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“Baseball Union–Shut Up”

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With apologies to a guy I really like, MLB Players Association Chief Tony Clark, ‘shut up’.

In the midst of 91,000 deaths, 33M people unemployed, and a historic pandemic that has paralyzed society, he wants to argue about the ‘Return to Play’ proposal put forth by the Owners and Commissioner Rob Manfred.

‘Shut Up’.

He represents players, who now make an average of 4M per player, from the superstars like Strasburg, Machado, Harper and their 30M a year or so contracts, to the 25th man on the roster.  Clark and the union lawyers want the players to get their contracts regardless of what is happening out in the streets of America.

‘Shut Up’.

When the league shutdown in the middle of the Cactus League and Grapefruit Circuit, the owners decided to help the players immediately.

They granted the players 1.7M immediately, 286,000 per man for March-April pay periods.  The 5-neighbors on my cul-de-sac wish they could have that 286,000 each after losing their jobs.

‘Shut up’

They granted every major leaguer 1-year full service time towards free agency, whether the season was cancelled completely or only a partial schedule was played.  It means Mookie Betts becomes a free agent no matter what next season, and every aspiring star has a year in the books towards arbitration and free agency.

‘Shut up’

They kept every player and their family covered under the major league health plan, as most owners also paid non baseball employees their salaries over 5-pay periods.

‘Shut up’

They are proposing 30-man active rosters, and a 20-man taxi squad, all paid at the major league levels, which means alot more money for all those extra players in clubhouses, if the game restarts

‘Shut up’

And now the war of words from Clark and the Union saying we agreed to take pro-rated contracts for the 80-games cancelled, but did not agree to a further pay cut if there were no fans in the stands.

That’s not what the MLB email to the Union said after the meeting, that if there were no fans, players had to understand their might be more contract givebacks.  And a union lawyer said he ‘understood’ the meaning of the email.  Yes the players lost 80-games of salary, but the owners lost 80-games of revenue too.

‘Shut up’

So as baseball owners try to relaunch this Black Plague of a season, we have Tony Clark acting like Donald Fehr, the past militant union boss, as if players deserve everything, and should not have to give back anything.

The good of the game is at stake.  It’s the emotional life saver to the fans around the nation and that is important too.  The Union, for all the good it does, is acting very badly at this point.

Solve it, take the pay cut for 3-months, rally the sport and the country and go back to the original CBA next season, and be rich again.  If not:

‘Shut up’.

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“NFL–Rooney Rule–Makes Progress”

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Congrats to NFL ownership.
They did the right thing, not ripping up the paperwork, but adding to it.

The Rooney Rule, which guided teams for 17-years, to help minorities get opportunities, will have alot more pages added to it.

Under seige for failing to hire blacks for key NFL positions, the league overhauled its meaning and intent, with specific ‘black and white’ declarations.

Owners decided to ‘table any idea’ of using draft picks to bribe teams to hire blacks for key jobs, after Tony Dungy’s impassioned speech “we should not pay people to do the right thing”.

Instead the league owners said they would look at a way of rewarding teams who developed minorities, who went on to key jobs with other teams as they climbed the ladder, maybe with bonus draft picks.  But they don’t have to deal with that now.

But the 2020-Rooney Rule will look different for sure:

..Teams must interview a minority candidate for every key executive job in the front office, from CEO-President to 10-different categories of Senior Executives.  All on the non-football but business side…including Financing-Human Resources-Health systems-Communications-Public Relations and more.

..Teams cannot block any assistant coach, regardless of their color, for interviewing for front office or coaching jobs with another team, as long as it means a job promotion, even if that employee has a contract.

..Teams must interview 2-minorities from the outside for vacant head coaching jobs.

..Teams must interview 1-minority for every open coordinators job or QB job that is available.

..Teams must interview 1-minority for every football related front office job that opens, from the General Manager’s job, to Assistant GM, to Capologist, Director of FB Operations..Head of Scouting..Player Personnel etc.

..Teams must expand their Fellowship jobs program to include multiple hires of jobs with responsibility.

It is progress, because it demands teams look outside their organizations.  It may mean the NFL raiding college campuses for young aspiring head coaches who want to move into the NFL.

We have come thru a tough cycle.  Of the last 12-black head coaches who were hired, and then fired, only two had winning records, Marvin Lewis-Bengals and Jim Caldwell-Colts-Lions, and they were let go after their teams fell into disrepair.

The composite record of the 10-other blacks fired was a staggering
(177-346-1).  Some were saddled with historically bad organizations, some just failed miserably in the leadership category.

The NFL has gone from ‘no system’, to a ‘bad system’, to a ‘broken system’.  It appears to have been fixed.

But it won’t be a solution until the NFL expands the pool of quality applicants.  Just re-interviewing veterans coaches bypassed multiple times before, does not improve the situation.

Alot of new pages in the Rooney Rule-Book.  We see if things change in the next couple of NFL hiring cycles.

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“NFL Coaching–Who You Hire-Why Hire You Them?”

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NFL owners meet today via Video Conference to discuss radical changes to how the NFL does its business.

No, it’s not instant replay, it’s not, pass interference rules,  or a change in free agency.

It’s about who they hire for job, or more so, how they hire for who they hire for the important jobs in the teams front office and on the sidelines.

The Rooney Rule, a protocol for interviewing minorities, will be radically upgraded.

Roger Goodell and the NFL are proposing an increase in minority applicants to be interviewed, for every top level job in the NFL.

They want interviews for minorities and women for President and CEO of NFL teams.

They want minorities now interviewed for each GM job opening…something never done before.

They are expanding the interview pool.  Now for every head coaching opening, there must be two minorities interviewed.

For the first time ever, teams must interview a minority when hiring any of the 3-coordinator positions on a team, and for hiring a QB-coach also.

But the NFL is taking all this a step further, by adding bonus draft picks for teams that hire an African American for any of those key positions.  Teams can get 3rd-4th-or 5th round compensation picks, or can move up in the 3rd round of the draft.

It seems a shame bribery has to be part of the hiring practice.

The Rooney Rule went into effect in 2003, and is has opened the door for candidates to have the right to tell the owners about themselves.

But as times changed, it was feared that blacks became token interviews, and that owners were going to hire whom they wanted, whom they knew, whom they felt comfortable with.

Red Flags went up and alarms were sounded over the last two years, when just one African American was hired for the 13-NFL head openings over the 2019-2020 off seasons.

The scoreboard shows there are just four minority head coaches now in the NFL.  Just 2-black General Managers.  Just 2-minority Offensive Coordinators.  Just 2-black Quarterback coaches.

Is this a bad trend happening, or has the supply of veteran candidates been depleted.  In the 16-years since legendary Steelers owner Dan Rooney implored the league to mandate interviews for minorities, 14-black head coaches have been hired since the Rooney Rule began.

The greatest modern day black head coaches were Tony Dungy of the Colts and Buccaneers, who was (139-68).  He pioneered minority hirings on his staff and his coaching tree spread far and wide with staff members getting head coaching jobs.

The late Dennis Green was (119-94) in tours of duty with Minnesota and Arizona, and he too made sure the doors were open on his staffs for blacks.

Beyond that, the progressive Al Davis had Art Shell (56-52) and backing the day Tom Flores, but that was decades ago..

Marvin Lewis had a long run in Cincinnati (112-92-2).

Mike Tomlin (111-63) is pre-eminent in his field in Pittsburgh.  Ron Rivera has gone from Carolina to Washington.  Brian Flores is in the early stage of his career in Miami.  Anthony Lynn has had success and failure with the Chargers.

Many think the next in line will be Eric Bieniemy of the Chiefs and Byron Leftwich of the Buccaneers.  But there is little after that.

But things change.  Since 2016, in a 4-year cycle, there have been 23-NFL head coaching changes, but few quality hires.  What’s happened, why it’s happened.

Some say owners will hire those they know, likely white.  Some hire those they are comfortable with, likely white again.

But maybe there is another reason.

So many were hired, and failed badly.  Are owners supposed to keep head coaches with losing records, just because of the color of their skin?  I think not.

Look at those given a chance, that did not work out.

..Marvin Lewis-Bengals…(0-7) in playoffs.
..Steve Wilks-Arizona..(3-13)
..Hue Jackson-Browns.. (3-36-1)
..Vance Jackson-Broncos.. (11-21)
..Todd Bowles-Jets.. (14-34)
..Jim Caldwell-Lions…no playoff wins..(26-63) Wake Forest
..Lovie Smith-Tampa Bay.. (8-24) at end of his run
..Mike Singletary-49ers.. (18-22)
..Romeo Crennell… (28-55)
..Raheem Morris-Tampa Bay… (17-31)
..Leslie Frazier-Miam… (21-31)
..Herman Edwards-Chiefs-Jets..(54-74)

They met the same fate as other guys, Mike McCoy, Dave Wannstedt, Bill Callahan, Jeff Fisher.  You don’t win, you are gone.
What is the difference then between white-and-black.  It’s all wins and losses.

They were all hot coordinators, but that does not necessarily mean they would be good head coaches.  Oddly enough 70-percent of the coordinators hired for openings in the last 3-years are minorities, so the next wave may be in the pipeline.

Anthony Lynn, the Chargers coach said this weekend…’Sometimes trying to do the right thing-you do the wrong thing’.  He is not in favor of draft pick compensation, just like he’s not in favor of quotas on staffs either.  Best man, right man, man I feel comfortable with, man I know something about.

Tony Dungy has expressed concern a move like this would create an uncomfortable situation for assistant coaches, and says it could create unintended consequences.

Much has been made about what the owners have allowed to happen, and what they will evaluate on Tuesday in their spring meeting.

Instead of bribing teams into hiring blacks, a more forceful set of rules should be in place.

I want black and white rules.  Teams must interview Blacks for every position coaching job on a staff when that job opens.  The only way to  find out about minority coaches is if you get to know them thru the interview process.

I like two black candidate interviews for head coaching jobs; mandates to interview a minority for each of the 3-coordinator positions and the QB-coaching job.

I take it a step further.  Each team must hire a minority to be a key coordinator’s assistant. More than just a fellowship job, but a key growth position.  Not just guys from the NFL, but former players, and top minorities from the college ranks, which opens the pool more.

Tell me a minority wouldn’t gain great value from seasons under Josh McDaniels or Bill Belicheck, Sean McVay or Andy Reid?.

So what if it costs an owner 3-more payroll slots for entry-level positions of responsibility.  The head coach grooms the assistant coordinators and those names become someone’s hot candidates a couple of years from now.

You cannot tell Dean Spanos, Robert Kraft, Jerry Jones, Stan Kroenke whom to hire.  But you can show him a bigger list of viable candidates they will have to consider the next time they have a job.

And the Fritz Pollard Alliance should import Dungy to oversee the growth of minority applicants.  He’s done so much good in the NFL, for a defensive back, turned assistant coach, turned head coach, turned Super Bowl winner, turned TV star.

What better man to head this next step in the well meaning Rooney Rule?

The Rooney Rule didn’t fail.  It just went thru a rush hiring of coaches who did not work out.

Next time maybe they get it right with a bigger list to choose from.

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“Sports Weekend–What I Saw–What I Think”

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NFL…The reaction to radical changes in the Rooney Rule, the hiring of minorities for head coaching and GM jobs, has come from every direction.  Some positive, some negative, alot of it unknown.  The NFL owners meet via Video Conference on Tuesday to consider a plan to give an award of draft pick compensation if teams hire black head coach, black GMs, black coordinators or QB-coaches.  Could involve 3rd-4th-5th round draft picks.  It seems shameful of ‘buying blacks jobs’ in key positions.  The Rooney Rule needs to be expanded but bribing teams with upgrades in draft picks is not the right way.  Improve the interview process, and they are discussing that.  Mandate teams not only interview multiple black candidates for each key positions, but do something else.  Have NFL teams hire a minority intern to be a key assistant coordinator.  Have those teams interview hot candidates, former coaches, former players, hot college coaches, and put them on staff to gain experience.  Those guys become part of the candidates pool to learn and earn their spurs to see if they can be the next head coaching candidate in years to come.  Bribing teams with picks to hire minorities is not the right way to go.

NFL TROUBLE…The armed robbery charges against Giants former 1st round pick Deandre Baker and Seahawks friend Quinton Dunbar are very troubling.  Armed robbery, threats to shoot people, are much deeper and worse than a DUI or a bar fight or marijuana.  Both should be made examples of…and taken out of the game, lawyers and players unions be damned.

SDSU…Why there is an agenda within the ranks of the City Government is beyond me, and thus asking why this rancor that continues over the 86M purchase of stadium land by San Diego State for the beginning process of constructing a new football stadium.  I have been here for 30-years, and progress on all things to improve San Diego seem non-existent.  The struggles to build, expand the Convention Center, the legal war to build Petco Park, the impossible scenario to build an NFL Stadium, and now this, when the money is in place and all protocols signed off, and yet City Council wants more answers to new questions they keep creating.  If this situation fails, the stain on Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s legacy will be terrible.  The loss of the Chargers still looms out there, and now this.

AZTECS THREAT…AD John David Wicker’s threat to take his football team to play somewhere else after 2020 seems hollow.  Unless he is opening talks to move SDSU games to Petco Park, and the Padres don’t think the calendar fits, where else is he going to play.  I don’t know if Wicker thinks he has a magic bullet in his gun to make City Council agree to terms of the sale of the stadium, but this bullet seems to be a blank, unless the Padres, in need of all revenue streams, will change their mind and take SDSU money for rental of Petco Park.

TESTING-TESTING…MLB-NBA-NFL buying test kits to open up their seasons.  Huge amounts of tests on every player, every staff member.  But huge pressure points on stressed out labs to get the results back for each player.  All this while the death toll pushes to 90,000 in our country.  How to balance priorities, what’s important for society.  As the lead infectious doctor in Canada said, we have 500-women facing breast cancer surgery in Toronto who need tests.  And I am supposed to give those kits to the Blues Jays-Maple Leafs so they can go play games?

PADRES PAYROLL…The amount of money being lost by the pandemic shutdown of baseball is incredible.  And now, not only facing just a half season of games, no fans in the stands, adds even more financial trauma on the club ownership.  Layoffs and furloughs began at Petco Park on Friday.  Give credit though, ownership met 5-payrolls for all employees since the shutdown, and will keep those laid off on health plans till December 31st.  When you read the Padres could lose 172M-in gate revenue this season alone with no fans at Petco Park, on top of all their other financial losses, it is staggering.

BASEBALL JUST ASKING…No problem with Bryce Harper and Blake Snell and others sounding off about taking more paycuts to go back and play in a shortened season.  But don’t use the risk-reward issue.  To read Harper and Snell’s comments, they’d return to play in whatever risk exists if they got their full 30M salaries, but not at half price, or even a further reduction?  Seems a lame explanation for want of a full payday.

A ROD-A FRAUD…So Alex Rodriguez, ever the money grabber in baseball, who was always out for himself and his next contract, now wants players to take a further paycut.  This from a guy who made (441M) in salaries.  Read between the lines.  A-Rod wants to become an MLB owner like Derek Jeter, and thinks siding with the owners will help him enter that circle.

NBA…A real free for all now.  Owners want their money, players want their money, and the talks to restart keep changing.  Now the union says let’s finish the full 82-game schedule, even in a bubble, and then go do the playoff thing.  So what if it goes till Labor Day.  Everybody gets paid.  The association is even looking a pushing the start of next season back till December, to get this season in.

HOCKEY…A different approach.  Find a way to have a 24-team playoff with mini-series and get to the Stanley Cup.  Shorter series, best of three-best of five, get those games in and get your TV money.  The key making sure next season starts on time in October.

NASCAR….I thought it would be a disaster, but the Darlington 400 got green flagged and ran well in the first race back.  Amazing work by team engineers to get cars set up to race on a very tough track, with no practice time, no qualifying.  Strange no fans in the stands, but the drivers-cars were the key storylines.  Tough day for Jimmy Johnson crashing out while in the lead.  Amazing day to see Ryan Newman driving, 3-months after his horrific crash at Daytona at the finish line.

GOLF IS GOOD-TELECAST NOT SO MUCH…The concept was great..NBC bringing back the Taylor Made-Skins game..but the execution wasn’t.  Live pics exceptional idea in an exhibition.  Camera shots, production was good.  Too many analysts.  There was only 1-group playing not a typical Sunday on the PGA tour.  Too much Bill Murray.  Did we really need Donald Trump?  It was trial and error, just like the NFL draft.  Maybe they get better next time.  Next time is Phil Mickelson-Tiger Woods Champions for Charity tourney a week from now.

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“Chargers Win–Chargers Win–Finally Something in Los Angeles”

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They came up with the phrase, “Fight for LA”, the battle with the Rams for football fans in Los Angeles over the last three years.

And while the Rams were winning and going to the Super Bowl, the Chargers were meandering around the AFC-West, winning some, losing some.

And while the Rams were drawing massive crowds of 60-to-72,000 for home games at the LA Coliseum, the Chargers were playing 16-road games a year, including 8-road games at home, where their tiny soccer stadium was overrun by fans wearing the other teams colors.  Not alot of friendly fans when 27,000 or so showed up.

One day the color of the day at Chargers games at home might be red (Chiefs), or orange (Broncos), or definitely black (Raiders) and surely Black & Gold (Steelers).

The offseason has seen the Bolts say goodbye to Philip Rivers and Melvin Gordon.  The Rams bid farewell to Todd Gurley, Brandin Cooks and alot of people from the defense.

A new year awaits, we think, but the Chargers have finally scored a victory in LA.

The uniform war.

Oh the Bolts will still not surpass the Lakers popularity, the Dodgers history, what the Clippers have become, nor USC-UCLA, maybe not even the Kings.

But in head to head competition with the Rams, when it came time to release the new uniforms, as they move into the new So-Fi Stadium in the Fall, the Chargers got rave reviews, the Rams got booed.

Weeks ago, the Bolts unveiled their Powder Blue and Gold jerseys and pants.  They added the clean ‘All Whites’ and introduced the the Blue Rush outfits.  All this wrapped around the heritage Lightning Bolt on the helmet.

This week the Rams unveiled their re-designed uniforms.  A newly designed Rams horn on a Blue helmet.  Rams Royal-blue jerseys with gold pants, and Rams striping on the shoulder and pants.  A weir combination of off white jerseys and pants, and their version of Royal rush.

The reviews from what few Chargers fans have been positive….86-percent taking part in an NBC poll loved the new Powder Blues.  The same survey showed 75-percent of Rams fans, who participated, turned thumbs down on the new look horns and designs of the uniforms.

Of course, when asked to vote in the 1-day survey, only (8,765) Chargers fans cast votes.  The Rams had (29,279) participate.

While Rams fans screamed they wanted the historic jerseys of yesteryear back with that team, the preponderance of those who commented on the Chargers jerseys…they said it screamed ‘San Diego Chargers’.

So the more things might change, they still really remain the same.  The Rams are LA’s iconic team…the Chargers are on the periphery.

But for one day, the Chargers did better than the Rams in LA.
The Bolts?  They will look good.  How good they play remains to be seen.  The Rams?  They are good, but they might dress badly.  Whether the perception of fans in Los Angeles remains ever changes will be the debate.

Back to normal, and the great discussion will continue.  Will anyone ever care about the Chargers in Los Angeles?

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