Let’s handle some business.
First, congrats to all those in attendance and the award winners from last night’s Best of Preps banquet. It was the first one I have attended in the audience, and it was cool. Here’s more from the event, which featured Ladd McConkey as the speaker.
Next, the MLB owners look downright set in forcing a work stoppage. The latest leak on the owners’ wants in the next CBA centers on limiting free-agent contracts to five years. It’s smart for the owners to drop various wants at different times. It muddies their intentions and priorities. But with every new line item – and all of these line items are guardrails from owners to other owners, in a lot of ways – the lockout seems more and more certain.
Which is a dang shame, because this MLB season has been fun.
To the Rushmores.
Rushmore of “Wham” – Wham-O, the Frisbee godfather; Wham, the group; “Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am”; and Whammies from “Press Your Luck,” with all apologies to “Whammy” Champ Kind’s catchphrase for the Channel 4 News team in “Anchorman.”
Rushmore of Lionel – Messi, Richie, the toy trains and Barrymore, who gave us the greatest Christmas villain of all-time in Mr. Potter.
Rushmore of sports “dads” – Willie “Pops” Stargell, Big Daddy Don Garlits, Ken Griffey Sr. because he gave us the poetry that was Junior’s swing, and Antonio Cromartie, the former All-Pro CB who has 14 tots with eight different women. Wow.
In a visor tip to Linda Cohn’s last day, who joined her on the female Rushmore of ESPN folks? Cohn, Robin Roberts, Hannah Storm, and Holly Rowe, but there is an interesting nominee coming in a minute.
Which leads us to bagging the ‘bag.
From Mike
Did you mention Frank Reed’s retirement in the 5 at 10 this week? If so, I missed it. Will his daughter, Dana Reed Mull, be considered?
Mike
Great point, and my miss and mistake for not mentioning the announcement of the longtime UTC softball coach stepping down.
In truth, in my time in Chattanooga – I arrived at the TFP in May 2002 – Reed would have to be on the Rushmore of best UTC coaches.
To comment on the next hire would be 100% speculation, but I know Dana has had a ton of success in North Georgia at the high school level.
As for Reed, UTC softball became a SoCon standard and was right there with wrestling and women’s hoops under Wes Moore and golf at times as the most dominant and successful Mocs programs across all sports. (Side note for conversation: Not so coincidentally, you can make a hard argument that the best prep sports genres in and around Chattanooga are softball, wrestling and golf. Hmmmmmm.)
And we have a layered question on the future of recruiting, but in truth, the most important decision for every mid-major (and lower) athletic program is finding potentially great head coaches.
Head coaches who can work with what is at their disposal. Head coaches who develop as much (if not more) than they recruit. Head coaches who are willing to stay and build rather than win and build the resumé.
Congrats, Frank. Job well done, sir.
From Mark
What is your perspective on the legacy-building that Jordan is extending with 23X1 Racing? He beat down the old guard in the courts over the past year and now has six wins as a team owner. I have no idea what owning a race team truly would entail for him, but from apparel deals to car racing, he seems to be doing pretty well off the hardwood.
Mark
I am several steps away from being a NASCAR expert. There was a time when I knew a bunch more about it.
Now, not so much.
I will give J-Mac some room here to expound on details and intricacies on Michael Jordan’s tsunami-level impact on NASCAR over the last two-plus years.
One of the things I could not help but mull over when I got your question is the importance of leadership in terms of successful organizations. And how that travels. Look at what Joe Gibbs was able to do across the NFL and then in NASCAR.
But Michael Jordan’s Midas touch is totally undeniable.
Here’s betting he makes close to half-a-billion a year from Nike. In fact, “Air” is high on the rewatch movie rotations – with “Moneybag” and “Maverick” – on the higher cable channels at the 5-at-10 compound. (Side question: What lesser-known movie always, Always, ALWAYS gets you to stop clicking?)
Question for the group: Is MJ bigger than Ali? Is he the biggest athlete of all time?
From MC
NCAA is going to approve the 5 year to play 5 [eligibility model]. The redshirt is dead – and most programs aren’t ready for what that means. Every scholarship now starts a 5-year clock the moment a kid enrolls or turns 19. No extensions. No medical freezes. That changes recruiting, roster building and player development in one stroke. Birthday math is now part of every offer conversation. A kid who turns 19 before he steps on campus has already burned time. Coaches who ignore that will regret it. The portal gets leaner but more expensive. Fewer players with extra eligibility means a smaller pool , and the ones in it will cost more. The programs that win this era won’t be the ones with the most NIL money. They’ll be the ones who evaluate 17-year-olds better than everyone else and stop hiding developmental needs behind a redshirt year. The margin for error just got really small.
MC
I have thought a bunch about your post over the last day.
The window got smaller, but there are so many layers to the ever-shifting changes for college sports.
Evaluation will be critical, but desperate teams can money-whip the portal, so evaluating those who have already been evaluated becomes part of the equation.
Arguably the critical hurdle will be talent retention, at all levels, but especially for those below the Superpower Two conferences.
I think the five-for-five rule makes sense. I think it will overhaul a lot of the record books potentially, because in a lot of sports, NIL means more coin that non-lottery draft pick pros.
The roster building – and the importance of football and basketball GMs – becomes a no-longer hidden but even more critical part of the process.
And the days of stacking five stars on the depth charts feel as dated as afternoon newspapers.
With that, I don’t know if the portal will get leaner. I do concur that the top-shelf portal prizes will be more and more expensive, but everyone believes the grass to be greener, especially because we all know the money is assuredly greener.
Thoughts, anyone? Bueller?
From Spy
It’s amazing how, in the Deep South, good barbecue joints are getting harder to find.
Also, just how good was “Purple Rain?” It was great in its time, and it has held up. For our generation, that was our “Sgt. Pepper’s.” Nothing like it before. Nothing really like it since.
I started thinking about other female ESPN stars, and one come to mind.
Keith Olbermann.
Spy
That’s how we’ll end it today.
Have a good weekend, friends.