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“Hottest Day of the Year-Ice Cool Time in Hockey”

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It’s the first day in the life of the NHL’s newest expansion team, the Las Vegas Golden Knights…and it will likely be hotter than hell in the Nevada desert as they put together the team that will play on the new ice at the T-Mobile Center.

118-degrees in Las Vegas, but that’s not hot if you consider 120 in Palm Springs and fears of 121 in Phoenix.

This will be the 12th time the NHL has expanded, remembering they began life as the ‘Original Six’.

They shocked the world in 1967 by adding 6-expansion teams, the birth of the LA Kings, Minnesota North Stars, the Flyers-Penguins and more. Owner Jack Kent Cooke arrived in LA and hockey boomed in its home state Minnesota.

In 1970-hockey hotbeds Vancouver and Buffalo came on board, that brought us the French Connection to the Niagra Frontier.

In 1972, the New York Islanders and the Atlanta Flames joined, an Atlanta team that later would gives us Olympic goalie Jim Craig.

The 1974 expansion was a disgrace, with a woeful Washington Capitals team that would go (8-67-5) and a Kansas City Scouts team that would go bankrupt.

In 1979, the holy war with the rival World Hockey Association ended, and Edmonton-Winnipeg-Quebec and Hartford paid a steep price to get in, and were allowed to protect just 4-players. The Oilers would become dominant in the Great Gretzky era. Quebec and Hartford wound up moving, and sadly so did Winnipeg.

What followed were trips to the Sun Belt. Here came the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning in 1991-92-93.

Hockey Tonk Nashville arrived in 1998, and we know where they were just weeks ago in the Stanley Cup finals.

The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild were part of the last go-round in 2000.

Hockey history will tell us legendary Red Wings Goalie Terry Sawchuck was the first pick of the LA Kings, headed to the last years of his career.

The Mighty Ducks top pick was goalie Guy Hebert, who was credible for years in the net at the Pond.

Oh there were bad teams. Washington went (1-39) in its first year, and their captain, defenseman Yvon Labre had all time worst (-60) plus minus rating for the year.

Winnipeg, in the post Bobby Hull-WHA era, won just 9-games its maiden season, that included a 30-game winless streak.

Ottawa, an early 1900s hockey success and cup winner, suffered thru a 10-win season that first year back in the Dominion’s capital.

The Kansas City Scouts went bankrupt and became the New Jersey Devils.

The history of the NHL has also been about money grabs. Make these teams pay lots of money to get in, then give them scraps for their roster.

Anybody remember the Flyers getting Bernie Parent, who would be the foundation of the great teams there? Picks like that were few and far between. .

They’ve forgotten the top pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets was goalie Rick Tabaracchi, here today-gone tomorrow.

But tonight at 5pm, the NHL will unveil the roster of the expansion Las Vegas Golden Knights.

They really changed the rules for the dudes in the desert. They gave them a 72-hour advance window to sign the myriad of free agents, who hit the open market next week.

They allowed NHL teams a limited number of protected players, 8-skaters and a goalie, or a 7-3-1 combo. Thus the arrival of Penguins goalie Marc Andre Fleury.

They’ve given the Golden Knights the freedom to work out pre-draft trades, with reports GM-George McPhee has made at least 8-deals so far, bypassing some players in the pool, to take on future picks and additional players.

Vegas was allowed to go into Europe and sign free agents early, and the same with NCAA free agents.

They sold 14,000-season tickets. They will play in a shiny new arena and be the only team in town for at least 3-years till the Raiders get there with the NFL brand.

So today will be different than the last two decades of NHL-expansion. The oldtimers will tell you about the amazing arrival of the 6-expansion teams in the 1960s, and how good some of them became. NHL people think this franchise will be good quicker than later. You hope so for a 500M-expansion fee. .

This should top that, though it is a surprise, hockey in the Silver State. But then look again what happened in Orange County (Ducks), in Dixie (Predators) and other places.

Sure the NHL should be in Quebec City. Maybe they mishandled the entire Hamilton, Ontario situation because of territorial issues and old time politics.. They next, will be casting a glance towards Seattle too, a vibrant hockey history market.

But today, it’s about the coolest thing in sports, NHL in Las Vegas, on ice, on the hottest days of the year.

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to me
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“Tough Times Where There Were Once Good Times”

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The sports landscape has drastically changed in the last five years.

Viewership, fan turnout, corporate support is waning.

While MLB, the NFL, the NBA, the NHL and March Madness are flush with money thanks to their lucrative television deals, there is trouble brewing just ahead for one sport, and terrible fallout other places.

Remember the era of the Big 3-Networks, ABC-CBS-NBC? Then came ESPN and its explosive growth across lots of platforms. Then Fox became a big time player.

And then we splintered off to the NBC Sports Network and the CBS Sports Network. Here came FS 1. And then the regional sports channels.

College conferences dove head first into the water, investing tons of money for the Big 10-channel, the SEC, ACC, and to a lesser degree the PAC 12 and Big 12-networks.

Lots of money being thrown around, to put lots of sporting events on the air.

Now the contracts are coming up and the dollars are likely to go down.

There are only so many TV viewers in households. Whereas before the networks could split those viewers into a 5-way pie, ABC-CBS-NBC-ESPN-Fox.

Now we have the same number of viewers, with tons of options to go watch games. Viewership on specific channels are down. That means advertising rates will likely drop, and that means revenue streams will fall off.

The golden goose that was college athletics may not pay out as much in future deals. And that’s a big problem.

School loaded with TV money in these first deals, went on spending-building sprees for facilities. Ditto for the arms race to pay coaches. Everyone’s salary is up. Tell me, with the next wave of TV contracts, with likely less revenue coming in, how will Universities pay off the bills on these new facilities and the continued salaries of its staffs?

And it does not stop there.

NASCAR’s fan turnout and TV ratings are in a couple of year plunge. No one can explain why it is no long the sports that people flocked to just decade ago.

Indy car racing has dropped off the radar completely. Aside from the Indy 500, fan turnout and television viewership is pitiful.

Seen or heard anything lately about the NHRA?, the dragsters? Formula 1-has never established a foothold here to match what it is in Europe.

Pro soccer here has never arrived as a TV sport nor a revenue stream equal to what the ‘Men in Blazers’ show and the English Premeir League deliver there.

Aside from the tennis grand slam events, no one watches, no one cares.

And now Pro Golf might be headed there. Aside from the Masters and the British Open, what happens when there is no more Tiger-Phil competition? Is there a superstar out there to capture the fancy of the fans like Arnie-and-Jack?

And once upon a time the LPGA had stars, personalities and was a big event. Not anymore. It’s lost a ton of title sponsors, is hardly ever on TV, and its stars are foreigners, who don’t speak the language. How do you market that?

The Olympics hold great historial lure, but because of time zone differences, do not generate the ratings they used to, despite being spread across lots of platforms.

It is indeed a different time in sports for sure.

Tough Times coming where there were once good times.

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1-Man’s Opinion on Sports-Monday “Monday Memo”

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“Monday Memo”

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Golf’s Great Day…..all the big names were gone come cut day in the US Open. What was left behind were a list of no names. No longer. What a performance by West Virginian Brooks Koepka, by way of Florida State. He ripped 3-straight birdies at 14-15-16…and hit 7-straight pressure putts in a row to run away from the field. No Phil-Tiger-McIlroy-Day-Dustin Johnson. Beat back the challengers, and beat a very long course with very high rough. Pretty impressive.

Padres Play…sometimes they win..sometimes they lose. Hard to figured how really good they are becoming, or is it just how really bad the teams are they are beating, Royals, Reds, Brewers. Making progress with kids, but still far away from being competitive every day.

Dodgers Do It….You many not like the Dodgers for a ton of reasons that stretch from Tommy LaSorda’s mouth to the Guggenheim never ending budget, but you have to respect all the things Dave Roberts has brought to that dugout. Stability, leadership, rules, and the ability to survive a ton of injuries to his pitching staff and nagging injuries to key guys in the everyday lineup.

NBA Hoops…who knows what the Lakers are thinking heading to the NBA draft. They’ve had two looks now at Lonzo Ball, but the rumors are rampant…they have to take him….no there’s too much risk and others have bigger upside. You wonder if the 76ers-Celtics trade for the top pick changes everything atop the board? The latest mock draft at Sports Illustrated, shows Lonzo falling to 5th to Sacramento. Wonder what LavVar, the mouthy dad, would think about that.?

Hockey Hotlines…Have we an interesting 72-hours ahead of us with the NHL expansion draft, the entry draft, then free agency? The Las Vegas Golden Knights have 68M cap space to use, have a loaded list of veteran players to choose from off the unprotected list, and the ability to make some trades to stockpile a bunch of future draft picks. Watch what GM George McPhee does.

Fascinating-Furious….Just asking is this a money grab and nothing more, or might something really unique happen in August? This Floyd Mayweather-COnor McGregor 155-pound title fight matching the boxing legend against the UFC champ. Big time fight or big time fraud?

Father’s Day…Special time to remember a Dad I forever miss…who was taken from me and my brothers way too early….forever saddened by that..but truly believe I will see him in the next life. Best gift I can have for my day, the success of my sons and the right decisions I hope they will make in their life going forward.

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“Baseball Hero-Villain-Love & Hate”

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He will be honored in his hometown this weekend, but likely nowhere else.

He has been rebuffed again, on his reinstatement request to baseball, and the request his name be allowed on the Hall of Fame ballot.

The Cincinnati Reds will honor the ‘hit king’, Pete Rose, by unveiling a special statue outside the Great American Ballpark.

Rose will take part in pregame festivities, and has been allowed to be involved in certain Reds promotional functions, as approved by Commissioner Rob Manfred.

But there is no room for him at the Inn, or in the Shrine, the Cooperstown Hall of Fame.

Citing rule “3E”, that no player under suspension by baseball, will ever be allowed on the ballot for the Hall of Fame, his requests have been rejected again.

It was 1989 when Rose was named in the John Dowd report for betting on games, while the manager of the Cincinnati Reds. It was years and years of denial from him, before he turned the corner, and admitted yes he did. It was his unrepenting stance that was as damaging as what he did.

Barred from all things baseball, he became a martyr figure in Cincinnati, where he had led the Reds ‘Big Red Machine’ to back to back World Series wins.

He became a staph infection that would not go away anywhere else in the game.

He would not stay quiet. He would not stop showing up in Cooperstown on baseball’s special weekend, to hawk his pictures, autographed balls and his books.

He would not stay out of casinos.

He would not stop doing cheesey or sleazy ads for betting enterprises.

He never stopped trying for reinstatement to the game, first via Bud Selig, now with Manfred, and finally with the Hall of Fame itself.

His memorabilia is enshrined inside the hallowed halls, but he cannot gain access, unless he buys a ticket.

His playing accomplishments merit all consideration. His personal shortcomings and failures off the field, mean he gets none.

The baseball voters hate cheaters, as witnessed by the Hall of Fame vote tallies for Barry Bonds, Roger Clements, Sammy Sosa and more.

History reminds us the legendary Joe Jackson, with that (.353) average, but stained by the Black Sox scandal, will never ever get in either.

In Cincinnati, he could do no wrong. Thus the honors and the statue this weekend. Everywhere else he did wrong.

Pete Rose, turning 80-years of age, will die in shame. In the court of public opinion, he belongs in the Hall for his player stats. In the court of baseball opinion, MLB, he will forever be condemned for what he did.

The color of the statue is bronze. MLB views the real color as ‘tarnished Red’.

Pete Rose will forever be on the outside looking in, for what he did inside the dugout and manager’s office in Cincinnati. Placing bets. Winning money. Losing his baseball soul.

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“US Open Golf-Great-Different Grand Slam?”

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The Grand Slam of Golf. Something special, with different meaning, depending where you are.

Golf. The gentleman’s game can take a toll, in a wide variety of ways.

They tee off at the US Open on Thursday in Erin HIlls, Wisconsin. A golf course that plays long, 7,700 yards, and will play even longer because there has been so much rain in the upper midwest.

The US Open, very different than the others, christened in 1895, in Newport, Rhode Island, with a limited field of pros..

The Masters is all about the beauty of Augusta, a tourney that had its birth in 1934.

The British Open, in England, Scotland, Ireland, first teed off back in 1860 at Prestwick. That first tourney contained just 8-golfers in all.

The US Open is all about ‘protecting the integrity of par’. The golf course becomes an obstacle course.

These tourney break a golfer’s spirit, bust up clubs, and often break the hearts of the guys atop the leaderboard. Add in weather, and there are many brutal days, many high scores in the tourney.

The Masters is all about beauty and the memories of very special players, in what is a very special week at Augusta.

The British Open is about history on so many courses. It’s the big names of all years. The picture book sightlines, the buildings. The wind, the weather, the prestige.

Oakmont, just outside Pittsburgh, has hosted our Open 9-times in a storied career. It’s history never to be forgotten. But now places like Bethpage Black, Shinnecock and Medinah are held with reverence too.

Jack Nicklaus raised the US Open trophy 4-times in his life.

The late Arnold Palmer won it just once, but none can ever forget the fueled fan rivalry of the Golden Bear and Arnie’s Army, parading up and down the fairways, on any final Sunday in June in the tourney.

Of all the majors (14) Tiger Woods won, he took home the US hardware just twice in his career.

Yesteryear’s Ben Hogan won it 3-times in a different era of style, equipment, and course layout.

Our own Billy Casper was a two time winner.

And Phil Mickelson has accomplished so much, but not on US Open’s final Sundays. He’s never won, but finished second 6-times.

Anyone could win this one this weekend. Maybe a repeat from Dustin Johnson. But there is no one really dominant on the tour. Injuries, illness, and a competitive field have changed its face.

The pressure to win the US Open pales in comparison to Augusta and the British. It just does not seem to held in the same global esteem as the Masters, or playing at Turnberry, Troon, Royal St Lytham or others abroad.

It’s going to be fun to watch, probably not fun to play.

The US Open-it’s great-it’s different-it’s just a tough tourney to survive.

A Grand Slam event, on a loaded course, that usually humbles and conquers golfers. See the high rough. Look at slick greens. Can you believe the pin placements? Oh those tight fairways. Tee to green and lots of trouble in between.

Come 7pm on Sunday, somebody will be atop the leader board, not so much a winner, but a survivor of the obstacle course-the so called Erin Hills golf course.

The US Open, great to watch. Not so great to play.

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