5-at-10: Friday mailbag with a couple of Tiger topics, cord-cutting and college sports, trade deadline stuff and normal beer snobs

From a lot of you

When the (bleep) will the comments be back?

Gang –

The tech folks are working on it and believe me, I am as eager to return to our old set-up as you are.

Till then however, feel free to play along on email jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or Twitter @jgreesontfp.

And for those looking for some of the glass-half-full part of this, well, the A2 columns have had less angst these days. So there’s that.

—

From a few of you

What are your thoughts about the trading deadline? (And) Will the Braves make a deal?

Guys –

We’ll answer the second part first. The Braves have added Jonny Venters, a lefty reliever that should be a very familiar name for Jonny Braves Fans everywhere. (Still, there’s a great scene in Major League when the coaches are looking at the roster at the start of spring training and said of Jake Taylor: “I wish we had him two years ago.” “We did.” “Four years ago then.” Good times.)

Whether the Braves pull of a bigger deal, well that will have a lot to do with this weekend in our view.

You also have to wonder if the Braves are standing there wondering, “Who could we reasonably add to really increase our chance to win this thing.”

There are five teams that are making moves and trying to position themselves for a World Series run.

The Yankees, who lost Aaron Judge for at least three weeks with a fractured wrist, have added Zach Britton and J.A. Happ.

The Red Sox have added Nathan Evoldi, and here’s a bet they will do more.

The Cubs just added Cole Hamels.

The Dodgers added Manny Machado.

The Astros did not add anyone yet, but remember they have one of the best rosters in baseball, a historically good rotation, and added Justin Verlander this time last year.

Unless the Braves unload the truck for Bryce Harper, which would not make sense considering their needs, or a front-line starter, could they add a meaningful piece to truly get into the conversation of teams with a chance to win the whole thing?

That said, if we’re the Braves brass, here’s the move we’d seriously consider expediting the process and dealing some of the hot-shot prospects: Make the Mets a Corleone-like offer for Jacob deGrom. He’s a bona fide, top of the rotation ace.

Eight of the top 10 best Braves prospects are pitchers. The other two are Ronald Acuna (untouchable) and third baseman Austin Riley. Other than Acuna, every player on that list should be in the discussion for a pitcher like DeGrom, who has a 1.71 ERA and is 5-5 this year but has an amazing 1.91 ERA in those five losses.

He’s a legit No. 1 starter who you can hand the ball to if you make the postseason and see Kershaw or Arieta or Lester or Hamels in Game 1 of any series. And if you are in the wildcard game, deGrom is light years better than any option Atlanta has in a do-or-die game.

From PB

I think this is a valid question – can you be a normal beer snob? COORS > Bud Light

PB –

Such a great question, PB.

And we think you can be normal beer aficionado rather than a normal beer snob. And we would fall into that category.

In our personal Co-Cola chart, we would flip your rankings and say Bud Light > Michelob Ultra > Coors Light. We are OK with any of those three however.

And to put it more clearly, those three >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Miller Lite.

In fact, here’s where we are with the “Tastes Great, Less Filling” white can: If that’s the only option, then we’re not having a Co-Cola.

Somewhere Frank the Tank weeps.

From Julie

Jay, still no Discus so my apologies that you have to keep hearing my opinion on your email.

Where to start, the Tiger thing makes me crazy. So many good, exciting players that we should all LOVE to watch. I love golf. And part of why I can’t like him again is because of how he let us down let alone his family. However, I even found my own SELF getting excited this weekend and trying to subdue it.

Like I said, I love golf. But honestly, how can we as a society, celebrate when he walks by and makes a great shot? Can we seriously separate the golf from the destruction of his family that we all watched publicly? I can’t celebrate him. There’s even been plenty of stories about how he’s not different, hasn’t changed. But the golf is spectacular when it’s on.

It’s electric.

On a lighter note, loser of the weekend, Phil wore that shirt AGAIN. They have got to have someone at the clubhouse that escorts him from the premises if that happens again. New dress code I tell you. That is awful.

Love the show.

Julie –

As always feel free to bang away on the email, the Twitter and every where else, especially until we can get the comments fixed around these parts.

Your point is completely fair. (Side note: There is a hard push for diversity for diversity’s sake, and we have always been in the camp, when you are talking about jobs and such, that the best should be rewarded. So we’re not a diversity just to check boxes fan. But one thing that is important about having different voices with different backgrounds and differing perspectives is talking points like this. Thank you for that and playing along.)

One thing we will say is that Tiger has stayed involved in the lives of his kids. And for the most part Tiger and Elin have – at least after the Thanksgiving club/car incident – been very careful to be very civil and low key about the family issues. That has to be better for the kids too.

But again, no one can begrudge anyone for not liking Woods. He wrecked some lives with his behavior. You could say the same thing about Chipper Jones, too. (Heck, that may be the biggest change for athletes of the modern era. Jordan was always rumored to be a heavy philander; heck Wilt Chamberlain claims 10,000-plus encounters; think how big the Cheetah strip club story from the 1990s would have been in today’s social media realm.)

One thing though, is in some ways, his mistakes – as bad as they were – made him look more human to a lot of folks.

And, this is the part that drives me nuts, we as a society love to build up superstars to an insane level, then turn on them because they are ‘too popular’ even though we made them that way, and then cheer them in the comeback story.

Tiger’s not the first along that line. Nor will he be the last.

And your right, there are a slew of great dudes on the Tour. Spieth is aces. Rickie Fowler is a great guy. There are a ton of them.

But the charisma and the “Oh my Gosh did you see what Tiger did?” factor is the biggest draw on Tour. And there is no close second.

As for Phil’s shirt. It’s a no-go and should be against the rules. Of course, Phil would simply ignore that rule too.

From Pat

I came close – had Rose, Rory, Molinari, Fleetwood and screwed it up with Fowler.

Is Fowler doomed to never win a major?

And the thing about Molinari’s round Sunday it wasn’t like he was paired with some no-name. No, he got Tiger and all the crowds and all the commotion that goes along with that and played his tail off.

Wonder who he will draw in the Sunday singles at the Ryder Cup. And is Woods now a no-brainer for the U.S. team? Couldn’t have said that two months ago.

Pat –

OK, second part first.

Tiger is playing as well as any American right now. That has to count for something.

Tiger still is Tiger, and unless he draws Rory, Poulter and now Molinari, that has to count for something too.

Tiger also is the draw that every individual sport absolutely has to have. And while Woods’ star-power will be 100 percent of the decision, to pretend that it does not count in some way is silly.

As for Rickie, we want him to win one. we really do. But man, he has one round each major that cripples his chances. The other three rounds? He’s the best player in the field.

That said, after truly believing in our soul that Sergio was never, ever going to be a major champ, there’s no way we’ll ever say a 20-something with Fowler’s skill set will never win one.

But man, with each passing major, the added baggage only will get heavier and heavier.



From Billy in Brainerd

Hey Jay-Gor is it J-Geeeither way, I hope this email finds you well

I am guessing you have seen this article by nowbut if not, it is right in your wheel-house

I would love to read your thoughts on thiseither in The-5-At-10 or in a special appearance column on Page D1.

Keep up the good work on all the media outlets that you appearsincerely

BiB –

I did see that story, and it’s amazingly fascinating.

The revenue streams for every business – college sports, media, widgets, you name it – are always changing and smart leaders and owners are figuring out new streams before the current ones close.

If the Big Ten Network and Comcast can not come to terms, that’s a staggering dagger for the entire league’s income and its profile. That’s a huge problem, especially when the SEC Network is going gangbusters and the ACC is looking to come online with its own network too.

Plus, it puts a few Big Ten schools in play the next time expansion conversations happen if the network goes Comcast dark.

Here’s a thought that the league and the cable giant come to some sort of agreement before the Aug. 31 deadline, but we are surprised that the Big Ten did not make this a public campaign much sooner.

Here’s betting that every league network and main league platform must have digital plans in the works.

ESPN has trotted out ESPN+ hoping to get cord-cutters to pay $4.99 a month for access.

Shouldn’t we expect an SEC Net+ in the future, and considering the Saturdays of hundreds of thousands of avid fans at tailgates everywhere, we’re actually surprised that has not already happened.

The bigger umbrella for the entirety of college sports – and sports in general other than the NFL – is that the cord-cutting will alter the TV bids in the future, too.

As for the next round of revenue streams: Hello stadium alcohol sales.

Rushmore of most famous Rock-n-Roll lead singers: Jagger, Bon Jovi, Lennon, Bono

Rushmore of best NFL Nicknames: Sweetness, Mean Joe (Side note: Mean Joe Greene’s actual name is Charles Edward Greene, so yes, Mean Joe is a full nickname not a description), Crazy Legs and Night Train

Rushmore of five-tool celebrities: Justin Timberlake, Sammy Davis Jr., Fred Astaire, J-Lo

Rushmore of actors forever linked to one role: Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter (and potentially Ron Weasley), Linda Blair (the girl that played the girl in The Exorcist) Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho.