Fairness?
So, we talked a couple of weeks ago about the Lookouts ownership crew wanting public dollars to pay for a majority of a new stadium for the Double-A baseball club.
It’s been a political football, and when we previously discussed it, the bonds and sales tax conversation was enlightening from some of our big-brained readers.
It now looks like at least our local delegation is more open to the talks and thoughts of this, especially the use of tax money from the project to repay the bonds. But the state legislatures appear to be not as keen on a state grant of over $13 million.
And in truth, they should be more open to the idea in terms of fairness.
No, I have not completely changed my tune.
I still want the Lookouts to stay – something that simply will not happen if Jason Freier and his cohorts do not get a new stadium.
I still want Freier and his crew to put up more than the original numbers being discussed. The stadium project has an $86.5 million projection, but we all know that number will be closer to $90 million when everything is said and done. State and local funds make up more than two-thirds of the funding. That ratio – in time when inflation is soaring and there are a slew of school-related funding needs in our county – seems too high to me.
But the state was open to Knoxville getting a new stadium. The state is bending over 12 ways from Tuesday to help the Titans get a new stadium. The state will likely do the same when UT-Knoxville comes calling wanting new and better facilities and/or upgrades.
And yes, there are differences. The Knoxville baseball park that the state is helping Randy Boyd build, at least according to one of our local state representatives, had a lot more private funding than what the Lookouts are looking to pony up.
And yes, the NFL is a money-making monster for everyone associated with it, but the owners of the Titans have billions of dollars – yes, with a b – at their disposal.
In a matter of fairness, if the state is going to be in the business of sports and stadium funding, picking and choosing one over another seems more foul than fair to me.
Tiger talk
This makes me even more excited for the tradition unlike any other. Tiger Woods reportedly played 18 at Augusta National to test his physical condition.
Hmmmmmmm.
OK, first side question: Is there a golf course on the planet that would tell Tiger, “Thanks, but not today” if he called and wanted a tee time? I say no.
Second side question: If there’s one sports skill on the planet you could rub a lamp and have a genie give you, the perfect golf swing is pretty high on that list, no?
Side question No. 3: In the relaxed conditions at Augusta, with his son Charlie – who has a great golf swing – and buddy Justin Thomas, what do you think Tiger shot? I bet it was in the 60s.
So Tiger. The Masters. Please let it be so.
Let the war of words begin
So, it’s borderline impossible to overstate the magnitude of the Duke-UNC Final Four game this weekend. (Side note: Chris B., I need your total points scored for the semifinals and finals as a tie-breaker por favor. Gracias.)
A spot in Monday’s title game is only the beginning step in the first-ever tournament meeting between the biggest rivalry in college hoops.
There’s the uniqueness of this stage for these bitter enemies.
And one of the coaches may or not be hanging ’em up. I’ve heard reports that hint at that but nothing has been confirmed or discussed 12,458 times by the TV folks.
So, yeah, it’s a big deal.
And now we’re getting the famous former faces in this blue blood battle of blues. JJ Redick is pointing his ire toward the UNC fans and saying they have an “inferiority complex.”
Here’s his quote on ESPN: “And Marcus [Spears], you bring up the word ‘hate,’ the hatred between Auburn and Alabama fans. And my comment to that is I’ve always felt that Carolina fans hate Duke fans way more than Duke fans hate Carolina fans. And the reason is that people that go to Carolina – and there’s a lot of people in North Carolina that are UNC fans that didn’t go to Carolina – but people in North Carolina and UNC fans all over the country, they have an inferiority complex. They have an inferiority complex, and that’s just part of the rivalry.”
Pot, Kettle. Kettle, meet Pot. How many Duke hoops fans do you know? How many of them went to Duke?
And I’m pretty sure both the UNC and Duke basketball sewing circles and book clubs are way, Way, WAY more likely to have an arrogance issue than an inferiority complex. (Side question: Rushmore of most arrogant fan bases? Go. And yes, we’ll revisit this below.)
And to make Redick’s claim even more off-target, someone should remind him that UNC has more titles, more Final Four appearances and more wins.
Have Coach K and various Devils been the face of the sport for the last three decades? Sure.
But I’m pretty sure every Carolina fan I’ve ever met is a long way from feeling inferior to anyone when it comes to hoops.
This and that
– Speaking of Duke-UNC, so Eric Church is a country music star. And one of my personal favs. And apparently, he’s a big UNC hoops fan. (Not sure if he feels inferior, JJ, but we can check.) But Church canceled a concert scheduled for Saturday night in Texas to go to the Final Four game in New Orleans. I think that’s bush league, to be honest.
– Speaking of Duke-UNC, here’s Weeds on the McCallie chaplain, who was a senior and played for Coach K in his first season at Duke in 1980. Good stuff. (You know the rules.)
– We mentioned Tuesday that Will Smith’s Oscar moment actually made Kathy Griffin seem wise. Well, go to the next step. Here’s O.J. Simpson offering some insight on social media about Smith’s slap heard ’round the world. Hey Juice, may want to sit out every social media conversation about violence, huh? At least until you – cough, cough – find Nicole’s killer.
– So, UTC has hired Shawn Poppie to be its next women’s hoops coach, according to Mean Gene Henley’s Twitter feed. Here’s more from Gene.
– This is a super cool story. The Ringgold High School theater crew put on an encore performance of “Catch Me If You Can” this week to raise money for kids in war-torn Ukraine. I wrote about it a couple of weeks ago. Well, Frank Abagnale Jr. – the character Leo DiCaprio played in the big-screen movie version of Abagnale’s life story – was in the audience and donated $10,000 to fund-raising efforts. I love stuff like that. Side question: It would be pretty boss to have Leo play you in a movie, don’t you think?
– UT’s pro day is on the horizon, and as Paschall notes, Velus Jones and Alontae Taylor are among the former Vols looking to impress potential future employers at today’s event.
Today’s questions
Which way Wednesday starts this way: Which all-time college basketball program would have the best team in an alumni tournament?
Which sports story – if any – would be bigger this year than Tiger being in the final group on Sunday at Augusta?
As for today, Eric Clapton is 77 today.
Eric Clapton, underrated, overrated, properly rated?
Let’s do the Rushmore above – Rushmore of the most arrogant fan bases.
Go, and remember the mailbag.