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Hacksaw’s Thursday Podcast…1pm
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
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“QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING”
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Why do you believe in the Padres?  For the third time this season, with a chance to make a significant cut in the NL-West pennant race, the Friars have embarked on another tailspin.  Now a 4-game losing streak and 6-losses in 9-games, and still a long way back of the troubled Dodgers team.  Anyone have any explanations, please?

Are the Dodgers about to topple?  11-pitchers on the DL, and they get slugged for the 2nd game in a row against the Phillies.  A better pitching staff on the DL than on the active roster.  How long is smart guy Andrew Friedman going to wait before he goes to get pitching help.  Guess LA is lucky, the rest of the division is so bad.

Anyone have Trevor Bauer’s phone number in Mexico City.  Now (10-0) with a 1.66-ERA from the Diablos in the Mexican Summer League.  No one needs pitching in MLB, right?

Who is going to make the right trade to get the right pitcher, maybe even before the Trade Deadline gets here?  The hottest names are Garrett Crochet, the top pitcher with the White Sox.  The Rockies Cal Quantill, the ex Padres.  Zach Eflin-Tampa Bay-another ex Padres.  Bet somebody does something quickly to get extra starts out of the pitcher they acquire before the deadline.

Home Run Derby without the home run hitters?  No Shohei Ohtani. No Aaron Judge.  Concerned, and rightfully so, about injuries in the Derby, even with the new rule changes.  Fun event but lots of wear and tear on players who are in it.

Is there an implosion coming in New York?  Could be the Yankees, or maybe the Mets.  The Yankees were (51-29) at one point.  They have stopped hitting, and they are still not healthy pitching wise.  They have lost 17-of-23, a Yankees lineup that includes Judge-Soto-Stanton.  The Mets, thought to be failing badly, have dragged themself to .500 and could be a playoff team.  Look at a box score and tell me if very many Mets bats scare you?  Their rag tag pitching staff does not.

Nice decision in Tampa Bay eh?  Wander Franco charged with having sex with a 14-year old girl.  Charged with paying her mother (62,000) to allow the 4-month relationship to continue.  Now he’s been charged with human trafficking on top of the sexual abuse case.  Next up, if found guilty, 5-to-20 years in prison.  Nice decision after he had signed an (11Y-182M) deal.  Superstar no longer a shining star.
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‘WEST COAST FOOTBALL-WHAT IS NEXT?”
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College football preseason camps will open within weeks, and this will be a shockingly different look for these conferences.

There is no Pac 12-any longer, and Oregon State and Washington State have 2-years to rebuild West Coast football.

The 10-teams who exited the Pac 12, left behind ($255M) in the conference office coffers to be used for the future of the league.

Oregon State-Washington State have jointly taken control of the league office and that money left behind with the defection of USC-UCLA, the Bay Area schools who went to the ACC, the late night defection of Oregon and Washington, and the 4-corner schools who wound up in the Big 12.

OSU-WSU agreed to take (40M) each as a share for the damaged losses from the TV contract that went away.

It means there is (175M) left to be spent for the 6-teams who might be joining the league in time for the 2026 football season.  The general consensus is the league will return as the Pac 8, and get accreditation from the NCAA.

OSU-WSU want to rebuild the Pac 8-brand, but the biggest discussion point is whether bringing in 6-schools from the Mountain West Conference actually rebuilds that brand.  Or are they MWC-2, without big impact in the Media Contract world.

The MWC-TV deal expires after the 2025 season, meaning San Diego State-Boise State and others become college football-basketball free agents.  The whopping 18-to-36 M exit fees will likely go away.

But when that happens a true set of questions have to be answered.  No one in the MWC has an athletic budget equal to what the Pac 12-teams spend.  Not one of the MWC schools has the NIL pot of gold to use to lure players.

Of course I might add, that the way the NIL operates could be radically changed too if the NCAA is given control of funding and distribution.  Stay tuned for that part of the story.

Joining the PAC would be a recruiting boom for the Aztecs and Boise, with its recruiting ties up and down the West Coast.  Would it mean the same for Fresno State or UNLV or Colorado State or the Air Force?

What happens if the Cal-Stanford trip to the ACC turns into a disaster and they opt out in a couple of years, because they cannot compete athletically or maybe financially?  What if they come back and the Pac 2-becomes 4-and how does that impact the MWC schools available?

What if UCLA to the Big 10-becomes a fiasco on and off the field?  What if the TV contracts change, and the 50-60M per year payouts to all schools, no longer exists?

What happens if a 24-team ‘Super Conference’ for football is born and cherry picks top teams from each conference, does that change the makeup of the rest of the leagues?

it is hard to believe what we have seen happen here to a league that had been in place since 1915.  What USC-UCLA did to tradition and loyalty.  What Oregon-Washington felt they had to do after the league failed to get a quality TV contract.

Equally hard to understand how the Council of Presidents sat around the table and never told each other their plans to ‘take the money and run’ from everyone else.  And to understand the horrid mistakes made in the hiring of the last two commissioners.

Aztecs football is not what Aztecs basketball has become, a true national program.  They have been exceptional in MWC football, but how would they hold up if it was Pac 8-football.  It takes numbers of bluechippers and big time NIL money to run with the Beavers-Cougars.

So as a vibrant head coach Sean Lewis takes over San Diego State, there is so much unknown out there.  SDSU has so many new transfers coming in, so many who defected out, and a brand new-radically different playbook.  No one knows how this plays out in year 1-of Aztecs Fast or Air Aztecs or whatever the brand name becomes.

It’s like walking down a dark stairwell and the hope you don’t stumble and fall.  It feels like everyone in the MWC could slip into a dark football basement.

West Coast football.  Who knows what it looks like by 2026.  So many unanswered questions.

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Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus Podcast

You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton

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“SOCCER TUESDAY”
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Storylines everywhere in soccer on and off the field:

TEAM USA…Is this the day they fire Gregg Berhalter as head coach after the back to back losses in the Copa America Tourney?  Is it fair? Is it premature?  Does he need more time?

The USA got mugged by Panama in group play and the same thing happened in the controversial loss to Uruguay.  The number of fouls for hits on star Christian Pulisic was outrageous.  The game winning goal, which was an ‘offsides’ pass on video replay, was still allowed to stand.

But the bigger issues was the makeup of the roster.  Berhalter surrounded Pulisic with a roster of young snipers, led by Fo Balogun, Gio Reyna and Ricardo Pepe, a team that had been together collectively for only 2-weeks.  It was a very young group of forwards, who got bullied by the South American team,s and did not hold up.  The defense was equally young, and then goalie Matt Turner got hurt.

We are 21-months out from the 2026-World Cup and that is plenty of time to grow the youth around Pulisic.  There is still time to recall some of the back end veterans like Walker Zimmerman and others to help stabilize things.

Berhalter needs more time to grow this franchise.

The most amazing part of the Berhalter story is the name from abroad being floated to take the USA job if it opens.  Jurgen Klopp, a man with an immense resume, who won Cups and EPL titles at Liverpool is available.  He has style, personality, speaks English and is very popular.  And of course he has won alot in Europe.

His career stats are overwhelming.  At Liverpool he went (304-100-85) and he was (185-65-73) with Dortmund in Germany.

Add in 13-trophies as head coach, 3-titles between England and Germany, and a Champions League trophy too.  A proven commodity with personality.

A tough call.  Klopp brings credibility.  Berhalter brings stability with a hand picked roster he needs to grow.

Stay tuned for what happens this week.

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Hacksaw’s Monday Bonus PODCAST-1pm
You Tube Channel-Lee Hacksaw Hamilton
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“WHILE I WAS AWAY”
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Lots happened-lots to comment on in the sports world while I was away on vacation.

PADRES..Just when you think they turned the corner and were on the brink of making it an NL-West pennant race, they lose again at home, to the suddenly hot Arizona Diamondbacks.  This pitching situation is getting nightmarish.

Dylan Cease has not had a good start in his last 11-outings.
Adam Mazur has to stay in the rotation and he has bad innings and loses.
Robert Suarez has to pitch 3-days in a row again and gets blasted.
The middle of the bullpen is leaking oil.
The Dodgers-Braves have a large number of ‘games in hand’ on the Friars.

AJ Preller needs a starter and maybe a trust worthy long reliever, but the questions, how does he do this?

Zach Elfin-Tampa..Cal Quantrill-Rockies..Sean Manaea-Mets..are among those on the trade block, but at what price, and Preller would be dealing to bring back guys he got rid of.

Oh by the way, Trevor Bauer is now (10-0) with a 1.66-ERA with the Mexico City Diablos, and yet no phone calls from anyone.

Yu Darvish is gone because of a family issue.  The club and the pitcher have yet to comment on the reason.  Could be a serious illness.  Could be a death in the family.  Could be a marital issue.  Tough setback for him, worse setback for the Padres.

How cool to have 5-Friars named to the All Star game, especially for Jurickson Profar and Jackson Merrill.

DODGERS…They are almost at a panic stage and appear ready to topple with all these pitching injuries.  Now the bullpen has problems again.

Yosh Yamamoto has yet to throw, recovering from the lat-shoulder issue.  The LA starting rotation has run up a (5.03-ERA) since the Japanese rookies last start

A trade could be in the offing and LA has resources in the farm system to move.

Showtime Ohtani will not take part in the Home Run Derby.  A fun event to follow but the stress on the players is significant.  He needs to protect the rehab he is doing after the elbow surgery.

Clayton Kershawn is ready for another rehab start after bouncing back from shoulder soreness after his last start.  They will limit his pitch count and hope for the best when he throws at Oklahoma City.

ANGELS…The young guys have done well, mostly Zach Neto-Logan O’Hoppe, but still no Mike Trout-Anthony Rendon sightings, so another losing streak has hit them.

They have won 6-in a row, now have lost 8-of-9 in what is turning into a brutal summer of bad baseball in Anaheim.

LAKERS…Enough with this hype for Bronny James.  He goes (2-for-9) shooting in his first summer league game, then has knee swelling and cannot play in the second game.  He is only (6’1)  and the media coverage is over the top.  The first round pick Dalton Knecht went (3-for-12) in his debut.

The bigger story is no one wants to play for the Lakers.  The first example was Klay Thompson accepting the deal to leave Golden State for Dallas.  Then Chris Paul exited as a Warrior free agent and went to the Spurs.  The Lakers-Atlanta trade talks failed and Dejontae Murray left, he went to the Pelicans.  And now DeMar DeRozan chooses to leave Chicago and accept a deal in Sacramento, yes Sacramento.

The Lakers are now at 188M payroll with LeBron’s new deal, capped out, and are not a better team today than what finished last season.

CLIPPERS…How do you replace Paul George’s big gun productivity?  Big issue now that most of the marquee players are gone off the board.  How do you help yourself if you have to trade Norman Powell to go get a shooting guard?

DUCKS..We are in the 3rd year of GM-Pat Verbeek’s rebuild program, and they look worse now than before.  They still have the big contract of goalie John Gibson who could have brought them veteran players to put around all their kids.

Their draft list did not bring them instant help, but more young players likely to stay in junior hockey, college or in Europe.

They made a trade with the Red Wings to get some grit from Robbie Fabbri, and added some 4th line players, but nothing that gets them closer to a playoff spot.

KINGS..Rob Blake, under fire for mistakes on the Pierre Luc Dubois contract, shed the big money forward for a journeyman goalie.  They got some feistiness and guys that should protect their goal scorers.  They need to take another step forward next year.  Maybe team chemistry will have a different look

GULLS…The health of our AHL franchise is tied to the tooth-ache rebuild by the parent Ducks.  As Pat Verbeek entered the draft week, he had 9-picks and 31M cap space, and did virtually nothing to help the Gulls.  Complicated too, he lost 4-top AHL veterans who anchored the Gulls starting lineup cards, and they have yet to re-sign Chase DeLeo.  Guys seem to be shopping for better deals with other NHL clubs.

SAN DIEGO WAVE…Where there is smoke, there is likely fire, this ‘toxic workplace’ issue.  1-employee who left.  Then a second came forward.  Now there are four more who have spoken out against Team President Jill Ellis.  The team fired its coach just a couple of weeks ago.  They are (3-7-6) and cannot score goals.  The bloom is off the rose with the NLWS franchise.  Sounds like they are circling the wagons to protect Ellis.  What might be next might be lawsuits.

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Hacksaw’s Great Sports Weekend PODCAST
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“NFL–SHOCKING LOSS”
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The NFL is big money business.  It is all about the profit margins.  It offers a tremendously great product and charges exorbitant prices to its fans to enjoy what the NFL is all about.

And now it has taken a massive financial hit.

The 8-member Los Angeles jury unanimously voted late Thursday the NFL was guilty of anti-trust violations and ordered them to pay a record (4.8B) dollars in damages in a class action suit filed by more than 2.8M fans and business.

Because it is an anti-trust violation, damages are tripled meaning the NFL is on the hook for nearly 14.4B in damages for the pricing of the popular Sunday Ticket package with its partner Direct TV.

The NFL argued, that because it makes a large quantity of games available on free TV, they have the right to take segments of the TV package, and create premium packages.

Yes they did, yes they could, but this is where the case veered off the road.

Yes we get to se eall the Chargers-Rams games in LA and San Diego, as our home teams, free of charge.

Yes, we access CBS-Fox-NBC National games of the week on free television too.

And yes the NFL has spun off certain segments of the schedule, to create Monday Night Football on cable, a subscription deal.

That’s been the blueprint now for the streaming packages, created for Amazon, Peacock and You Tube.

And the NFL, in its creative genius, has games this year on separate TV deals on Wednesday-Christmas Day, Black Friday after Thanksgiving, special Saturday games too, and playoff games, all bringing in different dollars via streaming deals.

The LA jury decision was not a reaction to the creative genius of the NFL Broadcast Division.  This decision came because of the evidence of collusion, the dialogue of how the NFL could maintain its big money relationships with the networks, while building a premier price tag for Sunday ticket, that had its blue print designed in discussions with CBS-Fox.

Those networks wanted to preserve the integrity of the big money rights fees they were paying, insisting that Sunday Ticket be priced with huge numbers, so high, fans would not turn away from the CBS-Fox national games to pay big money to go watch anything everything on Sunday ticket.

What destroyed the NFL’s stance that it’s the ‘Fans Choice’ was a paper trail of Emails and letters exchanged by the NFL with CBS-Fox, about how to price the Sunday Ticket package so fewer people would want to pay top dollar and would instead stay with the traditional telecasts.

That’s collusion. That’s an anti trust violation.  And that’s why the jury ruled within 5-hours, after reading thru volumes of paperwork correspondence, stacking the pricing the fans would have to pay.  iI was like restraint of trade.  It was not freedom of choice.  It was a money grab of the greatest degree.

I loved Sunday Ticket, for I had the best of both worlds.  When they shifted to You Tube and asked for my 499-fee, I said no.

The NFL was getting 2B a year from Sunday Ticket., a paltry dollar total compared to what they get for all the other TV packages they have, that are part of an 11-year media rights deal..  But they got it illegally, by violating the anti trust laws.

If this deal gets appealed and turned down, it will cost every owner 321M-in TV money, a revenue sharing penalty they’d have to put into the pool to pay the 14.4B in damages.

Think about that, they violated the law for 2B a year and it will cost them 14.4B in penalties.

Sometimes, too smart for their own good.  Sometimes too greedy too.

Sorry for the public stance I am taking, but I could not buy the offensive closing statement from an NFL lawyer….’We are pro consumer…pro fan’.

Yes this is the same NFL that lost anti trust lawsuits trying to block the Raiders move to LA.  The same league that lost in court trying to block NFL player free agency that resulted in bitter strikes.  The same NFL that yearly said no links to brain damage, dementia, alzheimers and players suicides from concussions, then paid nearly 900M to prevent the case from going to court.

I thought it would be too complex for a jury to understand, and would wind up in a hung jury, or maybe a not guilty verdict.

But right there in black and white are what’s legal-illegal in big business deals, what is right or what is an anti trust violation.  All that back and forth correspondance from the NFL to CBS-Fox about pricing was a joint effort to control all pricing.  And that is against the law.

The NFL is right about one thing, ‘it’s the fans decisions’.  Sure is, where to tell the NFL to send the damage settlement that more than 2.4M-individual fans and 20-combined lawsuits wound up winning on Thursday night.

Lies, deceit, paper trails, smoke screens, arbitration cases, all part of the NFL’s game plans for Sunday Ticket.

In NFL language that Roger Goodell and every owner will now understand.  The NFL-Sunday Ticket-Anti Trust violation…’greatest QB sack in the history of the game that started in 1920′.

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