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“Who’s Doing the Best Job”

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Here we are, a couple of weeks into the baseball season, the same with the NBA, the opening week of the NHL, and the start of NFL training camps.

And so far, what we have seen has been pretty surprising.

I am not talking about the horrific outbreak with the Miami Marlins baseball team (20) positive tests, or the Cardinals mini outbreak (8) positive tests of players and staff.

I am talking about the extensive job done by baseball in getting the message across in every clubhouse and dugout so far about all the health protocols.

Yes, some 28-games so far have been cancelled because of teams impacted by what the Marlins and Cardinals did.  And yes 7-teams had games postponed.

But MLB has now conducted 32,000 tests since the season started the last week of June, and has had just 16-positive tests from the other 28-teams not impacted by the Marlins and Cardinals.

In the NBA, as games move on in the bubble, the success story of Commissioner Adam Silver is unmatched.  They have done 343-tests in the last two weeks, with no positive tests.  Players have stayed in the hotels, eaten at the hotel restaurants, and have not ventured outside the circle.

The NHL playoffs have begun their their 2-hub cities.  They have conducted (9,060) tests with no positive tests since teams reported to Edmonton and Toronto to start practice, then play games.  Think of how complex the NHL rosters are, players from not just Canada and the US, but from the European countries where the outbreaks were bad.

The NFL training camps have now begun en masse, and since intake testing began last Thursday, only 56 players out of (2,880) tests taken, have tested positive.

And NFL teams, one by one, are creating their own bubbles, renting out empty hotels, to quarantine all the players and the support staff.  Practice, virtual meetings outdoors, eat in controlled environment, stay in the hotels, and no one goes home.  So far-so good.

It proves a controlled environment, with discipline from players, has worked so far.

Look what responsible leadership has delivered to the most important product the game has, the players, and their safety and health.

Meanwhile the White House, and so many governors, seem strangled by politics, unable to issue the “mask up” order, to stem this tidal wave of sickness and death that has spilled across America.

Sports did it.  Why not society?  Ask the soon to be ex-President Trump if this may cost him his election?  Sports mandated changes.  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has not.  One goes on.  The others will likely be gone.

Who’s doing the best job?  You tell me.

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“Padres-vs-Dodgers—A Rivalry?”

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Well that has been interesting, this 3-game series at Petco Park…Dodgers-Padres….fight for first place….chase in a playoff race.

So what are we to make of what we have just seen, as these teams square off against each other 7-times in a 10-game span?

PITCHING….As we sit here right now, the Dodgers big three, Clayton Kershaw..Walker Beuhler..Dustin May is pretty formidable.  Proven superstar, young phenom and up and coming star.  Yes I know David Price is not part of the mix, but I think you would have to agree, the Padres front three are pretty formidable too.  Chris Paddack has arrived as an ace.  Dinelson Lamet has shown fire on the mound.  Garrett Richards looks as if he has recaptured all the things that made him an ace with the Angels. EDGE: Dodgers

What I like is the depth in the Padres bullpen over the question marks that seem to dot the Dodgers relievers.  Yes there is history with Kenley Jansen and Kirby Yates and the last couple of years of success.  But in terms of trustworthy setup men, you’d have to agree the group led by Drew Pomeranz, Craig Stammen, and Matt Strahm seem to be more trustworthy than the up and down brigade of Dylan Floro-Pedro Baez and whomever else Dave Roberts runs out there.
EDGE: Padres

INFIELD….Hosmer-Machdo-Tatis and a utilityman at second base for San Diego.  Turner-Seager-Muncy-Hernandez in LA.  EDGE: San Diego.

OUTFIELD…You start with Mookie Betts alongside Cody Bellinger and add Joc Pederson, that is pretty dangerous.  The Padres are not equal, unless we get vintage seasons from Myers-Pham-Grisham, and what chances are that?  EDGE: Dodgers

CATCHERS…Austin Hedges gives you the edge on defense.  They are a black hole at bat though, a combined 3-hits in 42-plate appearances, from Hedges-Francisco Mejia, heading into the Wednesday game.  Austin Barnes-Will Smith are not the equal with glove or bat.  EDGE: Padres

MANAGERS…Dave Roberts knows how to pull and push buttons.  Jayce Tingler is learning on the job.  Full season experiences, pressurized pennant races, playoff games, and the World Series gives you a volume of information to choose from…EDGE: Dodgers

Six categories…each team won 3-in the ratings.  The starting pitching is almost equal right now.  The only lopsided edge is the Dodgers hitting in that star-studded outfield.

 

By the way, this so-called rivalry has seen the Padres go (57-116) against LA over the last 8-years.

Just ahead, a road trip for the Friars that defines their season, this 9-game haul that takes them to LA-Arizona and Texas.  They need to dominate this stretch to stay within a flyball of first place.

Just ahead for the Dodgers, a chance to pull away, with a 7-game homestand vs the lowly Giants and then again the Padres.

By August 14th, this season could be over for 1-team.  Statement series coming up.  If the Padres are going to be in this thing, they need to show they can do it now.  We know the Dodgers can, for their Septembers and Octobers of recent years have shown us that.

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“NCAA–Where I Was-What I Experienced”

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The Pac 12-Conference is hoping to play a football season, the Virus-Crisis be damned.

But they have another problem brewing, a player insurrection.

Players from each school have signed a declaration, they will opt out of the college football season, unless the Conference office gives them upgrades in benefits to play in 2020.

Part of this has to do with the pathetic NCAA virus testing program, left up to the Universities and the State’s Governors to be the watchdog over the testing protocols.

NCAA President Mark Emmert, who makes 3.5M a year as its leaders, is failing virtually all those college athletes at the 130-Division I football schools, by not creating a mandated nationwide safe-testing program.

But the demands, 17-in all, encompass alot more.  It involves grievances over the nation’s racial inequality.  Safety on college  campuses.  Funding of Olympic sports and secondary programs.

It is a big-picture proposal, but not something easily carried out, not in this day of shutdowns and unemployment.

I was a student athlete, a broken down long distance runner and cross country athlete, who got the chance to get a college scholarship, got hurt, never got healthy, and decided to be a student rather than a student athlete.

My son became a small college All American in wrestling, an investment in time, body, mental capacity and physical talents, all the while flying helicopters and graduating with honors in three years time.

But I understand the hours and the commitment it takes  to work towards a degree and work towards excelling on the field of play.

I might be in the minority reading the 17-item request the Pac 12-players coalition put in front of the league’s ADs and the Conference Commissioner Larry Scott.

Today’s modern day athlete has so much more to work with in terms of resources.

They get a fully paid college scholarship to whatever school they want to major in.  That carries a dollar value of 35-to-50,000 a year based on where you play.

Fully paid room and board, athletic dorms, apartments, and meals available 24-7.

Sports medicine treatment all hours of the day, in-season and out.  No longer take an aspirin and call me in the morning.

It is state-of-the-art medical treatment.  It stretches from therapy, to surgeries, to intensive rehab.  If involves doctors, dentists, GPs, eye specialists, surgeons.  The all star player has access to all star medical treatment.

The training facilities are part of college athletics arms race of building spectacular facilities to help the athletes reach success.

Athletes now get a financial cost-of-living stipend , up to 10,000 per year, just installed a year ago, so athletes have money to spend on campus.

There is both in-and-out of season academic tutoring, to guide, direct and help students grow in the classroom, and succeed to stay eligible.

Available too are counseling sessions with specialists to help with ADD, depression, anger management, family issues, drugs, alcohol and relationships with women.  No one puts a dollar value on what is a phone call away, but it is huge.

The travel for big time programs is top notch.  So are hotel accommodations.  Ditto too is the athletes wardrobes, thanks to the sponsorship equipment deals with Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Under Armour.

The portfolio of requests also involved a bigger financial cut of revenue to be given to the players and their programs.

The beef that a Clemson or Ohio State coach and AD, make way too much money, may be legitimate.

The same for Larry Scott, the Conference Commissioner, and his 5M a year package.

The quarterback, the point guard, the pole vaulter, the striker in soccer, though, do not deserve a financial cut of the TV monies each school gets.

That money goes to fund the 35-sports Ohio State puts on across the campus. It funds everything mandated via Title IX’s federal guidelines to funding women’s sports too.  It funds facility renovation, upkeep, and the myriad support staffs needed to put on Division 1-athletic programs.

In this era of cultural revolt, what happened in the Pac 12 this week seems to be over the line in terms of ‘give me my share-I deserve my share’.

The athletes are taken care of, alot better than in my day.  Can more be done, yes probably in socially and culturally directed programs on campus.  Not more financial support just to play the game.

In a day and age where Universities are staggered by the loss of research money, plunging enrollments, and cuts to faculties nationwide in the economic collapse, for any athlete to demand more is morally wrong.

Go to class, get lined up for a degree, go play the game, and use the university experience as a launching point  for the rest of your life.

To insinuate you are not getting your fair-share right now, seems insulting.

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“NFL-No Fans Allowed”

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If they play games this year in the NFL, the shiny new objects the National Football League has to offer, won’t be open for the fans or the media or the corporate sponsors to experience.

It appears that fans won’t be allowed in the new Rams palace, So-Fi Stadium, which will also host the Chargers as a tenant.

Last week, both teams told fans they are rolling their season tickets over to next year (2021) with no price increase.  That’s some 45,000 fans who bought PSL’s for the Rams, and some 20,000 who were expected to be Chargers season ticket holders.

The last letter from the two teams to their PSL holders was that those fans would have the opportunity to buy ‘single game’ tickets, if those games were to be open to fans.

As of now, in the wake of the explosive death toll and hospitalizations in Los Angeles alone, it does not appear anyone will be allowed to see the Rams nor Chargers in person.

A big blow for the Rams, considering they averaged over 63,000 fans a game last year.  For the Chargers, an empty house won’t mean much considering they did not draw at Carson in that soccer stadium. And 20,000 in the new Rams stadium would look like an embarrassment.  The ‘Fight for LA’ will be delayed another year.

Now the new Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will be empty for the Raiders debut in that city.

The Silver & Black announced no fans at home games this fall, and those 72,000-season tickets will be rolled over to next year.

What they thought would be a new glitzy ‘Black Hole’ has been done in by the ‘Black Plague Corona Virus’.

What a setback for an NFL already under siege.  The Redskins sex scandal; the nickname-logo controversy; the front office housecleaning.  The nightmare that is Antonio Brown.  The Rooney Rule violations.  Opt outs.  Positive Virus tests.

A 5B development in Los Angeles.  The 2.7B Raiders facility in Vegas.  Both will remain padlocked this fall.  Tons of money lost for sure.

Shiny and new-surely would have been.  Won’t be for this season.

The NFL, which tries to control everything under its umbrella, lost this one to an enemy no-one can control.  Not doctors, not Trump, not the all powerful NFL.

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“NFL Camp Notes”

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They take the field today for the first time around the National Football League.

The teams have holes to fill, questions to answer, guys opting out, new faces in new places, and some positive covid tests to deal with..

Around the NFL roadmap we go:

CHARGERS…It is Tyrod Taylor’s team at quarterback until the team doesn’t win.  That’s the way to view what the front office is saying as they begin the crash course with Oregon rookie QB-Justin Herbert, who must take snaps under center and learn about the speed of NFL defenses, all that while not actually playing in a preseason game.  With this defense, you wonder had the Chargers kept Philip Rivers and Melvin Gordon, with Joey Bosa now signed, if they would have won a street fight for the AFC West with the Chiefs.

KANSAS CITY…Losing OG-Laurent Tardif and lead RB-Damien Williams will take away some pieces from Patrick Mahomes offense.  I wonder if they will be a different team though with no fans in the stands at Arrowhead Stadium.  Tardif is the most unique story of all, leaving the NFL to serve on the frontlines of hospital work in Montreal, where last year he got his medical degree from McGill University in Montreal.  Not since Pat Tillman have we seen someone dedicate his life to something else aside from the NFL, fame, and money.

EAGLES..There will be no head coach in meetings, on the sidelines or at camp.  In a stunner, coach Doug Pederson has tested positive for the virus on Sunday night.

VIKINGS..Equally stunning, the head trainer of the team has left.  After putting all the protocols in place for his team, their trainer tested positive for the virus on Friday.

RAIDERS….All is excitement in the Silver City where the Silver & Black will be welcomed with open arms.  Only time will tell how quickly they can get the kid WRs up to speed, led by Henry Ruggs,  with QB-Derek Carr, and how much improvement has been made on what was a very young defense.

BRONCOS…They think Melvin Gordon is the ideal next step to building their offense around the kid QB-Drew Lock.  I think the speed wide receivers joining this team will really be the difference makers.  Keep an eye out for Jerry Jeudy-KJ Hamler.  I want to see who helps Von Miller on defense.

PATRIOTS…What a first day for Bill Belichick.  No more Tom Brady.  Top RB-Sonny Michel and WR-Mo Sanu aren’t practicing on the PUP list with off season surgery.  And 8-Patriots including LT-Marcus Cannon and veterans on defense Dont’a Hightower and Patrick Chung have opted out.  And yes, Cam Newton believes he can compete for the starting QB job.

BUCS…The Tom Brady-Bruce Ariens era begins.  He has big play receivers, really good tight ends.  Does Tampa have enough defense.  We find out over the next four weeks.

JETS..What a mess.  First star S-Jamal Adams insults everyone forcing a trade to Seattle, then the next best defensive player LB-CJ Mosely opts out with the virus.  Poor Sam Darnold, just not alot around the kid QB.

JAGUARS…Not the way you want to start today, finding out your starting QB-Gardner Minshew is going on the Covid IR-list to start a shortened camp.

BEARS…Mitch Trubisky was miserable last year, so they added Nick Foles to come in and compete for the starters job.  Foles can play, but Foles is always hurt.

REDSKINS…It is Dwayne Haskins’ job at QB, but in camp, ready-wanting to practice is the courageous Alex Smith, coming 7-surgeries and that terrible leg infection after he broke his leg in 2018. The turmoil off the field in the front office will be replaced now by all these storylines that new coach Ron Rivera inherits.

SEATTLE…Where will Jadaveon Clowney sign?  No one knows, and not alot of people are willing to give him the kind of money he has been demanding for months.  With him, really good defense.  Without, loss of a big pass rusher.

DETROIT…Tough couple of seasons for Coach Matt Patricia, just got tougher.  His QB-Matthew Stafford is on the Covid list too.

RAMS…Life after Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks is about to begin  for Coach Sean McVay.  Life without some key components on that defense is about to begin also.  Life without Wade Philips defense, gone, as a new coordinator, steps in.

STEELERS…Ben Roethlisberger is healthy and he looks in amazing shape.  Mike Tomlin drives his players.  This QB will be very different, maybe even more explosive.

COLTS…They are excited in Indianapolis.  They should be for Philip Rivers will give them what they have not had since the end of Peyton Manning’s seasons and Andrew Luck’s first couple of years, big strike ability any-time-any place.  Rivers plays behind a quality offensive line.

BALTIMORE…They know what they have, QB-Lamar Jackson and a load of running backs plus a rugged defense.  What they are waiting to see is if this team signs WR-Antonio Brown, who has an 8-game suspension to serve, but looks like he can still play. Stay tuned for that.

ARIZONA…Kid QB-Kyler Murray carried them last year, now they add more around him, including WR-DeAndre Hopkins, an upgraded offensive line.  Team could make big jump this year.

Bring it on, as they head onto the practice field today.  Will be fun to see teams grow, if these teams can stay healthy.

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