Category Archives: Sports

Grandpa Takes the Field

Economics, Sports

Boston Celtics sold for $6.1 billion to group led by private equity executive Bill Chisholm, a record for a U.S. sports team.

~CNBC.COM

After finishing with a league-worst 3-14 record last season, the Browns have increased the prices of their season ticket packages by an average of about seven percent.

~Crain’s Cleveland Business

There’s something quite ludicrous about someone who already has, say, $5.1 billion running off to his city with his fedora in hand.  Yet this is what sports team owners do on a regular basis.

~Inc. Magazine

Forget the days when ownership of a sports franchise was a wealthy person’s “give back” to the community.  Owners now see it as among the  most lucrative investments in their portfolio.  Just ask the previous Celtic’s owner, the Grousbeck family, who purchased the franchise in 2002 for $360 million, a 1,694 percent ROI  in 23 years. And how will the new owners recoup their $6.1 billion investment?  As noted above, raising ticket prices or threatening to move the team if its current home city does not pony up taxpayer dollars to subsidize a new, state-of-the-art stadium or arena.  The final piece of this three-legged stool is media revenue, which like ticket sales, depends on the size of the audience.

To increase fan interest in any number of sports, owners and league management have proposed or implemented changes which they believe will attract more fans to attend games or watch on television.  Some changes make sense, perhaps, the best example being baseball’s pitch clock to do away with the egomaniacal  histrionics of those who thought the mound was akin to the Globe Theater.  Sadly, Major League Baseball (MLB) refused to quit while it was ahead. They created the “runner on second” rule for extra innings where the team starts with a player at second base.  But it only applies in the regular season.  The lifelong memory of sitting in the stadium until the wee hours of the next day is no longer a possibility.  And why was it a “lifelong” memory?  Because it happened so rarely, few fans ever had a similar experience.

And then came this “brilliant” concept.  MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred recently floated the idea of a “Golden At-Bat” rule that “would allow teams to choose one at-bat in a game to send any hitter to the plate, regardless of the batting order.” (ESPN)  Fortunately, negative feedback forced Manfred to back off, saying, “To go from the conversation stage to this actually showing up in MLB is a very long road.”  Hey Rob, did you forget you’re the genius who started the conversation?

Though baseball is a piker when compared to the National Football League.  Consider the following.

  • More than doubling the length of the half-time intermission during the Super Bowl to accommodate musical extravagances.  On more than one occasion, this extended break completely changed a team’s momentum and the outcome of the game.
  • Creating a kick-off scenario which challenges the time/space continuum in the name of player safety while proposing to add an 18th regular season game to the schedule.
  • Knowing an additional game would be detrimental to players’ health, one version of the 18-game season would require players to sit out two of those contests.  Too bad if you paid top dollar for seats to watch your favorite player on the sidelines in street clothes.
  • Imposing a penalty on an offensive lineman whose head does not line up with the center’s behind.
  • Thursday night football.  Forcing teams to prepare for a game without the prerequisite time to recover from the previous one.
  • Spreading telecasts across two broadcast networks, two cable networks and two streaming services so viewers never know where to look for games or have to subscribe to additional platforms.  Is pay-per-view far away?

Not to mention fútbol/soccer.  A sport that uses technology called “Video Assistant Replay” (VAR), a fancy name for instant replay, for every offside violation cannot figure out how to operate a game clock.  I can only imagine the outcry if the World Cup champion is determined by a goal scored after the announced stoppage time in the second half has lapsed.

But let me close with my own sport of choice–golf.  The beauty of the game sportswriter Rick Reilly dubbed “A Good Walk Spoiled” is the environment in which it is played.  Recently, Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and the PGA Tour decided that the challenge of uphill, downhill and sidehill lies further complicated by the weather du jour could be moved from its natural home to an indoor arena with fake grass mats, projected holes and an undulating green with hydraulic lifts that change throughout the contest.  The extent to which this setup resembles little that is associated with real golf was proved when the best player of this generation Woods confused a simulated 190 yard shot with a 90 yard attempt.  It produced a good laugh, but not golf.  Hopefully, it will go the way of World Team Tennis.

What do all these sports have in common?  The guardians of each do not have enough faith in what makes their respective domains special.  So they do things that bastardize the original concept in search of new audiences.  Why?  Because it takes time to educate the next generation about the challenges, strategies and nuances that makes one appreciate what is happening on the field, gridiron or course.  Because a parent cannot afford to take his or her children to a ballgame and share “inside information” about the game.  For example, the first time I took my daughter to a Royals game in Kansas City, I explained why walking the lead-off batter was a mistake.  One out of three times, the walked batter eventually reaches home base.  Twenty-five years later she reminded me of that statistic while watching an Orioles game at Camden Yards.  Instead of constantly looking for gimmicks to grow an audience, maybe owners and commissioners should figure out how to increase these interactions among long-time and potential new fans of their sports.

Grandpa has to go now.  It’s time for his seventh-inning nap.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

It’s Playoff Time

Politics, Sports

I talked about it the last few years. I think it’s silly. You can’t call it a season long race and have it come down to one tournament. Hypothetically we get to East Lake and my neck flares up and it doesn’t heal the way it did at the Players (where he had a neck issue but still won), I finish 30th in the FedEx Cup because I had to withdraw from the last tournament? Is that really the season long race?

~Scottie Scheffler on FedEx Cup Playoffs

I am a big fan of the current #1 golfer in the world.  However, today’s post was inspired by Michelle and Barak Obama.  Last night, the former first lady shared the advice Kamala Harris’ mother Shamala gave her daughter when faced with adversity or a challenge,  “Do something!”  Next, The former president reminded us Donald Trump has not stopped whining about how unfairly he had been treated since he came down that elevator in June 2015.  In the context of Scheffler’s comments, I wondered, “Had Masters’ jacket green become the new orange?”

I am sure if Scottie had taken a minute to think about it, athletes in every major sport face the same situation.  Ask the 2007 New England Patriots.  A perfect 16-0 regular season.  Two playoff victories, beating the Jacksonville Jaguars 31-20 in the divisional round and the then-San Diego Chargers 21-12 in the AFC championship game.  But the best season and playoff record in NFL history still depended on winning one more game.  After a 13 yard pass from New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning to Plaxico Burress with 39 seconds left in the game, the 10-6 Giants took home the Super Bowl trophy.

Scottie should have also realized that the FedEx playoffs is the one “season-long” champion that does NOT require the recipient of the trophy to win the final event of the season.  If the winner of the tournament at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta is not ranked in the top five based on their points total, the FedEx cup is awarded to the player with the most points regardless of that person’s finish at East Lake.  As Barak would tell you, “Stop whining.”  And Michelle would follow, “Do something. If you want the trophy, go out and win the damn tournament!”

Why, you might ask, in the middle of the most consequential election in our lifetime, do I share a story about Scottie Scheffler.  True, a lot is at stake.  To be exact, $25 million to the FedEx Cup champion.  But that is small potatoes compared to the future of American democracy.  Last week, I was talking with a friend who congratulated me for calling every major event in the last four weeks of this extraordinary presidential campaign.  He pointed to three things.  My post about Joe Biden’s legacy.  That he would either be known as the person who made a second Trump presidency possible or as the person to position Kamala Harris to be the first female president.

My post about a post-Biden campaign.  If he decided to withdraw from the race, it would be on his terms.  He would pick his successor and there would be no intraparty fight for the nomination.  And finally, my blog about Tim Walz.  We needed someone on the ticket who had succeeded without the benefit of a large inheritance or a Silicon Valley sugar daddy.  Someone who succeeded in life the way most Americans do.  Michelle Obama said it much better last night when she talked about most Americans not having the advantage of generational wealth or an escalator to the top of the mountain.

Then both she and Barak made the political analogy which reminded me of Scheffler, the Patriots and every other favorite who fell short of winning the “inevitable” championship.  In baseball, you can bat 1.000 percent all season, but in the bottom of the ninth with two outs and the winning run on third base, if you strike out, that is all that matters.  It’s not what we do for the next 77 days, although that is important.  It’s what we do in the fourth quarter, ninth inning or on the 18th hole of this election.  We need to have our A-game ready until the polls close on November 5.

After hearing that message from the stage of the United Center last night I realized, for once, Will Rogers may be wrong.  Yesterday, in a phone call with our daughter, she said, “You sound up, Dad.”  In part, that’s because I now feel I am a member of an organized political party.  I am a Democrat.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

“FORE” More Years

Politics, Sports

I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania.  I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information.

~President Joe Biden/July 13, 2024

Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for president, and is certainly not fit to serve – and never was!  He only attained the position of president by lies, fake news, and not leaving his basement…We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly.

~Former President Donald Trump/July 21, 2024

Donald Trump loves to talk about his golf game.  And as anyone who has picked up a club will tell you, golf is a game of honor and respect for others on the course.  This includes fixing divots on the fairway, raking sand traps and repairing ball marks on the green.  Failing to do any of these is more an inconvenience, not a matter of life or death.  There is only one courtesy that approaches the latter.  Yelling “FORE” following an errant shot in the direction of another player or spectator.  I doubt whether Trump has ever used the term, since according to him, he has never endangered the safety of another golfer, having never executed anything but a “perfect” swing.

As America enters the final phase of what must be one of the least predictable contests in the history of presidential contests, the above quotes are one more reminder of the choice voters have on November 5, 2024.  In the face of potential tragedy, one side yells “FORE!!!”  Despite the bucolic nature of the rolling fairways, forests and water features of  August National, Pinehurst, Pebble Beach or St. Andrews, competitors and spectators are often subjected to incoming projectiles.  And on those occasions when one of those dimpled spheres collides with its unintended target, the responsible golfers, regardless of the severity of the strike, inevitably check to see if their “victims” are okay and wish them well.  That is what Biden and every Democratic officials did upon hearing of the events at Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania rally.

Golf news 2024, Xander Schauffele wins British Open Championship ahead of Justin Rose

An equally defining moment in golf comes at the end of a match when competitors, regardless how intensely their rivalry played out, acknowledge their common experience.  Yesterday was a prime example.  Runner-up Justin Rose congratulated Open Champion Xander Schauffele and conceded he had been outplayed on the final nine holes.  Likewise, Schauffele attributed his ability to focus on the task at hand to Rose’s equally good showing.  Not so with Trump.  Despite his professed love of golf, his response to Biden’s announcement again proves he may understand the mechanics of golf but has never mastered the culture of the game.

This fact is documented in sportswriter Rick Reilly’s 2019 book, Commander-in-Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump.  His dislike for Trump has nothing to do with politics, triggered initially by Trump’s many outrageous claims of golfing excellence on Twitter and confirmed by rounds of golf with the former president.  Reilly writes, “I wasn’t offended as a voter. I was offended as a golfer.”  For example, he recalls how Trump races ahead of his playing partners in a “turbo-charged golf cart,” giving him time to improve his position before the others catch up to him.  Balls landing in hazards beam, Star Trek-like, to preferred lies in the middle of the fairway.

Reilly’s primary thesis in his book is to reveal a much larger truth about Trump and others who approach the game in a similar manner.

If you’re going to cheat at golf, you’re going to cheat on your taxes, cheat on your wife and cheat on — what else? Elections? If you’re going to lie about your round, why not lie about how many votes you got, or how big your inauguration size was? Do you realize he lies about the size of his buildings? It’s incredible to me.

It is too bad First Tee, launched by PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem in 1997, did not exist when Donald was growing up.  It would have a been a better alternative to the lessons he learned at New York Military Academy.  For those unfamiliar with First Tee, here is its mission statement.

First Tee is a youth development organization that enables kids to build the strength of character that empowers them through a lifetime of new challenges. By seamlessly integrating the game of golf with a life skills curriculum, we create active learning experiences that build inner strength, self-confidence, and resilience that kids can carry to everything they do. 

What does this have to do with the presidential election, especially in light of Biden’s withdrawal from the contest?  Echoing Richard Nixon’s “last press conference” after losing his 1962 bid for governor of California, the press won’t have Joe Biden to kick around any more.  Which shifts the spotlight back on Trump.  And as he demonstrated in his nomination acceptance speech last Thursday night (and Friday morning), there is no “newly tempered Trump,” chastened by his near encounter with death.  He will return to form, taking errant shots at his opponent, especially if it is Kamala Harris.  Meanwhile, none of his sycophants dare remind him to yell “FORE!”  Instead, they will “let Trump be Trump” for the 105 days between now and the election.  Hopefully voters will recognize only they can yell “FORE,” warning others of Trump’s barrage of incoming misinformation, outright lies and gaslighting.

What is the message?  There is no “new Trump” just as there was no “new Nixon.”  And the question?  Is 15 weeks of the “old Trump” enough to jog voters’ memory how quickly they tired of the chaos, making four more years (or longer) of it an unbearable eternity?

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

Not the First Time

Sports

This is not the first time the MAGA Party (and its predecessor the GOP) tried to overturn women’s rights to equal protection under the law.  And if you wonder why this post is listed under “sports” instead of “politics” or “culture,” that is because the focus of this entry has nothing to do with Roe v. Wade, the Dobbs decision or the draconian efforts by MAGA-dominated legislatures to “punish” women who dare to want control over their own health care.

Today’s topic is Title IX of the Civil Rights Act.  Based on the Fourteenth Amendment principle of equal treatment under the law ratified four years AFTER the Arizona ban on abortion (sorry, I could not miss that opportunity), Congress passed and President Richard Nixon signed the bill which amended the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by adding Title IX which reads:

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

There was just one problem.  At a time when the Supreme Court actually read the text of the Constitution or of laws, the justices rightfully focused on the word “program,”   In 1984, the Court ruled in the case of Grove City College v. Bell that “program” must be taken literally.  In other words, alleged discrimination under the act only applied when someone was denied access to the specific program or activity to which federal funding or subsidies applied.  Therefore, athletic programs, which seldom received federal funding (as was a school lunch program), were not subject to Title IX, even if that was more limited than Congress intended.

To remedy the situation, Senate Edward Kennedy introduced Senate Bill 557, the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987, adding that Title IX and all other parts of the Civil Rights Act applied when federal funds were accepted for programs that were “any part” of an institution’s operations.  For example, Title IX would apply to athletic programs regardless whether federal funds were dedicated to that specific program or activity. The bill passed in the Senate on January 28, 1988 by a vote of 75-14.  Likewise, it passed in the House of Representatives on March 2, 1988 by a vote of 315-98.  On March 16, President Reagan vetoed SB 557, despite a warning from then House Speaker Jim Wright a veto would be “ill advised.”  In his veto message to Congress, Reagan restated the paradox that today still haunts the MAGA party.

The Congress should enact legislation designed to eliminate invidious discrimination and to ensure equality of opportunity for all Americans while preserving their basic freedoms from governmental interference and control. Regrettably, the bill presented to me fails to achieve that objective.

In other words, people are entitled to basic freedoms as long as there are no mechanisms to enforce them.

Fortunately, enough Senate Republicans joined with Democrats to override the veto by a vote of 73-24 despite then Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s warning:

S. 557, the so-called Civil Rights Restoration Act, would take away people’s civil rights to be left alone by the Government, to worship as they see fit, and to pursue their livelihood without having to file forms in triplicate with a giant, impersonal bureaucracy every step of the way. Overall, this bill promises less freedom and more government in every corner of America.

The same day the House followed suit and overrode Reagan’s veto by a vote of 292-133.  Note, however, that in both chambers some Republicans who had voted “yea” for the original bill switched their vote in support of the veto (10 in the Senate and 35 in the House).  Sound familiar?  A precursor of MAGA flip flops on the border security bill.  “I am for it until the head of our party tells us to kill it.”

Believe it or not, I am not sharing this detailed account of a political debate from four decades ago just to prove that MAGA hypocrisy about small government is nothing new.  My real objective is to demonstrate to the growing number of Americans who believe that a party’s policy positions do not matter that they, in fact, matter a lot.

Last week, the ESPN broadcast of the women’s NCAA basketball championship game drew an audience of 18.867 million viewers.  In contrast, the men’s broadcast, which was simulcast on three cable networks, pulled 14.823 million viewers.  But for Title IX and the 1988 amendments, the prospect for women’s basketball to have outpaced its men’s counterpart would be unimaginable.  Likewise, the quality of talent on the LPGA tour would be diminished without the opportunities for young girls to compete in golf during high school and college.  Not to mention the success of the USA women’s soccer team in World Cup and Olympic competition (17 of the 18 members of 2021 Olympic champion USA squad played collegiate soccer).

So, this year, when Donald Trump, MAGA members of Congress or their surrogates talk about government overreach, they may pretend they are protecting your freedom.  When, in fact, they are doing just the opposite, reducing your opportunities and choices.

POSTSCRIPT: @NotMe Era

There was an uncomfortable moment at the end of the South Carolina-Iowa women’s NCAA final that had nothing to do with the score or the officiating.  Once the final outcome was no longer in doubt, both coaches called timeouts to pull their stars off the court to standing ovations.  As they walked down the line of coaches and teammates, there were hugs for every female.  Yet when they came to a male assistant coach, they kept their distance.  I wondered if this was a precaution precipitated by the inappropriate actions of the head of the Spanish soccer federation Luis Rubiales, who kissed a member of his country’s World Cup team on the lips.  If so, it is a sad commentary how the “rules of engagement” have changed in response to unacceptable behavior by celebrities, coaches or a former president of the United States who believe “when you’re famous, you can do whatever you want.”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

In Case You Forgot

Culture, Sports

Every Super Bowl has a back story.  Sometimes, that behind the scenes drama is so compelling, the event is referred to by a nickname.  When brothers Jim and John, head coaches of the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens, respectively, faced off in Super Bowl XLVII (2013) it was tagged “the Harbaugh Bowl.”  And each annual contest between the NFL’s best is memorialized in a single image.  Last night’s game was no exception.

Welcome to the “Nepo Baby Bowl.” For those unfamiliar with the term, it refers to celebrities who are born to famous parents with similar careers.  Among the most famous is Gwyneth Paltrow, daughter of actress Blythe Danner and director/producer Bruce Paltrow.  Or Martin Sheen’s sons, Charlie and Emilio Estevez.  The field during Super Bowl LVIII was littered (pun intended) with nepo babies.

  • Eventual MVP Patrick Mahomes is the offspring of former New York Mets pitcher Pat Mahomes.
  • 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey learned the game from his father Ed, who was an All-American receiver at Stanford University and spent 13 seasons in the NFL including three Super Bowl championships.
  • And of course, there is 49er head coach Kyle Shanahan who is following in his father Mike’s footsteps.  Among the storylines for Sunday’s game was, “Would this be the day when son Kyle joins his dad as head coach of a Super Bowl champion?”

But, as Arlo Guthrie would say, that’s not what I came here to talk about.  Instead, I want to go back to the defining image during last night’s broadcast.  If the game itself was of primary interest, the outcome might be captured by one of three photographs.  For some, it was the moment Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal blocked Jake Moody’s extra point.  Or when a punt inadvertently struck 49er Darrel Luter’s foot which led to a Chiefs touchdown on the next play. Or Mahomes’ three-yard touchdown pass in overtime to relatively unknown Mecole Hardman which sealed the Chiefs’ victory.

Maybe you tuned in for the entertainment provided by a host of performers before the game and culminating in Usher’s halftime performance, a soul and rap montage, reminiscent of an earlier time when Dick Clark would tour the United States with his “Caravan of Stars.”  For the record, I find the halftime extravaganza, regardless who headlines the performance, a great opportunity to start solving the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle.  To the chagrin of 49er fans, once again, the extended mid-game break turned out to be a momentum changer.

Finally, no discussion of Super Bowl LVIII would be complete without a reference to Tay-Tay and Kel-Kel.  For those who bet on the over/under, during the game, Taylor Swift appeared on-screen 12 times for a total of 53 seconds.  But the main event was the couple’s on-field reunion after the trophy ceremony.

Even Joe Biden’s deep state could not have pulled off such a complete American experience, though he trolled the MAGA/QAnon snowflakes with the Tweet, “Just like we drew it up.”  But the moment and image that truly represented the America we so often think is in the rearview mirror occurred before the kickoff.  It was a brief shot of Chief’s defensive tackle Chris Jones during Reba McIntyre’s rendition of The Star Spangled Banner (below).

Jones is no “nepo baby.”  He was born in Houston, Mississippi, the son of a furniture factory worker.  According to his profile on the Chiefs’ website, when Jones was in the fourth grade, his father was jailed for nearly a decade after a DUI arrest.  Despite the odds, Jones proved his football credentials first at Houston High School, then Mississippi State University and as a second-round draft choice of the Kansas City Chiefs.

One can only imagine the pent-up emotions which produced that tear.  Having made his mother and father proud.  Gratitude to those who contributed to his development as a football player and a selfless member of his community.  Remembering the bedroom at his grandmother’s home he shared with 10 other family members while he was in high school.  Or the physical contrast between Allegiant Stadium and his humble surroundings as a child.

At a time when so many Americans question whether the United States is still the land of opportunity, ask Chris Jones.  Recalling his own journey, he would likely echo comedian Yakov Smirnoff’s tag line, “Is this a great country or what?”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP