RetiredLawyerSportsOp: Youthful Memories

RetiredLawyerSportsOp: Youthful Memories: We’re progressing, albeit slowly towards some sports. Golf is back. Practice for NHL teams is upcoming. The NBA is moving ahead with its O...

Youthful Memories

We’re progressing, albeit slowly towards some sports. Golf is back. Practice for NHL teams is upcoming. The NBA is moving ahead with its Orlando plan, even with some dissenters popping up. NHL teams are starting to assemble, and one unidentified player on the Boston Bruins has tested positive for COVID-19. I am not addressing college athletics this week other than to say that six University of Houston athletes tested positive this week and the University temporarily shut down the athletic programs.

However, on Thursday, as I sat with my daughter in the Watchung Reservation, under a warm June sun, and again on a Zoom meeting on Friday, I realized what was wrong. I missed baseball. The live action coming from the 30 MLB parks, with the Yankees and Mets dominating the local airwaves and the MLB and ESPN telecasts from around the nation supplementing my neediness. 

As we approach the start of summer next weekend, I yearn for my fix of Aaron Judge at bats, waiting for that majestic blast, reminiscent of Mickey Mantle, even if Judge only bats from the right side. Think I am missing Masahiro Tanaka wiggling out of another jam? D.J. LeMahieu routinely producing hits with relative ease while almost flawlessly manning multiple positions in the field—so sorely do I miss that on a daily basis. The masterful hitting, with power, by Giancarlo Stanton, Gleybar Torres and Gio Urshela—so much fun. Or watching the Yankees‘ bullpen rescue a starter who lasted five tough innings, topped off by the flame-throwing antics of Aroldis Chapman

Instead, I have recollections of post-Memorial Day baseball into my early teens to reference in my mind. I think of the Midget League and Junior League teams sponsored by the Police and Fire Departments of Highland Park which I played on. An underage and relatively small second baseman for the green and gold Police team in 1958 who, under the lights of the old high school field, deftly scooped up a grounder, tagged the runner and threw the batter out for an inning ending double play. And the recognition that my arm was pretty darn good when a ball was hit to me in medium center field while playing for Fire Department in 1964 and I threw out the opposing team runner who had the temerity to tag up.

I remember the many Yankees matinee games I watched in my parents’ den in between stops in our swimming pool. Mel Allen, Red Barber and Phil Rizzuto calling the action. Or being there on a hot night with a huge fan blowing, watching the Yankees and Detroit in fierce battle from Briggs Stadium or its later incarnation as Tiger Stadium. Sometimes a strong thunderstorm would come out of neighboring Edison or nearby Piscataway, but the game would still be on our black and white TV.  

Until 1961, the road games were from Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Kansas City, Washington and Chicago along with Detroit. The announcers made you feel the blistering heat of the night in old Griffith Stadium as the Yankees and the old Washington Senators clashed. That feeling didn’t go away when the Griffith family uprooted the team to Minnesota—the night games in Metropolitan Stadium in a then-undeveloped Bloomington (that vacant farmland is the location of the Mall of America) were epic, while the battles in D.C. Stadium with the expansion Senators were seemingly one-sided in favor of New York.

From 1957 through 1964, the Yankees were the top dog. Sure, they lost the World Series in 1957 to the Milwaukee Braves, didn’t make it to the Fall Classic in 1959, were upset by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1960. Then the Yankees rattled off wins in 1961 and 1962 before falling to the Dodgers in 1963 and St.Louis in 1964.

These were the teams of Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Elston Howard, the first black player for the Yankees. Tony Kubek or Tom Tresh patrolled shortstop and Bobby Richardson was a stalwart at second base. Hector Lopez delivered clutch pinch hits. Clete Boyer was a vacuum at third base and Bill (Moose) Skowron or Joe Pepitone manned first base and hit for power into the short porch beyond right field. I saw a tough, crew cut Hank Bauer in his last years; Enos (Country) Slaughter, a remnant of the old St. Louis Cardinals, batting .304 at age 42. Jerry Lumpe, Gil McDougald, Norm Siebern, “Bullet” Bob Turley from Delaware with his no wind up delivery;  all were my guys. I liked a young Marv Throneberry, who periodically saw time at first base before ending up with the Mets in the 1962 expansion draft. The Yankees had  plenty of pitchers behind Ford, including Don Larsen of World Series no hit fame, Art Ditmar, Johnny Kucks, and fireballer Ryne Duren, who would regularly toss a heater onto the back screen to scare hitters. The Yankees added old pitchers like Virgin Trucks, Murry Dickson and Sal (the Barber) Maglie, known for his close shaves to the batters who dared to dig in against him.

Plenty of others played for New York—Bob Cerv, Kent Hadley, Dale Long, Johnny Blanchard, Elmer Valo, another retread. The brothers Shantz—pitcher Billy and catcher Bobby, made it to the Stadium to wear the pinstripes. Phil Rizzuto loved infielder Joe DeMaestri, who shared Italian heritage. Little Luis Arroyo came out of the bullpen to save games for Whitey. Bill Stafford provided relief, as did Eli Grba, before he went to the Angels in the expansion draft, Duke Maas, Marshall Bridges, Jim Coates, Hal Reniff and Rollie Sheldon. Jim Bouton, Al Downing Ralph Terry and Stan Williams became starting pitchers in 1963.

I liked to see Mickey bat right-handed, which was his natural side, yet I never felt cheated when he batted lefty. Because of Mantle and Tresh being switch-hitters, I taught myself to switch hit. I actually batted from the left side in a game against good friend and right hander Rich Van Doren in a Midget league game versus the MacKinney Oilers (the local oil supply company in town) and stroked 2 hits. I think it was fear of not hitting well enough left-handed which drove me to my natural righty swing; in hindsight, I wished I had continued batting from both sides.

I learned how to drag bunt watching Mickey do it from the left side and beating out hits with his still good speed despite the plethora of leg injuries he suffered. I did a fairly good imitation of Roger Maris’s swing—something which came about in the magical year of 1961when he and Mickey went toe-to-toe in assault on Babe Ruth’s cherished 60 home run mark. 

Stickball at Hamilton School, the school I attended the most, or Lafayette School on the South Side, where everybody met up for seventh grade, was a staple of my springs and summers along with organized town leagues. There I could be anybody—which included some interlopers from the National League—the Mets.

I came into baseball after the Dodgers and Giants headed West, vacating New York City and creating a void for fans who did not root for the Yankees. Luckily, my father was a Yankees fan, so the lack of three teams in New York did not bother me.

However, it evidently rankled a whole lot of others. So much so that the hue and cry on the pages of the Daily News and the Mirror caused enough pressure that in its desire to expand, having done so in the American League with the Angels tapping into the lucrative Southern California market and the new Senators replacing the old Senators team in Washington, the National League countered with new franchises in Houston and New York.

On the sports pages, it was a big deal that New Yorkers were getting a team from the National League. I avidly read Dick Young’s column in the Daily News, and I learned he was angry about the Dodgers’ flight to California. Casey Stengel, the colorful former player who managed the Yankees to titles in the 1950’s and who was abruptly replaced by the Major, Ralph Houk, as skipper by crusty Yankees GM George Weiss, would pilot this new NL team.

While I never relinquished my allegiance to the Yankees, now I had more to watch on TV, as the Mets landed on Channel 9, WOR-TV. Besides, it was easy to switch between Channel 9 and WPIX, the home of the Yankees on Channel 11; I may have once broken the dial of a TV switching back and forth when there weren’t any remotes. Thus, I learned not to be so heavy-handed. 

Lindsay Nelson, Ralph Kiner and Bob Murphy. To my generation, those voices were synonymous with Mets baseball. They entertained in a different way than the Yankees broadcasters—mainly because they had to draw viewers, and the 1962 team straight out stunk.

Of course, that didn’t trouble me. It was baseball on TV. Something much better to do than having to read The Yearling or Moby Dick. Not that I didn’t like to read. As a younger me, I had my priorities. 

Those Mets had some interesting players. Richie Ashburn, a star in Philadelphia, was aging and the Phillies dumped him into the expansion pool. Ashburn hit .306 for the Mets—and he is in the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Frank Thomas, a slugger with the Pirates, relocated to New York and powered 34 homers. Former Dodgers such as catcher Joe Pignatono, infielders Charlie Neal, Don Zimmer and Gil Hodges all appeared for the Mets in 1962. At least 6 others caught for the Mets staff in 1962—forgettable names like Joe Ginsberg, Chris Cannizzaro, Sammy Taylor, Hobie Landrith, Harry Chiti, unlike the well-known and beloved Choo-Choo Coleman. 

The pitching staff was such a mess that the team actually had two Bob Millers. One was a lefty and the other a righty. They were known by their initials Robert G. and Robert L.

Roger Craig was let go by the pitching rich Dodgers and he led the staff with  a 10-24 record. The righty Miller amassed a 1-12 record. Craig Anderson was 3-17 in 1962. Jay Hook, a former Cincinnati Reds pitcher, chipped in with  a 8-19 record. The only pitcher who had a record over .500 was Canadian Ken Mc Kenzie, at 5-4. This was a team which went 40-120.

I got to see the Polo Grounds, the former home of the New York Giants in upper Manhattan, visible across the Harlem River from the gigantic Yankee Stadium. It looked dark and dingy on TV and it really was. Fans showed up when the Dodgers and Giants came to town—to see Duke Snider and Brooklyn’s Sandy Koufax on the Dodgers, or Willie Mays returning to his rightful home at the Polo Grounds. 

New towns were opened up for me to become familiar with—even if I had briefly seen County Stadium in Milwaukee, Forbes Field in Pittsburgh and Crosley Field in Cincinnati with the Yankees trips to those sites in earlier World Series. Dodger Stadium was brand new. Candlestick Park in San Francisco suffered from cold and wind at night and cold and wind during the day, along with fog. Who knew how special Wrigley Field in Chicago was—all I knew was that the Cubs played all day games, which led to players having plenty of time to kill afterwards until the next game. The Colt .45’s, the original name of the Houston franchise, played in a former minor league park that also looked dingy and was hot and full of mosquitos. Busch Stadium in St. Louis was an old edifice, once known as Sportsman’s Park and the home of the Cardinals and the Browns before they moved to Baltimore.

I was exposed to stars like Henry Aaron, Eddie Matthews and Warren Spahn of the Braves, who ate up the Mets. There was Koufax, Maury Wills, Don Drysdale out in LA, Wille Mc Covey augmented Mays in SF, with a Dominican pitcher named Juan Marichal who had a high leg kick and dynamite stuff. I saw Stan (The Man) Musial, the Cardinals star. Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson, the one-two punch on the Reds. Ernie Banks’ enthusiasm and stardom led the Cubs. A young left-handed hitter named Rusty Staub, who would be a beloved Met later on in his career, was with the Colt .45’s. 

As you can guess, I was glued to my TV when I wasn’t out playing ball. I did manage to go to some games, too. I saw the Tigers and Yankees, and from the upper deck of the Stadium, the White Sox and Yankees in 1959, in a Saturday CBS Game of the Week (not televised locally) where sterling Sox lefty Gary Peters out pitched Ford. I saw the Indians, the Orioles and Twins during those years. National League games included my first one in 1959 at Connie Mack Stadium, where the Dodgers’ Stan Williams out dueled  future Philadelphia Hall of Fame pitcher Robin Roberts, and an overcast, damp 1963 May day at the Polo Grounds to see the Reds and Mets meet (Cincy won).

The one change in the Mets was location. In conjunction with the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, the site of the 1939 extravaganza, the City of New York opened a gleaming new and different stadium across the subway and LIRR tracks: Shea Stadium. A horseshoe ballpark, it had the ability to be encircled, if desired. The stands could move to accommodate football, for Shea was to become the home of the American Football League New York Jets, too. 

While Yankee Stadium was a cathedral of the sport, Shea was shiny and new in comparison, seating 55,000 fans. It was the locale for the 1964 All-Star game. Although the Mets were still terrible (53-109) and were populated by no names such as Roy Mc Millan, Amado Samuel, Bobby Klaus, George Altman and Larry Elliot, who joined the ranks of Cannizzaro, Thomas and Smith, there were some youngsters like Jim Hickman, Ed Kranepool and Ron Hunt. 

Pitching was still abysmal. “Fat” Jack Fisher, Tracy Stallard, the former Red Sox hurler who gave up the 61st home run to Maris, Al Jackson and Galen Cisco formed a not-very-imposing starting rotation. The legion of new Mets fans had a better venue than their hated rivals in the Bronx, even if the teams’ talent were light years apart, and even if Stengel’s clown-like antics were beginning to wear thin.

I was awed with the colorfulness, the powerful lighting and the newness of Shea Stadium. It looked great on TV and even more awesome in person. I saw my first game there in 1965, just as the Yankees slide from power began. It was the Dodgers versus the Mets, and I drew the third starter for LA, Claude Osteen, a young lefty and Fisher. The Dodgers won. 

But it was fun. Like it always was, whether I set foot in a major league ballpark, a minor league venue or played and watched the game. From April, when the weather broke for good in New Jersey, or even earlier in Lancaster, when we practiced in the snow (try grabbing a fly ball when it is snowing!), to June and July when Summer was in full bloom, it was baseball season. 

This year, it’s different. Right now we might have been ending the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NBA Finals. We’re not. To make things even more difficult, there is no baseball. The new breed of ballplayers, who have descended from the Yankees and Mets of my youth, are on the sidelines. Stuck in a labor negotiation that is apparently stalemated, with the rift between the players and MLB seemingly widening daily. 

I am a bit too old to withstand much of a catch, if I was to have one. What I do have are youthful memories of my cherished game, which will be more than enough for right now.

RetiredLawyerSportsOp: Black Lives Matter

RetiredLawyerSportsOp: Black Lives Matter: The NBA is back on July 31. The NHL has not announced hard dates yet. States are relaxing their restrictions. MLB and the MLBPA are deadlo...

Black Lives Matter

The NBA is back on July 31. The NHL has not announced hard dates yet. States are relaxing their restrictions. MLB and the MLBPA are deadlocked in their negotiations, with each day it looks less likely that there will be a season in 2020. 

The pandemic continues. As of Friday, 18 states have seen a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases. Fan X feels a need to be tested for the coronavirus—something that many of us reluctantly do at an advanced age. With many more likely to become ill as a result of the demonstrations which have been occurring almost everywhere—from Millburn, New Jersey to Santa Monica, California, to Helena, Montana. From bloodbaths in Philadelphia to upheaval in Minneapolis, the epicenter of the outrage, to Houston, the childhood hometown of George Floyd.

Front and central remains the horrible death of Floyd at the hands of four, now-indicted, white Minneapolis police officers. The powerful messages of 8+ minutes of silence to recreate the time span it took for Floyd’s captors to take away his last breath to the recitation by the Floyd attorney the names of all the black men and women who have died as the result of police brutality in recent memory.

No one has been shielded from the outcry of all sides. The police have taken things to extremes—either marching or kneeling with protestors, or aggressively striking those who dare to protest quietly, as seen most vividly in Buffalo when a 75 year old man was slammed to the ground. Outside forces from many political views and agendas have infiltrated the peaceful protesting. 

Again and again, we see the cities and even posh neighborhoods such as where Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti resides, have become locales where the voice of outrage and protest is straining to be heard.

Typically, Americans want change now or even yesterday. In some instances, the changes have begun, especially in cities with black mayors like Atlanta and Tacoma, Washington. The Mayor of Washington, D.C. had artists paint a street leading to the White House with the good and big yellow lettering “Black Lives Matter.” Yes, there is dialogue. It is pertinent and timely discussion, likely to effectuate change in certain instances.

Still, we have the unsavory images of the Lincoln Monument heavily guarded and the use of flash grenades, tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse a peaceful gathering outside of the White House so that the President could make a political statement with a photo op of him holding up a bible in front of a nearby church. Thankfully, he retreated from his plan to visit his golf course in Bedminster, NJ, citing the difficulty the town would have with the expected protests—when we all know that the weather this weekend in Somerset County isn’t going to be very good for golfing. 

Political icons like Barack Obama and John Lewis, who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King are united in their beliefs. Statues which glorify those who personified hatred against blacks have been removed in Virginia and Philadelphia. 

Athletes have made statements, some of them notorious. New Orleans Saints QB Drew Brees made his conservative views about respecting the flag known. Which prompted an immediate outcry, denouncing his remarks except for a few like Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal, who said the vitriol directed at Brees was over the top. 

Michael Jordan and Lebron James have acted monetarily and vocally. The Green Bay Packers released a video denouncing violence against blacks.  Roger Goodell has heard the voices of the top players in the NFL. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have marched in rallies in the Bay Area. 

Star Rutgers basketball player Geo Baker, who is multi-racial, documented his feelings on Twitter. Many followers dropped him, only to be replaced by more new followers who understood the circumstances and his message. I am one of those new followers. 

It is a shame what happened to Baker with so many choosing to drop him on Twitter. These same individuals loved his basketball exploits but could not stomach a young man expressing his beliefs. That is exactly the divide within the country, and that is troublesome. 

Much more is going to happen in the months ahead. The super charged political climate, fueled by discord and disconnect and exacerbated by the horrors of the coronavirus, has shook us like a strong earthquake. The after shocks will be many. When they finally die down, it will be time to count the lives uprooted and destroyed and then seek to rebuild. It is how we choose to rebuild that is most important, resetting America and making it great again in reality, rather than as part of a fake campaign slogan worn conspicuously on a red baseball cap. 

With the NBA centralizing its games in the Disney complex outside of Orlando, a great sociological experiment will begin. Driven by the need to play games for a multitude of reasons, the players will be the participants in a scientifically-directed glass house open to the world to see. I have said before that the magnitude of the undertaking is daunting and can easily go awry. 

Commissioner Adam Silver admitted he prematurely spoke when he stated in an interview that he was likely to keep older coaches from the participating. That did not sit well with the NBA Coaches group, led by Dallas head man Rick Carlisle. Just what the league needed was some good old fashioned age discrimination controversy beforehand.

The plan’s approval was almost unanimous; only Portland voted no. Twenty-two teams were invited to play. There will be a maximum 8 game schedule to determine who makes the playoffs as well as seeding for the playoffs. Too many nuances for me to get into. You know that the NBA hierarchy is rooting for the New Orleans Pelicans and Zion Williamson to get to a point where they can compete for even a play-in game for the main draw of the playoffs. 

The UFC keeps chugging along with cards in their gym in Las Vegas. Bankrolled by ESPN, which desperately wants live action to generate its own revenue streams. 

Our friends at the NHL have come up with a novel idea. Change the months that hockey is played. Instead of the traditional October to June format, owners are advocating a season which starts on January 1 with the Winter Classic and ends with the Stanley Cup Playoffs in August. Technology has given us air-conditioned arenas which can keep ice solid and playable. Given that I still have to visit Montreal, Calgary and Winnipeg with my son on our Canadian hockey excursions, I am excited about the possibility of avoiding the cold in those cities when we visit; the constant snow in Ottawa is still frozen in my mind. 

I really have very little to say regarding the NFL, for once. Which is good. My only thoughts are whether they can do better this time than what happened with Colin Kaepernick and his symbolic kneeling in protest of the ongoing scourge of police insensitivity towards people of color. Wouldn’t it be the right thing to get him back in the league for real, in some true capacity as a QB (is he a better acquisition than Cam Newton?) or an out front spokesperson for the causes the players believe in and the league will now support.)? Such a pipe dream…

And as baseball fritters away its chances to give us one more element of revival, I feel pained by the whole process. Besides, Baseball would get stiff competition from the NBA and NHL playoffs and the NFL season, if the latter does go froward as anticipated. 

These are not normal times. Not even close. The real world and the sports world have many of the same issues in a complicated overlap.

There is one thing we should all agree upon. As much as ALL lives matter, the clarion call of Black Lives Matter has much greater significance than it ever did before. Let us not forget too soon as to what has happened so that we can realistically prevent injustice once and for all. 

It Is All About The Squirrels, Isn't It?

Hockey has a something of a plan. Basketball is heading towards one. The NFL thinks it should be business as usual by the time the season begins. Baseball is having a lot more difficulty in getting to a point where games can be played.

Let’s briefly look at the NHL’s model. The NHLPA and the the NHL agreed upon a 24 team playoff system with some wrinkles within. The top four teams in each conference play a round robin small tournament to decide seeding for the next round. Meanwhile, the remaining 8 teams are seeded 5 through 12 and play #5 versus #12, #6 against #11, #7 takes on #10 and #8 and #9 clash. All may be best of 5 series, although the length of the first two rounds has not been set.  What is unresolved is if there will be a reseeding in the next round in case there are upsets.

What is my level of interest in this? Curious at best. I hope that no one gets sick during the playoffs, although I feel that is an unlikely scenario. Playing without fans will be different; will there be piped in noise? 

A number of sites have been identified as possible locales—some of them are home to playoff teams and it is unclear if any team will be playing in its home arena. The likelihood is slim that one of those cities will be in Canada given the current 14 day quarantine rules; the league and Canadian government are engaging in ongoing talks. For certain, according to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, all of the Eastern Conference will congregate in one Eastern Conference city while the same will occur with the Western Conference. It is unclear where the Stanley Cup Finals would be held. 

The entire operation is dependent upon what happens with the COVID-19 virus. The NHL knows it isn’t going away. Each team will travel with 50 personnel, including players, coaches and staff. There must be sufficient testing ability and governmental approval for the chosen hub cities. Thus, in announcing this plan, Commissioner Bettman stated  “(W)hile nothing is without risk, assuming health and safety has been central to all of our planning so far  and will remain so.”

There are significant questions with this proposition. Besides a lot of decisions on how the series will be played, there is little direction when this might occur.  Bettman noted : “At this time, we are not fixing dates because  the schedule of our return to play will be determined both by developing circumstances and the needs of the players.” All I have read is that practicing might happen near July 10, at the start of phase 3 of the Return to Play Plan.  

I haven’t read anything about what will happen if a player tests positive during the playoffs and how this would affect his team. Disqualifying any team would de-legitimize the integrity of the plan. What about masks worn by the players? Nothing has been said on that topic. And will there be more or less fighting given the gravity of the situation?

Bettman also left open the possibility that home arenas could be used if circumstances warrant them and fans might be admitted. That is overly ambitious and reeks of trouble. 

The other professional sports are reviewing the NHL plan to see if they can incorporate aspects into their visions for resuming play. But they must keep an eye out for what is happening with the virus, too. There are some states where hot spots exist that didn’t just last week. It is a fluid situation, for lack of a better term. 

One more thing on the NHL. The New Jersey Devils failed to make the playoffs, losing to Pittsburgh in their final game played before the suspension of play. This allowed Montreal to take the 12th and final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. A late run towards respectability got New Jersey to .500 before the loss to the Penguins. It might have been fun to see how the Devils would have fared. While the teams are seeded by their winning percentages, it will be like a whole new season, with each team starting with no wins. Handicapping this playoff format using what has happened so far will not suffice. 

The NBA is still trying to determine if it will conclude the regular season with some games, or like the NHL, go straight into a 16 team playoff, or include New Orleans (Zion Williamson) and a few others in a 20 or 22 team version with some regular season contests. Like their NHL counterparts, the players want to play and determine a champion, if at all possible. Nothing has materialized and the sport is weeks away from beginning whatever the NBAPA, headed by Houston guard Chris Paul, and Commissioner Adam Silver and the league propose.

Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey are permitting pro athletes to enter team facilities and begin working out. The readiness of the players to go to the gyms and fields is obvious. What isn’t so sure is when coaches will be allowed to conduct more formal practices and meetings. The Giants and Jets have not yet opened their facilities. I have read that the Yankees prefer to keep their team in Tampa when players start to report.

I am not going to get into the 2020 NFL outlook because their arrogance is distasteful. Others might call it positiveness about playing at full capacity. There are always at least two sides to each debate. Just remember that the Boston Marathon won’t be run for the first time ever. That foreign soccer teams play before empty stands. The X Games are gone for this year. Movie theaters are not open and many film festivals and concerts aren’t going to happen as planned. Especially with a second wave in the minds of the medical professionals.

Colleges are all over the place on allowing athletes to return. I saw that UNC is having them come back in stages. The University of Alabama plans to have the athletes on campus and students in the fall—except that the ER’s are overflowing in Montgomery, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham with a recent spike. On the other hand, the head of the University of Michigan is a medical doctor and his approach is more cautious and reasonable—no students if they would be endangered, and if the students don’t come back , the players aren’t either and they will not play any games. Again, this is another situation which cannot be calculated, even if the NCAA has released a comprehensive protocol for student-athletes returning to campuses. Governor Phil Murphy has opened up New Jersey enough that Rutgers fall sports can return as early as June 22.

Thus we are left to discuss the baseball situation. Some say it is simply posturing. Others say there is real hostility emerging between the players and the owners. The cause of all their animosity is money. Not surprisingly. 

The owners are looking to maximize their profits and have reneged on a March agreement to compensate the players on a proportional share basis. They want to underpay stars like Mike Trout to pay a little more to some of the lower-salaried players. 

Except that the MLBPA and super agent Scott Boras are not having any of what MLB has to say. It is clear that baseball is cutting back on everything—not paying employees and in some instances not paying money to minor leaguers. For it is highly likely that the 2020 minor league season, normally a highly profitable venture, probably will not be played and many players are being jettisoned or kept on a meager $400 compensation through the end of what would have been the minor league season. (Kudos to the Yankees, who are paying their minor leaguers in June and David Price, the new Dodgers pitcher, who is generously paying $1,000 to 200 LA minor leaguers out of his own pocket—and he hasn’t played in a real game for the Dodgers) Fan Y pointed out to me that he was outraged that a Wall Street Journal article showed that the billionaire ownership of Oakland A’s was unwilling to pay $1 million to their minor leaguers by already ending the aforementioned $400 allotments. 

The pundits feel that the players and the owners have too much to lose by reaching an impasse in their negotiations. They remind us about prior labor stoppages and how the players and the owners had to work overtime and with a bit of luck, recapture the fans. Except that the fans won’t be heading to the stadiums this year due to the coronavirus. 

I am on the players side. I always have been. They have had to scratch and claw their way to the salaries they can command, as ludicrous and disproportionate they might be. There is a ton of money at stake. The product is a very good one. The players deserve their share of the large pot. They, not the owners, are the attraction. 

No matter what happens, baseball will survive. Even if bastardized with the formation of artificial divisions for supposed travel purposes, the fans will watch. The ratings might suffer a bit now, but the goal is to get to next year intact and welcome the fans back into the seats at the exorbitant prices found at major league parks. 

This holds true should the 2020 season go by the wayside. Both side will be blamed. In my mind, the owners are the ones who reneged and they will be the real losers. The millions of unemployed in this country aren’t going to sympathize with the greed and avarice multi-millionaires show during this startling economic crisis borne out of a plague of unimaginable proportions. 

I tend not to venture into the political arena with this blog. I am deeply troubled with the horribly tragic George Floyd/police encounter in Minneapolis. It is another flash point in our terrible saga of race relations, which comes at a time when discontent is higher than ever. I have seen too many times the abuses of the police which were routinely denied and the horrible fate of unjust imprisonment suffered by young men of color.  

`Seemingly a couple times per year we read and watch episodes of excessive force used by police or armed civilians. Yet somehow, the perpetrators of the injustices don’t receive the punishment they deserve.

During this pandemic, we have seen a young black man shot and killed in Georgia when he was jogging. Now we have George Floyd, accused of a non-violent crime, punished inhumanely for over 8 minutes until he died. We have also seen men armed with assault rifles on the steps of the Michigan State Capitol. A supposed liberal white woman who didn’t have a dog on a leash called for the police because she was approached about the dog by a black man who happened to be a bird watcher.

No matter how much we crave justice for these terrible acts, we are not going to see it universally applied in these times when violence and racial tension are applauded by the most powerful. It is a corrupt society right now, and we need to find a way to locate our equilibrium. 

The violence of this week—both the actions of the Minneapolis police and the rioting thereafter, just like the horrific school shootings in Connecticut and Florida as well as the gunning down of innocents in Las Vegas, are part of a profound dilemma which must be addressed. I wish I had the answers. I suffer with all those who cry out for decency.

George Floyd was a man seeking redemption. Once a promising athlete in high school and a college basketball player in Florida, his life turned in his native Houston with a five year term for an armed robbery. He sought a new life in Minnesota, working as a bouncer. 

But COVID-19 swallowed up his job and consequently his life. So sad and so maddening. Violence begetting violence is not one of the answers we seek.

With so many people flaunting their resentment for governmental restraint over the COVID-19 policies by gathering in groups and not wearing masks, do we think that reform really has a chance? Too much selfishness and very little social consciousness causes this attitude. Which isn’t going to change very soon. 

Unfortunately, there will be more George Floyd and Eric Garner incidents with the police. Race and money are at the center of our misconduct. When a President who acted Presidential is disparaged repeatedly with the not too subtle subtext of his race, the message of hate is clear. This country is in shambles with selfishness and unemployment at all time highs during a chilling pandemic that has caused over 100,000 deaths. 

Flattening the curve has many meanings. Once we achieve it with the coronavirus, then with our economy, we need to flatten the curve of hate and racism. Unfortunately, time is not an ally. Without that, what good are the other two prongs? 

While we painfully see this tragedy play itself out, I bide my time at home, watching the squirrels run around recklessly, ripping up gardens, tearing off tree branches, establishing their turf with reckless abandon. I want to reach out and do something but I can’t. There are more of them and they are quicker than I am.

Observing squirrels is complicated. We would be at a loss without their machinations. They frustrate me and I abhor them. And they are seemingly immune to the pandemic, but mindful of heir own worth. Squirrels are fascinating and entertaining at times.

For it is the same in sports and in life, too. It is all about the squirrels, isn’t it?

RetiredLawyerSportsOp: I Wish I Could Stop Thinking Of COVID

RetiredLawyerSportsOp: I Wish I Could Stop Thinking Of COVID: I am so tired of harping about the inherent dangers of opening professional and college sports in this tenuous time, when surges might eas...

I Wish I Could Stop Thinking Of COVID

I am so tired of harping about the inherent dangers of opening professional and college sports in this tenuous time, when surges might easily occur and without the necessary safeguards advocated by the top medical professionals. If this Memorial Day passes without a significant  uptick in the number of new COVID-19 cases, the pros and the colleges will feel emboldened.

Perhaps they will be right, for now. Maybe we will get through this phase of the pandemic without a serious recurrence of the havoc we witnessed in the last 3 months, for which we were so unprepared. And for which we still are unprepared should areas of the country experience major spikes. 

I guess it is like taking hydroxychloroquine. Despite the dire warnings for its use, there are those who believe it protects against the COVID virus. They’d better be right—lives depend on it. 

All I see on TV sports news are the return dates and activities surrounding the different professional sports and fall college athletics. Of course, those and subsequent articles dwell on the major financial losses which will occur if the games aren’t played this fall. 

But let’s look at the human component. On Friday, it was disclosed that Patrick Ewing, former Knicks great and current head basketball coach at Georgetown, his alma mater, has been hospitalized with the coronavirus. 

While the news is upsetting given the icon Ewing is in New York and D.C., this exemplifies the problems facing the decision makers about opening schools and permitting sports—with or without fans, as some are proposing.  Both Washington and Baltimore have been identified as hot beds of the virus, especially in cities which are predominantly homes to minorities. 

Epidemiologists from the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania have identified places where the pandemic will continue with great force or where there will be surges in infections. Besides the Baltimore-Washington area, Houston is expected to face increases in the number affected by COVID-19. The state of Tennessee is another place they identified. States which reopened earlier, like Florida, Georgia and Alabama are seeing surges of infected individuals. That’s SEC territory—the same conference which has assented to student/athletes working out on campus. And Florida is where the NBA may set up shop to conclude the 2019-20 season, the Buccaneers will hold practices and MLB will play games or hold some second spring trainings. 

We all wish for a full and complete recovery for Patrick Ewing. How many others will be similarly affected is entirely up to those driven by staving off financial peril. Good luck. I mean it. Because with the plans put there, luck is all that they have working for them. 

Friday was also a very sad day for many NBA fans, especially in Chicago and Utah. Jerry Sloan, former Bulls great and one of the best coaches in NBA history with the Jazz, has died from complications of Parkinson’s Disease and dementia. He was 78. 

Sloan is in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Head Coach of the Utah Jazz for 23 seasons, he spent a total of 34 years with the organization. His teams featured tough, in-your-face defense, which was a hallmark of his playing days with the Bulls. His teams, first in Chicago for 3 seasons and then in Utah, won 1,221 games. Presently, that places him fourth all-time in wins. 

He coached two Hall of Fame players. Karl Malone and John Stockton are as synonymous with the Utah Jazz as was Sloan. The trio made it to two NBA Finals, losing to the Michael Jordan-led Bulls on both occasions. 

Sloan was a winner. He understood what it took to win, both as a player and a coach. While his Bulls teams never reached the NBA Finals during his playing days, it was clear that his tenacity and fiery disposition separated him from other players. 

He was known as “The Original Bull,” having been selected by the franchise in the 1966 expansion draft. In 11 years with Chicago, the former Evansville star averaged 14.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 785 games over 11 seasons. He was a two-time All-Star and a Defensive Player of the Year. He still is the only NBA player to average more than seven rebounds and two assists per game. These are the reasons why his number 4 jersey is retired in Chicago.

Sloan was revered by his peers as well as those who played for him and against his teams. He was a leader on the Bulls teams, coalescing a group of players whose names are familiar to those who followed the NBA in the ’60’s and ’70’s—Bob Love, Chet Walker and his antagonist turned friend, Norm Van Lier. 

Van Lier and Sloan battled during a game and it carried into the stands and corridors. They were sworn enemies on the court. When the Bulls had the opportunity to get Van Lier from the Cincinnati Royals, Sloan was all in on the trade, citing Van Lier’s similar competitiveness. 

One of the NBA greats has passed away. His legacy with my generation of Bulls fans and for multiple levels of Jazz fans will persevere. 

Again, this Sunday, there will be limited live sports entertainment. NASCAR will be running the Coca Cola 500 in North Carolina, without fans. 

Golf will given us a “dream” team matchup of Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning  versus Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady. Playing an alternate ball format, the shots are going to be wild, with the on-the-course bantering being far more entertaining. I might even tune in for a look see. 

The Jets made a wise investment in signing former Super Bowl QB Joe Flacco as a high priced backup to the oft-injured Sam Darnold. His base salary is less than what Dallas is paying Andy Dalton to backup Dak Prescott. Flacco is expected to be fully recovered from of season neck surgery. 

All Pro safety Jamal Adams and the Jets see to have reached an impasse in extended contract negotiations. Rumors abound that Dallas remains interested in acquiring the shut down DB. A fair asking price has been estimated to be first and third round draft choices. 

Yankees left hander James Paxton has announced that he is fully ready to return when and if baseball starts up for the 2020 season. That is very good news for New York. 

Meanwhile, the MLBPA has answered the 67 page document forwarded by MLB about the 2020 season. The players find a lot of the structure to be unrealistic.

Aaron Judge’s name popped up this week. For a good reason. He has donated headphones to New York and California schools. Students in New York and fourth graders at Linden Elementary School in his hometown will also receive free streaming music lessons. In his message about the gift, Judge  said: “Stay positive, stay focused and we’ll get through this together.” How can you not like this guy?

Then again, I wonder if the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest will be on tap for July 4th? New York’s Mayor Bill DeBlasio will have his hands tied with that one and social distancing.  ESPN will be very upset without that event on its list.

So I return full circle to COVID. I recognize that the major college sports leaders estimate losses in the range of $4 billion without football. I saw an article that recalled in 1918, the Spanish flu wreaked havoc with college football. Pittsburgh and Michigan tied for the mythical National Championship based on a season of 5 games, with a deadly second wave shutting down sports. Army and Navy didn’t play that year. 

It is Memorial Day. A time for reflection and remembrance. As well as a time for barbecues and trips to the beaches and  lakes, baseball, golf, tennis and the Indianapolis 500,  as the unofficial start to Summer is upon us. 

Except that these are far from normal times. While beaches are open, they come with restrictions of many types. Thankfully in the Northeast, Saturday is a soggy day, eliminating the mess which is bound to occur. 

The days thereafter will be sunny and warm, which will bring throngs to the shore, since so many are out of work and people are absolutely chafing from cabin fever, as related to me by Fan X. Unfortunately, we know that they will not all abide by social distancing or wear protective masks. Which could lead to tragic results.

I hope that the sports powers that be watch what is happening and are flexible with their thoughts and plans. I hope that they don’t fall into the trap that Americans believe—that we are conquering the war against the coronavirus as we reduce the numbers of infections and death.

Make no mistake—this virus is resilient. If history is our guide, we are in for a second, more powerful wave. I would like to be up and about without restriction. That simply is not the case.

Which is why we don’t have sports right now and why we hold our breath hoping to see our heroes compete in safe environs.

That is why I wish I could stop thinking about COVID-19. Not only is it a pandemic, it has created an epidemic in my mind which I can’t seem to eliminate.