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“Credibility–Dodgers Victory–Baseball’s Loss”

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Joy one minute.
Controversy the next.

The World Series champions hope to travel back to LA today, after being put into isolation pending followup Covid tests, following the final win..

This in the aftermath of the Justin Turner positive drug test during the game with Tampa Bay.

There won’t be a parade, nothing in Hollywood, no gathering at Dodgers Stadium, not yet at least.

There won’t be any resolution about the Turner positive trust, what the player did after the game, who approved it, and what the fallout should be, immediately.

Turner was ushered off the bench in the 7th inning, after results of a second test of the day came back positive for Covid symptoms.  He wasn’t ill.  Felt nothing.  Played well.

Turner is facing a major fine, maybe as much as 100,000 because MLB and the Union agreed on sanctions against any player who violated Covid rules.  Turner surely did.

Now there are problems, in that the baseball season was officially over after the final called third strike .  The Union may say the baseball season was over  and MLB had no jurisdiction to sanction the 3rd baseman.

The player stayed in the clubhouse when the game was over.  They urged him not to go back on the field.  He refused to listen and the Dodgers may have allowed him to walk around MLB officials into the dugout, and then on the field.

He wore a mask.  He hugged his wife in the dugout, as well as female Dodgers employees.  He went on the field and hugged pitching ace Clayton Kershaw, though no one else.

He went and sat next to Manager Dave Roberts for a team photo, both pulling their masks down, despite Roberts being a cancer survivor.

Now facing an investigation, teammates are coming to Turner’s defense.  The quotes are strong:

..He earned the right to be there.
..We would not be here without him this year
..He is part of this team and had a right to be there.

Many are saying what Turner did was selfish.  Some believe the Dodgers should have stopped it from happening.

A passionate  player, who reinvented himself with the Dodgers after the Mets-Orioles-Indians never gave him time to develop.

His numbers are impressive.    He used to be a (.260) hitter with no power.  Since he put on the Dodgers Blue, he has a (.292) career mark with 124-homers.

And when it really counted, the postseason, he is hitting (.276) with 12-bombs, at the most important part of the season, the playoffs.

Snapshots for a scrapbook:  Turner’s home run swing.  Turner hugging Kershaw.  Turner sitting with the World Series Trophy with his wife in a private picture moment.

An innocent act of team camaraderie from one of its leaders..

You hope the lasting memory won’t be a Covid outbreak in the aftermath of that Dodgers celebration.

You also hope baseball doesn’t use him as some type of an example, with heavy handed discipline, against a guy who is the epitome of a pro’s pro.

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World Series–Worth Watching”

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I enjoyed it.  The World Series.

The big money Dodgers and the low budget Tampa Bay Rays.

I enjoyed it, but alot of people didn’t, because they did not watch.

Hard to believe, an electric series, all types of big game story lines, ignored by the bulk of baseball fans across the country.

Not sure what they were watching.  Aside from a couple of unbeaten NFL teams out there, there is alot of bad NFL football right now.

Not much in college football, unless you live in the 206-area code (Alabama) or a blood relative of someone wearing Orange (Clemson)

Joe Buck and John Smoltz were smooth in the booth.

Smoltz was spectacular describing the psyche storylines of pitchers and hitters. Intellectual but not overbearing.  Full of informaiton and philosphy, but not reliant on the stats and metrics.

Compare his work to that of Alex Rodriguez, who thinks he gets paid by the volume of words, and you appreciate how really good Smoltz is in the booth.  His second career as good as his credentials as a pitcher for all those years in Atlanta.

A bit surprised at the lack of use of Tom Verducci and Ken Rosenthal more during the broadcast because there were so many other topics that could have been discussed.

The telecast was all about the Dodgers and Ray, the managers, the pitchers, the stars and personalities, but Fox TV chose to ignore storylines of the Commissioner’s press conference, the money issues, Covid, upcoming free agency.  Would have added pretty good content to the pretty exciting games we saw.

What a series for the heroics of Randy Arozarena… the from the heart pitching of Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow…. the great play of Mookie Betts in the field and in the batters box…… Justin Turner’s home run bombs….Clayton Kershaw’s  bounceback post season,…..the sizzling Corey Seager….Walker Beuhler’s dominance….the ice in the veins of Julio Urias……the two out hitting by the Dodgers (.364) and all those runs scored with two out (59) by LA..

It was home runs, catches against the wall, wild base running, gaffes, bullpen days, a guy stealing home, wild throws, runners getting tossed out at home….and guys down to their last strike driving home winning runs in walkoff fashion..

Stunning that the five games played leading into Tuesday night were the lowest rated games ever in World Series TV history….from an opening game 9.1M-viewership to an all time low 7.4M tuned in…it was suprising how much non interest existed nationwide.

The Dodgers ended 32-years of frustration by pulling away from the Rays in Game Six.  It was Betts big double, scoring from thrid on an infield hit, and then the booming insurance home run late in the game.  And 8-shutout innings of relief from a bullpen.

And all this for one of the great gentlemen of the game, Manager Dave Roberts.

A pretty good Fall Classic.  Edge of our seat stuff…lots of pulling of strings in game strategy…heroes you knew…others you didn’t know.

Doddgers win.  Dodgers win.

Great theatre…Great Series.

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“Antonio Brown–What Does It Say About the Man”

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He’s coming back to the NFL after an 8-game suspension.  Another team is willing to take a chance on his talent, despite what his track record says about the person.

The legendary Steelers receiver has played one game, in New England, in a 22-month span.

A career sidetracked by lawsuits, arrests, a rape charge, confrontations with police, public feuds with his agents, lawyers, the Patriots and the Raiders, is about to get started again, this time in Tampa Bay.

History has always shown there is some team, some coach, out there, always willing to take a chance on talent, even if it is toxic.

Brown’s stat sheet in Pittsburgh was spectacular.  Over 800-receptions.  75-touchdowns.  13-yards per catch thru all those great seasons.  but he wore out his welcome with Ben Roethlisberger, then coach Mike Tomlin and the Rooney family ownership.

He was hired for the 2019-season by the Raiders, and promptly became such a distraction that new coach Jon Gruden and incoming GM-Mike Mayock walked away from him, eventhough Oakland desperately needed his veteran game breaking skill.

He attacked ownership, insulted the NFL, challenged the front office.  Enough is enough and he was gone.

From there to New England, where he was told to stay off social media, do what Bill Belichick and Tom Brady wanted.  That lasted 3-weeks of traiining camp, and 1-game, before he went out of control again on twitter.

As the opportunities drifted away in football, his social skill problems erupted of the field.

A lawsuit over vandalism in a condo he rented.  An assault of a moving van driver whom he owned money to.  A confrontation with the mother of his children.  A fierce argument with police in Florida.  And an ugly rape lawsuit filed by a woman who was a home decorator working for him.

The NFL, under seige for players conduct issues off the field, hit Brown with an 8-game suspension in the aftermath of all the issues.  He can return to the NFL in two weeks.

The signing in Tampa Bay is about talent, but also about need.  No nonsense coach Bruce Arians needs help at wide receiver.  His superstar Mike Evans has not stayed healthy.  His second best pass catcher Chris Godwin got hurt in camp and isn’t’ back.  They just lost third reciever Scotty Miller on Sunday.  And star tight end OJ Howard is gone for the year with an Achilles injury.

Tom Brady may have played a role in getting Brown to sign there rather than going to Baltimore or Seattle.

Brown is aging, now 34.  His track record is not good.  He is running out of time to get a big paycheck.  His track record precedes him in any front door he walks into now.

What does all this say about the NFL?  What does it say about the wide receiver?

That there is at least one team that views talent over toxicity.  And that this player, despite all he has done and said, will get another chance.  This chance, likely his last chance.

He has to play well. He has to stay out of trouble.  Do not know if he is a difference maker any longer.  He has to prove he can stay away from becoming another distraction on another team.

Once a star as a player, seems to be a failure as a person.

That’s who Antonio Brown was and is.

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“Wins-Losses-Opinions”

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The DODGERS have an off day on Monday.  This emotional tug-of-war World Series has had alot of roller-coaster ups and downs attached to it.

Mookie Betts spectacular plays, the big at-bats and the big catches by Clay Bellinger, the clutch hitting of Justun Turner, the blazing hot postseason of Corey Seager. The fierce gambles on the basepaths.  The mistakes in the field too.

And then there is Dave Roberts, the manager, and the future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw and the once proud closer Kenley Jansen.  Roberts is being second guessed constantly about his handling-mishandling of his starters, his bullpen and his closers.

The Saturday Night Massacre will er forever tied around neck, stapled to his resume if the Dodgers wind up losing the Fall Classic to the Rays.

You know the drills.  You stayed too long with Kershaw>  How can you trust Jansen?  Why a bullpen day? Are you sure you should use Joe Kelly?  What about Graterol?  Are you overtaxing Treinhen?  And it goes on and on.

The Rays are a team that finds a way to stay in it, so this thing is never over.  Time still for more big plays, exciting innings, and lots of second guessing.

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The AZTECS opener was pretty impressive, as they got better and better as the game went on, that sand-blasting of a troubled UNLV football team.  it was vintage SDSU football.  Pound the football.  And use our defense to pound the other team’s quarterback.

Picking up where they left off last year when they were 2nd in the nation in scoring defense, 5th in total defense.  They held UNLV to (1-15) on third downs.
…5-sacks…14-tackles for losses…a (424-186) edge in offense.

Yes pretty dominant against a woeful doormat of a Rebels team.  And still room to grow with young QB-Carson Baker-who can scramble, has a strong arm, but just needs alot of live fire reps.

I said SDSU would go (7-0) in the conference.  Think they will with their tough as cement defense and the truckload of running backs they can use all night.

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The CHARGERS have to be viewed two different ways.  The quarterback Justin Herbert was dazzling on Sunday, a (347Y) passing day with (68Y) to boot scrambling.  Five starts into his career, so gifted.

The Bolts are wafer thin at wide receiver; have offensive line health issues, and seem deficient in the run game category. The defense is so banged up and so-iffy.  I can’t trust them.

The record is (2-4) on the season with a long way to go.  But understand this, the two teams they beat were the rookie laden Cincinnati Bengals and the grossly undermanned Jacksonville Jaguars.  They could have lost to the Bengals and struggled to put away the Jaguars.  And they gave up lots of yards in their other 3-losses to the Chiefs-Bucs and Saints.

The only thing certain is Herbert is a star in the making.  The rest of the season will tell whether they can be a .500-team or just another sub .500-non playoff squad.

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“Here There Everywhere”

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WORLD SERIES….Just wondering if MLB made a serious mistake trying to jam so many playoff games into the calendar without any off days.  I think they wrecked pitching staffs with 3-games in 3-days…5-in-5…and then 7-in-7 leading up to the Fall Classic. Look what happened to the Padres, Braves and nearly the Dodgers, having to create so many bullpen days, at the most important time of the season, the post-season because there were no off days.

PADRES…Poor decisions by Luis Campusano, busted on felony drug possession and distribution charges in Georgia last weekend.  Hot prospect, about to make the big team, which means big money contract, and he wants to do weed with friends.  As stupid as Tommy Pham getting stabbed outside a strip bar right after the San Diego season ends.

NFL…Nice crisis the Raiders created for the league.  This latest Covid outbreak after the starting offensive line broke protocols multiple times.  Not wearing masks in the facility.  Tossing away their tracing mechanism.  Going to a gathering with no masks or social distancing.  This on a ream already fined three times by the league office.

RICH AND FAMOUS….The Covid outbreak at Alabama, with Nick Saban, shows the difference between the rich and poor in college football.  Saban gets a positive test and leaves the team.  They do a followup test, but because it would take too much time to get another result, they borrow a lear jet from a booster, fly the test to Mobile to a clinic, get a result, and then let Saban coach without sitting out the quarantine days.

AZTECS…A season opener in what could be an undefeated season with the return of Brady Hoke as head coach.  Talent loaded roster.  Better crop of athletes.  Downgraded schedule.  Rocky Long went (81-38).  Hoke should win this year with Long’s recruits.  Too bad the home games are in Carson, and no fans….Projecting (7-0) conference record and likely ranking inside top 25.

HOLIDAY BOWL….Such a special event, so sad to see it cancelled for one year, but the Bowl could not operate without fans in the stands, and that source of revenue.  The payout to the Pac 12-ACC teams, plus the cost of operation of putting on the game would have dwarfed the rights fee they would have gotten from Fox TV.  The Bowl could not afford to go 7M in debt to put the game on.

NBA…So Tyronn Lue takes over as Clippers head coach, amid allegations players stopped listening to Coach Doc Rivers, as the team fell apart one inside the bubble in Orlando.  Insinuations that Rivers let Kawhi Leonard show up late for practice and meetings.  Lue will have to work hard not to have players walk all over him next year, after these same players cost this team a chance to go to the NBA finals.

COLLEGE HOOPS…Hold your breath with San Diego State getting medical clearance to put 6’10-Nathan Mensah back on the floor after missing last year with a blood clot issue.  Medications, including blood thinners, have helped him heal.  Now the goal, not to have any type of relapse.

UCSD…Waiting to see how this move to Division 1-works out for the Tritons, as they embark on play in the Big West Conference.  But they have yet to be given permission for full practices, and don’t have a non-conference schedule yet.  The season is supposed to start November 25th.

HOCKEY HOT LINE…The Gulls, the very successful AHL-affiliate of the Anaheim Ducks are hoping to get back on the ice in December, when the league starts.  But now the AHL says because of the renewed virus outbreaks nationwide, they may not start up in December, and might have to postpone their winter launch.  The NHL says it wants to go in January.  Real fear, no minor league hockey at all, anywhere.  Baseball cancelled its minor league seasons.

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