several years.  All of the suspensions – – minor ones at 6 games and major ones where the suspension is indefinite and cannot be appealed for at least one season – – have come down on “not highly recognized names”.  [Aside:  Yes, I know Calvin Ridley was a high draft pick, but at the time he was suspended he was hardly acclaimed as one of the top 3 WRs in the league.]  So, riddle me this:

• Has the NFL been super-fortunate that none of the real stars of the league – – none of the players considered to be the “face-of-the-franchise” – – have run afoul of the gambling rules knowingly or unknowingly?
• Would the NFL suspend such a star player for a year or more if he were caught doing something improper here?  Pete Rozelle did that to Alex Karras and to Paul Hornung in 1963; would Roger Goodell do the same today?

Finally, I am reminded here of a response to the pop psychology book, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.  It seems to apply to NFL players these days:

“Only someone who dies very young learns all they really need to know in kindergarten.”

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

 

 

Happy July 4^th, everyone; today the United States is 247 years old.

I have said here more than once that I think Sally Jenkins is the best sports columnist practicing that art today.  Here is a link to her most recent work.  It is not just a column; it is an essay, and the Washington Post ran it in the front section – – not the sports section.  It is long compared to a sports column but do yourself a favor and take a few moments to read it.  I think it is brilliant.

Over last weekend, there were a couple of other “anniversaries” that I did not mention yesterday; so, let me point them out today.  Most known among sports fans is that last Saturday was July 1^st and that date is informally known as Bobby Bonilla Day.  The NY Mets signed Bonilla to a contract with deferred payments so every July 1^st between the years of 2011 and 2035, Bonilla gets a check from the Mets for $1.19M.  He last suited up for the Mets in 1999 and he retired from MLB after the 2001 season.  But that deferred compensation is the gift that keeps on giving.

The NY Mets are peripherally involved in another similar “anniversary” from last Saturday.  Max Scherzer is currently on the Mets’ pitching staff; but on July 1^st, Scherzer got a check for $15M from the Washington Nationals.  That “deferred compensation” comes from the deal he signed with the Nats prior to being traded to the Dodgers and then signing as a free agent with the Mets.  Scherzer is going to get 5 more such payments of $15M through 2028 and since his salary from the Mets this year is about $43M, his tax return for 2023 should be a fun read for the IRS auditor or whose desk it lands.

Sunday was July 2^nd and that was the 60^th anniversary of a MLB game that will not come close to happening anytime soon.  On the surface, the game might seem ordinary.  The SF Giants beat the Milwaukee Braves when Willie Mays hit a walk-off home run; the final score was 1-0.  Actually, this may have been the greatest pitchers’ duel of all time because:

• The game lasted 16 innings.
• Juan Marichal started for the Giants and pitched all 16 innings.
• Warren Spahn started for the Braves and pitched all 16 innings.
• Marichal threw 227 pitches that day.
• Spahn – – at age 42 no less – – threw 201 pitches that day.

[A pitching coach somewhere just felt a twinge in his elbow simply because I typed those last two sentences.]

Neither Marichal nor Spahn needed any miraculous recovery interventions after that outing.  In fact, the 42-year-old Spahn managed to win 10 more games for the Braves in that 1963 season and he led the National League in complete games that year with 22.  Spahn pitched through the 1965 season ending his 21-year career with the SF Giants.

The argument offered most as to why modern pitchers cannot throw as many pitches in a game as in “the olden days” is that modern pitchers throw harder and that puts more stress and strain on their body parts.  That makes sense but it does make me wonder if it is a bit too simplistic.  By the end of the 1963 season, Warren Spahn had been in the major leagues for 19 seasons and over that part of his career he threw a total of 4872.1 innings of major league baseball and at the end of the 1963 season he had also thrown 370 complete games.

Modern pitchers have access to more sophisticated training methods and regimens, and it is difficult to imagine that someone like Warren Spahn who came of age in the early 1940s grew up with better nutritional guidance than a baseball player in the 2020s.  So, I wonder if there might be more to the usual explanation offered up for why today’s starting pitchers are “less durable” than their counterparts in the past.

Let me stay with baseball for one more item that relates to the ongoing saga of the Oakland A’s quest to move to Las Vegas.  Last week, A’s fans in Oakland staged a “reverse boycott”; they organized a night when people would flock to the stadium to see the A’s play as a way to demonstrate that they – – the fans – – are not the problem in Oakland; it is the team ownership that is the problem.  A little more than 28,000 fans showed up which is significantly more than the 10,089 fans who show up for an average game in Oakland this year.  [Aside: That average is inflated somewhat by the 28,000 who showed up on “reverse boycott night”, but let’s not quibble.]

The A’s attendance has been bad for more than a couple of seasons; the A’s have been up and down in the standings, but they have been in the playoffs 3 times since 2017.  The stadium is a hot mess to be sure, but one can make the argument that team management has intentionally gutted the roster to make the product on the field in that hot mess of a stadium very unpalatable.  Consider this:

• When a team selects a pitcher to be the “Opening Day starter”, that usually means he is considered to be the staff stud.
• The A’s starter on Opening Day in 2023 was Kyle Muller who was acquired from the Braves in a multi-team trade.  Muller is 25 years old.
• Prior to 2023, Muller’s MLB stats are meager.  He had started 11 games for the Braves over 2 partial seasons; his record was 3-5 and his ERA was 5.14.

I am not saying that Kyle Muller is a turkey; he may turn out to be an All-Star during his career.  However, if in April of 2023, those are the credentials of the “staff stud” on a team’s roster, it is reasonable to think that the team is particularly thin on the mound.  And maybe – – just maybe – – that thinness on the mound might not be an accident…

Finally, let me close today with an observation by the baseball philosopher, Yogi Berra, that might have a bearing on the attendance stats for the A’s in Oakland:

“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 ………

 

 

The Walt Disney Company – – frequently referred to as Disney Corp – – reported a gross profit of $28B last year.  For the first quarter of 2023, the reported gross profit was $7.1B.  I am no financial wizard nor am I any sort of “stock market guru”, but I feel as if I am on solid ground suggesting that Disney Corp is not on the brink of bankruptcy.  My conclusion there makes me sad about two decisions Disney Corp made last week:

1. In case you did not know this, Disney Corp owns National Geographic magazine.  Last week, National Geographic laid off “all of its remaining staff writers”.  There were only 19 left on the payroll; previous layoffs took care of previous employees; in the future, assignments will be handed out piecemeal to freelancers.
2. I am sure you know that Disney Corp. owns the ESPN family of networks.  Last week, ESPN laid off more than a dozen of its “high-profile on-air talent”.

Disney Corp is looking to cut more than 7,000 jobs as part of a $5B cost cutting endeavor.  I am sure the inhabitants of “Mahogany Row” at Disney HQs have good corporate/financial reasons for doing what they are doing.  One consequence of what they are doing is that two quality products that Disney offered to the public will be diminished.

Obviously, I am going to focus on the effect(s) on ESPN here; but let me say for the record that National Geographic has been a top-quality publication for more than my lifetime.  That said, let me deal with ESPN today.

The network has rightfully called itself “The Worldwide Leader in Sports” for about 30 years.  They probably still hold the rights to that moniker this morning, but if the cost cutting trend continues to remove the quality contributors for the network, it may be difficult in the future for leaders at ESPN and/or Disney to say those words with a straight face.

One of the “high-profile cuts” last week was NBA basketball color analyst, Jeff Van Gundy.  He has been with ESPN since 2007 and he was part of an NBA announcing troika that included Mike Breen and Mark Jackson.  Jeff Van Gundy has been the best basketball color analyst at any level of competition for about the last 10 years.  His commentaries are insightful, and they are on point; when a player or an official’s call deserves criticism, Van Gundy delivers the criticism candidly and clearly – – and then he moves on.  He adds to the telecast significantly, but he is not a “look-at-me-over-here” kind of critic.

So, what might “The Worldwide Leader” do here?  Well, obviously, that three-man booth can be shrunk to a two-man booth and cost reductions will necessarily follow.  Similarly obviously, the quality will shrink too.  There was one reported rumor that Doris Burke would replace Jeff Van Gundy on that “three-man team”.  That probably also provides cost reductions and quality reductions for ESPN.  Doris Burke is OK as a basketball color analyst – – but to paraphrase Senator Lloyd Bentson:

• Ms. Burke, I have listened to Jeff Van Gundy; I have seen his work: Ms. Burke, you’re no Jeff Van Gundy.

The incumbent Worldwide Leader also axed its morning radio program, firing all three of the hosts there and no replacements have been identified.  This should be a case study in cost/quality tradeoffs.  For years, ESPN Radio dominated morning shows with Mike and Mike in the Morning.  They broke that duo up and tried to maintain the quality pairing Trey Wingo with Mike Golic but that didn’t work so they threw together the current trio of Keyshawn Johnson, Max Kellerman and Jay Williams.  I doubt that anyone would say that quality improved from “Mike and Mike” to whatever is on the ESPN Radio airwaves this morning.

Other people let go from ESPN last week included:

• Suzy Kolber.  She had been with ESPN for 27 years and will probably be replaced on Monday Night Countdown by Mina Kimes.
• Todd McShay.  That leaves Mel Kiper, Jr. as the only NFL Draft maven meaning he will appear even more frequently?  Yikes!
• Jalen Rose.  He appeared randomly but frequently on lots of ESPN programming.
• Steve Young.  Like Jeff Van Gundy, he was an analyst who offered candid and focused criticism when it was warranted; not many others do that.

ESPN seems to be heading in a direction where the network hopes to draw viewers and attention by means of a few “mega-stars” and not a solid roster of broadcasters.  If reports are accurate, ESPN payroll includes:

• Troy Aikman at $15M per year
• Joe Buck at $15M per year
• Pat McAfee at $17M per year – – soon to be added.
• Adam Schefter at $7M per year
• Stephen A. Smith at $10M per year
• Adrian Wojnarowski at $5M per year

I am not reading minds or tea leaves when I make the statement that ESPN seems not to think a solid roster with depth is the direction it needs to take.  Here is the statement issued to employees by ESPN execs:

“Given the current environment, ESPN has determined it necessary to identify some additional cost savings in the area of public-facing commentator salaries, and that process has begun.  This exercise will include a small group of job cuts in the short term and an ongoing focus on managing costs when we negotiate individual contract renewals in the months ahead.  This is an extremely challenging process involving individuals who have had a tremendous impact on our company.  These difficult decisions, based more on overall efficiency than merit, will help us meet our financial targets and ensure future growth.”  [Emphasis added]

Finally, ESPN’s decisions were made by executives in the company and in the parent Disney Corp.  So, let me close today with this definition of “Executive” from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm:

“Executive:  A distinction given to certain bathrooms, denoting that those allowed to use them are, unlike the rest of us, able to produce defecations that smell like a fragrant field of flowers.”

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

 

 

Deion Sanders – – or Coach Prime as he prefers to be called these days – – has always been a polarizing figure.  It was easy to be enamored of his athletic gifts; it was equally easy to be turned off by his “hey-look-at-me” antics.  After a time in the TV business, Sanders opted to get into college football coaching in his 50s which is a lot later than the typical age for career entry in that field.  In addition, he started his college career at the head coach level which is uncommon.

His success in three years at Jackson State was noteworthy; Jackson State had not been particularly relevant in football for quite a while until Sanders arrived and basically changed everything there.  His success there plus his notoriety got him the head coaching job at Colorado where the football program has devolved to pudding status recently.  And “Coach Prime” has changed things up there already – – even before a single game has begun.

Yesterday, USA Today reported that Sanders has potentially serious ongoing health issues:

• Since 2021, he has had 10 “surgeries” on his left leg.  Procedures included entries on both sides of his left calf and the amputation of two toes on his left foot.
• Last week, doctors removed a “really bad blood clot” in his left thigh in addition to several “smaller clots” below his knee.

Look, I am no medical professional, but it seems to me that any condition that impedes blood flow and/or provides for the possibility of throwing a blood clot into the circulatory system must be considered a big deal.  Moreover, according to this report, doctors have detected another clot in Sanders’ right thigh and plan to remove it in the near future.  The fact that this ongoing condition has already required the amputation of two toes makes it appear as if either or both of Sanders’ lower limbs could be at risk.

Whether you liked or disliked Deion Sanders as a player or a broadcaster, this is a serious situation that calls for compassion on the part of sports fans.  Deion Sanders entertained millions of sports fans; they should now be ready to support him in this challenge.

Moving on …  Another outstanding NFL player made the news yesterday.  JJ Watt retired earlier this year after a 12-year career that saw him earn:

• Defensive Player of the Year – – 3 times
• Pro Bowl selection – – 5 times
• First Team All-Pro – – 5 times.

Watt is a shoo-in for induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame after the required waiting period has passed but he now will embark on another career path.  Yesterday, he proclaimed on social media that he will be joining CBS as part of their broadcast team starting this year.  Current plans call for CBS to use Watt as a studio analyst and he is slotted to be part of The NFL Today programming on that network.  Being a great player does not necessarily translate into becoming a great broadcaster, but Watt has always appeared to be comfortable, relaxed and articulate in interview situations.  Here is what I mean by him being comfortable in social situations away from football:

• In announcing his new employment situation, Watt said that he was glad to have a “global platform to make fun of my brothers on”.
• That statement did not come from a PR Department or a communications consultant; that just came naturally.

It seems to me as if JJ Watt has the basic personality aspects needed for success on the airwaves; so, if JJ Watt can develop them further while retaining his obvious insight into the game of football, he should be successful at CBS.

Switching gears – – yet staying with the idea of retired great athletes and recent happenings, Michael Jordan sold the Charlotte Hornets for a reported $3B.  He was not a 100% owner, but reports say he cleared about $2B from the deal which added to his liquidity to expand his brand to other ventures.  Jordan already has a line of athletic shoes, an alcohol brand that features “high-end tequila”, a NASCAR racing team among other ventures.  When Jordan bought into the Hornets, the team value was less than $300M; that was in 2010 so the franchise value increased by a factor of ten in thirteen years.  Not a bad rate of return.

I think the price involved in this transaction points to a current trend that may be unique in US sports history.  Rich people are paying incredible sums of money to acquire sports franchises in 2023.  And it is not just the highly successful franchises or the ones in the so-called “big-time/glamor markets” that command high prices.  Charlotte NC is not NYC or LA or Chicago or Houston in terms of market size or market glamor and the Hornets have not exactly been a huge success during Jordan’s time at the helm.  Since acquiring his stake in the team, Jordan’s record with the Hornets was a less-than-gaudy 423-600 (winning percentage = .413).

Finally, let me close today with this comment by author R. D. Rosen.  This comes from 1975; I wonder what he thinks about things today:

“We are living, practically no one needs to be reminded, in a therapeutic age.  The sign in every storefront reads, ’Psychobabble spoken here.’  Personal liberation, relating, being in touch with one’s feelings (as aspiration that sadly presumes that we are so out of touch with our feelings that we must now make a project out of reclaiming them) – the whole pop vocabulary and grammar of human growth appear more and more suspect.”

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

 

 

The Scottish poet Robert Burns famously wrote:

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men

Gang aft a-gley.”

Or – – more colloquially in 2023:

“The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.”

Originally, my plan here was to return to the US on Tuesday, use Wednesday to recover from jet lag and do enough research to be able to do a rant on Thursday.  Well, Tuesday found my long-suffering wife and I in the maw of the airline mess and we spent the night in Newark NJ at a hotel near the airport that is politely described as “sketchy”.  We ditched our plane tickets because the best flight we could get was not scheduled until Friday (tomorrow) and took Amtrak home late yesterday afternoon.  So, no jet lag accommodation and no time for research.  So, here goes some stuff off the top of my head just from reading a few headlines …

Bob Huggins’ career seems to have ended in an act of self-immolation.  After being slapped on the wrist for some comments on the radio that were homophobic and religiously insensitive, Huggins was cited for DUI less than 2 months later.  Moreover, that was not the only DUI incident on his curriculum vitae; his first DUI incident cost him his job at Cincy.  But remember that Huggins is a coach who consistently got his teams into the NCAA Tournament there by earning lots of money and “attention” for his schools … so it is not impossible that he will resurface in the world of college basketball somewhere down the road.

I saw that Trevor Bauer’s name came back to the headlines just as we were leaving the country.  A woman in Arizona now alleges that he raped her and choked her unconscious back on 2020.  [Aside:  Given the rampant COVID-19 spread back in 2020, I hope they were both wearing masks during this incident – – if this incident occurred.]  Moreover, the woman alleges that at one point, Bauer held a steak knife to her throat – – presumably not as part of choking her unconscious.  Bauer has countersued the woman so my expectation is that this incident will phase into and out of the public realm over the next weeks and months.

#2 son sent along an item about the fact that no team in the NFC East has repeated as division champion since 2004.  And, he pointed out something else about the list of division champs since 2004 that I would have guessed improperly.  So, take this as a Quick Quiz:

• Allocate the 20 NFC East Division Championships among the four teams in the division.  How many championships belong to each team?  Answer below…

While I am in the mode of providing Quiz Questions, let me try another one here.  If an NFL team wins 11 games in a season, that is a good thing for the team.  It virtually guarantees a playoff slot, and it supports coaching staff stability.  So:

• Which NFL team has the longest drought without an 11-win season?  Answer below …

The Canadian Football League regular season began 3 weeks ago.  So far, the standings break down into three categories:

1. Three teams are undefeated
2. Three teams are winless
3. Three teams have records of either 2-1 or 1-2.

The BC Lions are one of the undefeated teams at 3-0.  The Lions have only allowed 21 points in those three games, which is impressive in the CFL where offense often dominates.  At the other end of the scale, you can find the Hamilton Tiger-Cats whose 0-3 record is dominated by the fact that the team has given up a total of 112 points (37.3 points per game).

The CFL East Division seems at the moment to be divided in to two “haves” and two “have-nots”.  The Montreal Alouettes and the Toronto Argonauts are both undefeated.  Meanwhile the Ottawa Redblacks and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are winless.  But there are plenty of games left on the schedule before the CFL playoffs begin on the first weekend of November.

Here are the answers for the two Quiz Questions above…

Since 2004 …

• The Eagles have been NFC champs 7 times.
• The Cowboys have been NFC champs 6 times.
• The Giants have been NFC champs 3 times.
• The Skins/Football Team/Commanders have been NFC champs 3 times.

The team that has gone the longest without winning 11 games in a single season is the Washington “Franchise” depending on whatever name you want to give them here.  Their last winning season was in 1991 – – leading to a Super Bowl Championship that season.  Just for the record, the second longest drought belongs to the Jax Jags who have not won 11 games in a season since 2007.

Finally, here is a comment made by comedian, Chris Rock, back in 2003:

“You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America’s Cup, France is accusing the US of arrogance and Germany does not want to go to war.”

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

 

 

And a Happy Flag Day to one and all …

Ever since the LIV Golf Tour became a thing and after we learned that an NFL team is likely to sell for more than $6B, the usual focus by sports fans on large sums of money has had to expand significantly.  However, when the following story broke about a month ago it took things to an even higher plane.  Let me do a reset here …

Brian Davis was a member of the Duke national championship teams in the early 90s along with Grant Hill, Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner.  Davis had a brief and undistinguished professional basketball career, but he has been active in a variety of financial enterprises since his graduation.  In May, Brian Davis filed a lawsuit against Bank of America seeking 500 billion dollars alleging that Bank of America never showed his bid or his financials to Daniel Snyder because Davis wanted to bid $7B for the Washington Commanders.

Davis also sought the return of more than $5B that he says he transferred to Bank of America as part of his bidding process for the NFL team.  The suit alleges that Davis transferred that money from an account at Citicorp to Bank of America, but that Bank of America never put the funds in Davis’ Bank of America account.  At the time of the filing, there were questions about how Davis came up with $5B to put in an account at Bank of America but I thought that this would have to be clarified if the matter ever went to trial.

Another aspect of the matter that did not make immediate sense to me was why Bank of America would conceal or deflect a $7B bid for the Commanders.  Daniel Snyder retained Bank of America to try to find a buyer for the team; my guess was that Bank of America would earn its fee at least in part based on the purchase price for the team and if that wee the case, then Bank of America would be motivated to put the Davis bid front and center.

Then this matter took an even stranger turn.  Davis dropped the lawsuit voluntarily and according to Frontofficesports.com:

“There are no indications in court records that there was any type of settlement.”

In a matter of weeks, a complaint seeking $500B in damages and the return of a “missing $5B bank transfer” just disappeared without a settlement?  Just to set this in context, various websites estimate Brian Davis’ net worth to be between $13M and $15M; that is not chicken feed but it does stand in stark contrast to the sorts of numbers one might expect to be associated with someone trying to buy an asset for $7B.  Davis was asked about the source of the money for his bid, and he specifically denied that it was from Saudi Arabia; he told a DC news station:

“That capital is coming from private investors who are located here in America who are domestic.  I have a great amount of respect for the Saudi Arabian people and Arab people in Islam in general. I love them. But the money’s not Saudi Arabian and I’ve never been to Saudi Arabia in my life.”

I do not have any superpowers, but my “Spider Sense” is tingling here.  I have no idea what is going on with all of this, but I suspect that there is more to be learned about this situation.

Moving on …  Brittney Griner is back in the news.  She and her Phoenix Mercury teammates were transiting the Dallas Airport when Griner was accosted by a man who is known as a “far-right Twitter personality”.   He is also described as the host of a “comedy show” on Blaze TV and that one of his recurring schticks is to “confront pampered subjects face-to-face”.  A security guard said the man “seemed aggressive and made some inappropriate comments”; there were no arrests and no charges.  The players’ union used this incident to press the league to have its teams fly chartered air instead of commercial air.  That is not all that surprising; that is what unions are supposed to do.

But in this case, I think the union is stretching the point just a bit.  Yes, Brittney Griner is easily recognized in an airport and yes, Brittney Griner is a lightening rod for attention given her having been inserted into the polarized political realm last year. However, the rest of the WNBA players can move about in most airports in anonymity so long as they are not wearing their uniforms with their names and numbers on them.  Even in that case, at least 20% of the players might not be recognized for who they are and might be taken for fans who are just wearing something they bought at a fan site.

Switching gears …  This item has been hanging around on my clipboard for a while, so let me polish it off today.  The Baltimore Ravens signed veteran QB, Josh Johnson, to a contract.  Given that he would be at best a backup to the backup in Baltimore, why would that even be interesting let alone important?

• This is the third time the Ravens have signed Johnson to a contract.
• He has been on the roster of 14 NFL teams in his career.
• He has also played in the XFL, the United Football League and the Association of American Football.
• Josh Johnson at age 37 is the Energizer Bunny of QBs.

Finally, a brief observation by Arthur Godfrey:

“I’m proud to be paying taxes in the United States.  The only thing is – I could be just as proud for half the money.”

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

 

 

Congratulations to the Denver Nuggets; they are the NBA Champions for 2023.  Their victory last night in Denver was not an aesthetic presentation of the game of basketball, but the Nuggets won despite:

• Shooting only 5 for 28 on 3-point attempts
• Having only one player score more than 16 points

The Heat use their tenacious defense as a calling card and that defense is a big part of why and how the Heat made it to the Finals.  However, last night in the fourth quarter, it was the Nuggets that played the better defense holding the Heat to only 18 points in that quarter.

Some have characterized this season and this series as a “coming-out party” for Nikola Jokic.  Well, if you want to advance that metaphor just a tad, consider that Jokic should no longer be any sort of a mysterious entity in the world of basketball.  He was “on display” for the entirety of the NBA Playoffs and should have erased any doubt about his status as a dominant force in the game of basketball.  And in case you had not noticed, he will only be 29 years old in the middle of the next NBA regular season.

Moving on …  Normally, when the sports world intersects with government at just about any level of jurisdiction, the result is “less than totally satisfactory”.  Today we have the potential for two such intersections and at first glance one of them might be positive and the other is almost assuredly going to be sound and fury signifying nothing.  Let me begin with the one that might turn out to be a plus.

A recent memo from the Internal Revenue Service indicates that donations by boosters to NIL Collectives may not be tax deductible for those donors.  NIL Collectives take donations from alums and boosters and put them in a pool, and they use the total money to allocate it across sports and teams as a “recruiting tool”.  Wink!  Wink!!!  They are “buying” a team not “recruiting” one.

According to an IRS memo, these Collectives do not deserve status as a 501 (c) (3) organization because the Collectives exist to carry out “a substantial nonexempt purpose – serving the private interests of student-athletes.”  I have favored the idea of eliminating the tax deduction for any sort of donation to a college Athletic Department for decades and indeed there have been some loopholes closed around the margins of that fundraising system, but if this sort of thinking takes root at the IRS, it might advance the cause significantly in future years.

Notice that I said this intersection of sports and government “might be positive” and not that this is the “dawning of an age of enlightenment”.  The people who stand to be most affected by this sort of change to the tax code have deep pockets and lots of government influence going for them.  In addition, many politicians would prefer to hit a hornets’ nest like a pinata rather than mess with the football or basketball program at a major school in their jurisdiction.  So, I cautiously mention this as being potentially positive – – until I read somewhere that the idea has been tabled for further study.

The other intersection of sports and government is a grandstanding play.  Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn) chairs the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and he has plumbed the depths of the repercussions caused by the merger of the PGA and LIV Golf and concluded that there are “serious questions regarding the reasons for and terms behind the announced agreement.”

Obviously, Senator Blumenthal is not a regular reader here because the reasons for the agreement and the terms behind the agreement can be summarized as was presented here last week:

• Money talks and bulls[p]it walks.

The Subcommittee has demanded documents and communications between the parties leading up to the announcement of the merger.  Senator Blumenthal has said he wants to know how this “jointly operated commercial entity will be structured and governed”.  Really?  This commercial entity simply replaces a previous commercial entity that has operated a golf tour for the last 94 years.  This is not an entity that moves the needle on the US economy; this is not an entity that produces materials critical to the National Defense; this is an entity that organizes golf tournaments.  Moreover, this entity that organizes golf tournaments enjoys tax-free status because the architects of the US tax code have convinced themselves that the PGA Tour is a charity fundraising entity.  Ponder that for a while …

Senator Blumenthal also used the fact of this merger of golf organizations to express his dismay at Saudi Arabia’s human rights record calling that record “deeply disturbing”.  However, that human rights record must have been insufficiently disturbing a month ago before this merger saw the light of day because back then the Senator was not investigating diddley-doodle about LIV Golf as a stand-alone entity operating golf tournaments at various places in the US.  It took this merger to deepen his level of “disturb” to the point that he decided to investigate something.

There is a lot of hand-wringing these days about existential threats to mankindsuch as these four:

1. Climate change
2. Artificial Intelligence run amok – – think HAL 9000
3. Pandemics
4. Water shortages

• Memo to Senator Blumenthal:  Those are important and potentially dangerous things that need to be controlled and managed.  Not a single one of those threats will be mitigated or exacerbated in the least by who or what organizes golf tournaments.
• Investigate that …

Finally, I wonder what George Carlin might say about the tax-exempt status of NIL Collectives and/or Senator Blumenthal’s investigation into such deeply disturbing matters.  Here is one of Carlin’s observations that might give me a hint:

“If it’s true that our species is alone in the universe, then I’d have to say that the universe aimed rather low and settled for very little.”

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

 

 

 

Arcangelo won the Belmont Stakes on Saturday; the winning time was 2:29  1/5.  In handicapping terms that is a mere 26 lengths behind what Secretariat did in the Belmont Stakes 50 years ago.  Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973 and set the record for all three races in the Triple Crown then; those records in all three races still stand in 2023.

Moving on …  Andrew Brandt has had a long and diversified career in sports and sports law, if you Google “Andrew Brandt” you can find his bona fides very easily.  He has a Sunday Newsletter – – the “Sunday Seven” – – that I get via email.  Here is what he had to say yesterday about the LIV/PGA merger:

“My sense is that the PGA Tour knew or was advised that: (1) The LIV Tour, funded by the $600 billion Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), was not going away, and (2) The mutual antitrust lawsuit, not scheduled for trial until at least 2024, had some potentially uncomfortable discovery issues, such as how the PGA Tour magically finds money for $20 million purses and escalating legal fees. Faced with these realities, the PGA Tour took the money and merged. PIF will now be the sole investor and have a right of first refusal on any future investors. In simplest terms, they bought golf.”

He makes three points here that always “gave me pause” when thinking about this mess:

1. From where did that extra $20M in purse money materialize overnight?
2. The PGA was not a mortal lock to prevail in the lawsuit
3. The PIF could bankrupt the PGA with legal fees but not the other way around.

Professor Brandt had another interesting item in his missive yesterday:

“There is a bigger picture here. Saudi money—along with Qatari money and other Middle Eastern investment—is coming to bigger American sports. They have invested in the English Premier League and Formula 1 Racing; it is naive to think they won’t do the same in other American sports. They have bought golf, and that gives their money some legitimacy. The ‘Core Four’—the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL—are next.

“The price of entry into these leagues is becoming too high to rely on a cadre of multi-billionaires to purchase them. Josh Harris, one of those billionaires, owns the NBA’s 76ers and the NHL’s Devils but is still struggling to secure proper financing to purchase the NFL’s Washington Commanders for $6 billion. Institutional investment such as that of PIF would alleviate some of those issues. The NBA has just loosened investment restrictions to allow for sovereign wealth funds; other leagues will soon follow.

“LIV Golf is now part of the PGA Tour in a yet-to-be-named entity. This is an inflection point for sports finance. Human rights issues and politics notwithstanding, Saudi money is coming to American sports leagues. Maybe not this year or even next year, but soon. Count on it.”

His point about the values of NFL franchises is on point.  The NFL’s current rules do not allow for “sovereign wealth” or “Institutional investment ownership”; while that tends to keep the playing field relatively level, it also puts a “soft cap” on how much a franchise can sell for.  The Commanders price is reported to be $6.1B and there is a limit on the percentage of the price paid that a new owner may present as borrowed money.  I don’t know the details in all of this but assume that percentage is 25%.  That means the new owner – – and his minority partners – – must come up with almost $4.6B in “cash”.  [Aside:  If the percentage allowable here is higher than 25%, then the “cash requirement” is smaller.  Forget the exact numbers and focus on the magnitude.]

The US has lots of rich people but if you held a meeting of all the folks who could “write a check” for $4.6B or so I don’t think you would need to rent out Lambeau Field.  So, the fact that there are only a few qualified bidders for an NFL team under the current rules means that price increases for franchises might not be as explosive as in recent years where the Panthers sold for $2.2B and then the Broncos for $4.6B and now the Commanders presumably for $6.1B.

Next up … Barry Sverluga hade a column in Saturday’s Washington Post under this headline:

• LSU ace’s 124 pitches illicit groans around MLB

LSU is in the College World Series tournament and their star pitcher just won a complete game.  He is touted as – possibly – the overall #1 pick in the MLB Draft this year and scouts worry that he is being over-used.  When I read about their concerns, it sent me to the Internet to recall the details about a specific baseball game that I remember from my youth.  I was not there to see it in person, nor did I see it on TV – – but I remember that it happened because it was so different.

In September of 1952 – – I was 9 years old – – Phillies’ pitcher, Robin Roberts pitched a complete game that went 17 innings.  Here is his pitching line for the game – – MLB did not keep a pitch count stat back then:

• 17 innings, 6 runs on 16 hits 3 walks and 5 strikeouts {Aside: More than likely in excess of 124 pitches …]

The Phillies won 7-6 and that complete game – – actually, almost two complete games in one outing – – came in the middle of a complete game streak for Roberts.  Between August 1952 and July 1953, Robin Roberts threw 28 consecutive complete games.

Baseball is played differently in 2023 than it was in 1953 …

Finally, just because I like this quote, let me finish today with H. L. Mencken:

“Morality is the theory that every human act must be either right or wrong and that 99 percent of them are wrong.”

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

 

 

 

The big news from yesterday is the Lionel Messi had decided to sign with Inter Miami in MLS instead of taking a reported $1B deal from a team in Saudi Arabia. The initial reports said that the details of Messi’s contract with Inter Miami have not been finalized, but we can be certain that it will not be anywhere near a 10-figure deal.  Reports say that his contract will include “ownership stakes when he retires”; Messi is 36 years old, so retirement is not decades into the future; this is not going to be analogous to a “Bobby Bonilla deal”.

For perspective, the biggest contract I can find in MLS for this year is $8.2M.  That gives you an idea of the gap between soccer contracts in the US and in Europe where playing contracts can exceed $40M per year.  Messi will probably earn at or near the top of the MLS scale for however many years he is on the pitch.

This is a big move for Messi, and it is a feather in MLS’ cap; but Messi is not nearly the first major European star to come to the US for his final days on the pitch.  A good friend of mine worked at ABC Sports and was involved in promotions for the old North American Soccer League (NASL).  He got me tix for “Soccer Bowl” in 1980 which was played at RFK Stadium in DC.  That game featured the NY Cosmos and on their roster were Pele and Franz Beckenbauer.  Pele was 40 at the time and Beckenbauer was 35; both were great players in major soccer competition in their hey-day; Beckenbauer played in Germany and Pele in Brazil before joining the Cosmos.  [Aside:  Pele did not play in that Soccer Bowl game in 1980 but was still on the Cosmos’ roster; Beckenbauer played.]

In addition to Pele and Beckenbauer, I remember Johan Cruyff playing for the Washington team in the NASL in the late 70s and early 80s.  Cruyff was a great player and stood out when playing against NASL competition.

When Messi signs on the dotted line with Inter Miami, his “boss” will be the team owner, David Beckham who also came to US soccer after a long and gloried career in Europe playing for Man U in the EPL and Real Madrid in La Liga.

I know that I will have missed more than a handful of foreign soccer stars who came to the US late in their careers so let me rattle off the ones I recall without doing any searching:

• George Best
• Thierry Henry
• Robbie Keane
• Wayne Rooney

This is a big deal, but I do not want to fall into the same trap that many commentators fell into when the likes of Pele or Beckham signed on with a US team.  This event – in and of itself – is NOT the inflection point at which soccer will grow exponentially and outstrip the NFL in popularity in the US.  Yes, ticket prices for Inter Miami games soared on the news of his decision to come to Miami; some tickets were going for $500.  Yes, this signing could well be the tipping point that allows Inter Miami to get a new stadium – – or significant expansion of its current stadium in Fort Lauderdale which only seats 18,000 fans.

•  It is a big deal for Inter Miami and for MLS, but it need not be exaggerated.

Moving on … There was another important story that came to light yesterday that is far less joyful.  The Texas Rangers announced that Jacob deGrom will have season-ending surgery to repair a “tear in his ulnar collateral ligament” meaning he will miss the rest of this season.  deGrom is 34 years old and is in the first year of a 5-year contract that he signed with the Rangers last winter; he made only 6 starts for the team in 2023.

Jacob deGrom earns his living by throwing a baseball around 100 mph from the pitcher’s mound to the catcher.  His most dominant season was in 2018 when he started 32 games for the NY Mets and finished with only a 10-9 record despite pitching to an ERA of only 1.70 for the season.  In 2018 he also struck out 269 batters while walking only 46.  Indeed, he won the Cy Young Award that year despite the mediocre won/lost record.

In the three seasons between 2017 and 2019, deGrom threw more than 200 innings and given his style of pitching, it seems to have taken a toll on his arm.  Granted 2020 was a truncated season, but since 2019, he has not thrown more than 92 innings in any year; in his 6 starts this year, he threw only 30.1 innings.

deGrom has been on the IL since late April with what was originally diagnosed as “elbow inflammation”.  After treatment and an attempt at rehab, an MRI revealed “damage that was significant” and that ended the 2023 season for deGrom.  Normally, this sort of surgery takes a year to heal; given what deGrom will try to do with his repaired elbow, my guess is that doctors and trainers will be very cautious about “rushing him back to the mound”.  deGrom says his goal is to be back “before the end of next year”.  Rangers’ fans certainly hope that he can return and pitch the way he did back in 2020 and before; baseball fans should root for his return also because when he is on, he is fun to watch.

Finally, since there is optimism in Miami and optimism about the injury to Jacob deGrom, let me close today with this observation by British physician, Havelock Ellis:

“The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum.”

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