Trading deadline craziness
This could be the wackiest baseball trading deadline in recent memory.
Quite simply the biggest deal so far made eyes pop and proved even the iconic game show Jeopardy! wrong.
After dealing Troy Tulowitzki, only the game's best shortstop, to Toronto, a Jeopardy! clue on Wednesday night with the question being "Who are the Colorado Rockies" was correct and incorrect all in the same moment.
Go figure.
The trade deadline is 4 p.m. Friday, and all the moving pieces so far would be staggering, but there figure to be at least one more big mover and maybe more.
The big one late Wednesday night was the Texas Rangers landing Philadelphia ace Cole Hamels, who is signed through the 2018. Texas is not contending this year but made the move for the long haul, which seems pretty sharp.
At some point if you want to contend, you are going to have to have a couple of top-line starting pitchers, and when Yu Darvish returns from injury, the Rangers now have that.
Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Alex Wood delivers in his game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Sunday, June 28, 2015.The Atlanta Braves got involved, too. We are waiting league confirmation, but it appears the Braves are part of a deal with the Marlins and the Dodgers. Here's the reported breakdown (from CBSsports.com):
Dodgers would receive: Latos and Morse from the Marlins, plus pitchers Alex Wood, Jim Johnson and Luis Avilan, along with infield prospect Jose Peraza from the Braves.
Braves would receive: Infield prospect Hector Olivera, minor-league pitcher Zachary Bird, and major-league lefty Paco Rodriguez. They also get a competitive balance draft pick from the Marlins.
Marlins would receive: Three minor-league pitchers from the Dodgers -- right-handers Jeff Brigham, Victor Araujo and Kevin Guzman.
The Braves are stocked with young arms, and Alex Wood is a valuable piece. He's 24, left-handed and in three big league seasons - 86 games, 55 starts - he has a 3.10 career ERA. His stay in L.A. would reportedly be short-lived and he could be a big chip in a potential blockbuster that would bring David Price to the Dodgers from Detroit.
The Braves are supremely high on Olivera and offered him more than $40 million when he hit the open market. L.A. signed him for $65 million, including a $28 million signing bonus which has already been paid. He is a notable upgrade over Peraza.
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Sports treasure
Arguably the greatest collection of sports memorabilia from one the classic "Where were you" sports moments has hit the bidding block.
Jim Craig is offering a 19-piece collection of items from his 1980 magical run to gold as the goalie of the U.S. Hockey team.
FILE -In this Feb. 22, 1980 file photo, the U.S. hockey team pounces on goalie Jim Craig after a 4-3 victory against the Soviets in the 1980 Olympics, as a flag waves from the partisan Lake Placid, N.Y. crowd. It’s been more than three decades since his landmark goal became the centerpiece of the U.S. Olympic hockey team’s Miracle on Ice. For 60-year-old Mike Eruzione, it still seems like only yesterday. (AP Photo, File) Game sweaters, the flag that was wrapped around him after the in over the Soviets, even his gold medal.
Here's the story and yes, if you have spare $5.7 million laying around it can all be yours.
That said, this would surely contend for our personal Rushmore of memorabilia. Not as a collectibles - as in value - we'd go Craig's jersey (or the flag), the ball Wes Byrum kicked through to give Auburn the 2010 national title, Kirk Gibson's 1988 Dodgers jersey and bat from Game 1 of the World Series and Nicklaus' green jacket from 1986.
That's not too tall an order is it?
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Brady
We are reaching ludicrous speed on the DeflateGate acrimony.
At its simplest form, Roger Goodell made a ruling. He heard Tom Brady's appeal. He stuck with his first decision.
Roger Goodell and the NFL have agreed with Yahoo to stream a regular-season game this year online.All the rest is theatrics and semantics.
The angst of Robert Kraft, who was noticeably upset and came across quite whiny. (And how does that sideshow play to the other owners? We know Jerry Jones has come out and praised the Commissioner, but that surprises no one.) The phone destruction, which for whatever reason it was done and whether Brady wants to admit it or not, comes across as the act of a guilty man and plays extremely poorly in the court of public appeal. Goodell's history of falling all over himself in matters of discipline and order.
Yes, all of this over about two pounds of pressure per square inch in a playoff blowout. And we still are no closer to a conclusion.
Now, we are headed to Federal court, where exactly zero of those details will be considered or pondered.
The Federal appeal will center on whether the appeals process was fair. Period.
The rest of this is background noise and uber-famous and super wealthy guys getting their feelings hurt because they didn't get their way.
Justice? Please, this has never been about justice.
FILE - In this Jan. 18, 2015, file photo, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) passes against the Indianapolis Colts during the second half of the NFL football AFC Championship game in Foxborough, Mass. Roger Goodell will hear Tom Brady's appeal of his four-game suspension for his role in the deflated footballs scandal, people with knowledge of the decision tell The Associated Press, Friday, May 22, 2015. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File) Ask the two schmoes working part-time for the Patriots who have been suspended and fired what is just about this situation.
The rules were broken, and there must be a price paid. If everyone does it, then fine, at some point the next team will be caught and we know what the penalty will be for those involved.
But to just dismiss this because it was ________ (fill in your Patriots excuse du jour - it was a 45-7 game, it was whatever) means there are real rules and pretend rules. And if that's the case, Goodell and Co. need to tell us which rules are not that important and which rules we really need to pay attention to.
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This and that
- "Waterworld" was released 20 years ago this week. It certainly is not Kevin Costner's best work, but it gets overly bagged on all things considered.
- We think Patrick Brown's work on the five for '15 series on the UT Vols has been top-shelf. Here's today's installment and nice touch with the new OC as No. 1.
National League's Bryce Harper, of the Washington Nationals, signs autographs for fans during batting practice for the MLB All-Star baseball game, Monday, July 13, 2015, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) - Strangest draft red flag ever? Yep, an NFL GM told Oregon coach Mark Helfich that because Marcus Mariota had no red flags at all, they considered that a red flag. Go figure.
- Bryce Harper is a beast. Two more homers - each into the upper deck - Wednesday and his numbers are a staggering .335 with 29 homers and 68 RBIs. He's the NL MVP front-runner right?
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Today's question
If you needed a specific one, what's the Rushmore of best remakes?
We have high hopes for "Vacation" and while it's technically a remake, with the cast being Rusty Griswold and his family rather than Clark and the gang, there's a chance. We heard very good things about the "Mad Max" reboot, too, and Jurassic World is one of the top-three grossing movies ever, behind Titantic and Avatar.
We were asked this question in a mailbag about six weeks ago, but we'll ask you big-brained folks. Our list started withMagnificent Seven (remake of Samurai Seven), The Departed (remake of a Korean film called Internal Affairs), Scarface and The Fly.
Whatcha' got and remember the mailbag?