Braves new challenge
There is no warm and fuzzy for this Braves bunch.
There is no, "Hey these young kids are pretty good" this time around.
We know the team is legit and the top four in the order are as good as any 1-thru-4 in the game.
We know the young arms are skilled - and we hope one particular Achilles is mended - and the bullpen dependable.
The questions are minimal for this bunch, so the surprise will be hard to find.
Which leads us to the Braves' biggest concern not related to Mike Soroka's rehab and return from the season-ending Achilles tear early last season.
Pressure. Can this team handle the expectations on a team that returns almost every meaningful piece from the one that should have bounced the eventual World Series champs in the NLCS?
Because the young lifeblood of the offense - the youthful and energetic tandem of Ronald Acuña and Ozzie Albies - face the rigors of being big-time stars rather than up-and-coming stars now.
Marcel Ozuna is not on a one-year deal, playing for his next contract. He got paid like the slugger he is, and last year's monster season was a joyous surprise, with that contract, it's the expectation now.
Yes Freddie is Freddie and will assuredly be in the MVP conversation with the Betts, Bellinger, Lindor, Harper, et al., all year.
Yes Max Fried looks the part, but the rotation needs Soroka, especially considering the Dodgers' starting pitcher carousel is so full David Price can't crack the top 5.
The Braves will be fun to watch, considering the bats atop the order and the young arms on the staff.
Fun was enough last year, especially considering the growth and improvement.
But then a trip to the NLCS was without question progress. Now it's the baseline of what's expected.
Whether they handle those expectations will be critical in reaching them.
Real March madness
No, not our angst at the college basketball officials, who seem to be getting worse by the weekend.
(Side note: Hey, Stripes, no one bought a ticket or clicked the remote to the game to watch your theatrics and overdone one-act plays that have become the charge call. In fact, not sense Eric Gregg flipped the strike zone horizontally for Marlins starter Liván Hernández in the NLCS against the Braves is any call more consistently wrong than the charge. My reasoning is simple: The refs enjoy calling a charge, and the hops and arm-waving that comes with it. Their enjoyment is robbing me of mine. And if I'm involved with the Baylor women's program after that no-call late against UConn, well, let's just say I would have gotten my money's worth on those technicals.)
No, not the fact that I am something like 4-153 in NCAA hoops predictions during this run.
No, not the ease with which Gonzaga is carving up every one it faces.
Heck, it's not even the overly over-the-top smugness of Jim Nantz.
It's the NCAA of course that deserves our Madness. The optics about the weight room and equality between the men's and the women's tournaments last week was the starting point for this.
But Jack DeGioia, the president of Georgetown and the chair of the NCAA board of governors, gave NCAA president and piñata Mark Emmert a declaration of support, telling the AP: "We have confidence in Mark's continuing leadership of the NCAA."
So on Mark's side are the NCAA board of governors and anyone with the last name Emmert. The rest of the world sees this dude's jackwagonery.
But the BoG is the voice that matters, and of course they are going to support Emmert. Money is flowing again and Emmert is the perfect foil. He's terrible at his job - which in turn makes the other leaders of colleges look like competent leaders - and is comfortable being the media punching bag and taking the blame.
While not as big as the equity issue, another bad look for the NCAA happened after Oregon State got bounced by Houston in their Elite Eight game Monday night, the team returned to the hotel as the NCAA directed them to immediately pack their bags and leave the hotel for a 1:15 a.m. flight to Oregon.
Man, between DeGioia's tone deafness and Emmert's incompetence, maybe we should be thankful Oregon State at least got to fly back from Indy to Corvallis, where they arrived at 4 a.m. Tuesday morning.
But it's par for the course for the leadership of the NCAA. Look around.
Nothing on Name, Image and Likeness in terms of leadership or structure, and that friends, when it is authorized by individual states offering varying degrees of benefits and earning percentages will be the toothpaste out of the tube that will forever alter college sports.
The equity stuff. Heck, we're two-plus years removed from the FBI and Will Wade's "strong (bleep) offer" and nothing on those fronts either.
This is the biggest event for the NCAA and it's not even close. This could be a time that even Emmert takes a small victory circle considering the tournaments have been played, the broadcast partners have to be happy with the TV returns and the money will start rolling back in.
But no. Nothing is easy with Emmert involved and the the only predictable part of the NCAA is that everyone is going to leave mad. Everyone not on the BOG or named Emmert, that is.
17 games and billions of dollars
I'll be the first to admit it, seeing an NFL team go 8-9 and miss the playoffs is going to be odd. For a while.
But so it goes as Tuesday the NFL owners approved a 17-game season, starting this year.
(Side note: I kind of hope someone hires Jeff Fisher to see if he could actually pull off 8-8-1 one more time. The perennially 7-9, 9-7 coach that was the former Titans and Rams boss had a career mark of 178-171-1, including the playoffs.)
With the news I saw this stat, and man does it explain the four decades of futility '- for the most part - of these two franchises. In the 16-game era - from 1978 to 2020 - only two NFL teams did not have a QB pass for 4,000 yards in a season.
The Bears and the Jets.
There are several layers to this onion, and those details can be devilish.
For example, the competitive imbalance the 17th game represents - the 17th game this year will be NFC teams visiting AFC teams and the matchups done by divisional criss-cross based on record. That said, be it luck of the draw or the power of the TV revenue, while there are some bona fide clunkers in the slate of 17th games, there also the made for prime time pairings of Dallas-New England and Green Bay-Kansas City.
And that will be welcomed programming, especially for the folks at CBS and Fox.
Speaking of the TV deal, the new contract was agreed to earlier this month, and I'm pretty sure in the madness of March, I may have overlooked some of it.
But from the massiveness of the deal - 11 years and the NFL will make north of $113 billion (with a 'b') - to Monday night flex-scheduling there are some tweaks we should be aware of.
The new media contract does not kick in until 2023, but when it does, there will be more Monday night doubleheaders and Monday night flex scheduling starting Week 12.
As expected Nickelodeon will be more involved as the league looks to find connections to young fans. Amazon will be the exclusive home for Thursday night football. Yes, the streaming service. Sorry Spy.
And that's not the only online venture. ESPN+ will have one game exclusively as will NBC's streaming service Peacock.
And, proving again, it's good to be the king, the NFL can opt out after seven years and make the networks fight for the scraps from LongGoodell's table.
This and that
- Crazy to think that the MLB opens Thursday, right? We'll offer some across the sport predictions tomorrow. Deal? Deal.
- Speaking of college hoops, this will be the first Final Four completely composed of teams West of the Mississippi River.
- OK, we all saw the video of the elderly Asian woman brutally attacked by the Black man in New York City on Monday right? Thankfully the suspect has been apprehended by authorities and is being charged with felony assault as a hate crime. But there seemingly just as much outrage at two employees inside the building that captured the video who did not go help during the attack, and there's a very good chance those two building employees will lose their jobs. From that link: "The Brodsky Organization, the company that owns the building, announced in a statement Monday that the "staff who witnessed the attack have been suspended pending an investigation in conjunction with their union." The company said it "is also working to identify a third-party delivery vendor present during the incident so that appropriate action can be taken." Is it fair?
- You know the rules. Here's Paschall's prose on the Vols linebacker rotation. Yeah, here's betting everyone in orange that's not in a tree stand would love ol' Hank 2-o, 2-o back in pads ASAP.
- Count me in on this one friends. Sly Stallone has written a prequel to Rocky for streaming services. Sly's aim is to have multiple 10-episode seasons with looks at Rocky and Adrian and Mick and the crew "in their younger years." Yes please, if for nothing but the early Apollo years.
- Man, no wonder everyone loves Joe Biden. Dude gives away more money than your favorite grandparent. Here's another $1.3 billion - yes with a 'B' - in student loan forgiveness. Brother.
- Speaking of big coin, the conversations we had last week about Jim Nantz needs a final chapter. After looking for Room-Like $17-plus million a year to say "Hello friends" and whisper sweet nothings to us from the tower at 18 at Augusta, Nantz wisely backed down from that lofty perch. I hope he will be able to get by on his $10.5 million annual salary. (And if you are curious, he is the highest-paid non-QB in broadcast history.) Now buckle up for this. Nantz' new deal runs through 2035, which means CBS has committed right at $150 million to Nantz to have the best gig in play-by-play sports. Wow, that will buy a whole lot of burnt toast and neckties.
Today's questions
Which way Wednesday starts this way - which beloved movie/TV franchise needs a prequel aspect most? They have explored about every possible angle - pre and post - of all Star Wars vehicles. The early Jack Ryan stories are good. What about Jason Bourne's time with the Agency? Does anyone watch 'Clarice' on CBS?
OK, while we're here, and this happens at a lot of sporting events, but it feels like the NCAA tournament and the NBA playoffs on TNT hit you over the head with self-promoting commercials of other network shows to the point of nausea. Clarice fits. So does The Equalizer. A few years ago on TNT it was something called Rizoli and Isles, if I recall correctly. And what was that Kyra Sedgwick one, The Closer maybe?
Anywell, where were we? Ah yes.
Which Braves player is the biggest key to getting to the World Series?
Which of the other three Final Four teams has the best chance to beat Gonzaga?
As for today, March 31, or April's Fools Day Eve as some call it, let's review.
Al Gore was born on this day in 1948. The interwebs rejoice.
It's also national tater day.
Gordie How would have been 93. Christopher Walker is 78.
The Eiffel Tower officials opened on this day in 1889.
Rushmore of tower. Go, and remember the mailbag.