‘Watching Sports–Watching Society’

—————

Some day watching-reading-reacting to what we are dealing with…in sports-in society.

The 1/6 Committee hearings  have led us to a ‘historic threshold’  as to whether the Department of Justice goes after former President Trump on sedition charges, with the mountain of evidence in testimony that the globe has seen in these hearings.

Asking you to react to what you are following as June turns to July, in sports and society.  Tell me what’s important:
———————————————–
‘Let them in..they’re not here to hurt me’…Trump responding to intel that his rally members had AK15s and a wide variety of firearms at his public rally.

…PADRES-DODGERS-BATTERED BY INJURY PREPARE FOR FOUR GAME SERIES IN FIGHT FOR FIRST PLACE.

‘People are chanting-hang Mike Pence…Mike deserves it’

…PHIL NEVIN HIT WITH 10-GAME SUSPENSION AS PART OF BENCH CLEARING BRAWL.

‘Threw a plate of food at wall when William Barr told him there was no fraud in the election’

..MANNY MACHADO TAKES FULL INFIELD PRACTICE AND FULL BP-WANTS TO RETURN TO PLAY NOW

‘He grabbed steering wheel then put his hand on Secret Service agent’

..FERNANDO TATIS CLEARED TO BEGIN SWINGING BAT OFF A TEE..THEN  10-DAYS HITTING OFF PITCHING MACHINE..THEN REHAB ASSIGNMENT

‘This will be a bad day 1/6..Mark Meadows
‘Are you excited about 1/6..Rudy Giuliani
‘I take the 5th..Michael Flynn
‘People are going to die-blood on your hands..Peter Cippolone

..WALKER BEUHLER-MOOKIE BETTS-BLAKE TREINEN REMAIN OUT WITH INJURIES.

‘I’m fuc**** President-take me to the Capitol

..LA CLIPPERS SIGN HIGH SCORING GUARD JOHN WALL…LAKERS FAIL TO GET KYRIE IRVING DEAL DONE…RUSSELL WESTBROOK OPTS IN TO KEEP HIS (47.7M) CONTRACT WITH LAKERS.

”9 people including Mark Meadows-Rudy Guiliani-asked Trump for pardons’

..ANAHEIM DUCKS HAVE 4-OF-TOP 53 PICKS IN NEXT WEEKS NHL DRAFT

‘Texts surface with insinuations demanding those testifying be loyal to the party-.witness intimidation allegations”

..SERENA WILLIAMS LOSES FIRST ROUND MATCH AT WIMBLEDON..RAFAEL NADAL-COMING OFF FRENCH OPEN WIN-GETS FIRST ROUND WIN TOO.

‘The 1/6 Committee has written Trump’s obituary
‘This is bombshell testimony
‘This us utterly devastating
‘He acted like a mad king
‘He tried to stage a coup

..PHIL MICKELSON TEES OFF IN LIV-PORTLAND OPEN ON THURSDAY AMID PROTESTS FROM GOLF FANS THAT PGA PLAYERS ARE TAKING BLOOD MONEY FROM THE SAUDI SUPER LEAGUE.

‘This is Un-American..This is unpatriotic’.

…WAITING ON SUSPENSIONS OF DESHAUN WATSON AND TREVOR BAUER.

Life goes on.  will our lives ever be the same.
———————

Just asking.
What’s important to you?
What are you following right now?
What do you think about our Country?

Sports-vs-Society..what a couple of weeks we are living with

============================================================
 

‘Deshaun Watson-vs-NFL’

————————-

Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is fighting a war on two fronts.

A year after the sleazy stories of his approach to have sex with massage therapists in Houston, the first lawsuit by a therapist against him, and the Houston Texans as his enabler, has been filed.

In addition, the quarterback, the NFL Players Association and the NFL itself will make proposals infront of the NFL Disciplinary officer on Tuesday,  as to what the penalties against him should be, for incidents with 26-different women.

The Union stance, no suspension, because he has already settled 20 of the suits out of court.

The NFL says it has the right for an indefinite suspension and fine because of the depth of the transgressions, and the fact more women keep surfacing, four io the last two weeks alone, joining the 20-initial complaints.

And on Monday, the first official suit was filed by Victim #1-refusing an out of court settlement.

Watson is getting blitzed off the field, and looks to be going down.

A closer look at what happened on Monday…courtesy of NBC.

—————-

Getty Images
When the news broke last week that Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson had reached settlements in 20 of the 24 civil cases pending against him, many wondered whether attorney Tony Buzbee would proceed with his vow to sue the Texans for their alleged role in enabling Watson’s alleged misconduct. An answer has arrived, in the form of the first lawsuit against the Texans arising from the Watson situation.

“Today we filed the first case of what will likely be many against the Houston Texans related to Deshaun Watson’s behavior,” Buzbee said in a press release. “Suffice it to say, the overwhelming evidence collected indicating that the Houston Texans enabled Watson’s behavior is incredibly damning. We believe the Texans knew or most certainly should have known of Watson’s conduct. Beyond that, we believe the filing speaks for itself.”

The lawsuit, filed by Toi Garner against Houston NFL Holdings, L.P., contends that Watson requested a massage from her in November 2020 via social media, and that he brought with him a nondisclosure agreement provided by the Texans.

“During the massage session, Watson assaulted and harassed Plaintiff by aggressively exposing his naked body to her, purposely touching her with his penis, and ultimately ejaculating onto her,” the petition alleges.

The petition alleges that Watson consistently refused to have massages performed at the team’s facility, and that he refused to utilize the services of the team’s selected massage therapy provider, Genuine Touch. At page 2, the petition alleges that, in June 2020, the owner of Genuine Touch “complained to the Texans that Watson was seeking out unqualified strangers for massages via Instagram,” and that “Watson was putting himself in danger of contracting Covid, or getting himself sued.”

The petition at page three accuses the Texans of turning a “blind eye” to Watson’s behavior, and that the team actually enabled it by providing the NDA, by providing a room at The Houstonian in which Watson underwent massages, and by giving him a massage table to utilize for these sessions.

“Watson was a Houston Texans’ employee; individuals within the Texans organization knew or should have known of Watson’s conduct,” the petition contends. Surprisingly, the petition contends at page four that multiple employees of Genuine Touch were aware that multiple Genuine Touch therapists had sexual relations with Watson during massage sessions.

The Texans never investigated Watson, per the petition. Instead, the Texans gave him a nondisclosure agreement that would protect him against the random massage therapists he was hiring via social media.

The lawsuit seeks to impose liability on the Texans in various ways. It argues that Watson was acting within the scope of his employment when seeking these massages, making the team directly responsible for his behavior. (That is a very aggressive position, since it’s difficult to envision how or why Watson was doing anything other than acting in his own capacity in seeking these massages.) It also argues that the Texans failed to prevent Watson’s ongoing misconduct, once the team knew or should have known that he was engaged in questionable behavior. Finally, it contends that the Texans and Watson engaged in a civil conspiracy that resulted in Watson’s alleged assaults.

The Texans have issued the following statement regarding today’s development: “We are aware of the lawsuit filed against us today. Since March 2021, we have fully supported and complied with law enforcement and the various investigations. We will continue to take the necessary steps to address the allegations against our organization.”

At the risk of reading too much into the statement, it’s a far cry from the NFL’s knee-jerk “without merit” response to any and all allegations against it. Given that Watson already has testified that the NDA came from the Texans, the team may realize that it has a problem. The ultimate defense for the team may reside more in legal arguments (for example, it had no legal duty to protect the individuals Watson allegedly mistreated) than in factual ones.

Regardless, the settlement of 20 cases, with four still remaining, should not be regarded as a sign that the legal cases are ending. For the Texans, they’re just getting started. And, for Watson, he still may find himself testifying at multiple trials of the cases not filed against him but against

‘Spraying Shots to All Fields’

————-

PADRES…Sitting and waiting on this MANNY MACHADO ankle sprain.  He hasn’t run yet, is taking stationary ground balls, limited batting practice, no side to side running, no baserunning, no planting and turning.

FERNANDO TATIS..Waiting too for another CT exam in the slow healing situation with his fractured left wrist.  We are headed to July in what I thought would be a long term rehab.  Once cleared to swing a bat, take BP, and play on the field, we have to see how his wrist reacts to the torque in his swing.  And of course we wonder about this left shoulder separation situation that has flared in recent years.

BLAKE SNELL…What an enigma, what a telent, what a 5-inning pitcher…what a mystery as to why he goes in and out of bad innings.  He found himself the second half of last season with 7-quality starts.  He’s done nothing of that quality since last year and didn’t do much prior in his first year in San Diego.  He’s a far cry from the guy that was (20-4) in Tampa years ago.

SCOREBOARD DOES NOT LIE…The Padres batting average since Machado got hurt (.215)..Runners in scoring position batting average (.207)…Friars are just (19-18) against teams with winning records…Hard to believe Phillies are (40-18) in games at Petco Park.

ROLE PLAYERS…Good seasons so far from Jurickson Profar, free agent pickup Jorga Alfao and just promoted Nomar Mazaro.  Credit Padres scouts taking a look at other teams fringe players and players in other teams farm systems.  Hate to think where the Padres would be without those three.

LINEUPS…Eric Hosmer’s (.200) bsatting average is mystifying considering its length and the fast start he had.  No Wil Myers, a sub .200-Trenth Grisham, and you can understand how they had a (.207) average with runners in soring position since the Machado injury.  And there’s still half a season to play on the summer schedule.

ON THE FARM…Jose Castillo’s rehab after 3-years of injuries is nearly complete.  He’s waiting for the phone to ring to come back to the Padres, with an (0.89-ERA) in AAA this eason.  Waiting and hoping too is Dinelsoh Lamet, who has a (2.08-ERA) in El Paso after a slow start as they converrted hi to a long reliever.

DODGERS…They are in disarray.  No Walker Beuhler for 8-weeks with the bone spur elbow surgery.  No Blake Treinen till August with the shoulder issue.
Now you lose setup reliever Daniel Hudson with a torn knee ligament for the season.  And Andrew Heaney has restrained his left shoulder just one start after coming off the injured list.  Dustin May’s year long recovery from elbow surgery has not gotten to the point he will be ready rejoin this team yet.  Maybe September.

TREVOR BAUER..What a burden this whole investigation and appeal process is creating.  The arbitrator’s decision could come in the next two weeks.  Then the Dodgers decision moves front and center.  Release him?  Use his 32M salary to go find a pitching rental?  Do they dare bring him back considering the roster situation they are in?  It has been exactly 1-calendar year this week since his last start.  What do they do?

ANGELS..19-losses in 23-games heading into the weekend, a threadbare starting rotation, an over worked bullpen, and injuries to Mike Trout, Jarrod Walsh and the season ending surgery to Anthony Rendon.  The failures of #1 picks Jo Adell and Reid Detmers.  Shohei Ohtani has been magnificent, doing things we have ever-ever seen before, but he cannot carry the whole team.  The ugly beanball brawl on Sunday afternoon seemed to unify the team.  A quagmire of problems for interim Manager Phil Nevin.
===========================================

“NBA Draft Recap”

———

The top phrases you hear from NBA people at the draft:

I can’t believe he was there.
He was the guy we wanted all along
Can’t wait to get there and start working out

So the NBA draft is history, with beauty in the eye of the beholder, once we got beyond the top 3-draft picks.

Orlando surprised people by taking Duke F-Paolo Banchero-explosive-active-dynamic scorer, now we see what he does against qualifyt pros.  He might be the second coming of Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee down road

Oklahoma City has a really good night, starting with the tougher than nails 7-center Chet Holmgren of Gonzaga, but they also added a shooter from Santa Clara-Jalen Williams-, and a prospect from France in 6’7-Ousmaine Dieng via a trade.

Houston got a gem in Jabari Smith, the do-everything forward from Auburn, who dropped from the top slot.  They also got a couple of grinders in forwards Tari Eason of LSU and Wendell More of Duke.

Sacramento kept the 4th pick and took Keegan Murray, a superb guard from Iowa.

Detroit, building towards great things, took G-Jaden Ivey of Purdue, a lightning fast guard, and then traded for Memphis F-Jalen Duren-a huge undeveloped athlete..

From then on, it was who you liked, who fit best with what you needed.

Among the other picks I liked:

Indiana, yet to make trades, got Arizona G-Benn Mathurin
Washington got gifted Wisconsin guard Johnny Davis
Cleveland got a shooter in kansas guard Ochai Agbaji
Charlotte picked Duke shot blocker Mark Williams.
Chicago took an underrated guard in Dalen Terry from Arizona
Denver got a tough guy guard in Kansas star Christian Braun.
Memphis got bigger with a rim protector in Walker Kessler of Auburn and then traded for Colorado State F-David Roddy.
Miami may have the steal in the draft in Serbian teenage star Nikola Jokic.
Golden State drafted at the end of the round, and what they got has upside in 6’7-Milwaukee forward Patrick Baldwin.

The Lakers trade a future 2nd to get Orlando’s pick and took young Michigan State G-Matt Christie, who averaged 9-points per game but was not a great outside shooter but a good defender.  Bypassed a bunch of big bodies, but maybe a player that fits the Darvin Ham mold.

Still to come, all the uncertainty about the big name players with opt-out clauses in theri contracts, and the potential of some sign and trade deals.

NBA Draft Notebook”

————

News and Notes Around the NBA-heading into Thursday nights draft:

TRADE RUMORS:
..The Lakers are being mentioned in at least 4-different deals hours before the draft begins.

Connecting the dots, Kyrie Irving may be trying to force a trade from Brooklyn to the Lakers, but at what price?  A Russell Westbrook swap for Irving makes sense for LA, but not if it also includes a future #1 draft pick because the Lakers don’t have picks to deal immediately.  Irving wants a (4Y-190M) contract extension to approve a trade.  But he is 30-years old, with a history of being a big scorer, but a big problem player too.  Why would LA want to inherit all that? Irving, who has had injuries, took time away from the team for personal issues, and is still unvaccinated.  He’s already been moved in trades three times.  Ridding LA of Westbrook solves some problems, but at what price, and does that create future problems?

..The Lakers are being mentioned again about a deal with Houston for unhappy guard John Wall, who sat out last year.  He picked up the Rockets option for (47M) for next year, and the Rockets promised to try and trade him.  A Westbrook for Wall deal makes sense as a salary swap, but LA can’t put future draft picks in that deal.

..The third trade rumor involves Indiana, trying to move guard Melvin Brogdan in what could be a bigger deal.  The rumor  has Westbrook and fellow guard Talen Horton-Tucker and a pick for the Pacers guard and maybe a future draft pick.  The Lakers instead want G-Buddy Hield, whom they failed to get from Sacramento at last year’s trading deadline.  Stay tuned, there might be something here.

..A Wednesday evening rumor also surfaced that could involve a 3-team deal to help with salary cap issues.  It involves Brooklyn and the Charlotte Hornets.  Irving would wind up in Los Angeles, Westbrooke goes to Charlotte.  And Brooklyn would get Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier and a draft pick from the Hornets. .  Not sure what a young Charlotte team would want with an aging self-centered Westbrook.
——–
DRAFT NIGHT:

..Orlando..Oklahoma City…Houston draft 1-2-3.  We know who the top 3-picks will be, but we don’t know what players go where.  After that, look for deals.

..Sacramento wants to trade out of the 4th spot…Portland wants to move the 7th pick…Cleveland is shopping the 14th choice.  Teams with multiple picks later in the opening round might be creating packages to move up to those slots.
————-
DRAFT PICKS:

..Orlando picks 1-32-35
..Oklahoma City chooses 2-12-30-34
..Houston picks 3-17-26
..Sacramento has choices 4-32-49
..Charlotte goes 13-15-45
..San Antonio selects 20-25-38
——————
SCOUTING REPORTS:  Top picks and what they say.

..Jabari Smith-Auburn..Best upside in draft-best blend of skills
..Chet Holmgren-Gonzaga..Will change the game..Can shoot-pass-handle ball
..Paolo Banchero-Duke..Not a franchise guy-rebounding concern
..Johnny Davis-Wisconsin..Ready to play now-will fit everywhere
..Ochai Agbaji-Kansas..Stone cold shooter-question ball handling
..Jaden Ivey-Purdue..Explosive-plays downhill-so athletic
..Walker Kessler-Auburn..Big time rim defender..can shoot 3’s

..Johnny Jurzang-UCLA..Not an NBA player-goes to Europe
..Isaiah Mobley-USC..Can pass-shoot but not athletic enough
..Orlando Robinson-Fresno..Has skill-but slow twitch guy-late pick at best
..David Roddy-Colorado State..Should be NFL player..slow player..where play?

========================================================