Lookouts big day
Have the Chattanooga Lookouts played their last game?
We can all hope not.
But let's review:
> Baseball America reported as fact that the Minor League Baseball owners will announce today they have agreed with MLB to cut 42 minor league affiliations.
> It's a fact that 42 is the same number of organizations that would be cut in the New York Times report in December.
> It's a fact that the Lookouts were among those 42 on that list.
Do those three facts mean we're out? Let's hope not.
Lookouts president Rich Mozingo told TFP all-around superstar ace David Paschall, who has been busier than a toilet paper salesman these days despite a lack of actual sports being played, that the organization is hopeful but knows little.
"Once again, we know nothing at all," Mozingo told Paschall on Tuesday after the Baseball America report came out. "We've read the same article that you've read, and nobody has come to us saying that we are on or off the list. By reading the article and just doing the math, it seems like we're on the right side of it."
The right side of it, again we all hope so. I love the Lookouts. My family loves going to the park. Heck, it's one of 12-year-old's three or four favorite restaurants for Pete Vukovich's sake. And not many people know this, but I'm a perfect 1-0 in the between-innings musical chair competition and have an official 0-1 count on throwing out the first pitch.
I love the Lookouts experience. (Not as much as the draft, but hey, you knew that.)
And now we wait on the announcement, which could be nuclear winter news and mean the Lookouts are no longer affiliated with a big-league organization, which would be a death knell. Maybe the announcement will be that 42 are going away, and Mozingo's optimism will be proven prophetic.
Or possibly the announcement just is there will be contraction, but not as many specifics or actual teams mentioned as we want.
Dang you Corona.
Gronk deal
And like that, poof, the Bucs are becoming the hottest team in the NFL offseason no one will ever forget.
Yes, this NFL offseason - when The Corona has shuttered everything - has been much-scrutinized and supremely analyzed and almost every decision, signing or trade has become a full segment on national sports radio shows.
But Tuesday afternoon was a bit different.
When the greatest tight end ever decides to come back and tells the greatest NFL coach ever that he does not want to play for the greatest NFL dynasty ever and wants to be traded to be reunited with the greatest QB ever, well, that's a headline-stealer, Corona or not.
So when news trickled in that Rob Gronkowski wanted to return to the NFL, it was a story. When it leaked that he wanted to come back and play in Tampa Bay with Tom Brady, well, everyone's eyes got big. When Bill Belichick and the Patriots trade Gronk for draft capital, well, Katie bar the door. Oh my goodness. Locusts. Plague. Human sacrifice. Dogs and cats living together. Mass hysteria. (Side note: Bill Murray as Peter Vinkman was so great.)
Yes, it's big news whether it happened yesterday or yesteryear because of the GOATs involved.
But the spin from each angle is really intriguing too.
Tampa Bay, which already had two top-15 or 20 tight ends in OJ Howard and Cameron Brate, has now added Brady and Gronk. They already had those TEs and 1,000-yard receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin.
With the latest addition of Gronk, Vegas dropped the odds for the Bucs to win the Super Bowl from 16-to-1 to 12-to-1.
Also, Brady's MVP odds dropped from 20-to-1 to 16-to-1 with the addition of his favorite off-the-field party boy and on-the-field security blanket.
In a pandemic shutdown that will hinder Brady's relationship with new receivers - no matter great Evans and Godwin and the bunch are - Gronk's presence is even more important.
According to Elias Sports, Brady has thrown 176 TD passes to tight ends in his career, which is 30 more than any other NFL quarterback. Of that 176, 78 of those have gone to Gronk, the most TD passes Brady has to any one temmate.
(Side note: In case you're curious, the 89 TD passes from Philip Rivers to Antonio Gates is the most ever between a QB-TE tandem. For now, that is.)
On the other side of the coin is the basic statement that Belichick, who has forever earned a reputation of and won six Super Bowls by getting rid of players a year too early rather than a year to late, turned a skinny WWE performer into a fourth-round pick.
Draft contest and commentary
We're a day away. One day. Giddy up.
It's draft time. I love the draft. You know this.
First, let's remind folks about the Dodging the Draft While Feeling the Draft and Drinking a Draught Draft Doohickey that is full speed ahead and free. Good times.
Each of the below questions is worth one point. If there's a tie, we will have a Friday, day-two draft tie-breaker, which means we really want there to be a tie so we can extend the contest.
Here are the questions, and feel free to add your answers in the comments or email me at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com:
Today, I am putting my answers in parentheses. Deal? Deal.
> Who will be the second QB drafted? (Justin Herbert, and yes, I have flipped on this time and time again. I think teams not getting the chance to check on Tua's health with their people will be the difference-maker. While I see Weeds' reasoning about asking if the injury-prone Tua could be this draft's Sam Bowie, I think the reverse is also true. If he stays healthy, Tua could be this draft's steal. Maybe not an MJ all-timer, but using that same Bowie draft analogy, Tua could be every bit what Charles Barkley was in that 1984 NBA draft. Barkley went fifth, behind, in order, Olajuwon, Bowie, MJ, and Sam Perkins. Perkins would be Herbert in this the example. Same position. OK career. But if healthy, Tua could be a franchise changer. Do we really think that about Justin Herbert?)
> How many SEC players will go in Round 1? ( I'll go 15, which would shatter the record for one conference. Ones we feel very good about going Thursday: Burrow, Tua, Derrick Brown, Andrew Thomas, Javon Kinlaw, Jedrick Wills, Jerry Juedy, Henry Ruggs, CJ Henderson, Justin Jefferson, Patrick Queen and Xavier McKinney. That's a dozen. Add in the CB from Auburn that no one can say his name, Trevon Diggs, K'Lavon Chaisson, Kristan Fulton, Grant Delpit, De'Andre Swift and others and 15 becomes very real. Especially in a draft with limited exposure to the players, which means more teams will default to the players and programs they know.)
> First team to make a trade? (I'm going with Washington, and here's why every Redskins fan should want this. Washington has to be calling Miami and San Diego or any of the other QB hungry teams because they hold pick 2. Cincy is going Burrow and that's a wrap. So if any other team wants to be guaranteed Tua or Herbert, then 2 is the only place to do that. Plus, if you are Washington, the deal makes too much sense. Yes, Chase Young is a great pass rusher, but the strength of the Redskins is already its front seven. If you deal back and add a No. 1 for 2021 to a QB-needy team, then the Redskins not only add capital, if said QB-needy team struggles next year (and QB-needy teams generally do with rookie QBs) then Washington gets another year to see if Dwayne Haskins is the answer or not and if he's not, they would have two very high spots in the Lose for Lawrence sweepstakes.)
> More offensive or defensive players drafted in Round 1? (Defensive.)
> Over/under 1.5 running backs drafted in Round 1? (Under. I only see Swift being in Round 1, but I also think there will be a change soon in terms of the RB draft view. Right now, folks are wary of taking a RB in Round 1 because of value and long-term value. But as we now view QBs on rookie deals and the huge extra value of that team-secured fifth-year option, why not make the most of the five most productive years of Swift's NFL career in the same light? That will come sooner rather than later.)
> The Atlanta Falcons' first pick will be? (Javon Kinlaw, and yes I think the Falcons will have to move up to get him.)
> Who will be the first wide receiver drafted? (Jerry Juedy.)
> Heck, let's go ahead and extend this beyond Thursday, right? In what round will Jake Fromm be picked? (Round three, and the Pats are going to love him.)
This and that
- Here are some college football changes to the rule, including one that comes directly from the controversy at the end of the 2019 Iron Bowl.
- Speaking of Paschall's heavy workload, here's another story from him in today's TFP that shows the dire impact the pandemic is having on Finley Stadium. Dang you Corona.
- Count me among the folks who agree with Rory McIlroy on this position. McIlroy says that a delayed Ryder Cup is better than a Ryder Cup without fans. And he's right.
- Wow, and in this time, while the surprise comes with the first announcement like this, the true surprise would be if this is the only announcement like this. The Boise State football coaching staff has been furloughed.
- Good to see The Corona can't stop the NCAA doing BID-ness as usual. Of course that BID-ness is almost always inexplicably flawed. Like this. Yes, Buffalo assistant forges transfer document means probation. Will Wade and Sean Miller on FBI wire taps? No, that's cool.
- Longtime NFL front office ace Buddy Nix pulled up a chair on Press Row on Tuesday. He was great.
Today's questions
Which way Wednesday starts this way:
Which way will Lookouts fans feel after today's MLB-MiLB meetings/announcement?
Which side got the best end of the Gronk trade, Tampa or New England?
Which draft question is the most intriguing to you?
Answer some which ways, leave some which ways.
As for today, April 22, let's review.
Happy Earth Day.
Jack Nicholson is 83 today. Yes, 83. Dude has lived a grand life, no?
Rushmore of Nicholson movies. Go.