Sign up for the daily newsletter, Jay’s Plays of the Day, to get sports betting recommendations for the top games of the night and the week ahead.
Spring forward
Look, I love the Opening Day stats projections, like the year Toronto’s Jorge Bell hit three homers in the first game of the year so he was on his way to hitting 486 homers in 1987.
He fell short of that number, surprisingly.
But the three biggest spring storylines, as spring training games look ever-so-appealing in the daytime sunshine in Florida and Arizona, have little to do with stats or stars. Let’s review.
First, the looming lockout and the expiring CBA after 2026 hover over everything. That’s not just a spring training conversation either. That’s an in-season chat and a postseason conversation too.
Second, as we wrote about Wednesday, the Braves are planning their own TV network.
But the devilish details are vague at the moment. That’s scary for a lot of Southerners who simply put need the Braves as their summertime backdrop nightly.
Can you imagine how damaging a summer where Agnes in Albany or Carl in Cartersville or even Knox in Knoxville or Jack in Jackson only gets, say, 80 Braves games a year?
And you know what, when the questions abound about how much the Braves will spend to compete with the Dodgers, Mets and the fat-wallet warriors, this decision needs to be more about sense than dollars.
Yes, every team in all the sports is looking for the most lucrative broadcast deal possible. But Braves Nation was created for generations not on capability — they stunk in the 70s and 80s — but availability more than anything else.
We grew up with the Braves at 7:05 on TBS. And there are a slew of clichés to offer Braves leadership here, but this one feels most apropos: “Out of sight, out of mind fellas.”
Finally, the ABS system is available and being used in these spring training games, and man, the results are clearly showing the need of this universally.
How about these showings?
Like the first five challenges of this spring game showing the home plate ump struggling. Mightily.
And here’s Matt Olson’s keen eye knowing that this pitch was 0.1 inches off the plate.
ABS, friend or foe?
NIL biter
So, this has to be on the schools and the leadership of major college sports moving forward, right?
Cincinnati is suing Brendan Sorsby for back NIL funds after Sorsby transferred to Texas Tech in the portal.
Cincy is asking for $1 million. Sorsby says take a lengthy walk off a short balcony.
So let’s look internally here, right? Let’s examine the contractual nature of this.
Make scholarships four-year offerings. Make NIL one-year or two-year deals and find ways to make them binding.
Stagger the NIL deals for high-prized recruits out of high school.
If a five-star QB1 wants $6 million, OK. (And Baylor School RB David Gabriel Georges will get well into seven figures whenever he decides, so that number for a program-changing QB1 may be low.)
But make it sure it is contractually strong and enforceable.
That’s the critical part of signing recruits to four-year scholarships, right?
All things considered, on this AGT (anything goes Thursday), which issue is bigger in terms of legal enforcement for college sports: eligibility suits like Joey Aguilar or enforceable NIL deals with portal people like Sorsby?
Discuss.
SE-Combine
Back before the portal and NIL decisions, the monetary thoughts of draft-eligible players centered on the draft.
And the biggest draft-improvement interview for those looking to add to their paychecks (allegedly) and move from Saturdays to Sundays starts this weekend in Indianapolis.
Remember the outrage of an injured Joey Bosa opting out mid-season because of an injury at THE Ohio State? Remember why? He was preparing for the combine.
Side question: Big picture, was that any different? It’s for personal gain, right? Maybe it was different because of the situation — and that matters — considering the injury and the lack of stakes that year for THE Buckeyes, but it assuredly is more common these days and the outrage feels more intense.
With that caveat, here are five players from across the SEC with a ton to gain in these (Fruit of the) looming underwear Olympics:
1. Mississippi State WR Brenen Thompson. A kid who will drop a sub-4.3 40 always become the buzz at the combine.
2. Alabama offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor. A guy many projected to be the first non-QB1 off the board before the year struggled at Alabama this season. There are reports about moving inside to guard, which hurts his value, so showing he has the ability and quickness to handle edge rushers this week is a priority.
3. QBs Ty Simpson, Garrett Nussmeier and Taylen Green. A variety of challenges before the three big QB1 names from the SEC in the draft. Simpson is vying to be the second QB off the board behind presumed No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza. Nussmeier — safe to say at this point if Mr. And Mrs. Vader have a third tot, Nuss nor Garrett are not on the name hot board — is trying to find a way into Day 2 (rounds two and three) after starting the season as a predicted top-10 selection. Green will dominate in the physical checklist, but convincing NFL folks he can be a three- or five-step drop guy starts this week.
4. South Carolina safety Jalon Kilgore. A bigger version of Seattle stud rookie Nick Emmanwori, who also played for the Gamecocks, Kilgore will assuredly look the part this week.
5. KC Concepcion, WR Texas A&M. He will not run as quickly as Thompson, but who will? Concepcion had big-time production at NC State and in College Station. He’s versatile and will be a good next-level punt returner. But this is a deep WR class, and the combine matters.
This and that
> Alan Jackson announced his last show of a Hall of Fame career will be later this year. Man, what a dude with some high-level highlights.
> We referenced UK coach Mark Pope’s post-postgame presser sour grapes earlier this week. The SEC rightly fined him for saying the referees “cheated” his Wildcats in a perfectly officiated Auburn win. OK, the word ‘perfectly’ was added for dramatic impact. The call at the end was questionable at best. There are a litany of calls either side could point back to after the final buzzer. But in this day and age, saying any decision-maker “cheated” opens the ever-growing conspiracy box amid the ever-growing sports betting culture.
> Speaking of AU hoops, this made me laugh out loud as it is the perfect description of Keyshawn Hall’s offensive vision.
> The greatest funniest moment in gameshow history was on “The Newlywed Show” back in the 1970s. Trust me. It was when Bob Eubanks asked a lady what was the weirdest place they had made whoopee and the answer was forever remembered. IYKYK. Well, I saw this one from the same show, and it is also pretty dang funny.
> Because we all need feel-good stories. This singing mailman in Illinois went viral and paid off with a GoFundMe account that helped change his life.
> Wes Rucker’s funeral was Wednesday. Rest easy, my friend. His GoFundMe is at $758K-plus this morning.
Today’s questions
It’s the AGT, and we have a few above.
Also of note, have you contacted your cable provider for answers or ideas on whether BravesVision will be available to you where you are? Let me know if so.
Also, what’s a lesser-known show you suggest for binging this spring?
As for today, Feb. 26, let’s review.
Jackie Gleason and Tony Randall would have celebrated a birthday on this day. Both were HIGH-larius.
Johnny Cash would have been 94 today.
What’s the Man in Black’s Rushmore of songs?
Go, and remember the mailbag.