Future moves
Thought this story was very intriguing.
Pro Football Talk is reporting that the NFL is considering opting out of its contract with Direct TV. Hmmmmmm.
Currently the contract between the two parties runs through 2022. If the NFL elects to end its deal with the satellite provider – the two have worked together since 1994 – the NFL could opt out at the end of the 2019 season.
There are several ripples here.
First, even with the recent sag in TV numbers, the complete NFL package – which Direct TV has – would be a supremely attractive piece for a slew of media giants.
Monster cable companies like Comcast or Charter would be in the deal. The satellite folks would be too, even if the price is lofty (The NFL Sunday Ticket is about $400 per year) and if the Red Zone on the NFL Network has taken away some of its appeal.
Now add in all the up-and-coming streaming services, such as Amazon or Google as well as the sports streaming options like Bleacher Report and ESPN+ and The Sunday Ticket will be a hot entity for sure.
Also know this: If the NFL opts out, those numbers – which likely would go into the billions depending on the length and terms of the deal – will be in place before the next collective bargaining agreement.
And if you think the NFL’s efforts to quiet the protests (when was the last time we heard any one speak about that?) and increase offense (the rule changes have, in part led to some fireworks shows this year), were by accident, well, we have some ocean-front lots in Hixson that we’ll sell you at a discount
And speaking of TV numbers, the thrilling Week 4 that just wrapped was a boon for the league and its broadcast partners. According to the Neilsen numbers, five of the six windows (Thursday night, Sunday at 1on CBS and Fox, Sunday national game at 4, Sunday night and Monday night) were up roughly 10 percent from Week 4 in 2017, which may have been unusually low because of the news coverage of the Las Vegas shootings.
Chicago Cubs’ Javier Baez, left, slides into second base safely as he hit a one-run double as Colorado Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu (9) makes a late tag during the eighth inning of the National League wild-card playoff baseball game, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018, in Chicago. (AP Photo/David Banks)
So it begins… and continues
Baseball’s postseason started with a bang.
Wow, 13 innings in the longest win-or-go-home game in baseball history. Final: Rockies 2, Cubs 1.
The last time a game like this went 12 innings was 2014. Ironically Jon Lester started that one too. (The only other previous win-it-or-it’s-over playoff game that went 12 innings was Game 7 of the 1924 World Series and Walter Johnson got the win.)
It was baseball at its best. At least in terms of drama.
It also was baseball at its most inactive. With an expanded strike zone offense was at a true premium. Heck, contact was at a premium. There were 101 batters and 29 of the struck out and eight walked. There were 15 pitchers used.
(Speaking of odd baseball stats, did you know that the road team is 8-5 in these Wildcard play-in games? One more? The team scoring first is now 10-3 in the Wildcard game.)
And when we discuss baseball numbers, you have to look to Jayson Stark, who is now with The Athletic and has more baseball numbers than any three experts on the planet.
Stark looked at the numbers that defined the baseball season, and yes he went way beyond the insane number of home runs hit.
> There were 8,000 more shifts this year than last. Yes, that directly impacts batting average and offense. According to Stark, since 2013, shifts are up 500 percent. In 2018 there were 34,673 shifts. In 2010, there were 2,463. It directly impacted left-handed hitters, who, according to the metrics, had an on-base percentage of .192 when they pulled a ground ball.
> There were 800 fewer balls in play this year compared to last, and there were roughly 11,000 fewer balls put in play in 2018 than in 2008. It’s the fewest balls put into play ever, and it was the first time in history there were more strikeouts (41,207) in a season than base hits (41,019). The direct impact on the game will leave you stunned in terms of live action. The average time of actual baseball in which the ball is in play for the 2018 was
Wait for it
Almost there
Four minutes. Yes. Four minutes of actual, ball-in-play action. The average length of game time was 3 hours and 4 minutes. So that’s three hours of swinging and missing, taking pitches, pitching changes, crotch scratches, mound visits, and everything outside of baseball and four minutes of actual baseball.
And now we know why the MLB is pushing so hard for a pitch clock. (Side note: The mound-visit rule and other adjustments shaved four minutes off the average length of a game compared to 2017. So there’s that.)
> Speaking of that, there were 678 more relief appearances this year compared to last, and the number of relief pitchers to enter a game is up 2,000 since 2013. Heck, the A’s are starting a reliever tonight in a win-or-end-the-season Wildcard game at New York. And this trend will only grow friends, considering that the Tampa Bay Rays developed the technique – a reliever taking the ball for the first inning has been called ‘The Opener’ as opposed to a starter or a closer – and Tampa Bay had a better record this year when they used an Opener. (And, the Rays led the American League in first inning ERA, so there’s that too.)
> There was a time in our life that hitting 20 homers meant you were a power hitter. (This was close to the same time that if you averaged 20 points per you were an NBA superstar and a 1,000-yard receiving season made you on the fast track to Canton.) In 2018, there 100 dudes in the big leagues who hit 20 or more homers. For perspective, there were 57 guys with at least 20 homers in 2014. All or nothing, right? And it’s the third straight year that there have been at least 100 players with at least 100 homers. That has never happened before – not even in the wild PED era of the late 1990s and early 2000s.
> As power surges, the stolen base continues to be a lost art. For the second consecutive year only one team (Cleveland) had more than 130 steals. Why that arbitrary number? Because that’s how many Rickey Henderson had in 1982 when he set the single-season record. And only one team passed what Henderson did by himself 36 years ago.
New York Yankees Aaron Judge high-fives teammates after they defeated the Toronto Blue Jays in a baseball game in Toronto, Saturday, July 7, 2018. (Fred Thornhill/The Canadian Press via AP)More Baseball
The Rockies toppled the Cubs in the NL Wildcard Game, meaning the NL Division Series is set. We’ll list schedules below and there will be no overlap Thursday and Friday between Press Row and Braves baseball. Good times. (As for the high school game of the week of Ooltewah at McMinn County brought to you by a slew of folks, including Kathleen Greeson Photography – yes, she’s the Mrs., and she’s amazing – we think that may force the Braves on Friday night to 106.9 FM but we will double check.)
Here are the team predictions we had before the season:
AL East – Picked Yankees; winner Red Sox
AL Central – Picked Indians; winner Indians
AL West – Picked Astros; winner Astros
Wildcards – Picked Red Sox and Angels; winners Yankees and A’s
NL East – Picked Nationals; winner Braves
NL Central – Picked Cubs; winner Brewers
NL West – Picked Dodgers; winner Dodgers
Wildcards – Picked Rockies and Cards; winners Rockies and Cubs.
Pretty good right? Well, that’s way better than the slew of picks we made for individual awards you can find here.
How bad was it? Well, our MVP picks were Gary Sanchez (YIKES!) and Bryce Harper. Those dudes hit .186 and .249 respectively. Egad that’s dreck. We did pick Ronald Acuna to be NL Rookie of the Year, but that was kind of a clear choice in late March considering what he did in spring training.
As for the awards for this regular season, well, here are my picks if I had a ballot and who I think will win in parenthesis looking at the stats of some dudes who had amazing years.
NL MVP: Christian Yelich, Milwaukee. Dude was dang close to the first NL triple crown in 81 years. (Yelich)
AL MVP: Mookie Betts, Boston. This one should not really be that close, with all apologies to his teammate J.D. Martinez and Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez. (Betts)
NL Cy Young: Jacob deGrom, New York. Check his numbers and you will be blown away. (Max Scherzer, Washington)
AL Cy Young: Chris Sale, Boston. Yes, the late-season injuries hurt his chances, but simply put, he was the best starter on the best team in baseball and was dominant. (Corey Kluber, Cleveland. Dude that 0.99 WHiP is pretty stout.)
NL Rookie: Ronald Acuna, Atlanta. This should be unanimous. (Duh)
AL Rookie: Shohei Ohtani, Anheim/L.A./Bakersfield/Cali. Yes, we have man crush on the dude. Sue me. (Miguel Andujar, New York)
NL Manager: Brian “The Snit” Snitker, Atlanta. Seriously, the Braves are clearly the best team left playing, and while that may or may not mean he did the best job, it certainly gives the choice plenty of appeal. (We’re calling Bullsnit on anyone not voting for The Snit.)
AL Manager: Alex Cora, Boston. In his first year won franchise-record 108 games in a pressure-packed gig. (Bob Melvin, Oakland.)
This and that
– As for the good news about baseball, we loved, Loved, LOVED the MLB commercial with Ken Griffey Jr. narrating the highlights that clearly break from the mold (or some would say moldy) of the ‘unwritten’ rules.
– Twins fired Paul Molitor, who was Manager of the Year in the AL all the way back in 2017.
– Speaking of TV and football, THE Ohio State and Penn State last Saturday was the most-watched game of the season so far.
– And speaking of controversy, well, the stories coming out of the Ryder Cup about a collection of spoiled bratty Americans gets more surreal by the day. There was Patrick Reed thinking he was going to pull a Phil Mickelson and blast the process and captain Jim Furyk to the New York Times. Well, a U.S. Ryder Cup teammate told the New York Post that Reed was full of (poop). Now comes stories that Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson got into at least one fight – and maybe two, including an altercation on the team flight on Thursday – and that Johnson’s baby momma Paulina Gretzky was involved. Egad.
– Speaking of Ryder Cup, we feel pretty confident that, regardless of what time you read this – or even what day – Phil Mickelson just missed a 5-footer for par.
– Saw this this morning. That’s the No. 1 high school wide receiver recruit in America recommitting from Georgia. And whether this has anything to do with the chowder head UGA baseball player who reportedly was screaming N-bombs at the UGA bench for the team to put back-up quarterback Justin Fields in the game, well, who knows.
—
Today’s question
Shall we play some , “Which way Wednesday” since, you know, it’s a Wednesday?
We say shall.
Interesting story here on comparing the numbers between Drew Brees and Peyton Manning. https://www.yahoo.com/sports/case-drew-brees-better-qb-peyton-manning-050726125.html So, which way, Brees or Manning? (And while regionally this will be one-sided around these parts, the numbers are way, Way, WAY closer than you may think.)
Which way: Should the MLB take action to change the trending direction of baseball’s inactivity, i.e. pitch clocks, shift limits, pitching change regulations, etc.?
Which way: If you are the next Ryder Cup captain, if Patrick Reed does not qualify, would you pick him? Also, which way you going on who wins a fight between Dustin Johnson (huge reach edge) or Brooks Koepka (muscles on muscles)?
As for today, Oct. 3, let’s explore.
First, as for the ‘National’ days, today stinks. National Kale Day? Random Acts of Poetry Day? National Caramel Custard Day? (Side question: Caramel, friend or foe? And while we are here, custard, friend or foe?) National Butterfly and Hummingbird Day? National Techie Day? Egad, those are rotten.
On this day in 1992, Sinead O’Connor ripped up a photo of the Pope. In 1995, O.J. was found not guilty. (That was one of the moments, not unlike when Magic retired because of HIV, a lot of us remember exactly where we were.)
Soccer star Zlatan is 37 today. You know when were naming the 5-at-10 tots, Zlatan was not discussed.
Tommy Lee is 56 today. Sean William Scott is 42. (He pl;eyed Stifler, and is the rarest of birds considering he has three first names.) Gwen Stefani is 49. Neve Campbell is 45.
Chubby Checker is 77 today. Al Sharpton is 64. Stevie Ray Vaughn would have been 64. I am 48. So there’s that.
Today is also National Mean Girls Appreciation Day because the movie of the same title was released on this day in 2004. Some say it’s a ‘cult classic’ whatever that means.
Rushmore of movies set in or around high school.
Go and remember the mailbag. And to call your parents. Trust me.