Let’s Rushmore on this graduation Friday.
War Graduates
Rushmore of best NFL tight ends — Kellen Winslow, who was ahead of his time, Tony G, Travis Swift, errrr, Kelce and Rob Gronkowski. Recency bias? Maybe, but those dudes in the recent years were absolutely game-changing for the position.
Rushmore of biggest music stars right now — Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny (and yes, the Mrs. 5-at-10 now has a Bad Bunny hoodie, so there is that), Morgan Wallen, and with hyper focus on current, Ella Langley.
Rushmore of Homer — Simpson (of course), the Greek poet, three-run homer (and all of those references), and “I guess that’s why they call it a ‘way homer,'” the great quote from Glen to H.I. McDunnough in “Raising Arizona,” over Homer Hickman, the lead character in “October Sky.”
Rushmore of Jamaica — Bob Marley, “Cool Runnings” (the famed bobsledders), Usain Bolt, jerk chicken. Think someone nailed this one in the comments.
Some items that caught my eye before we get to the mailbag:
> How does a PGA player — at a major, mind you — show up late for a tee time? That’s what happened to Garrick Higgo, who was 30 seconds late to the tee box and suffered a two-shot penalty for a very expensive half-minute.
> Braves played. Braves lost, which is surprising, especially with Chris Sale pitching. More to come on that.
> Dianna Russini has a huge ally in Dave Portnoy, el presidente from Barstool Sports.
> The first effort from the White House committee to “Save College Sports” assuredly fell flat. In the blogpost — seriously — there are thoughts on coaching salary caps, using the NBA’s Bird Rights idea to exceed player cap limits to retain star players, and a crazy, pie-in-the-sky idea for schools to pool their media rights. Yeah, I’m sure Greedy Greg Sankey and Tyrannical Tony Pettiti are falling all over themselves to run to the next meeting, checkbooks in hand, looking to share the fiscal lifeblood of the two superpower conferences.
Let’s bag the ‘bag.
From Brad
I love the Braves. You know this, Jay.
I was talking with a couple of fellow citizens of BravesNation the other day on the question “What would this team’s record be with Brian Snitker as the manager?”
What do you think?
Thanks.
Brad
Great question.
The Braves are an MLB-best 30-14 after Thursday’s loss.
And Walt Weiss has been tremendous across almost every aspect, especially bullpen management, which was a Snitker shortcoming.
I would expect the Braves at best — remember the manager can’t control hot starts (or even the slow ones last year) from Harris, Albies and Olson — would be 25-19.
That’s the difference between the current pace of 110 or so wins and 92 wins, by the math.
Walt Weiss, manager of the year.
Here’s a good story on Weiss a week or so ago from The Athletic.
From Ben G
Who would you want a real sports documentary film on?
Ben G.
I thought this questions was a) great, and b) pertinent since “Michael” hit the streets earlier this movie season.
By all accounts, “Michael” is a bubble-gum farce. Which is disappointing.
I would love for a true investigative documentary to be done on Michael Jackson, but I doubt the family/estate would ever let that happen. For Pete Townsend’s sake, Michael’s nephew played the lead role as Michael in “Michael.”
As for documentaries, well, they are varied, and my personal interests will impact those thoughts.
I am eagerly waiting for the folks trying to race through the documentary for the final decade of Gene Hackman’s life.
I would love for someone to have proper access and courage to truly tell the story of the actor that played Heathcliffe Huxtable in “The Cosby Show.”
I would love true behind-the-scenes stories on Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, but that’s also like me wanting to ride a unicorn to the meet Sasquatch so we can walk to the water’s edge and chat with Loch Ness monster.
I would love to watch a “30-for-30” on the White House. No, not 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but the hideout for those dynastic Dallas Cowboys teams of the early- to mid-1990s.
There are really too many to name, but with the limited access — and the pertinent people in these real-life mini- (and maxi-) dramas have every available option to tell their own stories — it’s hard to see a truly groundbreaking one done any time soon.
“The U” was about as open as any of the 30-for-30 series I can recall in terms of the good and the bad.
Great question.
From MJ
Since your comments last week, Tony Vitello and the Giants took a series from your deep-pocketed Dodgers. They have a better record than at least four other MLB teams. I’m not trying to suggest the Giants are really good, but I do wonder why you think Tony V is already done and should be fired compared to other managers leading worse teams? What exactly does Tony not understand about people, players and baseball at the pro level that somehow helped him become among the hottest names in baseball over the past several years? What would you say the secret sauce to winning in MLB is compared to the NCAA level?
MJ
I was not speaking directly about Tony Vitello in terms of his managerial acumen or even early-season success in his first couple of months with San Francisco.
(That said, the Giants are ninth in MLB in active payroll, so being one game ahead of Colorado among all NL teams is assuredly not something anyone will be chest-thumping anytime soon.)
My main worries were about his decision to call out the effort of big-leaguers — like he did, and with their subpar play and superior salaries, it seems assuredly apropos — because of the concerns over the different styles needed to motivate college players as opposed to MLBers.
Plus, the concerns are circling not only about Tony V, but also about new GM Buster Posey, the former San Francisco superstar who has made a slew of questionable calls in his short time.
And when the GM is under fire — especially when he pulled the strings on a questionable decision to hire an uber-successful college coach with zero MLB experience — said manager is going to be the first through the door to the firing squad.
I think Tony understands people well and knows the game, but the motivation tactics are staggeringly dichotic. As a college manager or head coach, you control a player’s future earning potential — even your stars — by playing time and opportunities.
In the pros, where the deals are guaranteed and disgruntled players have agents to seek trades, that can work, but only very rarely.
Yes, if his time in the majors is even shorter than that of Crash Davis — who spent 21 days in the show once; it was the 21 best days of his life — Tony V will be the hottest name out there for the ever-growing sport of college baseball.
So hot that some tournament-bound teams will walk good coaches to the door to grab a great one.
As for the secret sauce, I’m not sure one exists, unless it’s Jimmy Johnson’s superpower as arguably the best talent-evaluator in football history.
(And that still needed the luck of the Herschel Walker deal to get Johnson enough picks to transform the Cowboys from a dreg to dynastic.)
Great question.
From Spy
I get the feeling the NSL 5-at-10, bein’ the smaht kid he is, probably didn’t need a great deal of guidance. But if he did, he couldn’t have AI’d two better examples than you and K.
Also, prosecutors have been given access to Tiger Woods’ drug records.
He’s toast, isn’t he? Any positive shine to his image is about to be wiped out, isn’t it?
Spy
Thanks for the kind words. They mean the world. Especially right now.
It’s an emotional time at the compound — for myriad reasons.
As for Eldrick, as long as he moves the needle, golf’s talking heads will spin his human shortcomings as best they can.
Heck, MJ’s sins not only got glossed over (gambling and women), but some of them (a bona fide locker room bully and rotten teammate) got spun into character traits.
Have a great weekend, friends.