Hawks in flight
Wow. Just wow.
Trae Young is playing out of his fuzzy, scruffy skull right now, and these Atlanta Hawks have no reason to fear anyone left in the playoffs.
A healthy Brooklyn and likely a healthy Lakers crew are better than the Hawks, but neither was healthy and neither is currently practicing because both got bounced.
Now, the Hawks are making the most of a golden chance with a chemistry and confidence that is tangible.
And it starts with Young, the best player with the worst head of hair since Artis Gilmore was in his prime.
The mercurial point guard was sensational in Wednesday's Game 1 win, going for 48 points and 11 assists, including a dynamite, highlight-reel off-the-glass alley-oop to John Collins.
It's hard for folks like me who have experienced Atlanta sports since the 1970s when Jeff Burroughs was the best Braves player, Steve Bartkowski was your QB and John Drew was the best at the Omni to know what to make of an Atlanta-based team with this much swagger and a real belief that a title is doable.
Sure the Braves reached a place where winning was the expectation, but a core of four Hall of Fame players - and three starting pitchers - that produced only one World Series title still left plenty of heartache for the A-T-L sports scene.
Now these Hawks are like a bizarre and wonderful mix of the surprise of the 1991 Braves - who shocked all of us and baseball with a worst-to-first World Series trip - and the swagger of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Wow.
Lofty levels
OK, we've had some back-and-forth about transgender athletes competing against women in this space.
It's a complex conversation with several layers.
Here's another one. CeCe Telfer, who identifies as a woman and runs the 400 meters, was ruled out of the U.S. Olympic trials because her testosterone levels were too high. The levels are measured per meter, and must be below 5 nanomoles per liter for 12 months.
A person can keep testosterone levels low, according to the AP story, by "using an oral contraceptive pill, a monthly injection of a hormone therapy drug or by surgery to remove their testicles.."
So there's that.
First, while I do not think transgender athletes should be allowed to compete in women's events, having hard and fast rules, especially on levels of testosterone, is paramount.
That said, Telfer provides the textbook example of the differences between men's and women's competitions.
Telfer running as a male was good enough to run for Franklin Pierce, a Division II school in New Hampshire with an enrollment of 2,300, but he was not ranked in the top 200 nationally and his best time was good enough for 10th in the Northeast-10 Conference rankings. As a female runner, Telfer won the NCAA title.
And of course
So, the NCAA framework for Name, Image and Likeness regulations is now leaking out with a week before the July 1 implementation of legislation in various states, including Georgia, Florida and Alabama. (Tennessee's law would go into effect Jan. 1, 2022. For a state-by-state update on the status of the NIL laws, check out this site.)
Here's more from CBSsports.com writer Dennis Dodd.
The one-page document with the structure of the NCAA rules is only a rough draft, Dodd writes, and you have to believe the feel-as-you nature of this will be quite uncertain.
It does offer a couple of details that are pertinent.
First, the document states schools must post on their website their rules and regulations and that NIL money can't be given "in exchange for athletic performance or attendance."
Granted, enforcing that regulation and proving the violations will be easier said than done, but at least it is there.
Then there is this: The language of it not being allowed to use NIL as a recruiting tool, according to the NCAA document, "shall cease to be applicable" if state law allows it.
Buckle up in 'Bama, get going in Georgia, full funds forward in Florida. You think these lawmakers are not going to create wiggle room for the Tide, Dawgs and Gators on this?
Think again.
Of course we wanted the NCAA to act and show some direction. Then they act, and remind us that the only direction the NCAA knows is crooked,
This and that
> Wow. (Feel like we've said that a lot today.) Former Tennessee basketball player Keon Johnson made eyes pop at the NBA combine with a record-smashing 48-inch vertical. By most measures, Johnson is pegged as a lottery pick after one season with the Vols.
> Wow, again. Vandy snatched advancement from the jaws of elimination Wednesday night by scoring the game-winning run against Stanford on a wild pitch.
> Wow, play of the year? Did you see the clip of the dad at a Rangers game who snagged a foul ball one-handed while holding his daughter with a casual nature akin to ordering at the drive-thru? Take a look.
> Braves played. Braves lost. I asked earlier this week if it was time to give up on Sean Newcomb, and in truth, left-handed dudes who throw north of 95 are worth as many opportunities as you can afford. Now the question comes in this form: Why is Kyle Wright not much, Much, MUCH better than this? Dude has front of the rotation stuff and can't handle an injury-riddled line-up like the Mets field? Inexplicable.
> You know the rules. Here's TFP sports editor and prep sports guru Stephen Hargis on the nominees for best Scrappy Moore coach of the year. The Best of Preps banquet is virtual tonight. Great event.
> Speaking of the TFP, Super Dave Flessner has a very interesting story on the impact a minimum wage jump would have on Chattanooga. Side note: Super Dave is not called Super by accident, friends. Elsewhere in today's fish wrapper is Patrick MacCoon's story on former Bradley Central star and current Kentucky All America Rhyne Howard.
Today's questions
True or false on a Thursday, Alabama's legislature will act quickly to open a loophole to allow NIL to be part of the recruiting process.
A Thursday revisit that likely will be part of the mailbag: Trae Young or Luka Doncic, who would you rather have?
As for today, June 24, let's review.
Speaking of Franklin Pierce, on this day in 1853, the president by that name signed the Gadsden Purchase and bought almost 30,000 square miles from Mexico for $10 million.
Mick Fleetwood is 74 today. Lionel Messi is 34.
On this day in 1949, "Hopalong Cassidy" became the first network TV Western.
Rushmore of TV Westerns. Go, and remember the mailbag.