Well, the last six weeks have been a lot of fun Braves fans.
How much? Try this on:
Well, the Braves were 18-20 on May 9 and floundering. The bullpen was dreadful. The fanbase was outraged. The bats were decent but inconsistent.
Then the switch was flipped. The Braves are 30-13 since then - and the May 15 arrival of Austin Riley has completed a line-up that is right there with the Dodgers as the most complete in the NL.
The Braves are 5-and-a-half games up in the division, and are even a game ahead of last year's division-winning pace after last night's 5-3 win in Chicago.
How powerful has the line-up been this month? Well, according to Mark Bowman who covers the club for mlb.com, the Braves now have 50 homers in June, the most of any club. With 126 homers on the season, they are well ahead of the pace of 235, the franchise mark set in 2003.
And look at the projected numbers for some of these dudes by doubling their current stats. (Side note: This red-hot Atlanta bunch has seven finalists among position players trying to get enough votes to be starters in the All-Star Game. You have until 4 p.m. today to cast your ballot. More on the Braves and All-Star appearances below.)
Acuna Jr., who moved to the lead-off spot on May 10 as Atlanta found another gear: 80 games, .287/.369/.502, 19 HRs, 51 RBIs, 11 SB, 56 R. (Wow, with the expiation of the amazing season Cody Bellinger is having, Acuna would be the MVP frontrunner right now. That's really close to a 40-100-100 with 20+ steals pace.)
Freeman is right there too at .313/.399/.595 with 21 HR and 61 RBIs and 60 R.
The guys in the middle - Swanson and Albies - have played in all 81 games this year and have been aces with the glove and the bat.
Simply put, the hand-wringing of April and early May has been the bliss of the end of spring and the start of summer.
If memory serves, what's one of our go-to baseball phrases? That's right.
It's a long season and you gotta trust it.
NCAA ruling
We normally save the ceremonial dates for the questions of the day. But this one felt bigger.
This one has changed the path of so much, in sports and out. It has magnified the importance of the most valuable single person in all of sports.
On this day 35 years ago, the Supreme Court ended the NCAA monopoly on controlling college football telecasts.
It may be on the Rushmore of most impactful moments ever in sports.
Think about the changes 35 years later.
For the power programs, the increase in revenue has exceeded even the wildest of dreams. And if you haven't been to an SEC baseball game in a while or an SEC softball game, that river of revenue has washed over the facilities of every program at every power school.
For the power conferences, the change led to direct deals, dedicated TV channels, and exponential increases in cash and exposure and power. (Side question: Considering the resources at his disposal, where would you rank SEC commissioner Greg Sankey in terms of profile and importance with all commissioners across all sports - professional and college? The only one that is 100 percent, without question ahead of Sankey is Goodell, right?)
For the TV networks, this opened the bidding to everyone, and in some ways was the spring board that allowed ESPN to go from a one-channel cable luxury to a multi-channeled, multi-platformed sports fan's necessity. Before getting into the college football game - ESPN was strong man competitions, some college hoops and the occasional Aussie Rules Football match. Heck, back in the 1980s, ESPN would have mid-week replays of the college games from the previous Saturday and was glad to have them.
For the schedules, it has opened MACtion on Tuesdays, the Thursday night ESPN game, and so much more.
For the NCAA, it has eroded the organization's power across almost all platforms. It used to be that a TV blackout was a big part of all serious rulings against schools that committed NCAA penalties. Now, with the money going in other directions, that will never happen again. Heck, here's betting a team could get the death penalty before the NCAA would risk the lawsuits or the defections from putting a Power Five football program on TV blackout.
For the schools, it pulled back the curtain on what great college football could mean across the entire campus. It's not a coincidence people that enrollment and applications submitted are way, Way, WAY up at Alabama and Clemson. And it's not because of the business school at either locale.
In that direction, it also makes us keenly aware that there is no person in sports as valuable as a truly great college football coach.
Yes, the going rate for LeBron James in the NBA is closing in on $40 million per season, and that's ridiculous. But that's LeBron's going rate in a league filled with people who bring attention to the league, which as a whole is better when LeBron's involved but still very profitable when he's not too.
Is there a dollar amount that Alabama would not pay Nick Saban? Or Clemson would not pay Dabo?
And those checks and the ripple tidal waves from them, whether we realized or not, were actually made possible 35 years ago today.
Democratic debate
I believe getting ready for any of the Democratic Party debate as the almost two dozen hopefuls try to etch a spot in the national conversation is pretty easy.
Candidate Y: "OK, what's the main talking point again if I get backed into a corner?"
Special assistant to candidate Y: "C'mon boss, we've been over this a few times already. Blame Trump and pause and wait for the applause."
In truth, I appreciate the chance to hear the views of the folks on the stage as the Democrats try to figure who will run in 2020.
Because of the large number of interested folks, the debates have been split. Last night the first group of 10 attempted to make his or place in the arena.
My thoughts:
Beto O'Rourke looked the most presidential standing and connecting and conversing. I also thought it was interesting that a lot of the folks who I had no idea who they were decided to take the most shots at O'Rourke. In truth, that move - especially when the field is this big - backfires more times than not because, a) those cats look desperate and b) it makes those of us not familiar with all the Democrats on stage think, "Wow, they most think Beto is the frontrunner."
Has anyone ever seen Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders in the same place at the same time? Are we sure they are not the same person wearing different socialist costumes?
It felt like NBC was trying to get the best from Corey Booker, the black U.S. Senator, as multiple first-answer questions were tossed his way. (Side question: Man, if you and I have a forehead, and let's say someone like a Peyton Manning has what we call a five-head ((bigger than a four-head; yes a childish joke, but so what)), then Lester Holt has a Dozen-Head. Egad.)
And for those of us who are conservative but not 100 percent pleased with all the actions and Tweets from Donald Trump, the over-the-top dramatics - like Jay Islee saying "the greatest threat to America is Donald Trump" really belittles the true crimes - foreign and abroad - and the real issues from poverty to hunger to gun control to climate change and so many others.
This and that
- Another week, another interesting Jeopardy! plot. In the semifinals of the Teen Tournament on Wednesday, two wicked smart kids ended Final Jeopardy in a tie. Yes, a tie. According to the Jeopardy! website this has happened twice in the show's history. The tie-breaker is a sudden-death question. (It was something about the Boston Tea Party. Pretty sure Spy would have gotten it.)
- Vandy won the College World Series last night by beating Michigan. For those interested, Vandy was 4-0 against Auburn this year and 2-1 against Tennessee this year.
- Programming note, because of said Braves, there will be no Press Row today. So there's that.
- Here's today's A2 column on moving forward after the vote to turn down the 34-cent tax increase ear-marked for schools.
- Reports have Kemba Walker leaning toward the Celtics when free agency opens this weekend. Hmmmmmmm.
Today's questions
Speaking of the Braves, among the finalists is Brian McCann, who has been aces, on the field and in the clubhouse by all measures.
Here's the question, if McCann is elected in, it would be his eighth All-Star selection. No, that's not a question. He also has six Silver Slugger Awards (best hitter at your position in that season) and he's within striking distance of 300 career homers as a catcher. Again, not a question.
But this is: Is Brian McCann a Hall of Famer? And if he gets to 300 homers - he's at 278 right now - how much would that change the view since all of four dudes have hit 300 or more homers as a catcher, and all four (Piazza, Fisk, Bench and Berra) are in the Hall?
True or false for a Thursday: True or false, this is the best single athletic team in Vanderbilt sports history.
As for today, June 27, well, let's investigate.
On this day 31 years ago, I was among the folks that plunked down $30 to watch Tyson beat Spinks in 91 seconds.
Today is national onion day. That's a big foe for me, friends.
Today is National Handshake Day.
Let's go there. Rushmore of best handshakes in movie history. Go and remember the mailbag.