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Braves big issue
Hey, the Braves have overachieved.
That’s a credit to Walt Weiss in a lot of ways, you know?
Look at this team.
Like, really look at it.
With an injury-riddled Ronald Acuña Jr. and the pre-August disaster that was Austin Riley’s 2026, the offense has been right around the top five in runs all season despite its flaws.
And the flaws are the talking point this morning. And the lament of BravesNation everywhere at the relative inactivity from the front office as so many other NL teams pushed chips to the middle in expectation of the “er” months.
The Braves have one trustable starter for big games. One. That’s Chris Sale. That’s not changing.
The bullpen is taxed.
The offense is made for regular-season success but likely will get exposed in the postseason.
How can Atlanta be sixth in MLB in runs (581) but 19th in on-base percentage (.314)? It’s because they are top five in slugging, but that’s a trait that shrinks in the postseason when you only see top-flight starters and the elite-level options from the opposition’s bullpen.
With roughly 40 games to play, the postseason feels cinched for Atlanta. And that’s not to be understated or undersold. Getting a ticket to the dance has to be goal one each and every year.
Atlanta has a 7.5-game lead over Philadelphia in the East, which equates to a 99.8% chance of making the postseason.
But after Bryce Elder got shelled Monday by the hapless Mets — who have a 0.1% chance to make the playoffs, according to the above site — how long can these Braves boogie after they get into the dance?
WNBA narrative
So normally, I would have held BackUpQB’s WNBA question from Monday for Friday’s bag, but this felt too timely.
Especially after a Monday sports news cycle in which the W was a hot talking point. Normally — especially as we start salivating for football — that would be a monster W for the W, but not as much as you think.
Here’s QB2’s query:
“WNBA question: With all the drama and controversy, will this drive fans away? Or does the old adage “any news is good news” apply here and bring more eyeballs, kind of like rubberneckers who can’t look away from the crash scene as they slowly drive by?”
Terrific question and one that has merits on each side.
The political and social angst among the players and leaders of the association as well as around the WNBA are real.
And it comes as the sport has been on a rocket-ship trajectory of growth.
In so many ways, I have always believed there is almost no such thing has bad publicity.
Example 1: The Kardashians became billionaires primarily because a) their dad defended O.J., and b) one of the sisters made a sex tape with a B-level rapper. So there’s that
But that rule is not ironclad.
Example 2: We publish in the TFP the restaurant reports on health inspections. Those being published make them publicity. Scoring something in the neighborhood of a 56 because there were a family of raccoons sitting at table 3 and breaking in line for the buffet is really bad publicity.
But all of the WNBA drama — the Caitlin Clark hate/jealousy, the never-ending drum-banging about transgender athletes competing against biological females, the lightning rod that has become everything around Sophia Cunningham — makes me want to answer “Yes” to the duality of QB2’s question.
Follow along.
The publicity is good. Every NFL team is in camp. Every major college team is practicing. The NBA just dropped its schedule for opening night and Christmas Day. MLB playoff races are starting to heat up as we approach the “er” months.
Talking about anything WNBA-related right now feels like another W for the W in a lot of ways.
But the first part of the question lingers. “With all the drama and controversy, will this drive fans away?”
I think it will, and that belief is two-fold.
First, why do we love sports in the first place? Sure, we have been raised around them, we connected with family through them, we recall the fond memories of playing and watching and being connected to them.
But so, so many use sports as an escape from an ever-trying life. Lives filled with real-world issues like divorce and financial hardships and death and kids moving to college and so much more. And real-world issues like racism and hatred.
So the narrative becomes an easy talking point for everyone from the yapping puppies on a third-rate YouTube channel to the big barking dogs at the Worldwide Leader who make a lot of hay with race-baiting and finger-wagging.
It also becomes tired. And it becomes a bad distraction from the good distraction that we all want sports to be, if that makes sense.
Fore-shame
So a St. Louis golfer playing in a member-member event at his country club used an elaborate scheme and faked a hole-in-one recently.
He was kicked out of the club and is facing the scorn of the golfing community.
Here’s more, including the details of the plan.
So, Zach Holland was in the first group of the member-member and well-before his tee time, rode out to the par 3 4th hole and put one of his marked golf balls in the hole.
When he and his playing mates completed the first three holes, Holland said he needed to take a personal phone call about an ill family member. To keep up with the pace of play, Holland said he would hustle to the 4th tee, hit his tee shot and meet them on green.
When the foursome reunited on the green, Holland said he “thinned” his shot and did not see where the ball ended up. When the group found the ball in the cup, they celebrated Holland’s “ace.”
However, the club had security camera footage — who other than, say, Augusta National maybe has security footage of the fourth hole? — caught Holland’s pre-round maneuver,s and he admitted to the cheating saga.
He resigned his membership.
This and that
> Speaking of WNBA drama, just saw this at the 11th hour (more like the 9:20ish hour, sorry Clint) that Indiana fans want Fever coach Stephanie White fired because she refuses to back Cunningham in the most recent incident when she was flagrantly fouled by DJ Carrington, who posted “White privilege” on social media after being ejected for the clothesline foul.
> Did a slew of videos for SE16 Monday. Check them out, including this conversation about what no one is really talking about this preseason with Tennessee football.
> Rules, friends. Here’s Paschall with some details on UT’s secondary shuffle.
> Forget on the court. Sports are all in the courts now. The latest? A Tulsa, Oklahoma, Little League team got a big legal W and will play today for a chance to advance to the Little League World Series.
> This story is nuts. A 16-minute video review in the Boston-Toronto game last night is a debacle. And the rules and overlaps are quite confusing, too.
Today’s questions
True or false it’s Tuesday. Morning, Ernie.
True or false, the Braves have an NLDS ceiling.
True or false, there is no such thing as bad publicity.
True or false, the WNBA is losing fans because of all this social controversy.
True or false, MJ’s famous phrase, “Republicans buy sneakers, too,” should be a major part of every rookie symposium of every professional sports league.
You know the drill. Answer some Ts or Fs, ask some Ts or Fs. No big whoop.
As for today, Aug. 11, let’s review.
It is National Sons and Daughters Day, which as a parent of one of each, I thought was kinda every day.
It’s also National Presidential Joke Day. (Cue Chas in 3, 2, 1 …)
Babe Ruth hit his 500th career homer on this day in 1929. He would end with 714. Want to know a crazy stat? Before the Babe start playing, some dude named Roger Connor was the all-time home run king with what was believed to be an unbreakable mark of 138.
Robin Williams died on this day in 2014.
Mike Douglas was born on this day in 1920 and died on this day in 2006.
Does Mike make the Rushmore of daytime talk-show hosts?
Go.