5-at-10: Warriors' trouble, New way to pay college athletes, Braves' big chance, Rushmores of sports photos and whiners


              Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) shoots over Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the first half in Game 4 of the NBA basketball Western Conference finals in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) looks on. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) shoots over Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the first half in Game 4 of the NBA basketball Western Conference finals in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, May 24, 2016. Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) looks on. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Through the looking glass

Wow, the Warriors, the greatest this or that depending on who you ask or better yet when you asked it, are on the brink of elimination.

Their basketball mortality is as surprising for a number of reasons:

It happened more quickly than Russell Westbrook to the rim.

It has hinged on the complete collapse of Draymond Green, who is a shocking minus-73 in Games 3 and 4. (The plus/minus is an analytic stat that shows the scoring difference when a player is on the floor. And for Green, an All-NBA player who was the runner-up for defensive player of the year honors to be a minus-73 makes everyone involved in this series say, "That's NUTS." Sorry.) Golden State would have been better off with Green suspended for Game 4 instead of that clunker he dropped.

Westbrook has been the best player on the floor - and that's with unanimous MVP Steph Curry on the other side. And it really has not been that close. The Thunder point guard dropped a triple-double (36-11-11, mind you) on the Warriors' repeat hopes in Game 4 as OKC grabbed a 3-1 lead. It was the first time this season Golden State has lost back-to-back games.

And it could not have come at a worst time.

Side note: The Warriors were 68-7 when the New York Times published the story in which owner Joe Lacob said they were "light years ahead" of everyone in the league. The Warriors are 14-7 since.

photo UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen celebrates a touchdown scored by Kenny Clark during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Virginia at the Rose Bowl, Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015, in Pasadena, Calif. UCLA won 34-16. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Fair question

UCLA signed a 15-year, $280-million apparel deal with Under Armour. It's the largest contract of its kind in college sports, and one that surely makes the ends meet for a power program.

That kind of coin raised a very interesting question from the most notable 'amateur' athlete playing for the Bruins. UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen, who barring injury will be a very lofty draft pick when he becomes eligible to declare (which is an entirely different discussion altogether), took to social media to discuss the recent deal.

"We're still amateurs though Gotta love non-profits. #NCAA."

OK, off the top, we believe the discussions to pay players greatly undervalues the price of the scholarship and the value of an education - and the ability to get a degree and be debt free entering the work force. That must be weighed in greater force.

But for all of us who believe that the obscene money that is generated by these athletes and given to then coaches make it harder and harder to continue to dismiss the points about paying the players.

Yes, there are multiple layers to that onion, be them federal (Title IX) or simply funding. But Rosen's point is well-made, especially in this matter.

Why does Under Armour want to partner with UCLA? Because it has won a record 113 national championships across all sports because it lands great players and plays on the national scale in a lot of sports.

Players like Rosen are the primary reason for that. And the fact that Ed O'Bannon, the former Bruins basketball player who sued the NCAA and EA Sports for making a ton of money on college players' likenesses in video games makes the deal richer on a different level.

So, moving forward, why can't a percentage of every apparel deal like this one be used as the stipend support for all the athletes? Let's examine the UCLA deal as an experiment.

If you give 10 percent to the student-athletes, that's $1.867 million annually over the course of the deal. With 21 varsity scholarship sports, unofficially that's probably about 500 or so scholarship athletes, give or take. That's an extra $3,733 per athlete for wearing free clothes.

It would be an outside-funded way to reward the athletes for making the brand attractive. It also offers at least a somewhat ethical exchange for the fact that Rosen's complaint is fair because his No. 3 Under Armour jersey would be a top seller if it hit the market.

One of the main concerns about giving players royalties on the sales from their jerseys is the potential for corruption. Maybe a star recruit leans toward Power Program A because Rich Booster Tex will buy 100,000 of his No. 3 jersey. It's a realistic concern, and the dirty level of college sports sadly forces us to a place that every decision has to be vetted for potential loopholes that allow corruption.

But a set percentage of every apparel deal - with a fixed ceiling (so Nike and Phil Knight do not sign Oregon to a $1 billion deal that would offer a huge pool, see what we mean about loopholes?) - to be parsed to all the athletes could work.

photo Milwaukee Brewers' Scooter Gennett (2) drives in the game-winning run with a base hit as Atlanta Braves catcher Tyler Flowers (25) looks on in the eighth inning of baseball game Tuesday, May 24, 2016, in Atlanta.

Braves report

We are back here on a Wednesday, and while we wavered on looking at the brightest of baseball's worst team after they tried to blame this mess on Fredi Gonzalez, we're back on the positive perspective.

Again, the future has to be built around a rotation that is balanced and deep. The Braves have a great foundation, highlighted by Julio Teheran, who was simply dazzling in last night's 2-1 loss to Milwaukee.

In seven innings, Teheran fanned 12 without walking anyone and allowed two singles and a solo homer to Ryan Braun. The byproduct of bad timing and an even worse offense, Teheran is 1-4 with an ERA of 2.57.

He will be a fine piece in the rotation, and if the Braves can develop or sign a real top-of-rotation ace, Teheran could be a monster No. 2 guy around which to assemble a starting staff.
Braves have picks 3, 40, 44, 76 and 80 in the first-year players draft early next month.

There will be lots of speculation about adding pop - especially an experienced bat from the college ranks, be it Tennessee third baseman Nick Senzel or Mercer outfielder Kyle Lewis - and that's understandable for a franchise that needs more power.

Still, with a large bonus pool - the Braves have more than $13 million to give bonuses to their draft picks this year after their recent trade with Baltimore - the Braves could really land an impressive haul of talent in the draft from June 9-11. And they need it.

(We love the draft. You know this.)

This and that

- OK, the Braves lineup is so bad it's frightening. We know this. But did you know that despite being 30-14 with the best record in baseball, the Cubs' overpowering order actually has room to get better. Lots better, considering Addison Russell, Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward are all hitting .240 or less. Buckets that's a deep lineup.

- We had Manny being Manny and a few others being well other-worldly. Yasiel Puig continues to cement his place in that less-than-flattering category. Puig, who has more tools than Lowe's, was pulled from Tuesday'sDodgers game for not hustling out a deep fly ball that became a 400-foot single. Despite having as much physical talent as anyone in the majors this side of Mike Trout, Puig is hitting .247. Here's a new spin: This is Puig stopping Puig.

- The Super Bowl rotation is set for the next five years. Next year is Houston, followed by Minneapolis, Atlanta, South Florida and Los Angeles. New Orleans and Tampa were the two cities that made pitches at the NFL owners meeting on Tuesday that were left on the outside looking in. We believe New Orleans will get one of the hosts spot in the next bidding. Dallas, too. And whenever a team moves to Vegas, that will be a Super Bowl dream come true. Man the Super Bowl in Vegas would be insane, and Vegas and L.A. will become once-every-five-or-so-years hosts.

- Craig Sager, the TNT NBA sideline reporter who has fought cancer and endured Popovich, will receive the Jim Valvano Award for perseverance at the ESPYs. Now word yet whether Caitlyn Jenner will make an appearance.

- Here's a link to MocTastic's update on the UTC club baseball team winning the national title.

Today's questions

We have two Rushmores today.

First, it was 51 years ago today that Muhammad Ali beat Sonny Liston. It was back when a heavyweight title fight caused the sports world to pause.

It also gave us the iconic photo of Ali standing over him with his right fist near his shoulder as Ali yelled for Liston to get up off the canvas. The fight lasted less than three minutes; that photo will live forever. What's the Rushmore of all-time sports pictures?

Also, today is national wine day, and while we firmly can support that, let's spin it with the Rushmore of sports whiners. Deal? Deal.

Go, and remember the mailbag.

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