Olympics, oh my
OK, where do we start with all of these Olympic story lines? It's amazing, for a lot of us, it's impossible not to watch.
Let's start there. Yes, the NBC TV numbers are down by comparison, but Tuesday was the third consecutive record-smashing day on the NBC digital platforms. It's a telling stat of the trend of consumption. Here's a testament to the demand of online Olympic video: For rights to immediate, selected, 10-second online highlight clips, ESPN.com has agreed to link back to NBC.com from its stories.
Speaking of highlights, here's three guaranteed highlight words: Michael Flippin' Phelps. Sweet Buckets. With every stroke, dude is shattering Olympic record and leaving a new round of rivals in his historic wake. OK, he owns 25 Olympic medals, 21 golds. He is the oldest man to win an individual swimming gold. He has 14 individual gold medals, which is tied for the most. If Michael Phelps was his own country, he'd be 11th in the medal count over the last 12 years. Read that again.
And he's stealing the spotlight - again - from amazing female dominators Katie Ledecky and the swimmer who roared in Lilly King.
All of this swimming glory was being watched and cheered and reveled in by the members of the U.S. men's basketball team. Kevin Durant and DeAndre Jordan, among others were celebrating and clapping and looking like the world's richest and tallest common sports fans.
Then's the sheer brilliance of the U.S. women gymnasts, who won team gold Tuesday led by Simone Biles. All of this was amazing and glorious and filled with American pride.
There's also the sheer overwhelming nature of the paper-thin line of all-time moment and dreams dashed in the Olympic pool. Know this: In the men's 100m free style semifinals on Tuesday night there were 16 men trying to be an Olympic champion. The difference among those 16 swimmers combined from two races was less than 0.9 seconds. Ninth/Tenths of a second was the gap between being the No. 1 seed and finishing DFL in the semifinals. Wow.
Then, there's also the other side of the coin of these controversy filled games.
There was the Deadspin report that the diving pool has been over run with algae. There's the story of the Dutch gymnast who was sent home from the Games because he violated his team's policy of drinking during the Olympics. There's report of raised security levels after the media bus was damaged.
Finally, there's the story this morning of Dirk Van Tichelt, a bronze-medal winner in judo Monday. Celebrating Monday night, Van Tichelt was jumped on the beach and assaulted and robbed. (No word about suspects, but does anyone have details on the whereabouts of the Johnny Lawrence and the Cobra Kai on Monday night?)
From the glorious to the gory details, these Games have been enthralling.
Here's a link to check out the best way to watch today's next round of the must-see events.
FILE- In this June 2, 2016, file photo, NBA commissioner Adam Silver speaks during a news conference before Game 1 of basketball's NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Oakland, Calif. NBA owners made no decision Tuesday, July 12, after a lengthy debate about moving next year's All-Star Game from Charlotte because of North Carolina's law limiting protection for LGBT people. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) Wanna bet
The discussion of gambling and sports is forever ongoing.
Football has risen to the apex of sports, at least in this country, in large part because of the gambling aspects involved.
Be them parlay sheets or weekly pools with a group of buddies or the ubiquitous fantasy leagues or the old-school Pittsburgh minus-3 come Sunday night, football makes gambling easy. That also makes it easy for casual fans to have a rooting interest in whatever game is on and offers a very reliable and tangible connectivity to the sport.
Well, other sports are trying to follow that lead. NBA commissioner Adam Silver, amid myriad of mistakes of his first 18 months on the job, has rightly focused on the league and betting.
His predecessor, David Stern, is taking an even more boisterous spot. Stern will speak next month to the gaming conference in Las Vegas. This is a reverse spin move for Stern, who was against sports gambling when he was running the NBA.
With more and more leagues becoming more and more top heavy, one way for the leagues to remain connected to non-diehard fans is through the action bettors can put on games. And in a time when cable subscribers are down, the non-NFL leagues need to figure out how to keep casual fans interested.
It may have started as fantasy, but here's betting that gambling will be a reality sooner rather than later.
FILE - In this Monday, June 6, 2016 photo New York Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez (13) reacts after striking out swinging in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels at Yankee Stadium in New York. The New York Yankees have announced they will hold a news conference with Alex Rodriguez before the game against Cleveland on Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File) Don't let the door hit you
Yankees manager Joe Giradi, like all baseball bosses, gets to fill out the lineup card.
For most of the last few weeks, Alex Rodriguez has not been part of that lineup.
Well, there were understandable thoughts that A-Rod, who has announced he'll leave no longer be a playing part of the Yankees at week's end, would get a mini-farewell tour this week with a few games at Boston and a home finale Friday night against Tampa Bay.
Giradi had other ideas and A-Rod was a spectator Tuesday night as the sands of his career tumble through the glass.
How awkward was it? Well, the Boston fans were chanting "We want A-Rod." (To Giradi's defense, consider A-Rod is hitting all of .204, maybe that's why the Boston fans wanted to see him at the plate.)
Still, that much of A-Rod's swan song will be sung from the bench screams bitterness, at least from Giradi's view if not from the organization as a whole. Giradi said he got caught up in the emotion and that's fine. Coaches say what coaches say, but actions are way louder than words in most cases.
And, considering the persona non grata position that A-Rod has carved for himself in the public view since the entire PED debacle that led to a 200-plus game suspension, maybe it's a fitting way for the best hitting infielder ever to leave the game.
FILE - In this July 17, 2016, file photo, Texas Rangers' Prince Fielder is greeted after scoring against the Chicago Cubs during a baseball game in Chicago. A person with direct knowledge of the medical decision says Fielder will have to quit playing baseball after his second neck surgery. That person told The Associated Press that Fielder isn’t formally retiring, but that doctors won’t give him medical clearance to play. That person spoke on condition of anonymity Tuesday, Aug. 9. because there was no official announcement from the Rangers or Fielder about his future. (AP Photo/David Banks, FIle) This and that
- Thought you would find the announcing teams of the monster ESPN announcing teams of the opening weekend of college football weekend interesting: Chris Fowler/Kirk Herbstreit/Samantha Ponder will ABC's Alabama/USC at 8 p.m. (Saturday, Sept. 3) and the Rebels/Seminoles on Labor Day at 8 p.m. on ESPN; Joe Tessitore/Todd Blackledge/Holly Rowe will have Notre Dame/Texas at 8 p.m. on ESPN (Saturday, Sept. 3). Others that Saturday include Dave Pasch/Greg McElroy/Tom Luginbill for the 2016 AdvoCare Texas Kickoff (Oklahoma-Houston); Steve Levy/Brian Griese/Todd McShay with LSU/Wisconsin; Bob Wischusen/Brock Huard/Allison Williams work the 2016 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game (UNC-UGA); and Brent Musburger/Jesse Palmer/Kaylee Hartung call Clemson/Auburn.
- The first episode of "Hard Knocks" covering the training camp with the L.A. Rams on HBO was last night. We watched. We're in. Aaron Donald, who is a legit star at defensive tackle in this league, may be the breakout star of this year's run.
- Also, Rams coach Jeff Fisher cut WR Deon Long for bringing a woman into his camp dorm room. It was a pretty raw moment.
- Recently inducted Hall of Famer Brett Favre got a life-sized statue of Wrangler Jeans. We're sure he's pleased, if note pleated.
- This story may be bigger than some minor league hockey brawl. Background: A minor league bruiser - like the guy that roughed up Rob Lowe in his Tour de Force performance in Youngblood - was going nuts and even challenged the entire other team to drop gloves. Well, the league has now contacted authorities and intends to press charges. If this takes hold, it will be interesting to see how the precedent would translate to other sports and other countries.
- Here's an interesting breakdown of the best iron players on the PGA Tour by stats and the clubs they use.
- Curious what a $200 million house looks like? Here's some more info and of course it has a putt-putt course inside. Naturally.
- Prince Fielder reportedly is going to announce his career is over today because of a next injury. Fielder's career numbers: a .283 average, 319 homers, 1,028 RBIs in 1,611 games. Also of note: If he is paid the $96 million he's owed on his contract with Texas that runs through the 2020 season, Fielder will have made $248,914,500 playing baseball. Prince Flippin Fielder has made a quarter of a billion bucks playing baseball. Unbelievable.
Today's question
OK, lots of items to discuss.
A fill-in-the-blank Wednesday: Michael Phelps is _____. The best Olympic event is _____.
Whatcha' got - and feel free to toss one back. (Toss back a question, Spy, not a Co-Cola per se.)
As for a Rushmore, on this day in 1932 Rin Tin Tin died. He was 14 years old (98 in human years) and lived a great life for a dog. In his honor, Rushmore of acting dogs.
Go, and remember the mailbag.