Weekend winners
Hubert Davis. In an uncertain first season with his alma mater, Davis and the Heels were a fringe (at best) NCAA team in late January. Now, they are a coin-flip bet against UCLA in the Sweet 16. And yes, the entire ACC is part of that conversation too, but Davis and UNC is at the forefront of it. (And you know the rules, so when it comes tournament time, not only is Weeds in his element, he’s simply a must read. His column was aces – read it here – and he and I and the rest of America are completely ready for the Coach K lovefest to just be at level 10 rather than this full-blown deity worship. I think CBS may have Nantz, Grant Hill, Clark Kellogg and that AT&T cutie carry Coach K into the Sweet 16 arena on a Caesar’s-esque litter while Bilas peels grapes and Seth Whosehispants fans him with a giant feather.)
Saint Peter’s. Yes, beating UK was the cherry on top. But getting that whole extra week of Sweet 16 pub can be program changing if played properly.
Sam Burns. Man, pressure golf is fun. Golfers making monster shots in that pressure is even more fun.
The Rams and Matt Stafford. Not only is Matt Stafford in a grand AT&T commercial that is being aired in a constant loop during the NCAA tournament – seriously, we can’t figure out how to stop COVID but the CBS and Turner execs can magically make four sporting events go to commercial at exactly the same time 8 times out of 10? – but now the Rams are seriously committed to going back-to-back. The Rams added former Bears receiver Allen Robinson, who is a legit dude but had the bad luck of playing WR in the QB desert that is Chicago, to an already loaded offense. Giddy up.
Trevor Story. The middle infielder becomes the latest Red Sox player to cash monster checks to try to hit baseballs off the Monster. Good work if you can get it.
Cleveland fans who want to win. The Browns are built to win a Super Bowl now. Like right now. And if newly acquired QB DeShaun Watson is not a) suspended for the season (or no more than say six games), and b) 85% of what he was as a player before he sat out the 2021 season because of the 22 allegations of sexual assault against him, the Cleveland offense is going to be scary good. That’s a top-10 O-Line with the best running back tandem in the league as well as newly added Amari Cooper and a slew of options at tight end. Buckle up.
Weekend losers
Cleveland fans who want to tell their kids why they are Cleveland Browns fans. Bearddawg said last week that the Watson thing in his mind is settled because authorities did not have enough evidence to move forward with the charges. That argument has merit, because we are in a country that thankfully embraces the idea of ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ And yes, there are a lot of folks using a lot of their powers to exploit the rich and famous out there. But Watson was accused by more than a dozen women of almost two dozen acts of sexual assault. The sheer volume is staggering and must be discussed. (Side note: The social media back and forth between female sports journalists like Sarah Spain, who are outraged by Watson getting a second chance, and Black journalists and fans wondering why there was not the same outrage about Big Ben or other white professional stars accused of similar misdeeds is entertaining. When social justice warriors start to fight among themselves, well, as T.O. said, grab your popcorn.)
Falcons chemistry. Matt Ryan is a good player. He likely will compile enough stats to make the Hall of Fame. But the franchise is floundering and the future is bleak. And the Falcons were among the finalists for Watson and believed they had a deal with the Texans for the embattled QB and reportedly were ready to ship Ryan to Indy. How does the franchise and its franchise QB move forward from here? Stinky times in Flowery Branch.
The Lakers. Man, they stink on ice. So is LeBron tanking so he can save up some energy when Bron-Bron comes to the league and the James Gang can be the most one-sided answer to a sports family trivia game since “Which MLB brothers have combined for the most homers for siblings?” (Answer in the ‘This and that.’)
Local fan bases. More on this in a moment, but egad, what a series of gut punches for the basketball broods around these parts. Kentucky on Day 1. UTC in a heartbreaker on Friday. Tennessee inexplicably returning to the Butch Jones mantra of ‘brick by brick’ and Auburn being outcoached – by a bunch – and outworked – by a bunch – by a Miami team that’s feisty.
Baylor basketball. The 1 seeded men are done. The No. 2-seeded women likewise are headed home. Hey, at least the Red Raiders baseball team is excellent. Hold on. Being told that is a different Baylor altogether. OK. Moving on.
My bracket. Holy cow what a smoldering mess. Yes, I was big on UK. But had UT doing some real damage too. And the Mocs. The only pick I had right was Miami, but the smoldering shambles that is my bracket is worth little more than the paper on which it’s printed. Guess that’s what happens when you think the SEC is gonna deliver the goods, huh?
Alex Anthopoulos. Hey, AA is the leader of one of the best organizations in baseball. And baseball, as we’ve been reminded over and over again, is a business. Cool, got it. And in the end, the decision to not go after Freddie Freeman may prove to be the wise one in terms of assets and accumulation. But it’s off-the-charts disingenuous for AA to shed those crocodile tears and talk about how this is the hardest decision he’s ever had to make and then learn that no one from the organization called Freddie Freeman to say, “That’s it, we’re turning the page” before the Braves traded for Matt Olson. Are the Braves better right now than they were this time last year? Maybe, and that’s a big part of AA’s gig. But, with every new detail about how this was approached from the Braves side, this was the cold side of business that was about replacing an aging fan favorite more than the dollars and sense considering the Braves have spent a ton of cabbage in this offseason, including the addition of closer Kenley Jansen over the weekend. And considering how the negotiations never got started last year when we were wondering what was taking so long to resign Freddie, you have to wonder how long have the Braves known this was the direction they were heading, you know? And, if we’re going to share both sides of the Watson coin, yeah, Marcel Ozuna and his baggage are back in spring training too. Hey, Marcel, let’s keeping the hitting to opposing pitchers this year, huh?
College hoops officiating. We knew it was coming. Buckets of missed calls and a river of block/charge controversy was destined to head this way in an NCAA tournament that is filled with passion and pressure. But the T on the Illinois player for hanging on the rim in a still-in-doubt moment in the Illini’s loss to Houston was awful. And unfair. Grand scheme, Illinois was lucky to get to Sunday considering the way the Mocs dominated that first-round game game, but what a game-changing, momentum-altering, awful call.
Passion and pain
I ask this openly and with more sincerity than I normally bring:
Is it bad parenting to pass along your love of a sports franchise to your kids?
Am I committing some random form of child abuse – fan abuse? – since my daughter cried herself to sleep last night after Auburn’s gag job against Miami?
It also got me thinking about the bigger picture. If the sports teams in our lives were people, we would have cut them off so very long ago.
It’s a broken and dysfunctional one-way street in which fans find the scraps of the best we can muster in a minefield of misery.
There is only one winner, and that makes being that one winner even more special. But even at the pinnacle, the emotions fade and the mind wanders to “Can we do it again next year?’ far too quickly.
I’ve said forever that sports fandom – and expectations – have been forever changed because the joy of victory has been all-too-sadly changed to the relief of not losing.
Because losses mean anguish, and heckling, and confusion. And for the little ones in our fan fiefdom, tears.
I could go on, but you get the idea, and I’m not sure when it changed, when it became such a doomed path to gloom. Or maybe that comes with the stakes because being terrible is not the worst thing in sports.
Being forgettable is. Having an indifferent fan base rather than an angry one is the worst thing out there. Ask the Braves circa 1988 and the Braves circa last week.
But amazingly on that scale of sad states for the sports and stars we love, if being middle of the road is worse than being bottom of the barrel, it’s more painful to be very good and never clear that hump.
Tennessee hoops is still looking for its first Final Four, and a lot of us – myself included – thought this team was an Elite Eight lock.
So failing to get there hurts.
Is it possible to lower expectations for our favorites or temper our burning hopes for greatness? I don’t know.
But man, I hope someone figures it out before my daughter has to decide whether to share her love – and pain – for Auburn athletics.
This and that
– The answer of course is the Aarons, Hank having 755 and Tommie adding in 13.
– Yes, I have thoughts on the Lookouts and the Stadium conversations. Those will have to wait. But here’s some excellent insight from TFP business ace Mike Pare, who rode to Columbia to see Jason Freier’s handy work over there for the minor league team he pulled from Savannah when that Georgia city would not pony up cash for a new stadium.
– Here’s Saturday’s A2 column from some round faced fella.
Today’s questions:
Weekend winners and losers. Go.
There are a slew to choose from, so have at it.
As for today, welcome to spring, which has sprung.
Gary Oldman is 63. He’s a wicked underrated thespian. Matthew Broderick is 59. Yes, Ferris is 59.
Rushmore of actors defined by one role, because I think Broderick as Ferris is a good bet to make that one.