Archives for October 19, 2024

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – The month of October just R-O-C-K-S. It always has rocked and I think it always will rock.

Most of the early rockin’ was done in the late ‘70s when AOR (album oriented rock) radio began with the likes of WPLJ-FM in NYC, KLOS in Los Angeles, the great KGB-FM in San Diego, WRIF-Radio in Detroit among many others all stations that left the 2-minute max-length sounds of the 1960s and delved into the lengthy music of Deep Purple, Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Led Zeppelin – all playing six+ minute epics.

One station, WMNX in Minneapolis, is on record for the first to utilize the term “Rocktober.” Alex Tarpley, the former program manager of WMNX, Minneapolis, was the lead petitioner for “Rocktober,” which meant it would be nationally recognized and a law of the land to have the month of October so named by licensed radio stations.

By the mid-80s, Congress was working on – what else? – Immigration law. But within, came a proclaimation, written on November 6, 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), known as the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, into law. In addition to requiring employers to attest to their employees’ immigration status and making it illegal to knowingly hire illegal immigrants, the bill included in section 45, ii 99–603, paragraph 19, an un-related rider requiring all Classic Rock-format radio stations to observe Rocktober by using the official Rocktober voiceover when leading into a music segment, or “block,” or face fines of up to $5,000 a day.

“It was the Wild West, man,” said Tarpley. “We were out of our minds. WMNX was total madness. I had guys getting the Led out at 8 in the morning. I was first on that, by the way. This was the morning drive time and we’re getting the Led out. Unreal.”

Bob Donaldson, DJ, aka “Dodgy Bob from England”of WMNX, and later KSQY of San Diego noted the music being played became all about a block of music, rather than one song at a time, followed by commercial spots or banter.

“For me,” said Donaldson in his put-on English accent imitating Bad Company’s Paul Rodgers, “everything became about the block. “Life in the Fast Lane” backed with “Hotel California,” “Purple Haze” backed with “All Along the Watchtower,” “Stairway to Heaven” backed with “Kashmir.”

Darrel Schmidt, the station manager at WMNX noted, to freelancer Kevin Depew, “First time I heard a block I was livid,” said Schmidt. “Did I just hear two songs in a row by the same artist? What in the hell is going on?”

The rest was history for what is now called “Classic Rock Music,” but intertwined within the Rocktober moniker were people like New York Yankees superstar Reggie Jackson, a.k.a. “Mr. October.”

Thus, the stars aligned on an everlasting October sports scene of NFL football, College football, MLB Post Season and the World Series, together with the start of the NBA and NHL. It became a collision of great rock music and great sports. All in one month.

Nowadays, even the WNBA is as cool as it gets and right on the rockin’ theme as the WNBA Finals – once staged Labor Day weekend – is playing its decisive fifth game Sunday evening at 8pm (ET) on ESPN, going up against NBC’s Sunday Night Football match-up of the New York Jets at Pittsburgh Steelers (8:20pm ET).

Long live, Rocktober.

HERE NOW, THE NOTES: The head coach of the University of Virginia, Tony Bennett, packed it in this week. The reports first stated his sudden departure “was not health related.” But, deep down, maybe it was? … Bennett, one of the highly respected and very successful NCAA I head basketball coaches, explained to the masses that his decision was directly tied to the state of the game in 2024. “The hardest thing to say is when I looked at myself and I realized I’m no longer the best coach to lead this program in this current environment,” explained Bennett at a press conference. “If you’re going to do it, you gotta be all-in. If you do it half-hearted, it’s not fair to the university and those young men. So in looking at it, that’s what made me step down. I think it’s right for student-athletes to receive revenue. … “Please don’t mistake me,” he said Friday. “The game and college athletics is not in a healthy spot. It’s not. And there needs to be change, and it’s not going to go back. I think I was equipped to do the job here the old way. That’s who I am. … “It’s going to be closer to a professional model. There’s got to be collective bargaining. There has to be a restriction on the salary pool. There has to be transfer regulation restrictions. There has to be some limits on the agent involvement to these young guys. … And I worry a lot about the mental health of the student-athletes as all this stuff comes down.” … He’s 100% correct, says WWYI, but maybe his decision was health related? Maybe we all need to worry about the mental health of the college basketball coaches? … The saying is something like, “You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube.” … It’s time for college coaches to recognize the fact they need a right hand to manage all the business BS that comes with the massive shift in college sports. The coach needs to give up the ‘full control’ militaristic approach and have a Basketball GM oversee everything that doesn’t cross between the four lines. ADs (who often think they can be the GM of a big time college basketball team but can’t because they need to dedicate their time across every sport – male and female) need to help hire that right hand for the head basketball coach. Colleges have pushed back against a “pro approach” for decades, trying to pretend it was an amateur sport, but once that March Madness () contract kicked in years ago, it quickly became a pro sport. FedEx envelopes delivered under the table are no longer in play. N.I.L. means “Now It’s Legal” and bright, creative sports business minds need to work together with their AD/Coach/Program to create an environment for the team to WIN. It’s hard. It’s different, but it’s not that difficult.

TID-BITS: It’s October 20, and there’s eleven days until Halloween. But today, there’s been (at least) two full-fledged Christmas promotions. Seen by WWYI on the morning of October 19, yes, a “Countdown to Christmas” promo for The Hallmark Channel. … Then, buried in this morning’s email was a Pottery Barn Kids Guide to its Holiday Shop. “See our latest festive collections, including exclusive styles from top designers and accents featuring fan-favorite characters,” said the missive, complete with Disney Mickey Mouse Christmas gifts and The Grinch, too. … WWYI calls “Foul,” and recommends to all marketers to – at least – wait until November. … In our joint, it’s officially Christmas season when Santa shows up at MACYS in Herald Square (NYC) the traditional end of the Thanksgiving Day Parade. … Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy made very few friends in the Gaston family when he referred to team owner Don Gaston’s son, Paul, as “Thanks Dad” when the younger Gaston took over the franchise. Now, it might be “Thanks Bro,” as the Globe is reporting that Mark Bezos, founding partner of HighPost Capital private equity group and half-brother of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is expressing interest in purchasing the club, according to an unnamed industry source. In addition, current Celtics limited partner Robert Hale, high on Forbes’ list of the wealthiest of Americans, said Friday he has “keen interest” in making a bid for the team, now that managing partner Wyc Grousbeck indicated the Celtics are up for sale. … The iconic NBA franchise could fetch a record $6 billion on the open market.

NEW NETWORK: Directly from a FanDuel media news release, Diamond Sports Group and FanDuel announced an agreement on a broad, long-term commercial partnership, including:

• Exclusive right to name Diamond’s 16 regional sports networks and Diamond’s digital offerings, including the direct to consumer product, as FanDuel Sports Network
• Linear and digital media placement and integration opportunities across all live NBA, NHL and MLB games on FanDuel Sports Network
• Shared commitment to explore a unified direct-to-consumer app experience with the ability to syndicate FanDuel TV programming across FanDuel Sports Network, including studio programming like “Up & Adams,” “Run It Back” and FanDuel TV’s live rights programming
• FanDuel to have reseller designation for Diamond’s direct-to-consumer product; and additional economic and equity elements.

David Preschlack, CEO of Diamond, stated: “Collaborating with FanDuel provides a tremendous pathway for Diamond to elevate the fan experience and deepen the incremental value we provide for our team, league and distribution partners. This partnership reinforces opportunities to further strengthen the close connection our RSNs have with local fans, including enhancing our direct-to-consumer offering for a growing digital audience. In the meantime, having finalized agreements with the NBA, NHL and our key distributors, we remain focused on moving our business forward and driving value for our team partners and our stakeholders.”

Mike Raffensperger, President, Sports, FanDuel, stated: “Partnering with Diamond provides us an opportunity to put the FanDuel brand at the intersection of the nation’s largest group of regional sports networks. A large cohort of FanDuel customers are devoted RSN viewers and this agreement allows us to further cement the FanDuel brand with sports fans and provides a unique vehicle to reward our users.”

On October 21, the (previously named) Bally Sports RSNs will officially be renamed under the FanDuel Sports Network brand with corresponding regional monikers. Diamond Sports Group‘s 16 owned and operated RSNs will include: FanDuel Sports Network Detroit, FanDuel Sports Network Florida, FanDuel Sports Network Great Lakes, FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City, FanDuel Sports Network Indiana, FanDuel Sports Network Midwest, FanDuel Sports Network North, FanDuel Sports Network Ohio, FanDuel Sports Network Oklahoma, FanDuel Sports Network SoCal, FanDuel Sports Network South, FanDuel Sports Network Southeast, FanDuel Sports Network Southwest, FanDuel Sports Network Sun, FanDuel Sports Network West, and FanDuel Sports Network Wisconsin.

POWER RANKINGS: It’s past the quarter pole of the NFL regular season and things are shaking out and shaping up. The first observation, stealing just another front page headline from years of the same old story, same old lies – SAME OLD J-E-T-S, is the fact the New York (Jersey) Jets were the first NFL team this season to fire their head coach. While WWYI won’t subject you to the days of Rex Ryan, a look at the last few hirings for the Jets provide the following gems:

• 2015-18 – Todd Bowles (24-40 .375)
• 2019-2020 – Adam Case (9-23 .281)
• 2021-2024 – Robert Saleh (20-36 .357)
• 2024- ? – Jeff Ulbrich (0-1 .000)

The Jets are conducting a search for their next head coach and former New England head coach and NFL legend Bill Belichick’s name . Might the next coach come from a group of coaches most likely to see the ax, according to Vegas odds?

• Doug Pederson Jacksonville Jaguars -140
• Mike McCarthy Dallas Cowboys +400
• Kevin Stefanski Cleveland Browns +550
• Antonio Pierce Las Vegas Raiders +600
• Zac Taylor Cincinnati Bengals +900
• Dennis Allen. New Orleans +1600
• Nick Sirianni Philadelphia Eagles +1800
• Brian Daboll New York Giants +2000

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It’s ON to the NFL POWER RATINGS: Here’s one man’s P.O.V. less than halfway through the NFL regular season:

AFC:

1. Kansas City
2. Baltimore
3. Houston
4. Buffalo
5. Pittsburgh
6. Denver

NFC:

1. Minnesota
2. San Fran
3. Detroit
4. Atlanta
5. Washington
6. Chicago

ROCKTOBER POWER RANKINGS FOR THE 1ST CFB PLAYOFFS: Again, just one man’s P.O.V. and still very early in the college football season:

1. Ohio State
2. Georgia
3. Oregon
4. Miami
5. Alabama
6. Notre Dame
7. Penn State
8. Ole Miss
9. Tennessee
10. Texas
11. Clemson
12. Indiana

THREADING THE NEEDLE: There’s nothing prettier in sports than an NHL defenseman beating two quick-skating, checking forwards by threading the needle with a pass that sends one of his wingers in on a breakaway to score a goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Well, the FE Apparel Company, together with the NHL Players and our friends at Getty Images is threading the needle in another fashion by creating a limited edition set of NHL custom jackets and hoodies. In this day of sustainability, FE Apparel creates their garments with 100% recycled material – not used plastic Coke bottles but recycled yarn – which is designed for durability. Many of the images on the garments depict the iconic designs of NHL goalkeepers’ masks. Bill Chang, CEO of FE Apparel Co. oversees the new brand and asks his growing number of customers to tag the company – @feapparelco – to spread the news and styles. NHL Rangers fans can visit the FE showroom next to Madison Square Garden.