NFL owners meetings
Man, the NFL is a monster. A Shield-toting, news-churning, interest-clamoring monster.
The owners are meeting this weekend in Palm Beach. (Side question: Have you ever noticed that none of these owners meetings for the big-time sports are in, say, Topeka or Cookeville? Not going to hear “Let’s go to Chris Mortenson, live from the NFL owners meeting in Biloxi, Mississippi” from any of the ESPN anchors any time soon.)
There are several things on the agenda this week that we know of.
(Side note: I would love to be a fly on the wall as teams try to discuss the DeShaun Watson stuff and what is and is not said around Robert Kraft, Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder – three powerful NFL owners who have not had the best histories in terms of dealings with women.)
On the public docket for the most powerful dudes in the most powerful sports league on the planet are a slew of head-turners.
There is momentum to apparently change the overtime rule. As for me, I’m with Mike Tomlin, the Steelers coach who said Monday that he prefers the sudden death model of OT. When asked about each team getting the ball and having a chance to win, Tomlin said something along the lines of ‘We just played four full quarters, what about the chances to win during regulation.’ Amen, Coach.
There also is talk out there that the NFL could start its own streaming service. Friends, when/if the NFL redirects its products and eliminates the middle distributors like the networks and the ESPN and such, Katie Couric bar the door. Cash by the crate, friends.
And there was talk of diversity, of course, because there has to be, right?
Call it the Brian Flores wrinkle to the Rooney Rule if you want – and rumors are swirling that two other Black football coaches are going to join Flores’ lawsuit against the league and specific teams for discrimination – but the NFL is expanding its longstanding rule about interviewing minorities.
First, interviewing a female will count as fulfilling the Rooney Rule. OK. The interview of a minority – or a female – must be in person to satisfy the Rooney requirements. (No word though if it counts if John Elway shows up hungover.)
Finally, every team is being forced to hire a minority or female offensive assistant for the 2022 season. Wowser.
NCAA tournament
Yes, we bemoan the seeds. We bicker about the refs. We complain about the officiating.
And in almost every instance, the controversy is never a bad thing. Far from it.
Unless you get caught using the queen mother of all slurs or make a Hitler joke, controversy is a good thing. Because controversy becomes conversation, and there really almost never is bad publicity.
Well, this dust-up stinks, and it’s just the latest line item embarrassment for an NCAA ledger filled with them. And worse still, it could have been easily avoided.
NC State lost to UConn last night and the Huskies reached their 12 billionth Final Four in a row. No, I don’t need an explanation on that. UConn is UConn, and despite unloading every chamber, Wes Moore’s Wolfpack fell just short in double overtime. (Seriously, that’s 14 straight Final Fours for UConn, a streak that whenever it ends will be up there with Cy Young’s 511 career wins in the unbreakable ranks.)
Nope, my question is how the committee in good conscience forced NC State – which earned a 1 seed with a stellar regular season – to go to Bridgeport, Connecticut, to play a road game against UConn, which was only a 2 seed because the nation’s best player missed more than two months of the season with an injury.
Said best player – Paige Bueckers – is back now, and UConn is UConn. And they got two home games in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds.