Good morning, all! One day until the weekend!
The NBA has been rocked with gambling allegations, involving the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, hall of famer Chauncy Billups, and player Terry Rozier. What is going to happen? Plus I give you my World Series pick in the above video.
Here are some other thoughts, as I examine how the Boston media is slobbering over the Patriots:
Yes, I understand the Patriots are turning a lot of heads and are off to a 5-2 start, with an easy schedule ahead. And I did write they are for real. That said, can we pump the brakes here? The Boston media is going gaga over the Pats strong start, which I suppose is natural, after back-to-back 4-13 seasons, but some of their coverage has been over-the-top. We are not even at the season’s midway point. Let’s not find a spot for another Lombardi Trophy just yet.
Well, they don’t mess around in Pennsylvania, where plans have been unveiled to build a high school football stadium atop a parking garage in Allentown, PA. The stadium will cost $25M, seat 4,000, have a press box, concessions and, of course, plenty of parking. But what in the name of Joe Namath are they doing building a stadium on top of a parking garage? Officials do not want to take away from a surrounding parking area that is used by the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, AAA home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Below is a rendering of the football stadium:
Here is the reported contract that now former Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello is getting to manage the San Francisco Giants: three-year, $10.5M deal with a vesting option for a fourth year. It makes him the highest paid debuting MLB manager-EVER!
By the way, former Houston Astros and New York Mets prospect Drew Gilbert, now a San Francisco Giant, played under Vitello at Tennessee. He tells The Athletic he anticipates Vitello will have little trouble adjusting to the big leagues. Vitello never played professional baseball and is the first person to ever go directly from coaching a college team to managing in MLB. Gilbert was effusive in his praise of his former coach, saying Vitello made him the person and player he is today.
The NBA is back on NBC and the network placed a doubleheader in primetime for Opening Night. It turned out a ratings winner as a combined 5.61M viewed the two games.
Front Office Sports is reporting the NBA gambling arrests on Thursday is just the tip of the iceberg!
Word is the Kansas City Royals have narrowed their choice for a new stadium down to three sites, two in Missouri and one in Kansas.
Speaking of Missouri, it was 56 years ago this month the legendary baseball broadcaster Harry Caray was fired as the “Voice of the St. Louis Cardinals.” The St. Louis television station that broke the story had a great retrospective. Enjoy!
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for being a subscriber and have a great Friday!
DAN
