Let's handle our business.
Rushmore of Frances McDormand movies: "Raising Arizona," "Almost Famous," "Fargo" and "Mississippi Burning."
Rushmore of Champ: Champ Kind, Heavyweight Champ, the movie "The Champ" and Champ Bailey.
Rushmore of GIFs: Chris Pratt's shocked face from "Parks and Rec" and MJ's crying face are gimmes right? Michael Jackson with his popcorn in the "Thriller" video, and the Spiderman vs. Spiderman square off? Thoughts? I'm sure I'm forgetting a few
Rushmore of movie sea creatures: Jaws is far left; Godzilla, the creature from the Black Lagoon and Rose from "Titanic." We could do a cartoon one too I suppose, and the crustacean who sings "Shiny" in "Moana" would be there with the Little Mermaid, Sebastian and Nemo's old man. Guess I could have added Dory, but I forgot about it.
To the bag:
From a bunch of you
NBA draft thoughts?
Gang -
So much to cover.
First, the ESPN broadcast crew of Malika Andrews (who was awesome in her awesomeness last night), Kendrick Perkins and Jay Bilas was light years better than the lead quartet of Screaming' Stephen A., Jalen Rose and the rest.
And it was not close.
Second, man, if Duke had a coach willing to work with his charges and blend a young crew rather than a "Look-at-K" victory tour, they likely should have won it all. Four picks in the first 26 names and five in the first 42? Yeah, that's title-level talent.
Third, why was there no live, in-draft betting options available according to multiple outlets? That is a terrible missed opportunity - for the online partners and for the event itself, which started with a stunning turn of events because Paolo Banchero was plus-420 (bet $100, win $420) to go No. 1 overall and Jabari Smith was plus-2000 to go 3.
The dominos that happen on the draft are staggering. It's one of the main reasons I love the draft. You know this. I think OKC had for so long believed that Jabari Smith was going 1, the Thunder started working ways to maximize Chet Holmgren (no relation to Mike, clearly) and when Smith was still on the board, they defaulted to the plan.
Which left the Rockets with the best player in the draft at 3. Now add in the other assets Houston acquired - LSU defensive whiz Tari Eason and free-falling UK guard TyTy Washington, who has an NBA-ready offensive game - and the Rockets got a lot better - more than any other team last night.
That's a star and at least two more rotation players to add to the mix of a young core that includes potential superstar Jalen Green.
I think the Hawks landed a potential all-star in A.J. Griffin, who is among the best shooters in this draft and gives the Hawks flexibility in terms of packaging pieces - looking at you Kevin Huerter - to a rebuilding team to add a star next to Trae Young.
This is the caveat part of the show where we remind everyone that picks are lottery tickets, and grading drafts is an exercise in futility in anything other than relative value - taking a guy too early, getting a guy later than most expected.
But I believe this: Jabari Smith will be the best NBA player in this draft; and he went third.
From Doug
Saw the stories the last week on Title IX. What are your thoughts, Jay ? Title IX , was all well and good, however Women's basketball was going to grow anyway. In actuality all Title IX really did was provide scholarships for upper middle class kids that didnt need the help. It provided scholarships for Lacrosse, Gymnastics, rowing, tennis, soccer, volleyball and women's golf. All sports that are 90% scholarships filled by middle to upper middle class white girls from the suburbs. Then on the flip side it hurt sports on the men's side that had to be eliminated like wrestling and some baseball. women's basketball gets 15 scholarships and men's basketball went from 15 to 13., so you basically eliminated 2 scholarships per 350 schools that for the most part went to African-American kids that may have been on the low end economically. So the unintended consequences may have out-weighed the positives
Doug -
Such a great question, and one that deserves more discussion on the national platforms. Sadly it will not receive it because of concerns about being offensive to women.
We'll start with the undeniable truth: Title IX was great for women's sports, and as a dad of a female athlete, it has opened more doors in the last century than any Washington-based decision this side of Brown vs. the Board of Education.
The positives far outweigh the negatives, and by a wide margin.
But that does not mean there are negatives.
When the economic reality met with the territorial greed within college athletic programs, frequently Title IX sadly became more about trading opportunities from males to females rather than just creating new opportunities for women in athletics. That has been magnified through the years with the striking elimination of men's soccer and wrestling throughout the south as well as the growing number of cancelled baseball teams as well as various men's track offerings.
Heck, men's volleyball may be the most specialized and rarest college scholarship out there.
I think the racial assertions you reference Doug, while assuredly true in hoops, are balanced in the cutbacks in baseball as well as the increase in female basketball scholarships.
But this is a great question because it's an important discussion that needs to be had and points to the need of the reworking of Title IX on its face. Because the noble and glorious idea of creating equal opportunities for female athletes should be about creating space rather than trading it.
And I think that is pretty easily handled with a serious and cost-conscientious look at football in this equation, especially since football generates the lion's share of income for every athletic department, hence it helps pay the freight for every athlete - male and female.
From Will
Arch Manning to Texas!!!! Yes, Horns are back baby, and we'll win the SEC in two years.
Will -
Congrats.
And nope.
And is there anything as mockable than "Texas is back" in the college sports realm these days?
Discuss. That said, I think that decision makes the most sense for Arch. Tennessee never appeared to be in the mix. Ole Miss comes with too much baggage. Going to Georgia or Alabama is a guaranteed ticket to compete for a title, but that's not because of you.
Plus, you'll alienate a lot of your family and followers. Texas seems like a safe space. For now.
From Patrick
I say (Rickie) Fowler is a good choice. But how about Bubba Watson joining LIV?
Patrick -
Bubba is an excellent call. Truly inspired.
In fact, I am a) surprised he's not already there and b) kind of embarrassed I did not suggest it already.
Dang you Patrick.
What's the biggest dagger the LIV could throw at the PGA right now? And in that sense, would it be worth a $1 billion for the Saudis to lure Rory to the LIV at this moment?
Because I think flipping Rory right now would be more valuable to LIV and hurtful to the PGA than flipping Tiger.
And if you're Rory, what if they offered $1.5 billion?
Thoughts?
And for the not exactly fan mail
"Man, you are a moron."
And
"This guy should delete his account and do us all a favor."
And
"Did you momma have any kids who could read?"
And
"God, how did you get a blue check mark!?!?!"
Have a great weekend friends.
Jay Greeson