RetiredLawyerSportsOp: Show Me The Money!

RetiredLawyerSportsOp: Show Me The Money!: A glimpse of summer heat. Air conditioning was on full blast. Jersey Shore beaches were open. Friday night T-storms. The Yankees were play...

Show Me The Money!

A glimpse of summer heat. Air conditioning was on full blast. Jersey Shore beaches were open. Friday night T-storms. The Yankees were playing at the Stadium before an almost packed house.

Don’t be fooled. While the heat furnace that Friday offered is a one day event as is the use of the air conditioner, none of the rest is the way it should be. 

Although the beaches were open, only for walking and swimming were permitted. The boardwalks were fuller, but they were populated by the curious who were socially distancing and wearing masks to protect the spread of the coronavirus. 

And no, the Yankees were not playing, and are nowhere near playing this season, if at all. MLB has given the MLBPA a proposal which entails an 82 game schedule and a 50-50 split of revenue. 

Rays star pitcher Blake Snell was  the first to signal that this was unacceptable. A bit over dramatic, Snell pointed to the fact that the players would be grossly underpaid in the MLB proposal. 

Previously, the owners and players agreed to a pro-rated payment of salaries. That is off  the table and the rank and file of the union are not very pleased. Rightly so.

This is the owners trying to make as much money from a season where they are going to take a big financial hit. It is also a ruse—the owners have been attempting, seemingly forever,  to establish a salary cap on players salaries. To them, this is an opportunity to try once more to control the players and enhance their own revenue stream, amidst the clamor for baseball in a society looking for the normalcy which major league baseball offers. 

I don’t know if this is maneuvering by both sides with a middle ground available for baseball to be played in 2020. Not that I am necessarily for it, based upon the risk factors Snell cited in his interview and which medical professionals have warned us about. 

What is certain is this—the players and the owners are at a place which could determine if baseball is played this Summer. A lot more must be discussed and agreed upon. It is mid-May. Time is not an ally for either side. 

Meanwhile, good news from Yankees GM Brian Cashman about a number of injured stars. Aaron Judge is healing as expected; the team does not anticipate his return until mid-summer, which would coincide with the proposed schedule. Aaron Hicks ,rehabbing from shoulder surgery, is on schedule to return this summer. Lefty pitcher James Paxton is throwing simulated games, which means he is healed from his surprise back surgery.

Perhaps the most surprising Yankees news was a picture of a slim, muscular C.C. Sabathia which surfaced on the Internet this week. This prompted speculation as to whether C.C. could come back for a limited season. Naysayers believe that he would not be as effective with his new-found chiseled body. No one has said that C. C. Is throwing or that his knees are better. If those questions are answered, then he might give it a shot. Otherwise, he is still slated for the broadcast booth. 

Another Internet piece involved Mike Tyson. Video of the 53 year old former heavyweight champion showed his speed and agility in the gym, along with Tyson’s famous power. 

This prompted another former heavy weight champ, Evander Holyfield, a mere 57 years old, to state that he is willing to fight Tyson once more, in an exhibition with the proceeds to go to charity. Since Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear in a previous title bout, there was instant interest in this. People sure are desperate for sports these days.

NBA facilities are slowly reopening. NFL facilities are going to be unlocked and be without staff in locales where permitted. Yet the virus persists and children are now falling ill and dying. Plus there are varying degrees of compliance with ways to prevent further infections—it depends on who gives the information and what people are willing to believe. A lot of individuals and groups have their own agendas. 

All of this posturing affects how sports will be played in the upcoming months. If at all. Remember, the NFL schedule is loaded with contingency plans, with makeup dates available  in case the season is unable to start on time. After all, the NFL cannot afford to lose televising those 5 prime time games with Tampa Bay and Tom Brady, or the 4 games in Las Vegas. Plus that unfair advantage given to New England—they have two consecutive games in Los Angeles within 10 days, while the Rams, their second opponent, has to fly to Arizona for a game. A consolation prize for losing Brady?

Speaking of the Rams, they unveiled their new uniforms and logo for 2020, to commemorate the new stadium they and the Chargers will share. The best way to describe the uniforms is to say they are hideous, a sacrilege to the history of the franchise, and very much panned by their former star running back, Eric Dickerson. Plus the logo looks more like it belongs to the Chargers than to the Rams.

What has still got me going is the landscape of college football. The California State system has stated that there will not be any on-campus classes this fall. One would surmise that there would then be no athletics for the predominantly DII schools, which led the California Collegiate Athletic Association to announce that fall sports would be canceled. 

Not so fast said the bigger schools. San Diego State, San Jose State and  Fresno State have a different interpretation. The chancellor’s edict allowed for exceptions after “thoughtful consultation” with a bevy of interested parties, taking into account health considerations. The leaders at each of the aforementioned schools cited programs which would be exceptional and would permit the schools to potentially field football teams.

The parent Mountain West Conference, which had fallen in lock step with NCAA President Mark Emmert’s stance about no students on campus meaning no sports, has now taken a wait and see position.

The bigger schools—UCLA and the University of California are going to meet next week to discuss their future in terms of the Chancellor’s statement. You know that they too want to play football.

As does the Pac 12, which has had internal discussions about playing a conference-only schedule. In Oregon, Governor Kate Brown has banned large gatherings in her state. This directly impacts a scheduled meeting between Oregon and Ohio State. Rumors abound that  talks will begin about locating an alternate site.

So what is the driving force behind this mania to play football this fall, as conferences like the Mid-American and Southern look to trim their fall sports schedule? A pair of articles from reporters for The Washington Post point to what is the cause for this hubbub.

It is money. Schools across this country are suffering staggering losses form the pandemic. In New Jersey this week, Division III Rowan University announced that they lost $33 million in projected revenues. Legislators are clamoring for refunds to students and administrators are arguing that they don’t have the cash on hand to accomplish such.

That’s where football comes in. Football money drives the universities, not tuition, room and board. No President of a school wants to anger the alumni and at the same time not run a top flight university. The billion dollar college football entity somehow makes the academics workable, even if the money is not shared and some schools, like the University of Georgia, that have a $100 million reserve fund for athletics or conferences have also saved money for a rainy day. 

So as one writer referred to “college sports’ craven system,” college football money is part of a “trickle-down financial model”  for athletic departments. In the meantime, coaches and administrators are hell bent on finding a way to make football happen—without losing their salaries. 

Jerry Brewer a columnist at the Post and author of this most informative article wrote that maybe a delay until January might solve the problem. Or that the second wave will be “tame.” Or perhaps the third scenario—that the virus is as bad or even worse than advertised—brings a recognition that sports including college football is not a good thing.

He opined that playing sports with a vacant campus is a “firm no.” He said that the health of the players is foremost. Stop treating the kids like they are pros. The intentions of the adults running the show is clear. Brewer, simply ended his column with this: “No school. No ball. No excuses.”

So I guess this isn’t a good time to say that Rutgers landed a high profile graduate transfer QB from Nebraska by way of UCF who has 2 years of eligibility left. Nope.

I leave you on this note as to why money is so important. The Philadelphia Eagles have offered free wedding ceremonies at Lincoln Financial Field for frontline workers who had their weddings postponed due to COVID-19. The normal fee for the ceremony alone is $30,000.  Couples still have to pay for the reception at rates between $50-$70 a head. 

Not to worry. Philadelphia still has a ban on large gatherings. And there remains a pandemic. 

To quote from the movie “Jerry Maguire”: “Show Me the Money!”

RetiredLawyerSportsOp: Risky Business (Or Another Saturday Night Without ...

RetiredLawyerSportsOp: Risky Business (Or Another Saturday Night Without ...: Another week and I am still disinclined to have sports continue on a normal trajectory. I feel I am in the minority. Fan X sent me a link ...

Risky Business (Or Another Saturday Night Without Sports On TV)

Another week and I am still disinclined to have sports continue on a normal trajectory. I feel I am in the minority. Fan X sent me a link about opening baseball ASAP. We know where his thoughts are. But I will get to that topic in a bit. 

This was a week with much going on. The NFL schedule came out on Thursday. Some flexibility reportedly exists, should the league have to await October to be cleared to play. Or course, flipping the first four games means January games and, bite my tongue, February playoff games with the Super Bowl moved to later February or early March. I can just imagine games at Met Life Stadium, Green Bay or in Kansas City during the tough Winter months. If those are the venues, let there be no fans attending any of the games. Please!!

The New York Jets have the second toughest schedule before the season begins. Prognosticators believe that NYJ will go 7-9. There are three jaunts to the West Coast for games against Seattle, the Rams and the Chargers. Sam Darnold and company must play in Kansas City against Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs. The other road contest besides the three divisional road games is in Indianapolis. New York opens the season in Buffalo on September 13 and ends the season in early January at New England. There is no Tom Brady meeting on the 2020 schedule. There are two Monday night games—one versus Denver in October and one over Veteran’s Day weekend when the Patriots make their annual trek in. And the home opener has the San Francisco 49 ’ers traveling East to play the Jets.

For now, team facilities are still locked. The NFL has ambitiously set out a plan to start activity at team headquarters if the particular state permits such. Both New York teams train in New Jersey. The Bills are subject to whatever restrictions are in place in New York. Plus there are two teams in Los Angeles and one in San Francisco, subject to some of the strictest restrictions in the United States. Those restrictions might not be relaxed any time soon.

Sticking with the NFL for a few more moments, the sports world sadly mourns the passing of the legendary Don Shula, who coached the Baltimore Colts and the Miami Dolphins in the Super Bowl. Shula was known for his no nonsense approach. It was quite successful.

Even if his heavily-favored Colts team lost to Joe Namath and the Jets in Super Bowl III, his Dolphins team made history, which includes the only undefeated team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl and record a perfect mark. He and his players are so proud of that achievement. 

Shula helped produce Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Johnny Unitas, Bob Griese and Dan Marino, all with differing styles, were successful with Don Shula as their coach. No wonder Shula is the winningest coach in NFL annals, with only one losing season in his storied career. He put the Miami Dolphins, a struggling expansion team born in the 1960’s, on the map with his take no prisoners approach that placed Shula in the pantheon of NFL head coaches. 

There is one anecdotal story about Don Shula. He is 1-0 lifetime against Bill Belichick. Shula had no patience for Belichick and his ways. By referring to the Patriots skipper as “Belicheat” and openly rooting against the Tom Brady-led undefeated teams, it showed that he played by the rules and remained highly competitive up to his death. 

Plus, I liked his steakhouse outside of Cleveland. Not too pretentious. 

Sadly, the mother of the Johnson brothers who own the New York Jets and a great philanthropist, Betty Wold Johnson, died at age 99. She fondly called the Jets players her “grandchildren.” By all accounts, she was a phenomenal woman.

We have endured virtual NASCAR, Secretariat winning a virtual Kentucky Derby and Will Ferrell crashing a Seattle Seahawks Zoom meeting, impersonating TE Greg Olsen. ESPN is promoting the hell out of South Korean baseball; I am not interested. 

In other NFL news, former Cincinnati Bengals QB Andy Dalton, displaced by Joe Burrow, was released and signed on as a backup in Dallas. Sportswriters and TV personalities are advising Cam Newton to not become a backup when he is signed as a free agent. Marshawn Lynch said his people are talking again with the Seahawks. Logan Ryan, a DB out of Rutgers, knew his time in Tennessee was over when the team assigned his number to a recent draftee. Plus the four International games on the 2020 schedule have returned to the United States due to the pandemic.

Brett Favre became embroiled in a Mississippi scandal when he took $1.1 million for a no-show speaking engagement through an indicted former state official. Favre is returning the money. It must be nice to easily return $1.1 million dollars. He faces no charges. 

Then there was the story about Pete Rose. Groundskeepers in Montreal claim that Rose, the disgraced all-time hit leader, corked his bat while he was with the Expos. If that is true, he certainly does not deserve to be in Cooperstown. 

A solid basketball player at Wake Forest has decided to leave the school, transferring to the University of Kentucky, one of the basketball blue bloods. Wake’s coach queried the wisdom of going to Kentucky to graduate and leaving a prestigious school like Wake where his upcoming degree was worth more. He said so with “no disrespect” to Kentucky.

As a postscript, the NCAA is looking to make the existing transfer rules easier. I guess that is a formality, because a heck of a lot of players get waivers and do not have to sit out the mandatory one year presently enforced. 

Some other notable events include a Skins match to benefit the American Nurses Foundation involving four of America’s top golfers. The NCAA has found much egregious conduct occurred within the basketball programs at Louisville and Kansas. Coaches Rick Pitino (now at Iona, who claims they anticipated this and stand by their man) and Bill Self will have a lot of answering to do. 

Sixty basketball coaches have divided into Team NY and Team NJ and have made videos with encouraging words to students, players, and those on the front line. C. Vivian Stringer, the Rutgers women’s head coach and Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, is an imposing figure in her video.

People have taken up running and walking during the stay at home period. Virtual poker games are the rage. Yet sports fans long for information about when baseball is going to begin, what is happening with the NBA and NHL. 

I know that to fill some of the void, I listened to a podcast called J.B & Goldwater out of the Low Country in South Carolina. Darren Goldwater is a play-by-play broadcaster who lives there. He is also the son of my wife’s cousin. The show gives a different perspective to those outside of the immediate area they live in. Pretty darn enjoyable. Check it out if you have some free time. 12:00-2:00 P.M. Monday thru Friday.

Some NBA players have entered gyms under strict conditions. This means very little at the moment. Until the curve is really flattened and there is demonstrative proof that they can open without compromising the health and well-being of so many others, what is happening with the NFL schedule is just a tease. 

Baseball has come up with a plan that allows for 10 team divisions and 8 game home stands against the same opponent. How would you like to be the Yankees and draw Max Scherzer twice on a trip to DC? I get that they are trying to salvage a season with limited or no fans—teams are hemorrhaging  concession and other money. 

Fan X would be all for this. Alas, we won’t have enough safety measures in place to make this realistically work. The fact that the dates keep being pushed back for the start of the season, with a new training period, the shortening the MLB Draft to only 5 rounds, and the pushing back of the NHL and NBA Drafts from their original dates highlight the problems inherent in making a go of a new reality for professional sports. For the Brooklyn Nets, they have to decide if injured star Kevin Durant should make his team debut after his post-NBA Finals surgery and risk aggravating his rehabilitated  Achilles Tendon or do they opt to wait until the 2021 season for him to wear a Nets jersey?

I don’t like the Dolphins proposal to let 15,000 fans into Hard Rock Stadium for home games. How can they do that and not endanger people, no matter how far apart they may be seated and whatever other so-called precautions they take?

Two sane people spoke this week on college athletics. Val Ackerman, the Big East Commissioner, bluntly said that there will be no Big East sports unless students are on campus. Mark Emmert, the head of the NCAA, said fall sports are likely a no-go if campuses aren’t open. 

This counters the idiocy of Penn State Head Football Coach James Franklin who said that the Big Ten should go forward and play even if some schools aren’t having students on campus or if there are certain schools which cannot play because of state government edicts. That kind of mentality exists in the SEC and the Big 12. Let’s see if those schools have successful openings and if they try to go forward with fall sports without students on campus. 

Take a step back, people. Hey Fan X—I miss baseball, college hoops, Steph Curry and the Jets. I am going to be 70. My wife and I are high risk. I would choose not go to a game under these conditions. And to play the games without fans serves what purpose other than to remove some lethargy for a short while? 

COVID-19 has invaded the White House. No place is really that safe. Why tempt fate—even with no fans?

This is risky business. 

Hope you had a great Mother’s Day. Maybe next year we can actually hug our children again without fear of infection. Got to go watch The Last Dance and Run.  I can’t read about the claim that Zion Williamson and his family took money from numerous sources including Duke… 

RetiredLawyerSportsOp: More COVID Dilemmas

RetiredLawyerSportsOp: More COVID Dilemmas: It is both sad and good to see that the Little League World Series and the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies have been canceled. ...

RetiredLawyerSportsOp: More COVID Dilemmas

RetiredLawyerSportsOp: More COVID Dilemmas: It is both sad and good to see that the Little League World Series and the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies have been canceled. ...

More COVID Dilemmas

It is both sad and good to see that the Little League World Series and the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies have been canceled. Two rites of summer destroyed by the ravaging COVID-19. For good reason—imagine the masses descending on Williamsport for the LLWS? A more massive throng would have ventured to Cooperstown to cheer on Derek Jeter. Yankees fans would have shattered the 82,000 record for Cal Ripken, Jr.’s induction.

These are prudent measures given the place the U.S. is at with its fight versus the coronavirus. I salute California Governor Gavin Newsom for closing the public beaches in Orange County after hordes of people congregated along the Pacific Ocean last weekend seeking relief from the Southern California heat.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy faces enormous pressure to reopen New Jersey. He has started the process by allowing golf courses to open and for people to enter New Jersey State Parks, albeit without available lavatory facilities. He has warned that if social distancing isn’t properly applied, he will shut the parks down and close the golf courses. 

The biggest pressure on Governor Murphy comes from the Jersey Shore. When it comes to New Jersey economics, the beaches and the revenue derived from rentals, amusements, food, etc. is huge, especially with the State in a budgetary deficit as a result of the pandemic. 

But what about the lives at stake here? How many asymptomatic individuals from New Jersey and other states will travel to the Jersey Shore? Will beachgoers eschew masks for the even tan on their faces? 

It is a delicate balance for Governor Murphy to achieve—the safety of the people against the economic reality that much of the seasonal Jersey Shore industries—hotels, rentals, amusements, restaurants, etc.—may not survive if shuttered this summer. 

Governor Murphy is not the only one with such a headache. All governors with shorelines, lakes or scenic locals face the same questions and search for the right formula to make the summer happen without a raging recurrence of the pandemic. For the alternative is stark—we sit home and continue to self-isolate until a vaccine is developed. 

We see how professional sports keeps inching back to competition. NASCAR is going to conduct races in May without spectators. I thought that a big part of the event was to go and party, suffer a horrible sunburn and root for your favorite driver. I guess the economics of auto racing is such that the crowds who attend the races can be kept away for a year without too much financial peril. 

The NBA keeps floating ideas about competition and opening practice facilities. An idea to house everyone at Disney World where there would be no spectators while the teams play out the season/playoffs is the latest hot rumor. Meanwhile, where it is appropriate, team facilities would be opened to players and personnel for non-team functions. 

I have a few thoughts on that. First, how is social distancing going to be enforced? I went to physical therapy today for the first time in a week for my balky back and ankle. It was just me and my therapist for 40 minutes, with plenty of hand sanitizer and cleaning solution. And I will only go once a week under those conditions, instituting a home program due to my vulnerable age. 

Second, will the teams invest in antibody testing as well as other comprehensive measures to ensure that there is no further spread of the virus? I can only imagine the number of players eager to get back to the gym and use the weights, training staff, etc. Who knows who they might come into contact with?

Thirdly, this puts teams in less infected areas way ahead of those teams such as the Celtics, Knicks, Nets, Warriors, Lakers, Clippers, Kings, Trail Blazers, Sixers, Wizards, Pistons, Pelicans and Bulls. Of course, there are governors like Georgia’s Brian Kemp, who should have no problems with players form the Hawks heading to the gym given his opening of all gyms in his state. Same in Texas, where the Mavericks, Rockets and Spurs will likely have full access to their facilities. Florida would be another likely locale, giving the Heat and Magic an advantage. 

I have said it before and it bears repeating—the economics are so enormous that the professional sports are certain they cannot afford a shut down. ESPN published an article projecting collective losses to be over $12 billion. 

Do not feel sorry for Roger Goodell not taking his salary. He has had enough $30 million years for a while. It is other NFL executives and team personnel who will take a huge financial hit with their salary reductions. Remember, the NFL still has the mindset that the games will be played this fall—even if it is without fans in the stands. The 2020 schedule will be coming out next week.

NHL teams have started to call back their players in anticipation of workouts for teams which would be at least playoff-bound. Of course, the NHL would be faced with the same questions and logistics that the NBA faces. 

Baseball now has a new approach. Three 10 team leagues to cut down on travel. With games in the geographical areas to start at 7:00 local time. For the fans’ convenience. If they still have the money for cable TV. 

Travel? Are you kidding me? This places an enormous strain on the infrastructure and places so many personnel at risk because the player are coming into contact with many people as they journey to away sites as well as arrive in their home airports. Ask the flight attendants who are screaming about mandatory masks for people flying and eliminating leisure travel.

Maybe the executives at MLB haven’t read about how many TSA officers have been felled by COVID-19, or what it has done to first responders such as the police, firefighters and EMT personnel. Take a look at how the Orthodox Jewish worshipers congregate in Williamsburg and Lakewood, needlessly exposing the officers by not social distancing. 

I miss baseball. A lot. But why go through all of this when the risks are so high for so many people who work in and around the game and  players to protect their safety? To say that America is strong and has not given into the virus? Or to help the economy, which is in tatters right now, with lines for free food abundant in so many states?  It makes no sense to me.

I will abandon my COVID soapbox to discuss a few other things. As a result of the airings of four parts of The Last Dance, old hatred between the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons has resurfaced. Detroit was a bunch of thugs who physically intimidated teams en route to two NBA crowns. The Bulls finally took the Pistons down when they won their first of six NBA crowns. 

Michael Jordan dislikes the Pistons. Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer are not his favorite people. Thomas does not rate Jordan as the the G.O.A.T. Jordan was accused of not wanting Thomas on the 1992 U.S. Olympic “Dream” Team. Which is not true—at least 9 of the 12 team members didn’t want Thomas with them, despite the desires of Chuck Daly, the Pistons Head Coach who was also the Head Coach of the Dream Team. Daly learned that the collective harmony of his bunch of superstars could not be sacrificed for one individual. 

This renewed Pistons-Bulls rivalry will run its course with the end of the documentary. In this entertainment and sports-starved world, this became big news. 

Finally, I read on Friday about a freshman TE coming to Rutgers, and his mother. His father works in an essential business and lives in part of the house. His mother, who has been  a respiratory therapist at Hackensack University Hospital for 17 years, is on the front lines of the pandemic, working 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. She resides upstairs. 

Her son lives with family 20 minutes away and gets to see his mother periodically, employing social distancing measures. He calls her multiple times a day.

When you recognize what truly is at stake, this mother is a hero, as her son who is strong and supportive. It puts all of the rest of the machinations by the sporting world, along with the decisions that governors have to make to protect people who obviously don’t see the inherent dangers in their actions, into perspective. 

Such are the COVID-19 dilemmas.