Good morning, all and welcome to Thursday!
I am releasing my Picks for Kicks segment early this week, because of tonight’s big game between the Los Angeles Rams and the Seattle Seahawks. I break it all down in the above video.
Here are some other thoughts, as I contemplate the upcoming CFP:
Is the NFL ready for the Indiana Bears? Stalled in their efforts to build a new stadium, the Chicago Bears just might look to northwest Indiana to construct their Taj Mahal. The Bears do not want to stay at Solder Field and apparently efforts to build a stadium in suburban Arlington Heights have also stalled. Bears president Kevin Warren sent a letter to season ticket holders, explaining the lack of cooperation the franchise is getting from state leaders and that building over the state line might be the alternative. Why not? Don’t the New York Giants and New York Jets play in New Jersey?
What in the name of Casey Stengel are the New York Mets up to? They snagged another former New York Yankee on Wednesday, inking free agent reliever Luke Weaver. Supposedly the Yankees never made Weaver an offer.
Brian Mik, who I wrote about last week for correctly predicting Pete Alonso would go to the Orioles, makes a great point. The Yankees were forced to trade for three relievers at the trade deadline last year, because (Devin) Williams and Weaver were not doing the job. Now both are Mets. In his words: “So the NY Mets spent $73M on the back end of the NY Yankees bullpen that GM Brian Cashman had to trade for three relievers for at the end of the trade deadline this past season.” Well put.
The New York Knicks, playing in the mecca of basketball, have not won a world title since the 1972-73 season. So you can forgive them for not hanging the banner they just won for capturing the NBA Cup. Commissioner Adam Silver might not like this, but the NBA Cup is a contrived in-season tournament manufactured to create interest in a much-too-long regular season. Good for the Knicks to keep their eye on the real ball: the league championship. Something tells me, though, we have not heard the end of this and the commissioner will force them to place the banner along side their two World Championship flags.
Speaking of the NBA, the commissioner says it is now time to start thinking about adding two more teams. The league will start discussions on expansion early in the new year.
The Heisman Trophy award ceremony was a television hit on Saturday. 4.3M viewers tuned in to ABC to watch QB Fernando Mendoza of Indiana win the award. That is the highest rated Heisman rating since 2012.
I frequently write about sports switching from legacy television to streaming. How about this one? Starting in 2029, the Academy Awards are moving from broadcast TV to You Tube. YT will have exclusive rights to the event. The times continue to change.
Speaking of which, it would not surprise me to hear that before the year is out, more daily newspapers will drop their print editions to go strictly digital or at the very least reduce the number of days per week they publish a hardcopy edition. Many newspapers have done so already. Expect others to follow suit.
I’m thinking QB Tua Tagovailoa’s days as a Miami Dolphin are numbered now that coach Mike McDaniel announced he is benching him for the season’s remaining three games in favor of seventh-round draft pick Quinn Ewers. Then again, you wonder if it will be Tagovailoa or McDaniel who is shown the door first.
That is going to do it for today’s newsletter. Thank you for being a subscriber and have a terrific day.
DAN
