Archives for January 29, 2023

Philadelphia is Super Bowl Bound

January 29, 2023 by Digital Sports Desk

PHILADELPHIA – (Staff and Wire Service Report by Field Level Media) – Miles Sanders rushed for two touchdowns, Haason Reddick delivered a huge performance and the Philadelphia Eagles are headed to the Super Bowl after posting a 31-7 victory over the visiting San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game on Sunday.

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Jalen Hurts passed for 121 yards and rushed for a touchdown as the top-seeded Eagles advanced to their first Super Bowl in five years and fourth overall. Boston Scott tacked on a rushing score while Reddick had two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.

Second-seeded San Francisco was left without firepower after rookie quarterback Brock Purdy injured his right elbow in the first quarter after a blow from Reddick. He later re-entered the game in the third quarter after backup Josh Johnson sustained a concussion.

Purdy was 4-of-4 passing for 23 yards but threw just two short passes after returning despite the 49ers facing a large deficit. Johnson completed 7 of 13 passes for 74 yards and Christian McCaffrey rushed for 84 yards and one score.

Philadelphia outgained San Francisco 269 to 164. The Eagles will face either the Cincinnati Bengals or the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz.

The Eagles drove 66 yards on 11 plays on their first drive with Sanders ending it with a 6-yard scoring run.

On the sixth play after San Francisco took over, Reddick slammed into Purdy’s right arm. The ball slipped out of Purdy’s hand and was knocked up field by his wrist before being recovered by Philadelphia’s Linval Joseph at the Eagles’ 44-yard line.

Johnson took over on San Francisco’s next possession when Purdy determined he couldn’t throw the ball.

The 49ers tied the game in the second quarter when McCaffrey powered his way to a 23-yard touchdown run.

The Eagles regained the lead when Sanders rumbled through a big hole on a 13-yard run with 1:36 left.

On San Francisco’s next possession, Johnson took his eyes off a shotgun snap and dropped the ball, and Reddick recovered at the 49ers’ 30. Three plays later, Scott scored on a 10-yard run to give Philadelphia a 21-7 advantage 16 seconds before halftime.

Early in the third quarter, Johnson threw an incomplete pass and hit his head on the turf after a hit from Philadelphia’s Ndamukong Suh. He exited the game. Purdy finished the drive with a handoff and then returned for San Francisco’s next offensive drive.

The 49ers went three-and-out and punted the ball back to the Eagles. Philadelphia received help from a 15-yard roughing the kicker penalty while driving 91 yards on 15 plays, with Hurts scoring on a 1-yard keeper to make it 28-7 with 43 seconds left in the period.

Jake Elliott added a 31-yard field goal with 5:17 left in the game.

St. John’s Defeats Georgetown

January 29, 2023 by Terry Lyons

NEW YORK – (Report from Official News Release) – St. John’s freshman guard AJ Storr buried the game-winning 3-pointer with 4.3 seconds remaining to lift the Red Storm men’s basketball team to a 75-73 victory over Georgetown on Sunday at Madison Square Garden.

Trailing by as many as nine points with 8:22 remaining, St. John’s received a major boost from junior wing David Jones who scored eight-straight points in the final four minutes of action before Storr buried the dagger. Jones finished with a team-high 17 points, including 12 points in the final stanza, to go with seven boards and two assists in 27 minutes off the bench.

Storr finished with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the floor. The Rockford, Ill., native also set career highs with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Joel Soriano churned out his 18th double-double of the season for St. John’s (14-8, 4-7 BIG EAST), finishing with 12 points and 15 rebounds. The senior center from Yonkers scored half of his points at the free-throw line and grabbed 11 offensive boards. Dylan Addae-Wusu was the fourth Johnnie to record double-figures, as the junior from the Bronx registered 15 points and shot 4-for-6 from 3-point territory. Addae-Wusu also dished out four assists.

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St. John’s was without the services of junior guard Posh Alexander who missed his second-straight game with a sprained ankle. Red Storm sophomore guard Rafael Pinzon also did not see game action on Sunday due to a sprained ankle, as well.

The Johnnies jumped out to a 10-point lead less than seven minutes into the contest. Storr capped a 13-2 run with a layup at the 13:09 mark that gave St. John’s a 17-7 advantage.

After Georgetown chipped away at the deficit and pulled within three, the Red Storm rebuilt a double-digit lead with Kolby King giving the team a spark off the bench. The freshman guard scored five quick points before Andre Curbelo knocked down a jumper and Storr had a dunk in transition to push St. John’s out to a 35-25 advantage at 4:17.

From there, the Johnnies went cold for the rest of the half with Georgetown (6-16, 1-10 BIG EAST) unleashing a 14-0 run to close out the stanza. Brandon Murray capped the offensive surge with a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Hoyas a 39-35 lead at the break.

Soriano scored 10 of his 12 points in the latter stanza, as the Johnnies’ big man got going out of the gate with a monster dunk. The Red Storm also took care of the basketball in the second half, committing just two turnovers after giving up the ball 10 times in the first 20 minutes.

Down 64-55 with 8:22 remaining, St. John’s dug deep to chip away at the Georgetown advantage over the next four minutes. The Red Storm went on a 9-0 run to knot the game at 64-64 on a Curbelo jumper at 4:34.

The lead traded sides four times in the final four minutes of action with neither team leading by more than three. With 46 seconds remaining, Jones buried a pair of free-throws that put St. John’s back on top, 72-70. However, Bryson Mozone answered with a corner three with 24 seconds to go that put Georgetown up one and set the stage for Storr’s heroics.

Coming out of a timeout with 18 seconds left, Curbelo drove baseline and kicked it out to Storr who nailed the decisive triple with four ticks on the clock. On the final play of the game, Mozone got a look from deep before the final buzzer that rimmed out, as St. John’s secured its fourth-straight victory over the Hoyas.

Duquesne transfer Primo Spears played all 40 minutes for Georgetown, leading all scorers with 25 points on a 10-for-19 showing from the floor, including four 3-pointers. Murray also scored 17 points while Hoyas’ big man Qudas Wahab rounded out those in double figures with 14 points.

The Johnnies outscored Georgetown, 38-28, in paint. St. John’s also capitalized on nine second-half turnovers, registering 13 points on miscues.

AFC Championship: Bengals at Chiefs

January 29, 2023 by Digital Sports Desk

KANSAS CITY – (Staff and Wire Service Report from Field Level Media) – In the playoffs, there’s no passer like Patrick Mahomes at home.

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Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs welcome the Bengals in the AFC Championship game Sunday in a repeat of the 2021 title game that sent Joe Burrow and Cincinnati to the Super Bowl. But there’s a significant twist.

Mahomes plans to play with a sprained right ankle and has lost three games in a row to the Bengals, including 27-24 on Dec. 4. His health and the groundswell of support for Burrow has the Chiefs as the underdog in the playoffs for the first time in Mahomes’ career.

Mahomes has been at his best on the big stage with 32 touchdowns (28 TD passes, four rushing) and three interceptions in 10 career home playoff starts.

The tug of war for bettors has been evident since Sunday night, when most books had the Chiefs as favorites — by 2 or 3 points — only to see the Bengals favored by 2 as a consensus by midday Monday. But with Mahomes’ status firmed up by the Chiefs and video evidence to support, the public forced a wild swing that had Kansas City favored by a point.

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Burrow, mind you, is 19-5 against the spread in his last 24 games as an underdog. Cincinnati is 9-0 in its last nine as an underdog.

As of Friday morning, the Chiefs were a 1.5-point favorite and a low money line to win outright (-118 at FanDuel). By Sunday, the spread went to (-2).

The initial sprain forced him out of the Chiefs’ divisional playoff win over the Jacksonville Jaguars last week. He returned to the game with limited mobility, completing 22 of 30 passes for a season-low 195 yards with two touchdowns and was not sacked.

He’s 9-3 in 12 career playoff games with 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Mahomes said the injury isn’t as severe as his 2019 high ankle sprain or a toe injury two seasons ago, when he finished the season in a Super Bowl defeat at the hands of Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. The difference will be in physical limitations on his right ankle and plant leg throwing from the pocket.

Cincinnati has a 10-game winning streak and its most recent loss was to Cleveland on Halloween. Burrow would tie Russell Wilson for most wins (six) by a quarterback in their first three seasons if he can knock off the Chiefs again.

“He’s got an edge to him,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said of Burrow. “I like that in our quarterback.”

He hasn’t been intercepted in his past three playoff games. In three starts against the Chiefs, Burrow has nine TDs (one rushing), one interception and a combined passer rating of 121.

NFC Championship: Niners at Eagles

January 29, 2023 by Digital Sports Desk

PHILADELPHIA – (Staff and Wire Service Report from Field Level Media) – San Francisco QB Brock Purdy emerged out of nowhere to become just the third rookie quarterback in NFL history to win his first two postseason starts.

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However, a bigger prize looms on the horizon when the San Francisco 49ers play in the NFC Championship Game for the third time in four seasons, visiting the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

Purdy will be striving to lead the second-seeded 49ers to their second Super Bowl appearance in the past four seasons. His rise from the 262nd and last pick in the NFL draft to unbeaten in seven career starts is becoming legendary stuff.

Joe Flacco of the Baltimore Ravens in 2008-09 and Mark Sanchez of the New York Jets in 2009-10 are the other rookies to win their first two playoff starts.

“He doesn’t care if he messes up,” 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel said. “If he does, he’s going to go full speed and we’ll talk about it at the end of the day.

“I have seen him grow throughout the whole year from zero snaps to being the starter of this team.”

Philadelphia’s defense, which ranked second in total defense (301.5 yards per game) in the regular season, will be the best Purdy has faced. Counting the postseason, the Eagles have racked up 75 sacks, third most in NFL history. The only two higher outputs came from the mid-1980s Chicago Bears, who had a record 82 in 1984 and 80 in 1985.

Also part of the equation is the raucous Philadelphia crowd, which will provide noise.

“In these games, it all comes back to communication,” Purdy said. “How can you operate smoothly, get in and out of the huddle, get the play off in the right way and make sure everybody is on the same page. It’s definitely a big emphasis this week.”

The Eagles feature NFL MVP finalist Jalen Hurts at quarterback, an elite runner who has turned into a strong thrower. Hurts passed for 22 touchdowns and rushed for 13 during the regular season.

Hurts threw for two scores and ran for one as Philadelphia routed the New York Giants 38-7 in the NFC divisional round.

The 49ers led the NFL in total defense (300.6 yards per game) and scoring defense (16.3 points per game). San Francisco defensive end Nick Bosa (NFL-high 18.5 sacks) is a finalist for Defensive Player of the Year honors.

“They’re really good across the board,” Hurts said. “It starts out with their front seven and then adding a really good defensive back group. They fly to the ball at every position and they’re well-coached. We have a task in front of us and a really big challenge.”

The Eagles are in the NFC title game for the first time since the 2017-18 season when they went on to win the Super Bowl.

Philadelphia is a 2.5-point favorite at DraftKings and BetMGM, where the line opened at 2.0 but shifted with the Eagles drawing 76 percent of the spread-line bets and 85 percent of the money. The line is moving to 3.0 points in most shops.

The line had moved to 3.0 points by Saturday at BetRivers, where Philadelphia covering was drawing more than twice as much action (28.3 percent) than any other play among the two conference championship games (Bengals +1.0, 12.4 percent).

This will be only the second game of the season in which San Francisco enters as the underdog. BetRivers reported the 49ers have covered in nine consecutive games against NFC opponents and are 13-6 ATS this season.

PROP PICKS
Purdy Over 0.5 INTs (-140 at DraftKings): All three sports books are offering the same prop, with the potential payout slightly better at DraftKings as of mid-day Saturday. Purdy hasn’t thrown a pick since Week 17 and has 59 pass attempts through his first two playoff games without committing a turnover. But the Eagles’ defense can bring pressure from any angle, with four players registering double-digit sacks. Purdy is still a rookie, and under pressure he has a tendency to spin out of the pocket and will force the occasional ball downfield – and Philly’s defense rarely lets opportunities slip away.

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey Anytime TD (-120 at BetMGM): This has been the most popular NFC prop at several sportsbooks. McCaffrey missed practice time with a calf injury this week but has vowed to play. When he plays, McCaffrey typically finds the end zone — including at least once in eight consecutive games entering Sunday.

Over 46.5 Total Points (-110 at BetRivers): It’s easy to lean Under given the strength of these two defenses. But that inclination hasn’t played out over the course of the season, with the sports book reporting these are two of only six teams to hit the Over in more than half of their games. Good defenses also create short fields, which create scoring opportunities. And both offenses have plenty of offensive firepower to take advantage.

Eagles WR A.J. Brown Over 68.5 Receiving Yards (-115 at BetMGM): The Giants didn’t do much right defensively last week other than hold Brown to 22 yards on a trio of catches. That has been the exception to the rule, with Brown topping 68.5 yards in the six games leading up to the Eagles’ playoff opener. He will draw a difficult matchup with Charvarius Ward likely tracking him most of the game, but Ward proved vulnerable to another big, physical wideout in Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf two weeks ago.

Hurts Anytime TD (+118 at BetRivers): This has been the second most popular NFC prop at the sportsbook, drawing 3.1 percent of the total tickets and the second most money. Hurts has six rushing touchdowns in his past five games, including one last weekend as the Eagles have increasingly relied on his legs with opponents also having to respect Philly’s ground game near the goal line.

INJURY REPORT
49ers: QB Jimmy Garoppolo (foot) was officially ruled out. McCaffrey (knee) and fellow RB Elijah Mitchell (groin) missed multiple practices this week but are expected to play. McCaffrey is expected to play while Mitchell was listed as questionable along with CB Ambry Thomas (ankle). Coach Kyle Shanahan said Charles Omenihu (oblique), who was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence earlier this week, would play if healthy.

Eagles: MLB T.J. Edwards (ankle) was the only player listed as limited in Friday’s practice and Philadelphia is expected to have everyone available.

PREDICTION
Purdy has been unflappable in winning his first seven career starts, including a pair of playoff games. He also hasn’t faced a defense the likes of the Eagles, who will bring a slew of different looks and pressure from all angles. The 49ers’ defense is equally impressive, but Philly capitalizes on a turnover or two and takes advantage of shorter fields to win a tight contest throughout. –Eagles 26-23

DSD PREDICTION: McCaffrey gets it done and the 49ers team defense holds Hurts and Philly down. 49ers 21-17

TL’s Sunday Sports Notes – Jan 29th

January 29, 2023 by Terry Lyons

By TERRY LYONS

BOSTON – First things first. The AFC Championship is NOT in Foxboro and the Patriots reportedly are pointing fingers at coach Bill Belichick, his assistant coaches and each other on the reasons why. The tail end of that sentence clearly answers the front end declaration. It’s time for a shake-up at Gillette and the re-hiring of Bill O’Brien will not be enough.

O’Brien returned to New England after a two-year stint as Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator at Alabama. O’Brien also had brief stints at Penn State as head coach in 2012-13 and a longer run with the head coach of the Houston Texans from 2014-20.

While the Patriots’ defense ranked No. 9 in Opponent Yards per Game and 11th in points allowed per game, it’s certainly the offensive side of the football that needs work. Looking at Special Teams, the Patriots ranked a league worst, according to ESPN’s DVOA (Defense adjusted-Value Over Average) and, the Patriots finished the 2022-23 NFL season at No. 16 in scoring and No. 26 in Yards per Game. Only Indianapolis, Chicago, Carolina, Tennessee, Houston and the LA Rams fared worse on gaining yards. In 3rd Down conversions, New England ranked No. 27 (of 32 NFL teams).

Belichick quickly addressed the issue, hiring O’Brien before the NFC/AFC Championship weekend. That will fill about 25% of the Patriots’ overall hole. The other 75% is on the players – the players on offense.

An interview with Captain Obvious floats the rumors the New York Jets will attempt to acquire longtime Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers just as they did in acquiring Green Bay’s Brett Favre in 2008. The Favre experiment lasted one season. Rodgers? Maybe two, but the trade would put New England at the bottom of the AFC East ladder predictions come September. (In 2022, New England (8-9) barely bested the J-E-T-S (7-10).

For New England, RB Rhamondre Stevenson, a 1,000+ yard rusher in 2022 will have high expectations as a 25-year old come 2023. RB Damien Harris spells Stevenson nicely, so the concentration for Belichick and O’Brien will be elsewhere.

Quarterback Mac Jones with his 84.9 QB rating over 14 games started in ‘22 will be in a make-it-or-break-it season. Bailey Zappe, who will turn 24 in April, is the No. 2 who will never be compared with Josh Allen of Buffalo or Patrick Mahomes of the KC Chiefs.

The NE receiving corps were abysmal. Jacobi Meyers (804 yards on 67 receptions); DeVante Parker (539 yards on 31 receptions); Kendrick Bourne (434 on 35) and tight end Henry Hunter (509 yards on 41 receptions) didn’t get the job done. Meyers had six TDs and the next three combined for six. The Patriots’ braintrust will need to beef up the WRs and TEs either through the free agency market or draft.

It won’t be until the WRs improve that any blame can be placed upon the shoulders of Mac Jones. Unless a minor miracle is performed at Patriot Place, Jones will be the started QB for 2023.

In the NFL Draft (April 27-29), the Patriots will seek help for the offensive line and for a deep-threat wide receiver. Of course Belichick never remains shy if there’s a top-notch corner available when the Patriots pick at No. 14.

That Patriots forecast leads us to Sunday’s NFC (SF 49ers at Philadelphia Eagles) and AFC (Cincinnati Bengals at KC Chiefs) Championship, arguably the best day of the year on the NFL schedule, unless you enjoy endless, two-week long pregame hype and endless $7-million dollar TV ads.

For those who enjoy a trip to Las Vegas for the Super Bowl or the first Thursday/Friday of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, next time, try the NFC/AFC doubleheader which comes along with lesser crowding, better games and some decent regular season hoops (College and NBA) games on Saturday.

From this armchair, the kiss of death for the Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals is that every talking head, every handicapper, former players, known sports gamblers – everybody – is picking a Philadelphia vs Cincinnati Super Bowl.

The lines as of Jan 28th – roughly 24 hours before kick-off:

Eagles (-2.5) over 49ers
Chiefs (-1.5) over Bengals

The pontificating pigskin public first saw the Eagles at (-1.5) while the Chiefs were getting (+1) on the opening.

The O/U for the Niners v Eagles opened at (45.5) and stands at (46.0).

The O/U for the Bengals at Chiefs opened at (46.5) and is up to (48).

Call me crazy, I like the Niners getting 2.5 and would not be afraid of the (+130) ML while I really like the KC Chiefs. Rumor has it a lot of “sharp” money came in on KC early.

KC will do or die by their secondary coverage of WRs Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd. I think KC can keep Chase under wraps, maybe a TD. Higgins can be the deciding factor as Cincy QB Joe Burrows will hit the open man. RB Joe Mixon on short screens could be a factor more so than via his straight run game.

The emergence of RB Isiah Pacheco for the Chiefs and the sure-fire, can’t stop it QB Patrick Mahomes to TE Travis Kelce will be enough to guide the Chiefs at Arrowhead. That said, a re-injury to Mahomes’ high ankle sprain would be disastrous for KC.

For SF, it’s all about Christian McCaffrey and the 49ers’ solid defense to match Philly. Any wavering by the Eagles in the first half will bring the pressure of the “Linc” down upon a playoff inexperienced roster. The Niners will need (at least) six points from their defense.

It’s kick-off time at 3:00pm (ET) (FOX) at Philly and roughly 6:30pm, call it 7:00pm if the game runs long, at Kansas City on CBS.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The NBA announced that they’ll pick sides for the annual NBA All-Star Game right before the game begins. Besides watching the Consumer Products guys flip-out providing proper jerseys and numbers and the Courtside stat inputter have a canary typing in the players/teams into the computers, it should make for a lot of fun.

The bad news, it should result in more “three point shots” being chucked-up as the coaches won’t even have a single practice to put in a few offensive sets to run. The talent of the NBA players will rise when the coaches put in some offense being run by nearly every team, but may God bless the point guards if they can organize any kind of half-court game.

The knee-jerk when the offenses aren’t in sync is for the ball to go up from three-point-land in the Mike D’Antoni style of “Seven Seconds of Less.” That concept calls for a shot to go up before the defense gets back. In other words, get the shot when the 24-second shot clock reads … 18-17. Last February, Steph Curry hit (16) three-pointers, shooting 16-of-27 from behind the arc. He had 50 points.

The number(s) to beat are (90) attempts by Team LeBron in 2019 when the game had a record (167) three-point field goal attempts. Sheesh.

TID-BITS: A copy of “How Basketball Can Save the World,” by David Hollander magically appeared in the mailbox of WWYI on Friday. Funny how that happens, isn’t it? Upon a quick flip today, the book looks like a job very well done. I can’t wait to find time to delve deep and read every syllable, then re-read it all again. First thought was that the book should be REQUIRED reading for every collegiate Sociology and Sports Business Management class in the world. More to come.

They call them “The Joker(s)” because American fans have trouble pronouncing Denver Nuggets’ MVP candidate Nikola Jokic or tennis great Novak Djokovic who will face “the Greek Tzatziki” in Stefanos Tsitsipas at 3:30am (ET) this morning. Set your alarm clock or your iPhone alarms.

QUARTERLY REPORT: As will be the custom – as often as a quarterly basis, the investment wing of WWYI Enterprises will reveal its most recent plays in the market. Some are successful while others are not. We tip our hat and tap our ice hockey sticks to our mentor in the investment world, Ralph Kramden. Old Ralph boy made significant investments in a few beauties. Here are just a few:

No Cal Pizza
A Parking Lot Next to the Movie Theatre (How would he know it was a Drive-In)?
The Handy Housewife Helper (MUST WATCH here)

Here’s our Quarterly Portfolio:

Sizable Investment in a new Theatrical Show: Chartreuse Man Group
10,000 Shares in: The Fire-and-Brimstone Tire Company
100,000 Shares in: The Lava Fence (*clinical trial failed in Hawaii)
Controlling interest in Oscar Madison Square Garden Network

ONE SMALL STEP FOR HOMA, ONE GIANT LEAP for the PGA TOUR: Did you see the clip of PGA Tour pro Max Homa walking toward his ball on the 13th hole at Torrey Pines? If not, watch this and I’ll pick it up “on the other side.”

Golf on CBS ⛳ @GolfonCBS

Mic’d up Max Homa ‼️🎤 “If I can hit this thing to 5 feet then I’m too good to be only 7 under.” 😂

First, let’s credit Max Homa for his participation and willingness to do an interview DURING his round of professional golf.

Secondly, credit the top notch interview skills of newly crowned golf commentator Trevor Immelman who made his CBS lead commentator debut this week. Add, equal praise for both Ian Baker-Finch and Frank Nobilo. With all three, the line of questioning was perfect for both a 1-handicap or a newcomer to the game of golf.

With the pressure applied to the PGA Tour by the LIV golf circuit, there will be more and more interaction with the PGA Tour players during their rounds, in addition to the usual before or after. It seems the players, as a group, realize the stakes have been raised and this is the time to forge cooperation with the Tour’s network partners.

Meanwhile, LIV Golf settled for a US television deal with the CW Network and moved their final event from Miami to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) to take place November 3-5 – a good two months after the PGA Tour crowns its FEDEx CUP champion at the TOUR Championship to be played at East Lake in Atlanta (before the NFL season kicks-off).

WE LOVE THE TEAM VALUATIONS, HERE’s to the EPL:

Again, tip of the cap to our friends at Sportico for the hard work that goes into making these valuations, here’s the list of the Top 5 English Premier League clubs:

Manchester United – $5.95 billion
Liverpool – $4.71 billion
Manchester City – $4.43 billion
Arsenal – $3.6 billion
Chelsea – $3.47 billion

The “average” Major League Soccer (MLS) franchise is worth $582 million. Not too shabby.

Parting Words

I DO NOT know where to start, so I’ll wing it on a topic far too important to take lightly. Better said, I’ll just try to do my best:

It wasn’t until about 2008 or so when I really learned there are some bad people in this everyday world, all with a single common denominator of evil overtaking them and their minds and actions. It’s prevalent in every single workplace, every field, every industry, in every single corner of the earth. Why? I do not know.

It took me 48 years to understand it and much was taught to me by my friend and former NBA colleague, Bob Delaney, who faced certain evils as a New Jersey State Trooper at the ripe age of 23, as he went undercover to try to bust up a major crime syndicate on the Jersey side of the Hudson. He wrote of it in his book, COVERT, recently re-printed as demand continued for a good true-crime book. Bob stressed they were just a bunch of “regular guys” who would bump off a delivery truck on the way to attend a First Holy Communion ceremony and then meet-up with each other for a Sunday family party.

Yes, I had heard about it. Yes, I had watched it unfold but as psuedo-comedy shows or motion pictures, such as “The Sopranos” or “Goodfellas.” I’d never heard it “live” like we saw on tape from a light pole in Memphis Friday night.

We – at the NBA – had a criminal rogue referee betray all we had done in our basketball lives, a wonderful force of like-minded people were all spreading the basketball gospel. Until THUD. A ref and his high school ‘friends” betting on the games. “GUILTY,” said the Judge.

“There are bad guys everywhere,” said Delaney to me as I was shaken to the core by someone who would undermine our game and all the work that was put-in over the years.

That basketball moment was important to me at the time, but this… this disgrace in Memphis … this total undermining of the entire law enforcement society built to protect us all … is disgusting and CRIMINAL.

Yes, I believe in the “innocent until proven guilty by a jury of your peers,” but damn, it’s on tape.

So, let the justice system do its job. The big Blue Shield has been exposed once again, evil overtaking the good of all the people of Memphis. The people who need their police to protect them, not kick them to death.

It burns me (and everyone on the right side of the law) up. It undermines and disappoints us to the highest degree possible.

What’s left? What can we do other than to pray for the people of Memphis, for the deceased (Mr. Tyre Nichols) and his family. Pray for peace and justice in Memphis at this precise time in our nation’s sorely blemished history.

Pray for healing. It’s not the answer but simply a remedy for the growing illness of evil.

A Sunday Without Pro Golf?

January 29, 2023 by PGA Tour Brunch

La JOLLA – It’s certainly a bit strange not having a golf tournament to watch on a winter Sunday afternoon, especially when it brings the pristine weather of San Diego, California. That is the case today as the Farmer’s Insurance Open is in the books and Max Homa enjoys the spoils after he came from five strokes back to win his sixth PGA Tour title and fourth in his native state California. Homa’s last five wins have been in come-from-behind fashion.

Keegan Bradley (2nd) became the first player on Tour this season to record a win and runner-up.

After holding at least a share of the lead each of the first three rounds, Sam Ryder faded and finished T-4 while FedEx Cup leader Jon Rahm (T-7) earned his fourth Top-10 in four starts to begin the 2023 portion of the PGA Tour season.

Defending champion Luke List finished T-25. The last player to win consecutive Farmers Insurance Open tournaments was Tiger Woods (2005-08).