All-Star mania
We discussed the enjoyment of the Home Run Derby, and we have kicked around the malaise that is the modern game filled with homers, walks and strikeouts.
The midsummer classic was some of each.
The AL topped the NL 8-6 in the MLB All-Star Game on Tuesday as a record 10 homers were launched in the 10-inning affair. It was an exciting finish in which six runs were scored after the top of the ninth.
It also was filled with the issues of the game in a nutshell. There were the 10 homers and 10 other hits. There were nine walks and 25 strikeouts and 258 total pitches.
The game was a respectable 3:34 but it still magnified the lack of in-game action with 90 plate appearances and almost half of those (44 - homers + walks + strikeouts) produced no on-the-field action.
As for off-the-field topics, well Josh Hader has some splain' to do after a Twitter rampage during his teenage years that included multiple uses of the single most punitive word in our language. (Just ask Papa John.) Here's more.
Also of note, Rob Manfred was asked about marketing Mike Trout, easily the best player in the game and a historically great player compared to his first several years in the game.
Manfred said the game can't market Trout without help from Trout. Rob, that's not good enough. Especially considering that Trout and the game's best story early in the year (a healthy and two-way Shohei Ohtani) were on the same team for the first part of the year and they got zero national play.
Manfred and the MLB owners need to look at how the NBA has marketed individuals if they are truly interested in that. Here's a bet that, considering MLB numbers are fine, the MLB powers that be are not at all interested in making the MLB players as powerful as the NBA stars have become.
Golf
OK, we have been impressed with the number of entries in the contest. They are not to Masters levels, but we'll still have a good time.
It's not too late to get into the mix. And if you are wondering, "Hey fathead, what in the world are you speaking of?" well, here you go:
OK, it's official, we'll have an Open for Business at The Open Championship Contest (Open for everyone). The rules are the same. Pick five golfers, your best four finishers count. If you pick guys who finish 1, T-3, 9 and 11, that's 24 points (add all the places together, you see) and the low score wins. Need entries by close of BID-ness tonight.
We are in with Fleetwood, Koepka, DJ, Rory and Justin Rose. The Mrs. 5-at-10 is in with Jordan and Justin and Rory and Rickie and Luke List (she's a sucker for the hometown story).
As for the other golf items of the day, we have two. First, the clever and aestethicgally pleasing Phil Mickelson doing Phil Mickelson things. (Click that link. Trust us, like that dude trusted Philly Mick.)
Second, as you are finalizing tour picks for the Open for Business at The Open Championship Contest (Open for everyone) here are some tidbits of historical note at Carnoustie, and some that actually make our entries look a little, well, risky.
Know that in the seven previous THE Open events held at Car-Nasty, the eventual winner did not hold the outright 54-hole lead in any of them.
Know that in almost every case, the winner had a) won a major before and b) a household name. Armour, Hogan, Watson, Player were among the seven previous winners. Paddy Harrington was among the best in the world when he won here in 2007. The only first-time major winner at Car-Nasty was Paul Laurie in 1999, and we all know what had to happen for that to happen. It is also worth noting that a slew of those guys were renowned as some of the best "thinking man" players of their era.
Know that it will feel like the USGA has partnered with the R&A and made this the "Par if wicked cool" Invitational. Of all the courses in the rotation for THE Open, Carnoustie is the hardest - by far. Two of the four highest winning scores ever in this event - which was started more than 140 years ago - were among the seven at Carnoustie, including the 1999 train wreck.
Know the burn will burn someone. Trust us. (Side note: The burn is like a swampy creek that winds its way around the back nine. Ask Jean van de Velde how much that burn can leave a mark.)
Let the excuses begin
We have updated TV numbers through the World Cup.
We all knew that the numbers minus the U.S. were going to be down. But was anyone expecting this:
The 2018 World Cup averaged 5.04 million viewers across Fox and Telemundo. That is down 37 percent from 2014 and a staggering 11 percent from 2010;
Fox and FS1 averaged a 1.9 rating and 2.98 million viewers, the lowest averages for a World Cup on an English-language channel since 2006;
The numbers on Telemundo - down 41 percent from '14 and 13 percent from '10 - compared to Univision's numbers dropped even more;
The World Cup Final had its smallest TV audience since 2002, and was down a third from 2014 and almost 30 percent from 2010;
Now to be fair, the combined 17.83 million viewers who watched the World Cup Final as France topped Croatia was bigger than two of the four TV audiences for the NBA Finals, four of the seven World Series games from 2017 and every NCAA men's tournament game, as well as every golf telecast since 2001 and every NASCAR race since 2006.
But can we emphatically pump the brakes on the "Soccer takeover" for a while.
The staggering drop without the U.S. proved that a) America's interest is as much about patriotism and a unified rooting interest as it is about soccer, and b) the numbers were down almost twice as steep as Fox execs expected.
This and that
- Bye Kawhi. The Spurs and Toronto are finalizing a deal for Kawhi Leonard to go to the Raptors for a package that includes DeMar DeRozan. Seems like the Spurs got more than a lot of us thought for a player that was forcing a deal.
- This is cool. Walter Carr's car broke down before his first day at a new job. So he planned to walk 20 miles to his first day to show his dedication. He left around midnight and after about four hours and 14 miles, two cops picked him up and bought him breakfast after hearing his story. When word circled to his bosses, Bellhops CEO gave Carr his personal vehicle as a thank you. That friends is a story we should all celebrate.
- Friends, if you are not getting enough SEC Media Days coverage from Press Row - visit espnchattanooga.com for back interviews from the week - and from the heavy lifting of TFP ace Davids (Cobb and Paschall), well, then I don't know what to tell you. Here are some of the links to stuff in today's TFP, here, here, here and wait for it here.
- The NFL handed out mind-blowing $256 million per team in revenue sharing. For perspective, that is more than $100 million than the NFL salary cap and that is before you start calculating and adding in ticket sales, individual franchise sponsorship deals - the official hemorrhoid cream of the Green Bay Packers, for example - concession sales and the like.
- Speaking of the NFL, well, we know that Le'Veon Bell did not get the contract he wanted. We also know his agent said he will not be in training camp - at all - and likely will be spending his last season in Pittsburgh. We also know that Brandin Cooks just got a monster extension with the Rams, getting five-years and $81 million. Yes, here's betting that Julio Jones, who wants a new deal with the Falcons, assuredly noticed Cooks' deal. In terms of average per year, Julio is now the ninth-highest paid player at his position and behind guys like Mike Evans, Sammy Watkins, Davante Adams and Cooks.
Today's questions
Great Fire of Rome started on this day in 64. That stupid Nero.
Mein Kampf published on this day in 1925.
Five years ago, Detroit filed for bankruptcy.
John Glenn would have been 97 today. American hero friends. Nelson Mandela would have been 100 today. World hero friends.
Nick Faldo is 61 today.
Does Faldo crack the Rushmore of golf announcers? Discuss.