Sports

Loud Statement, Next Step, Deaf Ears

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s always important to give credit where credit is due.

You have to give it to the NBA, they always go the extra step or three.

Years ago they loosened the rules and now three, four, and even five steps carrying the ball are no longer considered traveling.

This late Spring they actually traveled to the Orlando ESPN/Disney bubble taking the extra step of precaution to maximize player safety by minimizing outside exposure to the invisible virus.  By anyone’s measure that was a great idea that has been successfully executed.

And, yesterday they actually took extra steps to bring further attention to the systemic racism, social injustice, and the racial inequality plight that minorities (read that as black) face.  They had to because efforts to this point haven’t been enough.  The players and coaches boycotted all of the day’s scheduled playoff games.  The WNBA did as well, but no one knew that they were playing to begin with.

The Milwaukee Bucks took or should we say led the charge to boycott.  Other teams followed the Bucks lead.  Milwaukee is less than an hour from Kenosha where yet another video was shot of a white policeman and a black wanted suspect encounter going very wrong this past Sunday.

They tried hard for the prior ninety days after George Floyd’s death.  They painted Black Lives Matter on the court.  They wore it on their warm-ups.  They wear it on the back of their jerseys.  They take to an open mic to further educate America.  But it wasn’t enough.

And more steps seem inevitable after last evening’s “in the bubble” meeting.  Players from the remaining playoff teams met.  Lebron James spoke on behalf of the LA Lakers and LA Clippers.  Then he walked out.  The LA contingent followed the King.  The Lakers and Clippers say that they are now done with the season, period.  Will the league bow to the King?

And so the season that was, then wasn’t, then was, is now on the bubble while in the bubble.  Clearly the players think that this next and final step is needed to show America how serious they are about this.

But, does ending a professional basketball season do anything to aid the cause they stand united against?  It’s either a reaction or an overreaction to a video prior to all of the facts surrounding the event coming to the fore.  But The Movement moves too fast to wait.

The Attorney General of Wisconsin admitted in a presser yesterday that Blake was a wanted felon, had 911 called on him, had a knife (Blake’s own admission), was tased, refused police commands, and went into his car face first for unknown reasons prior to being shot.

Should he have been shot seven times?  No.  Should the police(all police) have body cameras?  Yes.  Should the city riot?  No.  Did they?  Yes.  Were additional lives lost needlessly because of it?  Yes.  Is Blake, the victim, at all to blame for repeatedly running afoul of the law?  Yes.  When guns and knives are involved can bad outcomes on either side happen?  Hell yes.

If 90 days of riots, and paintball guns, and looting, and shooting, and painting BLM in 2000 font on 5th Ave. in NY, and NBA messaging didn’t work then, will an all-out boycott of the players actually matter whatsoever now?

Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers apparently thinks it might.  He emotionally said yesterday, “All you hear is Donald Trump and all of them talking about fear.  We’re the ones getting killed.  We’re the ones getting shot.  It’s amazing.  We keep loving this country and this country does not love us back.”

Does Rivers have a lot to be thankful for?  He dribbled a basketball and now coaches it and is living the American dream, or so it seems.

And, be sure to always blame Trump because none of these worries existed before he took office.  So shallow.  So shallow.

Former MNF lead analyst Booger McFarland chimed in on Twitter.  “Black athletes are tired of entertaining America when that same America doesn’t seem on so many levels to give a damn about black people.  The NBA players are making a loud statement.”

Black athletes are free to stop entertaining America whenever they so chose.  All athletes are. In America, you can choose your profession.  It won’t do ANYTHING to get to the very core of the problem.  And, are the NBA players making a loud statement? Maybe.  Many won’t listen and many others won’t see any connection.

What happens when the next black wanted felon is shot or killed by a white cop?  Does the league disband? It’s the logical next and final step.

And, that is the very point.  We will say it again.  When Antifa, and the BLM, and the woke mayors of violence enabled cities want to sit down with local and national civic leaders, police unions, policemen, government, victims and victims families to make a real difference good came come of all of this.

We suppose that the NBA means well.  That loud, mostly well-intentioned, and very misguided statement likey just falls on deaf ears.

 

 

 

 

Blowing Smoke Following the Science?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Follow the science.  That’s been an often-used narrative since mid-March in the year of COVID-19.  It’s been the “go-to” when you are told to not go to bars for example.  It’s also been the barometer to gauge success in reopening America to the degree that it has in the regions that have.

It’s taken the place of ” we don’t have enough ventilators.”  Or, ” we don’t have enough ICU beds.”  Or, “we don’t have enough tests.”

Which brings us to the restart of the sports world.  In general MLB and the NBA have restarted with few problems save a rogue Miami Marlin who broke from protocol and infected a dozen or so Marlin teammates.

The NFL teams are in week two-plus of a delayed fall camp.  As of this AM, the NFL has administered 58,397 COVID-19 tests to 8,573 players between August 12 and August 20.  How many tests were positive?  Zero.

Remember, follow the science.  And, it seems if you do you will find that humans who test negative will continue to test negative while in close proximity.  And,  if they follow mask, social distance, and good hygiene practices when they are elsewhere they will continue to test negative.  The NBA even eliminated the “elsewhere” except for Lou Williams who went elsewhere for a brief gentlemen’s club social (not distance) gathering, but we digress.

So, “following the science” of the above seems to bellow “play ball.”  Except the BIG 10 and PAC 12 pouted, took the ball, and went home at least until Spring.

No one in the PAC 12 has been heard from and it seems that few care.  But, in the BIG 10, they care.  And, they’re mad.  Actually this long ESPN expose’ on how the BIG 10 came to an abrupt U-turn on the road back to football and all fall sports states that players, coaches, parents, some presidents, and administrators aren’t just mad, they’re furious.

So what brought them to this cancellation?  The new commissioner, Kevin Warren, has been nearly silent since the announcement but admitted that he should have been more communicative.  Supposedly the school presidents voted to shut down.  Those same presidents have been quite reluctant to speak on the record about the vote, if one actually took place, and how they individually voted if there was a vote.

The league went from an Aug 5 schedule announcement to an Aug 11 cancellation.  Pancakes don’t flip that fast.

As one Big 10 coach told ESPN, “We’re just left in the dark. Why wouldn’t you communicate? Why wouldn’t you respond? I don’t get it. Something’s just off.”  So much for transparency.

“Been in this league for 20-plus years,” a league source told ESPN. “This has been embarrassing.”

More directly from the article- “Warren on Wednesday sent an open letter providing more details about what the league considered, including troubling trends of COVID-19 spread, contact tracing difficulties and concerns about having reliable rapid tests.”

He went on to reiterate that the decision to postpone “will not be revisited.”   You’ll get no football and you will like it.

The father of one player called the open letter “just a bunch of regurgitation and smoke-blowing.”

All of this makes the state of Iowa the state of confusion.   BIG 10 member Iowa isn’t playing.  Big 12 member Iowa St is.  Make sense?

In a week or two, or in a month or two, the SEC, ACC, and the BIG 12 might regret their attempts to put on the proverbial shoulder pads.  Ask them now and they will tell you that they are following the science.

Does the “follow the science” argument in the passionate BIG 10 and in the dispassionate PAC 12 seem like, well, just a bunch of regurgitation and smoke blowing?

A short time will tell.

 

 

 

 

 

Kneeling and Nielsen Numbers

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

The commissioner’s job in the major American based sports is a lucrative one.  It’s lucrative because it comes with great responsibility.  It’s difficult on many fronts.

One of those fronts is that they work for the owners, yet need to keep the players happy, with great TV ratings always an end goal.  TV broadcasting rights are the source of greater than 50% of the income that the leagues take in.

And in these “unprecedented, new normal, COVID-19 times” some of the other 50% isn’t ringing the cash register either.  The turnstiles are silent, and, therefore the stands are empty.  This makes TV ratings more important than ever.

So, it’s interesting that Adam Silver, NBA commish, and Roger Goodell, NFL commish, have taken the stances that they have with regards to the Black Lives Matter organization (and/or Movement) as well as the kneeling during the presentation of the flag and national anthem.

Ethan Strauss of The Athletic notes that the NBA ratings are coming in well under the pre-COVID break numbers.  In Feb., before COVID hysteria shut the league down, Sports Business Daily reported that the league had seen a 12 percent loss in viewership compared to 2018-19.  All of this is on top of a recent release of the numbers showing ABC’s NBA broadcasts in 2019-20 averaged 2.95 million viewers, down from its 5.42 million during 2011-12.  That is a 45 percent drop off.  Strauss also reported that TNT’s viewership is down 40 percent since the 2011-12 season, and ESPN has seen a decline of about 20 percent during the same time.

Other leagues are about breakeven comparing the now to the 2011-12 timeframe.   It should be noted that live streaming, a growing segment of viewership after cutting the cable cord, isn’t included in any metrics.

The NBA Commissioner tried to dismiss the sliding ratings early this year.  “I’m not concerned.   In terms of every other key indicator that we look at that measures the popularity of the league, we’re up,” he told the Washington Post in December.

What to do, what to do?

Enter Roger Goodell.  Goodell said that he wishes “we had listened earlier” to what Colin Kaepernick was trying to bring attention to when he began kneeling for the national anthem in 2016.  He expressed remorse about the lack of dialogue with the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback, saying that the league would have benefited from a conversation with Kaepernick.

Goodell also said that players kneeling is “not about the flag” and that their intentions are being “mischaracterized.”  He is entitled to his opinion.  He may indeed be right.  However, if NFL TV ratings tumble along the lines of the NBA’s he may be right in his characterization, but wrong for his league’s coiffures.  Jerry Jones is holding (impatiently) on line three.

You would think that an America starved in 2020 for escape would be looking at the sports on TV in record numbers.  Instead, they are masked and standing in long checkout lines at Home Depot.

Could it just be that the NBA season is very disjointed?  It started.  It stopped.  It played a week or two of the regular season when it resumed.  Now it’s in the first round of its playoffs.  Or, could it be that a portion of America, bigger than the league is willing to admit, cut the cord in a very different way than described above?

Soon the NFL viewership will give us further insight.  It dropped 10-15% a few years back when Kapernick knelt and wanted everyone to listen.  It recovered that and then some through 2019.

But, 2020 always surprises us.

The next thing you know they’ll be two hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time for the first time since 1959.

Are you ready for some football?

Again.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Last fall on a sun-drenched early November Saturday two undefeated SEC powerhouses clashed in an epic, 60-minute, deep south battle.  When it was done, LSU had outscored Alabama 46-41.

But really NCAA football won.  It was another battle for the ages.  And, all felt mostly right in America for those nearly four hours of real-world escape while watching it.  Heck, even the leader of the free world paused from his busy schedule as Donald J. Trump watched it in person.

A star was crowned that day.  Joe Burrow went on to an undefeated season for the ages, a national championship, and a Heisman Trophy.

Just three months later, COVID-19 hit.  Down went college sports and college in-person attendance.  Down went the stock market.  Down went Trump’s approval ratings.  Down went employment.  And, down went our spirit.

And, now just four months after that, COVID-19 still hits.  But, employment has started to go back up.  The stock market has gone up, up, up.   Maybe there is hope?  But.  Down went George Floyd.  Down went statues.  The south took a flag down.  Down goes police funding.   Up goes violent crime before, during, and after peaceful protests.  As a result our nation’s spirit has sagged even further.

So, it’s time for college football to lift us up again, isn’t it?  Not so, or not so fast my friend, says the Big 10.  We’ll find out more today as their presidents meet.  They floated the cancel idea over the weekend.  The response was mixed at best.  The Big 10 has led the way in canceling sports since March.

Not so fast either says the PAC 12.  They are going to delay until October at a minimum it seems.  What does a delay accomplish?  Does the PAC 12 play football?  We digress.

The Big 10 was looking for all to fold as they did last Spring.  It isn’t happening.  Not yet anyway.

#WeWantToPlay is a movement started just this weekend spearheaded by Justin Lawrence, the Clemson QB and odds on Heisman favorite.  It has other notables behind it like Ja’Marr Chase, the LSU Fred Biletnikoff winner for the best WR.  The hashtag is trending #1 on Twitter as we write.

Maybe the players have an important voice after all. And, unlike the #United movement comprised of mostly PAC 12 players it doesn’t ask for 50% revenue sharing.  It just asks that the programs keep the players safe.  The PAC 12 players must think they are tax collectors or NBA players.  They are the only two that can scrape 50% from your top line.

Nick Saban, perhaps the loudest voice in the head coaches’ room said, “Look, players are a lot safer with us than they are running around at home. We have around a 2% positive ratio on our team since the Fourth of July. It’s a lot higher than that in society. We act like these guys can’t get this unless they play football. They can get it anywhere, whether they’re in a bar or just hanging out.”

Scott Woodward, LSU AD stated, “As we have said since the beginning, we are patiently working through each and every variable following the direction of our Return to Safety and MedicalGuidance Task Force. I believe our student-athletes want to play. We owe it to them to make every effort to do so safely.”

It sounds like Alabama and LSU want to get it on again and aren’t waiting till 2021 to do so.

So, is it up to the south to rise again?  The ACC seems inclined to follow the SEC.  The Big 12 is listening carefully.

If the Big 10 cancels, the carpetbaggers will head south.

Again.

 

 

 

Ten Piece Nuggets-NCAA Football?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

It’s Ten Piece Nuggets time.  Usually the nuggets are provided to satisfy.  Today they likely will leave you hungry for more, for more college football that is.  Yesterday a story broke that, if it plays out, will likely mean NCAA football will not play out this fall.  Our nuggets are questions and we want answers.

  1.  What has changed in the months, weeks, and days leading up to now that has the power brokers of the Power 5 conferences thinking that they may not want to play this fall after all?  The answers are 1) a pesky spike in the virus, and 2) the PAC 12 “United” group of players demands we suppose.  Neither should be any surprise to anyone.  As for the virus, it ‘s been on the rise for eight weeks now and seems to be leveling again.  As for the demands, it’s 2020.  Everyone has demands these days.
  2. If the Big 10 folds its cards for the season, why do the other Power 5 Conference Commissioners feel the need to follow suit?   Peer pressure we presume.  If your conference played and a hot spot team or three broke out heaven forbid the scorn that they would receive that could have been avoided.  Really?  Would a “breakout” this fall inside of a team or three surprise anyone as they planned for fall?  Does it now?
  3. If you move it to spring as is being suggested do you play January to April?  If the answer is yes, did anyone look the old Farmer’s Almanac?  The average daily high temperature in Madison, WI, home of the Badgers, is roughly -12.  That “-” sign means minus!  Ditto for February and two thrids of March.
  4. If you move it to spring as is being suggested do you play in April till July?  If the answer is yes, did anyone look at the average temperature in June in Miami?  It’s around 95 degrees with 95% humidity.  In July it’s wetter and worse.  Lastly, do you think that the virus magically disappears in spring 2021?
  5. If you move it to spring, do you lose essentially all of the players who would prefer to train exclusively for the NFL Combine and/or on-campus Pro Day workouts?  The opt out number this fall was only 21 total players announced at this point.  It will be 15 times that this spring.  The NFL Draft is in late April.    Do you think the NFL will change that to accommodate the NCAA?  If you do, BBR has some beautiful land for sale for you just south of Miami.  It’s taken on a bit of water, but nothing like the rise that the ocean will have in the next eight years when climate change really kicks in.
  6.  Is the reason for the likely cancellation due to player safety?  Is there a safer place than being on campus when fellow students aren’t?  Is there a better place than having a full-time nutritionist and testing 2x a week right at your fingertips?  Or, should we say right up, then down, your nose?
  7. If regular kids can’t go to school, why should they be “forced” to play football?  They aren’t being forced, Karen.  Opt-outs are receiving full scholarship benefits in today’s kinder gentler world anyway.
  8. What if some of them contracted the virus during a game and took it home to older loved ones in their families?  Sure, that’s a concern.  But that is a concern no matter where you are and what you are doing.  If you cut them loose from the “bubble” that they are basically in right now, isn’t that a bigger concern?  Have you been to a bar lately?  Do you think any/many of them might venture out, then venture home?
  9. Do you think any of these school presidents, conference commissioners, and NCAA who hahs have asked the players what they want to do?  Doubtful.  They’ll let you opt-out if you want to on your own for now.  But, when it comes to the big decision to play or not, they’ll tell you what you are going to do and you will like it!
  10.  Or, is this all about the fan experience?  By that we mean the “money collection” experience?  No fans mean no parking, no food and beverage, no private seat license revenue, no ticket sales, no suite sales, etc.  We tend to doubt that since they can clearly see what the NHL, MLB, and NBA have done.  There is plenty of NCAA TV revenue to go around.
  11. (Lagniappe)  Will any conference go rouge?  We hope so.  Our bet is on the SEC and maybe, just maybe, the BIG 12.

Are you ready for some football?  It sounds like you might need to tune into the NFL where money talks and players kneel.

America’s Favorite Pastime

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Welp!  That didn’t take long.

About 3 days into the delayed launch of the 2020 Major League Baseball season, a game or two and counting have been postponed.  Usually, its 27 degrees and snowing in Chicago in early April and we hear the annual whine about starting too early in Spring or scheduling season-opening series in the northern climes.

This time four then seven more players and two coaches and counting on the Miami Marlins went from negative to positive on COVID-19 testing from when Friday’s opener v. Philadelphia concluded Sunday.  And just like that, a positive late start to the shortened season became a negative.  Is anyone surprised?

Miami’s home opener scheduled for last evening with Baltimore was a no go.  MLB also said yesterday “that out of an abundance of caution, the Yankees game versus Philadelphia was postponed.”  No Phillies have yet tested positive.

So the league that often looks like its own worst enemy faced a decision about the enemy that wears #19 on its invisible uniform.  And the league took one for the team.

There are win-win situations from time to time. This isn’t one of them.

There are no-win situations from time to time.  Perhaps this is one of them.

But, MLB and the other leagues that are champing at the bit to roll out a ball, are at a crossroad.  It’s the same one that all of America and the world for that matter faces.  Is anyone surprised?

What to do, what to do?  Like bunting a guy to second you could play it safe.  Or, you could swing for the fences.

Individuals don’t have to play.  Individuals don’t have to go into work.  But when teams crank up or businesses reopen individuals feel the need to go.  Whether it’s pride, work ethic, financial need, or job security the need to do so outweighs any want to do otherwise.

Wear a mask, stay six feet apart, try to stay in the open air, etc, etc. You’ve heard it all before.

It works, doesn’t it?  The problem remains- we don’t really know.  But we do know that the survival rate is now over 99%.

The fine line between herd immunity and herd stupidity is as blurred as the first base chalk line in an extra-inning game.

There once were metal cleats, doubleheaders, brushbacks, brawls, and home plate collisions.  They were good until it was decided that they were bad.

How bad does bad have to get for the league to take its bat bag and go home?  Or, is it past time for America’s Favorite Pastime to play through pain?

The other leagues and America are watching.

Play ball!  For now.

Ten Piece Nuggets- Sports (sort of)

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Pro sports are slowly returning.  Did you notice?  Did you watch any over the weekend?  Unfortunately, the “great escape” that watching the games has provided, it doesn’t do so any longer.  Intertwined are political statements and COVID-19 rules and precautions.  Such is 2020, but hopefully not much beyond.  We’ve got some nuggets on all of this below.

  1.  Major League Baseball threw out the first pitch late last week and played hardball all weekend.  The Miami Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies in Philly yesterday to open the season 2-1.  Instead of flying home last night, the team plane remained grounded in Philly as four Marlins tested positive for “you know what.”  Jose Urena, Miami’s starting pitcher was one of them.  Updated: The Marlins positive tests now number 14 players and tonight’s home opener is canceled.
  2. The NFL is playing its own version of hardball. Its final player protocol, expected to be released as early as today, has some harsh realities built-in.  Players were told on a conference call with NFLPA leadership that they could face discipline, including fines, for conduct detrimental to the team if they are found to have contracted COVID-19 through reckless activity away from the facility.   All of the details are here.
  3.  We assume the NFL would not be happy if one of its players decided to act like NBA LA Clipper’s player Lou Williams. The NBA has placed him in 10-day quarantine after the guard was investigated by the league for what he did while on an excused absence from the Orlando, Florida, campus.  Williams was photographed by the rapper Jack Harlow at an Atlanta strip club. Harlow quickly deleted the post from his Instagram story and tweeted Friday, “That was an old pic of me and Lou. I was just reminiscing cuz I miss him.”  There is but one small problem with that story-in the photograph, Williams is holding a drink and wearing an NBA mask given out on the Orlando NBA bubble campus.
  4. Williams admitted that he went to the Magic City strip club in Atlanta for a short time on Thursday, but said that there were no entertainers present while he was there.  Sure.   Don’t you go to a race track when no horses are running?  He records the first double-double of the NBA season before it even starts.  The only thing worse than a lie is a bad coverup.
  5. The WNBA swung into action as well.  Like MLB they are playing their games sans fans.  Of course, the WNBA always plays their games without any fans, don’t they?  The Seattle Storm tipped off the 2020 WNBA season in Bradenton, Fla. with an 87-71 win over the New York Liberty.  Before the opener, both teams walked off of the court and “respectfully,” per the press release, stayed in their locker rooms during the playing of the National Anthem.  Respectfully, we wonder how a league significantly subsidized by the NBA, and with no fans in the stands, exists.  If a tree falls in the forest, well, nevermind.
  6. Mike Ditka shared his thoughts on all of this kneeling and/or protesting around pro sports and the flag and the national anthem.  Iron Mike said, “If you can’t respect our National Anthem, get the hell out of our country.”  If Ditka were still relevant on the NFL scene as a coach or commentator he’d likely be fired for that statement in today’s cancel culture.  Free speech is quite costly these days, but we digress.
  7. Charles Barkley, a big-time BBR favorite, shared a thought on who should vote for whom in the upcoming fall elections.  “Poor people have been voting for Democrats for 50 years and they are still poor,” Chuckster lamented.   Like Ditka, Barkley likes to keep things simple and to the point.
  8. Swinging back to baseball, surely by now you’ve seen Dr. Anthony Fauci throwing (we use that word very loosely) out the first pitch Friday at the Washington Nationals game?  Arizona Congressman Andy Biggs got in the best of the digs.  He tweeted, “Fauci’s first pitch came closer to the plate than any of his COVID-19 predictions.”
  9. And surely you’ve heard that the NFL team formerly known as the Redskins will, for now, be called the Washington Football Team.  Some on Twitter suggested “Washington Team Football,” or WTF for short.  Kids these days.
  10.  Remember the guy that was going to be MLB’s first bigtime two-way player since Babe Ruth?  He was so good that he would bat on days that he wasn’t pitching, and pitch on days that he wasn’t batting.  That was 2018 sensation Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels.  In his first 2020 start, after 20 months on the shelf repairing an ulnar collateral ligament, Ohtani lasted 20 minutes and did not record a single out.  He did give up four singles while walking three batters though. Not to worry, it’s a long season.  Wait, no it’s not.

If you get an extra three minutes today, be sure to catch those Storm v. Liberty highlights.

If a tree……..

 

You Can’t Handle the Truth!

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Sources tell BBR that the Washington Redskins will officially announce today that they are dropping their 87-year-old nickname.  While no new nickname will be announced, gone is the name “Redskins.”  We have a few questions about this decision.

Did you know that Washington’s logo of an American Indian chief had been designed by a Native American in 1971?  He was probably called an Indian in 1971, but we digress.  Do you think the Native American designer found the name “Redskins” offensive back then?  Probably not since he designed the logo to promote the team.

Did you know that owner Daniel Snyder was strong headed in his desire to keep the name until very recently?  Snyder had, for years, resisted any consideration to change the name.  He told USA Today in 2013 to “put it in all caps” that he would never make such a move. Some who have worked for Snyder said they believed he would rather sell the team than have a new name.

Does that make him a racist?  Probably.  Or, probably not.  We guess his crime didn’t rise to the level of Donald Silver’s offense as the owner of the LA Clippers a few years back.   Oops!  The NBA doesn’t call its owners “owners” anymore.   Plus Snyder is obviously getting to a more kind and sensitive way of thinking just 21 years after purchasing the team, that as of today, will be formerly known as the Redskins.  Or, is he bowing to the pressure created by others?

Amazon said it would stop selling Redskins merchandise. Then, Walmart and Target followed the online leader. And, according to The Washington Post, FedEx said it would remove its signage from the stadium unless the name was changed for the 2021 season.  Did the almighty greenbacks help decide the Redskins fate, forcing the pale-faced (is that offensive?) owner to change?  Someone once said, “follow the money.”

Wouldn’t it be a turnabout if the team would not allow the sale of the new logoed merchandise to one of these retail juggernauts?  You show me, and I’ll show you. That won’t happen.  “Follow the money,” someone said more than once.

Does the NFL change the name of the team on all of its historical records to the new name?  Will they “retire” all of the old footage of the football team?  Will Joe Theisman and John Riggins vaporize?

Doug Williams was the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl.  Who did he play for?  The Redskins.  It would be a shame if that Super Bowl film was never seen again don’t you say? If there was a statue of him outside of FedEx Field in his Redskins uniform should it be torn down?  Tough call.

Did Colonel Nathan R. Jessup order the code red?  “You’re got damn right I did!” he shouted when prodded in the movie A Few Good Men.

“You can’t handle the truth,” he exclaimed.  He might be right.

 

 

 

Go On, Take the Money and Run.

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

Schools out for summer.  Schools out forever.  So sang Alice Cooper.

We always got the summer part.  We never understood the forever part.

Perhaps, now we do.  During these (are you ready?) new normal, COVID-19 pandemic, #aparttogether, together apart, times are changing.  Unprecedented is the time we are told repeatedly.

And with it, our sacred fall NCAA football season is in peril.

It’s one thing for the Ivy League to cancel its fall sports season.  No one watches them anyway.  How about paying a full year’s tuition to Harvard for virtual classes and no sporting life?  If they keep this up pretty soon they won’t have anyone falsifying records and puffing up resumes to get into that dump, but we digress.

But it’s quite another thing when the Big 10 announced yesterday that at best they will only play an in-conference schedule of football games this fall.  Gone amongst other matchups are Oregon and THE Ohio St. U, and Notre Dame v. Wisconsin at Lambeau Field.

Isn’t the appropriate question “why?”  Why drop non-conference games?   The smart money yesterday told us it was about player safety and schedule flexibility.  We think that the smart money forgot to tell us that it’s about money as well.  Isn’t it always?

The argument for safety is that the Big 10 (and when others like the Big 12 and the PAC 12 schedule similarly) can insure across the conference protocols for regular testing and appropriate quarantining while out of conference teams may not have the same.  We can’t have this virus spreading you may have heard.

The argument for flexibility is that you can start the season earlier, later, or provide off weeks within as medical needs warrant.  If you’re only going to have 10 games you’ve found two more weeks within the season plus already scheduled off weeks to rearrange all of it as needed.

Ah, but the argument for money is very real as well.   If you’re going down to ten games, you play bigger opponents every week.  More gate if there is a gate and more TV money follows.  If you’re Michigan St. do you keep Ball St. on the schedule and not pick up a game against Nebraska?  Duh.  Plus you can collect insurance for the canceled Ball St. game.

So, the bottom line is that the Power 5 conferences will find a path, if there is one, to maximize the money.  It’s refreshing that they think his way when the malcontents run around wanting socialism and guerilla gardens in its place, but we digress.

But what about the non Power 5 teams like Ball St.?  Apparently, the answer to the question is the question, “what about them?”  Their guaranteed pay of a million or more to get waxed by the big boys is gone.  If their fans cannot attend their games most all of their revenue is gone too.

Then the question becomes, “are their sports programs gone?”

If they have no football they have no revenue to support the other programs.  If no football, no women’s lacrosse.  For the little guys, is football out for fall?  Is football out, as they currently know it, forever?

Go on, take the money and run.  So sang The Steve Miller Band.

What’s in a Name?

Posted on by thependulumswings staff

To play or not to play fall sports? That is the question that college and pro teams in all sports across this fruited plain are pondering as July rolls along.

Some face even a tougher long term question.  That is, do we erase our history and change our nickname?  The Movement beckons.  Below we examine a few that are contemplating this, and a few that should or could.  We even offer a suggestion or three along the way for renaming.   Logic has little to do with all of this so we decided to take it further down the drain.

Washington Redskins–  As stated yesterday, this entire franchise is offensive except for their offense which cannot move the ball.   How about Red Tails? The history of the Red Tails is well-known. They were a group of Tuskegee Airmen, all-black fighter pilots who played a major role during World War II.  If they drop Redskins and go to Redtails it would be appropriate in one way.  The Skins have been getting their tails whipped red pretty regularly for the last 25 or so years.

Cleveland Indians–  “Indians” is offensive somehow.  Nevermind that the organization likely chose the name to project a fighting warrior image and/or mentality.  That was once something to be proud of.  We use the term “Native Americans” these days. We propose a simple fix. How about the Cleveland Native Americans?  Sounds dumb to you?  It does to us too.

St. Louis Blues and Cincinnatti Reds–  Both have to go.  If we aren’t going to see color anymore, then we aren’t going to see color anymore.  St Louis could be the Arches assuming that isn’t offensive to Lewis and Clark who started their journey from there.  Cincinnati is known as the Queen City.  The Cincinnati Queens anyone?  Well, that one needs some work.

Tulane Green Wave and the Alabama Crimson Tide–  These are easy water-based fixes.  Tulane Wave and Alabama Tide.

Florida St. Seminoles–  Fuggettaboutit.  This has to go.  If Redskins are out and Indians are out, Seminoles has to be out too.   Gators and Hurricanes are taken.  Rednecks are plentiful but should be deemed offensive as well.  Florida St. Everglades has an eco-friendly ring to it and would be a tough venue to play.

University of Louisiana Lafayette Ragin Cajuns–  “Ragin” is borderline too suggestively violent.  “Cajun” sounds insulting.  It’s but a half step up from Coonass.    But, Cajuns are a unique breed.  They embrace who they are and wear the moniker like a badge of courage.  They’d likely be insulted if you called them French Canadians from Nova Scotia.  The Cajuns can keep their name.  Maybe they are on to something.  Pass the Tabasco Sauce and have a boudain ball.

Come to think about it, golf has a problem too.  Gary Player is known worldwide as the Black Knight.  Heck, actually, the entire game of chess has a problem.  Black knights, black rooks, white queens, and white kings all have to leave the board.  Bishops are religious references.  Can one still be deemed a Chess Master?

We’ll stop.  Our Aunt Jemima pancakes are ready plus the hole we’ve dug is plenty deep enough.

Cancel culture loves playing the “shame the name” game.  We thought we’d play along as well.