Fredi
The Atlanta Braves fired manager Fredi Gonzanlez. You probably heard about it. It made most of the papers.
It was not exactly a surprise. But it also can be described as a foolhardy and self-preservation move that makes the Braves upper management look like a collection of buck passers who needed someone to blame in the short-term because the depths to which this once-proud franchise has failed in the current rebuild are drastically worse than anyone expected.
And this is acknowledging that Fredi G. is a mediocre manager at best, and likely was not in the franchise's long-term plan regardless of what the record was going to be this year. In fact, this is less about defending the managerial record of Gonzalez as it is questioning the motives and the timing of the decision to fire him now.
To fire him now - and for it to play out how Fredi learned of it is at best amateurish or at worst downright shameful - smacks of an organization looking to pin the worst roster in the majors on the one guy in the leadership circle of the organization who had zero to do with it.
That's wrong and unfair. And if the reports are accurate that Fredi G was informed by email confirmation about a changed flight back to Atlanta on Tuesday, well, wow. Even if that was an accident, what are we truly to expect about attention to detail from the guys pulling the strings on this season of transition?
During spring training, the entire organization talked about how this was a transition season, Fredi included. New home next year. New front office overhaul. New team. (Yes, most of it could conceivably be in Triple-A, but a new team nonetheless.)
There were even discussions about how this team would not be measured on wins and losses, which is a good thing, unless the rules change and you get bonus points for losses because the Braves have those in bunches. So, despite a ton of verbal groundwork with terms and phrases like "long term" and "rebuilding plan," the Braves management freaked at a dreadful start. Remember, there was even some talk of firing Fredi after the Braves started 0-9. Say what? How serious can the "long-term" rebuilding plan be if the seat gets hot less than 10 games into the season.
Yes, if you wanted Fredi fired two years ago, then that is a worthy discussion. If you wanted Fredi fired because of questionable bullpen decisions, again, that is something to to debate.
But those were known facts long before the Braves brass put an awful roster together and tried to make us to believe the 9-28 start is Fredi Gonzalez' fault. Heck if that's true, the Braves are winless with a team ERA north of 12 under interim manager Brian Snitker. Wonder if there's an email flight confirmation of a turnaround flight back to the A-T-L in his in box this morning. Man, here's betting the Braves coaching staff hates the "You've Got Mail" notification on their phones.
Baseball, like all sports, is a results-driven business. But with a undermanned team Fredi and Co. were 42-42 midway through last season before the wheels fell off.
Now, he's out of work, becoming the first Braves manager to be fired since 1990.
The Braves were lucky enough to connect with Bobby Cox back then, and the rest reset the franchise.
But looking closer at Cox's Hall of Fame managerial ledger, you know becomes clear? He got way smarter when he could pencil in Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz three times out of five for a decade.
Before the miraculous run in '91, Cox had managed nine full seasons and part of the 1990 campaign with the Braves. He made the playoffs once - in 1985 with Toronto - and finished better than fourth in one more season. But Cox is a Hall of Famer and Fredi is a bum. Nope that doesn't compute.
Better yet, Cox was a Hall of Famer given a roster of Hall of Famers and Gonzalez was a scapegoat given a roster of, well, you've seen this bunch.
Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James reacts after he was fouled by Toronto Raptors' DeMarre Carroll during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals Tuesday, May 17, 2016, in Cleveland. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP) LeBron
Buckets the Cavs are playing excellent basketball.
LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavs are now 9-0 in the postseason, and while the message has to be mentioned that the East is not exactly a murderer's row, the Cavs energy and efficiency must be acknowledged.
How one-sided and complete was the dominance of Game 1? The only Toronto player who did not have a negative plus/minus ratio (the difference of the score during a player's minutes) was reserve center Lucas Nogueira, who had a plus/minus of 0 in six garbage-time minutes.
James was 11-of-13 in 28 productive minutes. He worked his way to the rim, and delivered the powerful message that James going to the basket is still the most unstoppable play in the league, no matter how pretty Curry's 3s are and how dynamic the duo of Westbrook and Durant is.
Plus, as long as this group of Cavs stays healthy, they are showing a small-ball look that has a familiar appearance to the Warriors.
Yes, Kevin Love will be a defensive liability against either the Warriors or the Thunder, but the spaced-floor look of the Cavs with James creating, and Love, Kyrie Irving, Channing Frye and J.R. Smith around the perimeter has become amazingly efficient.
So let the coronation in the East begin.
There's no way we can see the Raptors winning more than a game in this series.
(And yes, we are well aware of the Game 1 overreaction that can lead all of us to places of unknown hyperbole, but just watching the difference between these Cavs and every team they have played so far in these playoffs is staggering.
Alabama offensive tackle Cam Robinson, shown here celebrating a field goal in last year's Iron Bowl win at Auburn, was arrested early Tuesday morning in his hometown of Monroe, La.Cam Robinson fall out
OK, it was a late add to Tuesday's 5-at-10, that Alabama All-American left tackle Cam Robinson was arrested early Tuesday morning on misdemeanors of drug and firearm possession and a felony charge of possessing a stolen weapon.
It is not a good look, and could get way worse depending on what that stolen gun may be attached to down the road. It potentially could cost Robinson millions in lost draft positioning.
It also left us with several questions and pondering.
First, if this had happened in any county in Alabama not named Lee (home of Auburn), would we know about this?
Secondly, how hot was Saban when he was awoken from his slumber in the wee hours of Tuesday morning to hear this news, and how do his minions in the athletic department determine who makes that call? (Do they draw straws, is it a rotation basis that sometimes you get to give the Boss good news, sometimes you get to call and tell him Cam Robinson is facing jail time.)
Third, wonder what the penalty here is? Maybe two games, which would mean missing the opener against USC and then Western Kentucky. That said, it is a felony involved in a drug arrest, so who knows.
Fourth, no institution can ultimately protect everyone - be them silly-minded or sick or somewhere in between - from themselves. But here's betting that the support staff to help internally police players of this stature at programs of this stature will grow in the coming years. Alabama is poised to win its fifth national title under Saban and its fourth in five years. Considering tickets and donations and memorabilia and all of it, that's arguably a $100 million opportunity for the Tide. And Robinson's value - as the best, arguably most indispensable player on that side of the ball - to those goals would be easily assumed at $5 million, and maybe a great deal higher. So why wouldn't you have some sort of support staff dedicated to protecting the investment.
Finally, it got us wondering who would be the worst possible player for each SEC fan base to see in a story like this? Robinson is on the short list of a long list of supremely talented Alabama players on whom the team is really depending.
Interesting times for sure.
This and that
- It's high times for LeBron James right now. One of his BID-ness partners says the lifetime contract Nike is giving him will be worth $1 billion. Yes, that's with a 'b' thank you kindly. Here's a question: If James now has a $1 billion carrot all-but-guaranteed, here's wondering if he would play for the league minimum and let the Cavs use that money on a Durant or who knows who else who may be on the free agent market? This could be a complete game-changer, and that's not even discussing the possible conflicts of interest of the NBA uniform changes. What happens if Under Armour buys a logo spot on the Cavs, and James, who would be making way more money from the name on his sneakers than the one on his jersey says he's not playing? Good luck with that Adam Silver.
- Here's the most recent last political will and testament on presidential candidates, as people use their obits to make statements about Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Got to admit, we enjoyed the line of at least one of the deceased "feeling the urn."
- Here's a great trick shot from Jordan Spieth, who hit a flop shot marshmallow up in the air and then caught it in his mouth. (Side question: Marshmallows, friend or foe?)
- The Philadelphia 76ers won the draft lottery, and Ben Simmons lost it. The 76ers got the No. 1 overall pick as the lottery fell in exact order as the odds projected. Simmons, who could have been the next great player for the Lakers, who have the No. 2 pick, will be the latest highly drafted asset added the 76ers perpetual roster redo.
- Here's TFP all-around ace David Paschall's look at the monstrous opening weekend of college football.
- In one of the more strange stories in recent memory, Russell Wilson delivered the commencement speech to the University of Wisconsin graduates recently and it was filled with exaggerations and in some cases things that reportedly did not happen during his college career at N.C. State. And he the backlash has started.
Today's question
We have two.
Not sure who decided this, but today is National Golf Day. And yes, this should be a holiday in which everyone gets a a few hours to take a few swings.
There were a wealth of possibilities here today, but we will go with the traditional Rushmore of golf's all-time greats and we'll go Rushmore of "Caddyshack" lines.
Go, and remember the mailbag.