A new era begins for NC and Belichick
My prediction. Bear Bryant Mr. Baseball? No full Labor Day slate
Good morning, all. I hope your Labor Day goes well!
A new era begins for college football and Bill Belichick tonight, when North Carolina hosts Texas Christian University. ESPN has the game at 8 p.m.
In my opinion, Belichick is the greatest NFL coach ever, after what he accomplished with the Patriots. Yes he needed Tom Brady, but name me a coach who won without a great QB? The two go hand-in-hand.
The ending between the Krafts and Belichick was not pretty. With egos involved those endings usually are not. You read numerous stories, even in respected publications, and you get the idea the Krafts did everything in their power to sabotage Belichick from getting another NFL job. Who knows? Belichick is now in North Carolina, attempting to carve out a new success story. I hope he turns the program around.
That stated, I am picking TCU to beat NC tonight. Look for the Horned Frogs to cover the spread (As of this writing they were 3.5 point favorites.) and take the over. The O/U was 55.5 points. But do not be discouraged. Belichick will put the NC program on the football map. It’s just going to take time. His recruiting class for next season already looks impressive. Something tells me Belichick will see this thing through and in the end come out on top.
Here are some other thoughts as I ponder why baseball insists on scoring a runner from third with the infield drawn in:
We here plenty about why thoroughbred horse racing doesn’t have the following it once did, but if you read the NY Times story, it is certainly steady Eddie. Numerous times I’ll be channel surfing and come across Fox/FS2 with its horse racing coverage on a Saturday from Saratoga or, pick your track. Who watches this, I ask myself. Apparently many people. According to the story, the Saturday telecasts average 501,000 viewers. That number is better than the number of viewers who watch regular season NHL games on TNT or college basketball on Fox/FS1. My late uncle, who loved horse racing and for a time actually owned a horse that raced at Delaware Park, was always glued to FS2. So the next time you ask, why are these races being televised? The answer is because the coverage has a loyal following.
Have you checked out the coaches roster for the AFC West? What a lineup, beginning with Andy Reid in Kansas City, followed by Pete Carroll in Las Vegas, Sean Peyton in Denver and Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers. That should be a fun division.
R.I.P. Lee Roy Jordan. Jordan, 84, was a linebacker on the first Cowboys Super Bowl-winning team and was a first-round draft pick out of Alabama, where played under the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant. Jordan was a five-time Pro Bowler and was the first player placed in the Cowboys ring of honor after Jerry Jones bought the team. The Cowboy’s announced Jordan’s death on Saturday. No other information was provided.
By the way, did you know “Bear” Bryant was a big baseball fan? Bryant used to pour over the box scores, when they were printed in the newspaper, faithfully. How do I know this? I remember a radio interview, during a Yankees-Red Sox broadcast Bryant did with Yankees broadcaster Frank Messer (One of my favorites). He and Messer started talking about the minutiae of baseball. When the coach began breaking down Horace Clarke’s stats, I knew he wasn’t faking it.
What is it with MLB? When I was growing up every team played on Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day, sometimes doubleheaders. Now some teams have the day off. Today, two of baseball’s signature clubs, the Dodgers and the Yankees have no game scheduled. Same for the Pirates and the Royals. One of the backbones of my Dan Plan is to have every club play a doubleheader on these holidays. Of course, I am also advocating seven-inning twin bills. Regardless, all teams should have been scheduled for today. Terrible look by MLB!
I had Walker Buehler going to either the Yankees or Mets but the Phillies need pitching too. How delicious must it be for Dave Dombrowski to have the Red Sox picking up the rest of Buehler’s $21.05M contract. Buehler is still owed $3.4M and Boston is on the hook for most of it with the Phillies paying a prorated portion of the minimum salary. Phillies also have claimed LHP Tim Mayza from the Pirates.
Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians, had been on paid leave, as ordered by MLB, while a betting probe was launched. The leave was supposed to end on Aug. 31 but MLB has announced the two will have their leave extended “until further notice.” Not good.
Remember when the San Francisco Giants seemed to have a dynasty going? They won the World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014. This season will mark the fourth straight year the Giants will not make the playoffs and eight out of the last nine. A signature franchise like the Giants needs to do better than that.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. As always, thank you for your support and have a great end to your three-day weekend!
DAN