Joe Biden closed the first night of the Democratic National Convention late Monday evening, or early Tuesday morning on the East Coast.  The Dems didn’t want him to be the starter with all the bright lights and eyes focused on him.  Say it ain’t so, Joe!

It would be even worse if he were a Major League Baseball pitcher.  MLB remembers when starters used to be stars and wants to make them great again.

How do they propose to do that?  They want anyone who starts on the mound to pitch six or more complete innings.

Why wouldn’t they trial balloon that idea out loud during a season that has seen more pitchers shut down for surgery than ever?  MLB leadership has a fever again.  Don’t catch it.

Tommy John on line two.

You’d think they have as much chance to institute this rule as Joe Biden has of getting reelected right about now.

But it is the MLB.   Remember, the designated hitter rule was adopted by the American League in 1973 and by the National League in 2022.  In other words, it was so good in the AL that it only took 49 years to implement in the NL.

Joe Biden was but a freshman Senator in 1973 at the tender age of 29.  Just half a century later he was President and the NL had its DH.

Keep hope alive.

Ever diligent to prevent injuries or arm fatigue, MLB would of course make a few exceptions to the mandatory six innings.  An injury would be acceptable to take out the starter.  If he reached a hundred or more pitches he could exit too.   Finally, if the starter gave up four or more earned runs he could shower early.

Thoughtful.  It’s thoughtful except a great source tells BBR that the game has changed greatly with GMs green lighting managers to instruct starters to empty their tank early and often and let the next man up pick up the ball. Why force a hundred pitches or six innings?

Should MLB senior management have term limits?  Should US congressmen?  Does a Cub play in Wrigley Field?

Control.  The pitch clock is working so well, ailing arms aside, what next?  Let’s eliminate creativity in getting the other team out.   Tampa Bay pitching backward says hello.

We need stars and we need them now.  Take Kamala for example.  Please take Kamala.

Soon they’ll decide to juice the ball with more elixer than Biden ever got before any speech.  Homeruns will be back in style.

They’ll call it “Ballz over Walz,” or something like that.

Keep pitching.  Like the DNC, someone late into the evening might still be watching.

The six-inning starter idea is a swing and a miss and should not see the light of day.

What’s weird, not like JD Vance weird, is that Joe Biden’s last pitch was almost in the light of day.

As the Father’s Day grill heated up poolside so did the action on four TVs.   Four TVs and a pool.   Is that white privilege?  We’re asking for a neighbor.

The WNBA’s Indiana Fever vs. the Chicago Sky occupied one, the USGA US Open a second, the FSU vs. Virginia elimination College World Series game a third, and the former cheaters and now mediocre hometown Houston Astros were hosting the Detroit Tigers on the last one.

Caitlin Clark felt the privilege of being white on the side of her noggin midway through the second half.  Angel Reese, aka the Bayou Barbie, knocked her upside her head on a trip to the bucket and was charged with a flagrant foul.

It wasn’t Clark’s first hard knocks lesson on her rookie journey and it won’t be her last.  The WNBA’s biggest problems were 1)no one watches, and 2) it’s a $50 million a year cash drain on the NBA, never coming close to turning a profit.

Now its biggest problem is people are interested in Clark and the league’s players are interested in keeping her down.  Do blacks and black lesbians sense white privilege from this new straight star?  The political atmosphere of dividing us to conquer might have the answer to that.

Some players said last week that they wanted profit-sharing like their big brothers have in the NBA.  With this increased attendance and viewership, the league is still expected to lose $25 million.

Be careful what you wish for.  “Nothing from nothing leaves nothing,” Billy Preston once sang.

Meanwhile, Bryson DeChambeau, of LIV fame, won the Open over PGA stalwart and player spokesperson Rory McIlroy and his two missed short putts.  The golf world is seriously fractured as very rich LIV golfers make more money playing far less than rich PGA players.  Privilege personified.

It’s so petty in that world that 2023 US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson chose his PGA buddy Justin Thomas over a LIVid DeChambeau last fall for the team.  The US was all but eliminated on day one last October.

Thomas was in and remains in the worst slump of his career.  The unconventional DeChambeau’s stock was and is soaring.   DeChambeau finished at -6 yesterday while Thomas missed the cut carding a two-round total of +11.

Meanwhile, the CWS has a bit of NIL and transfers to deal with nearly daily.   Still, its relative innocence, camaraderie, and imperfections make one yearn for simpler times and purer competition.   Watching 30 FSU dudes fly over the dugout railing to congratulate a teammate after a knock is refreshing.   Have a few Jell-o shots and enjoy the Omaha scene.

The once invincible Astros are now very ordinary.  The interest pales in comparison to the above.

Remember when the cheating scandal was front page news while the WNBA wasn’t, LIV wasn’t, and NIL wasn’t?

The sound of that trash can-turned drum is but a distant echo.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad way back when.

Once upon a time, there were a couple of dozen bowl games at year’s end.   Afterward, the “best” NCAA football team of the year was voted on by a bunch of 65-year-old dudes from around the country.

Opinions mattered.

The format changed around the turn of the century.   The BCS computer program determined the final two “best” NCAA football teams to square off for the national championship.

Opinions no longer mattered.

Then man decided that the computer didn’t know diddly squat about football.  An esteemed panel would select the best and final two for the BCS.  Opinions mattered all over again.

Then humankind decided that deciding on two teams was not inclusive enough.  The College Football Playoff system replaced the BCS beginning with the 2014 season. The CFP puts the top four ranked teams in a single-elimination bracket with semifinals being played in bowl games.

Four was better than two.  But, soon enough, controversy enveloped the committee as America felt that the first team left out had a reason to feel left out.

Viola.  As conferences devolved into a ratings war, geography be damned, a proposal came before the NCAA and their esteemed ADs and Presidents to expand to a 12-team format.  This format will start this year, 2024.

But, before we even find fault with the dirty dozen format, we have conscientious objectors yet again.

“How about 14 teams?” someone asked.  “Will that make us more money?” someone followed up.  “Sure!” came the confident reply.

And the confident conference power brokers weaseled in a proposed guarantee addendum.  How about we guarantee three spots for the Big 10 and the SEC, two spots for the Big 12 and the ACC, and one for the highest-ranked non-power five?

What about the PAC 2?  We digress.  What about Notre Dame?  Touchdown Jesus watches over them.  We digress again.

That leaves three at large bids.

So in our never-ending quest to find the best teams, more teams and more money will help us get there.  Or will it?

Follow the money, always follow the money.

What happened to choosing the best based on the on-field performance of the teams, conference affiliation be damned?  And what about those computer programs that are almost 20 years smarter than they were before?

For now Big 10 teams USC and UCLA, or new ACC teams like Cal and Stanford, they’ll have plenty of time to contemplate those questions when they fly coast to coast to try to get into the final 14.

Or, will it be the final 16 by the time they touch down?