Fun night in the A-T-L
OK, Tuesday night, when the Hawks got just about the worst result possible from the draft process.
Sure, it wasn't Sherman starting his march to the shore, but that added to the Braves getting smoked, well, it was no fun in Atlanta.
Wednesday night, was the exact opposite, at least for the city's baseball crew.
A Braves team that has glaring problems that start at the top with a penny-pinching ownership group that is more Scrooge than Steinbrenner. The dudes look around the bullpen and have to admit Luke Jackson, a guy who has been designated for assignment three times in the last 18 months, is far and away the best option. The closest thing the staff has to an ace is a 21-year-old Canadian who has made all of 11 career starts.
But, hey, it's mid-May. The NBA Lottery is in the review. The Eastern Conference Finals feature two teams that 60 percent of the populace could not name a single player. The NHL is the latest pro sports coronation of the spoiled-bleep Boston sports fans. (Sorry, Spy. Not sorry.)
And we are stuck with the Braves and need the Braves to keep our interest.
Well, last night, mission accomplished on a multitude of levels last night for these Atlanta Braves.
First, Chipper Jones joined the ESPN dudes in the booth and was a-MAZ-ing. Among all the great stories he had with Boog Sciambi (who used to do Braves games before going national) and David Ross (who played with Jones at the end of his career), was this awesome exchange. It is worth your time, and I know we haver discussed how great Peyton would be in the booth, if last night was any indication, Chipper would be awesome in the booth too. Wow.
Then there was Soroka, who year again looked the part of shutdown starter. For a Braves team that came into last night slumping mightily against good teams, Soroka took the ball and delivered seven scoreless innings.
Dude has allowed one earned run or fewer in each of his six starts to start this season. The only other pitcher 21-or-younger to do that in the live ball era was some rookie named Fernando Valenzuela, who took baseball by storm with seven starts of one run or less that included five shutouts.
In 36-plus innings so far, Soroka has not allowed a homer, which is a amazing in a day and age in which you can't go grab a Co-Cola and a pretzel without missing three homers and 14 strikeouts.
Finally, Austin Riley made his MLB debut last night and delivered a homer in the fourth inning in his second at-bat. It was a no-doubter - 438 feet (side note: Those in the park homer distances are more of a guess than the attendance numbers, in my opinion) to left. (Hey, here's betting Ender Inciarte is about to be a) trade bait; b) a very expensive pinch-runner; or c) both.)
And to make things even more fun, local-boy Charlie Culberson from Calhoun High, homered in the eighth.
Man, if the front office invests in Craig Kimbrel after the draft (so they do not lose picks or signing bonus money), this team could be what we expected after last year, no?
Goff, without the L
In honor of one the best movie characters in cinematic history.
OK, the PGA Championship started morning, and let's review some facts and find the reasoning shall we.
Fact 1: I am more excited for this PGA Championship than any one in recent memory. Is that because,
a) Tiger Woods is a true threat to win it (He has the lowest cumulative score to par over the last three majors of anyone at -32);
b) The tournament is moved to the No. 2 hole rather than batting clean-up in the majors lineup, which always made it an afterthought;
c) Keith Mitchell is 1 under through 9, and what would be better than Keith coming by Press Row with the Wanamaker Trophy (OK, Keith coming by in a green jacket would be better but the Wanamaker would be cool, right?);
d) All of the above.
Fact 2: It's actually impossible to play a round of golf without quoting Caddyshack. Is that because of which quote (as in the most often used on the course from the classic that was robbed of the 1980),
a) Be the ball, Danny;
b) Noonan!;
c) Long the Lama. Big hitter;
d) It's in the hole!; (Side point: Did you know that Carl's flower-killing, Cinderella story that ends with "Former greenskeeper, now about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac ... It's in the hole! It's in the hole!" was ranked 92nd by the American Film Institute among the top 100 movie quotes of all time? Seriously.)
e) That's a peach, Hon;
f) Right in the lumber yard;
g) A little night putting, putting at night with the 15-year-old daughter of the dean;
h) Gambling is illegal at Bushwood, and I never slice;
i) You'll get nothing and like it;
j) How bout a Fresca;
Fact 3: We had more than 50 entries in the Minor Major is still a Major contest. That is because,
a) Folks love the 5-at-10;
b) Folks love the loose connection and vested interest of having picks (also known as gambling, especially with no possibility of loss);
c) Folks love free stuff;
d) All of the above.
Discuss.
NCAA gonna NCAA
OK, meant to write about this Wednesday but got covered up.
It still applies today.
For most of us, the dichotomies of the games we love called college football and college basketball are a murky quagmire of emotions and rationalizations.
We know that there are coaches making tens of millions and schools and athletic departments making hundreds of millions while the athletes do it for books and tuition
(And yes, we have forever undervalued the cost of that education, especially when more and more of our non-scholarship college students/graduates are taking on hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. But that also is on the schools some too because of the extreme increase in fees, books, and tuition.)
So the folks like Jay Bilas, who have forever waved the banner of the lame excuse of the NCAA and colleges that there is "not enough money" but the points to Rick Barnes getting more than $4 million a year and the Oregon Ducks installing a million-dollar barber shop in their athletic complex (Thanks, Daddy Nike), have had more and more ammo over the last decade.
There have been several foundation-rocking moments over the last several years for the NCAA. From the Ed O'cannon case about video games using their likenesses to the recent FBI cases against college basketball, the movement of giving the players more than books and bagels, has grown.
Now the NCAA is forming a committee to look at players making money off their images and likenesses. Hmmmmmmm.
Let's weigh some pros and cons.
Pro - This would allow colleges to give players money around the Title IX constraints because it is not coming from federally funded schools.
Con - This thing will open the door for so much more cheating and corruption. Think the next five-star QB that becomes a spokesman for Flying J and Pilot travel centers and decides to go to UT won't raise a few eyebrows.
In the end, though, because the NCAA is the NCAA and deserves little credit for the best interest of anything other than the NCAA, I'll ask this:
Does it not feel like the NCAA is looking to change the rules so that they do not have to change the corruption system in college basketball that the FBI is investigating?
Seriously.
That is not change - for the players, the system or the process - that is a cover-up - for the coaches, the NCAA and the shoe companies who are funding this system.
This and that
- Yes, there was a ton of intrigue in the movement of teams in the NBA Draft Lottery. But no one knew that going into the NBA Draft Lottery, which was up 83 percent from last year and is the most watched since 2003. What's the connection? Well, the 2003 winner of the Draft Lottery was going to be in line to draft some teenager named LeBron. This year, the Pelicans are in position to draft some teenager named Zion. Hmmmmmmmmmm.
- Speaking of Zion, man, this conversation of the possibility of Zion return to Duke because he does not want to go to New Orleans is intriguing, no?
- Here is Weeds catching up with Corey Levin, the former UTC star and current Titans O-lineman who was in ChattaVegas for the Titans caravan.
- Yeah, more of the same. According to Mel Kiper's most recent Big Board, some school with some dude named Nick as its coach has six of the top 25 prospects for the 2020 NFL draft. Jerry Jeudy is 1 and Tua is 4.
- Because the East is this unpredictable: The most important player on the floor with Giannis and Kawhi was Brook Lopez. Why? Because this is the East without LeBron. Bucks won Game 1 last night. Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals is tonight.
- The Jets debacle is so Jets. Now comes a report that Jets management and the coach staff did not want to spend big money on Le'Veon Bell. Uh-Oh.
Today's questions
Mailbag? Thoughts?
As for today, we'll start here:
Hey I love the draft. You know this. But how antiquated in a free market system is a draft? Seriously. What if college football recruiting was done in a draft way? Or the banking profession?
The first Academy Awards happened on this day 90 years ago.
Wow.
Liberace would have been 100 today.
Janet Jackson is 53 today.
Jim Henson died on this day in 1990.
Ok, let's go a little different here.
Considering what Soroka is doing, and the connection to Fernandomania and that on this day 39 years ago a rookie point guard named Ervin played center as the Lakers beat the 76ers for the 1980 NBA title, let's do the Rushmore of best rookies in the three main pro sports. Go.
And remember the mailbag.