The Sports Curmudgeon

The latest baseball news from the winter meetings is that Aaron Judge will not leave the Yankees; he re-signed with the team for 9 years and $360M.  Considering that he hit an AL record 62 home runs last year, it is not all that surprising that he will be making more per year than any other position player – – for now, nor is it too surprising that the Yankees opened the exchequer to retain his services.

As far as I can tell, Judge and Clayton Kershaw are the only free agents who have signed up with their previous teams during this free agency season.  There have been several signings announced and I believe all the others involve a change of venue for the players.  Stay tuned; this free agency shuffle has only just begun.

The FIFA World Cup is down to what we here in the US would call the “Elite Eight”.  Because of the way lots are drawn to assign teams to Groups, it would be a stretch to say that FIFA had “engineered” this bracket but consider the following:

• Had Morocco not shocked Spain in the knockout round, Spain would be playing Portugal this weekend.  No national rivalry there…
• England and France will play each other this weekend.  No national rivalry there…
• If Brazil and Argentina win this weekend, those two sides will meet in the semi-final round.  No national rivalry there …  [Aside:  Brazil is a heavy favorite to beat Croatia and Argentina is a small favorite to beat the Netherlands this weekend.]

Having referred to wagering on the World Cup, it is interesting to check out some of the reports about global action on these games.  According to the folks at Barclays (the former sponsor and banker for the English Premier League), their estimate for the handle on all the World Cup Games is $35B.  If that turns out to be the actual handle, it would be a 65% increase over the handle for the World Cup in 2018.

One reason for the increase is the situation here in the US.  In 2018, sports betting was not allowed in almost every state; now in 2022, more than 30 states have legalized sports wagering; so naturally, there has been a large uptick in bets placed in the US.  One report I read said that the estimate for World Cup wagering in the US would be $2B and that would represent almost a 400% increase as compared to 2018.

Standard wagering on World Cup games is akin to money line wagering on college or NFL football games.  You pick the winner, and the sportsbook offers odds that vary from time to time based on their attempt to balance their exposure.  However, there is a wrinkle.  Since soccer games – prior to the knockout round in the World Cup – can end in a draw, one can also wager on the outcome being a draw.  [Aside:  There is also a bet at reduced odds called “Draw No Bet” where you pick a side to win but if the game ends in a draw it is considered a push and you get your original wager back.  This option is used by bettors in only a small percentage of the bets.]

The existence of the “Draw” option on the money line provides a lucrative advantage for the sportsbook.  The vast majority of bettors on the game outcome opt to pick a side to win the game at odds that can typically vary from minus-300 to +500.  And all those majority wagers are losers when/if the game ends in a draw.  In the Group Stage of this year’s World cup, I counted 9 draws; that means the sportsbooks “cleaned up” on nine of the 48 games in the Group Stage – two of those thanks to the US team.

There is another outcome of this year’s World Cup in Qatar; this one makes me shake my head as I try to understand it.  There is a report that Qatar is going to put in a bid to host the Summer Olympic Games in 2036.  The stadium venues built for this World Cup would provide a sound basis for holding the actual competitions; the country built 7 new facilities to host the World Cup and did a “tear-down/re-build” operation on an eighth stadium.  The fact that Qatar might offer a bid for the Olympics in 2036 leads to a couple of issues in my mind:

• The World Cup is a big event; the Olympics are a colossal event.  The World Cup had 32 teams representing their countries this year; the Tokyo Olympics had about 200 teams.  A soccer team has about 25 members plus coaches and staff; that means the competitors number less than a thousand.  The Tokyo Olympics had over 10,000 athletes competing so when you add in coaches and staff the number of athletes and staff would certainly dwarf what existed for the World Cup.  Qatar is a geographically small country; will everyone associated with the Olympics plus the spectators fit?
• The Summer Olympics take place in – – wait for it – – the summer.  We have been down that road before; the reason this year’s World Cup is happening in November/December is because summer temperatures in Qatar are not compatible with outdoor athletic competitions.
• [Aside:  The IOC may need to deal with that sort of climatic reality soon because there are reports that India, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia may also make a pitch for hosting the Games in 2036.  Maybe the Summer Games will need to be re-branded as the “Not-Winter Olympic Games”?]

In case you are wondering why Qatari officials are looking at a bid for the 2036 games, the reason is that the venues for the Summer Olympics are already awarded through 2032.

• Paris, France in 2024
• Los Angeles, USA in 2028 (along with Canada and Mexico)
• Brisbane, Australis in 2032

Finally, let me close today with this item from The Official Dictionary of Sarcasm that seems eerily accurate these days:

“Kindergarten:  Former platform for early learning and playtime; currently the time in a child’s life when he or she better damn well decide exactly what they want out of life and get going on a plan to make it happen.”

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

 

 

I wonder if there are two guys named Jake and Elwood working in the front office of the NY Mets.  Just as Jake and Elwood Blues were determined to “get the band back together’, so too it seems the Mets are trying to recreate the Detroit Tigers pitching rotation from 2010 through 2014.  Last year, the Mets signed free agent Max Scherzer – a former Tiger – and this year they signed Justin Verlander – a former Tiger.  In their five-year overlap in Detroit, Scherzer and Verlander combined to post a record of 169-81.

Both Scherzer and Verlander are going to wind up in the Baseball Hall of Fame one of these days; I am not aware of any behavior(s) on the part of either player that would cause the BBWAA voters to spitefully keep either out of the Hall.  And yet, there is an element of risk associated with these guys at the top of a pitching rotation in 2023.

Max Scherzer will be 38 years old in July 2023.  He spent a couple of stints in the IL last year and his 145.1 innings pitched was the lowest total in his career save for his rookie season in 2008 and the COVID-abbreviated season in 2020.  Prior to the 2022 season Scherzer could reliably be counted on for 180 – 220 innings in a season.

Justin Verlander will be 40 years old just about the time when reports to Spring Training with the Mets.  He won the Cy Young Award last year at age 39 and also won that award in 2019 at age 36.  However, he only started 1 game in the 2020 “COVID season” and missed all of the 2021 season due to rehab from Tommy John surgery.

The Blues Brothers movie ends on a bittersweet note.  Jake and Elwood pay the tax bill to save an orphanage from foreclosure and simultaneously are arrested by law enforcement officers who have been pursuing them off and on for the entirety of the movie plot.  Here’s hoping that the Mets avoid any such bittersweet ending to their effort to “get the band back together”.

There was one other major MLB free agent signing announced yesterday; Trea Turner signed an 11-year deal with the Phillies for $300M.  Turner will turn 30 years old in mid-season 2023; his career batting average is .302 and his career OPS is .842.  In addition, he is a very good defensive shortstop and an accomplished base stealer.  Reports say that Turner and Bryce Harper are “besties” from their days as teammates on the Washington Nationals’ roster; so, perhaps this is another mini version of putting a band back together.

The Phillies made it to the World Series last season; adding Trea Turner to the lineup should improve the team.  Harper will miss at least half of the 2023 season recovering from Tommy John surgery – unusual for an outfielder to be sure – meaning there will be plenty of time for this reunited band to rehearse before taking the stage.

Let me stay with baseball for another moment here …  A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that Commissioner Rob Manfred expressed optimism that the Tampa Bay Rays could get a new stadium that would make it a viable franchise in that locale.  At the time, I wondered why he was optimistic since several proposals/initiatives aimed at replacing Tropicana Field had come to naught.  Well, yesterday, I read a report that said there is now a plan on the table for the Rays to get a new domed stadium as part of a much larger development project east of where Tropicana Field is currently located in St. Petersburg, FL.  Here is what the development would entail:

• A domed stadium for the Rays that would seat 30 – 35,000 folks.  Although it is domed, the roof would allow light to enter and there are sliding windows to let in air allowing for a grass field.
• 1.4 million square feet of office space
• 300,000 square feet of retail space
• 700 hotel rooms
• 5,700 units of apartments/condominiums
• 600 senior residences
• A 2500-seat “entertainment venue”.

I am not familiar with the geography of St. Petersburg, FL but the area where all of this could take place is called the “Historical Gas Plant District” and the timeline calls for the stadium to be ready for the 2028 MLB season.  Hopefully for the Rays, this proposal for development of the “Gas Plant District” does not turn out to be a lot of rhetorical gas…

In college football, the 41 bowl games are now set with regard to time, place and participants.  There is no way that I would try to “evaluate” those 41 games, nor will I watch even a quarter of them because far too many of them go beyond meaningless.  However, let me point out six of them here:

1. New Mexico Bowl – – BYU vs SMU:  They should relabel this bowl game for this year to the “TLA Bowl” because both teams are known by Three Letter Acronyms.
2. First Responder Bowl – – Memphis vs Utah St.:  Both teams are 6-6 which guarantees that one of these “bowl teams” will go home with a losing record for 2022.  Oh swell …
3. Bahamas Bowl – – UAB vs Miami (OH):  Both teams are 6-6 which guarantees that one of these “bowl teams” will go home with a losing record for 2022.  Is there an echo in here …?
4. Camellia Bowl – – Ga Southern vs Buffalo:  Another matchup of 6-6 teams meaning one will go home with a losing record for 2022…
5. Quick Lane Bowl – – New Mexico St. vs Bowling Green:  Both teams are 6-6 …  You know where this is going…
6. Lending Tree Bowl – – Rice vs So. Mississippi:  Rice is 5-7 and made it to a bowl game because they needed another team to fill out the field; So, Miss is 6-6.  So, if Rice wins BOTH teams will leave the game with losing records for 2022.  Are you excited about that?

Finally, in the past I have used parts of reviews by John Simon – – film and drama critic known as “The Vicar of Vitriol” – – as closing comments.  He is well known for savage commentary on actresses; let me present two of them today:

“Lisa Minelli:  That turnippy nose overhanging a forward-gaping mouth and hastily retreating chin, that bulbous cranium with eyes as big (and as inexpressive) as saucers; those are the appurtenances of a clown – a funny clown, not even a sad one … Miss Minelli has only two things going for her: a father and a mother who got there in the first place, and tasteless reviewers and audiences who keep her there.”

And …

“Shelly Duvall is the worst and homeliest thing to hit the movies since Lisa Minelli.”

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

 

 

Antonio Brown was an NFL player of some renown – – until something happened in a game between the Bucs and the Jets which caused him to take off his uniform and his pads on the sidelines and then storm off the field while the game was still in progress.  That was certainly his last appearance in a real NFL game and is possibly the last time he had any real interaction with any NFL team.

Antonio Brown has had a history of unusual behaviors some of which involved interacting with law enforcement officials and/or other parts of the US legal system.  He has been accused of sexual assault; he has been convicted of reckless driving; he attacked someone who came to his home to move him out of his house.  Currently, Antonio Brown is in a house with police on the outside of that house and the police have a warrant for Brown’s arrest.  It is not clear from reporting the entirety of the charges in that warrant and the police are not characterizing the situation as a “standoff” or as a “hostage situation” – – leaving open the question as to how or why this has been ongoing for about 72 hours.

I have no credentials as a mental health expert, but in my layman’s understanding of the world, it is clear to me that Antonio Brown needs behavioral assistance.  I fear that the problem in this case may be that Antonio Brown has convinced himself that he is OK and that just as all his previous escapades have faded into our societal background, so will this one – – and the next one and…  His involvement with the NFL is over; hopefully, his erratic behaviors now and in the future will not end in with a more serious set of consequences for him and for someone he has interacted with.

Moving on …  There has been a “major signing” in this MLB free agent season; the Texas Rangers have signed Jacob deGrom for 5 years and $185M.  I see this decision by the Rangers as a high risk/high reward situation.

• There can be no question that deGrom is an elite starting pitcher.  He has started 209 games and pitched to a career ERA of 2.52.  In 2021, his season ERA was 1.08.  So, you may wonder, “What’s the risk?”
• Jacob deGrom will be 35 years old in June 2023.  He has had injury issues in each of the last 3 seasons; in the 2022 season he only managed to pitch 64.1 innings over the course of 11 starts.

So, what might the Rangers be getting for that $185M guaranteed contract?  Will they get the 4-time All-Star and 2-time Cy Young Award winner – – or will they get someone who cannot give them even 100 innings of performance in a season?

One other aspect of this signing is the fact that deGrom will leave the Mets where he has been for his entire 9-year career so far.  His status in “Mets’ lore” is not quite the same as that of Tom Seaver but there are lots of similarities.  Just as it was “unusual” to see Seaver in a Reds’ uniform or a White Sox uniform, it will be unusual to see deGrom in a Rangers uniform starting next April.

One other thing happened over the weekend related to MLB.  The Baseball Hall of Fame’s “Contemporary Era Committee” voted to put Fred McGriff into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  There are 16 members of this Committee and selection for the Hall of Fame requires that a candidate receive a minimum of 12 votes.  McGriff was named on all 16 ballots submitted so he made it to the Hall easily.  Here are some other candidates and how many votes they received:

• Don Mattingly – – 8 votes
• Curt Schilling – – 7 votes
• Dale Murphy – – 6 votes

Interestingly, there were four players under consideration by the Committee who have been connected with “steroids”/”PEDs”.  This Committee is not the same as the Baseball Writers Association who vote for inductees until their eligibility expires.  This Committee is sort of like a “second opinion” on various candidates’ worthiness for the Hall; this Committee includes six members of the Hall of Fame, seven MLB executives and 3 members of the media who cover baseball.  That Committee considered these players and all of them received fewer than 4 votes – – well shy of the 12 votes needed for entry to the Hall of Fame:

• Albert Belle
• Barry Bonds
• Roger Clemens
• Raphael Palmeiro

Next …  The US may be out of the World Cup but that does not mean that there is no soccer news to think about.  Cristiano Ronaldo had been part of Manchester United in the English Premier League up to the start of the World Cup hiatus.  Let’s just say that all was not well inside the club and Man U chose to release Ronaldo as he left to play for his native Portugal in the World Cup.  That was unusual enough, but Ronaldo is now in a situation that is even more unusual.

Reports say that the Saudi Arabian club, Al Nassr, has offered Ronaldo $75M a year to come and play for the club in the Saudi Arabian league.  If you are wondering why an elite talent like Ronaldo might want to play in a second-tier league even at such a lucrative salary, it is also reported that Ronaldo would be able to choose the coach for that team if he so desires.  In essence, he would be a “player-GM” for the squad.

But wait, there’s more…  Ronaldo is 37 years old, and the contract offered to him would be for 3 years at $75M per year.  He would have the option to retire and take on an “ambassadorial role” for the club because the sense in the Saudi Arabian soccer community is that his star power and influence might help the Saudis land the hosting rights for the 2030 FIFA World Cup.  If Qatar can be a host, why not Saudi Arabia?

Finally, yesterday was Dwight Perry’s final Sideline Chatter column in the Seattle Times.  While I will certainly miss reading his column, I surely wish him health, happiness and prosperity in a well-deserved retirement.  I have a small inventory of his comments for future use in closing these rants; let me close today with one from yesterday’s final column that will demonstrate why I am going to miss Sideline Chatter:

“A skunk showed up in the stands at last Sunday’s Browns-Bucs game in Cleveland, walking up and down the steps of section 140 before disappearing beneath the seats. Like the Browns’ O-line opening holes for Nick Chubb, fans gave the critter lots of leeway.

“Fortunately, Pepe Le Pew didn’t get called for illegal use of glands.”

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

 

 

Another major college football coaching vacancy has been filled recently; Auburn hired Hugh Freeze away from Liberty to take over the Auburn program.  To say that Coach Freeze is a “controversial hiring decision” is an understatement.  Make no mistake, he has been successful at multiple levels of college football starting with an NAIA school up through Ole Miss and then to Liberty before landing at Auburn this week.

Freeze left Ole Miss under duress in 2016; the NCAA notified the school of several Level 1 recruiting violations and that preliminary investigations showed the likelihood that the program and/or some of its boosters had provided “impermissible benefits” to team members.  Freeze alleged that the violations had occurred during the days of his predecessor at Ole Miss, Houston Nutt; that story unraveled when Nutt sued Ole Miss for defamation and the school settled the matter and issued a public apology to Nutt.

In the SEC, that sort of behavior is not commonplace – – but it is not so outrageous as to get a successful coach fired.  Then came a big surprise:

• Ole Miss officials became aware that Freeze had used the cell phone that the school provided to him to place a call to an “escort service”.
• Freeze said he must have misdialed the number.
• Problem was that he had “misdialed” that same number about a dozen times on the same phone over the course of his five years at Ole Miss.

Those circumstances – plus the NCAA investigations – must have been too much for the folks who ran Ole Miss and they threatened to fire Freeze for cause citing a clause in his contract allowing them to do so for reasons of moral turpitude.   Freeze chose to resign in 2016 and was out of a head coaching job until he arrived at Liberty in 2019 where he has amassed a record of 34-15 and has taken Liberty to three consecutive bowl games – – and won them all.  [Aside:  Liberty is also bowl-eligible this season with their 8-4 record.]  His contract at Auburn is reportedly for 6 years at $6.5M per year.

Next season, Auburn will play Ole Miss in Auburn; it will not be until 2024 that Freeze will return to Oxford, MS as the coach of the opposing football team.  I cannot find the date for that game in 2024, but when I do, I will circle it on my calendar.

Speaking of recently hired college football coaches, Brad Dickson formerly with the Omaha World News had this to say about new Nebraska head coach, Matt Rhule:

“At his press conference Matt Rhule said he could’ve made good money sitting on his butt and doing absolutely nothing. In Omaha we call someone like that ‘mayor.’”

Switching gears …  The NFLPA has filed a grievance against the NFL alleging collusion among the owners not to offer fully guaranteed contracts to “certain players” in light of the fully guaranteed contract given to Deshaun Watson by the Cleveland Browns.  I suspect that this issue is going to generate more heat than light over the next several months as an arbitrator mulls the issue(s) and as contract negotiations with NFL free agents bubble up in the impending offseason.  So, let me put my general comments out there before the fact – – which means that my views can change dramatically if new and corroborated information becomes available:

• The NFLPA filed this grievance.  Therefore, it is incumbent on the NFLPA to prove that collusion occurred; it is not incumbent on the NFL to prove that collusion did not occur.
• The standard of proof in this matter is not as it is in a criminal trial – – “beyond a reasonable doubt”.  The standard of proof here is more like “a preponderance of the evidence”.
• The fact that 31 of the 32 NFL owners have not offered any fully guaranteed contracts to QBs other than Deshaun Watson does not prove collusion.  Some things happen by coincidence that result in a set of circumstances that appear as if there were collusion.  As an admittedly simplistic example, it is not collusion that 31 of the 32 NFL owners do not have the surname “Haslam”.  That is a fact, and that circumstance could have arisen from “collusion” among the other owners; it looks like “collusion; but it just isn’t.

I suspect that the legal folks at the NFLPA recognize that they are going to need some inside information to prevail here and probably hope that whatever is akin to a “discovery process” in this arbitration hearing will yield them something probative.  As an example, somehow a portion of the email exchanges between Jon Gruden and Bruce Allen came out from the bowels of the NFL’s electronic records and there was juicy information there.  So, I suspect the NFLPA folks are hoping to find something like that involving communications between/among owners and league officials on the subject of fully guaranteed contracts.

I think the NFLPA is a longshot to prevail here, and I think that the sentiment in the court of public opinion will depend on where the line is drawn regarding “collusion”.

• Imaginary Scenario #1:  At an owners’ meeting subsequent to the Browns giving Watson his fully guaranteed contract, an owner stands up and says to Browns’ owner Jimmy Haslam, “You are a fool giving him that contract.  My team would never do anything like that!”  Several other owners applaud and say “Hear!  Hear!”.  Is that “collusion?”
• Imaginary Scenario #2:  Several owners are talking and are overheard by multiple other people saying that the fully guaranteed contract the Browns gave Watson is a stupid business decision.  One owner says, “It would serve Haslam right if Watson broke his leg in his first game and there is no injury provision in the deal.”  The other owners agree and say they would always want “injury protection” in a big-money long-term deal.  Is that “collusion?”
• Imaginary Scenario #3:  An email exchange between an owner and an official in the NFL Front Office surfaces saying, “Not to worry, I am in full agreement.  My team will never give a fully guaranteed long-term contract to anyone.”  Is that “collusion?”

It is way too early in this story to take sides – – unless one is universally pro-union or pro-management in such confrontations.  But I do believe this confrontation has the potential to be quite interesting.

Finally, let me close with this observation about the subject of collusion from actor Chris Pine:

“For me growing up, Christmas time was always the most fantastic, exciting time of the year, and you’d stay up until three in the morning.  You’d hear the parents wrapping in the other room; but you knew that also, maybe, they were in collusion with Santa Claus.”

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

 

 

Congratulations to the US Men’s National Team for advancing from Group Play and into the Knockout Round of the FIFA World Cup tournament.  They needed a win over Iran to earn that placing in the Knockout Round and they got it by winning yesterday by a score of 1-0.  The next game for the US team is on Saturday December 3^rd against the Netherlands.

About a week ago, I commented on 4 free agent shortstops who should be positive additions for whatever team signs them.  Over the weekend, I was glancing at a list of some of the “top free agents” for this MLB offseason and two names jumped out at me as high risk/high return names:

1. Andrew Benintendi:  He is only 28 years old and has been in the major leagues for a total of 7 seasons – – but the first one was sufficiently brief that he qualified for the Rookie of the Year Award the next season.  He has been an All-Star once and also received a Golden Glove award.  His career batting average is .279 and he routinely gets more base hits than strikeouts.  However, he has had difficulty staying healthy.  Only twice has he been able to play in more than 138 games in a season.
2. Joey Gallo:  He is only 29 years old and has been in the major leagues for 8 seasons.  He has been an All-Star twice and has received a Golden Glove Award twice in his career.  However, his career batting average is only .199 and he has been on three different teams in the past two seasons.

Switching gears …  Let me use the latest CFP rankings to demonstrate why I have no real problem with expanding the CFP beyond 4 teams but why I also have problems with expanding it all the way to 12 teams.  Here are the Top-4 as of this morning:

• Georgia           12-0
• Michigan         12-0
• TCU                 12-0
• USC                 11-1

I have no problem with the first three teams; I could entertain a reasoned debate about the 4^th team on the list because here are the next 4 teams:

• Ohio St.           11-1
• Alabama          10-2
• Tennessee       10-2
• Penn St.           10-2

            Is USC’s one loss – – one point to 11^th ranked Utah – – less of a stain on the record than Ohio St.’s blowout loss to #2 ranked Michigan?  Let the rhetoric flow…  And then look at the next four CFP ranked teams as of this morning:

• Clemson          10-2
• K-State             9-3
• Utah                  9-3
• Washington     10-2

If these were the 2022 final rankings there would be 3 teams in the expanded CFP field with 3 losses already on the books. Is that really desirable.  And by the way please take careful note of this next point:

• A key point made by advocates for an expanded playoff to 12 teams is that such an expansion would open the door for more teams from outside the “Power 5” conferences to take part in the CFP.

Go back and review the list of 12 teams presented above and find me a team from outside a “Power 5” conference.  There are no such teams and if you continue down the listing for today, you will only find 2 such “Outsiders” in the Top-25:

1. Tulane            10-2      Ranked 18^th
2. UCF                 9-3       Ranked 22^nd

            I am all for expansion of the CFP from 4 teams to 8 teams; I think expanding to 12 teams is overdoing it by a lot.  And Heaven forbid someone thinks expansion to 16 teams would make sense because then no teams would ever get a first-round bye. If that expansion were in place this morning, one of the first wound games would be:

• #1 Georgia vs. #16 Oregon

We already saw that game this season and Georgia “eked out” a 49-3 win in that “contest”.

Finally, apropos of nothing, let me close with this observation by actor John Barrymore:

“The good die young – – because they see it’s no use living if you’ve got to be good.”

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

 

 

Well, the big news today comes out of the realm of college football.  Two college coaching hires have been announced; two more coaches were given pink slips and there are reports that Deion Sanders has been offered the Colorado job, but no details have been elucidated.  So, let me dive in…

1. Wisconsin hired Luke Fickell away from Cincy where Fickell has been for the last 6 seasons and where he amassed a record of 57-18.  Last year, his Bearcats were the first team outside the so-called Power-5 conferences to take part in the CFP.
2. Nebraska hired Matt Rhule meaning that Rhule will have another reclamation project on his hands.  The Huskers were college football royalty once upon a time but the last time they made it to a New Year’s Day Bowl Game was in 2006.  The last time they were in any bowl game of any kind was in 2016.

While there is likely a lot of smiles and levity in the Fickell and Rhule households today, two other coaches will not be back at work next season…

1. Stanford saw coach David Shaw resign his position after being at the school for 12 seasons; he took over after Jim Harbaugh left Stanford to take the job as the head coach of the Niners in the NFL.  Stanford was 3-9 this year – – the worst record in Shaw’s tenure there.  He was the National Coach of the Year in 2017 but Stanford has not been to a bowl game since 2019.
2. Florida Atlantic fired Willie Taggert after the Owls went 5-7 this season and failed to make a bowl game.  Taggert has been a head coach for 13 seasons with a combined record of 71-80 at 5 different schools.  About 5 years ago, he was one of the “hot prospects” involved in the college coaching game of musical chairs but his tenures at both Oregon and Florida State were brief and nothing more than mediocre.

And there are reports by FOX sports and by CBSSports.com out there but not yet confirmed that Colorado has offered its head coaching position to Deion Sanders whose Jackson State team just completed an undefeated season in the SWAC at the Division 1-AA level.  Jackson State has a record of 22-2 over the last two seasons after Sanders took the job there.  In the last two seasons, Jackson State has a conference record of 16-0 and to put that in perspective, the time before that when Jackson State was the SWAC Champion was in 2007.

Colorado is more than a reclamation project; Colorado needs a resurrection.  Ever since the Buffaloes jumped from the Big-12 to the PAC-12 in 2011, the school has posted exactly two winning seasons (one of them in the COVID-abbreviated 2020 season).  I do not know that the Colorado program is worthy of the label “A Lazarus of Bethany Project” (John 11: 1 – 44) but I am confident in saying that putting the Buffaloes back on the list of top college programs will be a Herculean task.

And once I got past the surprises provided by the coach-hiring processes, I came to notice that the college football results from last weekend also had more than a couple of surprise results:

• LSU will play in the SEC Championship Game against Georgia and probably looked ahead to that game as they lost badly to Texas A&M by 2 TDs last weekend.  That is 3 losses for the Tigers in 2022; so, even if they beat Georgia, they are not likely to be in the CFP.
• South Carolina beat Clemson 31-30 meaning that the Gamecocks beat two Top 10 teams in consecutive weeks.  S. Carolina finishes the season with an 8-4 record – – all four losses were against SEC opponents.  This loss is the second of the season for Clemson making it a longshot for a CFP berth.
• Oregon St. beat Oregon 38-34.  Oregon led 31-10 at one point in the game and led 34-17 in the 4^th quarter.  Oregon simply collapsed at the end of this game.  That is the third loss of the year for the Ducks.
• USC can still aspire to a CFP slot after a win over Notre Dame by 11 points.  They will need a win in the PAC-12 Championship Game against Utah to maintain that chance.
• TCU creamed Iowa St. 62-14 to stay undefeated for 2022.  The fact that the Horned Frogs won this game is not nearly a surprise – – but that margin of victory is surprising.
• Michigan beat Ohio State convincingly in Columbus OH.  It is not a shock that Michigan won the game; after all, they too were 11-0 at the kickoff.  However, beating Ohio State at home by 3 TDs is always a surprise.

Assume for a moment that Michigan beats Purdue in the Big 10 Championship Game and that TCU beats K-State in the Big-12 Championship Game.  Both will be favored to do so; and if those games go as foreseen, that will cement those two teams in the CFP bracket.  But what if…

1. Georgia loses to LSU (with 3 losses already this year) – – AND – –
2. USC loses to Utah.

I am not predicting that either of those things will happen, but if they do, the CFP Selection Committee members will earn whatever their stipends are for serving on that body for 2022.

Finally, let me close here with these words about “surprises” and “football” from Cris Collinsworth:

“Most of us have been in a street fight at one point or another and it’s not always the best athlete that wins.  Sometimes, it’s a tough guy that surprises people and I think that still has a major role in football, which is why the numbers do not always decide things.”

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

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone… Just a brief note today.

In an email exchange with a friend, the subject turned to Aaron Judge and his free agency.  My friend pointed out that the focus on Judge and where he will wind up takes away from what he called “The Year of the Shortstop” in this year’s MLB free agency.  I knew that Xander Bogarts and Trea Turner were “on the market”, but he informed me that Dansby Swanson and Carlos Correa were also available to the highest bidder.

My friend is absolutely correct; all four of those players would be quality additions for an acquiring team.  I went and checked because I was not certain but indeed, all four of those top-shelf shortstops is under 30 years old as of this morning.  I will try to follow the courting and signing of those four players this winter.

I pointed out that Justin Verlander was also a free agent coming off a season where he:

• Won the AL Cy Young Award
• Posted a record of 18-4
• Pitched to an ERA of 1.75.

Not bad for any pitcher let alone a guy who will turn 40 years old right around the start of Spring Training next year.  I wonder if Verlander will get something like Max Scherzer got last winter from the Mets.

The biggest enigma of the free agent season to me is Cody Bellinger.  He will be 28 years old in the middle of next season, so he should be in or near the prime of his career.  In 2019, he was the NL MVP and had a spectacular year at the age of 23.  However, his last two seasons have been poor – – not just by the standard of someone who was the MVP, those two years were poor for about any MLB player:

• 2021:  Batting average = .165 He had 94 strikeouts versus 52 base hits
• 2022:  Batting average = .210 He had 150 strikeouts versus 106 base hits.

That is all I have time for today.  Guests will be arriving shortly, and I need to assemble the smoker I will be using to prepare the turkey for tonight’s festivities.

I hope everyone has a good time over this Holiday Weekend.  Writing will be sporadic next week due to other guests and a travel day.

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

 

 

Here are four things I know:

1.  I saw Matt Ryan play QB for the Colts last Sunday AND I saw Sam Ehlinger play QB for the Colts three weeks ago against the Commanders.  The eyeball test tells me clearly that in November 2022, Ryan is far more prepared to be an NFL QB than Ehlinger.  Maybe someday Ehlinger will be a star in the NFL – – but not this month.  Therefore, whoever decided to bench Ryan and announce that he had a shoulder injury is a football fool.  If that was Frank Reich’s decision alone, then he deserved to be fired; if it was someone above him in the organization, that person deserves to be fired; if it was the owner, Jim Irsay, just chalk that up to another goofy decision by a meddlesome owner.

2.  I know Mike Tomlin is the most candid head coach in the NFL.  At one of his press events, someone asked for his opinion of the Colts’ decision to hire Jeff Saturday as their coach two weeks ago.  Here is what Tomlin said:

“My opinion doesn’t matter; I’m not a part of that organization. I’m not part of the decision-making process. I know Jeff, I like Jeff. I think he’s a dynamic personality and football lover and charismatic leader, but I have no opinion worth mentioning regarding their hiring practices or that selection in particular. It’s irrelevant to me. I’m focused on the preparation of this group relative to us stepping in that stadium against that group Monday night.”

Left unsaid was the rather clear message that he did not want to be asked about it again…

3.  I know that the NFL menu of games for Thanksgiving Day this year is quite a feast.  Even the opening game (Bills/Lions) is an important game.  The Bills and Dolphins are tied for the AFC East lead and the Lions have quietly won 3 games in a row.  The late afternoon game (Cowboys/Giants) will determine second place in the NFC East race for the moment.  The night game (Vikes/Pats) will test the ability of the Vikes to put a horrible performance last Sunday behind them on a short week of practice.  It is not often that the Thanksgiving Day lineup looks so appetizing.

4.  I know there are reports that say that Doug Kazirian – an ESPN sports betting Insider – won $58K in a handicapping contest sponsored by the William Hill sportsbook.  Congratulations to Kazirian and a friendly reminder here.  The IRS knows about this and has access to all the congratulatory memos, Tweets and the like related to this.  Do not forget to report this as “Additional Income”.

Here are five things I think:

1.  I think Matt Rhule should be a hot commodity for a college coaching job next month.  If he gets a turn-around job at a mid-major program, he will be out of there when/if he does another turn-around job.  His successes at the collegiate level (Temple and Baylor) were both resurrection situations.

2.  I think the USC/Notre Dane game this week may be a pivotal moment for either/both programs.  Lincoln Riley is a first-year coach at a school with lot of “history” in college football.  Marcus Freeman is in his first year as the head coach at what Tony Kornheiser has often referred to as “The University of Football In North America”.  Riley’s club has more to play for this year — a Pac-12 championship game appearance and a possible spot in the College Football Playoff.  However, both coaches are looking for a dose of national credibility that could convince quality recruits to arrive on campus.  Big game…

3.  I think it may be time for the Rams to consider shutting down Matthew Stafford for the rest of the season.  He has been in and out of the concussion protocol twice this year; the Rams are going nowhere. Why take the risk?

4.  I think Lions’ fans are pleasantly surprised by the Rams’ descent from the top of the NFL this year because the Lions own the Rams’ first-round pick next year because of the trade that put Matthew Stafford in LA in the first place.

5.  I think the NBA and Adam Silver are playing fans for idiots.  After a 2-week “sensitivity training regimen” and a “candid interview” with Kyrie Irving, they have decided they know perfectly well that Irving is not antisemitic.  Look, I don’t care if he is or is not; Kyrie Irving means nothing to me.  But the NBA made a huge virtue-signal out of Irving and now they want me to believe that he is “cured” of what they accused him of two weeks ago?  Thanks – – but no thanks.

Here are three things I feel:

1.  I feel as if the LA Dodgers are clearing a bunch of salary commitments over the next few years so that they can become major bidders for Aaron Judge sometime in the next 6 – 8 weeks.  I said previously that I would not be surprised if a team offered Judge a 5-year deal worth $250M – – breaking into the $50M per year category.

2.  I feel as if the Arizona Cardinals are imploding.  Last year they were everybody’s focal point as a team on the rise and a team that approached the game with a new interpretation of strategy and tactics.  Well, now the Cards are 4-7; they will almost assuredly miss the playoffs; they bungled the contract extension negotiations with Kyler Murray when they inserted that “homework study clause” in it.

3.  I feel as if the widening allegations/information about Brett Favre’s association with some shady/sleazy financial activities makes it more likely that people will react negatively to lawsuits against folks like Tom Brady and Steph Curry related to the recent FTX collapse/debacle.  This might be an inflection point for celebrity endorsers for products that are not iron clad – – think toilet paper here.  FTX collapsed and there were celebrity/athletes who were endorsing FTX as a good deal and the next big thing.  Now we will find out if those athletes/celebrities are legally liable for what they said in those FTX ads.

• Memo for Prosecutors out there:
  • • Do not let me be on one of the juries in the FTX celebrity cases you will try.  The defendant is potentially a slime and probably did most of what you have accused him/her of doing – – but this would likely have been “nipped in the bud” had there been REAL oversight by the FTX Board of Directors.  If you put ALL the guilty parties in front of me, I’ll be happy to send all of them to hard labor for the next 15-30 years.  But please do not try to hang the blame for that hot mess on the endorsers alone…

So, what’s next?

Next up is a Holiday Weekend with great food, family and friends, good football and traffic jams beyond description.  Happy Thanksgiving to all…

Finally, I’ll close with this observation about traffic jams from comedian Steven Wright:

“They say the universe is expanding.  That should help with traffic.”

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

 

 

Since there will be no Football Fridays for the next two weeks, let me take a moment today to review football stuff from last weekend.  I’ll start in college football…

The Linfield College Wildcats won their first-round game in the Division III college football playoffs beating Pomona-Pitzer 51-24.  This week the Wildcats welcome Bethel to McMinnville, OR for a “Sweet-16 level” game.  Go Wildcats!

Vandy beat Florida 31-24.  Maybe Vandy’s upset of Kentucky two weeks ago was not as big a surprise as it seemed at the time.  Vandy needs one more win to get to a bowl game – – but that last game is against Tennessee and the Vols should be up for that game because…

Tennessee lost badly to a mediocre South Carolina team 63-38.  Tennessee had been ranked #6 in the nation going into that game.  No longer…

Arkansas beat Ole Miss 42-27.  Ole Miss will get a bowl bid – – but the quality of the bid they will get went down as of the conclusion of that game.

Michigan beat Illinois 19-17.  This was a lot closer than the oddsmakers thought it would be.  Illinois led 17-10 at the start of the 4^th quarter but could not hold on for an upset win.

TCU beat Baylor 29-28.  TCU remains undefeated and in the conversation as a CFP participant.  This was not a pretty win for the Horned Frogs – – but a win is a win.

K-State beat W. Virginia 48-31 to maintain its shot at playing TCU in the big-12 Championship Game.  There was an oddity in this game:

• K-State led 28-19 at the end of the first quarter.

USC beat UCLA 48-45 in a game devoid of defense.  The Trojans are now ranked #5 in the country.

Oregon beat Utah 20-17 ending any hopes the Utes may have had for competing in the CFP.

Texas A&M managed to beat UMass 20-3 which is an embarrassingly close game for the Aggies.  So, here is a quick quiz:

• What was the more disastrous investment?
  • Putting your money in crypto on FTX – – or – –
  • Hiring Jimbo Fisher for $105M?

Moving on to some quick looks at NFL results …

The Cowboys beat the Vikes 40-3.  What to make of that game?  My thought is that the Vikes are not that bad, and the Cowboys are not that good.  Both teams will make the NFC Playoffs and if they meet again the game will not be decided by more than 5 TDs.

The Pats beat the Jets 10-3; the game was decided on an 84-yard punt return with 5 seconds left in the game.  Up to that point this game was nothing more than ugly.  Consider just a couple stats from that game:

• 11 “drives” started by both teams ended up as three-and-out
• 19 total first downs in the game – – both teams combined
• 10 QB sacks recorded in the game

Just an observation but Zach Wilson throws a lot of passes off his back foot – even when he does not have to as a way to avoid being hit in the throwing process.  Yes, I know that Aaron Rodgers does this, and Patrick Mahomes does this too – – but the much more effective way to throw a football for most human beings is to step into the throw and not to throw off the back foot.  Perhaps someone might want to work with Wilson on those mechanics?

The Eagles rallied in the 4^th quarter to beat the Colts 17-16.  It was the defense that won this game for the Eagles keeping it close until the offense decided to wake up in the final 10 minutes of the game.

The Commanders beat the Texans 23-10.  As the teams left the field at halftime, the Texans Total Offense for the first half of the game was 5 yards – – or 180 inches.

I said last week that I thought the Giants were shoo-ins for the playoffs unless they got hit with a rash of injuries.  Maybe I jinxed the Giants.  Last week, they lost to the Lions 31-18 and lost 6 players during the game to injuries – – on top of having 4 other starters out for the game.

The Ravens beat the Panthers 13-3 scoring late in the game to provide the margin of victory.  Actually, Baker Mayfield threw 2 INTs in the 4^th quarter of the game to assure defeat for the Panthers.

The Chiefs rallied in the final two minutes to score a TD and beat the Chargers 30-27.  As usual, Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert put on an entertaining show for fans.

The Niners dominated the Cards in Mexico City 38-10 – – and it was not that close.  Right now, I think the Niners are playing the best football in the NFC.

Finally, apropos of nothing, let me close with this remark by Fred Allen:

“Hollywood is a place where people from Iowa mistake each other for movie stars.”

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

 

 

One of the oldest con games around is the old “bait and switch”.  Today an example of that con is on display at the World Cup games in Qatar.  After pretending that fans who came to Qatar to see the tournament games would be allowed to drink beer under controlled circumstances even though public consumption of alcohol is illegal in Qatar, the government announced late last week that there will be no beer sales or beer drinking in public for the games.  Many commentators have labeled this an “abrupt about face” by the Qatari officials; please, call it what it is, it is bait and switch.

The timing of the announcement was perfect; it became known just as lots of fans traveling to see the games were in the boarding process for their flights to Doha.  It seems to me this was not “accidental” or “coincidental”.

FIFA has over the last couple of decades done some virtue-signaling expressly trying to hold the World Cup Tournament in “less developed places” such as South Africa (Who can ever forget the vuvuzelas?) and now in a fabulously wealthy – but tiny – country like Qatar.  [Aside:  Not to worry, palms were greased to get those Tournaments to those virtuous sites.]  But this set of events might make the FIFA folks think twice about “doing business” with a theocratic state.  According to reports, Budweiser is a FIFA sponsor and coughs up $75M per year for that sponsorship opportunity.  The corporate overlords for Budweiser cannot be happy with this turn of events.

Two games have happened in the Tournament as of this morning.  Ecuador beat Qatar 2-0 in the opening game and England beat Iran 3-0 in Group B competition.  Group B is where the US Men’s Team will be competing.

Switching gears …  The Toronto Argonauts beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24-23 in the CFL Grey Cup game last evening.  The game was held in Regina, Saskatchewan at the home field of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  The Blue Bombers had won the last two Grey Cup championships and were favored in this game.  The Argonauts were down 23-14 in the fourth quarter and rallied to take the lead with less than 5 minutes to play.  The Blue Bombers got within field goal range but had the field goal attempt to win the game blocked with under a minute left on the clock.

My TV remote got a workout last night going back and forth between the Grey Cup game and the Bengals/Steelers game first and then for the early part of the Chiefs/Chargers game.  CFL games are quite different from NFL games or even college football games.  It takes a moment for me to adjust my thinking about the game and the strategic decisions within the game, but once I do, I find CFL games to be quite entertaining.

Next up …  Perhaps you have followed to some degree the collapse of FTX – the cryptocurrency trading exchange.  One bit of fallout for the sports world – – other than the decline of cryptocurrency values and the effect that has had on athletes who chose to take all or part of their contract money in cryptocurrency – – is that the folks in Miami have a basketball arena named by FTX.  The agreement between FTX and Miami began in the Spring of 2021 and was supposed to run for 19 years at a cost to FTX of $135M.  Well, FTX is not in any position to live up to that agreement now and the folks in Miami are out and about seeking a new naming rights sponsor for the venue where the Miami Heat play their home games.

Just a guess, but I don’t think the Miami folks will be contacting anyone from Enron about this sponsorship opportunity…

Moving on …  Subsequent to the World Series, MLB Commissioner, Rob Manfred, was asked about the status of two franchises with attendance issues – – the Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland A’s.  Manfred was optimistic about the Rays being able to stay in the Tampa area but was less sanguine about the situation in Oakland.  The resolution of the issues in these two cities is important for MLB and its fans because Manfred said that baseball would look to expand and add two new teams once the stadium issues in Tampa and in Oakland are resolved.  Here is what the Commish had to say about the two situations:

“I’ve got a lot of faith in Stu Sternberg (owner of the Tampa Bay Rays). I think they will find a place to get a ballpark built. I think baseball can thrive in Tampa.”

And …

“I think the mayor in Oakland has made a huge effort to try to get it done in Oakland; it just doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.”

[Aside:  The Oakland mayor is leaving office this year so any negotiations that may have been ongoing will surely need to take a moment to reset starting next year.]

Manfred also said that the A’s cannot continue to play in whatever the Oakland Coliseum calls itself this month.  The lease on that stadium by the A’s runs through the end of 2024.  It seems clear to me that there will not be a new stadium ready for business in the Spring of 2025 since there is not deal in place now that will allow for groundbreaking in the next 48-72 hours.  I t will be interesting to see how the focus of negotiations might change as the end of the current lease gets closer and closer.

Regarding the situation in Tampa, I wonder why the Commissioner is as optimistic as he seems to be.  The idea of putting a new stadium in “downtown Tampa” was put to rest; so, it would seem as if there has been no real progress in that part of the world.  Did Manfred just tip his hand…?

Finally, Dwight Perry will retire in two weeks.  He announced that in his column, Sideline Chatter, in the Seattle Times last weekend.  Currently, that column runs every Sunday in the paper – – but there were times when it ran 5 days a week.  I wonder if the column has become an institution in the Seattle area such that it needs to be carried on.  If that turns out to be the case, let me say before the fact that Dwight Perry will be a tough act to follow.  Here is his “retirement announcement”:

“I will retire Dec. 3 after 23½ years at The Seattle Times and 51-plus in the newspaper industry, so my final column will appear Sunday, Dec. 4.

“Now we rejoin Sideline Chatter, already in progress …”

Bonne chance, Dwight Perry…

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