Jay GreesonFrom PJ
Jay, thanks for the 5-at-10. I read your column every day.
You asked for the Rushmore of 3 (Tuesday), and I would guess you would have a basketball three on the list.
Is that the greatest sports rule change of the last 50 years?
Thanks for my morning entertainment at work.
PJ -
That's a great question, and thanks so much for playing along with the silliness around these parts.
Last 50 years, which would include the DH (added in 1973) instant replay and the two-point conversion.
And all of those are OK by me. I understand the DH, but prefer the NL rules, but I'm OK either way.
I think basketball has added the two best rule changes of my lifetime. The 3-point line is clearly a great rule and maybe has changed the fundamental thoughts and beliefs of any game more than any other alteration.
The other one is college basketball adding the shot clock in the late 1980s. For some of you whippersnappers, you do not remember the four corners stall tactics that Dean Smith and a slew of others made popular in the late 1970s and into the 1980s. A team would hold a 51-47 lead and bleed the last five minutes off the clock with an intricate weaving and passing offense. (Of course teams shot way better from the foul line back then, so fouling to come back was also more difficult.)
Great question. To this week's Rushmores.
Rushmore of cartoon cars: Flintstones foot-powered classic, the family trickster-like vehicle in The Simpsons, the Jetson's flying car, the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo, (Side question about the Mystery Machine: Fred got up close and personal with Daphne in the back of the Mystery Machine, right? We can all agree on that, right?) We could have been more clear and said TV cartoon cars, which is what we meant. Otherwise Lightning McQueen is an absolute first-ballot choice.
Rushmore of super Hollywood marriages: Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Sarah Jessica Parker and Ferris Bueller, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell (not actually married, but together a long time), Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. (This one was a little tougher than I expected.)
Rushmore of 3: Three wise men, Three Stooges, Dale Sr. and 3-pointer.
Rushmore of most unbreakable in-game professional sports records: Wilt's 100 points; Bill Mosienko with the fastest hat trick in NHL history (21 seconds); Derrick Thomas seven sacks in a game; Leon Cadore and Joe Oeschger pitching against each other for 26 innings in 1920. (This one needs some work, friends.)
From Joe Don
JG
Do you think part of the NFL's motive behind the new collective bargain agreement is to dismantle the XFL?
The current CBA proposal makes a dramatic increase to active rosters (+2) and practice squads (+4). That's 6 players getting NFL paychecks that are not getting them in 2019, which totals 192 additional players.
The 8 XFL teams have 46 players on each roster.
192 players divided by 46 = 4.17 XFL teams.
My Red Bank High School math tells me that more than half of the XFL potential player pool is gone.
The XFL may look more like a YMCA league in 2021.
Seems like a new NFL CBA is the beginning of the end of the XFL (again). Or Back to the (No) Future.
Joe Don -
Outstanding analysis, sir. Very well done, and something I am not hearing anywhere else, to be honest.
I try not to buy into the overarching conspiracy theories that get tied to so many different angles and avenues, but this one seems little too coincidental.
That said, do I think the NFL owners are represented by those old 1900s caricatures with the top hats and the monocles and the tuxedos, sitting a cigar-smoke-filled room lighting each other's Cubans with $100 bills and laughing wickedly as they tug at the end of mustaches? Yes, yes I do.
But everything in this deal - the CBA was sent to the players this week and they have until next Thursday to vote - from the owners' perspective was designed with two primary goals in mind:
> How do we get at least one more regular-season game and a new playoff portal to auction off for hundreds of millions?;
> How do we accomplish that without a) giving the players guaranteed contracts, b) doing away with the salary cap, because if we do not have a salary cap, Jerry Jones will spend $500 million a year on his roster, c) appear to be sensitive to head injuries and concussions, not because we care about the health of the players, but because we do not want another multi-billion-dollar lawsuit, and d) keep Roger Goodell as the judge and appeal board so we can keep control on all unforeseen societal issues (i.e. Kaepernick) which is really the only thing that has slowed the NFL over recent years.
And the owners accomplished that by knowing the wants of the majority of players. They raise the revenue sharing by billions, while still increasing the overall pie enough to make sure the owners will still make more. They are raising the salaries and the minimums of the rank and file, they are lowering the punishments and regulations against marijuana use and, as Joe Don notes, they are expanding rosters.
Now if it guts the XFL, then so be it. Hey, an added bonus.
But the reverse is also true, right?
If there is an NFL lockout/strike, after the 2020 season, and the XFL can make it to year 2, think how many of the young guys would be giving a look to making any money playing the game? More than a few.
Which brings us to our XFL picks. We went 1-3 last week, and are 16-10 against the number. Meh.
Houston minus-13 over Seattle. N.Y. Guardians plus-8 over Dallas. St. Louis minus-3 at D.C. L.A. Wildcats minus-2 over Tampa Bay. Giddy up.
From JTC
Jay, mailbag item perhaps? If CBS can afford to way overpay Tony Romo - there has to be money for the NFL to get better officials. Maybe hire some guys full time that are former athletes and run them through a rigorous training regime'? Pick some recently retired players even (though not many would be interested, I assume)? There has to be some solutions and booth reviews are NOT IT. They are not getting better IMO
JTC -
Before we get to this item, we must also tip the visor to JTC, who on True or False Tuesday posted this pearl of wisdom: "true, true, false. TorF ESPN finds a way to fire Booger from the MNF game. TorF that Peyton replaces him."
Well done ,sir, and that was a couple of days before the chief sports media writers around the country have been reporting that ESPN is looking at ways to make Al Michaels and Peyton Manning its Monday Night team. And if that happens, I'm all for adding the little brother chair in the booth, and the chemistry between Peyton and Eli would be intriguing.
As for the refs, this is clearly the biggest issue in the NFL that no one wants to acknowledge and certainly does not want to discuss.
The pay issue you mention is a good point, and this should be something that is so financially beneficial that it a) creates an eye-popping amount of demand in the workforce pool for future generations, and b) makes it next to impossible for gamblers to approach officials as the reach and acceptance of sports betting only grows in future years.
Granted, a lot of the issues in recent years have been magnified because of the 1,000 different angles you and I get as we're watching from our couch and kicking back a Co-Cola. One thing that will truly help is mirroring the XFL's procedures and their embrace of transparency in reviews and conversations.
And while we are here, dear Lord, with the money that is piling up, the technological stone age the officials are operating in is head-scratching.
Forget the bad calls for a moment, because those are elite athletes making super-human plays at the highest of speeds. OK, mistakes happen.
But old dudes with chains marking the ball by eye? PUH-lease.
Hey, doing that at Lookout Valley for the Yellow Jackets vs. Sale Creek is fine. But the NFL? Again, PUH-lease.
Grid every field and micro-chip the ball. No more worries about TDs or first downs or everything in between. And that's just a start.
From Matt
Man, why is everyone so jacked about where Tom Brady might go?
I don't care where he plays, but I will ask this: Do you think he will be any good?
Thanks, and which QBs are going to be out there that you would want on your team next year?
Thanks, and I love you guys on Press Row.
Matt
Interesting question, and for the most part, I concur with you and try to stay out of the projections, since we are still roughly two weeks out before the actual news will start to surface.
Consider the following:
> I think Dak remains in Dallas.
> I think two of the three best QB options - who will be available to acquire for 2020 - are in the draft.
> I think Brady is going to leave, which is a complete 180 for me because up until a week ago, I was firmly on the other side.
And we care because Brady is the most accomplished QB ever. We care because we want even a subtle hint about whether the Pats' historic two-decade dynasty was because of the coach or the quarterback. (And I believe both those guys want to prove their merits in that discussion, too.)
We care because we are a culture that is now fascinated in the transaction as much as we are the action.
As for the QBs out there, well, if Dak is in play, I think he's the best out there. Right after that is Drew Brees, but I think those cats are going to be back in Dallas and New Orleans.
As I said, I think Brady is way more likely to leave the Pats than I originally guessed, but can only see him going somewhere where he has a chance to make a serious run toward a title. That includes San Fran. That includes Tennessee, too.
But I am unsure if Brady 2020 is an upgrade over Tannehill 2019. Are you? I'm not in the camp that thinks Teddy Bridgewater is going to be a franchise guy.
I'm super intrigued to see what happens to Jameis and Mariota. (I would be willing to roll the dice on either of those cats with incentive-laden deals. Also of note, whomever the Bucs go get, with those weapons and Bruce Arians calling for a slew of deep throws - "No risk it, no biscuit," is Arians' mantra - I will be targeting in fantasy drafts next year.)
I also am a big fan of the two QBs at the top of this draft class and think Burrow and Tua are going to be very good Sunday slingers. I also am a believer in Jalen Hurts more than others, considering I believe he's every bit as accurate as Lamar Jackson is, and in the right system could mirror that success.
And this just donned on me, but man oh man, would this be so New England.
Brady picks up and leaves. (And yes, I know a lot of folks are speculating that Belichick wants to bring Jimmy G back, but who knows.)
But what if the Pats work behind the scenes, offer a package of picks including a first-rounder or two and swing a deal to get:
Andrew Luck out of retirement. Oh my.
Great question.
Enjoy the weekend, friends.